Hermanas

Jeff rode quite a bit out of the field before he saw Dani's sleigh crashed into a tree. There was clearly a battle of some sort.

Throwing his hands, Jeff called a reality check, "I guess we lost then. Time to go home".

A snowball was hurled at his head. He didn't see anything outside of snow-covered trees and bushes.

"Where's Andres and Vanessa?" yelled Dani.

Jeff fiddled his hands, "I mean-".

Dani mocked him "You mean you don't know because you left them".

He continued staring hopelessly into the crystal-white forest, "Look, I'm sorry".

She laughed for a moment, "Andres and Vanessa are alive. Logan and Hakim sensed them using their focus abilities together and now we are waiting".

Jeff heard her start to chew on gum. Minty freshness drew his nostril to stumble through the snow. Dani welcomed his pursuit to get some. He kicked through the snow in search of gum.

"You better not kick me!" said Dani, putting a halt in his tracks.

Another snowball hurled at his back. He looked to see Dani ducking her head into the snow. He formed his hand into a scoop through snow to throw a snowball back.

"Aaah!" she joked, taking the hit.

She sat up against a tree, "So you shouldn't get any gum since you want to attack me with snowballs".

Jeff took a seat next to her, "You started it".

He held his hand out, "Please can I get some gum"?

Dani placed a fresh piece of gum right in his mouth.

"Where's everybody?" he asked.

She pulled Jeff into her arms, "They're fine. Everybody's fine. And we talked to Logan already about running off".

Resting his head in her chest calmed his nerves. He enjoyed the rare times Dani displayed her affectionate side. It was reminiscent of their mother.

Dani held him in, "What about Jeff? Is Jeff doing okay"?

"You tell me, Dani. Am I doing good as a team leader"?

"Forget about the game," she said, "Are you doing okay? You do too much to worry about other people, especially me. Worry about yourself some time, ya know".

He looked into her dashing brown eyes, "I never see you anymore".

"You never saw me. In fact, I feel like you see me more now that we live apart than you did before. But that's okay. You are my brother and I know you are trying hard. It's just that... you're trying too hard at times and it gets in the way".

He gripped her arm, "What do you want from me"?

Her voice cracked, "I want you to be happy and take care of yourself. I feel like you're really just going through the motions of where you are and of what you feel like you're supposed to do. Aaand it's keeping you from who you are. You know"?

"I'm a big brother. That's something you have to understand. I don't know where you are or what you're doing. Logan and Andres won't help me either".

Dani chuckled as Jeff reaffirmed how serious he was being.

"Don't worry about me too much. Like I'm here. Buuut..., I'm just as lost as you. I have no clue on where I'm going or how I'm gonna get there. Nor do I know if that's what I really want. But that's life. And I'll be okay. Worry more about yourself and what you want".

Jeff brushed his head, "It isn't that easy. You're my sister. Sure it's tough. But I gotta do it. We are almost adults and we need to figure out how we are going to stay together".

There was a moment of silence between the two. The warm comforts were felt in one another. Dani held onto a brave man doing his best to keep what he had left to call a family together. Whereas she was a restless maiden on her own adventure.

Dani exhaled a deep breath with watery eyes that brought an end to Jeff's solace. She brushed his head causing him to become fully awakened.

Licking her lips, "You know, no matter what happens in June, I will always love you... Forever and always".

A feeling inside Jeff shook as though he would lose her, "And I will forever be there for you, forever and always".

Those words didn't fix it. Her confidence was like a premonition to say goodbye.

Dani tapped his shoulder, "Get up".

He heard Andres making jokes alongside Vanessa. They both brushed the snow off and ran out to the road. Both Vanessa and Andres were pretty beat.

"Are you two okay?" asked Jeff.

"I got more blood in my mouth than my fat lip can handle," said Andres out of breath, "We just duod a level 4 stage. Where's Logan so I can rank on his ass"?

Dani tapped Jeff's shoulder, "We should keep them split. I'll take Andres with Logan and you can take Hakim and the girls".

Vanessa pouted with her shoulders hunched over, "I tink... we need a break".

Dani faintly smiled, "We aren't at a rest stop yet. Everything in this part of the woods is dead already".

Jeff mocked Vanessa, "Oki"?

"Noooo, no, don't make fun of my accent," pleaded Vanessa in a more cheerful tone.

"Well at least you're not so gloomy now," said Dani.

Vanessa began blushing as Dani and Jeff were making fun of her accent.

Andres however was still salty, "I won't be happy until I shove it all in Logan's face. Thankfully Vanessa figured out that they were slow in certain areas. I knew just where to detect the guy when she said that".

"Jaivva solod a stage," said Dani.

Andres held his chin up and stomped his way through the woods yelling for Logan. Jeff looked over at the sleigh and asked what happened to it.

Dani answered it was only there for a decoy in case a threat appeared. All they needed to do was flip it over for it to start running again. Vanessa delivered the bad news that they had lost an entire sleigh full of gingerbread men. Jeff enlightened her that it wasn't a big deal.