A Blessed Curse [Rewrite]

Chapter 2 - Building Bonds

"Soleil."

Looking up at her name being called, Soleil picks up a bookmark to not lose her page. There is a certain heaviness in Lune's voice, like there's something on her mind that she had been considering for a while and finally got tired of holding it in.

The younger twin rests her head against the doorway, arms crossed loosely and a frown on her face "Why do you still keep your walls up?"

Lune doesn't understand. She could never understand. It's a simple truth that still burdens Soleil. She wishes she could tell her sister, her own twin, why it's so hard to let go of the past, why she can't let her guard down. But how could she ever tell someone as kind as Lune what she had done?

"In what sense?" Soleil asks.

"You know, you don't really spend time with the others. You don't come hang out with us." Lune says and with a sigh she adds "I want you to be happy."

Leaning her head back against the wall, Soleil looks up at the ceiling.

A few days had already passed since they came to the DWMA and while Lune had been happy to engage with a new group of... friends – going out to get her nails done with Liz and Patty and visiting Tsubaki to work on an assignment – Soleil hadn't been as eager to make new friends. The older twin has been doing her best to stay on friendly terms – engaging in conversations with the others and discussing the difficult topics in class with Maka – but she hasn't really interacted with them outside of school. Maybe it's an old habit that refuses to die, or maybe it's a defence mechanism, but Soleil hasn't really felt motivated to hang out with them when she doesn't have to. Instead she would go home once school ended to finish her homework, read a book or run errands for her mother.

It's a little strange now that she thinks about it. She was never a shut-in when she was younger.

"I'm not sure." Soleil admits, tapping her fingers on the cover of her book and tilting her head and look at Lune "I'll try."

The response earns her a genuine smile.

~*~

The bell rings, snapping Soleil out of her focus that had been directed at the papers on her desk. An upcoming quiz has fortunately taken up the majority of the space in her head, leaving little room for the thoughts that she prefers to ignore. She was just spending the time they were given to study during class doing the actual studying – she had already caught Lune doodling what appeared to be representations of people's souls – but the bell apparently decided to disturb her. She will have to get home quickly to continue memorizing the facts and practicing with the example questions.

"Ugh, there's so much I still have to do!"

"Relax, you still got a whole day to study tomorrow."

Overhearing the exchange between Soul and Maka, an idea makes its way into Soleil's mind and she quickly gathers her belongings before approaching the meister of the duo "I think I'm gonna continue studying in the library. Wanna join me?"

Maka's eyes light up at the suggestion and she nods "Sure! It'd be nice to have someone to study with." She glances at Soul "I shouldn't expect much from my partner when it comes to that."

"Not cool." Soul huffs.

Soleil just smiles "I feel you." She taps Lune, who was just packing her bag, on the shoulder "You're on your own tonight. If you fail the quiz it's on you."

With a blank expression, Lune simply says "It's a quiz on souls, Soleil. May I remind you that between the two of us, I'm the only one who can see those?" She pauses after the remark before adding a question "Where are you going though?"