Patrick Zala looked at his daughter. His daughter looked back.
"Father..."
She looked at him sadly, and asked him to come visit her mother's gravesite with her, before she sets out on her "memorial tour", again.
He put flowers on the grave and told her she looks just like her mother, which is a lie as her betrothed Athrun Clyne actually looks more like Lenore then Lacus herself ever did, and that her mother would have been proud of her, which is nothing but the truth.
It was six months after Lenore Zala's death, almost to the day.
He watches the flowers, and the memorial garden, and shivers.
He does not want to heal, and feel the wind again. It feels like betraying his wife's memory.
Even though that probably was what Lenore herself would have wanted.
"Father..."
"Yes, Lacus?"
"I'm setting out - tommorow."
His daughter looks very sad, Patrick Zala thought.
"Your work with the delegation is very important, Lacus... I'm sure you'll do well."
She hugs him, then, and he freezes for a moment but gingerly hugs her back.
"... Do you wish I was a boy, father?"
"... No, don't be silly. If you were a boy, you wouldn't be you."
Which was true enough, Lacus Zala thought.
Though her father probably did wish he had a boy, who could go to ZAFT. Not that girls were barred from joining up - quite the contrary - but there were still generally more boys then girls in ZAFT, and her father was probably the sort that felt differently about daughters and sons, in that respect.
She was quite sure there would have been much, much more opposition to her singing career if she'd been a boy, that was for sure...
"Lacus! ... Lacus, are you there? ... Oh. Mr Zala..."
Patrick blinked. And here was that boy that his daughter was betrothed too.
They both stood together, watching Athrun Clyne jogging up the small hill.
"... Greetings. Your father is consenting to talk to you again at long last, I've heard?"
"Father."
Lacus poked him.
"... Oh, yes. I'm still not sure how he feels about me making Redcoat, though..."
"Better then you not making the Red, probably. You're ... Team Kluze, correct?"
"Yes sir."
Patrick sighed, then. If only he'd had a boy...Lacus was perfectly fine the way she was, but another child would have been good, too.
Even a another girl eager to join up would have been nice, now that he thought about it. Though he probably would have been worried sick, if it really came to that...
If, if, if. Patrick Zala sighed, then.
If wishes were space habitats, the Solar System would be crowded indeed...
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Sat, 27 May 2006 14:52)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.