“Know what?”
“Elise woke up.”
Ringing filled Kira’s ears.
“I thought you knew,” Elodie whispered.
“I didn’t.”
Kira’s voice sounded strange to her own ears.Flat.Emotionless.Almost detached despite the storm swirling inside.
Elise was awake.
She was awake.
The sister of her heart was awake.
That was the sort of information you’d think would be important to pass on.
Except maybe someone already had.She hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but Finn’s suggestion that she visit the children first was out of character.In the normal course of things, the Overlord should have been her first stop.
“When did this happen?”Kira asked, squeezing the words past the lump in her throat.
“Shortly after the Nexus’s self-destruct.”
“Does Raider know?”
“He’s been with her since his return yesterday.”
Kira’s exhale was shaky as she glanced at the door she’d come through earlier.“That’s why Elena seemed lighter.”
It hadn’t been Ziva, after all.Though Kira was sure the girl’s presence hadn’t hurt.
The girl on the ceiling twisted to look straight at Kira.
“That’s new,” Elodie said.“She hasn’t shown any interest in her surroundings before.None of the children have, really.”
Meanwhile, the girl was still staring.Those eyes, so penetrating and intense.An exact replica of Elise’s.
Kira found herself moving slowly toward the girl as Elodie trailed at a short distance.The healer was careful not to get too close, not wanting to risk startling the girl.
“Youngest.”Maksym was careful to keep the girl in view out of the corner of his eye as he greeted Kira.“Glad to see your stint in prison hasn’t left you worse for wear.”
“Somehow I managed to survive.”
“It appears you’ve made a new friend too,” Maksym observed, nodding to the girl clinging to the ceiling above them.“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this fascinated.”
“Has she given you her name yet?”Kira asked.
Maksym shook his head.“None of them have.Not unless you count growling as a form of identifier.”
Kira tried not to feel disappointed.Despite what humans sometimes thought, names held power.Even if that power was only over yourself.
They were a source of identity and strength.
Choosing their names was one of the first things Kira and Jin did upon escape.It had been a pivotal moment in her life.A way of proclaiming her freedom.Who she was.She was no longer a number in an experiment.She was Kira Forrest.Adopted daughter of Akira Himoto.And later, the Phoenix of the Consortium.
The forty-three had done the same.
