Gundam Seed Destiny Fan Fiction / Gundam SEED Fan Fiction ❯ Light of the Heart ❯ preschool ( Chapter 1 )

He was happy. That was the only thing that twenty-four year old Kira Yamato could think as he watched his daughter playing in the front yard of their house. He was a single father but he had no worries about how well his daughter would be raised.

 

She was probably the most adorable four year old that you'd ever seen and her name is Midori. She had beautiful brown hair that fell to only about shoulder length. While her eyes were a sapphire color that always shined beautifully when she was happy, which happened to be most of the time.

 

His sister Cagalli always told him that he needed to start dating again, that he needed to try and find a mother for his daughter. Kira never really cared about that anymore. He'd raised her just fine by himself up until that point.

 

The truth was that he just had no interest in dating since his last girlfriend Fllay. She was a manipulative woman but was very quick to leave him because of his daughter. The woman hated Midori from the beginning and said that the only way they could remain together was if he got rid of her. Needless to say, but he got rid of Fllay almost immediately afterwards. Just hearing her say such a thing pissed him off worse than anything else in his life.

 

Up until this point he was very content. He didn't mind not dating anyone since he felt his daughter was enough to keep him company more than anyone else. Not to mention that he owned a successful business that made sure that the two of them would be set for life.

 

“Daddy, daddy!” the little girl yelled rushing up to Kira and all but jumping into his arms. Kira barely had enough time to catch her but he was glad he had such quick reflexes or he might've dropped her. “Let's play!” she yelled out happily.

 

“Sorry princess but I have some work to do and you're going to be starting preschool today,” he said and laughed a bit at the pout that crossed her face. “Now, now; don't give me that face,” he said setting her on her feet.

 

The pout only grew on Midori's face. Before then he would usually stay with her or let her go with her aunt Cagalli for the day but now she had to go to a preschool. “Why daddy?” she asked giving him her puppy dog eyes.

 

Knowing that those eyes were enough to get anyone to submit to her, Kira looked away as much as he could. “Because I have to work and your aunt Cagalli won't be able to take care of you because she's been too busy lately with her new job,” Kira tried to convince the child before he lost the will to send her there today.

 

“You stay then!” she pretty much yelled at him as her pout increased. She'd rather stay with her father than go to a place where she didn't know anyone. “Please don't go!” she pleaded as a few tears started to escape her eyes.

 

If there was one thing in the world that was impossible to watch without making you want to punch yourself, it would have to be the sight of the normally energetic little girl crying. Kira really didn't want to have to send her but she'd be left alone the entire day if he didn't.

 

Normally Kira was the type of person who was able to do most of his work at home. It was just one of the benefits for being as well known as he was especially when he was the owner of the company. A person probably couldn't go anywhere without seeing some of his work.

 

Yet there were times when going to the office became unavoidable whether there were meetings or other important things for him to do. It was in these times that he normally had his twin sister Cagalli look after Midori. Yet lately she had become really busy with a new job that she'd taken on.

 

This made it so that she could no longer look after Midori while Kira was gone. So he had to find a place that he could send her to. He originally thought that this might be good for his daughter but she seemed to think otherwise.

 

Since Kira was given Midori by her dying mother, she hadn't been around other children her age. Midori always preferred to stay with her father or her aunt. `That's why I can't give in. She needs to make more friends her age,' Kira thought before kneeling before his daughter. “I'm sorry but I just can't. I'm sure that you're going to like this place though,” he said placing his hands on her small shoulders.

 

Midori's small head swung back and forth rapidly at his words making Kira sigh. “No, no, no! I don't wanna!” she yelled while stomping her feet. Kira just knew that was a small trait she picked up from her aunt Cagalli. Except for that she was usually a very sweet and loving girl.

 

Kira tried to think quickly for something that would make her much happier about what he was doing. “I have an idea!” he said as she calmed down and looked at him. “How about this? If you go and I hear that you've been a good girl then I promise that afterwards we'll go out for some ice cream. How does that sound?” he asked and her eyes brightened almost immediately. He knew that his daughter never could say no to ice cream.

 

A look of thought came over Midori's face, which Kira assumed was more out of what flavor she'd want instead of the situation at hand, for a few moments before she smiled. “Ok!” she said before scurrying out of the room.

