A/N: I hope you guys are still enjoying this. Please review, it only takes a second and it improves my day a lot. Yes, I know I sound like a nerd with no life except to look forward to reviews, but I just love reading them. LOL

Coco gave Brin a poke in the back and Brin slowly walked forward, standing in front of Max. She stood silent, not saying anything, just standing there with a look of sadness, guilt and shame in her eyes. It looked like she was waiting for permission to speak which saddened Max. Even though it seemed like the old Brin was back, she still didn't speak unless spoken to and that reminded Max of what Renfro had done to her. Brin was never all that talkative when they were younger but she wasn't ever so tight-lipped.

"Hey Brin," Max said.

"Hello Max," Brin said. Her voice sounded hollow even to her own ears which made her wince and try again. "How are you feeling?" This time Brin's voice was slightly warmer and not as monotonic. She tried to force a smile onto her face.

"Well, I'm not dead so I guess I'm not so bad," Max joked.

Brin smiled again, weakly but at least it was genuine. Her baby sister was so strong. To put up with the world and still not lose her head.

"Yeah, I'm glad you're okay," Brin said. She looked at the ground and bent her head. "I'm sorry," she said so softly that if all of them didn't have enhanced hearing, they probably wouldn't have heard her.

Zack got up from where he was sitting with Max and walked over to Brin. She looked up at him in wonder and he surprised her with a hug. She stood in shock.

"You're our sister Brinny," he said to her, using her old nickname. "You'll always be one of us. Besides, you have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing that happened was your fault. None of us blame you in the slightest. Renfro and Lydecker brainwashed you, you didn't do any of it. That was X5-734, not our Brin." He pulled back to look her firmly in the eye. "None of us blame you for anything that happened."

Max tried to get up from her bed to go and hug Brin as well, but pain shot up her side and she cursed under her breath. Brin moved to sit on the edge of Max's bed and Max hugged her sister fiercely.

"It's good to have you back big sister," Max said.

Brin had tears running down her face and she sobbed silently. "Why are you all being so forgiving?" she asked.

"Because you're our sister, Brin," Zane said coming forward. "We don't turn our back on our own. And we love you. Nothing changes that."

"But Tinga… I killed Tinga," she whispered. "My own sister and I killed her. I'm a monster."

"Never," Max said, taking Brin's hand. Her eyes were filled with tears as well now, the memory of Ben lying dead in her arms fresh in her mind. "I know how you feel, and it wasn't your fault. You were… lost. At least you came back to us."

'Not like Ben,' Max thought. 'He was lost too, but too lost. I couldn't help him find his way again. At least some greater force out there is giving me back Brin.'

"I should have fought them harder," Brin sobbed. "I shouldn't have let them turn me so easily."

"You were weak and sick, Brin," Max argued. "You didn't have enough strength to fight."

"Like hell I didn't. You were dead and you still resisted them. You didn't let them turn you. You're so strong-willed. I could never be like that. I could've tried harder if you succeeded after dying. I was such a weak soldier; it's my fault Tinga's dead."

"Tinga wouldn't blame you if she were here Brin and neither do we," Zane said.

"You didn't know what you were doing," Coco put in. "Manticore's a horrible place and I doubt I could've resisted them."

"We've all made mistakes Brin," Faith said quietly from the door. It seemed the others had come to visit Max. "We've all done things we regret but we can't dwell on them. We can't throw away our lives if we do something wrong because if we did, not one of us would have a life."

"We've all gotten lost once or twice," Liz spoke up just as quietly as Faith. "But that's the reason why we're all here. To help each other find the right way again. We're here Brin and we love you. We'll help you find your way again."

The rest of their siblings squeezed themselves into the small room and huddled around Brin, hugging her, resting hands on her shoulders to let her know that they were there for her. Tears were streaming down her face, but this time they were of happiness, not sadness.

"Merry belated Christmas, Brin," Max said.

A/N: Sorry this was short, but I had to get something out. Anyways, I caught a mistake. I screwed up the timeline at the beginning. Remember in the first and second chapter it was New Years then it went backwards to Christmas? Well, I screwed that up but don't worry. Soon I'm going to go back and fix that. For now just pretend it was Thanksgiving. Anyways, I hope you liked this and please review everyone. It's greatly appreciated.

Thanks to –

shygirl1 – Thanks for reviewing!

Doza – Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I know how to write Logan bashing but I wanted to see what my readers would like to read so if you have any ideas, I could put them in my fic so that you could enjoy them. With the whole Xander and Emerald thing, yeah I know it's whack but something will happen to Xander so that he gets just as strong as Emerald. Yeah, don't tell me. I know my fic is completely crazy and insane but oh well. I hope you still enjoy it.

Sequoia – Thanks for reviewing! It's great to have a new reviewer! Sorry for taking so long to update.

longbca – Thanks for reviewing! Don't worry, Maria and Sketchy will have a lil sum sum going on later. LOL

Thanks everyone! Please keep reviewing, it's greatly appreciated!