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Indra and Gustus were very worried, they'd never seen their daughter so distraught.
Well. Distraught didn't seem to cover it.
When the news came of Anya's death, the entire family was crushed.
While Gustus and Indra couldn't even comprehend the pain they were in, having lost their eldest child, Lexa was on a world of pain of her own.
First, she wouldn't believe it.
She just repeated "no" over and over again.
They knew how much Anya meant to Lexa.
But Lexa refused to believe. She couldn't. It was impossible.
And when she was pushed she just started screaming.
"NO!!! SHE'S NOT DEAD!!! SHE PROMISED!!! SHE PROMISED!!!"
Over and over she screamed that Anya had promised her.
She'd never let her baby sister down before, how could Lexa believe she did now.
Soon Lexa was throwing things around, breaking things, screaming, hitting anyone who got too close.
It was hours before she ran out of energy.
It felt like days.
Finally, she broke down in tears, slumping to the ground and sobbing.
Gustus and Indra rushed to her, pulling their youngest daughter into their arms as they all sobbed.
Anya was gone.
That was a week ago and since then, Lexa had completely shut down.
She didn't smile. She didn't speak. She didn't eat.
The only time she slept was when her body gave out and she passed out from sheer exhaustion.
But even then she was only asleep for a few hours before she was screaming, waking herself up in the process.
One night Lexa told them around her sobs that in her dreams, her nightmares, she watched Anya die. Over and over and over.
Until her mind couldn't take it anymore and she woke up, screams tearing out her throat.
The Woods parents were completely distraught.
First they lost their eldest daughter.
But before they can even mourn her, they were steadily losing their youngest.
Two weeks after being informed of Anya's death, her parents are still fighting for them to find her body.
They had to bury their baby. Had to give her and themselves some sense of peace.
Maybe having a tombstone for Lexa to visit would be good for her too.
Gustus's heart stopped for the second time in two and a half weeks.
He rushed to find Indra, tell her what his phone call was about.
Indra couldn't believe it either.
Part of her didn't want to.
If it wasn't true. If somehow, someone somewhere was in someway wrong for whatever reason...
She just couldn't take it a second time.
Looking at Lexa sometimes, she would wonder if she'd have to.
The Woods parents get themselves ready in under a minute and go to Anya's room.
Lexa refused to be anywhere else.
The chaos of trying to leave, needing to find out, to see, fizzled out as they stood in front of the door.
They were terrified.
Their eyes met and Indra squeezed her husband's hand, giving him a small hopeful smile.
They opened the door.
Lexa was sitting on Anya's bed, wrapped in her blanket - they found that Anya's smell could help calm their youngest down.
They approached Lexa carefully, cautiously, as one would an injured wild animal.
They hoped she wasn't in a bad mood.
She never got as violent as the first time but there were still times when she had a fit, screaming and flailing, sometimes throwing things.
Luckily Lexa was pliant, allowing her parents to get shoes on her - they didn't try to put her in more decent clothing - sweatpants and an old t shirt. And they were certainly smart enough to let Lexa keep Anya's blanket around her.
She was probably too exhausted to fight back at that moment.
It wasn't until she seemed to realize they were leaving the house that she started to fuss.
Her expressionless face twitched and fury started to burn in hollow, unseeing eyes.
Luckily, her parents had already made preparations to leave the house - though for a different reason.
Gustus took out his phone, and pulled up an album they made.
He held it out for Lexa and, seeing the video play, she took it.
They corralled her into the car, her head resting against the glass as she watched videos of Anya.
It was only a minute of driving before Lexa was alseep, looking peaceful for the first time in over half a month.
Gustus' knuckles were white on the steering wheel as he listened to the video, listening to his dead daughter's laughter.
Indra put a hand on his arm and he relaxed some, giving her a pained smile.
The whole drive, Gustus and Indra pleaded with the gods.
They weren't sure what they would do if they were wrong.
Their hearts pounded in their ears as they were led down the hall to the correct room.
Lexa didn't seem to care she was in a hospital which was good - they wanted to see as quickly as possible.
The Woods stopped outside the room, not even having the mind to thank the nurse who showed them there.
Indra slowly reached out and opened the door.
They looked around the room and the woman let out a choked gasp.
"Anya." She stumbled forward a step.
"Mom?"
Lexa gaze snapped up from the phone.
Green eyes took in the form on the bed and she immediately began panicking.
She refused to believe it. It couldn't be real. It had to be fake. She was dreaming. She was crazy.
Lexa stumbled back, her throat closing over and jerking away from her parents worried hands.
"Lex."
"NO!"
"Lex." Anya croaked more firmly.
Different emotions passed over Lexa's face.
It hurt them to see their daughter this way.
But Lexa saw Anya's hand stretched out to her, for her and she didn't care if she was dreaming or crazy or dead or anything.
Anya was here.
Lexa stumbled to the bed and molded herself to her sister, sobbing as she gripped her gown tightly, afraid to let go for even a second.
It wasn't long before Lexa was passed out.
Gustus and Indra were on either side of the bed, hands stoking Lexa's back and holding Anya's hands and brushing the top of Anya's head.
They rested their foreheads against their daughter's, tears streaming down their cheeks.
Their baby girl was alive.
Apparently, Anya had been in a firefight and was too close when an IED was set off.
She was presumed dead with multiple others but she managed to stumble far enough when she woke up to be saved.
Unfortunately, she didn't get away scott free.
She would be permanently blind.
Anya was taking the news surprisingly well.
She had of course, found out weeks ago but it's had time to sink in and she still seemed okay.
When Lexa woke up, Anya joked that she only broke her promise on a technicality, since she had specifically said that they'd see each other again.
Lexa simply shook her head and cried, burying her face in her sister's neck.
Anya was - obviously - honorably discharged from the army. Though they were all surprised when they found out she would be getting a Silver Star Medal, an Army Commendation Medal, an Outstanding Volunteer Medal, an Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and a few different ribbons.
They were beyond impressed and proud of their daughter but at the same time extremely sad. Some people that go into service don't see war for a long time.
Their daughter was obviously one of the ones that was thrown straight in.
Lexa was... clingy to put it lightly.
She never left Anya's side, constantly had to be touching or seeing her.
She still rarely spoke to anyone. Aside from Anya of course.
She slept in Anya's bed with her, helped her with anything and everything the blonde needed.
Their parents were a bit surprised that Anya handled it so well.
They knew their daughter loved her baby sister.
But having to deal with her AND a permanent disability was a lot for anyone.
But Anya didn't seem to mind.
If anything, Anya seemed to feel better when she had a firm grasp on her baby sister.
After a few months of this, Gustus and Indra convinced Lexa to convince Anya to see a therapist.
Anya agreed only if they got a seeing eye dog.
Lexa, of course, pretended she had nothing to do with that request.
The Woods parents had no intention of refusing though.
Anya started therapy to deal with what happened while she served.
Lexa was always agitated when the had to be apart that long but Anya promised to be back soon.
A month later and Lexa led Anya through a door, ready to talk to a seeing eye dog trainer about adopting a four-legged, furry helper.
When a blonde haired, blue eyed goddess walked in from the back room, Lexa's world stopped.
But this time in the best possible way.