Elise awoke in a cold sweat, haunted by the whirring sound of stainless steel blades. Just as she was about to spring out of bed to head to her sister's room, the felt a gentle tickle on the back of her neck. She turned around to see Maya dozing peacefully behind her in bed. Elise breathed a sigh of relief, and gave her sister a giant hug and nuzzled her face into her chest.
"Another nightmare?"
Startled, Elise picked up her head to be greeted by Maya's amused expression.
"I thought you were sleeping!" She squeaked, almost a little embarrassed. "But yeah, I did."
"It's okay, I did too. That's why I'm here." The older sister giggled. She protectively wrapped her arm around Elise's shoulders and pulled her closer. "Twin telepathy is real, you know! We even get bad dreams at the same time." She sighed a little.
The orange Octoling's body tensed up suddenly, and grumbled at the mention of the word that had been bothering her for years.
"We're not twins." She protested. "We're probably not even related, Maya! And we have no way of knowing!"
Maya kissed her teeth out of frustration. "We've had this conversation before, Ellie! We're twins, even if we're not actually related."
"Don't say that, that's not true." Elise replied softly, on the verge of tears.
"Elise-"
"I'm just a nobody, Maya! I'm not your twin, or your sister, or anybody!" The younger Octoling finally broke down and began sobbing profusely. "I feel like I'm just a stranger sometimes!"
Maya held back her own tears and cradled the younger Octoling in her arms while wiping her tears away.
"Ellie, look at me." She demanded.
The orange Octoling did as she was told and looked directly into Maya's eyes. Her sister lovingly cupped her cheeks in her hands and kissed her on the forehead.
"So what if we're not real sisters? Do you think I care about that?" The pink Octoling giggled. "I love you Ellie, and nothing will ever change that! You and I have been through so much together that I can't imagine my life without you in it! And even if we do have real siblings somewhere out there, nobody could ever love you as much as I do!"
"Sissy...." Elise managed to murmur in between sniffles. "Bet?"
"Bet. "