"What?" Alex asked, standing. "You're telling me that we're siblings? That we're twins?"
"Alex, please," I begged. "Calm down."
"Why would they keep this from us? Especially after I met you, you would think that they would tell us."
"Alex," I said, my eyed filling with tears.
He sighed and sat back down in his chair, watching me, ready for what I was going to say.
"Why do you think I was acting weird when I woke up? Why do you think I was pushing everyone away? It was because I was confused. Then I remembered something. Something Mom had told me, when she pulled me in to say goodbye." I could feel more tears as I spoke, and I stopped for a moment.
Alex asked carefully, "What was that?"
"When she told me she was leaving me, I begged her not to go. I told her I still needed her, that she had to meet Finny, Maria, you...
"When she heard your name, Alex, she repeated it, as if asking me if she had heard me right. I told her who you were, and she smiled. She told me you were the one destined to help me, not her. But her smile, it was something I didn't understand until a few moments ago. She remembered your name. She was happy that we had found each other, that you were alright."
"She was?"
"Of course she was. You're her son."
"Then why give me away?" He asked. "Why separate us?"
"She thought we had a better shot at surviving if we were separate. They were only thinking of our futures, wanting us to stay alive as long as possible."
"So why do we have different birthdays?"
"Our parents had known they were going to separate us since they found out they were having twins. When they gave you away, they told your adoptive parents that they wanted us to have different birthdays, so that if we ever did meet, we wouldn't assume we were siblings. So your adoptive family made your birthday the day you were given to them."
"Okay, so why the whole 'Let's chose to keep our daughter instead of our son' thing?"
"Don't say that!" I snapped. "Don't you dare think that they chose me over you! My parents would never do something as cruel as picking favorites!" My eyes widened as I realized what I had done, and I hastily covered my mouth, my eyes watering even more. "I'm so sorry, Alex. I didn't mean to."
"It's alright, I shouldn't have worded it like that."
I nodded, then took a deep, ragged breath. "There's something I haven't told you. Something that I've never told anyone I ever met."
"What?" Alex asked curiously.
"It's, well..."
"Selena," Alex said, leaning closer to me. "You're my sister. If saying something like that got you worked up like that, I need to know what that is. Maybe I can help, or at least keep myself from doing it again."
I nodded, took another deep breath, and told him everything. "This is something I didn't just remember. I've always known about it." I paused, trying to organize my thoughts. A moment later, I started my story again. "I was born weak and ill, you totally perfect and normal. While you grew normally, I grew with uneven halves. My angel side was always weak, my demon growing strong. Now this is the part I just found out. Our parents knew they couldn't give me away to strangers who didn't know anything about my condition. They were scared I would die. But they had faith in you, knew you were strong, knew you would live. That's why they gave you away instead of me. You had a more likely chance at survival. They had a faith in you they never had in me."
Alex sat in his chair, watching me. I was looking down at my hands, letting the tears fall down my face and onto my wrists.
"What's happening to me now isn't Serena's fault, nor is it mine. I never got over that illness as a child, and it's just hitting me again, but way harder this time."
I don't know how long I sat there, silently crying, but it felt like forever. I cried until Alex got up from his chair and sat next to me.
"I made a promise to you, Selena. I promised that I wouldn't let you die, and I'm not going to take that back just because it's an illness. Maybe the reason Angelina has been trying to contact you is because she knows how to cure you."
"If angels knew how to cure me, don't you think Mom would've done it when I was little?"
"Maybe the cure has been recently discovered." Alex suggested. "Either way, I won't let you die, Selena. I promised. I'm never going to take that back."
I smiled at Alex, more tears pooling in my eyes. I threw my arms around him, hugging him, and cried. He held me while I cried, and I felt safe in my brother's arms.
Dad knocked on the door a while later. I pulled away from Alex and wiped my eyes, then told my father he could come in.
"We should be leaving soon if we're going to make it by midnight. Maria and Peter are going to stay here. Get whatever you need, then meet me and Finny downstairs."
I nodded, and could feel Alex giving his father a death glare. Once Dad was gone, I turned to Alex. "Alex, please. Don't be mad at him. He really did think he was protecting us."
"I don't care what he thought. He should have told us."
"I agree with you, but still. We're probably both still alive because of him. What if you had been there when Mom was shot down by Christopher? She would have been trying protect both of us instead of just me. We could've all been dead right now if she hadn't given you away."
Alex was quiet. I could tell he was thinking. I closed my eyes and waited for him to speak.
He moved. I opened my eyes to see him standing in front of me, offering his hand. "We should get downstairs. Don't want to keep 'Dear old Dad' waiting."
I smiled and took his hand. He helped me up, then led me downstairs.
The carriage ride was shorter than I had expected, probably just because I had been deep in thought. Serena had tried to speak to me several times, but I had ignored her. I'd wanted to think without her input for a while.
Once we reached the meadow outside the forest, I was instantly bombarded with memories. We were in the meadow where Mom had been shot down, the meadow where I had found her ten year old blood, the meadow where I was shot and forced into the carriage by Maria, and we had driven after my father.
I held my head as the memories ran through. Alex touched my hand, and I looked over at him. He seemed concerned. I just smiled at him, trying to show that I was okay. He gave me a worried smile in return.
Maria had asked Finny to stay back at the inn/manor thing to play with Peter, because he'd had fun playing with him before. I told him I'd be fine, and he smiled and went to find the small boy.
Now, we walked through the meadow. The forest was tall beside us, and looked somewhat inviting.
Suddenly, a bright light pierced through the darkness. I covered my eyes until it had faded, then looked in front of me.
It was an angel. She looked like my mother in many ways. The white hair, light gray wings, marking her as fallen. Her blue eyes and her smile resembled my mother's as well.
"Angelina?" I asked.
The angel nodded. "Selena and Alexander Michaelis?"
"I never told you my name," I said.
"I know you didn't, but I have known the both of you since you were very young. Don't you remember?"
I thought hard on who she was, on her face, searching my memory. All I saw was my mother.
"You look like my mother," was all I said.
Angelina smiled. She turned to my father. "It's wonderful to see you again, Sebastian."
"You as well, Angelina."
I looked to my father in disbelief. "You know her?"
Dad nodded, smiling. "Selena, Alex, this is Angelina. Your mother's older sister."