 

Even though she sounded happy, Kira could tell that she was still hesitant. She never did feel comfortable around people that she didn't know. This was just another reason that he never could get into dating. He had tried once or twice but she never liked either of them and he just plain gave up afterwards.

 

Walking into another room, Kira couldn't help but smile at the sight of his daughter trying to tie her shoes. He'd tried to teach her several times before then and she was getting better but she still seemed to have a lot of trouble. “Need help?” he asked her chuckling at the sight of the frustration clearly displayed on her face.

 

“No!” she said stubbornly trying to get it. She tried for a few more minutes before smiling. “There!” she said looking proudly at what had to be the biggest mess of a knot anyone would ever see.

 

Chuckling again, Kira kneeled down in front of her and tried to salvage the laces. “Not quite,” he said finally getting the mess undone. He then spent a few more minutes explaining it to her again before they were finally finished.

 

A pout spread across Midori's face at not being able to do it herself. “I'll get it next time!” she said turning the pout into a smile. Then almost immediately it changed back. “I don't wanna to go!” she yelled out remembering what she was about to do.

 

“I know that. I don't want it either but it will be good and I'm sure you'll have fun. Don't forget that I promised to buy you some ice cream afterwards,” he reminded her hoping to sheer her up because he hated to see her upset. He then held out a small backpack he bought for her.

 

Midori smiled at the thought of it before she slowly nodded her head. She took the backpack in one of her hands and her father's hand in the other as the two of them walked out to the expensive car that Kira owned.

 

*****

 

Rushing around her room, Lacus Clyne was doing her best to get ready for work. “Why did the alarm not go off?” she asked since that was the cause of her rushing. She had work that day and unfortunately overslept.

 

Lacus Clyne was the daughter of the late Siegel Clyne. Heir to the vast fortune made by her father and the company that he built from the ground up, Clyne Enterprises. She was also probably one of the most well known women in the world.

 

Everyone expected her to take over the business in her father's place since she was a very smart and capable woman. Yet she had refused to several times and left the work in the hands of her father's most trusted advisor, Andrew Waltfeld. She still owned everything but had him do the work. She knew he was a person she could trust more than anyone else so she knew the company would be in capable hands.

 

The reason for all of this was because Lacus loved her regular job more than anything. She was a preschool teacher. She loved to be able to work with all the young children everyday. She always loved children since she was little and wished for one of her own.

 

Lacus had no idea if that was going to happen anytime soon. She was beautiful, rich, smart, and kind yet never had any real boyfriend in her life. `I suppose that is my fault for being picky about it though,' she thought putting her shoes on quickly before running off to find her purse.

 

What seemed like hundreds of men had asked her out but she usually politely refused. She had high expectations and knew that most of them only asked her because they wanted her body or her money and not because they actually wanted to be with her for who she was.

 

`I'll find the right man someday,' she thought finding her purse and headed towards the door but realized that her TV was still on. She walked over to turn it off but stopped and took a look at what was on.

 

The familiar head of red hair was easily recognizable as that of Fllay Allster. Lacus knew of her well because her family was head of a rival company of her father's. She was probably the most spoiled woman in the world and the most selfish as well. Her family was always looking to take over Clyne Enterprises and other major businesses that were better off than them.

 

`They only want to fill their own pockets at the expense of others,' Lacus thought before turning the TV off. `They tried to take my father's company many times but I won't let them have it! My father worked hard for it. Even if I don't want to work there doesn't mean that I want to lose it either,' she thought taking a look out the window at the bright blue sky.

 

Grabbing her key's she ran out the door realizing that she wasted more time watching that bit of news. `I better hurry or I'll really be late!' she thought getting into her car and started to drive down the road.

 

It was at least twenty minutes before Lacus managed to get to the preschool. She noticed that just as she was pulling into her parking space, another was pulling out but didn't think much of it since she knew it was just a parent dropping off their child. What caught her interest was how expensive the car looked.

 

`Must be someone with a lot of money. Wonder why they took their child here,' she thought before shrugging and turned off the car. She stepped out of it and was hit by a gentle wind making her hair blow around her slightly.

