Chapter Text
When Black and White were four, the servants of the household started to notice something strange about them.
Or maybe not so strange, considering they had never been separated since birth, they didn’t want to be separated now. The strange thing was though, that when they were separated, it seemed to pain them, and they were sensitive to the needs of the other above their own. If Black was hungry, White would ask their nanny for food. If White got hurt, Black would tear the house apart looking for bandages. When their parents would fight, or he had a nightmare, White would sneak into Blacks room to sleep.
(The tantrum that had come about from the usually quiet White when the boys were given separate rooms was noted, remembered, and never mentioned to the boy's parents)
As they grew up, it remained the same, with the two boys always together. Where there was White, there was Black, and where Black went, White followed.
The servants joked that they raised each other, while keeping an eye out for the twins mother or father.
But what choice did they have? They only had each other, in a big, empty house where the parents were never home (and if they were home, they were too busy arguing to remember their sons) and the servants were under strict orders to not get close to the boys (because even if their parents were too busy, the boys were still above the servants, and shouldn’t get any ideas)
Once, when they were 8 and White was in Blacks room again after their parents got in a shouting match, White whispered to Black
“Do you think we should run away?”
Black didn’t respond at first, slightly taken aback that his gentle, obedient brother would suggest that. But then again, White had always been the hopeful optimist, trusting others, while Black was more prickly.
It was how they worked. Black was the one with the drive, who defended White, and fought upright and brashly, knowing that the world wouldn’t be kind. White, on the other hand, was the gentle one, with a soft word and a small smile for anyone who asked and listened. White believed that the world was good, and kept Black from exploding by letting him rant. Some thought he was weak, but Black knew that White wasn’t weak, he was just gentle and sometimes painfully naive.
So Black thought.
And eventually answered, “We’re not big enough yet Nong. We can’t survive on our own”
“But haven’t we already been doing that?”
“Its different out there. No one will believe that we can take care of ourselves, they will just take us back to our parents.”
White considered that. Then he asked
“What about when we are bigger? Can we take care of ourselves then?”
“Yes, when we are bigger.”
Whites eyes lit up, and he sat up and scooted closer to Black on the bed
“Then could we live together just the two of us? In the same room?”
Black laughed internally. Of course, White was still bitter about having separate rooms.
“Yes White, we could”
“Then promise me!”
“Promise what?”
“When we get bigger, we will live together, not in this house, but in our own!”
“Alright, I promise.”
After making a solemn pinky promise White flopped back down on the pillows next to Black.
“Good Night P’”
“Good night.”
Years later Black would look back on that night and regret not taking his brothers hand and running, instead of being stuck inside that house full of tension and anger, and eventually…
Well…
What was done was done, wasn’t it?
When they were 11, everything fell apart.
They had managed to hide their connections before that, after one too many of the adults in their lives either not taking their connection seriously, or worse, when they did take it seriously.
After all, what was a more effective punishment for one brother than forcing them to watch as the other was punished, all while feeling that pain themselves?
They had learned to hide it, Black took the punches and White learned to hide pain behind small smiles and soft words, learned to bandage wounds so their parents wouldn’t notice, and when White was the one who got hurt, well, Black never had to explain away an additional bruise or two, did he?
But of course a bond like that can’t be hidden forever, no matter how hard they tried and eventually their parents found out, on the day that the twins would later remember as the second-worst day of their lives (the first came later).
It was a bright afternoon, hot, with the sun shining through the trees. Their parents had invited some children their age as well as their parents over to swim and play. The kids wouldn’t call themselves friends, but at this point, they were all old enough to reach the sort of understanding that comes when you know that the people around you are some of the only ones you will be allowed to interact with in the future, so they better get along.
In other words, these 11-year-olds had formed an alliance of sorts, and despite being raised to think themselves above it, they were still 11-year-old boys, who were ready for a day in the pool while their parents discussed business.
They had been playing for a few hours, when Black decided to take a break and leave the pool, leaving Whites side for the first time that day. Of course, that was when it had to happen.
White got a leg cramp and nearly drowned.
Black almost drowned with him, on dry land.
And their parents saw it all.
After that, it was all downhill. Their parents had a legitimate excuse to leave each other, and the divorce went through barely a month later, and the two were separated.
White went with their father, and Black stayed in Thailand with their mother. He wasn’t even allowed to see them off at the airport. Instead, he was stuck in his room, clinging to himself and watching as the car holding the only person in this world he loved drove away.
Something broke in both of them that day.
Something that could not be replaced.
And unbeknownst to Black, White twisted in his seat to turn and look as his childhood home disappeared into the distance, and he made a promise to himself
I promise P’, I will come back.
Please, wait for me.