Kira's Change of Heart
By: Scarlett Skylar (Formerly Blood Scarlet Dark)
Disclaimer: I do not own.
Chapter 4: The time to be heard, is now
Kira's POV:
What do I do now?
I sighed, pulling on the black t-shirt Athrun had given me; I was a little surprised to discover Athrun and I wore similar sized jeans. Athrun had always been taller than me, so they were a bit long but I just rolled them up. I looked at myself in the mirror. Athrun… I can't let you do this alone… but first I have to tell you the truth, and see if you still want to have anything to do with me at all… A picture of the Hibiki's flashed before my eyes at the thought and I sighed. That will not be an easy thing to explain… Cagalli… are you okay? I felt horrible that this was the first time I had thought of my twin since Heliopolis. "I'm a horrible brother." I whispered to myself.
"Kira? You almost ready?" I heard Athrun calling, worried.
"Yeah, just a second!"
I looked in the mirror one last time, a weak smile on my face. I sighed and walked out of the room. Athrun was sitting on my bed, waiting patiently. He glanced up at me when I came out, and our eyes met. I noticed he glanced down quickly, and I saw a faint blush on his cheeks.
"Ready to face the masses?" I swallowed hard, and nodded. You make that uniform look good, Athrun.
He stood and led the way out, Nicol, Dearka, Yzak and Rusty were there. They were all in their uniforms, and looked very professional and serious. We walked down the hallway. Miguel and Commander Cruset were at the end of the hall, and they lead the way out.
There was a group of men waiting, and they all fell in line. I was surrounded on all sides; they'd made a protective ring around me. Am I really in this much danger?Commander Cruset was in front of me, Miguel and Rusty next to him. Athrun was on my right, Nicol on my left, Yzak and Dearka behind me. Then there was a ring of soldiers surrounding them. There were 10 of them. Athrun was tense, and I could tell. He kept looking around, watching. Paranoid.
I could almost feel the tension in the air, mostly surrounding him. I brushed my fingers across his knuckles, hoping to catch his attention, He glanced at me and smiled. "It's just a precaution Kira." He said softly. "Don't worry."
"I'll stop worrying, when you start acting less paranoid." I told him gently, with a smile to show that I meant it in the nicest possible way.
I could see Nicol smile, but he was hiding it well. We made it inside without incident. A tall, imposing woman walked towards us, she had long beautiful silver hair. I just knew in my gut that she was Yzak's mother, a council member. She walked up and smiled at us, she kissed Yzak's cheek. "It's good to see you're well Mother." He said softly. "Same goes to you, son." She dismissed the outer ring of soldiers and motioned for us to follow her.
We reached a large council hall after a short walk and we were all seated off to the side in a row. Athrun and Nicol next to me, and Yzak and Dearka next to them. The Commander and Miguel were standing towards the front of the seats, near the council members. Rusty had disappeared. I could see Athrun's father talking to the Commander. Looking concerned, he looked our way and smiled at me in what I was sure was meant to be a reassuring manner. After a moment he stopped talking and walked in our direction, and the soldiers saluted him.
"At ease men." He said gently, waving them off; before turning to Athrun, "Athrun, how are you son?"
He sighed softly and smiled, "Could be better, but have been worse."
"Well, that's good I suppose." He said softly, and looked at me, "Kira… it's nice to see you."
I smiled, "The same to you. I trust you are well?"
He smiled and grabbed me and Athrun in a hug. "I am well, but from what I've heard, and read in various reports, you Kira, have seen better days."
I smiled, and felt myself turning red, "You could say that." I told him quietly laying my forhead against his shoulder, god I missed his hugs.
"How do you feel? Are you okay to be here?"
"I'm fine, don't fuss so much." I said softly, reassuringly. The other council member and their spouse's were coming over. They all looked surprised to see that I was just as young as the red elites. A man that greatly resembled Dearka stepped forward, Must be his father.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Yamato." He said gently, "I'm councilman Elsman; this is my wife, Sara Elsman."
"It's nice to meet you both." I said, surprised.
This continued for several minutes, and I was introduced to everyone and their spouse. I frowned, wondering where Lenore was. Momma, where are you!? I glanced at Athrun, and he seemed to pick up on my inner turmoil. "Dad, where's mom?" Athrun asked curiously, an undertone of worry in his voice.
He smiled at us, "She's on her way. Don't worry, nothing would make her miss this."
I nodded, and Athrun smiled at me. After a few minutes of everyone talking, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and when I turned I saw a startling pair of beautiful emerald eyes. "I missed you Kira." She said softly. "I missed you too." I said quietly and she hugged me. Athrun really does have her eyes… they're so beautiful.
"I am so glad you're okay Kira." She whispered, and I felt Athrun set his hand in the middle of my back. Councilman Amarfi cleared his throat, and after a very long pause, she let go of me. She kissed my cheek and went to stand next to Patrick; Athrun quickly started to introduce me to the rest of the council members, never removing his hand. I'm not sure if he even realizes he's doing it. But he's had some form of contact with me since we got here; he's been brushing his hand against mine since we stepped off the Gamow. He's had his hand on my shoulder, pretty much since his mom got here… like he's afraid I'm just going to disappear.
