English is not my first language. Please bear with grammatical errors.
And for your information, my fic is based on the remastered version (but I watched the original version, too).
Disclaimer: I don't own GS/GSD.
Family Ties
Staggering into an ally, Calida finally stopped. Her legs were shaking. Her entire body was shaking. Her breath was ragged. Her heart was pounding so fast that it hurt.
She wasn't sure how long she had run, how far away she was from her sister's house which she had fled. She was scared and panicking and didn't really know what was happening. All she knew was that she had to escape. The frightening sounds of gunshots she had heard before running away were still ringing in her ears. She had to go somewhere safe. She had to...
She looked down at her arms. At two babies in them, who looked back at her with innocent faces. So innocent that her heart was wrenched. It almost made her laugh, and cry, that such innocence could exist in this crazy nightmare. But the babies were the only thing that was currently keeping her sane.
"It'll be fine," she whispered with a tremble in her voice. "I'm gonna get you to a safe place. Then we're gonna wait..." Her voice broke off.
She couldn't say it. She couldn't promise that they would wait for the parents of the twins and that Via and Ulen would surely come. Somehow she knew they wouldn't. She knew her sister and brother-in-law had died. She knew the babies had lost their parents even before the babies had a proper memory of them.
Why did this have to have happened? Why did this world have to be so cruel?
She couldn't take it anymore. She collapsed on the ground, leaning against the wall. Tears started flowing from her eyes.
"I-I got you...you...you have me still..." she said between sobs, pulling the babies closer. Realizing it was what her older sister had told her after their parents' death, her sobs grew harder.
After a minute, she felt something touching her head. She lifted her eyes to find one of the babies tousling her hair. The other baby was snuggling into her chest. She felt as if they were comforting her, and tightened her hold of them, trying to stop crying.
She had to be strong. She still had the babies and had to protect them. She couldn't lose them as well.
Telling herself so, she forced herself to stand up, which wasn't easy with two babies to balance. But she managed. Her arms were hurting due to the weight of the babies. She needed to quickly find a hotel or an inn where she could rest and hide before many people saw them, many people who might tell about her and the babies to those looking.
Then she would contact her husband and they were going to find a place to hide the twins at least until they knew exactly what had happened. The babies might need to hide for a long time—possibly their entire lives—if her suspicion was right, if what her sister had been afraid of had come true. A feeling of dread was starting to envelope her. She wasn't sure she and her husband were capable of protecting the twins from such dangerous people.
One of the babies made a wail and she turned her eyes to them.
"Don't worry. We'll find a way. We will," she murmured more to herself than to the babies. She had to believe they could.
She was going to protect the twins at any cost. They were her family. She was their only family.
"It's snack time, Kira." Calida poked her head into her son's room.
The boy stood up with a smile and ran over to her. "I'm hungry, Mommy!"
Receiving him in her arms, she smiled back and took his small hand into hers. "Then, hurry, hurry." She pulled his hand playfully and Kira giggled, following her lead.
As they were climbing down the stairs, he asked, "Mommy, you had a big sister, yeah?"
Her heart almost leaped out of her chest at the seemingly innocent question.
"I did. ...Why?"
"Ayana's big brother gave her this video game. It's so cool and fun." He threw an expectant glance at her.
She returned with a chastising face, "You know you won't get another new game until your birthday." He pouted, which caused her to smile a little.
They reached the dining room. He looked at the plate on the table and frowned. "Celery sticks again?"
"And sweet potato fries," she pointed out half-heartedly, distracted by their previous subject.
Kira's birthday. She repeated the words in her mind. The day was also his sister's birthday. Cagalli would be celebrating it with her family on the same day as they had not changed the twins' birthdays on papers. It had seemed better to make it look like the babies had different birthdays so that no one would ever suspect their connection. However, she had not been able to bring herself to do it. She felt like the birth date was the only connection the twins would have to each other. In the end, everyone—she, her husband, and the Athhas—had agreed to leave the dates unchanged.
