Family bond

"Hey bro!" 

"Yeah?" 

"Just wanted to pass by. What are you working on?" 

"Hm." 

As usual, the two opposing energies that were the prince and princess of the Celestial Kingdom spent time together in the brother's laboratory.  Lola passing by from time to time to check on Leon, precisely. The man hummed, slightly rolling the chair he was sitting on to the side for his sister to take a better look at his newest invention. 

"Ah! Is that the thing Elvin asked for?" 

"Correct." 

"And what does this filter do exactly?" 

"Supposed to nullify blue lights on screens." 

While he was so focused on his job, requiring patience and quite meticulous movements, the man was still used to his sister's sudden visits, often cutting him out of his concentration. But he realised that he actually needed some interactions from time to time, even if he regrets the former argument it cost between the siblings. At first, it was rather annoying; but he quickly got over it. After all, she just meant well, checking on him as much as she could, not letting him too lonely. He enjoyed alone time more than anyone, and always being cut out from what he was doing at least twice a day, adding up to his alarming lack of sleep and outside exposure was making him slowly more and more irritated. 

---

"Brooo?"

"What do you want again."

It reached the point where it didn't sounded like a question anymore. The scientist slowly turned his chair to face his sister, who quickly went from a happy expression to a worried one; the one children would do when they knew they did a mistake. She clearly became more hesitant, playing with her thumbs.

"Ugh... Come on. Spit it out."

"W-well... I was huh... I was just passing by and- I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to Peach's brunch next time? You said you weren't available last time a-and... the others miss you."

"Well, tell them I'm busy. Hopefully they'll get the message more than you do."

"More than I- hey! That's quite mean! Is that a crime to check on you from time to time??"

The man got up from his chair, starring at his sister pouting with dull eyes.

"It fairly is close to it when your "from time to time" is the definition of bothering me every damn days."

"Bothe- bothering...? You barely come upstairs to see the light, of course I'm gonna bother you! Otherwise I'm sure you won't even make a single effort to eat a proper meal."

"I could just make myself something that could automatically bring me food."

"You've got to be kidding me. What is it, next time. Creating a Sun so I don't have a word to say about you not going outside?? By the ancestors, be reasonable for once!"

His patience was slowly reaching its limits, tired of his little sister trying so bad to make him step out of his comfort zone.

"Why can't YOU understand that I don't like spending time outside?? I like- I just like being on my own. Okay? And you're always ruining this moment of peace I have by coming here. I am not like you, Lola."

Offended by his speech, his sister's eyes lowered to the floor, swallowing the horrible truth. She slowly turned, ready to go upstairs, where Leon didn't felt like he belonged. This latter felt pretty bad for talking such way to his sister, but he tried so many times to tell her he simply didn't wanted to go out, no matter how hard she tried.

"... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. I'll stop now. It's just that we... That I miss you. The old time we spent together, the time we no longer have now."

She looked behind her one last time, a single tear dropping as she tried to keep composure.

"I- I'm worried about you, you know...? It's not healthy. Not healthy at all to stay all alone everyday, in the basement... I'm scared you might get sick, that you don't feed or hydrate yourself enough- Heck, y-you barely get the sleep you need Leon... I don't want you to fall into the pit of isolation you're letting yourself fall into."

"Are you sure this isn't because you just can't stand being alone."

Suddenly, heavy silence stood between the two, so strong it became harder to breathe as seconds passed, both starring at each others in disbelief.

The man, already regretting his words, couldn't spit a single word out of his mouth, the tension making Lola leave the laboratory, leaving Leon alone, as he wished. She knew about his depression, and the only thing he did was rejecting the help she tried to bring, to make him go out of his bubble of safety he built around himself. Deep down, however, she never realised herself if there was another reason behind such determination to help him. Did she really just want to avoid being alone? She didn't know. Shaking his head, Leon woke himself up from his paralysis, gathering the courage to quickly go after her, leaving what he was doing behind. For once, he realised he had more important stuff to handle.

As soon as he went upstairs, the prince looked around, only to see his sister on her way to leave the castle. 

"Lola, w-wait!" 

Surprised by his voice, his sister quickly turned, wiping her teary eyes. She stopped walking, letting Leon join her side, both on their way to take a walk outside in the royal gardens. At first, Leon didn't dare saying anything, too embarrassed by his former outburst. He felt pretty bad, and feared his apologies wouldn't be enough, which he sincerely thought he didn't deserve his sister to forgive him. All this time, he treated her horribly, only giving a sigh of her help in return. Hands placed in his pockets, his head turned to the side to look at his sister.

