Chapter Text
Kira sighed, his hands itching towards the pack of cigarettes he kept in his desk drawer. He didn’t smoke anymore, not since everyone who loved him screamed at him to quit, but he still kept them in sight as a test of his will power. It only faltered sometimes, as it was doing in that moment as the stack of reports he needed to go through seemed never ending. It was especially annoying since he was on Orb on vacation and really shouldn’t have to wade through a million and a half reports. Ah but such was the life of a commander and husband of the Supreme Chairwoman of ZAFT.
Another report popped up and taking a smoke break was sounding more and more appealing. He’d been on Orb for a week and had only seen Cagalli and Athrun once for dinner because his sense of duty superseded his desire for a break. And it was such a beautiful day too. He could hear the birds chirping and the waves crashing in the ocean, the noises of this beautiful land calling him to leave his work and rest. He opened the report, then smiled softly when he saw the name attached to it.
Shinn Asuka. Kira’s enemy turned friend turned lover. Perhaps he could order Shinn down to Orb with him and they could both take a well deserved vacation together. Or at the very least Shinn wouldn’t allow Kira to waste the day away in front of the computer. He’d probably also go through all of Kira’s belongings and throw out every pack of cigarettes he could find.
Kira leaned back and rubbed his eyes. They stung like hell. He allowed his mind to wander to his young lover. Despite the rough beginning, once the war ended and they got to really know each other, Kira and Shinn had become thick as thieves (much to Athrun’s chagrin). They really had done their best to ignore the growing feelings between them, especially after Kira’s wedding to Lacus. Their marriage had been rough and their relationship on the rocks for a while. Lacus suffered a miscarriage just after their first anniversary that irreparably damaged their marriage. They discovered in that period that they just mourned too differently. Despite their best attempts to make it work after that, they came to the amicable decision that a separation was what was best. Neither of them wanted to deal with the media shit storm that would have been their divorce, nor the discourse in the PLANTs that would have followed, so for the stability of the land they remained publicly married. In private, however, they had their lovers and their lives and they remained wonderful friends.
It was because of the separation that Kira desired to return to the quiet and peace that was Orb. While he couldn’t leave ZAFT and rejoin Orb without raising serious questions, he had started the process of switching from the military to the ambassadorship. Of course that came with miles and miles of red tape that was taking far too long to get through for his liking. Maybe once it was all said and done, he could convince Shinn to join him as an attache. Then they could live on Orb in relative anonymity and be an actual couple without fear of the media.
Shaking his head, Kira refocused on the report from Shinn. Oh. He was requesting leave. Kira had to laugh. That was just like Shinn not to tell him he was taking leave and letting Kira find out via reports. Member of FAITH he may be, he still had to request time off and those all went through Kira. He signed off electronically and then shot Shinn a text.
Kira 12:36pm:
Cheeky bastard
Just approved your leave
See you soon?
Shinn 12:37pm:
Nah, Luna and I are going to New Zealand.
Kira bristled seeing Shinn’s on-again, off-again girlfriend’s name in text. He wasn’t jealous. Nope. Not him. As things stood he wasn’t able to offer Shinn a proper relationship. It made sense that the young man would seek out his long time friend and sometimes girlfriend. He was halfway through typing a response when Shinn sent another text.
Shinn 12:38pm:
Jk of course I’m coming to see you.
Someone needs to make sure you didn’t start smoking again ;P
Before Kira could chide him for the smoking comment, there was a knock on his door.
“Come in,” Kira croaked, realizing in that moment exactly how dry his throat was. When was the last time he had a glass of water? The door opened and the butler’s assistant walked in. A young man whose name kept escaping Kira’s mind.
“Mr Yamato,” the young man started, “Ms Athha just pulled up. She seemed pretty frazzled. Mr Burns thought it would be best if you met her at the door.”
Cagalli? Frazzled? That couldn’t be good. He didn’t particularly care that he was still in his pajamas, he jumped up from his desk and ran out of his office. He’d known something was off with Cagalli when they had dinner and the idea of her running to see him in the middle of the day had him worried. It wasn’t like her to just shirk off her work. Once he got to the balcony overlooking the foyer, he didn’t bother with the stairs. Instead he vaulted himself over the railing and landed a few feet away from the very unimpressed butler, Mr Burns. An older English gentleman of very few words but dedicated to his job, and Kira was damn lucky to have him.
“Working hard again, young master?” Burns asked, arching an eyebrow as he looked Kira up and down. He must have looked a complete mess.
“You know me,” Kira shrugged good naturedly.
Burns said nothing and opened the door just in time for Cagalli to come barreling through. She was crying and immediately threw herself into Kira’s arms. All he could do was hug his sister and hold her tight while she tried and failed to form words. Instead of trying to force anything, Kira asked Burns to bring tea and he directed Cagalli out to the back patio.
The landscaping of the back patio was Kira’s baby. After Lacus’ miscarriage, Kira had run to Orb, to the safety of a home that he knew, and threw himself into landscaping as an escape. He’d done all the work by himself, dug out the ground, laid every stone, planted every plant, ran all the pipes for the fountain, slaved over the aesthetics until it was exactly how he’d wanted it. Then when it was done, he and Lacus made the decision to put a little gravestone for their unborn child facing the sea. They didn’t have a body to bury, but the memorial and the small service they held at the advice of their counselor had been enough.
He sat Cagalli down at the wrought iron table, allowing her the entirety of the cushioned bench built against the wall of the house while he took one of the chairs. Burns came with tea a few minutes later and Kira dismissed him almost instantly. He poured the tea and passed a cup over to his sister, who had stopped crying but still hadn’t been able to form words. That was fine, he would be the strong and comforting presence he’d always been for her until she was ready to talk.
