Chapter 1 – Karin
Hi. My name is Karin Zala and I am 13 years old. I am a Natural but I belong to ZAFT. I am an orphan as my parents were killed when I was 5, 9 years ago. Now, I live with my aunt and my uncle, Lacus and Kira, and my cousins, their children, Keisuke and Sakura.
The only memory I have of my parents is their names, Cagalli Yula Attha and Athrun Zala, and a little of their past They both belong to different countries and held very high positions there. They were killed in a bombing at the Orb headquarters which killed not only them, but my little brother Leon as well. Their bodies were never found but it was obvious that they did not survive the bombing.
Lacus, my guardian, gives me some information on my parents, their life when they were teens, but all those info was never enough for me to piece my broken past together. I hardly ever see Kira, her husband, and Lacus tells me that he doesn't like looking at me as I remind him too much about his twin sister, my mother, and my eyes are too much like his best friend's, my father's. Every time he looks at me he will start to cry, or he will turn away. That's why I hardly even see him.
I have learning problems. All the way through curriculum school I survived due to my English, as I have problems with the other subjects and barely even pass them. Pie charts make my head spin, and so does the periodic table, graphs, algebra, fractions… I just can't take it all in. The only thing that I do well in at school is my oral and my essay writing. That made me survive my way through the junior level. But somehow when I got into the elementary level, my English was no biggie. By failing my other subjects, I was unable to be promoted to the next year. Thus, when I was 11 and had to repeat the first year, the headmaster sent Lacus and Kira a letter, asking me to be transferred to the military school. Kira agreed, while Lacus denied and said that I would have a hard time coping. She fought for me to stay in curriculum school, but sad to say, she lost.
When I was 12 I was transferred to the military school. I met my first friend there, Tai Seiran, who was a year older than I was. He was entrusted with the responsibility of being my guide during my first week there so that I would not get lost in the big ZAFT headquarters. The commanders there teaching us realized my potential in piloting, and at 13 I was given my first Gundam, the new version f my mother's old Akatsuki. Being the youngest pilot in the history of ZAFT, Lacus first disagreed but I told her that I would be fun. In real battles I was not allowed to leave the ZAFT HQ shield. In short, I was just given the task of protecting the HQ just in case there were enemies who somehow managed to bypass the shield. My job was simple, easy and of course the enemies didn't bypass the shield, and I was safe.
Right now, the only goal on my mind is to find out how my parent's died, why and who bombed them, and the reason to why I wasn't with my parents when my brother was. I hope that I'll be able to find out tomorrow… my 14th birthday.