"...You reminded me of father back there."

"Wh...what do you mean like father?"

"I know doctors told me I would not remember much, but I can recall he was acting a lot the way you do now. Often busy, never there even when you just wanted to spend time with him... Too occupied drowning himself with work..."

He got startled at her honest words. He knew that, deep inside, despite his repulsion toward their dad, that she was right. And it only worsened the current pain he felt in his heart.

"You weren't always like that, big bro. There was a time where you spent more time with the others, enjoying life with me. What happened to this old time?"

"I...."

It took a moment for him to think. He wanted to give her an answer, trying to recall how did it all started. 

"....I don't know, sis." 

"It's okay." 

Awkwardly clearing his throat, he slowed his steps, until completely stopping. Noticing the change of rhythm, Lola quickly followed, until both faced each others. She didn't say anything, simply starring to the side, knowing Leon was trying to gather his energy to find the correct words to use.

"I... I know this is a bit of an easy solution, and it won't solve anything, but I'm sorry about earlier."

"...I'm sorry as well."

"What? Why? You're not the one in fault, Lola."

"This one time, yes. But... I'm sorry about all the other times I've always bothered you while you needed to be alone. I didn't respect that and... It's my fault. I did a bad job."

"And I did a bad job at trying to understand that you only wanted what was good for me. I understand now. I really do."

"Do you...? But- But I acted stupid, I didn't realise myself that not everyone liked to go outside and get social interactions-"

"Technically, I also acted stupid by brushing you away instead of explaining to you that sometimes, it was refreshing for me to be by myself. I'm... I'm sorry for not being a good big brother, and not put efforts into taking care of you."

The princess lowered her head, a fainted sob leaving her lips. Just like Leon, she felt horrible. Feeling like such a burden, to a man who kept suffering for many years, trying desperately to fight the constant sour feeling toward their dead father for abandoning his children, the two having to take care of each others and an entire kingdom; she didn't think hard enough about how the two actually had deep wounds they needed to treat, hiding them as much as they could instead.

"You're not a bad big brother. You just had too many responsibilities at once. We both had. But unlike you, I grew used to constant attention, and I thought you'd like it."

"...Heh. I got used to rejection instead."

The young woman broke into tears at this. Her forehead rested against the man's torso, letting herself cry, while he immediatly embraced her.

"I'm sorr-"

"Don't be, Lola. This was his fault. Not yours. We were both too young. Now, it's the two of us."

"N-no."

She raised her head, looking at him with determined eyes.

"Th-that is not true. We might have lost our parents, but we still have our citizens, our relatives, our friends... We're not alone, Leon. Not anymore."

 

---

Remembering their conversation from quite a while ago, the man stopped what he was doing, turning his stare to Lola. 

"Would you like to know more about what I'm doing?" 

"OH- you sure? I don't want to bother y-" 

"Nonsense. I like when you're interested in what I do." 

He could admit having someone caring for him and letting him talk about what fascinated him the most was really comforting.  

"I'd love to then!" 

After that, his sister took a sit on the massive lounge pug in the corner, listening to her brother with an admiring glare. After some times of comforting silence between the two, Lola, starring at the ceiling with a smile on her face, decided to get up, catching Leon's attention. 

"Is something the matter? Being inactive for too long isn't your cup of tea; right?" 

"No actually! It feels great. I understand why you like this so much. ...I just remembered that I wanted to ask you if you wanted yo go to Peach's brunch this weekend? If you don't want to, I'll tell them of course."

"Well.... Actually, this might be a good idea." 

"Of course it is. I always have good ideas-" 

The siblings chuckled, Lola more than happy to hear her brother's laugh. It truly made her day. Quickly calmed again, she sympathetically looked at him.

"Don't worry. If anyone does a remark about your long absence, I'll face them for you." 

At her words, the oldest turned to face his sister, the dull eyes he once had long time ago being replaced by almost teary ones. 

"I... Yeah. That sounds nice. Thank you."

With that, his arms wrapped around her form, embracing her into a hug, which she quickly returned. 

"Do you think you'll have a moment to talk with me about your needs to be alone?" 

"Sure. But let's just enjoy our time together for now. Okay?" 

"Okay." 

No words needing to be added, the white-haired man took his sister on his laps, letting her watch what was he working on. He answered her every questions, appreciating her curiosity and silence she offered him to focus. He felt thankful to have her, being the equivalent of a light in his dark mind.