Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait everyone. I made this chapter longer to make up for it, so please enjoy! Please leave a review about whether you liked it or not.

Chapter 4

The drive back home to the orphanage was surprisingly more enjoyable than one would imagine. It was all due to the actions of a certain blonde, and how it made the brunet start to notice her unique behaviour.

It was a bright and clear sunny day today.

Kira found himself listening to Stellar merrily hum a tune while staring out the window. It was faint but definitely audible considering how she was sitting in the passenger seat. Thanks to his coordinator-enhanced abilities, he was able to pick up her tune and not interpret it as someone just making annoying sounds. Although she was facing away from him and towards the window at the moment, he was sure that had he looked, he would see a pleased expression. He was about to ask what tune she humming to, but curiosity got the better of him and so he decided to ask her after she had stopped. He was interested enough to hear all of it. Also, he didn't want to disturb the small moment of silence in comfort between him and said blonde.

Although he didn't have to wait long when Stellar suddenly turned to face him.

Kira was looking forward to having a conversation with her and so he couldn't help but feel glad when he realized that Stellar was going to ask him something. But she didn't say anything as she regarded him. Well any moment now, thought Kira. It wasn't long before Stellar turned away and stared out the window again but this time without her humming. It made Kira pout on the inside but he was interested in her now. Not romantically interested, but it made him realize that there was still a lot he didn't know about her. Understatement of the century, he barely knew her yet there was something about her that attracted him to her. He couldn't point out what the cause was, but it got him thinking about her. Oh how he wished that he was more socially adept like Athrun or Lacus, but nope he would have to take it the old-fashioned way and get to know her one step at a time, he figured.

That was the first thing Kira noticed about the drive that made it more enjoyable than usual. He decided to stop his thoughts for now to concentrate on his driving, and so his lavender eyes narrowed as his expression took on a more serious look as he stared down the road and shot the car straight ahead and into the tunnel underpass through the mountains.

Everything would have turned out normal if it were anyone else sitting in the passenger seat. But this was Stellar. Stellar Loussier, who was trained as an Extended and one of her unnatural abilities was to discern her opponents. Even in the child-like state that she was in now, although unknown to Kira because he thought she spoke in third person for fun, she was able to make use of that ability without realizing it. She had indeed caught on to his sudden change in expression without looking.

"Stellar wants to know why Kira is mad. Did Stellar do something wrong?" she asked childishly. Turning to him, her thoughts were confirmed when she saw his expression.

This caught him off guard, he wasn't expecting a question all of a sudden from her about being mad. "Wrong? What are you talking about, Stellar?"

"Well… Kira looks like Shinn when Shinn gets mad at Stellar." She gave a small but dangerously cute pout because it made Kira lose his focus on the road for a small second.

"I'm not mad at you, why would you…" he suddenly had a thought as to what made her ask that, so he softened his expression. "See? I'm not mad at all. I just get too serious when driving, that's all," he continued, "Is it better now?"

Stellar gave another patented smile. "Kira should be more happy, Kira looks better like that." Kira couldn't help but blush slightly at her comment. He wasn't used to outright compliments like that by someone other than Lacus. Seeing that Kira didn't say anything after that, she turned back and stared out the window again as the beautiful mountain landscape caught her attention. Soon, they would be arriving at the orphanage again.

Back at the orphanage, the children were loud and scrambling as they got themselves ready. Last week, Lacus had told them that they would be hosting a barbecue down at the beach. Being as excited as they could ever be upon hearing the news, they did not forget as the date got closer.

This was a private beach of course that was part of the land owned by the orphanage. The reason was that the back of the orphanage actually opened up to the beach. One could also say that the backyard of the orphanage was the beach. Past the thick foliage of trees, plants and bushes that surrounded the orphanage at the rear, there was a beach with an open barbecue grill.

Lacus was busy tending to the children's snacks in the kitchen so she hadn't realized when Kira got back.

All of sudden, she felt someone hug her from behind. She gave a short gasp but quickly settled in as her body told her it was Kira.

"Kira, how did your trip go?" she said trying to act innocent and holding down a smile.

Kira decided to play along. So he replied nonchalantly, "It went well, although I think my clock was running slow… three hours slow," he said the last part with emphasis and only hugged her tighter.

Lacus finally gave in and laughed before turning around to give him a hug of her own. "I hope you remember to get the food next time Mr. Forgetful."

