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3. Sibling Squabbles

Shu sat on the arm rest of the couch, staring down at his best friend. Instead of the frown he often had, however, today he had a bright smile on his face. "Guess what Kluke? I know you're gonna wake up today. I woke up this morning with a good feeling in my gut. You remember how I had the same feeling the day we met Zola and Jiro? I had been excited all day, and then you told me the Knight Master was in the village. It was the same day I summoned Blue Dragon, and we decided to go on this journey."

He laughed. "Just wait until you wake up. I'm gonna show you around the village. Man, I can't wait to see your face when you realize where we are, and when you meet Mariko-san and Zoe." His smile faltered. "Well, maybe you won't be so happy when you meet Zoe. She's not the nicest person in the world, but I think if anyone'll get on her good side it'll be you. After all, you're the only person besides Zola that Jiro doesn't hate." He leaned back, hands behind his head. He had that feeling alright; he knew today was going to be a day of miracles.

"Huh? No training today?" Zoe stared at the older boy in disbelief.

"Nope." Takashi grinned. "Think of this as a vacation for the next few days." Zoe blinked, utterly lost. Her routine was training and patrolling. It was rare that there was a day to relax, but a vacation?

No, she knew him better than that. Her eyes narrowed. "This is because of her, isn't it? Look, I don't want her walking in and messing up my life."

He held up a hand. "That's not it at all, Zoe. I just figured that right now is a busy and stressful time for all of us. We don't need to train and get all banged up while there are more important things to focus on." Zoe remained unconvinced, and glared at him. "She won't be here forever, and just because you hate her doesn't mean all of us do."

Zoe's eyes softened, and she looked at Takashi. Zola had been his best friend after all, and her mother was overjoyed at having her daughter back. Happier than she'd seen her in years...

"Yeah," she said softly. "You're right."

Takashi gave her a strange look. The last thing he expected was for Zoe to agree with him. He was prepared for screaming and her storming out. He scrutinized her closely, and noticed the way her eyes clouded and how they became unfocused. "Zoe, what's the matter?"

"Nothing." She said, swallowing down the ache in her throat. "I'm gonna go home then, take care of Okaasan's chores." She smiled, with slight difficulty. "I'll see you around." She started to turn away when Takashi placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'd like the truth please." But she only shrugged his hand off and walked out.

Shu stretched his stiff limbs, he hated staying in one place for so long. Besides sleeping that is. He looked back at Kluke, and felt himself becoming irritated. One of the strongest people he knew laid there vulnerable, it shouldn't have been that way. Kluke wasn't supposed to be that way. She was always the one waking him up for sleeping too long. The one that never liked to waste a second of the day; one of the reasons he was so high spirited was because of growing up with her.

He clenched his fists. "Damn it." He threw his head back. "Wake up, Kluke!" Bringing his head back down, his shoulders dropped with disappointment from no movement. Why had he expected a change? Things were never that easy. Then again, he was all for trial and error. He thought back to how Kluke used to wake him up, he snapped his fingers in realization. "Of course!" He fished into Kluke's bag and pulled out her high-tech tool: the frying pan. He started pounding on it with his fist. "Come on, Kluke! You can't lay around like a sack of potatoes, let's get a move on!" Again, there was no response from her, not even a twitch of the eyes. He stopped the noise, and stared sadly at her. His sadness quickly turned into anger. "I'm such an idiot!" He took the frying pan and slammed it down on his head.

Shu was still for several moments. He dropped the frying pan and collapsed on the ground, clutching his head. "Why did I do that?!" He felt tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, but he angrily blinked them away. He was done crying. The feeling of failure wouldn't leave him, and his eyes kept filling with tears. He wiped them away, but they'd just come back. One stray tear fell down his cheek, making him feel not only like a failure, but weak as well. "Why?.. Why!" He placed his arm across his eyes, hiding his tears from the world.

"Wha.. Who's making all the noise?" The female voice startled him. He jerked up, and found the once unconscious girl sitting up. He mouth hung open, a grin slowly formed on his face. More tears fell, but he didn't bother with them.

"Kluke!"

Zoe took the long way home, jogging as she went. I don't know about Takashi, but training is my stress reliever. At the thought of his name, she found herself once again brushing away the words he told her, along with the sick feeling she felt with them. But once her mother's smiling face from yesterday flashed through her mind, she found it impossible. Okaasan's happy, and Takashi's happy. That's all that should matter to me. He's right, she won't be here forever. I'll just keep my distance until then.

"Play nice you two."

Zoe came to a dead stop. Her heart hammered frantically, but not because of her energy exertion.

