Chapter 8
Decision
"What did you say?"
"Oh, were you fond of Mr. Wakefield?"
Celina couldn't take it anymore. The rage she had inside of her had suddenly reached its capacity. She grabbed Troy's shirt collar and pulled him towards her. She growled, "What did you say?"
Troy said, in a rather calm tone, "You heard me. Your beloved Desert Tiger was killed by your own kind."
"Don't lie."
"I would never lie to you, Alexandria."
Celina slammed him against a wall. "For the last time," she said, "I'm not the murderer's sister."
"Whatever you say Julia."
Celina loosened her hold on him. She felt her heart pumping faster than usual and dropped her hands from him. Troy smiled, "I see that name is affecting you. But when everyone calls you that you don't seem like, what would I call it, hurting."
"I'm going to see Mom."
"But, Mommy's in Heaven."
"Come on, Alexandria, we both know you can't keep lying forever. Maybe you are trying to protect yourself from a terrible heartache. Or have you developed feelings for the Naturals."
"Mommy, there's an odd man staring at us."
She clenched her hands, veins starting to appear on her knuckles. She lowered her head; a chill went through the hall. Troy slowly backed away from her. Celina said, in the coldest tone, "Never say that. Never say I care for Naturals." She said it with so much hatred; it made Troy regret what he had said to her.
"Celina?"
"I thought you told me I'm Alexandria." She walked towards him, "Why aren't you calling me that?"
"Cell? Don't do this."
"Do what?" she said in an innocent tone.
He found himself in a corner. Troy was trapped, no place to run or hide. "Celina," he said, "Don't do this. I know you don't want to do this. You want fight it."
Celina put one hand on the wall next to Troy and the other hand raising his chin. "Sweet little Troy. You are just an imitation. You are like me. Why would I kill someone with the same blood as me? Can you figure that bit out?"
"Julia."
"You look like him; you have his eyes, my eyes. But, why are you with the Naturals?"
"Julia!"
She didn't turn to see who called out. But, the name started to enrage her even more. Troy said, to her "Celina, you've got to fight it. You don't want to become what everyone expects you to become."
Celina quickly grabbed his shoulders and thrust him into the wall. "Shut up!" she yelled. Then, someone came behind her and grabbed her around the waist. She was lifted off the ground. She mustered all her strength, got her feet back on the ground and threw the person that was holding over her shoulder into the ground. Celina saw that the person that had held her was a man wearing a uniform that she never saw before. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
It sounded like a young girl's voice. Celina turned and saw Cagalli, Kira, Murrue and Mwu staring at her. Kira saw her eyes were different then usual. The pupils had gone extremely small; it was hard to even see them. It was filled with rage, anger and hatred. Celina said, "Why would you want to know?"
Murrue went over to Troy to check if he was okay. Kira said, "What's wrong, Julia?"
He started walking towards her and stepped back from him each time he was getting closer to her. "Please, Julia. Tell me."
"Mommy, there's an odd man staring at us."
She put her hands on her head and said, "No."
"I'm going to see Mom."
Celina fell to her knees, sobbed, "Please, make it stop."
"Stop what?"
She stared at Kira. Then, Sirally's smiling face appeared in front of her. She shook her head, stared at Kira, again. Still Sirally was there, not Kira. Sirally said, "Sister, don't be scared. I'm here for you."
He reached out a hand to her; she shook her head, again and cried, "This is all a dream. You're not here. I'm home, with dad, Athrun, Aunty Lenore, I'm home. Not here."
"Sister, believe me I'm only here for your own good."
"No."
Then, a woman appeared behind Sirally. It was the same woman Celina saw earlier in her dream. The woman also held out her hand.
Celina screamed, "GET AWAY FROM ME!"
Sirally and the woman looked at each other. He said, to Celina "We'll be back later. Bye, little sister."
In a blink of an eye, they vanished. Kira said, "Julia?" Something had really disturbed her terribly. Cagalli said, to Kira, "I think we should take her to a hospital."
Troy said, suddenly, "Please, don't"
Murrue said, "Troy, don't exhaust yourself. You're really hurt."
"I'm all right. It's my fault, she's like this. I didn't really mean to get her all worked up."
Kira said, angrily, "What did you say to her this time?"
Troy kept quiet. His silence and Celina's odd behavior told him the answer. "You did it, again. Even after you said you wouldn't do it."
