TRIGGER WARNING… there is talk about depression, self harm and suicide towards the end of this chapter.
"Oh my Oz, Galinda is our sister?" Christa exclaimed. Galinda and Chloey were back in the house. They were all upstairs in Chloey's room, filling in Elphaba and Christa on what happened. Chloey and Christa were sitting on the bed. Elphaba and Galinda
were sitting on the bean bag chair right beside the bed. It wasn't very big so Galinda was more or less on Elphie's lap.
"Not ours, just mine." Chloey corrected.
"But she's related to you, and you're related to me." Christa said. Chloey sighed.
"Can one of you guys take it from here? I don't have the energy." She said, referring to Elphaba and Galinda.
"What Chloey is saying is that Galinda is her paternal half-sister, meaning they have the same father yet a different mother. You are her maternal half-sister, meaning you share the same mother but a different father. Therefore, Galinda is related to
Chloey, Chloey is related to you, but you and Galinda have no relation to each other. Also, your father Sebastian is not her biological father, he's her step father. This means that Hildegard is still your paternal half-sister, as you've always
been told. But she is Chloey's step-sister." Elphie explained.
"Thank you intellectual one." Chloey smiled.
"Oz, this is confusing!" Christa cried, shoving her face into a pillow.
"We agree." Galinda said.
"You and I are still sisters like we've always been Chris, none of this changes that." the green eyed blonde said, tickling her a little to get her to look up again.
"Stop that." she chuckled, but sat up and snuggled against Chloey. "I get it but I'm just so confused."
"I know you are. I'm sure mom and dad are going to talk to us all more about it later."
xxx
Over dinner, they talked it all out as a family. It was a bit easier now that the girls time to let the information set in. Chelsea wanted to clear up any lingering concerns Chloey or had. They also wanted to make sure Hildey and Christa understood the
situation as well. Chloey's anger towards her parents softened but she still felt some vague unsettling feelings that she assumed would never go away at this point.
xxx
On Tuesday, the girls went in the pool again for a little while but didn't stay in as long. They also had fun on the trampoline. Elphie had never been on a trampoline before and was very reluctant to give it a try after seeing the other girls falling
multiple times.
"Falling down is part of the fun Elphie. And you just bounce right back up. See." Galinda said as she jumped a few times, fell on her bottom, and bounced right back up to her feet.
"Come on Elphaba, you couldn't get in the pool so at least give this a try." Chloey said. She attempted a frontflip but failed. Galinda giggled and helped her up. Christa chuckled and did a back tuck.
"Wow that was awesome Chris!" Galinda said, giving her a high five then did a toe touch jump.
"How did you even do that G?" Chloey said after giving it a try. She couldn't get her legs up as high.
"I was dancer and a cheerleader. I got skills." She chuckled. She got off the trampoline for a while and went to sit with her girlfriend. It took a lot of persuasion but she eventually was able to convince Elphie to get on. She held both of Galinda's
hands at first and bounced slowly with her. After a while she warmed up and was jumping on her own. She even fell down a few times but bounced back up and laughed it off like everyone else. All four girls were laughing, jumping, having fun and trying
crazy new tricks until their legs got tired.
xxx
Hildegard worked at a local retail store and was also taking summer courses at Wittica Community College. She was off work today and her only class was cancelled, so she was home. That meant Chloey finally had access to the car. The family had one extra
car that the two older girls technically shared. But Hildey typically acted as though it was only hers. Her reasoning was that she was older, she's had her license about three years longer than Chloey, she has a job and Chloey was usually away at
school majority of the time. Chloey felt that since Hildey was 23 she should find a way to get her own car and also just move out of the house all together since she was usually so annoyed with everyone.
Anyway, the four girls went to Subbies for a late lunch. After that they stopped by the outlet mall just to browse around a bit and grabbed some cold drinks from Ozbucks before heading home.
xxx
"Whats up?" Chloey asked as she sat down in Sebastian's study room later that evening. He had requested to talk with her for a moment.
"I just wanted to see how you were faring after the big news from yesterday." he asked concerned.