She wasn't prepared when Kira suddenly gave small kiss on her lips, leaving her blushing. "Lacus, I love you."

The two of them were too caught up in their session when they realized that almost all the children had left except for a few who stayed behind. It didn't take long for the two to find them with Stellar. Not knowing where to place the food they bought, Stellar had gone into the living room instead. But she was trapped by the children who had taken interest in her. A few were pulling on her dress, hugging her bare legs, and even a few were trying to hold onto her hands and arms. Poor Stellar, she was still carrying the food when all this happened and could only look on in curiosity.

Kira couldn't help but lightly chuckle at the scene front of him. He had forgotten to introduce Stellar and now the blonde was on the receiving end of the consequences. On the other hand, while finding the scene amusing, Lacus knew she had to give a helping hand to the blonde.

Walking forward and placing her hands on her hips, Lacus stated sternly, "Children!"

That stern address was able to get full attention from the children, although they still clung onto Stellar. Even Stellar's full attention was on Lacus!

In a swift manner she shifted into a nicer tone that even surprised Kira. "That's no way to treat our guest here. Please let go."

Lacus would make a great politician, he thought.

However, the children were reluctant to move and ended up showing their displeasure by remaining still. It was a rare show of defiance that astonished both Kira and Lacus. Seeing the situation, Kira decided to step in and take things under control.

"This is Stellar, a good friend of ours. Stellar, these are the children who live here with us." He was careful to avoid saying the word 'orphan' in case it stirred up any unhappy feelings among them. This led to gasps and murmurs among the children as they took in the new information.

He continued, "You're staying for the barbecue right, Stellar?"

All eyes were on the blonde now, and the children looked up to her expectantly. Stellar couldn't help but feel a wide range of emotions sweep through her. She was surprised that even though she barely knew the children and they barely knew her, clearly they wanted her to stay. In the end, it was a curious wide-eyed Stellar who stared back at the children with her mouth agape in contemplation. In her mind, she wanted to be beside Kira, and she didn't want to let down the children. Realizing that she was accepted by everyone in the room, she did her best to keep the tears of joy from falling down. Gathering up her thoughts, she looked back up at Kira happily and replied, "Stellar really wants to stay."

The children gave a small cheer and resumed their antics around Stellar.

"It looks like they're really into you," said Kira with a smile. "Here, let me worry about the food and you can stay here with the children," he continued. Stellar just looked at him as he took the food from her, and with the last grocery bag with Kira, gave an inaudible "thanks" before her attention was back on the children. She was deeply captivated by their spirit, happiness, and excitement around her.

"Kira, let's go set things up," said Lacus.

With one last look around his shoulders before stepping outside, he saw Stellar sitting on the floor as she answered questions from the children, and tried to keep them from tugging on her too annoyingly for attention.

At the beach, Kira was busy setting up the barbecue stove while Lacus was setting up the tables and chairs.

"Does Stellar seem different to you?" asked Kira suddenly. Although it was more of a shout because the lapping ocean waters absorbed sound really well.

Lacus had just placed the table cloth and was flattening it against the table. Hearing Kira, she stopped and leaned against the table as she contemplated whether or not to tell Kira about Stellar's background. After a few seconds of thought, she decided against it. Mu had trusted her with this information when he joined the Archangel. The war was over, but the fact that there could still be spies out in the open made it too risky. "Not really. Why do you ask that?"

Anyone else would have accepted her words, but Kira knew she was outright lying. "You mean…"

Lacus nodded, which sent Kira the non-verbal expression that told him to save it for later.

The two then continued their work in comfortable silence. It wasn't long until Kira almost had the stove set up. All that was missing were the propane tanks.

"Lacus, I'll be right back," and he ran to the nearby supply cabin. His running was unstable and wobbly as his sandals kept partially slipping in the sand as he pushed his legs forward.

Moments later, he arrived to the door of the supply cabin. This was no ordinary supply cabin. Beneath the wooden exterior, it was actually reinforced with titanium alloy plates. Titanium was chosen because it was strong, but more importantly it was impervious to corrosion (including sea water, aqua regia, and chlorine). The door actually had no handle on it. Beside the door, there was a control panel integrated into the outside wall of the supply cabin.

Two security features had to be cleared in order to gain entry into the supply cabin. First was the hand scan.

He placed his hand on the smooth green pad of the control panel.

The control panel suddenly retracted into the wall. Seconds later, a standard QWERTY black keyboard popped out. It had a ZAFT insignia labelled on it, which was no surprise. After all, Terminal had designed this supply cabinet specifically for the orphanage in case they were ever attacked.

