By Haruka

Amara went into the house and leaned back against the door. She saw her reflection in the mirror directly in front of her and an earlier image of Haruka came to her. The only difference was the shirts they wore.
"Is she my sister?" she whispered. "My _twin_?"
"THERE you are!"
Amara jumped at the sudden intrusion into her thoughts and she faced Maria angrily. "What's with you?! You nearly scared the life out of me!"
"You should be ashamed of yourself, exhibiting such behavior in public!" Maria scolded. "And with two different people! I know you think of yourself as a charmer but you need not be so free with your affections, it only cheapens you and it is not fair to the people you are with!"
Amara stared at her. "What in the HELL are you babbling about?!"
"Is that Amara I hear?" Rogue walked into the foyer and folded her arms. "Young lady, can ya give me one good reason why I shouldn't paddle yer bottom from here ta Mississippi for what ya did?!"
Amara was starting to wish she hadn't come through the door at all. "Uh, yeah, I can think of a few reasons, actually. The first of which is that I don't know what either of you are mad about."
"Aw, come on, kid." Kanna grinned from the living room doorway. "Maria and I both saw you making out with that green-haired cutie and then the sexy black-haired guy were you comparison shopping or something?"
Rogue's jaw had dropped and she stared at Kanna. "Making out with ?" She turned back to Amara. "I was talkin' about ya runnin' us down outside the arcade! I don't know nothin' about any make-out sessions but I sure want ta know yer answer ta that one, too!"
The front door opened suddenly, sending Amara crashing against the wall behind it. "OUCH!" she yelled.
"Oops, sorry," Duo said, peering around the edge of the door, Inuyasha right behind him. "I didn't know you were right behind the door, Amara."
She rubbed her nose. "That's okay," she grumbled. "It seems to be pick-on-Amara day around here, anyhow."
"Really?" Inuyasha grinned. "Can we join in, too?"
"Ha ha."
Remy came out of the kitchen. "Why is everyone crowded in here? What is going on?" His gaze fell on Amara and he nodded. "Ah, I see. She has arrived."
"Did she tell you about the girl Haruka who looks like her?" Duo asked. "You should see the two of them together, it's amazing!"
Everyone fell silent. "What are you talkin' about?" Rogue asked.
Amara sighed. "There's a girl in town who looks just like me. Her name is Haruka, and her parents say that we're twins, separated at birth."
"Sounds like a bad midnight movie," Inuyasha commented.
"But that's crazy!" Rogue said. "Isn't it?"
"Apparently not." Amara shrugged. "They had two babies and were told one died. Now they think I was stolen. Haruka and I look exactly alike, only our voices are different. They say we're half-identical twins." She shook her head. "I don't know whether to believe it or not."
Maria stepped forward and gave Amara a brief hug. "I am sorry I yelled at you," she said. "It must not have been you kissing those people."
"Well," Amara grinned, "_one_ of them was me. The black- haired guy is named Seiya, and he's pretty damned sexy."
Rogue eyed her closely. "Was that you who ran inta us? With a green-haired girl?"
"Nope, not me," Amara said. "Haruka's the one with a green-haired girlfriend her name's Michiru."
"Damn," Rogue said in amazement. "You and that Haruka girl really DO look alike."
Remy put a hand on Amara's shoulder. "Are you okay, petite? Dis must be a lot for you to take in."
"It _is_ kind of overwhelming," Amara admitted. "I guess I'm sort of in shock. I feel like I should be reacting more strongly, but that would mean I accept it as truth, and I don't know if I can do that yet."
"They're gonna run tests aren't they?" Kanna asked. "To make sure?"
"Oh yeah." She nodded. "I don't think any of us will really believe it until then."
"In dat case, come in and sit down and relax. Dere is notting to be done right now. Rogue and I will talk to dese people later."
Amara let herself be guided out of the foyer. As she passed by the mirror, she wondered what it would be like to look at her face on a daily basis and have it belong to someone else.

Haruka looked up at the knock on her door. "Who is it?"
"Yui."
"Come in."
Her younger sister entered the room and shut the door after her. "Am I disturbing you?"
"No, come here." Haruka patted the bedspread beside her. Yui sat down and Haruka gave her a hug. "I wanted to thank you," she said, drawing back to look at her. "For organizing everybody and trying so hard to help me. I'll never forget it."
Yui smiled. "I love you, what else was I going to do? You're my big sister."
Haruka returned the smile ruefully. "Now it looks like you've got two of us."
"I can't imagine how you must feel," Yui said gently. "To suddenly learn after all these years that you've got a twin ."
"The more I think about it, the more I want to talk to her," Haruka admitted. "There are things in my life that may make more sense now."
"What if she doesn't want anything to do with us?" Yui asked. "I think Mama and Papa kind of scared her."
"I think the whole scene scared her I know it did me." Haruka's expression darkened. "I don't know if I can ever forgive them for not telling me about her."
Yui sighed. "I think it was a tough call for them, Haruka. They thought she was dead, and it must have been hell for them. What were they going to do force you to share that sense of loss?"
Haruka ran her fingers through her hair. "I guess you're right, it's just ." She shook her head. "I feel a sense of loss, anyway."
"What happened is terrible," Yui agreed. "But maybe you and Amara can get to know each other now."
"What if we hate each other?" Haruka asked.
Yui grinned. "Then you won't be any different from a lot of siblings. Hey, remember, she's my sister, too. I'm not going to let her go without a fight."
"We'd better get those tests done soon," Haruka said. "I think once the proof is staring her in the face, it'll be easier for her to accept me."
"If I know Papa, he's already setting them up," Yui remarked.
The phone rang and Zoisite called up the stairs, "Haruka, it's Hawk Eye for you!"
Yui grinned. "And thus begins the influx of calls from concerned friends."
"That's okay, maybe the more I talk about it, the more chance I'll figure out how I feel." She ruffled Yui's hair and went to take her call. Yui watched her go and hoped the discovery of her sister's twin wouldn't change Haruka. She also hoped that Amara wouldn't feel overshadowed by Haruka's popularity.
"Things are going to get interesting," she predicted.

End of chapter 25

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