"Well I love Galinda and I think it's cool that we're related. I just don't know how to feel about the rest of it. I've been under the impression my whole life that you're my father but you're not…"
"I know it's confusing and you feel betrayed to some extent."
"Very. It's just… I just don't know what we are anymore." the blonde sighed.
"You may be my step-daughter Chloey, but that doesn't make you any less of my daughter than you've ever been." Sebastian explained.
"I know...you're the only dad that I know. I guess I'll be meeting Galinda's father..or my father when I go to her house next week and I'm nervous. He's a stranger to me. It's gonna be hard to process the fact that he's my dad."
"It will be odd and may take some getting use to. I'm hoping you'll have the opportunity to have some sort of relationship with him that you've always deserved to have. But I've known you your entire life. I've watched you grow and become a wonderful
young lady. I'll always be your dad over here whenever you need one. You might not biologically be mine but you're just as much mine as Hildey and Christa are." Sebastian said.
"Thanks dad. I guess I needed to hear that." Chloey said, giving him a hug.
xxx
The next morning Chloey, Galinda and Elphaba headed downstairs for breakfast. Christa was still in her room sleeping. They were all caught off guard when they saw Sebastian, Chelsea and Hildegard all sitting around in the living room. There was a very
somber vibe in the air.
"This is a surprise. Are you all off work today?" Chloey asked, not catching the vibe. Her mother tried to speak but it just came out as sobs and she had to leave the room. Sebastian went after her, mentioning to Hildegard to explain.
"Mom?" Chloey called, very concerned.
"What's going on?" Galinda asked, about to cry herself. Elphie discretely slipped her hand into hers.
"Somebody died." Chloey realized. "Hildey, who died?" She asked worriedly.
"You might want to sit down." The older girl said. Chloey sat down beside her. Galinda and Elphie sat on the couch across from them.
"Grandpa Wayne died last night." She said. Wayne was Chelsea's father. Chloey gasped.
"What?! Grandpa? Oh, no, no, no, no. What happened?" She asked as her eyes filled with tears.
"Apparently he had a heart attack while Grandma was at bingo. She came home and couldn't wake him up." Hildey explained. Elphie felt horrible hearing this and Galinda was blinking back tears.
"I can't even imagine what Grandma Lynne must be feeling right now." Chloey said. At this point she was crying and Galinda came over to hug her.
"Where's Chris?" Hildey asked.
"In her room. I don't know if she's up yet. Who's going to break the news to her? She was closest to Grandpa out of all of the grandchildren. She's not going to take it well." Chloey sighed. The girls just sat around for a while trying to process the
news. Chelsea and Sebastian were able to return eventually. It was about 15 minutes later when Christa made her way downstairs, perky and happy. Her parents carefully broke the news to her and to say the least, her reaction was not pretty. First she
was in denial, then she was angry then just upset. She stormed off to her room and Chloey went after her.
xxx
"This is sad." Galinda sighed when she and Elphie went back into their own room. "Everyone is hurting. I'm hurting so much for all of them I can't even imagine the pain they're feeling." she said as her eyes filled with tears, she couldn't hold back anymore
and started to cry. Elphie held her without missing a beat, as she was feeling a little overwhelmed herself. When the blonde calmed down, they kissed to recharge, then cuddled up on the bed.
"I don't think I've ever lost someone so close to me before. I have both my grandparents on my mom's side and my grandpa on my dad's side passed away before I was even born." Galinda said as she rested her head on Elphie.
"My only major loss was my mother." Elphie said, emotionlessly. "That was a hectic day. We gained one family member but lost another."
"I can't even imagine." Galinda sighed. "One of Tristina's close friends was murdered when they were in high school."
"Oh Oz" Elphie said, shocked.
"Yeah. It was all over the news. That may have been the onset of a really hard time in her life. I won't get into that." Galinda said. "Also, according to Jemma, Sylvie was an orphan."
"Wait what?" Elphie said in disbelieve.
"Both of her parents were killed in a car crash when she was younger."
"How terrible. I was under the impression that she had at least a mother, from what she told us about her coming out experience."
"Well she does now. She was adopted." Galinda explained. "But death is just such a weird concept."
"I know what you mean. It's crazy how people can be here one minute but not the next." Elphie said.