Aibou?

That sounded like...

Hm? I didn't hear anything.

...yeah...

She picked her pace back up and continued home, only now she was sprinting.

Shu tackled his friend. "Kluke! You have no idea how crazy I was going! You had me worried si-" A sharp blow to his stomach sent him back a few feet.

Kluke's eyebrow twitched. "Being glomped isn't my idea of a good morning." She turned her attention to her surroundings. "Hey Shu," The boy stopped his moaning and looked at her. "where are we?" He snickered, she looked back with an eyebrow raised.

"You'll never guess. We're in Zola's house!"

Kluke's eyes bulged out of her head. "W-what?!"

Shu nodded. "Yeah, it turns out you transported us here. We're in Zola's village. We've met her mom and her sister. Her mother's real nice," His expression fell. "but, her sister on the other hand.." She blinked. Shu shrugged. "Basically, she's worse than Jiro. She attacked me and him the first night we were here."

She nodded, still in shock and slowly absorbing the information. "Where's Zola?"

He scratched his head. "I don't know. She's been acting really weird since we've been here, though I guess it's understandable." He shook his head and grinned. "Oh well, no point in sitting around. Let's go find the others. I'm sure they'll be overjoyed to know you're awake." Kluke nodded and rose to her feet; she wobbled at first, not used to standing up, and nearly fell. Shu managed to catch her. He laughed. "Careful now."

The front door opened. "Anyone here?"

Shu smiled. "Just me, Mariko-san. Oh! And guess who woke up?"

Mariko rushed into the room. Kluke gasped at seeing a woman who looked very similar to Zola. Mariko smiled. "It's good you're awake, dear. Shu here's been a wreck, and your friends have been very worried." Shu laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I'm Mariko, it's nice to finally meet you."

"Ah!" Kluke flew down in a bow. "The pleasure's all mine. I'm Kluke."

"You should take it easy. Your body needs to adjust to being up and running again."

"Yes, Mariko-sama." She just nodded and went upstairs. Kluke stared at her retreating figure in awe. I can't believe I just met Zola's mother. I was so nervous!

Shu grabbed her wrist. "C'mon, let's go!"

"H-hey! Wait a sec, Shu!"

Jiro was pissed; he didn't know when he became Marumaro's babysitter, but he was prepared to strangle the Devee. He'd been out for some air when Marumaro ran up and hid behind him. A young girl was storming up to them. She had long blue hair tied back in a ponytail, and matching blue eyes. Only they held so much anger he was surprised they weren't red.

"Okay kid, just give me the yellow thing and we won't have any problems." Her eyes stared dangerously at Marumaro, who held tightly onto Jiro's tunic like a fightened child.

He sighed. It wasn't his intention to help the Devee, but he would get an earful from either Shu or Zola if he didn't. "Listen, I'm pretty sure I know what he did to make you angry, but there's someone who'll punish him for it."

"I know, me. I'm not letting that thing get away unscathed." She shoved Jiro out of the way, a faint splashing sound was heard, and chased after Marumaro.

Jiro's eyebrows were twitching. He gritted his teeth as he pulled himself out of the fountain. That Devee... is dead when I get ahold of him.

"Hey, Jiro!" He stiffened. The last thing he needed at the moment was Shu. He whirled around to yell at the boy, but stopped when he noticed the person beside him.

"Kluke," He used all his will power to keep his lips in his usual scowl, but he was thoroughly relieved. He had been almost certain she would never awaken. "you're awake."

She smiled. "Yeah. I hope Shu wasn't too much." The mentioned boy protested, but was ignored. She examined the taller boy and noticed something. "Um, Jiro, you're all-"

He closed his eyes. "Don't mention it."

Shu turned to his rival, curious as to what Kluke was trying to say. He then realized his appearance. "Jiro, did you fall in the fountain?" He didn't bothering hiding his snickering. Jiro clenched his fists. "Shut up!"

"What?" Shu continued to laugh. "I can't hear you over the water splashing."

Kluke sighed as the two started exchanging insults. But nonetheless she was smiling. It was good to be back.

"I'm home, Okaasan." Zoe announced, her breath heavier than normal. She walked around the house, but failed to find her mother anywhere. "Where could she- Oh wait, it's Sunday." She walked out to their backyard, and found her mother putting up laundry. She jogged over. "Let me take care of those, Okaasan."

Mariko jumped. "Oh! Zoe, you scared me." She grinned sheepishly and apologized. "You're not training today?"

