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They were sixteen today.
Tianxi wondered if her brother even remembered. She waited until after breakfast to sign, Happy Birthday, and watched his face go briefly slack in surprise—he hadn’t.
“Happy Birthday,” he echoed, and made an effort to smile. “Is there something you want to do, Xixi? We have the day off already.”
She nodded, signing, Mall. She didn’t need to elaborate; he knew she meant the outdoor shopping area that they walked by every so often when they got groceries. It had always looked fun, bustling with people and families, but they’d never stopped by.
“Okay,” Tianchen said, his voice sounding like he’d held in a sigh. “Let’s get ready to go.”
Though he acted grumpy about it, Tianxi knew he just needed some fresh air and sunshine. Those things always made her feel better, anyway.
Tianxi wore her fanciest outfit for their birthday, a pretty red dress with flowers on it. Her brother wore his default outfit, though at least he’d removed the hoodie since it was a little too warm for that today.
The weather was perfect, actually. Warm without being hot, and the sky was such a brilliant blue. Tianxi stretched her bare arms wide to soak up every bit of sunlight, and danced down the sidewalk. For once, Tianchen didn’t tell her to slow down, but walked faster to catch up.
It was weird walking into the outdoor mall instead of passing it—she almost walked right past the entrance out of habit. There were a lot of people out today because of the nice weather. She would have felt self-conscious, except nobody gave them more than a passing glance as they made their way through the mall.
“What now?” Tianchen asked.
Tianxi smiled. Ice cream!
“I should’ve known,” he said, like he was some kind of responsible person. She knew that he liked ice cream as much as she did.
Tianchen got chocolate and coffee ice cream with almonds drizzled over it, while Tianxi got mango and passionfruit ice cream with strawberries.
“You’re a hummingbird,” her brother said as they walked with their cones.
It was tricky to sign with one hand, but she managed something understandable. You have boring adult ice cream.
“Coffee isn’t boring!” Tianchen defended. “It’s good.”
She made a face. Bitter.
“You just don’t understand,” he sighed loftily, and suddenly thrust the cone in her face. “Here, try it.”
Tentatively she took a lick, and surprisingly found it wasn’t terrible. She’d never liked coffee any of the times she’d tried it before, but the ice cream was a little sweeter than the real thing, plus it had mixed with the chocolate which made it less bitter.
“Well?”
It’s…okay.
“Knew you’d like it,” he said with a smug little smile. “You should try a mocha sometimes instead of your usual hot chocolate—I could even ask them to make it with whipped cream.”
Tianxi shrugged a maybe, and then she spied a nice little spot near the edge of the mall. With purpose, she set off for it, Tianchen following in her wake.
It was a little side courtyard with a tiled fountain. The fountain was elevated off the ground and too small for kids to play in, so it was left alone. Tianxi traced the pretty blue tiles along the edge of it before sitting down at one of the stone benches.
Her brother took the other one, and they ate their ice cream in a peaceful silence, broken only by the sound of wind through tree branches. That was the other thing which had caught her eye; the courtyard was surrounded by a cluster of trees, lending it a cozy atmosphere.
Tianxi’s eyes traced the shaking leaves, which glowed a vibrant green in the sunlight. She wondered what kind of trees they were—maybe birch? The bark was whitish-gray, with darker markings, but she didn’t really know enough about trees to judge with any certainty. She wished that she knew more.
“This is nice,” Tianchen said softly, and she looked over to see him looking up at the trees too. “I like the shade.”
She waited for him to glance at her before signing, Vampire.
“I think you’d know if I was,” he huffed. “And there’s nothing wrong with not liking sunlight! It’s just too warm.”
Personally, Tianxi thought he could use more of it, with how pale he was, but she couldn’t really talk. Her skin was pretty pale too. She wished they could…
Tianxi concentrated on finishing the rest of her ice cream, which was trying its best to get all over her hands. She managed to eat the last of it without spilling any on her dress, which was a great achievement, but her hands were left sticky.
She frowned at the irritating sensation, but then the gurgling of the fountain gave her an idea. Though it felt a little like she was doing something wrong, nobody showed up to yell at her when she quickly rinsed her hands in the fountain.
“That’s a good idea,” her brother said, and did the same.
They were left with wet hands, though the sun dried them soon enough as they went back to walking around in the main part of the mall.
Tianxi led them into a clothing store after a while, and spent some time looking through the shirts. She didn’t find one for herself, but in another section there were hoodies that looked like ones her brother would wear. After some prodding, Tianchen looked through them, and ended up buying a soft-looking pink one.
All you wear are hoodies, she teased as they exited the shop.
“They’re comfortable. And all you wear is skirts and dresses—that’s weirder.”
They feel nice on my skin, she signed. Sometimes she felt bad for her brother, who never got to experience the joy of skirts. Pants felt constricting a lot of the time. In a skirt, she had a full range of movement, and she loved the way they twirled.
For a while longer, they walked around some more, taking the occasional break to sit down in a quiet corner of the mall and people-watch.
