They hadn’t even finished preparing the breakfast when Jack wished to talk with Ellen.

She was feeling tired after the celebration during the earlier evening, the wine seemed to really have affected her sleep.

“Do you know where I am taking you?” He asked her when they left the kitchen.

Ellen didn’t know, but in her heart she wished it to be the bedroom so they could become one, but that was most probably not the case. But she could still hope and wish, right.

Jack lead her to the room there she once had woken up after being revived.

“I used this room to learn about gears to revive you, and since you have started to study it now. I think you might have a better use for it then I do.”

Ellen froze up and looked dumbfounded at him. Did he really gave her a room to work in with gears or had she misunderstood something.

He handed her the key to the room and patted her on the head as if he wished to praise her.

“Make sure to learn how to be a good cog technical and make me proud Ellen.”

Ellen shined up like a sun and promised to do her best. Since Jack really had trust in her, she really needed to do her best. Maybe there really was a chance for her to help him later on. That was what he wished to tell her, wasn’t it?

“I will make you proud.” Ellen outburst loudly.

This could really be her chance to prove herself to better than that little “princess” Alice.

All she needed to do was to learn and start working with it, then help Jack somehow and her goal would be proven.

Alice must have known what had happened when they were gone. At least Ellen thought so since she got a really bitter glare when she and father came back.

Alice never said anything bad to her, but it was clear that she had some problem with it, maybe it was the same bitterness as when she noticed that Ellen started to study it. Could it be that the “princess” started to feel threatened since things didn’t go as she had plan?

The breakfast passed like always.

Sure it was how Jack wished it, but Ellen couldn’t deny that it wouldn’t hurt if there was a little talk.

That was one thing she would change when she and Jack developed their relationship and she became the woman of the house.

Just like the fact that Jack left the house almost without a word after finishing the breakfast and that he locked himself up in the library after coming back home.

Alice had more or less thrown Ellen out of the kitchen after she got to know what had happened outside the kitchen.

“Then you can play with that for today.” She had said before telling her to go. Alice had tried to hide that she disliked the whole thing, but she was acting like she always did in their past life. So Ellen recognised the behaviour far to well. Seemed like that the “princess” hadn’t matured so much after all.

The room, or workshop as Jack wished to call it, was in the same mess as it had been the day Ellen left it after spending the night there.

She had just been revived and Jack offered her the possibility to spend the night with Alice, he himself was about to go and sleep after being awake for two days straight. Ellen had roughly declined the offer about spending the night with Alice. Who in the world could know what the grudging “princess” could have done to her if she got the chance.

Ellen dropped a heavy sigh, it wasn’t even worth the time to think about that and decided to organise all the things Jack had in the room.

Alice cleaned up after the breakfast while muttering for herself.

“Why are you starting to work with something like that?”

Ellen had finally come back to so called life, and is starting with that. Will she disappear again like when she snapped that evening. It was horrible to almost be killed by her beloved sister, but it was even worse that Ellen had died that evening. Her beloved sister had left her and it was all about to be repeated.

Alice let out a sigh. Was it right by her to let her sister go to that room? Sure she looked really happy to get allowed to use the room to practice and work by their father. And she hadn’t been that happy, or even close to it, since she had been revived. Not even when they finally met again after all those years.

At least she herself had been happy and hugged her sister tight, if Ellen had been more fragile she was sure that the spine would have snapped. Not that it really mattered if it would have snapped since father was there. So he could have fixed it somehow, with or without help from his co-workers.

Her emotions were in a mess. Why couldn’t Ellen be happy to see her little sister again?

Or rather, why couldn’t she show it of like during the winter tree blossom? It wouldn’t hurt, right?

Alice had been so happy that she called her little sister, even if Ellen looked like she had said something wrong afterward.

Alice had fallen asleep happy later on, only to wake up and hear how they talked about those cog things.

Why did they have to talk about something like that?

She clenched her hand and slammed it into the table.

Why did emotions have to be so complicated, why did they have to become a big mess?

It could have been so much better if they were easier to control all the time instead of becoming a pain in the rear.

Alice took a couple of deep breaths, she had to handle them no matter what. She was a grown up woman after all, so it would be a shame if she couldn’t control these emotions.

When she had calmed her emotions she began to do the basic house chores.

She had done it by herself for so long, so it didn’t really bother her that Ellen wasn’t there to help her. And right now it almost was a good thing that Ellen didn’t help. That meant Alice could try to sort out her thoughts without caring about another part.