She usually tried not to think about Cagalli. The child she would never hold in her arms again. The child she would never meet again. But at times like this, she couldn't help thinking—wondering. About what the girl was like now. About a life they might have had, a life where her sister and brother-in-law were still alive, a life where the twins had grown up together.
Half lost in her reverie, she absently asked, "Kira...have you ever felt you...want a sibling?" She wasn't sure why she was asking this. Maybe what Calida really wanted to ask was whether he had ever remembered—or sensed—anything about his sibling, about her existence.
Settling himself in a chair, Kira blinked up at her quizzically, which brought her back to reality. As she shook her head, trying to shake off the thoughts, he thought and said, "I think a big brother's fun. He can give me things and help me with chores and stuff." Looking at her face thoughtfully, he added, "Or a big sister. She does that too, right?"
"She would. ...She did." Two faces—a blonde baby's and a brunette woman's—flashed in her mind and tightened her chest. But she forced a smile. "How about a little sister? Or a little brother?"
"No." He pulled a face. "Babies are no fun. They just sleep."
"That's not the only thing babies do. They cry, too," she teased and the sides of his lips turned lower.
Her mind briefly wandered back to the day she had last seen her niece. The memory stung her, but she quickly pushed it to the back of her mind. "Well, you're not gonna have a brother or a sister any time soon." Nor gonna get her back...ever.
Suppressing the feelings the thought had brought to her, she smiled at her son. "But maybe you can make friends with older kids once you start school. Someone who can be like an older brother or sister to you."
"But it's friends. We're not gonna be family."
"Being family isn't really about blood." Like his father loved him just as much as she did him even though her husband and son weren't blood-related. "You know your daddy and me aren't related by blood. But we're still family and love each other."
"Oh, yeah, right." He seemed convinced.
"So when you become very good friends with someone, you two can be like family, always caring about each other and staying in each other's life through years."
She sincerely hoped her son would make a friend who could fill the void in his life, which Kira didn't even know having.
"Okay. I'm gonna make one then," he said casually.
Her lips curved up. "Well, I'm glad you're looking forward to school. But remember, being friends is a two-way thing. You have to take care of your friends as well."
"That's fine. I can do that," he replied carelessly.
"Oh, that's nice. Then you can certainly eat celeries, right?" she said teasingly.
His face contorted. "It has nothing to do with this, Mommy!"
"It does. You're gonna go to school soon and you wanna be able to take care of your friends, yeah? Then, you have to grow up a little and eat celeries," she said matter-of-factly.
He looked at celery sticks with a miserable face. "I'm not sure I wanna grow up so much..."
She gave a short laugh and tousled his brown hair. "Well, we still have some time before your school begins. So, how about starting with one stick a day?"
He still didn't look happy, but gave a sigh with a serious face which looked cute.
"Only one?" he asked.
"Only one," she promised.
"Okay..." He gingerly picked up a celery stick and put a lot of cream cheese on it. As he squeezed his eyes while biting the stick, he got some cheese on his face. Keeping his eyes shut, he swallowed down the bite, then placed the rest into his mouth and ate it as well. Quickly, he opened his eyes, grabbed the glass of lemonade, and drank it all in one go before heaving a big sigh.
"Ah, look at you. Such a big boy." She affectionately stroked his head. Her son gave her a proud smile.
Softening her face, she held him closer. "I really hope you will find good friends," she whispered into his hair.
Probably she just wanted it for her own sake. Kira, unaware of her existence, couldn't possibly feel sad about not having his sister in his life while Calida regularly did. Either way, her feeling was sincere. She wanted her son to feel filled, happy.
She just hoped that the unique circumstances of his birth wouldn't bring him any more tragedy or loss. That he would be able to live a peaceful, happy life. She would do anything for it, including keeping him away from the dark, painful truth.
