As Blaise and Bella walked to the park, they chatted about nothing, but they both enjoyed it. Blaise had been busy lately, and so the two hadn't had a lot of time to hang out. The giddiness that they both felt at the feeling of being together made it easy for both of them to ignore the bag slung over Blaise's shoulder, and everything that it meant.
Most girls Blaise's age wouldn't enjoy such a trip, but she was twelve years older than her sister and had always been more of a mother to the girl than the sister, even when their parents were still alive. Their parents had been good people, but both of them had been very busy due to their love for their jobs. If not for Blaise's love of martial arts, she might not have seen her father for weeks while he was working.
Due to this environment, Blaise had often stepped up and taken care of Bella as a child, so it shouldn't have really surprised people so much when she chose to do so permanently. But it did.
Even more, they were shocked at how much Blaise seemed to enjoy her new responsibility. Oh, she was tired often from having to work and raise a young child. But she still smiled, and anyone who looked at her could tell that regardless of blood ties, Bella was her daughter. They could see it in her care for the child, and her obvious struggle to keep them both together and happy.
Today was no different. The two girls played in the park, and Blaise ignored the stares and petty rumors that had sprung up about Bella really being her daughter but being adopted by her parents to save her the humiliation. Assholes.
A little past noon, Bella decided that she wanted to explore the small bit of forest that bordered the park. Most people would have refused immediately, but their parents had bonded through their love of nature. It was how the two had met, and they had instilled that same love into both of their daughters, despite their premature death.
As a result, both Blaise and Bella were experienced hikers, and Blaise thought that such an excursion would be a good idea for the two of them to spend time with each other, and for them to remember their parents. Such an idea probably would have seemed cruel to others, but Blaise had been raised by a woman who, while not subscribing to any one religion, had taught her daughter to respect the spirits' of the dead. Blaise believed that those spirits deserved more than sadness for their death, but should also be remembered with the happiness that had hopefully imbued their lives as well. And so, she taught Bella to remember the few happy times she had shared with their parents, even while she still missed them.
As they walked, they allowed their conversation to fluctuate, sometimes being nonstop chatter to comfortable silence surrounded by nature. It didn't bother either of them.
Then, they came upon a small river being fed a waterfall. Bella was delighted but Blaise was shocked. For years she had heard rumors about this river. It was a local legend that this river could somehow save people who had already died. No one was certain exactly how this was supposed to happen. Some said that the water could bring them back to life. Others said that it could ensure that their souls reached Heaven.
While many people in the area knew about this legend, very few of them believed it, particularly since no one had ever managed to find this river that came from a waterfall. Blaise had always believed that if it had ever existed, it had probably been destroyed in order for buildings or roads to be built on top of it. Until now.
As she was pondering the surprising fact that the river actually existed, she saw Bella leaning close to the river. This didn't concern her as the current wasn't very strong and the river wasn't deep until she realized that there was a cracked branch hanging above Bella's head.
It had probably been broken by a strong wind or maybe the heavy snows that had fallen earlier in the year, but either way, it looked like it had decided that today was the day that it finally fell. As she saw it begin to descend towards Bella, Blaise ran towards her, but slipped on one of the stones and both of the sisters fell into the water.
Once submerged, Blaise found that she couldn't kick her way back to the surface, something that deeply confused her due to the fact that she could still tell that the river wasn't strong. Despite this she still couldn't do anything to save herself or her sister despite fighting for several minutes.
She refused to accept the fact that she couldn't save her sister, even as she began to lose consciousness.
