Gundam Seed Destiny Fan Fiction / Gundam SEED Fan Fiction ❯ Light of the Heart ❯ reluctance ( Chapter 2 )

“You're kidding, right?” Cagalli asked the day after Midori's first day of preschool. “We are talking about the same little girl right? The one that has trouble being around people that she doesn't know?' Cagalli asked taking a bit of a sandwich she pilfered from Kira's kitchen.

 

A chuckle escaped Kira's mouth at the mention of this. “Yeah,” he responded with a smile. “I found it hard to believe as well. But this woman has done something to my little girl to make Midori become so captivated with her,” he said still finding it hard to believe.

 

Cagalli could only gape at the facts that were presented to her. “Amazing,” she said in awe before taking another bite. “I want to meet this woman some time. See what it is that Midori likes so much about her. What is she like?” Cagalli asked giving into her curiosity.

 

“No idea,” Kira said making Cagalli look at him in confusion. “When I dropped her off she wasn't there yet, and when I picked Midori up she'd already left,” he explained making Cagalli nod her head. “Though I would also like to know myself.”

 

A grin that could be compared to that of the Cheshire Cat appeared on Cagalli's face. “Why? Are you interested in her?” she asked thoroughly enjoying how flustered her twin brother got at her words.

 

“What?! No! I don't even know her! I've never met her before! How can I possibly be interested? As far as I am concerned, all I need is my daughter and that's it!” he said before taking a deep breath to calm down.

 

Shrugging her shoulders, Cagalli finished off the last of her sandwich. “Whatever you say but I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” she said and this time with was her brother that was looking at her in confusion. “Think about it, Midori hated all the women you dated so you eventually gave up on dating. Yet now there's a woman she adores,” Cagalli said looking at her brother intently.

 

“Give it up; I'm just not interested in dating. I know what you're going to say, `Midori needs a mother,' but I don't need that if it's going to just cause more pain later,” he responded to her unsaid words since it was the thing she always mentioned when they had this discussion.

 

Groaning in annoyance, Cagalli slammed her fist down on the table. “Not everyone is like Fllay Kira! Do you think that someone that works with kids for a living is the same as her? Maybe if you got over what Fllay did then you could be happy again!” she yelled glaring at her brother. Yet at the same time she couldn't blame him. Kira was rather emotionally drained during their relationship and after he left Fllay. Yet that was also the reason that she wanted him to move on.

 

Standing up, Kira turned and started to walk out of the room. “We've had this conversation many times. I'm just not interested. Now please just drop it,” he said before walking out of the kitchen to see his daughter watching television.

 

He stayed home that day but knew that he was probably going to be really busy the rest of the week as well as have a short meeting later that day. He was at least glad that his daughter was happier about being able to go to the daycare again.

 

Following her twin brother out to the living room, Cagalli couldn't help but sigh at her brother's reluctance to get into any sort of relationship. She knew that Midori needed a mother figure and Cagalli knew that she couldn't be that all the time. She was moving around a lot so she wouldn't always be able to be there when Midori needed her to be. She needed a mother that would always be there but Kira's stubbornness was keeping Midori from having that.

 

`Oh little brother. Why won't you see that this would not only be for the benefit of Midori but to your own as well?' Cagalli thought as she took a seat on the couch next to her niece. “So what's on?”

 

Cagalli came over since Kira had a short meeting that he was required to go to with her husband and Kira's best friend Athrun Zala. She was going to be looking after Midori for the hour or two that it was going to take for them to get done. They didn't see any need to send Midori to preschool for such a short amount of time.

 

*****

 

Rushing into the preschool, Lacus took a deep breath when she found out that she was just on time. “That was close,” she said to herself as she walked to the front desk to get ready for another day of the job that she loved so much.

 

“I hope that you're not planning on making this an everyday thing from now on,” the familiar elderly voice of Lacus's coworker said as she came into the room from the door leading to the playroom. Her voice sounded strict but there was also a hint of amusement behind it.

 

Laughing a little bit, Lacus put her things down. “Of course not. It's just that I have been so very busy these last few days. I'm just trying to get everything in order for the company my father left me even if I have no intention of running it,” she explained and the woman nodded her head.

 

“It's been three months Lacus, have you even had time to properly mourn his death?” the elder woman asked and took Lacus's downcast eyes as confirmation. “It's not good to keep these things in all the time.”

 

“I know that,” Lacus said without telling her something. She kept coming in a bit late because she hadn't been sleeping too well. There was just so much on her mind between her father's death, her job at the preschool, and trying to get a things organized in her life now that her father was gone.