As Calida entered the parlor of the royal suite, a woman with dark blonde hair stood up. Seeing the woman's face, Calida let out a quiet sigh of relief. A part of her had been expecting to be told that there had been a misunderstanding or a change of heart and that she wasn't allowed to talk to the woman after all.
But anxiousness soon came back, tightening her body. Meeting the woman wasn't enough. She still had to convince her, appeal to her. The safety—the future of her family was resting on her shoulders. She couldn't afford to fail.
With a tense smile, Calida exchanged greetings with the other woman. The blonde then nodded at the man who had brought Calida here. "Thank you. You may leave now."
"Yes, Lady Athha." The man—a bodyguard or a butler, Calida wasn't sure—vowed in a refined manner and left. There wasn't any maid as Calida had half expected, and she was left alone with the woman. It seemed her request to talk in private was granted.
The woman—Eulalia Athha—studied Calida's face for a short time before smiling warmly. "It's really nice to see you again."
A few years back, Eulalia had been one of the patients Calida attended as a nurse and one of the participants of the experiment Via and several other geneticists conducted on a genetic disease. Although unable to find the cure, Via's team had succeeded in greatly easing the pain and discomfort of the patients.
She remembered Eulalia had been in tears while thanking her sister and the other team members. Calida had gotten married around that time and moved to another colony before the woman was discharged from the hospital. But her sister had later told her that the woman's husband was actually the Chief Representative of Orb though Eulalia hid her identity to avoid media attention; Chief Representative Athha had secretly sent a letter of thanks and generous donation. It had also seemed her sister and brother-in-law had known the Chief Representative beforehand, but Calida had not gotten to know the details.
Coincidentally, the Athha couple was visiting a city on the moon, only a few hours by shuttle from the colony where they were hiding, Calida had found a week ago. It had felt like a divine guidance to her. Leaving her husband and the twins in a short-term apartment they had moved into under a fake name after he had joined her and the babies, Calida had come to meet Eulalia, trying to do it as stealthily as possible.
She was gambling on the idea that the woman might be willing to help her and her husband keep the twins safe. She knew it was a long shot, but she was desperate enough.
At least, she had actually succeeded to meet the woman, having explained to Eulalia's secretary that she was doing this on her sister's behalf and that this was a matter of life and death. It seemed like an indication of how deep Eulalia's gratitude toward Via was. Calida just hoped it was deep enough for the woman to lend a helping hand to her sister's orphaned children.
From a call to her neighbor, Calida had found out that suspicious men were spotted near her house, to which neither she nor her husband had gone back for a while. The blood had drained from her face at the news. She was sure Blue Cosmos was checking on her, the only blood relative of the Hibiki couple who was still alive.
Since then, she had been paranoid, jumping at any suspicious sound or figure and never able to sleep without having a nightmare. The fugitive life was taking a toll on not just her but also her husband. Not to mention they didn't have enough resources to keep hiding for long.
They needed help, from someone who had enough power and connections to hold out against the most notorious terrorist group in the universe. This was basically the only hope she had. She had no idea what to do if Eulalia turned down her plea. Whether she could make the babies survive. Whether she could survive.
She nervously wrung her hands, seated on one of the sofas. Eulalia poured out a cup of tea and placed it in front of her. Calida took a sip from the cup, breathed in a deep breath, then started speaking.
Although she expressed sadness over the news of the Hibiki couple's death, Eulalia kept a calm, kind face throughout Calida's story, encouraging her to continue. After Calida finally closed her mouth, slightly out of breath, Eulalia kept silence for a minute, which felt so long to Calida. Then the blonde gave a gentle smile.
"I need to talk to my husband. But I believe we can help you."
Calida's head couldn't process the words right away. And once it did, she felt like she was about to faint, swallowed up by a big wave of relief.
"Thank you," she whispered in a shaky voice, tears welling up in her eyes. "Thank you so much."
···
Having soothed Cagalli back into sleep, Calida walked toward the crib to place the baby next to Kira who had slept through his sister's crying.
