Okay so I was going to drag this episode out, but then I changed my mind. So you have a very short chapter here instead as the end of episode four. On the plus side I can get to work on episode five now, which is set to be my horror movie spoof. Think Toys in the Attic from Cowboy Bebop if you've ever watched that show.

Rozen Maiden: Märchen

EPISODE 4

Cry Me A River

A pounding at his door prompted Jun to get up and open it, whereupon a very angry Suiseiseki strutted past him without sparing him so much as a glance. Jun and Shinku watched as she crossed the bedroom, stopped at the bed, and then crawled under it.

Time passed.

"Uh," said Jun. Shinku closed her book, set it to one side and sighed. This was going to be a long night.

"Your behaviour is quite unbecoming," said Shinku to the room at large.

"I so don't care!" came the muffled reply. Jun sank down onto his knees in front of the bed and sagged.

"Geez, what the heck is your problem anyway? I thought you'd be pleased to see Souseiseki again." When no answer was forthcoming he leaned down and peeked under the bed. Suiseiseki was lying on her front, resting her chin on her hands and glowering at him with an extremely disgruntled expression.

"Go away, you," she muttered.

"How long are you planning on staying under there?" Jun asked in an annoyed tone of voice. Suiseiseki's scowl deepened.

"However long I want. I might just stay here forever, see if I don't."

"Don't be stupid, what are you going to do when you're hungry?"

"I'm a doll, I don't have to eat if I don't want to."

Jun groaned. "This is getting silly. Come out of there right now! I'm your Master - you have to do what I say right? So move it!"

Suiseiseki barred her teeth at him like a stray cat. "As if I would take orders from a puny little runt like you! You always treat me like a second rate doll, it's a wonder you even remember that you're my Medium!"

"That's it!" Jun made the foolish mistake of sticking his hand under the bed to try and grab the stubborn doll, and was rewarded with a sharp pain as Suiseiseki sank her teeth into his finger. He cried out and yanked his hand back, sitting up and clutching the stricken digit in shock. "She bit me! That damn rotten doll bit me!"

Suiseiseki growled. "Honestly! Did you hear what he just called me?"

Jun knelt back down and glared at her. "Talk about the pot calling the kettle!" He stopped when he saw Suiseiseki's eyes widen in surprise, and turned to see Souseiseki standing behind him.

"She's giving you trouble I see."

"You could say that," said Shinku calmly, still sitting on the bed.

"You're so bothersome," Souseiseki said, addressing her twin as she strode over to Jun and knelt down beside him. Suiseiseki scurried further back under Jun's bed as her sister regarded her. "You didn't have to slap me so hard," she went on, rubbing the side of her face, "It still hurts."

Jun glanced sideways at her and blinked with surprise. "No way, she slapped you?"

"Sh-she deserved it!" Suiseiseki whimpered. Jun thought she looked more miserable than angry now. He frowned.

"What could she possibly have done to deserve that?"

"It's okay Jun," Souseiseki spoke in her normal quiet voice, "She's right; I did deserve it."

Shinku slid off the bed and landed beside Souseiseki. She glanced at her pocket watch and then tucked it away once more. "Come Jun, let us assist Nori in preparing supper."

Jun hesitated, unsure if it was such a good idea to leave the twins alone together given Suiseiseki's current behaviour. A brief nod from Souseiseki convinced him to go however, and he reached down to pick Shinku up. When the bedroom door shut behind them, Souseiseki turned her attention back to her troubled sibling. She laid herself flat on the floor and slowly pulled herself forwards until she was under the bed as well. Suiseiseki shuffled about so as to put some distance between them, and faced her sister with renewed anger in her eyes.

"I told you to leave me alone."

"Do we have to have this discussion under Jun's bed?"

Suiseiseki crossed her arms in front of her, making as defiant a posture as was possible under the circumstances. "I'm not moving an inch from here until you're gone."

Souseiseki winced. "I see. Do you really want me to go that badly?"

Suiseiseki said nothing, though her expression softened for just an instant. Souseiseki sighed and shook her head. "I don't want to leave you, Suiseiseki, but if that's what you want then I'll go."

Suiseiseki still did not speak, though she lowered the bottom half of her face onto her crossed arms and let out a whine. Souseiseki tilted her head to one side.

"Won't you at least tell me why you hate me so much?"

"How can you say that?" Suiseiseki murmured softly, her gaze unfocused. "I could never hate you, I love you more than anything. And that's the problem."

"I don't understand."