 

Sighing, the elderly woman thought hard and fast for something that might be able to help the beautiful young woman before her. She knew Lacus was hurting and that she just refused to admit that to anyone. “Lacus, why don't you consider taking a few days off?”

 

Looking appalled at the mere idea of it, Lacus started to rapidly shake her head. “I couldn't do that! I love being here with all the children. It just wouldn't feel right if I couldn't be here with them,” she said since they were the one thing she really found happiness in lately.

 

“But what about you Lacus?” the older woman asked making Lacus looked at her in confusion. “You're so great with children yet you don't have one of your own. You should get out and find a nice man to settle down with, to start a family with,” she said but frowned when Lacus just gave her a big smile that she knew all too well. It was the one Lacus used to try and avoid a conversation. The worst part was that it usually ended up working.

 

It wasn't that Lacus didn't want to; it's just that she couldn't find anyone that really interested her. She really did want to have her own children but she wanted to make sure that it was with the right person.

 

Lacus was the type of woman any man would want which wasn't always a good thing for her. She was young being only twenty-four. She was extremely beautiful even if she didn't really admit it. She was very kind and that showed in everything that she did.

 

Then there was the thing that attracted a lot of perverts, it was that she was still a virgin. Her idea was that it was better to not have sex at all than to end up regretting it by doing it with the wrong person. This didn't mean she never planned to, it just meant that she'd make sure that the person she does it with is the right one and not one she'd feel she'd regret having sex with. She has yet to find that person and she had no idea when she would ever find him.

 

“I'm just fine with the way my life is going right now and I don't need a few days off. So how many do we have today?” she asked trying to change the subject. She felt uncomfortable with this subject because it actually made her start thinking about it more. She silently admitted to herself that sometimes she wished that she could just find that special someone.

 

“The same as usual,” the woman said knowing that Lacus wasn't going to get into that subject again. `That girl is just a bit too stubborn for her own good,' she thought with a sigh before turning to walk back to the front desk.

 

Walking into the playroom, Lacus was immediately swamped by the many children eager to get her attention. She couldn't help but let a true smile cross her face. `I may not have a child of my own, but I know that all these children are more than enough to make up for that.

 

Looking around the room, Lacus noticed that Midori wasn't there again. For the past two days, Lacus couldn't help but think of the little girl. She was just so cute, sweet, innocent, and also sensitive. Lacus guessed that her interest was that the little girl reminded Lacus so much of herself when she was younger.

 

Hearing the sounds of the door to the room opening, Lacus turned around to look only to suddenly be pushed back by a small weight latching onto her legs. Looking down, she couldn't help but smile at the brightly smiling face looking up at her. “Hello there Midori,” she said detaching the young girl and kneeling down to her eye level to look into those innocent blue eyes.

 

“Miss. Lacus!” Midori yelled throwing her arms around the older woman's neck. This surprised Lacus quite a bit but she couldn't help but let a smile cross her face. Pulling back, Midori beamed at the beautiful woman.

 

Lacus could tell that there was definitely something special about this girl. This was something that could make even the loneliest soul feel loved. “How are you doing Midori?” she asked smiling back at the girl.

 

“Great!” Midori replied happily before grabbing a hold of Lacus's hand. “Let's go play Miss. Lacus!” she yelled trying to drag Lacus towards the toys. She frowned when she found that Lacus wasn't moving.

 

Taking her hand from Midori's hand, Lacus smiled down at her. “Actually there are a few things I need to take care of. Why don't you go play with the rest of the kids and I'll come back later?” she asked looking at Midori pleadingly. She wanted to see if she could meet Midori's father before he left.

 

After thinking it over for several moments, Midori finally nodded her head before slowly walking towards the other children. She trusted Lacus but she still didn't really trust the other children.

 

Smiling at the little girl, Lacus stood up and walked towards the front desk. The room was empty by then except for the owner of the place, Alice. She was sitting in her usual seat waiting for the rest of the usual people bringing in their children. “I guess he already left,” she muttered to herself catching Alice's attention.

 

The elderly woman looked towards Lacus hearing what she said. “Why? Are you interested in him?” she asked with a smile on her face. She was always interested in Lacus's happiness since she acted as sort of a grandmother figure to the younger woman standing before her. Mainly because she had no child of her own and was well beyond the age to be having children being seventy. She'd spent her life taking care of children though and that was all that mattered to her.

 

“What? No! Of course not! I mean this guy is probably middle aged and has been married many times,” she said coming to her own conclusions since she had no details of what Kira Yamato was really like.

