“Do you want to talk about it?” Zack asked Zara, as the door to their dorm closed. “About what happened at the portal.”

She glared at him and shook her head. “No, not right now at least.” She thrust George into his arms. “Fix him, and then we’ll go eat!”

Shaking his head, Zack took the bear into his room to find the sewing kit. The methodical nature of sewing the seams on the bear back together gave him a chance to think over the things he had said in the carriage. The inability to control his mouth was something that had happened in the past, mainly during their time in the institute. It was a habit that only came out when he didn’t feel in control of his life.

Something that was definitely the case every time the military personnel appeared. They had their own agenda and power that he was unable to guess or deny.

Unfortunately, it was also a habit that was beginning to cause problems for them. It didn’t matter when they were younger. There was little else the researchers could do to them that they weren’t already doing.

In a school environment, where they were also partly depending on them. That was not the case. He couldn’t risk antagonizing people who held power over them any more than he already had.

The needle glided through the worn and balding fabric as he stitched the bear back together at the seams. Most of them were still holding together. It was only in a few spots that they had burst.

“Woah,” He muttered as he caught a particularly pungent whiff of the unwashed plushie. “When was the last time Zara bathed any one of you?” Finishing up, he tossed the stuffed animal into the tub to begin soaking and went to get his sister.

She looked up as he knocked on the open door. Zelda was in her lap, and she was playing with one of her smaller and less used bears.

“George is soaking in the tub right now. He needed a bath.” She looked away at that, as though it wasn’t her fault. “I’m ready to go eat if you are?”

“It’s going to be crowded in there by now, you know that, right?”

He shrugged. “It’s not like we’re hiding. Everyone is bound to find out that we’re poor, or working part-time for the school, or that you are here eventually. I’ve told you before, it doesn’t matter. We’ll handle whatever comes, if, and when it does. Now come on, I’m hungry even if you aren’t.”

She nodded and picked up Zelda, setting the other bear on her bed. She was going to need the extra comfort that only her oldest and favorite stuffed animal could provide. “Let’s go get some food then.”

True to their mutual expectations and worries, the cafeteria and the restaurants nearby were all packed with students. Zara drew a constant stream of stares as they entered the building. Not only was she younger than them all by several years, but she was also a fairly cute little girl holding tight to a stuffed animal.

Zack held her close as they got into line, ignoring everyone else around them.

“Would you like your food to go?” The old man who took their dinner order asked, glancing past them to all the people staring at the siblings.

“I didn’t even know that was an option.”

“It’s not, usually. The staff sometimes make exceptions for people we like. The two of you have been here longer than the rest and have always treated us with respect.” He pointed their attention to a student further down that was berating the staff for improperly plating his food. The vegetables were touching the sauce on top of some thinly sliced strips of meat.

“Ah, then if it isn’t too much trouble, I believe that would be a good idea for tonight. It’s better to get everyone used to her being here slowly, I think.”

During the short exchange, Zara had pressed harder and harder against his side, as the constant stares started to affect her. It would take her some time to get comfortable around people that constantly stared at her. She had never been comfortable being the center of attention. Having people focus on you had always meant something bad was about to happen. It was a lesson they had learned in the institute, and one of the reasons Zack had always tried to keep the focus on himself instead of her.

Soon enough, a bag containing their food was handed to them, and they scurried out of the building with a quick word of gratitude.

“Are you ready to talk about what happened at the portal yet?” Zack asked as they sat around the small dining table in their dorm. The food was spread between them on dishes they would need to bring back in the morning. He would make sure to clean them that night before going to sleep. It would be bad manners to return them dirty when they had been done a favor like this.

Zara paused, her fork stopping above a small green vegetable that looked like a tree. “You know? I once heard a rumor that these things were actually the homes of really small creatures called Elf’s. They supposedly make some incredible sweets during the day in the deep forests, and then come back at night to their homes. Except we humans keep cutting them down to eat as a vegetable.”

Zack speared the object in question and brought it to his mouth with an amused expression. “There is no such thing as Elf’s on Aperra. They exist inside one of the portals, but certainly not here. Where did you hear that anyway?”

She shrugged and switched to a different food. “I don’t remember anymore, maybe it was from one of the caretakers in the orphanage.” She chewed and then placed the utensil on the table. “Seeing the portal just brought everything from the past back all at once. The experiments, the names they used to call us, the things they did to me when you were forced to go through the portals. Everything I’ve been trying to forget since we were rescued, it all came back in crystal clear detail. It was like we had never left.”

Zack twirled his fork around a noodle, shame keeping him from looking at her. “You know, we never talked about the full extent of the experiments they did on you. They were supposed to only be doing them to me. Unless they were punishing me for something and then they made me watch as they cut into you."

“For a long time, I thought they were actually holding to that promise. It was the only reason I cooperated as much as I did, after all. Then I began to notice the little details you tried to hide. The needle marks on the back of your neck, the bruises on your arms and legs from the leather straps. Then again, when we were finally rescued, I saw the full extent of the scars they had given you.”

Tears trailed down his cheeks as he spoke, unafraid of showing weakness and emotion to his sister. “I thought I had been doing my best to protect you the entire time. When in reality, you had been suffering more than I ever knew.”

Zara stiffened as she listened to him. She had no idea he had seen all that in the end. “It’s not your fault. We were kids. There was never a reason for them to hold to a promise they had given you. The most I could do is keep it a secret from you. If you had ever found out while we were still under their control, you would have gone berserk.”

The fork fell to his plate and bounced off the edge, all desire to eat fleeing alongside his hunger. This was a topic that they rarely approached, with both thinking that it was better to forget those days than dwell on them. Leaning back, Zack looked at his sister and ran a hand over his face.

“Ugh,” He groaned. “I would have. I really would have. Everything I was doing was supposed to keep you safe, and in the end, none of it mattered. We never had a choice in anything we did or that was done to us.”

He stood and pulled Zara into a hug. He would clean the table and everything on it later.

“Should we have talked about what happened back then, before now?” Zara asked softly, pressing her head against his sternum.

“It’s probably a good thing we didn’t,” He said with a dry, mirthless laugh. “I can imagine how I would have reacted if we had talked about it before coming here. It would have been the straw that broke me. Let’s face it Z, we were stuck in that apartment, barely making ends meet and making little if any progress with our lives. If we had talked about this, then I would have likely gone straight to the gangs just to fight someone. It would have been a disaster.”

She sniffled and laughed, once. “Yeah, I can see you doing that.”