CHAPTER 5: Emotions
Kira ran through the forest at high speed, looking for signs of Lacus as he jumped from tree to tree. He was hoped that he will be able to find her before something bad happened to her.
At the meantime, Lacus awoke and found herself in a small hunt. She was tied up to the bark of a tree. She looked around and realized that there was no one in sight.
"Kira?"
She wondered what had happened and all she remembered was falling off the mountain side.
"Kira!" She shouted louder.
"Hey you there, shut up!"
The voice came from the back of some trees. She saw some men wearing torn clothes sitting around a fire.
"If you continue talking, we'll kill you immediately!" The same man told her.
"Wait, don't kill her just yet" replied another man "After all, she's a rare babe"
The other men looked her smiling. Lacus felt her body shivering, hoping that those men are not thinking of doing anything bad to her. One of the men went up to her and touched her face with his hands.
"Wow, such smooth skin!"
Lacus tried to break herself free from the ropes that tied her to the tree.
"Stop it, you pervert!"
"Wow, she also has a nice voice"
The other men laughed loudly. She closed her eyes as tears flowed down her cheeks when that man continued touching her. Suddenly, that feeling was gone. The man was no longer touching her. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that man was pinned to another tree with a shuriken.
"What the!" The other men said as they stood up from the ground.
Lacus saw the shadow of a person who jumped down from the top of the tree she was tied to, landing right in front of her. She recognized his back.
"Kira!"
"You alright?" Kira asked without turning around to look at her.
"I'm ok"
"Just hang in there for a few more seconds; I'll get you out after I settle these guys"
Lacus was pleased to see him. However those men were not at all happy. They immediately took out their weapons.
"You little nobody! Don't think just because you used shurikens we were afraid of you!"
Kira smiled "Nobody? I think its better that you know who you are talking to before you start talking big"
The men were beginning to feel afraid of the boy. He sounds as if he's very powerful. Despite their fear, they tried their best to look normal and charged directly at him. Kira took out a shuriken from his pocket and knocked the men off their feet at an amazing speed. Lacus was amazed and wonder why he did not kill them immediately. She then recalled the time that she spent with Kira at the waterfall. Kira said that he did not like to kill. The men panicked to get back to their feet to run away as Kira remained crouching in the position when he last swung his shuriken.
"Who … who are you!" One of them asked him in fear.
Kira slowly stood up and turned to face him.
"Kira, Kira Yamato of the Kouga Tribe"
The men's fear grew when they found out that he was part of the Kouga tribe. They quickly stood up and ran for their lives. Kira threw one of his shurikens onto the tree which Lacus was tied to, cutting lose the rope. Lacus wanted to walk to him, however, her legs gave way and she fell into the ground. Kira went forward to catch her before she reached the ground; he then gently placed her onto the ground. Lacus rubbed her ankle of her right leg, which looked swollen. Kira took out a cloth from his backpack and damped it with some water from his water bottle. He placed the cloth onto her ankle and rubbed it as gently as he could. After that he placed some medicine onto it.
"This should be effective" Kira told her after he applied the medicine "Can you walk?"
Lacus tried to stand up but the pain was unbearable. She fell back into the ground again, sweating profusely.
"Let me carry you then" Kira asked.
Lacus looked at him and blushed.
"But … …"
"We can't stay here all day"
Lacus climbed onto his back and he walked into the woods. Lacus was utterly embarrassed. She had never been carried by a stranger before in her life.
With Athrun and Cagalli
Cagalli was falling back as the group makes their way down the other side of the mountain. Athrun slowed down and saw that she was deep in thoughts.
"What's wrong Cagalli?"
Cagalli looked up "Oh nothing, I was just wondering …"
"About?"
"Well, this is the first time I saw my brother so anxious over a girl"
Athrun recalled the moment when Kira told Mwu that he's going after Lacus.
"Quite true, he's never so protective over a girl before, except you"
"I wonder if he's in love"
Athrun looked at Cagalli blankly.
"How could that be!"
"I don't know, it's just a hunch"
Athrun looked into the blue sky.
"If he is really in love, then we could …" Athrun looked down into Cagalli's eyes.
Cagalli looked and him and felt a little uncomfortable.
"What are you thinking this time, you idiot!"
Athrun looked away "Nothing, nothing"
Cagalli went closer to him and saw that he's blushing. However, she ignored that and ran to catch up with the group. Athrun looked at her as she ran and wondered if he will ever get another chance to tell Cagalli about his feelings for her.