 

Walking into the building, Lacus's ears were assaulted by the sounds of yelling, crying, and laughter all over the place. To anyone else it would be frustrating but she loved this job more than anything.

 

An elderly lady was looking through some things by a desk when she noticed that Lacus walked into the room. “Good, you're finally here! The kids were starting to get restless and I need help,” she said to Lacus who only nodded her head before placing her purse down and out of the way.

 

“Yeah, sorry about being late but I had a bit of an alarm clock problem. It won't become an everyday thing though,” Lacus said giving the woman her best smile as they headed towards the play room.

 

“It's really no problem. I know you don't mean to. Besides, even if I did try something, the kids would get on my case because of how much they love having you here. You've made this place even better with your presence,” the woman said returning Lacus's smile as they walked into the room and were assaulted with the all of the noise full blast.

 

The children all saw the two women walk into the room and ran towards them. “Miss Lacus! Miss Lacus!” the children yelled trying to get her attention. All of the children loved Lacus a lot and were always trying to get her attention.

 

A laugh escaped Lacus's mouth as she knelt down on the baby blue carpet in front of the children who all gave her a hug. It was an everyday occurrence so she wasn't the least bit surprised about it happening. “Hello there everyone,” she said patting a few of the children on the head.

 

It was several minutes before the chaos finally settled down and the children went back to what they were doing. Lacus stood up again and looked towards the other woman. “Wasn't there supposed to be a new child coming in today?” she asked since she didn't remember seeing anyone else.

 

“Oh yes! Her father just dropped her off a few minutes before you came. You won't believe it but it was Kira Yamato,” she said but found that Lacus didn't seem quite as surprised as she did when she found out about it.

 

“Is that so?” Lacus asked kneeling down at a table where several children were coloring. “I was wondering why such an expensive looking car was driving out of here. I wasn't aware that he had any children though,” she mentioned trying to remember any sort of news about it yet nothing came to mind.

 

“No one did, that's the thing. Maybe that's why he does his best to keep out of the eyes of the media. Maybe he just wanted to raise his child in peace without any disturbances,” the woman said thinking that it was a good theory.

 

Standing up once more after talking with the kids, Lacus turned to face the woman again. “I know that would be what I would do if I have any children. It would just be too hard to raise children properly while being hounded by reporters,” she said looking around the place to try and spot the new child. She had to admit that she was curious about what this child was like.

 

Growing up with a businessman as a father, Lacus had heard of Kira Yamato. Her father had business with him on several occasions. Despite this, she'd never met him or even seen what he looks like. She also had very little information on him. She had to admit that she was curious about him just like so many others. `Probably just some older man who just wants to live comfortably,' she thought before shrugging it off. “So where is the girl?” she asked since she had yet to spot anyone new.

 

A frown spread across the woman's face. “She hasn't done anything since she got here. She just took a seat in a corner immediately after she got here and hasn't said a word since then,” she said looking towards a corner where a few tufts of brown hair were peaking out from behind a table.

 

Lacus frowned as well when she heard this but soon put a smile on her face. “It's just that she's new. Give her a little time and we'll see if she starts to talk to the others. If she doesn't then I'll try to talk to her and see what I can do,” she said making the older woman smile again.

 

The older woman knew that Lacus would be able to do that if she tried. She had such a way with children that they'd be willing to do anything for her. She could tell that Lacus would be an excellent mother herself someday.

 

Lacus just went about her normally duties for another hour. She didn't want to frighten the child by coming to her too soon. She figured it would be best to leave her be for a little and see if she came out on her own.

 

Lacus took notice of several children approaching her to try and talk to her but they all left frowning and that upset Lacus a bit. `Why isn't she even trying to play with them?' she asked herself figuring that it would be best to try and talk to her right then.

 

Midori looked up when she saw that someone else was coming to talk to her. She didn't want to talk or play with anyone here. She wanted to be with her daddy right then. She turned her head away so as not to look at the pink haired adult.

 

Putting a smile on her face, Lacus sat down next to the girl. “Is there any reason you don't want to play with the other kids?” she asked but the little girl kept her head turned away and looked as if she wasn't listening. Lacus knew otherwise though. “Fine then, can you at least tell me your name?” she asked since no one had told her what it was yet.