"Did what?" said Cagalli.
Troy sniffed, "I'm sorry."
"Sorry isn't good enough. You just turned a girl insane, just by saying she's a murderer's sister? Pray, her mind won't shut down."
"I told you I'm sorry."
"What's going on here?"
They turned and saw Natalie Halberton appear in the middle of the hallway. She repeated, again, "What's going on here?"
Mwu straightened up, "Natalie, it's not what you think?"
"What? The fact people are standing in the hallway, practically blocking it, my son on the ground crying, an unconscious man and a girl who's clutching her head and kee-,"
Kira watched her blood disappear from her face, he never saw anyone go as pale as she did. She ran to Celina's side and said, "Celina, what's wrong?"
Mwu said, "Celina? Who's Celina?"
Natalie said, "Honey, please. Say something."
Celina stared at Natalie. She looked like she was facing death. She sobbed, "He, she, he,"
"Take deep breaths."
"I-I -I-,"
Natalie put her arms around Celina, "Everything's going to be all right. I promise."
She cried in Natalie's arms. Troy said, "Mom."
Natalie said, to Celina, "Shh. Everything's going to be all right."
She looked at everyone else. "Mwu, can you help me take her to her room?"
"Yeah, sure," he quickly said.
He helped Celina to her feet. Natalie held the concerned look on her face. She said, "Troy, stay here."
"But-,"
"No, buts, Troy. Murrue, later can you please come to her room."
Natalie turned to Kira and Cagalli, "Mr. Yamoto, look after my son. I advise you two to not visit Celina anymore."
Cagalli said, "And why not?"
"Do you want to see a girl crying out for people that don't even exist?"
"No."
"Heed, my warning. It's best for none of you to see her."
They walked away. Cagalli said, to Kira, "What's that all about?"
He kept on staring at the door they went through, his silence made Cagalli stop talking. Troy got up and said, to Murrue, "You should go after them."
"You'll be all right?"
He nodded. She left them behind. When she was out of sight, Kira said, to Troy, "Talk."
"About what?"
Cagalli said, "The girl's behavior."
"Oh, that? She's having memory replay, going insane."
Kira said, "Why?"
"Because, she's figuring out that she's the most wanted soon-to-be killer."
"Can you forget that, for once?"
"No, because for once I'm right about something and I can become known as the person who save the Earth."
"For the last time, she isn't Sirally's little sister?"
"Sirally?" said Cagalli, "who's he?"
Troy gaped at her, "You don't know him?"
She shook his head.
"He's like the worst killer ever."
Kira said, "He only killed one person."
"A high ranking officer. He's own commander, he's own mentor."
"The kid got killed by a firing squad. That's worse."
"Since, they killed her brother. She'll hunt them down!"
Cagalli said, "First of all, a child would never remember who killed her brother. Second, she's a Natural."
"She's a coordinator."
"What?"
"You heard me she's a coordinator and your pal, Kira knew about it. Now, dear Cagalli, you know to."
Cagalli faced Kira. "Is that true," she asked, "She's a coordinator."
All Kira did was nod, he was preparing for the worst from her. She continued, "Is she with them?"
Kira said, "There's no point to worry about that."
"Why not? She's with your enemy. She's probably planning to kill us."
"She won't."
"How would you know? Maybe she's lying about being ill."
What if she was lying the entire time? No, Kira thought, she isn't. She isn't the kind of type. He started to walk away, "I just know."
Kira stood in front of Celina's room and was about to knock, but someone called out, "Kira." He turned and saw Fllay coming towards him.
"I was looking all over for you," she said."
"Sorry, I was with Cagalli."
Fllay's faced turned to a look of jealousy, but quickly it vanished. She said, "I see."
She smiled, "But there's no point of apologizing to me. I'm the one to apologize to you."
"For what?"
"For what I did to Julia. I didn't really mean to, something just happened and I got scared. You do understand right?"
He nodded. Fllay put her arms around him and embraced him. She said, "I thought she was going to die and I just wanted put her out of her misery. I can't stand to see someone suffering and not being able to help them."
"You meant well, but please don't do that again. I understand what you mean. She's my friend and I wanted to help her. It's already too late."
Fllay stared up at him, "What do you mean by that?"
Kira looked away to the side. "Nothing," he said.