Standing beside the crib, however, she couldn't separate the blonde baby from her chest for a while. This would probably be the last time she held her. In a few hours, she, her husband, and Kira were going to leave this place, and Cagalli would stay here. Then, they would never see her again. Not in person, at least.
She stared at the blonde baby's sleeping face. Her heart constricted at the thought that she was going to leave her niece behind, the thought that she was taking from the twins their only sibling right after they had lost their parents.
But it was the only way, she told herself. What was most important was ensuring safety for the twins. Keeping both of the babies at the same place was too dangerous. Twins one of whom was a Coordinator and the other was a Natural. It was too unique a pair. No matter how painful it was, this was the right decision.
She closed her eyes and repeated it several times in her mind, steeling herself against the separation. Opening her eyes, she slowly put Cagalli down. She tried to whisper goodbye to the girl. But she couldn't bring herself to. Not yet.
Someone entered the nursery and quietly came to stand next to her. Quickly wiping her eyes, Calida glanced sideways. Eulalia was looking at the babies with a tender expression.
After a few moments, the blonde woman casually started speaking. "I have always wanted to name my daughter Kitri if I had one." Her hand touched her belly, her eyes still on the babies.
Calida remained silent, unsure of what to say. She knew the blonde's disease made it impossible for her to have her own child, which reminded her of Halma, her husband, who was also infertile. He had told her about it while they were dating. It had come as some shock to her. But he was such a great man, caring and gentle and funny, and she had not been able to bring herself to break up with him. After a lot of thinking and talking with her sister, she had decided it didn't matter; they could adopt a child or she could have her own child with a sperm donor.
And her husband and she had gained a son in a way neither of them had ever imagined.
"But," Eulalia continued, "Cagalli is a good name. I like it." She gave a warm smile to Calida.
An emotion welled up inside Calida. "Please..." she choked out. "Please take care of her..."
The blonde touched her arm reassuringly. "We will. I promise I'll do everything I can do for her."
Calida stared at Eulalia's sincere face, then wordlessly nodded. Although her worries weren't erased, she felt somewhat better.
She slipped a hand into her pocket and touched what was inside. She had been debating, but now she had made up her mind. She took out a photograph and held it out to the other woman. "Please take this."
Eulalia took it and studied it. "Was it taken a little after the babies were born?"
She sounded as if the twins had been born in a usual way, coming out of their mother's womb together. Calida didn't point out it had not been the case. She didn't really want to think about her brother-in-law's experiment that had led to such a tragedy and their current situation. Plus, it didn't really matter how Kira had been born. Nothing changed the fact that he was her nephew—now her son. And it was the only thing that was important to her.
"I want you to keep it," Calida said.
Eulalia looked surprised. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Calida firmly answered. "I have some other photos of my sister. And I think we better not keep Cagalli's photo. A proof that Kira has a sibling."
She hesitated, but continued, "Plus, I want Cagalli to have something of her mother." She hastily added, "Not that I want her to know. I don't. It's best for the twins to know nothing about their origin. But still..." Her voice trailed off. She wasn't sure how to explain her sentiments.
But Eulalia seemed to understand. "I'll keep it safe," she gently promised.
Calida's eyes became slightly teary as she gave a thankful nod.
Eulalia pressed the photo to her chest as if cherishing it, then took Calida's hand with her other one. She looked deep into Calida's eyes. "We'll never see each other again, but don't forget. We are family. We are connected through our children."
Calida looked back at the blonde, not knowing how to respond. Eulalia just smiled and turned toward the crib, without letting go of her hand.
Still unable to find anything to say, Calida looked at the babies as well. They silently remained that way for a while, and somehow Calida's mind wandered back to the time she had spent with her sister. Momentarily, she felt as if it was Via that was holding her hand.
Maybe, she thought, what Eulalia had just said was true. Maybe they were now family in a way. Even though they weren't related, even though they would never meet again, probably there was still a tie between them.
