It wasn't very often that Dot got genuinely worried about her brothers… not because she didn't care, of course, but rather that she was confident in their ability to handle themselves. This was one of those cases where she wasn't so sure. Yakko was good at serious talks just as much as funny ones, she knew that well. The problem was, he was so good at talking that sometimes he had trouble knowing when to just stay quiet and listen. And Wakko was so used to keeping things to himself that he didn't know how to talk about his feelings. That didn't make for a very promising outlook for this discussion.

Personally, Dot thought they were both overreacting a bit. Sure, maybe Wakko should have been a little more careful, but it wasn't like Yakko to get so worked up so easily. In truth, he'd seemed almost… scared. On the same level, it wasn't like Wakko to get mad that easy. Usually, he was the most mellow of the three.

These concerns were exactly why Dot had opted to listen in on this whole thing, and maybe intervene if it started to get out of hand. It was rare that her brothers seriously fought… in fact, the only other time she remembered was when Wakko wanted to leave to find work. And then the only reason Yakko had backed down was because they were desperate. Dot had a feeling he wouldn't budge so easily this time.

But for now the Warner sister opted to keep silent, her eyes flicking between her brothers with a nervous tension in the pit of her stomach. As she'd expected, Yakko was doing a lot of the talking while Wakko stood in sullen silence.

"I mean, seriously, what were you thinking? What if someone came out and saw you?"

Finally Wakko spoke, his voice surprisingly cold.

"It's not like anyone ever follows me, except you guys. You seriously don't trust me enough to give me a few minutes?"

Yakko looked genuinely startled at that.

"What're you talking about? Of course I trust you! When you wanted to leave Acme Falls alone, I…"

Wakko let out a sharp scoff.

"Please. You didn't say yes because you trusted me… you said yes because we didn't have any other choice. And with a whole lot of reluctance at that."

Dot's eyes widened… did he really think that? From the look on his face, Yakko was thinking about the same thing.

"You seriously think that?" he asked, sounding incredulous. Wakko shrugged, still glaring.

"What else am I supposed to think?"

For a moment, Yakko just stared at him as if he didn't know how to react to that. Finally he spoke again, clearly doing his best not to lose his patience.

"Look, you've just been getting a little too focused on this whole bending thing. I get that it means a lot to you, but it's not like you need to prove anything, and…"

Wakko interrupted, his voice rising with noticeable frustration.

"And it never occurred to you that maybe I just like having something I can do right? Something that I'm actually good at?"

Yakko blinked, looking surprised, then frowned.

"If that's still bothering you, why didn't you say so?"

"So you can tell me I'm doing fine? If I wanted you to tell me that, I'd say so!"

Yakko was starting to look seriously irritated now.

"Well, if me being worried is such a problem for you…"

Wakko clenched his fists, looking even more angry.

"So I'm the one with the problem, because I don't run crying to you whenever something's wrong?"

Yakko's fists were clenching now, his eyes full of frustration.

"That's my point!" he exclaimed. "You don't have to always keep it to yourself anymore! I can't help if you don't talk to me…"

"I don't need your help!" Wakko snapped. "I got along just fine without it before, and I don't want it just because you feel guilty about it!"

Dot was starting to feel like this was taking a bad turn, but before she could say anything Yakko retorted in a voice now just as angry as their brother's.

"Don't make this about me! We want to help because we're worried about you!"

"Oh, now you're worried!" Wakko's voice kept rising until he was yelling. "You're just so desperate to be like Mum and Dad that you have to pick apart everything! Well, guess what? You're not them, and you never will be!"

Dot's mouth fell open at that, and she could only stare. Yakko was also staring, looking as though he'd been punched in the stomach. Wakko's eyes widened, as if realizing what he had just said, but he didn't speak either. Finally Yakko broke the silence, his voice low and sounding like it was dangerously close to breaking.

"Don't you think I know that?" His voice then rose a little, some anger coming back to it. "But whether you like it or not, you've got me instead of them, and that's not about to change."

There was clear regret in Wakko's eyes, but he was apparently still too upset to apologize. Clenching his fists, he narrowed his eyes and replied in a voice that was a strange combination of sadness, guilt and anger.

"And whether you like it or not, I'm finally doing something I'm good at. And that's not going to change either. I'm not stopping."

With that, he turned and stormed to the door before either of his siblings could respond. He yanked it open and left the room without a backward glance, and then they heard the sound of his own door slamming. For a few moments, Dot could only stare after him. Then some of the shock faded, and she looked at her eldest brother. He was staring too, such a stricken look on his face that Dot immediately felt deep concern. But before she could say anything he lifted a hand to his head, closing his eyes as he released a heavy, tired-sounding sigh. Dot's throat tightened, but she pushed it down and walked over to him, touching his arm.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly. Her brother lifted his head from his hand and looked at her, his eyes suspiciously bright. Then a weak smile tugged at his face that made Dot want to cry.

"I'm fine, sis."

Dot narrowed her eyes. Yakko was good at acting fine when he wasn't, but Wakko wasn't the only one not used to talking about his feelings.

"Somehow I don't buy that," she said. Yakko blinked, looking caught off-guard. For a moment he looked as though he couldn't think of anything to say, then he sank down to sit on the floor, resting his head in his hands. This time, he couldn't keep his voice from trembling a little.

"Did I really screw him up that bad?"

A lump rose in Dot's throat, and she swallowed hard before sitting down beside him, placing a hand on his back.

"You didn't screw anything up," she said. "He's just upset… he didn't mean it, I know he didn't."

And she didn't doubt that for a minute. She knew her immediate older brother like she knew the back of her hand, and she knew he would never say something like that and mean it. Yakko let out another heavy sigh.

"I just… don't know what to do," he said. "I know he's still hurt about Mom and Dad, but he won't talk about it. Everything in me's telling me to help him, but I can't. He just won't let me."

The helplessness in his voice made Dot's eyes well, but she kept her voice steady.

"If you think that's your fault, then it's my fault too."

Her brother's head immediately lifted, and he looked at her with wide eyes.

"No!" he exclaimed. "You couldn't help that you were sick…"

Dot met his gaze with a calm, stern look.

"Neither could you."

Yakko stared at her, looking like he wanted to protest, but didn't know what to say.

"And even if it was our fault," Dot continued. "It wouldn't really matter. This is how things turned out and blaming ourselves won't change anything. It's like you said Dad used to say… when things turn out wrong, all you can do is move forward…"

"And do the next right thing," Yakko finished in a quiet voice. His eyes moved to the floor for a few moments, then a very slight smile tugged at his face as he looked up at her again and wrapped an arm around her.

"How'd my cute little sister get so grown up?"

Dot nestled against him, looking up at him with a smile of her own.

"I had a great big brother to show me how."

Yakko's smile widened, and he kissed her forehead before pulling her closer.

"Thanks, sis."

They sat in silence for a while, and finally Dot spoke up.

"So that leaves us with the million-dollar question… how are we gonna fix this?"

Yakko shifted, frowning in thought.

"Well, we're definitely not gonna get anything out of him right now. First we should let him cool off. And then…"

Dot waited as he kept frowning, lifting his free hand to rub his forehead. After a few moments he let out a sigh.

"I don't know, we've just… gotta figure out some way to get him talking."

Dot reached up and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"We'll figure it out," she said, putting all the determination she felt into her voice. "We're Warners… we always figure it out."

Yakko grinned at that, patting her shoulder.

"That we do, sister sibling. That we do."