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taako cried a lot, once, when he was younger and clumsier. a slip off of the rock pile in the woods was all it took for taako to go running home, tears and snot dripping down his face, his knees red and bloodied.
“knock it off, your sister doesn’t cry like that,” his father would say with a flick to taako’s forehead, going back to what he was reading rather than examine his son’s injury.
“b.. but it huuurts! ” taako whined, long used to his father’s cold attitude, but upset by it nevertheless.
a book slammed on the table, making taako flinch. “keep whining and i’ll show you something that really hurts.” taako knew both from the stern look in his father’s eyes and from experience that he should drop it.
he sniffled and scurried to his and lup’s shared bedroom, sitting on the bed and looking at the injuries himself. while they were merely scrapes that would heal quickly, to a young taako his knees may as well have been mauled by a bear. he poked at the blood and watched as more emerged from under his skin.
“taako?” a voice caught his attention, and he looked in the doorway to see lup. his sister was looking at him with a concerned gaze, brows furrowed. “are you okay? i heard you cryin’.”
“i’m… i’m fine. ” taako pouted now, turned his head away to hide his wet face. he never liked to cry around lup.
taako heard lup leave, assuming she had better things to do than deal with her crybaby brother, but she returned a few moments later with a rag. “here. lemme see those knees.”
taako didn’t respond, but lup knelt in front of him anyway, dabbing his knee with the wet cloth. he felt calmer now, watching as the blood was carefully wiped from his knees, and his father’s words played in his head.
your sister doesn’t cry like that.
it was true. taako hadn’t seen lup cry in a long time, but he could remember crying at least 5 times in the past few days. lup was strong willed, unafraid, seemingly everything taako was not. he felt bad, always having to be taken care of by his sister. they were the same age, after all, and twins were supposed to be the same, weren’t they?
but the thing was, lup never belittled taako. she was there for him to make sure his wounds were clean, his eyes were dry. she was there when their parents would fight argue, when their father would drink too much and take his anger out on them. she would often take the beatings in place of her brother, and still she’d be there to comfort taako afterward.
once she was finished, lup placed a quick kiss on one of taako’s knees. “there, all better!” she stood up and went to dispose of the rag, sitting beside her brother when she came back. “you gotta be more careful, dude!”
“yeah…” was all taako could muster. he wasn’t crying anymore, but he was still in that post-cry mode where he didn’t want to talk much.
after a few moments of silence, lup stood up again, holding her hand out to taako. “i’m gonna go pick some flowers. wanna come?”
taako stared dumbly at his sister for a few seconds, before smiling and taking her hand. “sure, why not?”
as the two of them headed off the dirt path that connected their home with the rest of the village, taako felt a feeling of sentiment in his chest as lup guided him into a field of wildflowers. a familiar urge to cry settled in his stomach, though this time it wasn’t out of pain, or sadness.
“hey… lup?”
lup stopped in her tracks and turned to face her brother, a curious look on her face. “yeah, what’s up?”
taako bit his lip and looked away, suddenly flustered. it was strange, he cried so much for so many silly reasons, but he couldn’t get himself to speak his feelings. he pulled himself together, though, and gave a sincere smile.
“thank you.”