The Bond of the Broken

"Emily-ue. She's so kind." Tatyina felt the need to say. She was Tatyina's best friend in the world, even if Emily may say otherwise. It didn't bother Tatyina at all. But Cassie didn't answer her question. Instead she asked one of her own. "It was a miko... in a kitsune mask. Her name was Dark Angel." Tatyina said and frowned. "I wish I could see her. I would tell her that Everything was ok. I hope that she is still not consumed with whatever plagues her." Tatyina said. She then shook her head. There was no need to bring Cassie into this. "It matters not. My heart goes out to her and I hope she's found some peace. My name is Tatyina."

Tatyina tried to sit up so that she could properly bow to Cassie but it was clearly a struggle. "I am honored to meet you. What do you call yourself?"

Cassie held her composure, but she grimaced like Tatyina had punched her in the stomach. Or maybe the thread. Her heart dropped through the floor, and she glanced at the unconscious girl, the uncontrolled psychopath now rendered helpless and harmless and quiet. Did she not know?

Of course not. Cassie didn't know until recently. How would Tatyina?

But another thought struck her. Listening to Tatyina go on about how she just wanted to hug and kiss and make everything better... Cassie wondered if that was the way she used to be, until...

Anyway, she couldn't tell her. She deserved to know, but it was Talia's secret to tell, and her responsibility to tell it. In that moment, Cassie was suddenly convicted. She couldn't tell Talia's secret, but she could tell her own.

She drew a deep breath. "I did this to her," she said. "And... someone else too."

Tatyina carefully watched as Cassie's features began to change. She could see the awkward struggle within the girl but she did not know what it meant. And soon, she heard the truth. Tatyina's eyes twitched but she looked at Cassie carefully for a long moment.

Finally, she tilted her head and smiled softly. "Ue-sama." She whispered. "If there was no good in you, then you would not be here, right now. Whatever you have done, your heart brims with compassion. Take to heart not what you have done, for none of us can remain without guilt. Instead, consider what you do now, for it is surely a better light to guide your way."

Tatyina turned her body, grabbing the bed rail. She was clearly trying to pull herself off of her bed but it looked like she was struggling terribly with her weak grip.

Earlier that day...

Whenever Aurora wasn't at the hospital she was training at the gym. Though she wasn't sure when her first match was going to be scheduled, she needed to be ready. And it wasn't like she needed to always be worrying about Talia. The doctor had said all she needed to do was just wake up. In time her injuries would heal and Aurora only needed to show up when her sister was awake. Until then, she could focus on her own life.

While on the treadmill, she had been watching the television and the news seemed to be discussing some new car for Toyota. In the corner of her eye she saw wrestling and turned her head to see a name that had been drilled into her head. Cassie Elliot. It was the recap of some match and she was kicking her opponent into the corner rather harshly. Aurora sighed and shook her head. Her opponent didn't even seem to be defending herself at that point. Yet this Cassie just kept on the attack. She felt bad for this Dark Angel girl, she seemed to be getting it just as bad as Talia did. Maybe this was Cassie's routine? Beat her opponent defenseless then break their face in. But as Cassie applied that modified gogoplata and the masked girl coughed up blood, Aurora nearly tripped and had to stop the treadmill as she watched. That was really gruesome. Only then as the bloody mess was being carted off did Aurora finally realize what she just witnessed. And it made her feel like throwing up. Once again she was caught off guard. She grabbed her mouth and ran off to the bathroom.

Cassie scowled. "Shut up," she said, and turned for the door.

What did that girl know about anything anyway? Cassie knew perfectly well that there was good in everyone, but that didn't change what had happened, or how she had acted. It didn't matter how nice she was to Talia now, she had asked for a match that ended right here in this room, and she got it. Cassie got everything she wanted, and didn't that say more about her than the things she did when she felt sorry for how things worked out?

The phrase 'be careful what you wish for' came to mind and made her want to puke.

She emerged into the hallway like she'd just broken the surface of a pool after a long dive, and gasped in a breath. All the questions she had days ago when she'd first seen her friend's face behind the mask of her most hated rival still remained, and likely would for a long time. She couldn't see herself managing to sit down with Talia and have a long talk about it. She didn't think Talia would do it, and she probably wouldn't either. She was afraid that somehow someone would come after her. She was afraid that she'd get what was coming to her.

Despite accidentally witnessing Talia's brutal injury on the television, Aurora was feeling pretty happy. She had received a voicemail from the doctor telling her that Talia was awake and responding intelligently. She was on her way to making a full recovery. As bad as it could be, things were going to eventually be good again. More than anything, though, was the fact that she was no longer left in doubt about her sister's health. Now she knew she had to be there for her. There was no doubt about it.

