The tree tops, scattered with spots of colors, looked as though someone had taken a bunch of paintbrushes and just flicked them over the trees. The rolling hills are covered in colored flowers. This scene gave the boy an idea. Running out to the fields, still in his red boxers and white wife beater, he picked a handful of the wild roses. He quickly ran back to the house, knowing that Kira was still asleep, and would be for a while anyway, but still he hurried. He placed some of the flowers on the pillow beside Kira's head and took the rest and put them on the pillow beside his Mother's head. He loved having them wake up in the morning full of joy. It made the whole day go so much smoother.
Going to sit on the porch again, Athrun grabbed a book and got to work studying the mechanics of robotics, once again. He was the book-smart one. Kira was the do-smart one. He sat and read and waited for the world to wake up, with the cool morning breeze brushing against his skin.
Kira woke first, stretching his body in a very wide position and yawning. He blinked a few times, seeing the flowers where Athrun's head should have been. "Mm?" He propped himself up with his elbow, leaning over and smelling the flowers. Immediately, a sneeze racked through the boy. They were obviously fresh. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, Athrun." Always the romantic one, he thought. He grabbed them once he rolled out of bed, and slowly made his way downstairs. He saw his blue-haired friend on the porch, nose in a book. He smiled, and sneaked outside. "Morning, Athrun." As he spoke he stuck the flowers between his friends face and the book.
Athrun jerked backwards, hadn't having heard the small boy join him. He smiled as he met the purple eyes of his best friend. "Good morning. Did you like your gift?"
Kira laughed. "Yes, very much. Although it made me sneeze. Not pleasant first thing in the morning." He winked at his friend.
Athrun laughed. "Well, my apologies." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head with a smile still on his face. "It's a beautiful morning, look at the landscape."
Kira nodded, eyebrows raising as he saw the site across from them. "You chose a good morning to make me sneeze."
The boys laughed. Kira looked at the book. "What are you reading so early in the morning?"
Athrun turned the book to the cover, leaving his fingers on the page he was reading. "Robotics. I'm trying to build one. But it's a surprise."
Kira's eyebrows raised some more. "A surprise? You know I can't stand surprises, Athrun. That's not fair!" He stomped his foot, hands on his hips as he faked pouting.
Athrun shrugged. "You love them when it's a gift for you. So shut up."
Kira stuck out his lower lip, mockingly. "Not fair." He took a seat on the edge of the deck, legs hanging over and swinging. They sat in silence for a few minutes, as Athrun read and Kira contemplated life. Kira often found himself within his own mind. His mother called him "her little Plato". He didn't know who Plato was, but he imagined it was some guy from ancient history. His mother enjoyed reading weird, old books. Speaking of mothers, "Is your Mom up yet?"
Athrun's gaze didn't leave his book. "Nope."
Kira nodded. "We should make her breakfast. She always does it for us."
At this, Athrun got excited. "You're right! Let's make her...pancakes. She loves them with blueberries." The two agreed and decided to pick some fresh blueberries from the garden. Once they were good and covered in dirt they headed back inside. "Do you know how to cook pancakes?"
Kira shrugged, shaking his head. "No. But I'm sure we can figure it out. She has recipe books." They nodded determinedly at each other. Searching through her many books on the shelf, they finally found one that had a recipe for pancakes. Gathering the ingredients, they got to work.
Once they had all the supplies laid out, they started mixing. They were both covered with flour and baking soda by the time everything had been mixed. They looked at each other, laughing as young boys do. Athrun turned on the stove, grabbing a pan. They poured the mixture into it, in one big mound. As it started cooking, Athrun tilted his head to the side. "This is one big pancake." He was frowning.
Kira nodded in agreement. "Do you have any of those funny shape cutters?"
Athrun lit up at the suggestion. "Yeah! But I don't know where she keeps them..." The pair opened every drawer and cupboard looking for them. With the amount of noise they were making they weren't sure why she wasn't waking up. But they were so excited that they didn't think about it much. Finally, they found the cutters in a neat little tupperware container. "Here!"
By now the pancake was ready, Kira had flipped it part way through the search. They took it out, a little crispy on the outsides but otherwise just right. They put it on the cutting board and traded off with the cutters, making them fun shapes of rabbits, flowers, stars, and hearts. Just as they were placing them on the plates and pouring the blueberries on top, Lenore, his mother, came down the stairs with a great big smile on her face. "Wow! What's this?"
Athrun and Kira jumped, wide eyed, not having realized she was awake. Athrun spoke first, as usual. "Good morning, Mom! We made you breakfast!" Kira nodded enthusiastically beside him.
Lenore chuckled. "How sweet!" She took a seat in her usual chair at the head of the table. The boys carried over the plates, setting one down in front of her and one down in front of each other.
Kira gasped as they were all seated. "We forgot juice!"
Athrun met Kira's gaze with horror.
Lenore laughed. "That's alright. There's still time to repair it!"
Kira jumped from the table, running to the fridge and grabbing glasses for everyone. Once he was satisfied he took a seat. They all ate with great care, Lenore complimenting the boys and the boys with smug smiles on their faces.
"For a first time cooking I think you did a fantastic job." She smiled at them, squeezing their hands. "My boys are so perfect."
Kira and Athrun looked at each other, sharing the very happy moment.
As they all finished, the boys took off to get dressed and start playing. Lenore was left with the dishes. "Typical boys, do the cooking but leave the cleaning up for their mother." She considered herself to be Kira's mother as well, since he was almost always visiting. She shrugged, and cleaned, carrying about her day with the usual motherly chores: cleaning, laundry, and finally relaxing.
They boys took off to the garage, Athrun anxious to work on his robot, and Kira anxious to do some programming. They left the door open so there was lots of sunlight.
"Kira, do you think we'll do something important with our lives?"
Kira paused, never having voiced his opinion on this before. "Well, with the way the world is, with so much tension, I don't know. I'm scared for the future." He paused, remembering the newscast from the night before. The Zodiac Alliance had attempted to make a deal with PLANT. It fell through once again, and PLANT was not happy. There were rumors of an impeding war, but there always was these days, with so much competition between the Coordinators and the Naturals. Kira shrugged. "I think we'll do something important. You are very talented at your robotics, and I'm great at programming. No matter how the world turns I'm sure we'll be able to make a difference."