You both sit there in silence, the words that shattered your world echoing in your ears.
"I'm sorry." His voice is hoarse. He's holding his head in his hands as he watches you.
"Everyone?" Your voice cracks as tears start to fall down your face.
"Yeah." He stops for a moment before looking away. "It was an accident. A train derailed and..." He trails off with a haunted stare.
---
You can't believe what you just heard.
"You really mean it?" You ask, excitement and fear fighting within your heart.
"Of course I do." She says, wrapping her arm around you.
"So you'd be my mom?" You ask, looking at her through blurry eyes.
"Yep." She feels so warm as she holds you close.
"And I'd live with you?" You've never cried while feeling happy before, but everything feels so overwhelming.
"You'll have your own room." She promises.
"We'd be a family." You whisper.
"You, me and Cindy." She whispers back.
---
You've been sitting with your brother for hours, but you still feel alone. The house has never been so quiet, never felt so empty.
"There'll be a funeral in a few days." He says eventually. "We'll say goodbye to them then."
You wish he'd do something. That he'd apologise for lying, or give you a hug and promise that everything will be ok. But he just sits there, utterly silent.
Mom and Dad are gone. You'll never talk to them again. You'll never hug the twins again, or fight with Lyall over the tv.
"What happens now?" You ask, moving so Korbin is looking right at you.
"We keep going, as best we can. You'll keep going to school, I'll keep working and I'll look after you." He says, his eyes distant. "We'll make it work."
---
"Is that your house? It's so red." You say, pressed up against the window.
"No, that's the barn. It's where the horses live." Your mom says. "Our house is over there." She's pointing at something, but you don't look.
"You have horses?" You ask. Everything about this feels like a dream. A mom, a sister, a home and now horses.
"We can go for a ride later. But we need to get you moved in first." She says, ruffling your hair as she parks the car.
You stay close to her as you get out, keeping behind her you get close to the house.
You can already see your sister, standing on the porch as she waits. She's staring at you, a look you can't recognise on her face. Does she want you to leave? Was she expecting you to be taller? You can't tell.
"Stop staring and come say hi to your sister." Your mom says. You both look at her before walking out to each other.
"Um, hi. I'm Amber." You say hesitantly.
"I'm Cynthia." She says, before glancing at her mom. "Not Cindy."
"Okay." You say.
---
"I can't do this." Korbin says. His voice is hard as he looks at everything but you.
"What do you mean?" You ask, more than a little scared.
"I can't look after you! I can't spend all day at work then come home and make sure you're ok! I can barely afford to keep the house!" He yells, anger and anguish breaking the mask he's worn for the past few months. "I have my own life to live, but I've always got to put you first. I just, I can't handle it." For once he's the one crying, the one desperately trying to meet your gze.
"So what's going to happen?" You ask meekly.
"I spoke to some people. They'll find you somewhere nice to live, somewhere you'll be able to make new friends." He says, sounding defeated. "I'll sell the house and set the money aside for you. Make sure you'll be ok."
"But I don't want to go." You complain.
"This isn't about what you want Rosa. It's about what you need, what we need. And if we stay like this we'll both be miserable." He whispers.
"No." You whisper. "No! I don't want to leave home, I don't want to live somewhere without you. And if you make me, I'll never forgive you!" You start shouting without realising it.
"I'll have to live with that." Korbin whispers.
---
Cynthia has a lot of rules. She won't sit next to you when you eat. She always gets the first bath and she doesn't like sharing her toys unless mom makes her.
But she gets a lot nicer when mom's away. She's been teaching you how to take care of your hair, showing you how to brush it and wash it properly. She goes horse riding with you despite hating every second. She even lets you watch tv with her.
It takes years, but you eventually start feeling like she's really your sister.
----
For once your heart isn't pounding when you wake up. Instead you wake up with a wet pillow, tears running down your face. There's no fear or confusion. Just a bittersweet warmth that feels intensely familiar. You just can't put a name to the emotion. Looking around you see it's still dark. You lie back down with a sigh. You probably won't be getting back to sleep, but at least you don't ffeel tired for once. That counts for something.
~~~~~~~~
The Huntsman Academies were founded in the wake of the Great War and are dedicated to the triumph of individuality over oppression. The only classes taught that aren't related to becoming a huntsman are to allow students to express themselves. Which elective did you sign up for?
[ ] Art
It's hard to remember anything concrete. And even when you do remember something you can't be certain if its your memory or Amber's. But when you let yourself draw what you remember it feels more real.
Blake and May are taking this elective.
[ ] Gym
Though there's a class dedicated to learning about dust and aura, you doubt you'll get to spend much time really practicing how to fly. You'll make up for it here though.
Cardin, Nora and Pyrrha are taking this elective.
[ ] Mechanics
No one's going to let a student fly an aircraft, but getting to build a drone would be the next best thing.
Dew, Ruby and Yang are taking this elective.
[ ] Music
You don't think you've ever been a musician. But sometimes you find yourself humming something hauntingly familiar and you need to figure out what it is.
Jaune, Ren and Weiss are taking this elective.
