[html]
Tayui flinched at her sister’s words, pulling her head back slightly and narrowing her eyes. She felt the paw that was holding her daughter’s toy shiver slightly, twitching oddly. She met her sister’s gaze with one of her own, with equal fury. She bit back a number of retorts, wanting to say so much, to lash out and make it alright. She had wanted her sister to be so much more, but she had never been anything like what she expected. Tayui had created so many expectations for her kin as a child, and now as an adult, but they had never been fulfilled. Aurèle had harassed her and mocked her for everything she’d done. Tayui had been dealing with death far before her sister had ever understood the concept. She’d had Viola to thank for that, her patient, steady guide. Never once had she wondered about her aunt’s existence until family members called it into question. But her aunt was not real, they told her. No, she had been dead, and she had to grapple with the concept at a young age. Now, faced with it again, she wanted someone to help her through it. She’d seen death too many times to face it alone again. She wanted someone, her sister, her strong sister, to show some compassion and guidance.
“I needed a sister,” she replied harshly. “I needed someone to confide in. I still do.” Her voice began to crack. “I can’t do this anymore. Alone, I can’t raise my children, alone, I can’t, I can’t,” she began to cry, her anger growing slowly again. “I can’t see them dead again, not again, not again,” she continued, anger burning through her tears. She couldn’t continue doing this, continue to see the ones she loved leave her and die. Leave her. Die. They kept doing that. Abandoning her and leaving her alone. She’d spent so much time after Shaeniire’s death trying to figure out where to go and what to do. She needed someone.