coppelganger | ic contact; MoM

Wait—you went through her things?

[ Because didn't Sarah explicitly tell Eunike not to do that? For a minute, she's too angry to process the fact that Eunike is handing her something that has her name on it. ]

They are things. She's isn't here, I was tidying them.

( And she quirks a brow. )

I am a spy, sometimes. Do not be so precious about laundry.

I'm not being precious, mate.

[ Sarah curls her lip in Yia Yia's general direction, then focuses on the package resting against her legs. Cold, winter air is drifting in through the open window—along with the dulcet sound of the pigs in their shed—but she ignores it and starts to unwrap the package, instead. ]

Of course.

( Her mistake.

There are two things in the parcel. The first a little box, containing a ring - a ring with a compass star. It rests on top of a folded up quilt, the famous PUNK letters across the Union Jack rendered in quaint patterns and stitched carefully together.

Eunike's jaw flexed a little as she looks at Sarah and the gifts.

She isn't really sure what to say. ) Her stitchwork could be worse.

[ Sarah's jaw is clenched as she looks down at the parcel. Don't cry. Don't. She barely registers Eunike's comment, but finally, as if on a delay, it processes, and she looks up at her. ]

Do you mind?

( Eunike exhales - not quite a breath of laughter, but something close to it. A little more rueful, maybe, or exasperated. The nuances are hard to pin down, as Eunike would prefer it. )

Oh, I—

( A moment, and she remembers something, drawing a sealed envelope out of her pocket. It is unopened, untampered with, Sarah's name written in Sarissa's slightly messy handwriting. )

Here. This was with them.

( The letter reads,

Dear Sarah,

If you’re reading this, then odds are I’ve been gone for a while. In theory I figure I should make sure this is out somewhere you can find it easy, but that seems a bit weird when you’re around and stuff, doesn’t it?

First up, if I’m gone then you should know that I wish I was still here with you. You’re a bright star, and I’ve loved knowing you. Even when we drive each other bloody mad, I don’t think there’s anyone that’s gotten me as good as you do. I might not know what I’m missing, while I’m gone, but I’m gonna be feeling it. Feeling like I lost something but I don’t know what, because thinking of being anyplace and not knowing you’re in that world with me, it’s a bit like being told I gotta figure out breathing without lungs, you know?

Thank you for putting up with my crap, and for always being there for me, even when I was difficult as. I wish I was able to be there for you now, because I know having people up and disappear is the worst. I’m sorry for bailing on you. If I had a choice in it, it wouldn't ever have happened.

Just remember that I think you’re all the stars in the sky. You’re constellations and a compass - help make all sorts of things make sense that would’t otherwise. The others are lucky to have you, and somehow things’ll be all right. You're gonna get through everything in this world and yours, and you're gonna be shining even bloody brighter because of it.

I love you, Saroula.

Sarissa

Eunike hesitates for a moment, stepping a half step back. She would leave - she should, she thinks, but she also thinks Sarah will need someone to be here for her when she is done with the letter or the gift, and she's not sure she trusts Sarah to ask. She is a wild little cat, Sarah Manning, more likely to scratch than accept help if she's hanging from a tree. )

[ Sarah makes it to the second paragraph before her eyes well up with tears. By the time she's finished reading, they've begun to spill over, and she doesn't bother wiping them away. She's managed to hold it together this long, but Sarissa leaving her this letter, these gifts, makes her absence real in a way it hadn't been before. Sarah believed—still believes—that all of this is just some huge fuck up, that Sarissa's supposed to be back here instead of her grandmother, but knowing it's a mistake doesn't mean shit when she can't change any of it. When Sarissa's still gone. ]

Kopelia mou.

( She says it softly, approaching Sarah's bed with barely a moment of hesitation or thought, claiming a spot on the edge. She knows what it is to lose family, to be parted from those dear to you.

She saw terrible things happen to some of her siblings, things she has never spoken of and never desires to. What Sarah is dealing with is different again, and she's not entirely able to understand it. A crisp white handkerchief with blue stripes across each corner is drawn out of her pocket, and she gently holds Sarah's jaw as she dabs away the tears, before pulling her into a hug. )

It is never easy to be separated from the ones we love.

[ Sarah slowly leans into the hug, more out of exhaustion than any real longing, and sniffles against Eunike's chest. It's always strange, touching someone who has her face, because some part of her expects something familiar as her own skin. But Eunike is a stranger, ultimately. She doesn't feel like hugging Sarissa at all. ]

I miss her so much.

I know.

( She kisses the top of Sarah's head, smooths her hair, and hugs her closer. It is a strange position to be in, really, comforting a person she doesn't know well but feels an obligation to, who is not family but seems she must be. Eunike sighs, and rests her chin on top of Sarah's head.. )

What would she do? To make you feel better?

She would... [ Sarah pulls back a little, wiping at her cheeks. ] She'd probably cook something, to be honest.

[ Said with a watery smile. She can tell Eunike what Sarissa would do, but not how Sarissa would do it. How she'd manage to be funny and soft and take charge all at once, make Sarah feel like everything was going to be okay. ]

( Eunike laughs, surprised. ) She and I are truly related, then.

( Gently, she nudges Sarah, before bringing her hand to wipe a tear that evaded Sarah's own efforts and had slipped down to her jaw. ) Would that make you feel better? Something to eat?

ic contact; MoM

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