"It's scary." Galinda said in a small voice and Elphie held her tighter and kissed her. They talked a little more and both agreed that they felt extremely useless right now. They didn't want to interrupt Chloey and Christa's grieving and they didn't feel
comfortable alone around Hildegard. They didn't know what Chelsea and Sebastian were up to but they went downstairs to see if there was anything they could do to help. They found Sebastian in the kitchen and ended up helping him prepare brunch.
style="text-align:center;"xxx
When brunch was prepared they all sat down to eat together with the exception of Christa.
"Chris is still in her room?" He asked.
"Yes, she didn't want to leave. She claimed she's not hungry." Chloey sighed.
"My poor baby, I know she's taking it really hard." Chelsea sighed as well.
"We need to discuss with you all how we're going to move forward." Sebastian said and the girls nodded. "Your mother is driving up to Pertha Hills this afternoon to go stay with Grandma Lynne. She's alone right now and needs all the support she can
get. The rest of us will take the train there tomorrow morning. We're all going to stay there with her to keep her company and help with funeral arrangements and things of that sort."
"You're driving all the way to Pertha Hills?" Hildey asked.
"Yes. I'm leaving in about an hour. I have no choice. My mother needs me there now and there's no train headed that way until tomorrow." Chelsea said.
"But what about Galinda and Elphaba?" Chloey asked. "I was suppose to go with them to their friends' party this weekend and then to Galinda's house. What are we gonna do?"
"Don't worry about it Chlo. Jemma and Sylvie will completely understand why you can't make it. And you have all summer to come to my house." Galinda said reassuringly.
"But we're leaving tomorrow morning and your train isn't coming until Friday." She said distressed.
"Lindie perhaps you should ask Jemma if we could come a day earlier. I'm sure there must be a train leaving for Settica tomorrow morning." Elphie suggested.
"Good idea."
"I hate to inconvenience them." Chloey said miserably.
"No inconvenience at all Chlo, Jemma is the most understanding person ever. I'm going to go call her right now." Galinda said as she got up, motioning for Elphie to come with her. "Don't worry about us."
"I'll go check the train schedules." Sebastian said.
"I better go get packed so I can hit the road soon." Chelsea said, getting up with them.
"I'm going to go check on Chris, she's concerning me." Chloey sighed and grabbed a plate for her sister before heading up stairs.
"I'm going to go get mentally prepared for these next couple weeks." Hildey sighed.
xxx
Galinda and Elphaba were back in their room for a while and they heard a knock on the door. It was Chloey. She just looked very down and empty. Galinda immediately took her in her arms, hugging her tight. She kissed her on the cheek, which she had
done before but not often.
"Talk to us Chlo." Galinda said, guiding her to the bed.
"Chris is really upset. She won't eat. She'll barely even talk. She seems sad but she's not crying, she's just laying there. I'm worried." she sighed.
"Give her time Chlo. It may take a while for her to come to terms with her feelings and figure out how to cope with them." Galinda said.
"How are you faring Chloey? I know Christa is taking it hard, but your well-being is important also. What's on your mind?" Elphie asked, concerned.
"I don't know how I feel. I really don't. It's like I'm just numb right now." she sighed. "We're all going to need counseling once this is all over with." she said and Galinda nodded in agreement. A few moments later Sebastian appeared in the doorway.
"I checked the train schedule. There is a train leaving for Settica tomorrow morning. The same time that ours is leaving for Pertha Hills." Sebastian started.
"That works out great. I already called my friend. She sends her condolences and said it's perfectly fine for us to come tomorrow instead of Friday." Galinda said.
"Well you might want to call her again." He said. "The train leaving for Settica tomorrow is all booked. But there is one leaving this evening that has exactly two spaces left." he explained. Both girls were taken back a little by the fact that they
would be leaving so soon.
"Okay not a problem." Galinda said. On the inside she was upset and distressed about everything but didn't want to let it show because everyone was going through such a hard time right now.
"Very well. I'll go make the reservation now before it gets booked. Call your friend and let her know about the new plans. The train leaves at 5, be ready to go by 4:30." he explained Elphie nodded as Galinda was already dialing Jemma's number.