Kira Yamato. Please enter your personal eleven-digit password to continue. There was no computer voice, it was just a simple message on the LCD screen of the keyboard. It was another smart design. If they were in a hurry to the supply cabin and were being chased, the last thing they needed was for the computer's voice message to reveal their location.

After typing in the password, the keyboard retracted itself into the wall just as before. The door swiftly and silent slid open, and he walked in. Immediately afterwards, the door slammed shut which elicited a jump of surprise from the brunet.

He couldn't help but stare at the empty room he was in. Almost empty. There was a large metal box coated in metallic grey, just like the walls of the supply cabin he was in right now. Walking over to the box, he knew that the propane tanks were in there. He just had to get them out.

I wonder how I did this last time, it's been a while, he thought. On the countertop were five buttons. Well, it doesn't hurt to try.

Pressing the first one, the left side of the box slid open and a large rack of weapons came out. He sweatdropped, I wasn't looking for this… Just out of curiosity, he walked over to take a look and noticed they were all standard issue ZAFT assault rifles. He then walked back to the control switches.

I hope it's this one, he thought as he pressed the second of five buttons.

Suddenly, the right side of the box slid open and a rack containing four propane tanks slid out. Perfect!

Man these are heavy, he thought as he dragged the two large propane tanks across the sand with each hand. Making his way back, he saw that Mu and Lacus were having a conversation of sorts. But they stopped when they saw him come over.

"Kira, I was wondering where the tanks were. You can't start a stove without one you know?"

"Sorry Mu, I forgot how heavy these were," Kira replied, indicating the two propane tanks in his hand.

"Don't sweat it kid, I'm impressed you were able to pull them so far on your own."

"Oh… it's nothing I can't handle," he replied nonchalantly.

"Well, I'm doing the cooking tonight, so just set them up here," said Mu matter of fact.

Kira caught Lacus staring at him suspiciously. Oh Kami what did he ever do to deserve this? He knew he would be in for it once Lacus found time to confront him.

In a matter of minutes Mu was cooking steaks and kabobs on the stove. Lacus was watching the children as they played in the sand. Meanwhile, Kira was sitting at the table and staring out into the sea. How the waves rolled back and forth as they glimmered in the sunlight, was truly beautiful. He was glad that he was out here in the day rather than during sundown or at night, because it allowed him to see the sea for the beauty it was.

He was caught up in the moment when suddenly a blur of children rushed past him with Lacus trailing behind. Turning his head, he saw Athrun and Cagalli making their way down the beach. Oh no, not Cagalli, he thought. Suddenly he had an idea. He quickly grabbed one of Lacus' magazines from the table, placed it on his head, and slid down the chair a bit. He hoped it would give the impression that he was sleeping. Deep down he wondered if Lacus' pranks were rubbing off on him.

"Kira?"

He knew that voice was Cagalli's. Opening one eye, he saw Cagalli's shoes from his peripheral vision. He pretended to stay asleep.

"Kira! WAKE UP YOU IDIOT, DON'T SLEEP ON ME!" she yelled right in his ear. Before he could react, she grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and shook him hard.

A surprised Kira shot straight up feigning sleepiness. "Hmm? What happened? Did you need something?" he asked.

"You haven't seen your sister for a long time and that's how you greet me? How dare you!"

Kira didn't say anything, but grabbed Cagalli in a hug gracefully. He blinked his eyes several times to go back to normal, replacing his fake sleepy look with one of true adoration as he really cared for his sister. "I missed you, Cagalli."

"Whaaa…" His actions took Cagalli by surprise. "I suppose I can forgive you," she responded. She was glad that Kira was still a warm person. She thought that he would fall into depression after the war, since only then would he have the time to reflect on his actions. But Athrun had carefully reassured her that Lacus would keep a careful watch on Kira, that Lacus knew how to deal with him.

Releasing her from the hug, he looked up at Athrun with a smile. "It's been a while, Athrun."

With Cagalli back at his side, Athrun replied, "How is it going with you and Lacus?"

"The usual, although she's gotten into pranks lately."

This made Athrun laugh. "She must be really into you then."

"Athrun, Cagalli it's good to see you again," said Lacus as she took her side beside Kira. She had just seated the children at the table and gave them snacks to keep them occupied.