The thought somewhat comforted her, and she squeezed Eulalia's hand back.
"I hope this will be our last meeting," Calida said in a low voice, aware of the presence of bystanders.
Uzumi silently nodded and held out a hand. But before she took it, his eyes turned toward something behind her and her husband, in the direction of the sound of running steps.
Then came a voice. "Mr. Yamato, Mrs. Yamato!"
Calida started, more out of anticipation than surprise. As she had come to this place, to see Uzumi, she was half hoping and half afraid that this was going to happen. She swallowed, took a long breath, and finally turned around.
Her niece she had thought she would never see in person again. The daughter of her late sister. The baby she had let go. The girl she had been trying to forget about for fifteen years was standing right there, only several steps away.
Her eyes drank in the girl. Cagalli was panting, her hair a little disheveled. She must have run back here after seeing off the warship.
Many people said Kira took after his mother in appearance, which was true except it actually wasn't Calida. It was her sister, Kira's birth mother. As well as his hair and eyes, he had gotten several facial features from her.
So had Cagalli.
Although the girl had her birth father's hair and eyes, Calida could see Kira—and their mother—in Cagalli. The twins didn't exactly look alike; someone else might not be able to see their resemblances. But she could. She could clearly see the connection between them. Their tie nothing could cut.
Legally, there was no tie between the twins, or between Calida and Cagalli. The ties had been severed when she and her husband adopted Kira and the Athhas adopted Cagalli. They had decided it was the best in order to protect the babies if they maintained as little connection between them as possible. Not to mention Cagalli had had to be legally cut off from her biological family in order for her to be adopted into a noble family.
However, no law could sever the tie of blood. By blood, this girl was as much of her family as her son was.
Unaware of Calida's inner turmoil, the blonde girl, finally having regained her breathing, started speaking. "Kira...he asked me to tell you he was sorry. That he couldn't talk to you."
It was almost too much to hear Cagalli voice the name of her twin without knowing what he really was to her. Calida covered her trembling lips with a hand and turned her tearful eyes away. Her husband gently and firmly held her shoulder.
Apparently misunderstanding the reason of her reaction, Cagalli added hurriedly, "He wanted to, though. I could see it. He was tearing up looking at you."
Calida swallowed again before opening her mouth. "Thank you, Lady...Cagalli." She slightly choked, saying the name she had thought she would never call out again. Fortunately, Cagalli seemed to figure it was because Calida was still upset about Kira.
"It's...kind of you to deliver his message," Calida managed to continue in a calmer and more polite voice. Then, the scene of the twins talking and hugging came to her mind, and she knitted her eyebrows a little. "Are you close to my son?" she hesitantly asked, somewhat fearing the answer.
"We met in Heliopolis when the colony was attacked and destroyed. He saved my life," Cagalli explained.
Calida widened her eyes. "Did he?"
She couldn't really imagine her carefree son saving someone's life. Then again, she had never imagined her gentle son being a soldier. The thought saddened her, reminding her of the suffering Kira must have been experiencing.
"Yes, I might've died if he hadn't put me in a shelter," Cagalli said casually, and then, glancing at her father's frowning face, continued hastily, "Then we met again in the North Africa after a while and became friends. He is a good person. Honest and kind. Though a bit odd."
Cagalli's tone and face warmed and pained Calida at once. She could see the girl really liked her son—hopefully not in a romantic way.
I'm sorry I took him away from you.
But it seemed that fate had given back to the children what she had taken, if only as a friend. Calida wasn't sure it was entirely a good thing. A large part of her was still afraid that the twins might find out about their biological parents and suffer from it. Or they might be targeted by Blue Cosmos or some other dangerous people again.
However, she admitted that another part of her was happy to see the twins together and hear they had shared time and come to care about each other, been in each other's life. The feeling of guilt had always been in her heart. Guilt over separating the twins and keeping the fact they had a sibling secret. Even though she, and her husband and Cagalli's adoptive parents, had been doing it to protect the twins, especially Kira, she still wished—had been wishing—there was a way Kira and Cagalli could live together.