"Chloey, your mom is leaving in half an hour. You're going to need to pack at some point because we're heading out early tomorrow morning." he said before leaving. Chloey couldn't hold it together anymore. She put her face in her hands and started
to cry. Elphie was sitting right beside her. Seeing Chloey cry was equivalent to seeing Galinda cry, she couldn't just sit there and watch. She held her and let her cry on her shoulder while the other blonde was on the phone.
"The plans are all set. Jemma is fine with us coming today. She and Sylvie were going out later but she said they'll alter their timing and arrange to meet us at the train station. No problem at all."
"'I'm glad it worked out." Elphie said, still holding Chloey and motioning for help. Galinda came and took over.
"Chlo?"
"I'm sorry guys." she said miserably.
"No Chloey. You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. None of this is within your control."
"Everything is just happening so fast. This is all so sudden and unexpected. You guys are leaving today. We're leaving tomorrow. I don't even know how long we'll be gone. My Grandpa is actually gone… I can't even process that."
"It's hard Chlo. I can't say that I relate to how you're feeling, but I know you're feeling pain. It hurts me that you're hurting. If I could take away all of the pain I would, but I can't. All I can do is be your best-twin-sister-friend and be there
for you. Even when I'm not physically there, you know I'm just a call away. Anytime for anything. And I can promise you it's not going to hurt this much forever. Things will get better. Things will get clearer. It's all going to
be okay. Trust me." Galinda said sincerely. Chloey wiped her eyes and nodded. "You guys will go to Pertha Hills and stay with your Grandmother as long as she need you there. It doesn't matter how long. Elphie and I will be in Frottica whenever
you're ready to come. It doesn't matter when. Until then you and I are going to text, call or face-chat every single day because I care about you and I love you and I need to know how you're doing." she instructed. Chloey nodded again and just
hugged her.
"You're a good sister G, I love you too." she said, returning the kiss on the cheek she received earlier.
xxx
It was after 1pm at this point. Chloey went to go check on Christa while Elphaba and Galinda were packing up their belongings. When they were done they went to Chloey's room to help her start packing. Then they all went to Christa's room to basically
pack for her. The poor girl was too numb to do anything right now but lay in bed. It was heartbreaking to see her like that because ever since they arrived, Christa had been so happy and full of life.
By time they were through with that they had a late lunch. Christa finally ate, but refused to leave her room so they ate in there with her. They now had about 30 minutes before it was time to go. Hildegard was already heading out. She had to stop
by her job and her college to explain to her boss and teachers that there was a death in her family and she would be out for at least two weeks. She knew she would miss out on a pay check but most of her schoolwork could be submitted online so
at least she wouldn't risk failing. Surprisingly, she was nice enough to say goodbye to Galinda and Elphaba before leaving.
When it was time for Galinda and Elphie to leave, Chloey was conflicted. She wanted to go see her friends off at the train station but also wasn't comfortable leaving Christa home alone in her current state. Galinda and Elphie both convinced her to
stay. They were able to get a hug from Christa before leaving, Galinda gave a few encouraging words. They had an emotional goodbye with Chloey and then suddenly they were off to the station with Sebastian.
xxx
Settica was about an hour and a half away so that was the shortest train ride they have had in awhile. Before they knew it, they were there. They met up with Jemma and Sylvie at the station. The older girls were very happy to see them and vise versa.
After lots of love and hugs they loaded all of their bags into the trunk of Sylvie's car then went off to get some dinner.
They ended up at this place that served deep-dish pizza. They had the option to carry out, but they decided to dine-in just so they could all catch up with each other. Galinda told them all about their experiences in Munchkinland as well as Wittica.
She had a little help from Elphie, but not much. The other girls filled them in on their summer so far also.
"This week as been good so far. Just working and prepping for the party this weekend. Last weekend was so much fun. We had a little 'pre-engagement party'. Our actual engagement party is going to be a bit more...family oriented." Jemma said and Sylvie
chuckled. "We needed a night to just get turnt with our friends if you know what I mean."
"I know what you mean." Galinda smiled.
"It was lit though. Sylvie got drunk for the first time."