 

Midori mumbled a few words that Lacus couldn't understand. “What was that? You need to speak a little louder or no one will know what you're saying,” Lacus said trying to be as kind and patient with the girl as she possibly could. She knew she just needed to get the girl to open up a bit first.

 

It was silent for a little while after that. Midori just sat there with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her knees. Her face was downcast and looking at an interesting spot on the carpet. “Midori,” she finally said after what seemed like years even if it was only a few minutes.

 

“Midori?” Lacus repeated and the little girl just nodded her head. “That's a very cute name. I think that it suits you,” Lacus said finally getting the girl to look up at her. Lacus gave her a smile and saw the girl ease up a bit. “Let me guess, you just want to be with your father, right?” Lacus asked since she'd seen children like her before.

 

Nodding her head, Midori looked into Lacus's eyes. “I don't wanna be here! I want to be with daddy! I wanna go home!” she said tugging her knees to her chest a little tighter enforcing her position of not doing anything.

 

“I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm sure that everyone feels like that at times,” Lacus said making the girl look at her again. “I'm also sure that your father would've wanted you to at least try and have fun. When I was little, my father always told me that his greatest happiness was when he knew I was happy. I'm sure that your father and mother feel the exact same way,” Lacus said seeing the girl ease up again but she was still a bit insecure.

 

It was once again quiet as Lacus just sat there and waited patiently for her to talk again. She hoped that the little girl would start to open up but she seemed to keep going in and out of it over and over again. “I don't have a mommy,” Midori finally said with a sad look in her eyes.

 

This brought a big frown to Lacus's face. `How sad,' she thought staring at the girl with sympathy. She knew exactly how she felt. “How come?” she asked but the girl just shrugged her shoulders. “I see. I guess we have something in common then. I never knew my mother either. I was also raised by only my father, just like you,” Lacus said and knew that it got the girls attention.

 

Midori got the feeling like she could really trust Lacus which was very different from what she was usually like. She always found it hard to trust new people. “You have pretty hair,” she said since pink was her favorite color.

 

Lacus couldn't help but giggle at the child. `Leave it to a child to never remain on one subject for long,' she thought shaking her head. “Really? I guess you like pink then,” she said and the girl nodded her head as well. “Well your hair is very beautiful as well,” she said admiring the brown hair that fell to the girl's shoulders.

 

“I like pink, it's my favorite color,” she said touching the pink hair that fell all the way down Lacus's back before hitting the floor. “It's so long and soft,” she continued to say as Lacus just let her do what she wanted since she finally got the little girl to at least start talking.

 

“We have the same eyes too,” Lacus said looking closely into the child's eyes as the child did the same thing. “I can tell that you'll be a very beautiful woman when you grow up,” she said making the girl smile. “Now, how about we go and talk to some of the others?” Lacus asked hoping the little girl would at least be up for the idea right then.

 

The reaction she got was expected. Midori just rapidly shook her head. Lacus sighed and thought of what she could do next. “Is there any reason you don't want to? Or is it that you're just nervous?” Lacus asked looking at the girl curiously.

 

Looking around the room, Midori saw how loud and wild some of the kids were. She saw one girl screaming as a few boys for knocking down a block house she made. Then there were other children screaming. “They're scary,” she said looking towards the ground again.

 

A small laugh did escape from Lacus's mouth. “Though it may seem like that, they are all harmless. How about this, what if I went with you? Would you feel more comfortable?” Lacus asked standing up and she held out her hand to the young girl.

 

Looking from the hand and then to Lacus's smiling face, Midori got that feeling of trust for Lacus again. Slowly, her hand came out and she lightly grabbed onto the hand that Lacus held out.

 

Smiling, Lacus tugged the girl lightly to her feet. The little girl clutched tightly to her hand. “Don't worry, I promise you that nothing will happen. Now, what do you want to do? There's finger painting, toys, coloring, and a lot of other really fun things to do.”

 

The day went by smoothly after that. Midori was actually doing things but she pretty much stuck to Lacus's side the entire day. This seemed to make many of the kids jealous but no one said anything about it.

 

Sometime in the middle of the afternoon, a little girl about the same age as Midori came running up to Lacus. “Miss Lacus! Miss Lacus! Sing for us!” she yelled catching the attention of all the other kids in the room.