"It will be all right, Mrs. Yamato. I'm sure he'll come back safe. He must," Cagalli gently said, her face and eyes full of genuine concern. The girl seemed to have assumed that Calida was thinking about Kira, which was only part of the truth.
Calida nodded, her eyes glued to the girl's face. "Thank you again," she slowly said. "I'm very glad you've been Kira's friend. I'm sure he is, too." She hesitated then, but couldn't help continuing, "Please take care of yourself—stay safe..." Her voice quivered.
Cagalli's face turned slightly puzzled, but she nodded anyway. "I will. Thanks."
Calida and her husband bade farewell to the Athhas, and started to leave. Before they left the room, she looked back over her shoulder. Uzumi was talking to his daughter with a stern face. Cagalli was listening with a pouty face, but soon retorted and walked away. Or more like ran away.
Shaking his head, Uzumi glanced in Calida's direction. Their eyes met briefly. He silently gave a nod, and she gave back her own. He walked in the direction his daughter had left. She turned her face back and resumed walking in the opposite direction.
Halma squeezed her shoulder. "They'll be fine. Both of them."
She looked at the man who had been at her side sharing her burdens and supporting her. Even though they weren't related by blood, his gentle smile always reminded her of her son's. She softly smiled back and put her hand over her husband's.
Seeing her niece alive and well and apparently loved with her own eyes had eased her guilt and worry much more than she had expected. She could believe more strongly that her decision had been right. Not that the belief completely banished the thought of her niece from her mind, though. She had been trying to because she thought it was for the best and because of her feeling of guilt over giving Cagalli up. But she wasn't anymore. She now accepted she couldn't. She couldn't pretend as if there was nothing between herself and the girl.
As she had once told her son, being family wasn't really about blood. You could be family even if you weren't blood-related. Like her husband and son. Like her niece and her father.
However, it didn't mean ties of blood didn't matter. Kira was her son while Cagalli wasn't her daughter. But the girl was still her niece. She always would be. And Calida always would care about Cagalli, even if this was the last time they met in person. She wished safety and happiness for Cagalli as she did for Kira. She loved Cagalli as she did Kira. Probably not as much, but still strongly and wholeheartedly.
"It's beautiful. Halma will love this," Calida muttered to herself, looking at the photograph her sister's printer had just spit out. It was a photograph of her sister holding two babies in her arms. It looked even lovelier than it had on a computer screen. Her husband had not been able to accompany her to her sister's house, so she was bringing some photographs to him.
Collecting several other photographs she had printed, she headed for the nursery.
"I got these—oh, are they awake?"
Via looked up from the crib. "Yeah, they woke up just a minute ago."
Calida hurried over to her sister's side and looked into the crib. The golden-haired baby was moving her arms as if stretching; the brown-haired baby looked still half asleep.
She compared the babies in front of her with the babies in the photograph. The photograph had been taken by a friend of Via's when the babies were only several hours old. Now they were three weeks old and looked somewhat chubbier, the boy a little bigger than the girl. She briefly wondered whether it was because he was a Coordinator and she was a Natural or because of the way he had been nurtured.
She shook her head and looked at the brunette. "It's Kira, right? And Kagari?"
"It's Cagalli." Via held out a hand. "Give me a photo." Her sister took the photograph of her and the twins from Calida, turned it over, and wrote the names down. "Here."
"Oh, thanks. Now I don't have to worry about misspelling their names on birthday cards and stuff," Calida said jokingly, taking back the photograph.
"No, you don't, scatterbrain." Her older sister teasingly poked her head.
"Speaking of birthday, they were born on the same day after all, weren't they?"