"I was just a little tipsy. You were the drunk one." Sylvie protested.
"Babe, if you were just a little tipsy you wouldn't have had such a bad hangover the next morning." Jemma said.
"True...that was not pleasant."
"You've never had alcohol before?" the blonde asked.
"Well I've had wine before but never enough to really getdrunk." she said. "How about you?"
"Yes.I hung out with a very popular crowd first semester. We went to parties almost every weekend."
"And she would come home late and very inebriated. We weren't necessarily friends at the time but I still had to take care of her." Elphie added.
"But I toned it down a lot second semester. It was getting hard to keep up with schoolwork."
"How old are you again?" Jemma asked.
"18...going on 19 soon."
"That's still underage in who am I to talk. I started drinking at 17." the older girl admitted.
"I've never smoked anythingthough." Galinda said.
"Good girl."
"Jemma has." Sylvie said and her girlfriend glared at her.
"I smoked weed one time."
"Jemma."
"Okay, two times." she confessed.
"Jemma."
"Fourtimes! That's it. Honestly."
"Jemma, I had no idea you were so…" Elphie started but didn't know how to finish.
"Wild." Galinda added with a giggle.
"Yes. None of this was recent though. I was really wild my freshman year. I've calmed down a lot though, but I still like to have fun every now and then. But I do it responsibly."
"It's interesting how we even get along. She's the most extroverted person I know and I'm an extreme introvert with social anxiety." Sylvie said. Her and Jemma were literally the older counterparts of Elphaba and Galinda. Galinda was an outgoing extrovert
like Jemma and Elphie was a lot like Sylvie. She was naturally shy and introverted. She didn't have social anxiety but being ridiculed, stared at and humiliated her whole life had caused her to be very self-conscious around others.
"We've learned from first hand experience that opposites do in fact attract." Galinda said and Elphie nodded in agreement.
"That's true." Sylvie said.
"We're very different, but we're also kinda similar...in a way that I've never figured out how to explain." Jemma said and they all laughed but agreed. They talked a little more about whatever came up. They finished eating their dinner, then headed
out.
xxx
Elphaba and Galinda were going to be staying at Jemma's house. Sylvie lived about 30 minutes away.
"Are you going home babe, or do wanna you come in and hang out for a while?" Jemma asked when they pulled into the driveway.
"I'm kinda tired but I guess I could hang out for a little while." she said as they got out the car and helped their friends with their bags.
Jemma's house wasn't nearly as big as Chloey or Galinda's. But it was still a decent size since she had so many siblings. Jerry was the oldest. He was done with school and already had a job with a decent salary, so he no longer lived at home. Jemma
was the second oldest. The third was Jeff, he was 16. Jymin was the second oldest girl, she was 13. The 'baby' of the family was Jazabel, who was 9. The girls came inside and met Jemma's parents, Jessie and Jason, who were very welcoming. They
also met all the other kids. They each had very different personalities but all seemed very nice in general.
"Not to isolate you guys, but our guest room is in the basement." Jemma said as she was showing them around the floor that they were currently on.
"No problem." Galinda said as they followed her down the stairs. The basement was sort of set up like a more informal living room. There was a large corner sofa and tv. Overall it was quite spacious. There was a little hallway that had a storage room,
a laundry room, a bathroom with a shower, and beside the bathroom there was a small bedroom. Jemma opened the door and they brought all of their stuff inside.
"This used to be my older brother's room, but ever since he moved out it's been functioning as a guest room. Feel free to unpack and make yourselves at home. I'm going to go get us all some beverages. You coming Sylv?"
"I think I'll wait here." Sylvie said.
"Fine, leave all the hospitality to me." Jemma said with mock offense.
"Well it is your house." Sylvie smirked. Jemma smiled, then kissed her and left.
"Um...Elphaba?" Sylvie said once Jemma was gone.
"Yes?"
"I kind of have a favor to ask…" she said timidly.
"Go ahead" Elphie said.
"I don't really know how to ask this. It's kind of big..."
"I would like to try and help in anyway I can. But I need to know what it is first."