The group continued to chat before moving to the table where the children ate. Kira and Lacus sat on one side of the table while Athrun and Cagalli sat on the other side. They talked about their plans for the future mainly and how they wanted to continue supporting the peace efforts.

Cagalli was now the leader of Orb with Kisaka promoted to one of her senior advisors. Meanwhile, Athrun was an Orb Special Forces Commander. His reputation in the Orb army was an elite mobile suit pilot, tactician, while also experienced in dealing with meddling politicians, a rare skill that was admired by many Orb soldiers. After all, Athrun wasn't just a soldier. With his father having held the position of PLANT Supreme Council Chairman, Cagalli being the Chief Representative of Orb during the Second Bloody Valentine War, Lacus exposing him to the radical ideals of his father, and having talked more than a few times with Lacus' father, he knew politics when he saw it and he also knew how to fight back in politics. With that, Orb's army was reassured that they wouldn't be manipulated ever again.

It was a perfect combination for Orb that had led to its steady growth after the Second Bloody Valentine War. The leader, Cagalli, was able to produce the correct set of ideals for Orb for prosperity. Meanwhile, her fiancé was a Special Forces Commander who was able to carry out her plans. The entire nation was supportive of their relationship.

Although Lacus wasn't involved in politics like her father was, she was still integral in playing a role to support the peace efforts. After all, she was the mediator between the PLANTs and the Earth Alliance. Most likely the only person in the world raised in a coordinator family but having humanitarian ideals, and also experienced to politics. She was perfect to serve as mediator, and it was successful. The PLANTs and the Earth Alliance had suspended all military operations in all theatres of war and were building towards peace instead. But her work wasn't finished there. She was still required to help solve the constant arguments between the two parties over matters such as national security, energy production, territorial boundaries, and food and water resources.

When it was Kira's turn to talk, he admitted that he wasn't doing much after the war besides staying at the orphanage. Although it seemed bad, everyone understood that even though he wasn't doing much now to support the peace effort, he had already put in a lot of effort during the war. The Freedom and the Strike Freedom were pivotal pieces of the war. If not for him, the world would be a lot different.

Their conversation was cut short when Mu suddenly yelled, "Dinner's ready!"

Watching Lacus quickly get up to lead the children to the steaming steaks and kabobs, Kira suddenly saw Murrue and Andrew Waltfeld followed closely by Meyrin and Stellar coming into the beach.

Murrue was talking with Andrew as they walked towards the dinner table, although they weren't holding hands. Meanwhile, Meyrin and Stellar seemed to be caught up in a conversation by themselves.

Kira loosened up when he saw Stellar talking amiably to Meyrin. The two might just get along, he thought. He felt happy for Stellar. Even though he didn't know much about her, he could tell that she had went through a lot in her past, and also something big a few days ago when he found her tearing on the streets. Whatever had happened in the past, he knew that it was a welcome sight to see Stellar the way she currently was. He was suddenly aware of his eyes tracking Stellar's every move, so he quickly focused his attention on someplace else. It wouldn't be good if Lacus caught him staring. Luckily, Lacus was still tending to the children.

He gave a wave to them as they stepped onto the beach. Surprisingly, all four of them waved back, including Stellar.

Soon enough, everyone was seated at the table with the exception of Stellar who was the last to get her food from the barbecue stove. Everyone was involved in a conversation with another. Kira with Athrun, Lacus with Cagalli and Meyrin, and Mu with Murrue and Mr. Waltfeld.

When Stellar walked towards the table with her plate of food, she could feel the stares of the people as they lessened their conversation and gazed at her. It wasn't a gaze of hostility, it was a gaze of curiosity. They had no problem with including Stellar in their group, but she was still new so while she walked towards the table, she got a couple of stares here and there from various people.

Stellar took this the wrong way and suddenly all the happiness inside vanished and all she could do was to keep her head down to avoid their stares. Her usually relaxed posture was replaced by one of hardness and anxiety. Her usual innocent look was replaced by sadness and fragility as she felt vulnerable because it seemed like they saw right through her. It pained inside her chest to know that there was nothing she could do at the moment. As a result, each step she took was smaller and gentler than the one before.

Kira felt bad right now. No, he felt horrible and disgusted at himself. Don't you know what you guys are doing? He wanted to say that, but he didn't want to quickly spoil the party.