It took another few minutes of silence before Cagalli put a white stick on the table and pushed it towards Kira. Confused, he picked it up to look. It took another minute of staring at the stick before he realized what he was looking at.
“You’re pregnant?!” Kira exclaimed, almost dropping the pregnancy test in his tea in shock. All Cagalli did was nod, her eyes downcast at her feet. Part of him wanted to jump up and congratulate her, but her behavior stopped him. “What’s wrong, Cagalli?”
When she finally picked up her head and looked him in the eyes, Kira froze. He’d seen her scared before but this wasn't just fear. She was terrified. “I’m pregnant,” she said softly, her lips twitching into a ghost of a smile before it disappeared again. “And I’m scared.”
“Why?” Kira asked, scotting the chair closer so he could take his sister’s hand and squeeze it tight.
“Because. . . Because Athrun’s a coordinator,” Cagalli explained, squeezing his hand back. “He’s a coordinator and I’m a natural and I’m scared! You heard what’s been happening in the PLANTs since Lacus repealed the marriage restrictions! Stillbirths and miscarriages are on the rise, as are women and children dying in childbirth! And that’s among coordinators having kids with coordinators! What’s going to happen to me, Kira? I don’t want to die like that!”
Yes, he knew all too well about the current situation in the PLANTs, as he and Lacus had also been victims of it. There was research coming out that upheld the original marriage restrictions, that there was real science behind only breeding with another coordinator who was genetically compatible. While Lacus had good intentions, allowing them to marry for love and not just DNA, it was causing a whole new set of suffering for the people of the PLANTs.
“Does Athrun know yet?” Kira asked, trying to establish all the facts before he started offering advice. Cagalli just shook her head. Part of Kira felt honored that he heard the news before the father did. The other part of him was scared for his sister. “I think you need to tell Athrun and then go see a doctor. It might not be a bad idea to get a genetic test done, I know of a bunch of places in the PLANTs that still do them. Who knows, you might be compatible after all and if not, it could give your doctors some really good information on how to treat your pregnancy.”
“Is that what you and Lacus did?” Cagalli asked, the fear in her eyes receding just a little bit.
“We would have if we’d known she was pregnant,” Kira lied. He hadn’t really talked to anyone about the miscarriage after it happened and no one pried. One of the many differences in how he and Lacus mourned. But they had known. They were purposefully trying for a child for months, they were thrilled when the test came back positive. Which made it all the more devastating when they miscarried on her way to their first doctor's appointment.
Cagalli looked shocked at the information, her own fear forgotten for the moment as she calculated the depths of the horror her brother must have endured. Kira continued, “But we didn’t. She was only. . . eight weeks, I think? Less? I don’t really remember.” God when was he going to stop lying to his sister? She was well aware of how bad his marriage had gotten, he could tell her the truth.
What a bad habit he'd cultivated.
“Kira, I’m so sorry,” Cagalli breathed, squeezing his hand again. When she and Athrun had been told about their loss, they had assumed that the couple had been aware of the pregnancy. Knowing that they hadn’t, all of Kira’s erratic behavior afterwards made so much more sense.
Kira just shook his head, his eyes glancing to the memorial stone that lay just a few dozen feet away. The subject needed changing. Quickly. "Where is Athrun today, anyway?"
“It’s his annual pilgrimage, he’ll be back tonight,” Cagalli explained, and Kira felt floored. Was it really that time of the year already? “And we did the genetic testing already. Last year when we went to the PLANTs for the launch of the Dune. But the results were inconclusive. . .”
Ah. All Kira could do was nod as he fished his phone from his pocket. Glancing at the date, he felt like a moron. Athrun went back to the PLANTs on the same week every year to pay his respects to his mother and his friends that died in battle. Kira couldn’t believe he’d lost track of the date, especially since he had to date every report he signed. He supposed after a while the numbers of dates became meaningless to him. Hell the whole last year had gone by in a complete blur.
Kira 1:15pm:
Do me a favor?
Shinn 1:15pm:
Absolutely not.
What do you need?
Kira 1:16pm:
Athrun is in the PLANTs. Connect with him and take the same shuttle down. Don’t let him leave your sight. The four of us are going to dinner.
Shinn 1:16pm:
This family makes me want to murder people.
Kira 1:17pm:
Just as long as it’s not Athrun.
Shinn 1:17pm:
Why do I have to babysit YOUR brother in law?
Come here and get him yourself.
Kira 1:18pm:
Can’t. I’m babysitting my sister.
Shinn 1:18pm:
You’re always babysitting your sister.
Kira 1:18pm:
It’s a full time job.
Don’t make me order you to escort Athrun home.
Shinn 1:19pm:
First off, you CAN’T order me. FAITH, remember?
Second, I’m on leave as of 20 mins ago so you really can’t order me around.
Third, you know I don’t listen to direct orders anyway.
So there.
Kira 1:20pm:
You’re such a brat.
Remind me why I love you again?
Shinn 1:20pm:
Because I’m a brat <3
“Who are you texting so fervently over there?” Cagalli asked, an annoyed edge to her voice at having been ignored for the last five minutes.
“Shinn,” Kira answered with a soft smile. “I’m trying to get him to connect with Athrun so they come down together and we’re not herding cats before dinner.”
“Dinner?”
“We’re all going out to dinner to tell Athrun the good news.”
“In public?!”
“He’s less likely to faint if he’s in public.”
“He faints?!”
“And you’re less likely to have a canary in public. It’s a win-win.”
“You’re a jerk.”
“You love me.”