My Last Dive [Made in Abyss Fanfiction]

37| Sun-Setting

I selected a few eggs from a carton, doing my best to not break them as I cracked them into a butter-lined pan. A sigh of relief escaped me as only a few tiny shards of shell ended up in the spilled whites and yokes, joining the few slices of meat I'd put in the pan several minutes before. The eggs started sizzling away in seconds, and I smiled slightly. Perfect, now hopefully I'd timed things right...

   From down the hall, I heard a door open. She was up earlier than I thought, but that was the plight of an early bird. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see my sleepy sister entering the kitchen, a hand to her head. "Len? What're you doing?"

   I gave her a smile. "Happy birthday, Addy." Her eyes widened a little, showing the obvious. "Did you forget?"

   "I... might've," she admitted, embarrassed. "Things have just been really busy lately."

    Not helped by you dozing off, I thought but didn't say it out loud. "But today, there's none of that. You need to just relax and enjoy yourself. We're going to Syele and Lissy's tonight for dinner and a small party, and I'm making sure you're not cooking."

   "If you insist," Aedia said with a giggle, sitting down at the table. I'd already set it and brewed coffee so I wouldn't be distracted while cooking. "I kinda wish you made tea instead, but I'm not complaining," she said after picking up her cup.

   "Oh, sorry about that," I apologized. "We usually have tea at lunch, so—"

   "You're fine!" she said. "I've just been having a bit of a stuffy nose the past few days, and I also have a headache, though I also haven't been drinking much water either. It might be a cold, which I'm surprised about, but it'll pass."

   My smile became more nervous. "Don't be getting sick on me now."

   "I won't! And even if I was, I'd still have my brother dearest to take care of me," she said with a teasing grin. I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I returned to cooking. Thankfully nothing seemed like it was undercooked, so I was already doing better since I could tell that at all. Breakfast was served a few minutes later. When Aedia tried it, she seemed pleasantly surprised. "This isn't half-bad! The meat's a bit burned, but it's still good."

   "That honestly just made my day," I said, my spirits lifting. This had to be a good sign for the rest of the day, and I dared to feel positive about things.

   After breakfast, Aedia took some medication for her cold, and we decided to kill time by doing what we loved most: reading and drawing. We both read and wrote, sharing our drawings before sharing silence as we read. I drew something different today besides my usual drawings, being the crystal flower I'd bought Aedia. Flowers were often the drawings that interrupted the depictions of my nightmares, and this was no exception.

   Finally, the end of the day began to draw near. I secretly got Aedia's present while she took more medication, and we headed to the Faites'. When we arrived, my sister was greeted with a chorus of "happy birthday!" from Syele, Lissy, Llyr, and Gwynden. Aedia had the biggest smile on her face I'd seen in weeks, almost making me forget she wasn't feeling well.