Then, the door slid open and Mwu came out. He had a very worried look on his face. Quickly and gently, Kira moved Fllay from him. "How is she?"
Mwu noticed him and shook his head. "It's worse than any of us had ever thought."
"Will she-,"
"No, she won't die."
"Can I see her?"
Mwu looked back at the door, "I think you should, but Natalie says it's not good for either of you to ever see each other, again."
Kira stared at the floor. 'Maybe it's best.'
"She's going to be sent to Orb, since it's the closest place with good medical treatment."
Quietly, Kira heard Mwu say, "Poor girl. She's going to have a tough life."
The door again slid open. This time Natalie came through it. He looked like she had aged in a matter of seconds. Her face was filled with anger and sadness.
When she saw Kira, she tried hard to have a kind face, but it held the look of pain he had seen her wear earlier. She said, "I told you to stay away from here."
Kira stood firm and said, "I need to see her."
She looked from Mwu to Kira. "She doesn't need to see the boy that caused to be in this state."
"But-,"
Natalie raised her right hand for him to stop talking. She said, "My decision is going to stay. This is for her and your own good."
Kira decided that there was no longer any point of him to argue her; obviously she'd still say the same thing over and over again.
He looked away and asked, with sadness in his tone, "When will she be leaving for Orb?"
"Tomorrow."
She started to walk away. She stopped and turned. "Mwu," she said, "I trust you to keep the boy from her. If you don't, I can easily strip you of your rank."
With that said, Natalie left them behind. After a moment of a quiet still silence, Mwu said, "You heard the woman, you've got to stay away from here."
Kira walked away and went to the only place he thought might be comfortable, the cockpit of Strike. He sat there, many thoughts rushing through his mind. Should he tell Athrun that Celina had to be taken away from here? Did she also feel the same way as Natalie did about him not seeing her? Possibly, if she believed that he was the reason why she was like this, then it would be best to stay away from her.
He heard someone approaching and then a knock. "It's me," said the person. Kira knew that voice, it was Cagalli's. He opened the cockpit and there stood Cagalli. She leaned on the bars and said, "I heard about what Natalie said to you."
He looked up at her.
She said, "Fllay told Sai, who told Mirillia then me."
She tipped her head to one side and asked, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not. If you want to say good bye, do that. I've got a feeling that might cheer her up a bit, knowing that her fellow coordinator doesn't want her to go."
"I can't, Mwu,-"
"Could get fired. Kira, you know what you are. One good bye won't kill any one."
He thought for a moment and got out of the seat. He came out, "Cagalli, it's not that simple."
She sighed, "I give up."
Kira said, "I've decided to stay away from Celina. It's for the best."
With that said, he left Cagalli in confusion. He walked around for awhile. Finally he stopped. Near the wide windows stood Celina. She was staring at the sun that was setting. Kira didn't know if he should approach her or leave her alone. She turned her head and said, "Hello, Kira."
She appeared to look like her normal self, but instead of her eyes filled with disgust and hatred, they were filled with sorrow. When she said, that he decided to go to her.
He said, "Hello."
She smiled, "I was starting to worry what Natalie said was true."
"What did she say?"
"She said that you didn't want to see me anymore."
"She told me that I should stay away for your own good."
"Well, she's wrong," she looked back at the sunset, "I know what's best for me."
"Yes, that's true, but this time its best if you follow what she says."
"Like never to lay eyes on you? No, I won't follow that."
Her eyes went back to staring at his face, "I've come to realize that you are my dearest friend and I can't loose you, not like this."
She felt she had said too much and looked away from his face that was starting to become sad. She didn't want to look at him, because if he saw the tears that were rushing down her face, he might see that she had learnt to care for him.
He stepped closer to her, "Celina-,"
"Don't say that name. Please, I just don't want to hear Julia or Celina come from your lips."
The sun was now gone from the sky. It was replaced the moon was full high up in the dark sky with the bright stars. She stared at the moon.
"High up in the sky is heaven."
"Is that where Mommy is?"
"Yes that's where she is watching over us."
"Even baby?"
"Even baby."
"Troy?"
"Yes."
"Will everyone be going to heaven?"
"I don't know, A.J. I don't know."
Celina said, "Kira, maybe she's right. About me being in danger."
"You aren't in danger."
"I am, you are. All Coordinators. Natalie thinks its best for me to be at Orb, where no one will look for me or use me."