"Well I wrote a poem for Jemma as an engagement gift. Then sometime last week I was messing around with my guitar one night and I created a melody that actually sounds pretty good. So I modified the poem into lyrics. So I would like to present it
to Jemma as a song… but the thing is, she's the musically talented one. I can't sing at all. And I can't ask her to sing a gift that supposed to be for her… and I know you've mentioned before that you have a knack for singing...and um… I was wondering
if...uh…"
"You want Elphie to be your vocalist!" Galinda bubbled.
"Yes. That's what I'm trying to say." Sylvie said. "Is that something you would be interested in helping me with? Please don't feel obligated to say yes. It's totally up to you."
"I don't know…" Elphie said skeptically. "I've never performed in front of anyone before."
"Oh no, no, no. I would never ask you to perform it in front of everyone. I wouldn't be able to do that either." Sylvie said. "I was thinking we could just record an audio of it and I'd use my brother's software to burn onto a CD. I also have a slideshow
of us and I think the song would go perfect in the background. How does that sound?"
"I think it's a great a idea!" Galinda bubbled. "But it's your decision Elphie."
"I'd be happy to help you Sylvie." Elphie said, relieved that she wouldn't have to perform infront of everybody.
"You will? Thank you so much! That really means alot to me and I know Jemma is going to love it."
"So when are we going to do this?" the green girl asked.
"Well Jemma's going to work tomorrow. She's a dance teacher, so I assume you might be interested in going with her Galinda." Sylvie said and the blonde nodded enthusiastically. "And I figured while they're gone, you can come to my house Elphaba, and
we'll see what we can do."
"Sounds like a plan!" Galinda said excitedly. "What do you think Elphie?"
"That works for me." She smiled.
Jemma came back a few moments later with juice pouches and snacks. Elphie and Galinda unpacked then they all just hung out in the main area of the basement for a while. Sylvie only stayed for about an hour before heading home. Jemma spent a little
more time downstairs before going up to her room and leaving Galinda and Elphie on their own for the night.
xxx
Elphie and Galinda washed up, got changed into their pajamas, and were just relaxing in their room. Galinda texted Chloey to see how things were going. They planned on Face-chatting but Chloey was too tired and promised they would tomorrow. Galinda
decided to call Tristina while she was at it just because they hadn't talked in awhile. She told her all about Colwen Grounds, Wittica, having a long lost half sister, and of course the unfortunate event that caused them to come to Settica early.
Triss was intrigued by the fact that Chloey was actually related to them. She vaguely remembered, a long time ago, their Nana had once mentioned to her and Lani that they had a cousin in Wittica who they have never met. Triss also shared some
of what had been going on with her lately.
"I need to go take my meds. I'm on a new prescription." Triss said.
"Did you have a relapse?" Galinda asked, concerned. Elphaba was listening but didn't know exactly what they were talking about.
"I did. I don't know what happened. I just started feeling really out of it for the past couple weeks. It's like I was going through the motions but I wasn't mentally here. I couldn't concentrate on anything and didn't feel like doing anything either.
Not a good feeling."
"I would imagine not."
"The pills have been helping though. There were a few side effects at first, but it's getting better. I'm going to start seeing my counselor regularly again. I have an appointment tomorrow actually."
"That's good Trissy. I'll let you go take your medicine now. Keep fighting, don't let Life win." Galinda said and Triss smiled.
"Thanks cousin, love you."
"Love you too, good night." Galinda said as she hung up. She motioned for her girlfriend to come cuddle with her and the green girl complied.
"If I may inquire, why is Tristina on medication?"
"She takes antidepressants. She suffers from Major Depressive Disorder."
"Really?"
"Yeah. She's been dealing with it for a few years now."
"I never would have known. I mean, I've never actually met her, but whenever you call her she seems like such a happy person."
"That's the thing about depression, sometimes it's invisible. She originally described it to me as like feeling you're trapped in a transparent box. You're stuck, but nobody else can see it so they usually just think you're fine." Galinda explained.
"And Triss is a naturally happy person, but when the depression takes over, she's just not herself.
"That must be hard to deal with."
"It is. But it's really hard when it's happening to someone that you're close to and you can see them basically draining out and becoming less like the person you once knew." Galinda said a bit sadly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Elphie said, comforting her.
