Chapter 8 Bonding as Sisters

Aria felt especially groggy when she woke up the next morning. She decided, as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, that she wasn't going to do much today. She did have that luxury; after all, today just so happened to be her day off. And she was ever so thankful for that; after all the radical discoveries and terrible truths that had been piled on her the day before, she could definitely use a little quiet time to clear her mind.

With that, she made her way downstairs. Her stomach growled like a bear, so she jumped right into making a bowl of oatmeal. She yawned non-stop as she put all the ingredients together; it felt like she was just two seconds away from collapsing onto the floor. She hated the feeling; sleeping for far too long tended to do that to her. Although, she knew it wasn't the only reason why she felt so drained.

She only barely managed to get the oatmeal done without experiencing any problems. She took her bowl over to the dining room, thinking about everything as she stirred. She wondered what was going to happen from here on out. She knew little about Jackie, her own sister. Somehow, having to think that felt extremely wrong to her. It felt like she was breaking one of the fundamental laws of the universe, like her ignorance was the cause for a horrific atrocity. Of course, she logically knew it wasn't her fault. She knew that she shouldn't feel guilty because all of this information had just been dumped onto her suddenly. There was no reason at all to feel bad.

Except that she did. Thinking about Jackie, thinking about her father really made her feel ill. She felt like not moving for the better part of the rest of eternity, because she knew that being in some sort of resting state would help her feel better. At this point, it was the only thing that would help her feel like everything was still normal.

She shook her head. This wasn't normal anymore, and it wouldn't be normal ever again. She now had a twin sister. She now had a father who kept a big secret from her. The only thing that could possibly feel relatively normal was her relationship with Ludwig. But even then, Ludwig knew about Jackie too. He knew about this whole debacle. And sure, while he wasn't one who would rub it in her face, the fact that he was aware would haunt Aria. It would haunt her during every date that the two of them would have from that point forward.

Aria groaned, deciding that she wasn't very hungry after all. She got up and scraped her oatmeal into the trash, all while a million thoughts and a million curses ran through her head. She wished she didn't feel so bad about this. She wished that there was a way that she wouldn't feel so… miffed.

Knock knock knock.

Aria blinked upon hearing a knock at her front door. While she didn't know exactly who it was, she was able to make an educated guess. She wiped some dust off her front and went to open the door. Who she saw on the other side was the exact person that she had expected.

"Oh. Hi Jackie."

Despite the fact that she was shaking, Jackie smiled at her. "H…hey Aria." There was a pause, which allowed Aria to see more of her sister's behavior. Her trembling was next level; it looked like she was in the throughs of some sort of earthquake. She also sweat, and she could barely look Aria in the eye.

Naturally, this ignited Aria's concern. "Is… is everything okay?"

Another pause. Jackie made some frustrated faces as her breathing sped up. Aria could practically hear her berating herself in her head.

"Y… yes. Everything is fine." She sounded so quiet, like speaking too loud would cause her to shatter like glass. Nevertheless, she still looked Aria in the eye. This allowed Aria to see some hope tangled in with the anxiety and nervousness that were clearly on the forefront of her mind.

"Do you want to come in?"

Jackie actually breathed a sigh of relief when she asked that. "Yes, actually."

With that, Aria welcomed Jackie through the door. Her identical twin examined the place, taking in every feature of the building's interior with a look of awe on her face. "Nice house."

"Thanks." Aria chuckled, the sound hollow. "Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to move out soon. Money is tight."

"Oh, that's too bad." Jackie looked back at her. "I hope you find a place you can afford."

Aria snickered. "Yeah, would be nice if I did." She scratched the back of her head. "Is… is there a reason why we're here?"

Jackie squirmed a little. "Um… yeah. I was… I was wondering if you would be interested in coming out to breakfast with me."

Aria blinked. "Really?"

Jackie nodded, putting on a smile as she did. "Yeah. I think that would be nice. Could help us get to know each other better, you know?"

Aria raised an eyebrow. "You'd be okay with that? I mean, you didn't seem to like being stared at during the double date."

Jackie hesitated, pushing some hair out of her eyes as she did. "Well… honestly, I think that knowing you're my identical twin can help with that." She chuckled. "You know, it would feel less like I'm on display and more like… well, like everything is normal."

Aria snickered. Normal, the word that has given her so much trouble in the early hours of this morning. She didn't even know if things could feel "normal" at this point. However… well, if that was Jackie felt like, was it really Aria's right to take that away from her? Would it really be a good thing if she turned down her newly discovered sister, causing both of them to feel worse than they already did?

"Sure. I'd love to go to breakfast with you."

Jackie smiled.

…

The place that the sisters ended up was a small cafe on the outskirts of town. Aria hadn't thought much of it; nothing really stood out as remarkable on a first glance. However, Jackie had assured her that it was a good place to eat. She said that she had gone out with Bob here, and that the food was cheap and really really good. So, Aria didn't complain.