 

Much top Lacus's surprise, Alice laughed. “You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. Mr. Yamato is actually really young. If I'd venture a guess I'd say he was actually around your age,” she said surprising Lacus.

 

Lacus couldn't believe that he was only her age. “Midori must've been born when he was really young. Must've been tough,” she said finding her curiosity growing. Anyone would as well if they were told some of these things.

 

“Well when you have as much money as he does, it wouldn't be as hard as people would think. You should know that Lacus,” she replied and watched as Lacus slowly nodded her head. “By the way, it was actually her aunt that dropped her off today so you wouldn't have seen him anyways,” she said before going back to type a few things onto the computer in front of her.

 

Walking back into the playroom, Lacus was assaulted by several young children that were vying for her attention. She couldn't help but chuckle a bit as all of them tried to drag her to some part of the room. The bad thing was that there were many kids going to every different corner of the room.

 

“You said you'd play with me!” Midori said trying to pull Lacus away from the other kids as well. This just made Lacus sigh knowing that it was going to be a very long day and she just hoped she'd be able to keep up with all of these very energetic children trying to take her for themselves.

 

*****

 

Stepping out of his office, Kira started heading towards the elevator to get something to eat for lunch. Just as he reached the elevator, he met up with his longtime friend, brother-in-law, and business partner Athrun Zala. “Hey Athrun. I was just about to head out for a bite to eat, care to join me. I was going to meet up with Cagalli anyways,” he said with a smile on his face.

 

Athrun perked up at the mention of his wife's name. “Sure, that sounds like a good idea, I was just about to head out for a bite to eat anyways,” he said as the elevator came to a stop on their floor and the two of them got inside as the doors closed behind them.

 

Seeing that the small café was only a block away from the building the two of them owned, the two just decided to walk there instead of driving. It was a sunny day out anyways so they thought that they could use the exercise.

 

They exited the building and the sun immediately glared down upon them from the cloudless sky. The temperature was wonderful. It wasn't very hot or very cold. It was the perfect weather to just go out walking in.

 

The two of them reached the small café just a few minutes after they left the building. Cagalli was actually already there and waiting when they got there. This caught them by surprise since as far as they were aware, Cagalli had never been early to anything her entire life. She would've been late for her own wedding had Kira not dragged her there to make sure that she was there at least on time.

 

Looking up at the two approaching figures, Cagalli couldn't help but smile. “I wasn't expecting Athrun to come as well. Not very often we can all get together for lunch like this,” she said and the two nodded as they took their seats at the table placed outside of the café.

 

“I know what you mean, we've just been so busy lately that we haven't had time for this,” Kira said looking over a menu. “It's easy enough for us to eat together since I usually work at home but Athrun can't,” he continued after putting down the menu.

 

“I know what you mean,” Cagalli replied with a laugh. “I swear that you can be a little too serious about your work sometimes Athrun. You should take a day off every once in a while,” she said looking at her husband who seemed to find something else very interesting at that moment.

 

“I've been telling him that for a while,” Kira said laughing out loud at his best friend's expense and was soon joined by his twin sister. “Why don't you Athrun? We're almost finished with our current project anyways. We can all have a get together,” Kira suggested and Cagalli was eager to nod her head.

 

“Kira, you and I both know that things are a bit of a mess with the company. We've made significant improvement since we took over but there's still more work to be done,” Athrun said seriously which made Kira calm down a bit and just slowly nodded his head. “I'll take a break when we can fix it.”

 

The company that the two of them were running was originally two different companies. One was owned by Kira's biological father Ulen Hibiki and the other was owned by Athrun's father Patrick Zala.

 

Kira never even knew his biological father and yet he was given the company. However, Kira didn't really agree with some of the things that the company did and changed it around quite a bit. Several of the higher ups resented him for this action but in the long run it greatly increased profit to the company so they didn't do anything about what he did.

 

For Athrun, it was a bit different. He inherited his father's company when his father was killed several years ago. He didn't change much but did merge his company with Kira's into a single company, one that was very widely respected as one of the most successful companies in the world.

 

Many were against some of the actions the two old friends had taken. It made things a bit messy for them at work. Things had gotten significantly better over the last few years though so Kira wasn't really as worried about it as Athrun was.

 

“You shouldn't worry about it so much Athrun. We have almost everything under control. Not like they can really do anything as long as they're profiting from this more than before. They're just stuck in the ways of the old companies,” Kira said in a laid back attitude. He knew of Athrun's fears but knew that he'd be more than capable of taking care of any problems that arose which was one of the reasons he knew nobody did a thing about it.