Why did Ellen have to be happy to study that, it were so many other less bothersome things she could have studied. So many other things there it was a less possibility for her to disappear. Yet she did chose that.

Alice dropped a heavy sigh, did she need to keep an extra eye on Ellen from now on? Or should she let her run free until she disappeared?

Alice thought long and hard while cleaning the house.

It hadn’t felt like long when she noticed that it had become time to get food for dinner. Her thoughts seemed to have made her lose her sense of time, but at least she noticed when it was time to leave in time.

Like a small lightning bolt she left the house for the marketplace, also leaving Ellen behind.

She would liked to have her sister with her, but if Ellen was happy in that room it would just feel bad to disturb her.

Alice had almost got everything she needed for dinner and headed toward the last stall when she heard a painfully familiar voice from behind her.

“Isn’t it my future wife that is out shopping?”

She had already gone through so much already today, this wasn’t really something she wished for now.

“Taija I have told you before, I am not your future wife.” Couldn’t that woman understand it once for all. And if it just was a kind of a joke, then couldn’t she just stop? Or at least just for a while.

“Alice, you sound irritated. Have anything happened?” Taija asked worried.

That woman was mostly fooling around and teased Alice, but of course she had a few times when she was serious. It was easy to hear in her tone, and now was one of those times.

“It is just a small something.” Alice tried to cut it short. Taija didn’t need to know about it. It was after all Alice and Ellen's problem, and their alone.

“Why don’t you tell me about it? Maybe I can help you with some wisdom of an elder sister.”

Alice ignored her.

“It can also be good for you to ventilate your thoughts and maybe your emotions.”

She caught Alice’s attention. It could be a point in it, maybe it could be good to ventilate it. Maybe it could result in that it become easier for her to handle those cursed emotions.

Alice let out a sigh, this could easily be a really bad decision. But it could be worth to give it at least one try, just to know if it helped her or not.

It finally started to look like there was someone using the workshop, finally.

Ellen had arrived to a workshop that had looked worse than she had remembered waking up in.

It was like there hadn’t been someone there for a long, long time. And also it looked like the former owner had left in a hurry.

Ellen let out a heavy sigh, how could her beloved Jack leave it in that kind of mess?

Sure he might have a lot if things to think about, but still, leaving it like it were.

The tools had all been organised at a table, while the cog and springs was roughly organised at another table.

Ellen looked at it all and put her hands at the hips. It wasn’t much she had done, but she still felt satisfied with what she had achieved so far.

She cracked a victorious smile and rise her hand. It was probably nothing that could stop her by now.

Her smile quickly faded away when she noticed how dirty her hands was. Her dress was full of dirty handprints and dirty marks from all those things she had moved during her time there.

It maybe could be a good idea to get a pair of working clothes, otherwise she would probably be a world champion at washing clothes in the close future.

She could probably trick the “princess” to do the cleaning, but that would probably upset her beloved father. In the end it was best if she washed the dress herself, if the horrible “princess” just could show her how to clean the dress.

“Please come in.” Ellen screamed after hearing a gently knocking on the door.

Alice looked in, looking around curious before laying her eyes at Ellen. It didn’t even take her one second before she looked angry at Ellen.

“You have to go and get yourself washed off before the dinner, NOW. And bring down that dress with you.”

“I will, and I will wash the dress myself too if you show me how to do it.” Ellen said apologetically to Alice.

Ellen had really got dirty inside the workshop, really, REALLY dirty.

She noticed it herself when she had seen herself in the bathroom mirror.

Walking toward the kitchen she dropped a sigh. Why didn’t she thought about the risk of becoming dirty before she start to run around in the workshop? It could have saved her both time and dignity if she just had thought about it. What would Jack say when noticing how dirty Alice's dress had become.

“You have to wash that yourself Ellen.”

They had just finished the dinner when Jack spoke up.

“Father, she already offered to wash the dress herself. So I will bring her along and show her how to do it the next time.”

Alice seemed trying to cover up for her. It was new, did she have any second thought behind it or was she just gently for once?

Jack looked sceptical at Alice first and then at Ellen.

“You better get out and buy some clothes that you can work in later on.” he said with a sigh.

Ellen had already decided that, she would go and buy some working cloths the next day.

“Do you know a good place to buy it?”