"Well a few years ago was when it started getting really bad. She was...harming herself. Her wrists have healed but the scars are still there. But it got to the point where she didn't want to live anymore and… one night she attempted to…" The blonde
paused and took a deep breath. "To make a long story short, she ended up in the hospital. That gave us all a scare. I almost lost my favorite cousin." she said wiping away the tears that were flowing. Elphie held her for a while as she recovered.
"But she has had a lot of counseling and therapy since then and has been on medication for about a year now. I think the pills are suppose to help balance out the chemicals in her brain to keep her mood from dropping too low. She's had a few relapses
from time to time, but overall she's mentally in a much better place than she was before."
"I'm really glad to hear that she's doing better." Elphie said. "Lindie, I hope you aren't breaking confidentiality by telling me any of this."
"It's fine. She told me it's not really a secret anymore, just a fact of her life. I know she won't mind you knowing because she assumes I tell you almost everything anyway."
"True. You know, I think things like this need to be talked about more. A lot of people either don't understand or tend to just brush it under the rug as if it's not as serious as it actually is." Elphie said.
"I know what you mean. My aunt originally just thought that Triss was being a 'moody teenager.' She certainly didn't think that anymore once they found her unresponsive in her room that night and had to rush her to the hospital." Galinda said, wiping
her eyes again.
"Another thing I meant to ask, was that whole 'don't let life win' metaphor just some spur of the moment advice?" Elphie asked.
"Well, no. I'm not that wise." Galinda chuckled. "It's something Lani said before. Basically, we're all in a boxing ring with Life, constantly fighting our own separate battles. Life has the potential to knock us out and sometimes he does and it feels
like we're losing the battle. But each day we get back up for another round. Sometimes getting back up is easier said than done. It may seem much easier to just stay down and let the fight be over, but you can't let Life have that satisfaction
of getting the better of you. You gotta stay in the ring and keep fighting."
"I like that. I will admit, I've had my moments where I've wanted to just stay down. Life tends to beat me up really hard on a daily basis… and I'm definitely not a fighter." Elphie said.
"You definitely are a fighter Elphie. You've been fighting for 19 long years. Your specific battle is much harder than anyone else's yet you're still here… you're the strongest person I know. Don't ever doubt that." Galinda said, looking into
her eyes.
"Thanks Lindie. That means a lot." Elphie smiled.
"I happen to be very privileged and spoiled as a lot of people are aware of. And I've obviously never experienced pain to the same extent as you or Triss. I have my moments where Life knocks me down and it hurts to get back up. But when I feel that
way, I find myself questioning how valid and real any of it even is. There are so many other people who have it much worse than I ever could."
"Lindie my sweet, you're feelings are always valid. I promise. Just because you may not have experienced pain in the same way that other people have doesn't mean that it doesn't still hurt. You have the right to feel however you feel. We're all fighting
our own battles."
"Thanks Elphie. You're right. And as long as you promise to stay in your boxing ring and keep fighting, I'll promise to stay in mine and do the same."
"I promise. And just remember my sweet, you're not alone. We're in this together. If Life ever hurts you too badly, please don't feel apprehensive to tell me about it. I'm always here and I have no problem momentarily abandoning my fight to jump in
your ring and see what I can do to put Life back in his place." Elphie said and Galinda giggled.
"Same to you Elphie. If Life ever knocks you down too hard, he better look out because he's gonna have to deal with me!" she said and Elphie chuckled.
"I love you so much." the green girl grinned and her girlfriend responded by kissing her lovingly.
PSA: I added that last scene because I've kinda been struggling with depression for a while now. It's difficult most days but I'm still here, still fighting, trying not to let Life win this battle. In case anyone out there may be going through anything similar I just want you to know that you're not alone. I know it's not easy to get back up after continuously being knocked down so hard, but you just gotta keep fighting. Even if you stay down for a while that doesn't mean the battle is over. Honestly it's not easy for me to sound so optimistic about this, but if I can do it then I at least want you to keep trying. Don't let Life win. Show him who's the real boss! If you're looking for a sign not to cut/kill yourself, let this be it. I love you :)