 

“You're too naïve Kira,” Athrun said even though he knew that Kira was actually a very capable person. He was much smarter than most people would think considering he managed to graduate from college before most people his age graduated from high school.

 

“Enough of the business talk! It's annoying!” Cagalli said standing up and slamming her hands down on the table catching the attention of many of the other occupants of the café. She blushed slightly and took her seat once again. “Hey Athrun, did you know the apocalypse is coming?” she asked trying to change the subject.

 

Looking at his wife in confusion, Athrun silently asked her to elaborate a bit more. He'd been working almost non-stop the past two days so he didn't really have any idea what had been going on.

 

Cagalli couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the memory. “Someone has actually made Midori become so infatuated with them in only a few hours,” she said and Athrun's eye widened in shock similar to the way she reacted when she heard this odd and yet fascinating news.

 

“We are talking about the same little girl right? She hardly trusts anyone that she doesn't know,” Athrun said which caused Cagalli to burst out laughing. This just confused him even more. “Did I say something wrong?”

 

“No!” Cagalli said trying to get her laughter under control. “For the most part that was what I said as well when I first heard this. It's all true though,” she said and both of them looked to Kira hoping for a bit more information about it.

 

“Don't ask me how it happened. I just dropped her off that morning. She was very reluctant at the time almost to the point that I thought she'd never let go of me,” he said and they nodded knowing that her reaction was what they expected. “When I came back later that day, I found her asleep. When she woke up she wouldn't stop going on about how wonderful the day was and how great this Lacus was,” he explained to the best of his abilities.

 

At the mention of the name, Athrun's eyes widened. “Do you mean Lacus Clyne?!” he asked startling Kira who just slowly nodded his head. “Then I guess that it isn't as shocking as we all think it is,” he said and that just confused the other two even more.

 

Looking at her husband curiously, Cagalli couldn't help but wonder why he said this. “The way you said that makes me think you know a lot about her,” she said feeling a bit of worry welling up in her. She knew she shouldn't but it just happened. After all, they were married.

 

“I remember telling you about it before Cagalli. I was once engaged to her,” he said making Cagalli choke on her drink since she happened to take a sip of it at that exact moment. “That was years ago though. She's the type who many can't help but feel comfortable around. It would be strange if she wasn't infatuated with her,” he said giving off a hearty laugh.

 

Cagalli looked at her husband rather crossly for all the praise he seemed to be putting towards the woman. “If you were so fond of her than why is it that you didn't get married even though you were engaged?” she asked staring at him with narrowed eyes that made him shiver in fear.

 

“There's no reason to be so angry about it Cagalli. It's just that we grew up together. The engagement was made by our parents. I loved her but that was more of a sibling type love. That's why we called off the engagement,” he said hoping to calm down his wife or he'd end up sleeping on the couch that night. “So… uh… she's working at that preschool?” he asked hoping to change the subject a bit.

 

Kira had a difficult time trying to control his laughter at the situation. Being her brother, he'd been on the end of her anger several times. “Yeah. I was surprised since I didn't expect someone so rich to be working at such a job,” he said blushing at how he originally made his surprise so vocal.

 

“Once again it's not much of a surprise. She's always loved children,” he said shrugging his shoulders. “If Midori is infatuated with her then I think you should try. I could put a good word in for you Kira,” he said with a grin that seemed to match Cagalli's when she brought up the subject.

 

Throwing his head back, Kira groaned in annoyance. “I'm not interested in dating! You and Cagalli need to get that through your thick heads!” he yelled at them since they wouldn't get off the case of him needing to find Midori a mother.

 

Both Athrun and Cagalli couldn't hold in their laughter at his reaction. It was Athrun that calmed down first and spoke to Kira clearly. “Kira, you aren't going to find any woman like Lacus,” he said getting a glare from Cagalli which he just ignored. “She's kind to a fault, beautiful, and has never been married or had any children,” he said getting another glare from Cagalli. “I prefer women like Cagalli though,” he said hoping to cheer her up again.

 

“How can you be so sure of that? I've heard rumors about her and someone like her has had plenty of people wanting to marry her,” he said figuring that if Athrun understood that he would just drop the subject.

 

“Nope, she's single and as far as I heard hasn't even had a boyfriend since we broke our engagement. She was always looking for the right person and the people that came to her are after her looks or her money. That's not the type of relationship she wants. Besides, I saw her at her father's funeral a few months ago and she said so herself,” he said and became amused at the annoyed look that crossed Kira's face. “You should at least keep it in mind Kira.”