Tianxi’s feet started to hurt eventually, not used to walking so much, but she didn’t tell her brother. She didn’t think he realized how much time was passing. They’d been there for a few hours at least, and the sun was sinking lower in the sky, approaching golden hour.
The next time they took a walking break, Tianchen checked the time on his phone and frowned. “It’s getting late. We should probably head back.”
Tianxi wasn’t ready for the day to end. Walking around outside with her brother, she felt happier than she’d been in a long time.
One more store, she signed.
Tianchen looked ready to protest, but he went along with it anyway. As a compromise, Tianxi started walking back toward the entrance, and chose a shop where the main street was clearly visible.
A little bell jingled as they entered, and immediately it was clear what kind of shop this was. All around them on wooden shelves were little knick knacks and jewelry, and everything was forest-themed. There were mugs shaped like owls, hats with red panda ears, and hanging mobiles with butterflies and bees.
It was the cutest shop Tianxi had ever seen. She could spend hours here.
Tianchen sighed heavily like he’d heard what she was thinking. “It’s almost 5:30 now—let’s try to be out of here by 6, okay?” She nodded reluctantly, and he drove the point in with, “We do need to eat dinner eventually.”
Eventually hadn’t come yet, though, so she dove whole-heartedly into exploring the shop. While it was small in area, there seemed to be a disproportionate amount of things.
Tianxi spent a while looking through the mugs before moving on to the little ceramic animal figures. There was a whole section with journals, and some of them had beautiful paper covers with all kinds of natural designs like ferns and feathers. She thought about getting one, but she didn’t know what she’d write in such a pretty book.
Then she found a small bookshelf filled with books about animals.
Running her finger along the titles of books about crows and beetles and foxes and snakes, she felt an overwhelming rush of emotion. She wanted…too much. To sit down and read for a day, even if some of the words were too advanced for her. To buy every book and read them on her own time, and feel her mind get heavy with new knowledge. She missed learning about things. She missed going to school.
Tianxi swallowed hard and let her hand fall back to her side. She didn’t know how long they’d been there, but it was probably time to go.
She found Tianchen waiting for her at the door, looking a bit surprised to see her. “I thought I’d have to drag you out of here. It’s only 5:46. We can stay a while longer if you want.”
Tianxi shook her head and led the way out. It was colder outside than it had been when they’d entered the store, a combination of the sun sinking below the treeline and the wind picking up, and the chilly air made goosebumps rise on her arms. She rubbed them with her hands, wishing now that she’d worn a jacket, but it had been so warm earlier…
“You’re cold,” Tianchen said. He grabbed his new pink hoodie out of its bag and pushed it at her insistently until she took it from him.
She slipped it on and was instantly warmer, though it was a little big on her. The color matched her dress, too, and it was so soft.
Thank you, she signed.
“Sure.” Tianchen looked at her for a long moment, his gaze more observant than usual. She wondered what he saw. “I…got us something. From that shop.” Now he was taking something else out of the bag, and he held it out for her to see.
In his hand were two matching bracelets; he must’ve gotten them when she’d been distracted by everything else. Each bracelet was made of a golden metal, adorned with a stylized fox head in blue, purple, and pink. The only difference between them was that one was slightly bigger than the other.
They were lovely.
Tianxi reached out and carefully took the smaller one. It fit easily over her hand, and she rolled up the sleeve of the hoodie to admire how it looked on her wrist.
It looked like he was about to put his own bracelet back in the bag, so she shook her head, signing, Try it on!
After a moment, Tianchen slipped it over his right hand, and the warm metal sparked orange in the dying sunlight. Glancing from his bracelet to her own, she felt a gentle flood of joy at how they matched.
It was more than that, though. With how they looked, nobody could ever doubt they were related. What mattered more was that every time she looked at either of their bracelets, for just a second she’d remember this day. She had a memory of happiness now that she could carry with her wherever she went.
Thank you, she signed, though it wasn’t enough. Thanks, Tianchen.
“It’s no big deal,” he huffed.
Tianxi frowned, realizing, I didn't get you anything.
“You persuaded me to get the hoodie. I’d say that counts.”
As they started walking back to the apartment, an odd mixture of sadness and gratitude sat in Tianxi’s chest. The day was ending, and whatever tomorrow was like, she knew it wouldn’t be as carefree. With a deep certainty Tianxi knew she would never read any of the books in that store, and it was likely they’d never return there.
Already, today felt soft and faded around the edges, almost like a pleasant dream.
Tianxi didn’t like how it was already slipping away from her, but the day wasn’t quite over yet. The sunset sky was a lovely pink, Tianchen was almost smiling as he walked beside her, and the borrowed hoodie kept her warm.
As she lightly touched the new bracelet on her wrist, she couldn’t help smiling at the shared memory her brother had gifted them both.
Even in the darkest night, Tianxi would be able to remember the warmth of the sun and the sweetness of ice cream as they’d sat together by the fountain.