She shook her head. "Takashi decided it'd be best to take a few days off." Her voice lost some of its cheer. "You know, with everything going on." It picked up again. "So I thought I'd give you a day off. Let me do the chores today, please?"

Her mother smiled. "That's really sweet of you, Zoe." She placed the fabric back in the basket. "I've already cleaned the kitchen. So just the laundry and the front room. It's just all the pillows and blankets that Zola's friends left."

"Not a problem."

"Oh! That girl woke up today. What was her name... Kluke?"

"She did?" Zoe asked, a bit of relief coursing through her. She didn't know the girl, but she didn't want her to die, either. "Well that's great."

Mariko nodded. Zoe went to pick up the laundry from the basket and proceed to hang them up. "Um, Zoe?" Zoe made a Hmm sound. "I'd like to know what happened the other night."

Zoe paused. Her mother wasn't strict, if she didn't want to talk about it she knew her mother wouldn't press the issue. She also knew she could lie, but she couldn't certainly not to her. "I guess... Just surprise?"

Mariko gave her a look. "Really? Surprise? Zoe, when you found them outside the village, you left them there. Then you ignored them for two days while they recuperated. That's not surprise."

Zoe sighed. "I'm just...mad, okay? She left us for years. She never came back, she didn't even bother to write!"

"I understand, Zoe. But she's here now, and she's leaving. Can't we just leave the past where it should be and move on?"

"What has she done to make me forgive her, huh?" Zoe demanded. "She's hardly so much as said a word to me, and when she did it was to defend her friends or try and tell me what I should and shouldn't do! Why-!" She pressed her lips tightly together, refusing to say another word. She took a deep breath, and continued hanging the laundry. "Why don't you go spend some time with her? Like you said, she's leaving. Spend as much time with her as you can."

"Zoe-"

"Please.. I just wanna be alone."

Mariko frowned. She wanted so much for Zoe to be happy about her sister's return. She was young, a time when she needed her sister's guidance but couldn't get it. Of course she's a bit rigid at the moment. She'll calm down, I'm sure, she just needs time. She moved forward and hugged her youngest from behind, planting a kiss on top of her head. "You're a good girl, Zoe."

Zoe didn't say a word, just once again swallowed past her sore throat. She didn't turn to face her mother, nor did she look back as when walked away.

"She's not here?" Zola asked, disappointment leaking into her voice.

Takashi looked at her sympathetically. "Sorry, you just missed her, actually. I told her that it'd be best to take a few days off training since you wouldn't be here too long."

Zola arched a brow. "And she was okay with that?"

"Well no, she wasn't exactly happy with it, but she didn't argue with me about it like I expected her to."

"Do you know where she is now?"

"Said she was going home to help Mariko with her chores."

"I see." She looked at Takashi, her former best friend. Her mind suddenly flashed back to all the time they spent together: going to school, playing in the river, exploring the ruins, chasing down Zoe and Henry when they ran off to do something dangerous. A smile stretched upon her face as she remembered.

Takashi smiled back. "What's with that face?"

"Just remembering."

"That so?" An uneasy silence fell over the two. Zola bit her lip, wondering what to say. Fortunately she didn't have to as Takashi spoke before she did. "What happened to your dad? Zoe says she felt him die, but you're the only one who knows the truth."

Not a topic she would've picked, but it was something. "He is," she spoke softly. "We were investigating some ruins when they collapsed on us. He died protecting me from the debris."

He smiled sadly, yet fondly. "Doesn't come as a surprise. He loved you, both of you."

"Yeah, he did." The silence returned, but Zola was eager to be rid of it. "I apologize."

"For?"

"It's hard to communicate with others. After the ruins collapsed I was lost and on my own. I stayed on my own for a very long time, and in that time I made sure I locked all my feelings away so I couldn't be hurt again." she explained. "After meeting Jiro and Shu and the others, I realized how hard it had become to get comfortable around people."

"I understand. It must've been difficult for you."

Zola looked at him. "Are you mad at me, too?"

He furrowed his eyebrows. "No? Why would I be?" Zola stared at him, but he quickly understood. "Not all of us are like Zoe. Actually, she's the only one who's upset with you."

"But why?" Zola asked. "There has to be more than just me not coming home. I doubt even Zoe would hold a grudge for that long."

"I don't think you have any means to be saying anything about Zoe's character," Takashi reminded her, sounding a bit harsher than he meant to. "I'm not taking either side, but you have to realize everything she's been through."

"I do understand," Zola defended. "I just don't see why you and Okaasan can forgive me but she can't."