 

“Forget it!” Kira said crossing his arms over his chest. “My life is just fine without you trying to set me up with someone I don't know. So just drop the subject!” he said letting his annoyance out.

 

The small lunch moved quickly after that. It wasn't long before they prepared to leave. Kira left after paying his part of the bill leaving Athrun and Cagalli behind. “Do you even think it is possible for the two of them to be together?” Cagalli asked in an interested tone.

 

“Yeah. Kira is a good person who doesn't care how much money a person has or how beautiful they are. Fllay was manipulative and that was the only reason he even went out with her. That's the type of person Lacus likes while Lacus is the type of person I know Kira could like as well. I don't think they can avoid each other so maybe it could happen,” Athrun said and Cagalli nodded her head in agreement.

 

*****

 

The day was drawing to an end and most of the children had already been picked up with the exception of four or five children. Most were tired out by then so it was rather quiet in the room as Lacus tried to get the place cleaned up after the rather stressful day.

 

Walking into the room, Alice smiled at the hard working young woman. “I don't know how you can handle all these kids when they swarm you like that. I probably would've passed out half way through the day,” she said with humor clearly heard in her voice.

 

“I don't have a problem with it,” Lacus said placing a few toys where they were supposed to go. “If you'd like, I'll close up today,” Lacus kindly offered to the woman who's looked out for her since her father's death.

 

“Thank you, I really appreciate it. There were actually a few things I needed to do before the end of the day. Are you sure that you'll be alright though?” she asked in a worried tone. She didn't want Lacus overdoing it like she had been.

 

“I'll be fine. Things have quieted down anyways,” she said before looking at the children. Two of them were napping and the others were silently playing a game. “I guess I'll see you tomorrow then,” she said and the older woman nodded as she left the room to get ready to leave.

 

After that, Lacus finished picking up the last of the toys before taking a seat so that she could just watch the children until their parents arrived to pick them up. `This is such a stressful job at times but it's also the best job I could ever have,' she thought with a bright smile.

 

Opening her bright blue eyes, Midori rubbed the sleep out of them as she looked around the room. The sun was setting already casting the room in a crimson color. By the looks of it even the remaining children were already gone leaving Lacus and her there. “Where's daddy?” she asked wondering what was taking her father.

 

Looking at the little girl, Lacus gave her a bright smile. “He's not here yet but I'm sure he's on his way right now,” she replied making the girl smile. “Does he usually come this late?” she asked looking at her watch only to see that it was a quarter past seven.

 

Midori just shook her head. She looked towards the windows to see the sky really start to darken since the sun had nearly disappeared behind the horizon. “No, the sun's usually still up,” she said as she stood up and walked towards Lacus.

 

“Then I'm sure that he's probably just really busy with work. Don't worry though, I'll stay here with you until he gets here,” she said which really brought a bright smile to the child's face. It was that type of reaction that always made Lacus love her job even more. She loved to see such smiles on little kids' faces.

 

“Why don't you go color or something for a little while?” she asked and the young girl nodded her head as she headed over to one of the tables. Lacus giggled softly at the young girl's enthusiasm as she followed her over to the table.

 

It was at least thirty minutes later that anything happened. During that time all that Midori did was color while Lacus kept an eye on her. “You are a very good at coloring. I bet you do this a lot with your family,” Lacus said looking at the little girl's picture.

 

Midori nodded her head before lifting it up to look into Lacus's similar blue eyes. “I like to color. Daddy always said that he loved my pictures,” she said with a proud smile before turning back to the picture set before her.

 

“Well I don't blame him,” Lacus said before hearing the sounds of a car outside the building. “I think he may be here,” she said which made Midori immediately jump to her feet much to Lacus's amusement. “Calm down. It's not like he's going to leave without you,” she said with a laugh as Midori ran over to her stuff.

 

This time Lacus heard the sounds of the front door opening. “Hello, is anyone here?!” a voice called out making Midori even happier when she heard her father's voice. She put on her shoes without tying them and rushed to the front room where her father was waiting.

 

Without warning, Midori came pelting through the door and rushed towards her father at full speed. “Daddy, daddy!” Midori yelled jumping into his arms. “Where were you?” she asked since the sun had set a while ago.

 

Kira smiled as he gave his daughter a tight hug. “I'm sorry princess but I ran a little late at work. I rushed over here as quickly as I could afterwards though,” he said giving her a big smile. “Where is everyone?” he asked looking around to find one of the employees.

 

At that moment the doors to the room opened once again. Kira turned his attention towards the door. His heart seemed to skip a beat when he saw what had to be one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes upon came walking through the door. `So this is Lacus Clyne.'