With a pointless box of chocolates that Talia probably wouldn't be able to eat with her injured jaw, Aurora made her way up the stairs to the hospital room. She was humming to herself as if everything was going her way again. It wasn't, of course, her sister was had a long road ahead of her and was probably still in pain. But there was a since of relief that she had avoided a potentially disastrous event in her life. After seeing the recap of Cassie...mutilating her like she did, Aurora could only keep in her head Mamouru's words to not think about it. Any thoughts of revenge or payback was pointless. All that mattered was that her sister-

"What the FUCK are you doing here?" she suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs when she instantly recognized Cassie leave Talia's room. After watching the girl on television, the image of that orange hair was embedded in her brain. Apparently Mamouru's words didn't have as much of an effect on her as she thought. All logic and reason was out the door. The girl charged right at Cassie without restraint to tackle her to the ground. She was going to protect her sister from this sadist even if it meant brawling in a hospital.

No sooner had she thought it, Cassie's fears became reality. She jumped out of her skin when someone screamed behind her, they could only be screaming at her, and she spun to see a blonde-haired girl she didn't recognize.

No, no, no, no, she thought over and over. She froze in place, and didn't try to defend herself when Aurora charged, only wrapping her hands behind her head to protected her head with her arms. The anticipation of the inevitable hit, the waiting, even though it was no more than a second or two, was agony.

"Aaagh!" Cassie screamed as Aurora slammed into her stomach and sent her crashing to the tile floor. She tried to curl up, still holding her head. She didn't know who this girl was, but she couldn't speak.

Immediately after the two landed on the ground, Aurora pushed herself up. Cassie was already protecting her face, so she couldn't hurt her there. "What kind of person are you?" she yelled down at the girl as she raised on arm to punch Cassie in the abdomen once. Then once more. She never thought of herself as a violent person. But then again, she never had something like this happen to her sister. Aurora really couldn't care less about the girl beneath her. The more hurt Cassie was, the less likely she'd be able to hurt Talia.

In the room, Talia had been dreaming peacefully about sitting on the beach back home. Suddenly the word's "Shut up" ran through her head. Cassie appeared out of nowhere and drove her knee into Talia's mouth. The girl woke up from her sudden nightmare with a jolt. It was just a dream. There was a loud scream right outside her room followed by the sounds of a scuffle. Talia hit the button on her bed to call the nurses though they probably had already seen it. What was going on? Talia looked her head towards Tatyina as if hoping for some answers to what had happened.

The nurses had immediately called security who was now on their way. Good, they'd help Aurora arrest this psychopath of a person. She reached her arm around to grab Cassie by the hair. "Did you come here to laugh in her face?" Aurora continued with another shriek. "To mock the girl you tried to kill?" One of the nurses tried to pull Aurora off of Cassie. "You're a fucking monster!" She was far too angry to let someone hold her back. She let go of Cassie and shoved the nurse away.

Cassie stifled the hurt noises that struggled to escape her with each fist that slammed into her midsection. She wished she could cover up there too, but if she did she'd be letting this girl punch her in the head instead. It didn't matter who this girl was, there was no way Cassie could blame her for what she was doing.

She coughed and a quiet moan like a whimper escaped her throat that turned into a scream as her hair was yanked back. Aurora's words cut her deeply, and as the nurse showed up and turned Aurora's attention away, at least for the moment, Cassie wished she could die right there on the floor. Maybe Aurora would help.

She didn't say a word. She wouldn't say anything to defend herself. How could she? Laying on the floor with her arms around her head, she turned to put her nose against the floor and began quietly sobbing.

Tatyina heard the shouts as well and she was surprised. She was halfway off the bed when she heard the familiar sound of scuffling. That just drove her to try and get up even quicker and she slid off the bed. She was shaking but still supported. She pushed herself off the bed and stood up on her own. This time she didn't fall but she was certain that if she took a step she would tumble.

Then she saw Talia wake up and she blinked in shock once more. She shook her head, not wanting the girl to hear the commotion. But she did and she responded. Taytyina flopped forward, her body giving way as she draped herself across Talia. "Please... don't... listen..." She said in her whisper. If only Talia had not awoken to the sounds of violence. Tatyina reched out her hand and pressed it against Talia's shoulder as though the girl might try and get up. She then lifted up her head and watched a large security officer zip past the room. Once nurse slipped in after him and looked at the girls. She frowned and glanced back at the scuffle before walking into the room. She wasn't sure if Talia was pressing the button for the scuffle, Tatyina or some other emergency and she tried to assess the situation quickly.