The Maynhard Twins

Ten

"Why are you here?"

Yatha smirked hearing Gemma's word. He already tried to walk toward her without noises but she knew better.

"I was wondering," Yatha answered. "are you still mad at me or not, for keeping a secret."

Gemma looked at Yatha from her shoulder, narrowed her eyes. She looked like a female lion, ready to attack. Her eyes watched Yatha carefully before she finally moved her gaze from him. "I am." She said. "Not much, but enough."

Yatha nodded. "I can take that."
The man was coming closer to Gemma and sat beside her on the bench outside his home.
This bench, daily, was used by his customers to wait their order.
Yatha stared at the nineteen years old girl beside him.
She looked different from her twins. If their eyes weren't identical, maybe Arka would hard to believe it.

"Where's Arka?" Gemma asked.

"Sleep." He asnwered. "Let him take a rest for a bit. He has through so much today."

Gemma nodded and she lifted up her face so her eyes could see the stars again.
Yatha did the same and for a while, they just looking up without saying anything.
Gemma was trying to count them but she couldn't. There're too many of them and Gemma wondered what could make them looked so magical.

"Why are you helping us?" Gemma suddenly asked Yatha.

Yatha chuckled lightly. "You mean, why I help both of you to kill people? Well," Yatha paused a bit, "Let's say that if I didn't do it, your sixteen years old brother would go to jail or would be killed quickly."

"But you let yourself in. If something is wrong, you'll be thrown to the prison as well." Gemma said.

Yatha laughed right now. "I know that,  Gemma. I know that very well." He then sighed deeply. "I don't mind in jail then, having free lunch and stop being a blacksmith. I've become a blacksmith for thirty years now. Jail is not a bad place to retire."

Gemma gave him a wary look and Yatha grinned. "Alright, alright. The truth, I already thought Arka as my own son. A year working with me made me learn that he was a great boy and suddenly I never want him to get hurt. That's why when Arka told me about his plan to enter the dark side, I couldn't let him go by himself. Especially when I heard from Arka, you signed up for the same thing." Yatha explained.
"You know what, I thought you both were crazy at that time."

Gemma smiled a bit hearing it but the smile didn't last long.
"I think it's my fault." Gemma said.

"How it could be yours?"  Yatha asked.

"The man in our story." Gemma answered. "The man who killed our mother, I was the one who killed him." She said.

Yatha nodded. "I know. Arka told me about that. But.." Yatha frowned. "..it's not your fault, Gemma. You were defending yourself. At that time, it's you or him. That's it. You did the right thing and you won over him."

"Yeah, I know, Yatha. But it was my hands filled with the blood. I did the kill and Arka always lived with a thought that it should've been him who did that. It was my soul who was broken at that night but it's Arka who thought he had to responsible about my broken soul. Now we both broken. Lost and dark souls."

"That's a point of being siblings, Gemma. You protected each other." Yatha said, took Gemma's hand on his. "Arka spoke to me about how guilty he felt for letting you killed the man. He said, if he fought the man better, you wouldn't be like this. He cares about you just like you care for him. Do you remember the time when you brought Arka his lunch here?"

Gemma smiled wider but her eyes were starting to teary.
"Yeah, I almost did it everyday."

"Yes." Yatha nodded in satisfaction. "You did that because you care. I remember you said you don't want to eat until Arka eats his lunch. I think there is nothing as sweet as that moment. So stop blaming yourself, Gemma. Arka needs his sister to be strong now and you're the strongest girl I ever mad."