1905

Two brunettes sat in the library, and not a word passed between them. Immersed in their own novels, they travelled to worlds far away from their own. It had always been a mutual agreement between them: never interrupt the other from their reading unless it was absolutely necessary.

Sybil read through the very last words of Julius Caesarand then set the book down on the table. Mary noticed and closed her copy of The Aeneid.Classic Roman literature had always fascinated her, but she knew that Sybil would have questions. Although Sybil was very advanced for being ten years old, she was bound to be confused by some of the plot devices used in Shakespearean plays, and she wanted to be there to answer them.

"Done already, darling?" Mary asked when Sybil hadn't said anything.

Sybil nodded. "I still don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"Why they would go to such extremes. To kill Caesar, I mean. It was chilling, really. But why?"

In her head, Mary sifted through the hundreds of books she'd read in her spare time to try and remember the reasonings behind Caesar's dramatic killing. She became angry with herself when she discovered that she could not remember. "Well, for starters, it's a play. It's meant to be dramatic."

Sybil laughed and lightly pushed her sister's arm. "I know that. I mean... Why did Brutus give in so easily? And even when he knew that he was betraying his biggest benefactor, he still was the last one to stab him. How could you do a thing like that?"

"Enough greed and peer pressure could make anyone blind."

Mary picked up The Aeneidand continued reading. Sybil sighed and watched her sister intently. She never smiled, like she always used to. She didn't do things just because anymore. Sybil knew that the teenage years changed you, but she didn't want Mary to change quite yet.

"Mary?" she asked, and then followed up with a, "Sorry, never mind," when she realized she had broken the rule between them. Mary raised one eyebrow and then set the book back down again.

"Yes?"

"Nothing," she said, nodding for Mary to continue reading.

"It's something, I can tell from your tone," Mary said. "Tell me."

Sybil shook her head, standing up. "It's nothing, really. I'm going to go find Edith. You keep reading."

Mary stood up and followed her. "Sybil." Sybil stopped and turned around. Mary put a hand on her shoulder. "Darling, what's the matter? You can tell me."

Sybil closed her eyes. "Do you ever think of... death, Mary?"

Mary sighed; she shouldn't have urged her younger sister to read a book with such dark themes. It was irresponsible of her; no matter how mature Sybil was for her age, she was still only ten. But it was too late to do anything now. "I think everyone does, dear."

"But, do you ever think of what happens after death?" Sybil inquired. "Do you really believe in God, or do you think there may be multiple gods? Sometimes, I'm not quite sure. Or, what if there's no God at all, and after death there's nothing?"

Mary was growing impatient with Sybil's questions; not because they themselves were bothering her, but because for once, she could not think of answers. "Sybil, grow up," she said earnestly. "Nobody wonders about those things in real life."

Sybil looked down, embarrassed. Mary instantly felt like an awful older sister. She wrapped her arms around Sybil. She was her guardian and protector from the real world, but sooner or later Sybil had to come to reality. And if Mary was being honest with herself, she did not want her to.

"Oh, darling, I'm sorry, that was rude of me." Sybil hugged her back. Mary hadn't hugged her little sister in a long time; in fact, she hadn't hugged anyone in a long time. It felt nice.

"You know," she said softly, "I don't think we should worry about death. We need to worry about one thing at a time, and first comes life." She felt Sybil nod, and then she pulled away, smiling to reassure her sister.

"You haven't done that in a while," Sybil said, her innocent smile warming Mary's heart.

"Done what, smile?" Mary chuckled. They walked back into the library, and Sybil started looking for a new book to read.

Sybil nodded as she ran her fingers along the spines. "Well, yes, that. But you put your cheek on my head, when you hugged me. You haven't done that in years."

Fourteen year old Mary tried to remember the last time she'd shown affection towards anyone in her family, and was instantly ashamed when she realized it had been a good while. She began to think about life and death again. Sybil's faint humming as she looked through the titles she hadn't read was the only noise in the room. One of the kitchen maids had passed away weeks before, and her Papa forced them to go to the funeral although the three girls hadn't met nor seen her. One of the maid's brothers spoke at the service, and he talked a great deal about never knowing when your time was up. At the time, Mary had to resist rolling her eyes or yawning, but now it made more sense in her head.

"Sybil?"

"Mhmm?"

"Forget what I said earlier. I didn't mean it, darling."

Sybil cocked her head, her back still turned to her sister as she looked for a book to read. "You said a lot of things earlier."

Mary sat down on the couch and dwindled her thumbs; it was a habit that Granny was insistent on breaking. "Never stop wondering about things. Please. Don't change."

Sybil turned around, a knowing look on her face. "Trust me, Mary, I wasn't planning on it. You can't break me that easily, you know."

For the rest of the afternoon, Mary sat quietly, watching Sybil. The way she moved, the way she spoke, the way she began to chew on a fingernail and then jerked it away from her mouth in an attempt to break the habit. She remembered how they sat on the exact same couch eight years ago, after Mary had saved her youngest sister from possibly getting hurt. In that moment, she realized that she could not imagine life had Sybil not been born. She couldn't imagine fending for herself with only Edith to play with.

She and Sybil needed each other.

a/n this is one of my favorites :) review please!