With Kira and Lacus
The sun was setting when Lacus noticed that Kira was sweating.
"Do you need to stop for a break?" She asked.
"No, I'm alright"
"But you seem really exhausted"
"That's ok; I could just take this as training"
"Do ninjas like you train like this?"
"Well, as ninjas, we need to be fit. Carrying heavy loads and walking long distances non-stop are some training that we do"
"That's a rough life"
"It's ok really, after you get used to it"
Lacus remained silent, deep in her thoughts, when Kira lowered her onto the ground in a cave, which was in front of a huge lake with a big mangrove tree growing in the middle.
"We'll stay here for the night" Kira unpacked his backpack and looked at Lacus "How's your leg?"
"It's much better now, thanks"
"That's good, you stay here, and I'll go get some food and firewood"
Kira smiled and left the cave. Lacus looked around the lake, it was beautiful and she was sure that the night view would be great. However, the beauty was disrupted by some of her thoughts. She is the princess of the Iga tribe and sooner or later, Kira would have the right to know. But she was afraid, afraid of what he might do after he found out about it. She was so deeply in thoughts till night has fallen. Kira came back and set up a fire and cooked some food over the fire and boiled water.
When the food was ready for consumption, he realized that she was no longer in his sight. He looked around and heard a voice.
The night time fills the sky
Stars alive, go floating by
So still the evening air, so warm and soft
Peace everywhere. I see a world in harmony
A world of peace and humanity
With people walk free like water in a stream
Flowing on, forever more
The voice was very lovely, but sounded very sad. Kira stood up and walked out of the cave. He saw Lacus standing in the lake, with the water level at her waist. She was standing as close as possible to the big mangrove tree and looking up into the night sky. Kira slowly walked into the water as quietly as he could as he did not want to alarm her.
The breezes softly blow crisp and warm
So sweet I know
Upon my cheek I can feel tenderly a kiss so real
Like the brush of a hand that I cannot see
The sound of a voice deep inside of my heart
So I dream of a new day coming
For all the world to see
Lift your eyes and see a new day dawning
A dream that will soon come true
The day we've waited for
Lift your heart and see the future for us all
The singing stopped as Lacus saw Kira looking at her. He seemed amazed by her lovely voice.
"Kira, there's something that I feel that you must know"
Lacus looked down into the water. Kira went closer to her until she was right in front of him.
"Tell me" He said gently. Lacus paused for a moment before she continued.
"About my true identity … … My real name is Lacus Clyne, I'm the daughter of Siegel Clyne"
Kira looked at her stunned. At that very moment, he realized that all along, he had been protecting the princess of the enemy tribe. Lacus looked up at him.
"I'm sorry that I've kept it a secret all this time but I was afraid that you guys will kill me if you found out"
"It's alright" Kira calmed himself down "No matter if you're a princess of the enemy of not, I'll still protect you"
Lacus was touched by his words. She thought of the consequences that Kira might face if his village people found out that he continuously protected her, even after knowing that she's the princess of the enemy. Tears started flowing down her cheeks as she looked down and cried, repeating the words softly 'I'm so sorry Kira'.
Kira looked at her crying. He took his hands out of the water and placed them onto her shoulders.
"Lacus" He called her. Lacus looked up into his eyes, crying. He was looking into hers as well.
It happened that very moment. Kira moved closer towards her and closed his eyes when his lips came into contact with hers. He embraced her in his arms as he kissed her. Lacus' eyes widened as he kissed her but she slowly began to enjoy that sensation and closed her eyes as well to return him a kiss. They lay into the water and continued kissing each other. After sometime, they stopped and looked at each other, smiling. Lacus touched his face gently with her right hand, while Kira touched hers with his right hand as well. They continued smiling and kissed each other once again.
(If you really cannot picture this, recall the scene when Tidus and Yuna kissed each other for the first time at Lake Macalania in Final Fantasy X)
After spending some time in the lake, Kira and Lacus resurfaced and sat at the banks of the lake having their dinner under the night sky, before they returned to the cave for the night.
Like someone suggested, I've tried my best to make each chapter as long as possible. The next chapter may take a very long time as my parents are beginning to 'lock' me away from the computer to study for the upcoming GCE 'O' Levels. But nevertheless, I'll try and get the next chapter up. For AxC fans and SxS fans, more scenes of the two couples are coming up!
Once again, thanks to those who wrote reviews about this story. All reviews will be taken into consideration.