Michiru sighed happily as Haruka hugged her
closely. "I'm so glad everything worked out for you, love," she said.
"This is just the beginning," Haruka said. She
looked over to where Yui and Amara were talking. The barbecue was in full swing
and everyone was getting to know the newcomers. It was interesting to see them
mixing, and even more so to see how the group home crowd kept looking at her with
amazement while her friends and family would stare at Amara.
"I know it's a stupid thing to say, but the
resemblance is incredible," Michiru remarked, then smiled at her. "I'll always
be able to tell you apart, though."
"Oh really?" Haruka grinned. "How will you
know?"
"By the look in your eyes when you see me,"
Michiru said, touching her cheek. "It makes my heart sing."
They drew together and kissed.
Kanna laughed and looked at the colorful little
girls on either side of her. "Ready?" she asked.
"Ready!" the Quartet said in unison.
"Upsy daisy!" Kanna stood up straight with her
powerfully-muscled arms held out and bent up at the elbows. The four girls,
holding on to her biceps, were lifted off their feet into the air, giggling
wildly.
"Whee!" Palla Palla exclaimed
"She's so strong!" Ves Ves cried.
"A _woman_ so powerful!" Cere Cere wiggled her
free-floating feet.
"Awesome, man!" Jun Jun laughed. "I wanna start
working out!"
"Very impressive," said an adult voice.
Kanna looked over at Apricot, who smiled as she
watched the demonstration of strength. "Aw, it's not that big a deal," she
grinned. "they're really light." She carefully lowered the four girls to the
ground.
"Thanks, Kanna!" they chorused and ran off to the
buffet table.
"They're so cute," Kanna remarked.
"You seem to be very good with children," Apricot
observed.
"I love kids," Kanna said, straightening her
sleeves.
"So do I, that's why I had three of them," Apricot
said, then chuckled. "Well, I didn't exactly know there were three when I got
pregnant!"
"That's Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten, right?" Kanna
asked. "I'm learning everyone's names."
"You're doing very well, too, because you're
right."
"It's not hard to know Seiya - he's the one Amara
keeps hanging around." Kanna looked sheepish. "I'm not sure who's who with the
other two."
"Taiki is the redhead and Yaten the blonde."
Apricot moved closer to stand in front of her, looking up into the purple eyes
with interest. "What about your family, Kanna?"
"The group home are my family now," Kanna said.
"My parents are gone, but before my father died, he trained me to be the 28th
successor to the Kirishima style of karate. I'll train my own kid someday, but
right now, I'm still a kid myself."
Apricot laughed. "You don't seem like a kid to
me."
"Thanks." Kanna grinned.
Apricot put a hand on her arm. "Age isn't that
important, really. Attitude is everything."
A throat cleared behind Apricot and she turned to
find Maria standing over her.
"Oh, hello," Apricot said. "Maria, isn't it?"
"Yes," the blonde replied curtly. "Kanna, may I
speak with you for a moment?"
"Sure. Excuse me, ma'am." Kanna walked off with
Maria, leaving Apricot with an incredulous look on her face.
"'Ma'am'?!'" she repeated.
Kanna gave Maria a sideways glance as they walked.
"You look upset. What did I do?"
"Nothing, you did nothing," Maria snapped. "It
is that woman. Could you not see what she was doing?"
"Talking to me?"
Maria stopped and faced her. "Kanna, she was
making advances toward you."
"Really?" Kanna said, wide-eyed "But she's an
adult, and a married one with kids about my age! You've got to be wrong, Maria."
"Perhaps," the Russian girl said, "but I don't
believe so. The way she looked at you ... and she touched you."
"She didn't pat my butt or anything, she only put
her hand on my arm." Kanna grinned. "You jealous?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"You're jealous."
"I'm worried, that is all. Watch yourself around
her."
"Jealous." Kanna chuckled. "But there's no
reason to be, you know."
Maria didn't answer. She looked back toward
Apricot and met the woman's dark eyes. I wish I could believe that, she thought.
Seiya swallowed some lemonade and tried to will
the guilt away. He could tell he was hurting Fish Eye by paying attention to
Amara, and it didn't help that he was still kept his gender-changing capability
from him, as well. Every time he made eye contact with one of his brothers, he
knew they were thinking that he should take Fish Eye aside and talk to him.
Maybe it was that guilt making him believe that or maybe it was the truth, but
either way, Seiya knew it wasn't right to keep Fish Eye in the dark - not if he
wanted to keep dating him. And he did.
"You okay?"
Seiya turned his head toward the voice. Amara was
looking at him with concern.
"You have a very serious look on your face," she
said. "Anything I can help you with?"
"I don't think so," he said. "I have something
important to tell Fish Eye and I'm worried about his reaction."
"Oh." She stuffed her hands into her pockets and
looked away. "I guess it's none of my business what you want to tell him, but
if you feel like testing the waters, you can unload if you want to."
Seiya thought about it. It wasn't a bad idea,
really. If Amara couldn't handle the truth, it would give him a chance to re-
think how to break it to Fish Eye.
"Okay," he said, watching her closely, "what would
you say if I told you that I'm really a girl?"
"I'd say you're joking or you really had me
fooled," she replied.
"I'm not joking," he said. "Taiki, Yaten, and I
were all born female. We can change gender at will."
She stared at him. "Seriously?"
He nodded. "Seriously."
A slow grin spread over her beautiful face. "Then
I've got twice as much reason to pursue you now."
Seiya blinked in surprise, then laughed. "You've
got more nerve than anyone I know except maybe - "
"Haruka?" she finished for him. "I've heard she's
pretty gutsy."
Seiya studied her. "You're really not shocked,
are you?"
Amara laughed. "Man, today I've met people who
can turn into a fish, tiger, hawk, fox spirit, and one with an animal god living
inside her. Oh yeah, and I learned I have a long-lost twin sister. You think
your turning into a girl is shocking compared to all that?"
"Good point." He smiled.
She took a step closer. "And I wasn't lying,
either. I like girls as much as boys. In fact, I look forward to seeing you in
girl-form." She leaned over to whisper in his ear. "I want to find out first-
hand if she's as good a kisser as you are."
Seiya didn't know what to say to that, but the
thought of kissing Amara while in female form had definite appeal.
Fish Eye watched Amara whisper to Seiya and wished
his parents weren't present so he could throw something at her. Like a poisoned
dart.
"I'm sorry, Fish Eye."
He sighed. "It's okay, Haruka," he answered
without looking away from Seiya and Amara. "It's not your fault."
"I know," she said, watching them herself. "But
I still feel responsible somehow."
"If it's meant to be with Seiya and I, it will
happen in spite of her," Fish Eye said. It was a mature response, he decided,
and sounded much better than telling Haruka she'd soon be twinless again if Amara
didn't keep her greedy hands off his boyfriend.
Michiru sighed happily as Haruka hugged her
closely. "I'm so glad everything worked out for you, love," she said.
