Rock Between Us (Stardew Valley Fanfic)

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"Look. I know you don't like not doing anything. I don't like not being able to do anything, Maru."

Maru leaned up against the wall, arms crossed, tears threatening to fall, not just because she couldn't do anything. "It's the wrong time to be jealous of them, Maru. You might not get to see Sebastian again, but look at how you treated him this morning regarding the climbing. And sure, you were right, but you were also wrong."

"Maru?"

"I just..."

The door opened, and they came in. Yuichiro was with them.

"So? Can we get to Sebastian?" Maru said, her voice straining.

Yuichiro looked at her, his mouth twisted into a frown, reminding her of how Sebastian didn't smile, given how similar their facial features were. She looked away. "I think I can. I need to get into that smaller suitcase you have there, Sam?"

"Yeah. So I take it you having more luggage than your little sister wasn't just because of gifts you hauled along with you? Albeit if the gifts are in the larger suitcase..."

"They are," Yuichiro said, stepping over to the suitcase, tipping it over, and unzipping it. "I'd brought this for another reason, in that I'd hoped I could spend some time with him."

Maru froze, watching him take out the mountain climbing gear, suddenly realizing she wasn't just jealous of Sannon, who managed to snag a plushie from Sebastian when she was younger, something she'd have loved to have happened, but of Yuichiro, who had something actually in common with Sebastian.

"Though, I would have settled on going into the caves with him," Yuichiro said.

"You'd have to use a sword," Maru blurted out.

"I know how to use a sword. Even Sannon knows how to use a sword."

"You mean she'd be able to go into the caves with him?" Maru squeaked out.

Yuichiro paused, turning to look at her in surprise. "Well, yes. She could definitely go, particularly if both I and Sebastian were with her to take on some of the stronger monsters. But she can kill a slime just fine on her own. Not so sure about our other sisters, though."

"Sebastian has more than one other sister," Maru felt like crying.

"You probably get along better with him than they do, though from what I've seen and know of him, not by much. I think with Sannon, the major age gap helps."

"But there's an age gap between Sebastian and me," Maru said.

"Says the person whose idea of having fun as a kid was to dismantle any form of machine she could get her hands on," Sam responded.

"It's how I learned."

"You could have picked up a book, you know like he did. Or even asked him about how something worked. He never had to tear machines apart unless he tried to fix them," Yuichiro said. "Still pissed her off. His step-mom, that is."

Maru stared. Then they said, "You didn't refer to her as your mother just then."

"I'm not on speaking terms with her anymore. Not when I finally understood what she was doing, driving a wedge between my brother and me to the point our other sisters were downright cruel. And no, don't ask me to repeat some of the crap they put him through and don't ask him, but there is a good reason Sebastian has the trust issues he does. It's not, like I thought, that he doesn't care. The truth is, he cares too much, to the point what others think of him drives how he acts."

"I don't follow."

"He means if he perceives that person might hate him, he withdraws from interacting with them. The same goes if it's someone he wants to make happy but doesn't think he can," Demetrius said. "I've been on that side of things as well. I'd go with you, but my equipment is old."

"He wasn't using old equipment?"

"No. He shouldn't have been. Told me he'd gotten new stuff."

"That's a relief, given the earthquake," Yuichiro sighed.

"I'll go and get some things, as it might be nightfall before we can get a rescue helicopter up there."

"Wait. But, you..." Maru frowned. "You can't know for sure he's hurt."

"If he weren't hurt, he would have climbed over as I'm doing now," Yuiciro said. "So something is definitely wrong."

"Maru, what happened to be good at first aide? Come help me, please?"

"I—yes," Maru said. Only...

"Maru?"

"I can't move." The tears started falling. "I don't want to lose him. I don't want things between us to remain the way they are."

"Okay. Robin, can you tell me what to do?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. We need a jacket for Sebastian and one for Yuichiro, please. He's around Sebastian's size, so one of his will work."

"Okay. Anything else from Sebastian's room?"

"I should hope not! Most of our first aide stuff is up here!"

"I'll get some flares from the guild and meet you by the blockage," Marlon said. "And a weapon, just in case."

"I'll get more water and snacks to help tide you over," Demetrius said. "Though I did suggest he take some with him."

"Thank goodness you did. And I hope he's not a lobster. That would only compound things."

"I made sure he took sunscreen with him."

"You should put some on before you go, just in case, Yuchiro."

"Thanks, Aunt Robin."

And so it continued, with Maru feeling completely useless, stranding there crying as everyone else had some kind of helpful thing they could be doing. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself."

"Hey," Yuichiro said, right nearby her. "Hey, Maru. Look at me. You can, unlike Sebastian, look people in the eye, right?"

She looked up, surprised.

He smiled at her. "Look. I'm going to bring our brother back, okay? And Sebastian. He's tough. He wouldn't go exploring in those caves if he wasn't, so even if he's hurt, you must know he's fighting to survive, doing everything he can with what he has, waiting for us. But you know what you can do?"

"What?"

"Be there when we bring him home because this is a great opportunity to let him know we care about him? Right? Because we both know he doesn't think we do. But you're a bit of time to think of what you can do for him when we do bring him home, right?"

"I—yeah, I guess so."

"You know so!" Sam said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "But if you don't mind, could you help me in distracting some little kids from what's going on? It means putting on a brave face, but you have the walk back down the mountain to do so, but Sebastian would appreciate you taking care of Sannon for him, right?"

"Oh yeah. I would like that as well. Please don't let her worry too much, although I think she already knows something isn't quite right."

"I—sure," Maru said.

"And, she might be a step-sibling, but she's still your sister. Just tell her that you're Sebastian's sister through his mom, and she'll latch onto you big time."

"Wait? You think?"

"Yeah, unless she realized you weren't liking her."

"That," Maru frowned. "I might have to make up for that, right?"

"Yeah. You might."