Neither Jack or Alice knew any good places. Which meant she needed to ask Chris for help, and that also meant that she needed to keep silent about that Alice dress had become dirty because she ran around in the workshop. He had after all pointed out to her to be careful with her clothes at his place. So he would most probably try to make fun of her if he got to know that she had done it at home instead. If she knew him right after those short meetings they had.

Ellen helped Alice to clean up after the dinner as a kind of apologising gesture for the dress, even if she didn’t think she deserves it.

Directly afterward Ellen went to pick some wood so she could warm up a bath to seriously wash herself off. She could really need it after a day in the workshop.

“What will you do?” The little “princess” was curious as always and almost glared at Ellen carrying the wood.

“I will take a bath to clean myself, shall I tell you when I am done. If you want a bath?”

Ellen sat in the bathtub and let out a sigh. She was taking a bath as she had decided, but not as she had been thinking.

She looked over to the other end of the bathroom. That horrible so-called “princess” had more or less forced her to take a bath together “just like good old times” as she wished to call it.

She was probably only trying to show of her body for her, otherwise she wouldn’t take her time undressing.

“It seems like I am heavier than my big sister” Alice giggled when she joined Ellen in the bathtub and caused the water to flow over.

Ellen only responded with a fake smile, did that girl tried to make fun of her or was she really that dumb?

They almost sat on each others feet in the bathtub, so Ellen thought about to give Alice a kick for that so-called joke. Just for good measures.

But she decided to not do it in the. Not because she somehow would feel sorry for the “princess”, but it would be a pain to explain it for Jack later on. And what would she do if he started to dislike her.

“Ellen, what are your connection with... Mr shopkeeper”? Alice asked in a strangely serious voice.

Ellen starred intensely at her. What did she really meant, was she really that stupid?

“He has just sold me a book and said that he would help me to study. Why”?

It was something strange with her little sister. Was she worried that her plan would fail because of Chris?

“Are you sure? It sounded like you were close to each other when you started start to talk about cog and gears during the winter tree celebration.”

To start with, hadn’t she been passed out when they talked about that? And if she was awake, why didn’t she said anything? Ellen needed an answer to the question.

“If you was awake, why didn’t you said anything? Then we could have talked about something there you also could have joined.”

Alice avoided Ellen's look and answered with a bitter tone, “You seem to be happy while talking about it, so it felt bad to disturb. And it was more comfortable to be allowed to fall asleep to your voice.”

Ellen could once have understand Alice, but it seemed to belong to the past. Now it seemed like she had changed to more or less a stranger.

Of course it could be that Alice just tried to cover up that she had been shy, which would deeply surprise Ellen. Or did she only act according to a plan?

Ellen let out a sigh, it was no way to know what she really was planning. And it was probably impossible for her to tell what was a plan and not.

Maybe it would be better for her own health to try to relax a little more around Alice. Until it came up something directly connected with Jack. Otherwise there could also be a risk that he turned against her because of it.

There was also a chance that Ellen had the upper hand since she now had something special that she and Father could talk about. Maybe that was the reason Alice acted so strange, she tried to regain control.

During their time in the bath Alice once more forced herself on Ellen.

This time she forced her upon helping Ellen wash her back.

Ellen tried to avoid it, but it all failed. That little “princess” seemed to have a strange force to get her wish through. Could it be something she had used again poor Jack to?

The next day Ellen woke up earlier then usually. Alice was clinching upon her arm, almost as if it had been a stuffed toy or something.

Ellen turned at looked at the clock in the room. It was this time that Alice usually woke up and prepared breakfast for them. During Ellen's first time alive again, she had woke up when the “princess” left the room.

Ellen pulled her arm out of Alice grip and left the bed. Since Alice still was asleep, she could gain some extra points from Jack by making breakfast. She didn’t know the measures for everything, but how hard could it really be?

Alice slowly woke up and quickly curled up under the covering.

It was a lot colder than normally, had it arrived a cold period in the city? Why was it so cold here, couldn’t it be like in their old world? A good temperature in every room of the house, without being forced to light up a stove.

Could it be that they had been in a colder period for one or two days already, but she didn’t notice it since Ellen was there with her?

Stupid Ellen, where did she go on a cold day like this? If it was the room father borrowed her, she better have some real working cloths or be working nude.

The clock had already passed her usual time for waking up to prepare breakfast for her father and sister. Without even wanting to she left the bed.

It didn’t seem like everything was right with her, she was feeling weaker than the day earlier. And during that day she even suffered from a hangover.

If it hadn’t been that they had celebrated the winter tree blossom and taking a bath together, then Alice would have been worried that it had all just had been a dream.

