"Kira..." Panting, Celes called out to her.
Kira was sitting by a pond that is covered with rose petals. She was still sobbing when Celes approached and sat beside her. As she covered her wet doll face, Celes can only sigh, coaxing her as she caresses her hair.
"Kira, everything's gonna be alright. Don't cry anymore."
"I'm sorry..." Kira sobbed.
"There's nothing for you to apologize about, now don't cry."
"K..."
After giving her a short moment or two, Kira finally stopped crying. Her cheeks are still wet and her eyes were puffy, but she tried to force a smile.
"I'm so pathetic, aren't I?" she said.
"No, no, you aren't pathetic Kira, I-you just cares for everyone a lot."
Kira didn't buy it though. "Tell me, big sister, do you think that the way I care is pointless?"
Celes didn't see that coming, but she pondered for a while before she answered. "I can't really tell. Though I can see that you value everyone so much, I think that you shouldn't do so much because, you will never know that they might betray you one day."
"Why do you care so much anyway?" Celes asked. "Airi might be your family, but I still think that you worry about him a bit too much."
Giving it a thought, Kira said. "He is the very first fellow human that have whole heartedly accepted us, right from the very first time we met."
Celes was shocked to hear it. She doesn't understand what she meant much, but before she could ask, Kira continued.
"Nisan and I was raised by fairies. But even those fairies looked at us indifferently at first. We also have an uncle that helped look after us, but even if he acted nice towards us, we knew well that he wasn't sincere and doesn't really care about us if it weren't for his elder brother that forced him to. But that uncle of ours that truly cared, he just looked after us in secret for years, until such time that we started going out to outside of the palace."
"Although it was nisan that first met him, and even if nisan didn't really tell me, I knew that Airi was very important to him."
"Why only Kishi? Aren't you always together?" Confused, Celes asked her.
Kira looked at her and answered. "Nisan and I were separated for four years and were just reunited two months after first fall."
Celes was dumbfounded, but from the looks of it, Kira doesn't really care.
"Those four years were full of sufferings. But it also thought us a lot. We learned to have faith in each other, hoping that one day, we'll eventually be reunited. Because of it, the two of us became stronger."
How amazing it is that she viewed those sufferings positively. Even just with one glance, one can already tell that they are very close and care for each other so much. How much suffering did they have to endure until this day? Celes can hardly imagine it. It seems so that these children that was supposedly younger than her for four years have gone through more than that she had.
"But since I wasn't there, I don't really know what happened to nisan." She continued. "But from what the others told me, he became really cold to others and closed his heart from anyone."
"But Airi still accepted him. I 'am utterly grateful that Airi accompanied my nisan while he was at the outside world. He never abandoned him no matter how much nisan pushes him away."
"Unlike me, I've also gone through a lot and my other schoolmates in fantasia high really hated me. I also had my very first friend there and she was really nice. All the pain and fear I suffered, I endured it silently, not uttering a word to anyone. But nisan probably felt guilty. He must've blamed himself for not being able to protect me, that's why he became cold to everyone and trusted no one. But Airi was there."
"That's why we decided that we'll also be there for him no matter what. That we'll always be there even if he pushes us away. To be there even if he doesn't see us. But I don't want to hurt anyone. Not only did I made nisan vow and add another burden for him, I 'am also hurting Airi because I kept pushing him to do something he doesn't want to. Something that hurts his feelings. I don't want to do it anymore if I could take everything back. I don't want to hurt anyone."
"You shouldn't blame yourself Kira" Celes told her. "I'm sure that everything would pay off someday, I'm sure of it."
"You think so?"
"Of course." Celes reassured her.
There was silence between the two of them.
Celes kept staring at her and her curiosity increased further. "Kira, do you love Kishi?"
Kira didn't understand the point of her question but just nodded. As soon as she did, Celes's face turned red as a tomato. "Um...What's wrong?" Kira asked innocently.
Celes's face grew even redder as she tried to deny it. "n-no, there's nothing wrong!"
Not believing what she said, Kira stared at her, tilting her head.
Not being able to deny it further, she finally stated, sighing. "You...well...I know this isn't much of an issue for people like you, but...it's still incest..."
Kira became momentarily confused before she finally got her point. She laughed at her that drops of tears formed in her eyes.
"How silly!" She giggled, wiping the tears off her eyes, taking Celes aback. "You and your dirty mind, big sister. I love nisan but not the way you think."
"Oh." Celes started to feel a little stupid.
"Nisan is my older twin brother; he is me and I 'am him. That's all it is, no more and no less. I don't know what made you think that way, but were only like this because we grew up having no one else but each other."
"On the palace, our home. There is no one else. It was a very lonely place at first, but we were very happy to be there. Back then when we were little, the whole place hated us and we felt that there's no one else in the world but us. We don't know what it feels like to be love by a parent since we never had one. They say that our parents died at the same day that we were born. We also don't have any friends nor other siblings."
"Our guardian back then treated us indifferently, and our uncle hated us, while other chose not to reveal himself from us. In our hearts, we don't know what love is. We feel like falling into a void, full of darkness and nowhere else to go. But nisan was there for me, and I will be there for him. For me, my only brother is my only light, and I bet that nisan feels the same."
"Being alone in that darkness, it was scary. We knew that if we won't be there for each other, we will be alone. We provided each other the love that others cannot give us. Warm each other in the cold. Be each other's happiness and be in the same sadness. We made promises, protected each other, and aided each other. That the only reason why our life doesn't really feel so bad. It's because we knew that no matter what happens, nisan will be there, and I will be there for him."
"We were happy to be in each other's presence, and no matter how dangerous life is, we feel safe. We see each other as our other half. One cannot live without the other. We were born together, and we grew up together. I 'am him, and he is me. Everything's gonna be alright, as long as nisan is with me. We don't care if everyone hated us, or is lying to us. As long as were together, everything is alright."
Kira smiled at her again and giggled. "But even so, we don't see each other as potential love partners. Nisan even told me once that it is alright for me to fall in love with others, as long as he had my brother's permission. And it was also tradition that girls marry, but I don't think my nisan would be marrying other girls. Nisan even promised me that he wouldn't."
Celes blushed from embarrassment, but her mind is elsewhere. Kira might be very enthusiastic about this, but there is some risk. The bond they created is very strong, yes, but it's not invincible. It can be broken and if it does, what might possibly happen to them. She was sure it wasn't just her that thought about it. Airi, or anyone else probably already knew that. But it's obvious that no one tells them. They would probably not believe it any way. Their faith in each other was very powerful, and gambled everything for each other. But Clover is very cruel. However, it wasn't for her to tell them that.