He was the one who had invited Stellar over but his friends saw her as an outsider. Deep inside, he criticized himself for forgetting to introduce Stellar to everyone. Shouldn't he have remembered after the incident with the children earlier in the day? He quickly looked at Meyrin to see how she felt. He could tell that she wanted to do something too, but was too nervous to act in the dense atmosphere that was now dominating.

He knew he had to defuse the situation quick. In a cheery voice he called out and waved, "Stellar, over here! I saved you a spot!"

Stellar immediately looked up at the familiar sound of the voice and brightened up when she saw it was Kira. She had a feeling it was Kira's, but she still wanted to see for herself. She somehow felt a surge of happiness flow from her heart, re-energizing her body from the core. With that, she rushed towards Kira and sat beside him so that Kira was now sitting beside Lacus and her.

There were now a few puzzled looks. When Stellar rushed to Kira, they couldn't keep track of her movements finely. This girl… thought Mr. Waltfeld.

"Stellar has been staying with us for the past few days. I met her on the battlefield, and she can fight on the same level as me" he told everyone. This shocked everyone at the table except for Mu who knew how dangerous Stellar was on the battlefield. He looked back at Stellar who had stopped eating and was nervously avoiding the stares of everyone.

Cagalli was the first to speak out. "So Stellar, where are you from?"

Silence followed as everyone wanted to know the answer to that question.

"Stellar doesn't remember…"

Both Lacus and Kira sweatdropped anime-style at Stellar's response. But Lacus stepped in and quickly changed the subject of the conversation using her mediator skills.

Soon enough, Stellar was talking animatedly with everyone else as they asked her different questions. She would give thoughtful, short replies back. Kira didn't say much, but only looked on feeling proud of what he accomplished that day. What did he accomplish? He didn't really know, but if Stellar just made a whole new bunch of friends, he knew he had done something right.

"Alright let's play capture the flag, everyone!" yelled Cagalli. She directed her voice more to the guys since she was currently talking with the girls.

It was late into the night and all the children including Andrew, Mu, and Murrue had returned back to the orphanage. The only ones remaining were Kira, Athrun, Cagalli, Lacus, Meyrin, and Stellar. The girls were in their own conversation while Kira and Athrun were just about to doze off by just sitting there. The guys had long since run out of subjects to talk about.

Both Kira and Athrun jolted awake at Cagalli's shout.

Having got their attention, she continued. "This isn't your normal run of capture the flag. Here, take these." She gave each person a small strip of construction paper. The paper had a small hole at one end. Next, she handed each person a piece of string. "Alright, thread the string through the paper, and then tie it to your arm. "Like this," she continued, having done it quickly and now showed them how it should look. "Whoever steals the strips off everyone wins, simple as that!" she said, finishing her explanation.

"But it's not fair for us girls, the guys are obviously more athletic," voiced Meyrin.

"Who said you couldn't form teams?" replied Cagalli with a smirk.

Kira turned to Athrun and whispered, "You ready for this?"

"Always."

"Alright, you each have thirty seconds before the game starts," said Cagalli.

Immediately, Kira and Athrun huddled together. Likewise, the girls did the same.

"So what's the plan?" asked Kira.

"They have the advantage in numbers. So we have to split them up to give us a chance to get their strips of paper."

Kira already knew what he was thinking by that point. "So when they come for us, we'll split off and handle them separately. Each of us will get two."

"Exactly," replied Athrun.

"Start!" yelled Cagalli.

With that Kira and Athrun ran into the forest that separated the beach and the orphanage. The two waited there until they heard the girls getting closer and closer. Athrun finally gave the signal to Kira and both jumped out and ran in opposite directions, attempting to divide the girls.

It went as planned. Lacus and Meyrin ran after Kira while Cagalli and Stellar ran after Athrun.

Diving into a bush, Kira kept his body low on the ground. He didn't want to be risked seen by Lacus and Meyrin. When it seemed like they weren't anywhere near him, he gently popped his head up and saw Meyrin looking around the area. I wonder where Lacus went, he thought. He decided to lay low for a bit longer. He realized Meyrin wasn't going to find him, so he jumped into the clearing where Meyrin was walking around. He was right behind her, but he stealthily masked his footsteps as she walked around. Finally deciding he had enough, he gently tapped her on the shoulder and grabbed her paper strip.

"AHHHHHHHH!" shrieked Meyrin, jumping up in surprise.

Kira was down on the ground with his hand to his ears as he couldn't shoulder the sudden high-pitched scream. Finally getting up, he dusted himself off and placed her ribbon in his pocket. "Geez Meyrin, you didn't have to be so loud."