"Yes, though Cagalli was born several days earlier than the due date, she was perfectly healthy. So I persuaded Ulen into getting Kira out of the artificial womb that day." Via paused a little before adding, "Not that he needed much pushing. He was itching to give birth to the first Ultimate Coordinator." Her face and tone were bitter and Calida looked at her worriedly.
Noticing that, Via put on a smile. "Well, anyway, I'm glad they share a birthday. It feels...right. Like how it should be...how it should have been." A flicker of sadness crossed her face as she looked toward the babies.
"Maybe it's due to the so-called 'mysterious connection of twins' that they were born on the same day despite the circumstances," Calida said gently, slightly emphasizing the word "twins." The babies were still twins even though they had been nurtured and born separately.
Via looked back at her and smiled more genuinely. "Maybe it is."
"And you have to hold only one birthday party instead of two every year," Calida joked, trying to lift her sister's mood.
"Right. That's another good thing about this," Via returned in a joking tone.
Feeling relieved, Calida looked down at the photograph again, and sighed. "I wish I was here that day. I promised you I'd be. I'm so sorry."
Via patted her on the back. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault." Via had called Calida when her labor started and Calida had tried to come to Mendel. But there had been an accident at the only port of the colony Calida and her husband lived in. Many flights had been canceled and Calida had not been able to get a shuttle ticket until today. "I'm just glad you came," Via finished.
"Me, too. It's been a while since we saw each other in person."
The sisters shared a smile, then Via said, "Hey, can you watch the babies for a minute? I need to make a call."
"Sure. I'm happy to," Calida answered and Via disappeared into the next room.
For a little, Calida watched the babies stare at, move a hand toward, and make noises to each other. Then she leaned toward the crib. "Hello, I'm your Aunt Calida," she said, touching each baby's cheek.
The brunet baby shifted and his tiny hand softly brushed hers; the blonde baby made some noise as if answering her. She felt a wide smile spread over her face. Now she was an aunt. Of two beautiful babies.
She gently tickled the babies and enjoyed their reactions. Babies were such a wonderful creature. Maybe it was time for her and her husband to give a serious thought to adopting one. They had briefly talked about it before, but agreed to wait for a few years.
"But I told you, Ulen." An upset voice came from the next room.
As she looked in the direction, Calida's face turned into a worried frown. She quietly released a sigh. The relationship between her sister and brother-in-law was restrained, and it didn't seem to be getting any better even though they had just had babies—or because they had.
She moved her eyes back to the twins. "It's okay," she whispered, reaching out to stroke the boy's hair. "It's gonna be okay. Mommy and Daddy will work it out." She paused and added, "And even if they won't, it's not your fault. Plus, it won't change they love you. Both of you." She stretched out the other hand to place it on the girl's head.
"And you know what?" She leaned further into the crib. She could smell the sweet scent of the babies, which made her smile affectionately. "I love you, too. Aunt Calida will always be there for you. Don't you forget that."
"See? Now it's my turn to wi—WHAT?! Oh, you jerk!" Cagalli appeared to be feeling like throwing away her controller as she glared at the TV screen.
"Ha ha, sorry. I won again." Kira smiled as the game they had been playing was finished and his avatar danced a dance of victory.
"I don't believe it. What was it that you did? You can't do it!"
"Well, obviously I can."
"No, you can't!"
"Yes, I can!"
Watching them, Calida shook her head as the conversation of the twins seemed to grow into a quarrel over a video game.
"They can be so childish, can't they? Your daddy and your aunty," she whispered to the baby she was holding in her arms. He looked nothing like her son, or his wife, which was natural for they weren't related by blood. The baby was their child and her grandchild nonetheless.
Sadly, the baby had lost all his blood relatives. But he still had his family. Blood wasn't what tied you as family; love was. That was what her sister had said a little before her death, and Calida agreed with her. Blood could make you love someone, but if you were connected by blood without love, you weren't really family to each other; you were nothing but family when you were connected by love.
"We love you so much. You have us, always," she cooed and dropped a kiss on the soft ebony hair before putting the baby into a crib.