"Because you're her sister. Siblings have such a strong connection, and I think when you decided to not come home Zoe took it as your way of breaking that connection. To her, your mom, your home. I guess to her it felt like betrayal, or abandonment." Zola remained silent, unable to think of something to counter his statement. "You know, she didn't always hate you." Zola looked at him in disbelief. "The first few years, she was so optimistic. She always told me about how you come home, and how you three would be a family again. Whenever somebody left for a trip she asked if they could find any information about you, but no one ever could. As the months turned into years she slowly have up hope. I think it was when she turned about 9 that she started to resent you. She stopped mentioning you, if your name was brought up she clamped up or changed the subject. We all found out she didn't like you when she screamed at us once and told us to stop mentioning you. She said as far as she was concerned you were dead and she didn't care anymore."

Zola allowed everything to sink in. She crossed her arms and looked down. "I wish I'd gotten here just a bit sooner.. Maybe things would be different."

"No point think about 'what ifs'." he advised. He thought for a moment. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Pardon?"

"Explaining yourself and apologizing. Shouldn't you do that to the ones you hurt the most first?"

"I..." She couldn't argue; he was right.

"I'll tell you one thing about Zoe. She won't like you nor will she respect you until you've done something to prove she should. And you haven't really respected her either."

"What're you talking about?"

"You just expect her to forgive you like I have. You forget how close you to were, she can't just ignore being alone and abandoned by you and just cast it all to the wind the day you return after so many years." Takashi stood up. "Go see her, make things right."

"You really think I can?" Zola asked, uncertain.

"I do. I think Zoe is still just more hurt than angry, but like her big sister she doesn't want to appear weak."

Zola smiled at the comparison. She thanked Takashi for his advice and promised to return. With Zoe. With her sister back.

Shu and the others returned to Mariko's home so Jiro could dry off and change clothes. Upon entering, a warm and pleasant aroma filled their noses. Shu's mouth started to water. "Bouquet must be cooking dinner!" He raced into the kitchen, and as he predicted, he found a pot on the stove with steam coming out of it. "Man, that smells good!"

"Shu," Kluke warned. "I don't think you should touch that."

"C'mon, I know Bouquet wouldn't mind." He licked his lips and reached to grab the pot lid. Before his hand could come very close, a wooden spoon smacked down on it, hard. "Ow!" He screeched, cradling his beaten hand. He glared at the spoon, his eyes tracing up its handle, up the person's arm, and into Zoe's matching glare. He flinched back when he realized who it was.

Kluke's eyes narrowed at the scene. Shu hardly flinched. The only ones she could recall him flinching for were herself, Zola, and his grandfather. Beside her, she heard Jiro tense. Once she looked over at him she was taken aback by the anger on his face. She laid her eyes back on the new girl. What exactly had occurred in her absence?

"Maybe she wouldn't mind," Zoe said. "but I do."

Shu blinked. "You cooked?"

Zoe scowled at the disbelief in his voice. "Do I look like I'm incapable of the task?"

"Well, no, it's just..." he trailed off, realizing he wouldn't make sense.

She rolled her eyes. "If you're going to be stupid, don't be stupid around my cooking."

Kluke had enough. She stepped forward. "Shu is not stupid!"

Zoe turned to the younger girl. "You're the girl who was in a coma, right?" Kluke nodded. "Then I suggest you don't butt your nose in on something you don't understand."

"What I do understand," Kluke took another step. "is that you're being rude to someone who never did anything wrong to you!"

"And how do you know that, Ms. BrainDead?"

Kluke gritted her teeth. The nerve of this girl! "Well did he?" She shot back. "Tell me, what did Shu ever do to you?"

Zoe opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Her eyes widened as she realized that no, Shu hadn't been the one to set her temper off that night. Shu had tried to resolve things peacefully and explain. It was his friend.

Kluke smirked, realizing she had won. "Exactly. He did nothing to you, so leave him alone."

Zoe growled, and quickly grabbed Kluke's collar. The girl shrieked as she was pulled slightly off the ground. "Look here, you little-"

"Put her down!" All eyes turned toward the threshold. Zola stood in her team-leader mode: Body language calm yet threatening, her hard, cold eyes set dead on her sister. Shu, Jiro, and Kluke felt a wave of relief wash over them, as they always did when they say their friend. She knew how to handle things. Zola stepped into the room. "Whatever problem you have with me, you do not take it out on my comrades. Do you understand me?"