She let out a tired sigh, hopefully Ellen had decided to be a extraordinary kind soul and prepare the breakfast for once. Or maybe just for trying to gain some good points from father. Even if her sister didn’t wanted to confess it, she still had a special place in her heart for him. It was so clear almost a blind could spot it.

After much of hesitation Alice got out of bed.

When she arrived to the kitchen so were both Jack and Ellen there.

Ellen was preparing breakfast just as she had hoped. Even if she seemed to do a little more breakfast than usually, but at least she tried to get it right.

After some short morning greetings Jack looked worried at Alice. “How are you feeling Alice, you look a little pale.”

Did she look pale, did that meant she was sick? It could explain why she was freezing.

Father put his hand on her forehead, “You are a little warm Alice.”

She could feel how Ellen starred holes into her.

Ellen had said she no longer had any interest in him, but what was this if not jealousy?

“Ellen, make sure that little Alice is resting today.” father said before leaving.

He had been looking worriedly at her from time to time during the whole breakfast. It was almost so she felt bad for worrying him that much.

Alice was forced to rest by her sister, but since she didn’t want to spend her time alone in the bedroom she simply occupied the sofa in the living room.

She could not feel happier. Just like when she was younger, her beloved sister was taking care of her.

Alice had before often felt bad for having Ellen taking care of her every time she was sick. Which had been a lot more often then not.

But now she was just happy about it. It only proved that Ellen cared about her, even if father had told her to take care of Alice.

Ellen let out a sigh while taking the leftovers to the basement. She had tried her best to both making the right amount breakfast so there wouldn’t be any leftovers and to make it better than that little “princess” did it. Both had failed miserably.

She made breakfast for him, just like Alice. Yet Jack didn’t say anything or even praise her.

Had she done something wrong or was she just not as good as that horrible little “princess”? Which she needed to take care of, as the cherry on the top.

Alice had occupied the sofa, even after Ellen had told her that it would be better for her to rest in the bedroom. At least it would be less noises for if she had gone to the room.

The “princess” had fallen asleep seconds after she took her place at the sofa, with a silly yet happy smile.

Ellen began the cleaning of the house, even if she didn’t have help it still needed to be done.

To her surprise it was much heavier than when they did it together. How had Alice succeeded to clean it all by herself before Ellen got revived, or did she even clean alone before that?

When it was time to shop for the dinner Ellen had not even cleaned half of what used to be done.

She silently cursed that Alice had got sick. If she hadn’t got sick they would have been done by now.

It was only for her to hope her sister would get better soon, so she could help with the cleaning again.

“Sister, it’s about time to buy food for dinner.”

Alice seemed only half awake while sitting up on the sofa.

Of course Ellen knew to well that it was about time to go out to buy food, she didn’t need that little “princess” to tell her.

“Sister, do you have anything small for me to eat?”

Did that high horse “princess” think Ellen was a maid or something? Ellen dropped a heavy sigh and started to walk towards the basement, “I will get you something light to eat.”

May Alice get better soon.

Ellen meet Chis outside his shop. He was locking it up.

“Hello Chris.” she greeted him.

“Hello Ellen.” He seemed surprised to see her. “Are you going to the marketplace?”

Chris was closing his shop early to buy some food.

As Ellen understood it, he was about to get visited by an old friend. And because of that he was about to prepare a fine dinner.

“Do you know any special food that can be good against colds?”

They had only come halfway to the marketplace, but it could be good to know in beforehand.

“I don’t know what can be good against it, but my mother often made soup when we had a cold. And it always seemed to make us all feeling better.”

It wasn’t really the answer she had been hoping for, but if that was the only advice she could get from him she could give it a shot.

“Are you believing you are about to catch a cold?”

“No, Alice has caught a cold and I wish for her to get well.”

Chris praised her for being a wonderful and kind sister.

Of course Ellen left out the fact out that she already was tired of doing the cleaning herself. It sound much, much better that way.

Ellen got some advices on how to make the soup better.

To those that didn’t knew them, they could have looked like a pair. Which didn’t really bother Ellen, as long Chris and her knew the truth.

Back at home she made the soup, using all the advices she got from Chris. It ended up being a great success. She was even praised by Jack, praised by his whole stomach.

Even Alice liked it and ate a lot. That Alice also praised her was nice, but it almost didn’t matter. As long that the “princess” would get better. So she could start helping with that horrific cleaning again.