After the quick and informal meet and greet, Patrick had everyone sit back down around the large circle table that dominated the room. When everyone was settled, Patrick turned to me.
"Kira, I need to just review some of these facts with you, is that alright?" he asked softly, and I nodded calmly.
"Good." He said with a confident smile at me. "First off, were you residing on Heliopolis with your adoptive parents, and what were you doing there?"
I felt Athrun's hand on my knee jerk, but I ignored it. This wasn't how I planned on him finding out.
"Yes I was, and I was a student at a technocol college on Heliopolis."
Patrick nodded his eyes drifting to his son, "Is it true that you attended a Lunar Prepatory school?"
"Yes."
The questions continued like this for what seemed like hours, before Patrick was done. Councilman Clyne then asked if there was anything else, and I just smiled. "There is a lot none of you know, so of course there is; but I don't know how relevant any of it is." I took a deep breath and placed my hand on top of Athrun's.
"I am a first generation coordinator, and I have a twin sister, that is a natural. My biological parent's names were Ulen and Via Hibiki." I felt the muscles in Athrun's arm tense but I had made up my mind, and I was going to barrel on through this. "My parents were a very high target for Blue Cosmos, and it is believed they were killed because of what they were trying to achieve. What they dreamed of doing. Ulen Hibiki was trying to do something that was thought impossible, create the ultimate coordinator." I glanced around and saw many surpried faces. "There was one survivor of the project, and I am here before you today. There isn't much information about the project in general, and I can only share with you what little I know; and it's not much." I said, frowning.
"There were many lives sacrificed in this project. And that is a horrible reality; that I still have not come to accept, because it is so tragic. Ulen Hibiki created an artificial womb, in which I was born; my genetics were changed, to create the "ultimate" coordinator. Currently, it is unknown to what extent my genetics are different, and all Ulen Hibiki's work was destroyed, so we have no way to find out what he did, or how he did it. When my parents were killed my sister and I were adopted; her to a..." I paused, thinking of what to say here without putting her or myself in an awkward position.
"A very well respected man that lives in Orb. I was adopted by my mother's sister and her husband. So I still grew up with family… just was my aunt and uncle instead of mom and dad. I still consider them my parent's, they're the ones that raised me. That's what counts, genetic don't mean much in the end. As I said, my sister and I were adopted separately, and it was thought to be in our best interests if we were kept apart until we were older. Which, looking back, was probably the most wise decision. Things would be a lot different if we were raised together. I attended the Copernicus Preparatory School, where I met Athrun Zala, who is now one of ZAFT's star pilots." Out of the corner of my eye I could see Yzak trying not to laugh, and Athrun turning an interesting shade of red. Patrick and Lenore were sharing one of their secret smiles.
"Right after graduation, Athrun returned to the PLANTs, and I moved to Heliopolis with my parents and enrolled at a technical college. I stayed at Heliopolis until I was… taken aboard an Earth Forces ship during the raid on Heliopolis. I was there for some time, until Miss Lacus Clyne came aboard; through a series of rather strange events. Anyway, Miss Lacus' life was threatened by a natural girl on the ship, that was a civilian." There were some angry murmurs in the group, and I waited for them to settle before I continued.
"I was injured while guarding her, and shortly after that I removed her from the ship and my intention was just to make sure she was taken to a safer place; but after some… conversation between myself and Athrun, it was decided it was within my best interests to board the ZAFT ship, and return to the PLANTs." There was a long silence, and I let everyone digest the story before stating, "I know it's a long, slightly confusing story, so I am willing to answer any questions I am able to."
There was a pause, before Yzak's mother spoke. "How did you find out about your sister if it was decided that it was better you were separated?" I smiled. Of course there would be questions about Cagalli. Gotta watch what I say now…
"We had run into each other on Heliopolis, and got to talking, she came over for dinner at my house; and when my mom nearly fell out of her chair in shock, we knew something was up. My parents contacted Cagalli's father, and it was decided that we should be told the truth; since we had already met. There was really no point keeping it a secret after that."
She nodded, accepting my explanation. "Cagalli is your sisters name then?"
"Yes." I confirmed with a nod.
Next Nicol's father spoke, "From my understanding you were in Morgenrate's factory district during the raid, if you were a civilian, why were you there in the first place?"
"I, along with a handful of other student's from Professor Kato's seminar were in the factory district helping him with a research project and program analysis."
"Was the program analysis related to the mobile suits?"
I paused and frowned. "Yes, but none of us knew that until after the fact. They don't tell much to student assistants, you know?"
He nodded, with a small laugh. Athrun's hand on my knee squeezed, I glanced at him, and he was looking at me in a concerned manner. I just smiled at him, trying to get him to relax.
End Chapter 4!