Zoe dropped Kluke, who immediately backed away near Shu. "I am not so childish I would treat others badly for your screw ups. Your friend just pushed my buttons, but she was right. And our argument has nothing to do with you. So butt out." She turned back to the stove and stirred the contents of the pot. She felt awkward, knowing she had four pairs of eyes staring at her back. With a sigh, she turned to Shu. "Should be done in about fifteen minutes, until then could you please give me some space?"

Shu's jaw dropped; that was the first time she'd spoken to him politely. "Um, sure. We just came to..." Jiro cleared his throat, drawing attention to his soaked body. "Right! Towels, clothes for Jiro."Shu scrambled out of the room. Jiro and Kluke gave Zoe another wary look before following after him.

Zoe waited for Zola to leave as well, but in a small corner of her mind she knew she wasn't going to. After several minutes passed and still feeling her eyes burning into her back, she sighed. "What?" Can't I just be left alone?

"We need to talk." Zola stated bluntly.

"Hmm, no." Zoe answered just the same.

Zola blinked. The response had slightly stunned her, but she shook it off. "Well, you don't have a choice." Zoe only snorted, but didn't say anything else. "Why're you mad at me?"

She gave a bitter laugh. "Doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

"It has to be more than just me not coming home. Okaasan and Takashi forgive me. Why can't you?" No response. "Zoe?" Still no response. Zola started to get angry. "Answer me!"

Zoe turned the stove off. Ignore it. Be the bigger person. Just walk away. She made her way out of the kitchen.

"No. Zoe, we're settling things now!" Zola hurried to reach her sister, but as she shot forward her foot caught with one of the table legs. She let out a gasp and stumbled forward. Zoe turned around to see what the commotion was only to be tackled to the floor by Zola. The wind was knocked out of her as Zola's weight crushed her lungs against the wooden floor. Zola, taking advantage of her being disoriented, pinned her sister down to the floor.

"Get off me!" Zoe began to struggle with all her might. She was used to wrestling with Henry and Takashi, but her sister seemed like a large cinder block compared to the weight of the two boys. "I don't wanna talk to you! I don't want anything to do with you! Just leave me alone. It's not like you'll ever come back anyway!"

Zola made sure to keep her sister's arms down, despite being taken aback by the comment. It was the first hint she received to how Zoe felt about her return, besides the loathing feelings she harbored. "Zoe," she started softly. "I don't want you mad at me anymore. I'm home now-"

"And you'll never come back!" Zoe shouted, glaring up at her. "You'll just go running off with those damn kids of yours! The ones you picked over Okaasan and I!" Zola was stunned into silence. But at this point the words could no longer stop themselves from flowing out of Zoe's mouth. "Once you left you stopped caring! We didn't matter to you anymore. You left Okaasan here worried sick about her daughter, lost and alone in some part of the world she didn't even know existed. Okaasan cried everyday.." Zoe's voice faltered. "Even when she thought I couldn't hear... I heard her everyday. Crying over the husband she lost, and over the daughter that didn't bother to return or even write." Her voice grew louder now, full of anger. "She was so worried about you that she never realized she had another daughter, who spent everyday of her life from that point on doing anything she could to make her life easier and happier. The one who always tried to bring a smile to her face, to make her happy again, to make her realize that she still had something good in her life. But she never saw it. Wanna know why?" She was screaming now. "Do you?!" Zola flinched at the volume. "Because I wasn't you!" Zola froze. The force of her sister's words ripped all emotion out of her. She felt nothing; she was numb. "It didn't matter that I was there striving so hard to fill the hole that you and Otousan left! All she wanted was you! She waited for you for years, and you never came back for her!" Her voice lowered again as it begun to crack. "You didn't come back to make her happy again...and I couldn't do it... She didn't want me..." She screamed, "She wanted you! Everyone wanted you! Instead of..." She swallowed, an almost impossible task. Her breathing was shallow, and to Zola's horror, her eyes glimmered with un-shed tears.

A creak in the floor caused Zola to glance over her shoulder. Her eyes widened upon seeing her mother standing only a few feet away. Tears cascading down her cheeks. Behind her stood Bouquet and Marumaro, who looked on shocked and uncomfortable. Beside them was Takashi, who looked at Zoe with such sad eyes it struck a chord in her heart. With him were a younger boy and an older girl, both gave Zoe similar looks.

They heard everything...

Zoe, knowing who was all in the room, grew flustered with embarrassment. She clenched her fists, and called upon all her strength. Her aura faintly illuminated her body. Zola turned back in shock. She jerked her body forward with enough strength to throw Zola off her. She was on her feet in a flash, and glared around the room. Her face turned bright red from her neck to the tips of her ears. Without another word, she bolted to her bedroom, shutting and locking the door behind her.