Chapter Three (C): Jake & Thorchan

[Akirapryde]

Kimiko closed her little bag of jewelry and walked in to the empty bay. Her shoulder's slumped in defeat as she found a place to sit on a nearby cart, "you don't understand. Everyone hears my name and they think how wonderful life must be for me. The wealth and the fame."

She reached over and stuffed her small bag in to her shoulder bag. "When I was four, my picture was global news" she said as she pulled out a small digital picture frame. She selected the image she wanted to show and handed it to him. It was a news media image of a group of military officers standing around a large holotable. While the military officers were going over an image on the table, the image was centered on a little girl. She was sitting on the edge of a table, next to a large muscular man. She was wearing a military helmet that was many times too large for her that nearly covered her face. She was holding up the helmet so that her face could be seen my the photographer. She held up a single thumbs up and wore a bright smile. The headline of the image read, 'Kimiko approves New Earth's new Strategic Defense System'

She let out a slight bit of laughter, "how crazy is it that at four I had my own fan club. As a teenager, I went to a school named after my father" but her tone turned darker as she continued, "But it was my older bothers." she said as a tear slowly slipped from her eye, "they were groomed to lead. While I wanted to follow my mother in to business, they were getting the very best military and leadership training my family could provide for them. It was my father's path that they were following. But to me, they were everything I inspired to be. To me, they were my world."

She fell silent for a moment before continuing. "When their deaths reported after the battle of Tukayyid, it was assumed, even by me, that this is what happens in war. I had thought that they died for the Inner Sphere, doing what they loved."

"But then the truth came out. And when it rained it poured. I also learned my father's dirty secret. My bothers were murdered by Lyrans assassins. My brothers had to die because my father couldn't let a thirty year grudge go. The night I found out the truth, I yelled at my father. I said such hateful things to him. I wished that it was him who had been killed and not my brothers." she paused looking down at the deck. Her tears were flowing freely now, "My father's death was seen as a global tragedy. But for me, it ended any hope of taking back those horrible things I said."

She turned back to Jake, "my wish for my father came true and now I am returning home for the first time since that fight. The last thing I told him was how much I hated him. How much I wanted him to die and how much I wanted my brothers back. How do I look my mother in the eyes. How do I tell her I am sorry for what I said."

She looked down and whipped her tears away, "I know you must be thinking how stupid I must me. How petty I must be."