An entire evening without hijinks… this was going to be so boring. Yakko ordered himself not yawn as he carried on yet another conversation about the weather. Making small talk with courtiers was something relatively new to him, to all of them, really. He had learned some etiquette in childhood, but his siblings had been so young. Their memories of life before their parents' death were so few, and that was something Yakko always felt sad about. That was why they relied on him to tell them stories about their early lives; it was the best they could get.

When his conversation finally ended, Yakko scanned the room, looking for his siblings. He found Dot nearby, chatting with a few ladies, but Wakko was nowhere in sight. A slight frown came to Yakko's face… he was well aware that of the three of them, Wakko was having the hardest time adjusting to their new lives. It wasn't that he was unintelligent, both Yakko and Dot well knew that wasn't the case, but things just came slower to him. And five years of keeping everything to himself certainly hadn't done much for his confidence.

Yakko felt regrets about a lot of things in their previous lives, but one of the biggest was how often he had left his brother to handle things on his own. He knew Wakko wasn't angry at him about it… he understood why it had happened that way. But that didn't stop Yakko from being angry with himself. He began walking across the room, having a good idea of where Wakko was. When he felt uneasy about something, he would isolate himself to think.

Sure enough, Yakko found the middle sibling on the outside balcony, leaning on the railing as he gazed out at the sky with a distant look. Like Yakko, he was in a formal blue and gold suit, but it seemed to sit more haphazardly on him. At first the sight was nothing new, but as Yakko approached he got a closer look at Wakko's face.

He looked more distant than usual… troubled, even. Come to think of it, he'd been a little off ever since that incident in Dot's room. Yakko was sure something was bothering him but getting Wakko to admit something was wrong was like pulling teeth sometimes. Not talking about it wouldn't do anything to fix the problem, but Yakko knew if he pushed too much his brother would shut down, and that wouldn't get them anywhere either.

A small grin on his face, Yakko leaned against the railing too.

"Pondering the mysteries of the universe, sib?"

Wakko snapped out of his trance and looked at Yakko with a startled look.

"How long have you…"

"Just got here," Yakko replied, then raised his brows. "Not having fun?"

Wakko gave him a skeptical look.

"Are you?"

Yakko shrugged.

"Nah, not really."

Wakko grinned for just a bit, then his face grew more solemn as he looked away again.

"You guys are always better at this kind of stuff."

His voice was quiet, as if he was saying it more to himself than anyone else. Yakko cocked his head, the small frown back on his face.

"Is that what's been bothering you? There's plenty of stuff we're not very good at, ya know."

Wakko blinked and looked at Yakko, then sighed and looked away.

"No, that's not it."

Okay, he's admitting something's bothering him… that's a start.

Mentally crossing his fingers, Yakko pushed on.

"So, what is it?"

To his relief, Wakko didn't immediately brush it off. He looked down for a moment or two, then looked up at Yakko again.

"There's a…" His voice trailed off, and Yakko's hope started to fall. But it returned when Wakko sighed and spoke again.

"I just… don't wanna screw things up."

Hearing that, sympathy filled the older brother; that was something he could very much relate to.

"What things?" he asked. "'Cause we think you're doing pretty great, and I'm not just saying that 'cause you're our brother."

Wakko looked at him, and Yakko was relieved to see his face was less troubled. Giving his brother another grin, he gave him a gentle nudge with his shoulder.

"And besides, even if we are doing something wrong, who cares? It's probably just something the stuffy adults care too much about, and I think they need to lighten up way more than us."

His grin widened when Wakko laughed.

"Yeah… ya know, I think this is the first time I've laughed all night. Why do adults always wanna be so boring?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, brother sib."

Both laughed, then fell silent for a few moments. Then Wakko spoke again in that quiet voice.

"I just wish…"

He trailed off again, and Yakko knew what he wanted to say. He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder with a sad smile.

"I wish Mom and Dad were here too."

They stood in silence for a while, looking up at the emerging stars. Yakko couldn't explain how, but he had a feeling there was still something else Wakko wasn't telling him. After a moment of hesitation, he spoke again.

"Ya know, if there's…"

"Hey, what're you doing out here?"

Both Warner brothers turned to see Dot striding onto the balcony, looking at them with a frown.

"What's the big idea, leaving me to work the room by myself?"

Yakko glanced at Wakko, but his expression had already turned into a sheepish smile, tongue hanging out. Despite his reluctance to just let it go, he smiled too and shrugged.

"Sorry, sis. Party getting slow?"

Dot scoffed.

"It was already slow."

She looked at Wakko, and Yakko saw a flash of concern on her face. He wondered if she had the same feeling he did, but she only shook her head and walked over to him with a teasing smile.

"Honestly," she said, adjusting his crooked collar. "You're hopeless."

Yakko grinned, crossing his arms.

"Really? Mister 'never give up hope'?"

Wakko's smile grew wider, and there was no trace of the uncertainty Yakko had seen on his face when he first came out. He still had a feeling there was something they needed to address, but at least his brother was feeling better. And Yakko was sure that with time, he would start seeing himself the way other people saw him… as a brave, strong, and good person just as suited to be a leader as anyone else. Maybe zanier, but what did that matter? Zany was more fun.

"Well, then…" Yakko said, placing a hand on each of his siblings' shoulders. "Shall we go do the less enjoyable part of our job?"

"The sooner we do it, the sooner it'll be done," Dot said with a grin. Wakko grinned too and nodded. As they headed back inside, Yakko gave his shoulder a pat. When Wakko looked at him, he gave him a look the middle sibling knew well.

You okay?

He got back a look he knew just as well.

I'm fine.

As he put a smile on his face, Yakko still felt something nagging at him. He just couldn't shake that feeling that Wakko hadn't told him everything. And he wasn't sure what bothered him more: that his brother might still feel like he couldn't talk about it, or that he had gotten so good at acting fine when he wasn't that they couldn't tell anymore.