"As close as seven year olds can be, I think. We didn't really fight, we were both quiet kids... I remember our parents praising us for being so well-behaved."

It's an old loss, over a decade now, and... while it does still have its ache, it's not as fresh. The nightmares would sometimes make it feel raw again, but she bounced back faster from them more and more.

After a beat, she lifted her bowl and sipped down more broth. It was warm... comforting.

"I was quiet for a long, long time after that, too. It really only was once I moved to this area that I thought... this time, I'm going to actually talk to people. I'm not going to be the gloomy girl disappearing in the back of the class - I want to be the kind of girl my parents would've wanted to see me grow up to be. So... I want to see how different that my brother would've grown, too."