 

Lacus wasn't even given a chance to answer before all of the other kids came running up to her. Knowing that she didn't have an option in the matter, Lacus just decided to do as they say and sing to them. “Very well, what do you all want to hear?” she asked and several suggestion were immediately yelled out.

 

Eventually everyone agreed on a song. Lacus's gentle and beautiful voice then started to sing to the kids. Every one of the kids almost seemed mesmerized by the enchanting sounds she was making.

 

Midori too was mesmerized. She had never heard such a gentle and beautiful voice sing like this. It was very soothing. It ended up making her start to feel sleepy. She could tell the other kids were feeling the same way. Her eyes slowly started to droop shut before they finally closed and she feel asleep leaning against Lacus.

 

*****

 

Walking into the preschool, Kira looked around expecting his daughter to come running at him. He was a little surprised when nothing happened. “Hello? I'm here to pick up my daughter!” he yelled out trying to find someone.

 

The elder lady that he met earlier that day came walking into the room. “Oh! It's you Mr. Yamato!” she said putting on a smile as she walked over to the desk to pick something up. “Midori's in here,” she said directing Kira towards a room that was to his left.

 

“I don't see anyone here to help. Do you work here by yourself? It must be really hard,” Kira said since she was also the only adult that was there when he dropped Midori off earlier in the day. She's also alone right now from what he could see.

 

“Goodness no! I wouldn't be able to handle such pressure!” the older woman said with a laugh. “There's another woman that's here during the day. She was a little late this morning so you didn't see her. She had to leave a few minutes ago as well because of important issues she needed to deal with,” she said with a smile. “She's a big help. All of the children absolutely love her,” she said as they walked into the room.

 

The room was relatively dark except for a few small lights and the sunlight that came in through the window. Children were scattered all over the floor. Several of the children were playing and others appeared to be sleeping.

 

Kira's eyes widened when he saw that his daughter was one of the ones that were sleeping. She was lying in the middle of the floor with her head resting on a small pillow identical to all the ones that the other children were using. “She's sleeping?! How'd you get her to do that? She can never sleep in new places!” Kira said in a hush yell so as not to wake the children up.

 

“Like I said, she has a very good way with children. Your daughter refused to do anything for about the first hour. When Lacus finally talked to her, she managed to get her to go and play with the others in a few minutes,” she responded making Kira's eyes widen once again.

 

“Lacus? You mean Lacus Clyne?” Kira asked since that was the only Lacus he was aware of. The woman nodded her head. “No offense, but why would someone like her wanna work here?” he couldn't help but ask.

 

Much to Kira's surprise, the woman laughed at it as well. “I actually asked her that exact same question when she first applied here. She merely said that she liked to work with children instead of doing paperwork all day,” she said happily.

 

“Oh,” Kira said as he kneeled down before his daughter. He took her shoulder and gave her a very light shake to wake her up. “Come on sweetie. It's time to get up and leave,” he said as her eyes slowly opened but she seemed to refuse to open them all the way. “Well if you're this tired then I guess ice cream is out of the question tonight,” he said and laughed when her blue eyes shot open quickly.

 

“Ice cream!” she yelled sitting straight up. It was only then that she really noticed that it was her father kneeling before her. “Daddy!” she yelled latching onto his neck and hugged him as tightly as she could.

 

“Hey there princess,” he said hugging her as well before setting her down again. “For someone who was complaining earlier about going, you sure seemed to have plenty of fun from what I heard,” he teased her.

 

“It was fun!” she said positively beaming at her father showing just how happy she was. “Miss. Lacus was fun to play with!” she said and started to tell her father all about what Lacus and her had done that day.

 

“Well then, maybe I should consider sending you here a bit more often. I could use the time at the office anyways,” he said and Midori actually seemed to like the idea much to his surprise. `Maybe I should meet this Lacus sometime. I have to see what kind of woman she is to have my daughter so easily infatuated,' he thought before completely standing up.

 

Holding out his hand, Midori placed her own small ones in it. “Come on. We'll stop for ice cream on the way home,” he said as they walked out of the room. Kira signed her out and then they headed out the door and to his car.