Dio desperately wanted an answer, and she didn't realize it until Zelda struggled to come up with one. Her jaw slackened, but she wasn't done being angry—no, she just wanted something to justify her anger. "I confided in you. And... you already knew. You didn't tell me you knew."

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"I did," Zelda blurted, relieved that her jaw was finally working and she could say these things. "This — this winter, you asked me what I knew about the circumstances and I — I said I knew you'd been in trouble." She hadn't said when she'd been told, and this — did not seem to fully absolve her. She knew it did not fully absolve her. But she could admit to this and maybe it would make it a little better.

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AMAZING set by MJ

Dionisia lost her footing in the conversation, at least for a moment, because Zelda added something to the timeline she'd forgotten and she was forced to take a long, silent moment to add it to her mental timeline of events. "But..." she began after the silence had passed. "But I didn't know you knew then. I don't—You hadn't—Why were you angry? I don't understand." Her tone was different now; instead of anger it was laced with confusion, with desperation, with frustration.

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It hung in the air between them for a moment. "I never know how to let things go," Zelda said finally. She hadn't known how to forgive Dio for springing the engagement on her, and — and she hadn't known how to stop pushing Alfred when she went to see him on the Voyager last week, and now Dio was angry with her and Alfred hadn't said I love you back to her when she was leaving. She felt ill.

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AMAZING set by MJ

The anger bubbled up inside her, threatening to pour out, and she knew in the moment that it was only her God-given patience that kept a slur of hurtful remarks from slipping out of her mouth. It was the worst excuse possible—a copout if there ever was one.

"I shouldn't let this go," she said, the tears welling up again, this time one slipping down her cheek before she could even attempt to reign them in. "I should hold it against you, and I should be angry, and I should stop talking to you." There were plenty of things she should do—could do, even, and no one would hold it against her because of her physical state. "But I won't, because you're my sister. And you were supposed to be mine." Even before she'd officially married Ari and taken on the Fisk name, Dionisia had thought of Zelda as a surrogate sister in a way—she guided her in the magical world in the way Tristessa had been meant to guide her in the muggle world.

And yet, both had disappointed her by leaving her alone.

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There was a lump in Zelda’s throat, and she tried to swallow around it. She wanted to leave, because she was losing Dio right now and she could do nothing to do but listen to it. But she had said that she would stay with her, so — leaving wasn’t even an option.

Except maybe she wasn’t losing Dio.

It may have been better — may have felt better — if Dio had just been done with her. Zelda swallowed. Her voice still came out thick when she said, ”I love you.”

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   Dionisia Fisk

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AMAZING set by MJ

Dionisia's heart was pounding. Zelda had a way of making it do that, and she hated it, because every time it was accompanied by an irrational painful panging in her chest. She wanted to be cruel, to say something like I wouldn't have guessed, but she was incapable of it. Her shoulders fell, and although she found herself unable to meet Zelda's eyes her shoulders fell and suddenly the anger was replaced by resignation.

"And I love you," she responded faithfully, the words slipping from her lips all too easily—along with the tears, which were slipping all too easily as well now, soaking her cheeks and tripping down from her chin.

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The following 1 user Likes Dionisia Fisk's post:1 user Likes Dionisia Fisk's post
   Zelda Darrow

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That was as much forgiveness as she was liable to get, and Zelda shifted on the floor so that she could wrap her arms around Dio. She wanted to promise something: to be her sister, that she would never do it again, that she hadn't meant it when she had done it. But being able to embrace Dio was better; it meant she couldn't put her foot in her mouth.

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   Dionisia Fisk

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AMAZING set by MJ