𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕤 𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕤 • One Piece

Falling Apart Right at the Seams

"When did this start?" Rosette asked calmly.

"A few years after you left," Liliana answered dully, "I tried to stop but-It's become a habit now. I don't know. It's grounding."

Bandaging her arm, Rosette packed up the medical supplies before pausing. "Your arm. Is it still?"

"No feeling," Liliana answered simply as she closed her fist as tight as she could. But like all the other times, it felt like a ball was lodged in her fist, preventing her from closing it fully. "And strength still escapes me. They did say the damage would be permanent."

Rosette's eyes hardened. "If you had stayed away that day-"

"I didn't come here to argue about my choices," Liliana snapped, her eyes flickering from violet to red before she closed them. Taking a deep breath, Liliana opened them, her eyes landing om Rosette. "You wanted to talk. So talk."

Rosette sighed before nodding. "You're right-You're right. I'm sorry." Rosette sighed once again as she looked for the words to explain her actions. To explain why she left without a proper goodbye. But she came up empty because those weren't explanations. They were excuses. "You want an explanation but I have none. There is no explanation for the way I have left without saying anything. You don't have to forgive me, Lils, but please understand.

Rosette then grasped onto Liliana's hands, willing for her own feelings to transfer into her own. To make her see her reasonings. "The family. It was breaking. The only reason why it didn't break sooner was because of mum and dad. They were single-handedly trying to keep everything together. But with their frequent missions, there was only so much they could do."

"But you all could've tried!" Liliana yelled, a few tears escaping as she snatched her hands away from Rosette's hands. "I tried. I kept trying but you all kept pulling away!"

"There was nothing to be done!" Rosette snapped back as Liliana froze. Taking a deep breath, Rosette raked her fingers through her hair. "The damage was already done. When Jonah died something within all of us died along with him. And then more tragedies upon more tragedies kept piling up. Lily, if we had stayed together then we would've turned on each other. I couldn't stay in a family bound for ruin. It would've destroyed me."

Liliana stared at the table, fidgeting with the cup. It was silent between them. Just the sounds of the night as Liliana thought back to that day. She couldn't deny it. The family had changed since that day. Her parents were walking around on eggshells around her and Alexander stayed away from home more and more. Her brother and sister? They did their best to avoid her at every turn. Their home just wasn't home anymore. "Then why didn't you say anything?"

Rosette cupped Liliana's cheek in her hand. A small flashback appears when a smaller Liliana would smile up at her older sister. "You were eight, Lils. You were still hopeful and it would've crushed me to see your hopeful eyes dull."

"I needed you." Liliana's voice quaked as her eyes met her sister's.

Rosette shook her head, a small watery smile appearing as three boys appeared in her mind's eye. One dressed in blue, one with freckles strewn across his face and the other-A young boy wearing a straw hat that carried the sun in his smiles. Rosette caressed Liliana's cheek with her thumb, wiping away the few tears that escaped. "You never needed me. If anything this family needed you but it wasn't then. We were too young and too stupid. We misplaced our blame and anger on the wrong people and it tore us apart."

Dropping her hand, Rosette held Liliana's hand. This time she didn't let go. "I was stupid and I was in denial. I ran away because the pain was too much. I wanted to forget but in doing so I neglected you-All of you. I only realized this when I was already gone but it was too late."