"Of course you don't!" Suiseiseki buried her face in her arms now, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed. "For years and years I promised that I'd protect you and be with you no matter what, even if it came to the Alice Game. And when the Alice Game finally arrived, I kept my promise. I chose you over Father," she looked up and gazed directly into her twin's eyes, her own wet with tears, her face utterly distraught, "But you didn't! You chose Father over me! Don't you get it at all? Don't you understand how much that hurt me?"

"Suiseiseki..."

"As Rozen Maiden, our destiny is to fight and become Alice. It's the very reason for our existence. And I threw that all aside because I cared more for you than my own destiny, more than seeing Father. You meant more to me than anything in the whole world, and that meant nothing to you! I told you I'd never want to become Alice if it meant fighting you, and your only answer was to push me away. You ... you said you'd cut me down. You ... you would have killed me just to please Father! That's so wrong!"

Suiseiseki buried her face in her arms once more and cried, great wracking sobs that cut the very air with their pain. Her tears came so thick and fast that the sleeves of her dress were stained dark with them. When she started to wail, really genuinely wail with despair, Souseiseki could take it no more and crawled out from under the bed. She leaned her back against it, listening to Suiseiseki's cries.

For a long time Souseiseki did and said nothing. She sat there, drinking in her sister's pain, letting it stab and burn at her, twist her heart and crush her soul. She deserved it, all of it. The pain, the slap, the angry words, every last twinge of guilt and remorse. For all her life Suiseiseki had always been there to look out for her and protect her. Souseiseki had looked up to her, admired her strength and determination. Despite all of that, when the time had come ... she had turned her back on Suiseiseki. She had pushed her away.

And yet...

"I wouldn't have done it," she spoke quietly, though her words carried enough weight to stop Suiseiseki's sobs, at least for a moment. Souseiseki stared across the room without really seeing anything. She was too busy looking inside her own mind.

"Even though I was determined to become Alice," she went on, "A part of me knew that I would never be able to. I lied to myself. I told myself I would become Alice and end Father's grief. But ... even then, when I told all of you what I intended to do, I knew I would fail. Because..." she looked up, as if she could see the truth floating in the air in front of her. She blinked at it, almost surprised by what it revealed. "Because I could never hurt you. Not intentionally. I knew deep down that if the time ever came ... if you and I were the last Rozen Maidens left, and you were all that was standing between me and Alice ... I would falter."

"Souseiseki..." her name came in a barely audible whisper from under the bed, and was followed by repeated sniffing. Souseiseki lowered her gaze and closed her eyes, smiling at something.

"I never should have entered the Alice Game, Suiseiseki. I never had a chance of winning it, not with you around. I lied when I said I would cut you down. I would sooner cut myself down than strike you. I guess I ... I do love you more than Father. I just couldn't bring myself to admit it."

It came as something of a surprise when Suiseiseki suddenly wrapped her arms around her. Her face, still wet with tears, pressed against Souseiseki's, and still she wept.

"You're such a cry-baby, Suiseiseki."

"Is it any wonder with such a rotten little sister?" Suiseiseki hiccupped and released her. Souseiseki smiled and brushed the tears from her face, or at least tried to. There were so many it was like trying to mop a flooded room. Suiseiseki reached across and wiped her twin's cheek, which was damp from when she had hugged her. "You never cry. You always say that I'm the strong one, but I'm the one that always cries."

Souseiseki clutched her sister's hand and held it against her face, lovingly. "I think that's because you cry for me, Suiseiseki. You take all my pain and sadness and grief into yourself so I don't have to feel it. You shoulder my burdens, that's why you're so strong. I'd be lost without you."

Suiseiseki sniffled, looking slightly embarrassed. "Well of course! What's a big sister for?"

Souseiseki let go of her hand, leaned forwards and gently kissed Suiseiseki on the cheek, before whispering to her, "I'll never leave you again. That's a promise."

Jun: Okay, calm down everyone. Just because the power and phone lines are out doesn't mean that we need to worry.

Hina: But Hina doesn't like the dark!

Suiseiseki: Stop blubbering you puny runt!

*strange noise*

Suiseiseki: Waaah! W-what was that?

Souseiseki: It sounded like it came from upstairs...

Shinku: Jun, go upstairs and investigate the strange noise.

Jun: Hey! Why the heck do I have to go?

Shinku: Because I said so.

Jun: Next time on Rozen Maiden: Märchen,

Suiseiseki: They're coming outta the walls ... they're coming outta the goddamn walls!

Jun: Hey, that's not the line!