As she stood beside the crib and gazed at the peaceful sleeping face of the baby, she felt glad again that her son and daughter-in-law had decided to come back to Orb to start a family. If they were still in PLANT, she couldn't help them as much with the baby or see them as often. She loved spending time with her son's family, especially her grandson, and felt so happy.
Then, she gave a little sigh and turned around to walk over to the twins who were still quarreling. "Will you two be quiet?"
"But, Aunt Calida, he cheated!" Cagalli pointed an accusing finger to her brother.
"I did no such thing!" Kira protested, then, noticing the look Calida sent him, lowered his voice. "It was just a secret trick."
Cagalli glared daggers at him. "Which you conveniently neglected to mention when you explained the rules to me."
"Ah...oh, is he asleep?" Kira turned his eyes to the crib.
Calida raised her eyebrows at her son. "He's been sleeping for more than fifteen minutes by now."
He scratched his head. "Umm...thanks for putting him to sleep."
"Wait. How come I ended up playing a video game with you when I came to see my nephew?" Cagalli wondered aloud.
"Because we couldn't soothe him and Mom took over the job?" Kira reminded her.
Cagalli sighed. "Right. I had no idea babies cry that much."
"Yeah, I was surprised too, at first. And I still can't soothe him well," Kira said.
The conversation stirred a memory in Calida. "You were an easy baby, Kira," she quietly said. "But the day we separated you two, you cried and cried and didn't stop for a long time until you finally exhausted yourself to sleep...as if you knew you wouldn't see your sister ever again..." She still remembered her heart breaking with each second the crying went on, though the pain had diminished each time she saw the twins interacting after their reunion and now gone.
"I mean, that's what I thought then. Though in reality, you met her again," she added.
Her son and niece were looking at her, sitting on the floor next to each other and slightly tilting their heads in opposite directions. They looked exactly like twins that way.
"Maybe you needed your big sister to soothe you, huh?" Cagalli nudged her brother with her elbow, grinning.
Kira answered leisurely, "Or maybe I was imitating you so Mom and Dad wouldn't miss you as much."
Cagalli sent him an offended look. "Are you suggesting I was a crybaby?"
"I don't know about being a crybaby, but I bet you were a noisy baby." He turned his eyes from his sister to her. Calida just smiled.
Cagalli made a small pout. "I may have been expressive and active as a baby, but there's nothing wrong with it."
"Except that you were noisy," Kira teased. His sister narrowed her eyes at him.
"At least, it wasn't hard to soothe you," Calida intervened. "We just needed to give you milk or a toy, and usually, your mood got better."
Kira laughed. "Oh, I can totally imagine that."
Cagalli frowned. "What's so funny about it?"
Her brother waved a hand lazily, the laughter still in his voice. "Nothing, nothing."
"It doesn't sound like nothing."
"It's just that you don't seem to have changed much."
Cagalli raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying I'm childish? You're one to talk."
"Hey, I'm a father, you know," Kira protested, smiling.
"Being a parent doesn't automatically make you mature," Cagalli quipped.
"I'm at least as mature as you," Kira returned.
Hearing the banter, Calida couldn't help but laugh. "You're so like little kids when you're fighting."
The twins looked at her, then each other, appearing a little embarrassed.
"And I love you." She kneeled on the floor to pull both of them into a hug. "I'm so glad we're here together. I'm so happy I have you," she said from the bottom of her heart. Squeezing them, she felt a little nostalgic and amazed. They were so grown up now.
After a little, she felt two arms hold her body—one from each twin.
"Us, too."
"We are happy to have you."
She smiled and embraced them more tightly.
The End
A/N: If you are wondering what happened to the twins' biological parents, you can read "Bright Future" which features Dr. Ulen Hibiki. The first part of this fic happened right after the last part of that fic.
Thank you for reading. If you have reviewed my other fics, thank you for that, too.
And happy birthday, Cagalli and Kira!