Vash was quiet as he sipped his coffee downstairs in the waiting room. Lilli sat opposite him, reading one of the magazines the staff had placed on the coffee table. She sighed as she looked up at her older brother; his face was hard, and to many, it would seem unreadable, but she could see the hurt in his green eyes.
Finally, Lilli spoke up, causing her brother to look her way. "Vash, Ivan is not a killer," she announced, trying to keep her voice firm. She had cried all the way to the hospital, and her eyes were red from all the weeping, her motions shaky. Vash looked at her and felt a mixture of hurt and protectiveness. He hated that Ivan had caused his sister such emotional pain, but at the same time, Lilli had concealed Ivan from him. He honestly didn't know what to think. "Really?" His voice was dry and sarcastic. "And how do I know that anything you tell me anymore is truth, Lilli?"
Much to Vash's shame, his own voice broke. "When you were little, you thought I was the best thing in the world. You cut your hair to look like me, remember that? You made me pajamas just because I bought you a ribbon. What happened since then, Lilli?"
Lilli put down the magazine in frustration. She could feel her own hurt anger welling up within her chest. "I started growing up, and making my own choices!"
"And look what you chose!" Vash shot back. By now the whole waiting room was staring at them in shocked silence. Vash felt his cheeks flame. He and Lilli were both raised to keep quiet, to hold their pride and hold their own, and to never make such a scene in a public place. Now here they were, arguing in a hospital about the mental patient upstairs.
Vash's retort cut deep, and Lilli lashed out like a wounded lioness. "I hid him because I knew you wouldn't understand him like I do. Because you never listen, Vash, you just never listen! Our whole relationship is you telling me what's best and me doing what you say because you're my perfect big brother! But do you know what? I'm not a child anymore! I'm no longer meek and biddable, able to be bought with a ribbon! If you had let me speak for once, you'd learn that Ivan has schizophrenia and that I was going to help him get medicine so he wouldn't turn psychotic anymore!"
Vash was silent for a long moment. The other people in the waiting room were at the edge of their seats, apparently having become emotionally invested in the siblings' argument. Lilli swallowed and tried to stop the tears from streaming down her face. Vash put down his coffee cup and took a deep breath. There was his little sister, not a little girl anymore, but a young woman. A brave young woman with a heart big enough to help the man so many others mistakenly feared. A young woman who could think and fend for herself. And Vash was proud of her.
"Lilli," he croaked out, wishing his sister would take the angry look off of her face, "you are the bravest person I know. I didn't know Ivan was schizophrenic, no one really knew." For the first time he thought he might be able to see the Ivan Braginski his sister saw, a lonely, tortured soul, not a vicious killer.
"Ivan wouldn't want to hurt a fly," Lilli added stubbornly.
"I'm… I'm sorry," Vash said after another moment's pause. "I guess you've grown up more than I realized."
"And I'm sorry for lying to you." Lilli replied, scooting closer in her chair.
Vash shrugged. "I don't blame you, I suppose. You shouldn't have to feel like you have to hide things from me, Lilli. You're my sister, and I love you. I want you to know you can still come to me for anything."
The tension in the room started to lift and the people watching couldn't help but smile at the touching scene, even if they had no idea who the hell these people were. Lilli got up from her chair and hugged Vash, planting a kiss on his forehead. "And you can come to me too, if you're ever lonely, or if you're sad because your little sister's growing up…"
Vash grinned and stroked her hair. "Just don't grow up too fast, kay?"
Lilli nodded and one man in the crowd softly went, "Awww."
Vash glared his way, embarrassed. "Shut up."
"Fine," Francis Bonnefoy huffed, turning his attention back to the book he was reading. "I was just admiring the sibling fluff, and-"
He was interrupted by a woman with long brown hair who wore a nurse's outfit and held a clipboard. "Lilli Zwingli?" she said in a Hungarian accent, causing Lilli to look her way. "Ivan Braginski is awake now, we gave him some medicine and he should be fine if you want to see him."
Lilli nodded and got up promptly. Ivan was all right! She hoped he'd understand about her knocking over the head with King Arthur- if he even remembered, she realized with a sigh of relief. She followed the nurse down the hall, and Vash started to follow her but then thought better about it and sat down. Ivan was well now and Lilli was safe, and besides, it was about time he let his little sister go somewhere alone.