After the girls sat down and put in their food orders, Aria took in Jackie's appearance. Something about her looked… different. Sure, she still shook, and it looked like she was squirming nonstop in her seat. However, she looked… well, Aria supposed she looked happier. She supposed that Jackie felt more comfortable, more at home when around her. She honestly didn't know how to feel about that.

"So…." Aria fidgeted with her fork, thinking about picking it up but still keeping it securely in its spot on the table top. "Um…" man, she couldn't remember the last time she felt this awkward. Was it because Jackie, her own sister, was basically just a stranger to her? Again, thinking that felt wrong. Way too wrong.

"What are your hobbies?" Aria finally managed to ask after a long, silent battle with her uncooperative tongue.

Jackie smiled. "I… I like playing video games."

"Really?" Aria asked, her tone stuck between interested and incredulous.

"Yeah. There's this one MMO RPG that I play, called 'Warriors of Avongard.' It's… it's really cool." Jackie sunk a little bit into her seat. "If you haven't given it a try, I would highly recommend doing so…"

"Okay," Aria said. She took a long sip of her water. "What else do you like to do?"

"Um… I like to draw." Jackie chuckled. "Sure, stick figures are more detailed than my drawings, but… you know." She turned away, her face turning red.

"I get it; I'm not the best artist either," Aria said. She traced her finger around the rim of her glass. "I more so like to sing and dance. Oh! And read; reading is fun."

Jackie chuckled. "I'm not the biggest reader, honestly. Not because I dislike it, but more so because I'm the type of person who never manages to finish a book." She smiled. "I always lose interest about halfway through."

"I see."

With that, a silence befell the table. Aria allowed her eyes to wander, taking in every part of this rather unremarkable building. She didn't make eye contact with Jackie, which was fine with her as Jackie didn't really make eye contact with her either. The two just sat there, like two strangers who had been forced to share the same well-confined space.

It was horrible. Not only because Aria felt uncomfortable, but also because this was her sister. How hard was it to start up a conversation with one's sister? Especially when this was more or less a dream come true for Aria? She remembered some nights when she was little, staring up at the ceiling in bed while picturing what it must be like to have siblings. To have someone to share the memories with, to have someone who you could divulge your deepest secrets and most passionate interests with. It seemed like such a magical concept back then. Why now was it so… awkward?

After their food came, the two mostly ate in silence. Aria kept her eyes on Jackie, taking in every last mannerism the koopa girl displayed. She wasn't nearly as jumpy as she was on the double date, but even then, she sure wasn't still. In fact, she seemed to be taking a very major and disproportionate interest in her food. It was almost as if she couldn't stand to look at Aria, like looking at anybody for too long a period would cause her to wiver away into dust.

Aria didn't know how to feel about this, like with most of the things she has experienced over the course of the past week.

After taking one last bite, Aria decided that she wanted to start up another conversation about another topic. Not just to help Jackie feel more comfortable and engaged, but also to help herself feel like she was in the most awkward setting known to koopa. That, and a question had formed in her mind. A question that she definitely wanted a concrete answer to.

"Hey Jackie?" Jackie looked up. "What's your family like?"

To Aria's surprise, Jackie seized up. Her form was rigid as a rock, and it appeared that she was beginning to sweat again. This immediately made Aria feel uncomfortable, but she wasn't going to just go without having the question answered either.

"Jackie?"

Jackie let out a shaky breath. "Well… my Mom and Dad died in a car crash when I was seven. So, I pretty much had to live with my aunt and uncle." She took a sip of her coffee. "That's where I'm living right now."

Aria felt a pang. "Oh, that's too bad." She leaned back a little bit. "My… or, I guess, our mom died before I hatched. So, I do know what it's like, at least to some extent."

Jackie nodded. "Well, that's good, I suppose." She sounded so quiet when she said that, like she was a mouse playing a round of the quiet game.

"Yeah." Aria took another sip of her water (or at least, a sip of the air that occupied the space that the water used to be in). "What are your aunt and uncle like?"

That question had such a disastrous effect on Jackie that one would think she'd been told the world would end. She took big, shaky, frequent breaths, ones that landed squarely in the realm of hyperventilation. She refused to look at Aria. In fact, it looked like she was searching for a place to hide, for a place to bury her head in the ground and hide away from the rest of the world in shame and terror.

"Jackie?" Aria asked, all at once feeling concerned. "Is… is everything okay?"

It took about a solid minute for Jackie to respond. "I don't want to talk about it."

Aria did a double take. "Why not?"

"I just don't." Jackie stood up, taking her wallet out of her hammerspace as she did. "I… I'm going to go pay."

With that, she went up to the register, leaving Aria confused and curious. What was the matter with Jackie's aunt and uncle? If it made her so uncomfortable speaking about them, why…?

Aria shook her head as she stood up. Even though she wasn't going to pry Jackie anymore, she still wanted these answers. She only hoped that there was a possible way to get them…