Meyrin suddenly turned to him. She still looked surprised. "Kira! Don't scare me like that," she reprimanded.

Kira gave a soft laugh before coming to his senses. "So where's Lacus? Wasn't she with you?" he asked gently.

"She was…" was the only reply he got back.

Feeling a sudden presence behind me, he jumped forward and spun around. "Lacus!"

"Oh Meyrin, if you had said something longer, I would've got him!" sighed Lacus. It was too late however as Lacus let her guard down at that moment and Kira swiped her paper strip, adding one more to his own.

"Kira!" snapped Lacus. "I wasn't ready!"

Without warning, he grasped her in a tight hug that lasted for more than a few seconds. He finally let go and gave her a short kiss on the lips. "Does that feel good?" he asked.

"Yes, but that doesn't…" but Kira had already turned around and left to search for the others. "Hey, I wasn't done!" she shouted for his attention.

"Sorry! I didn't know you wanted more!" Kira shouted back. He didn't look back either. But if he did, he would see Lacus blushing as madly as a tomato.

Meanwhile, Meyrin was watching all of this with a look of sadness. So this is what it feels like… She looked up to the stars. Will I ever have someone who truly cares for me?

Kira was alone in the forest crawling underneath the bushes. Every now and then he heard the ocean waves lapping against the beach sand. Looking up, he saw it was a full moon that lightly illuminated the forest trees and leaves. Even the stars were out. Taking some time to admire the beauty of the night and forest he was in, he continued crawling. There was also the hoot of a night owl whose sounds reverberated across the forest. Suddenly, he heard some commotion from not too far. Quickly and silently, he abandoned his crawling position and stood up. Sharp, serious lavender eyes scanned the area where he thought he heard the noise. The commotion of shouts occurred again, and he was sure he had heard Cagalli's voice in it. Making up his mind, he ran forward to get a better view of the commotion.

He didn't get far when a blur of blonde suddenly filled his vision. The air suddenly left his lungs and his feet left the ground. He landed on his back with a thud moments later.

A distraught Kira struggled to get back up as he shouldered the strain in his chest. "Man, that really hurt," he said to no one in particular. His vision was blurred and it took him a while to reorient himself as he got back up. He blinked a few times but it didn't help as his vision was still blurred. Oh no, this isn't good, he thought to himself. He couldn't make out anything in detail, but he saw a person with blonde hair delicately lying not too far from him. That can only be Stellar, he sighed.

With his vision impaired it took him a while to reach her. It wasn't exactly easy to walk straight when everything was out of focus, but he finally did.

"Stellar…"

There was no response. There wasn't even movement in the slightest bit. He was starting to feel a small worry inside of him.

"Stellar! Stellar!"

Why now of all times! Kami, she survived the near total destruction of the Destroy. She can't die from…

"Me," he whimpered the last word with the smallest of breaths.

He quickly knelt down and surveyed her condition. Lavender eyes worriedly flowed down her body from head to toe in silence. At the same time, he gently traced her arm and legs with his hands. He couldn't entirely trust his blurred vision at the moment. There wasn't any bleeding… Next, he felt for her pulse on her neck. He could feel her warmth from there, but her pulse was normal. What the heck is going on! he yelled to himself.

Quietly, he put his head down in shame and thought what he could do next. He hadn't felt like this ever since… ever since the Providence shot the escape pod from the Dominion.

"Kira…"

Who is it? Flay?

He suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his face.

"Kira."

"Stellar, you're awake!" He said with relief. Stellar nodded gently. He noted how soft her hand felt on his face, and he smiled. He could feel the sincerity behind her soft touch. Somehow, just somehow he enjoyed being in her presence. Yet, with those same hands she had killed many on and off the battlefield. Even so, he had promised that he would always watch over her. Because deep down inside, he knew she was delicate, playful, and enjoyed having fun. It actually reminded him of… himself.

"Stellar, I was worried about you." With both arms, he brought her up just enough so that he could hug her snugly. A few tears fell down his face and onto her shoulders. A few seconds passed but he still held on. It was partly because he didn't want Stellar to see his tears.

"Kira." That simple acknowledgement from her was enough for him already. He felt her hot breath across his neck when she said it. Then two feminine arms slowly reached slightly above and around his waist. She pushed herself closer to him and he felt the sudden warmth it brought.

"Stellar knows that Kira cares," she said knowingly and with a serene smile.