Chapter 1: Birthday Season Begins

*

"I can't believe they let that juvenile prick be named Grand Champion!"

Ashley had been ranting about the outcome of the archery tournament for over an hour. Even during the entire joust event, she continued complaining, not as Adora, but out of character.

"I mean, it would be one thing if he had actually won, but what kind of tournament breaks a tie with a coin flip?!?!"

Ashley and Jerald's arrows had both been near bullseyes, hitting just in the 4-point ring. The master of tourneys decided to settle the tie with a coin flip to decide who would get the title of Grand Champion.

"At least you got to take home a golden arrow," Tommy pointed out.

They both were awarded a golden arrow for first place, but the title apparently meant more to Ashley than the trophy.

"Yeah, but I really wanted to be the Grand Champion of the fair," Ashley moaned. We had just left the Joust event, which wasn't nearly as exciting as the Archery Tournament had been.

"You do realize they give out that title to a new person every day," Jaden noted.

"Thanks," Ashley remarked sarcastically, "That really makes me feel better.~"

We were all walking aimlessly through the food court.

"I agree with you," I chimed in, "You got gypped. That other archer clearly just got some lucky shots.~"

"No," Ashley admitted, "He was actually really good. It's not him I'm mad at, not really," she stopped walking and we all followed suit, "I just... I wanted to impress you...," she paused, then quickly said, "all of you, I mean."

Amy laughed, giving Ashley a big, yet quick hug, "Ash! You did impress us. Especially Gabe, he couldn't take his eyes off you while you were shooting."

"Really?" Ashley responded, shocked, and may be a bit excited.

"That's not true," I barked in defense, "I mean, of course I was impressed, but I... it wasn't like I was staring at you, I was... just surprised... in awe of your mastery of the bow."

Ashley started laughing, then gave me a hug, "Thanks, Gabe. You always know how to cheer me up."

It was the first real hug Ashley had ever given me. The feel of her large breasts against my chest was nice. As she hugged me, it was almost as if she were intentionally rubbing her chest on mine so I could feel them. But she wouldn't do that, not with Jaden right there... I mean, not at all... would she?

"And I don't?" asked Jaden, pretending to be offended. Ashley released her hug and turned toward Jaden.

"You usually do, but you've just been very... 'Father Anders Aringol' today, and..." she paused, sniffing the air around Jaden who was suspiciously holding something behind his back, "Did you get me funnel cake?"

Jaden pulled the plate from behind his back, revealing the sugary confection. Ashley hugged him just as tightly as she had me, nearly causing him to drop the Funnel Cake.

"I love you, so much," she blurted for the world to hear, "I would kiss you, but with those ridiculously tall shoes on, I can't.

Jaden bent over and the two shared an intimate, unnecessarily tonguey, but none the less incredibly hot, kiss.

Suddenly I realized that Amy was no longer holding my hand as she had for the majority of the day. I mean, I didn't expect her to hold it the entire time we were here, but it seemed like that's what she had wanted. Or maybe she had just been in-character and now we weren't, so she thought it would be more appropriate not to? But why was I thinking about that now?

I looked around and saw Amy sitting on a picnic table seat nearby. I went over to sit with her, but to my surprise (or was it disappointment?), when I sat next to her she shimmied slightly away, putting some distance between us.

"What's wrong?" I asked sincerely.

I could see she was upset, maybe on the verge of crying, but I couldn't tell why.

"Nothing," she lied, obviously, "I'm okay."

Just then, Ashley and Jaden came over.

"Tommy's going back to the dwarven town," Ashley informed us, "and Jaden and I are going to explore a bit together. You two going to be okay on your own?"

Amy nodded, "Yeah, you guys have fun. I think I'll just stay here for a while."

"Okay," Jaden replied, "We'll meet you guys back at the gate at five fifteen."

"Sounds good," I replied, "I'll keep Amy company."

"Okay," Ashley smiled, "Have fun."

After the two of them had left, Amy said, "You don't have to babysit me, Gabe. I'll be okay on my own."

"Amy," I placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to wince, "You're my little sister. I can tell when something's wrong. Please just talk to me."

"I just..." she nearly yelled, then paused, taking a breath before continuing more quietly, "I was enjoying the festival more when we were all in character, before the archery tournament."

"There's no reason we can't keep roleplaying, just because the others are off doing their own thing," I suggested.

"You don't have to," Amy said, plainly, "I know I've been making you uncomfortable all day."

"Nonsense," I replied in my best Grogun voice.

"Gabe," Amy glared at me.

"Who is this 'Gabe?'" I continued to role-play, "Elyveria , my dear, I believe you have mistaken me for someone else."

"GABE!" Amy punched my arm, but began to laugh.

I took her by the hand and stood up, pulling her up with me, "Didn't you say you wanted to visit the Lover's Grove before we left?"

I began half-dragging her toward the exit toward the elven camp as she stumbled, laughing harder.

"Okay, okay," she submitted, struggling to catch up to me, and wrapped her arm around mine, "not so fast. I've been walking in these ridiculous shoes all day."

"I could carry you, my dear," I teased as Grogun.

"That's not necessary, love," Amy replied as Elyveria, then quieter as herself, "Thanks, Gabe."

We walked arm-in-arm back to the elven camp. It took us longer than I thought it would to get back to the elven village but we enjoyed bantering back and forth as Elyveria and Grogun. As we were heading out toward the exit to the road to Aeldar, which passed by the Lover's Grove, the strange elf from before approached us.

"There's not much time left to see if your love is destined and true," he warned, "Hurry to the Lover's Grove and see the oracle to get your answer."

"We're on our way there, now," Amy smiled.

We continued on our way out of the village and to the entrance to the grove, when we saw Jaden and Ashley coming the other way.

"Did you two find out if your love was 'destined and true?'" Amy teased in-character.

Ashley laughed, then replied as Adora, "What? No, not at all."

Out of character, Jaden answered, "Apparently, 'our love will flourish because of the others who love us', whatever that means."

Just then, Jaden got a text message.

"It's Tommy," he relayed, "He says he's at the entrance, and is waiting for us."

"Wait!" Amy blurted, "What time is it?"

Jaden looked at his phone, "It's already a quarter after five."

"No," she groaned, "I wanted to meet the oracle."

She was out of character, but I, too, felt a pang of disappointment knowing we wouldn't get to complete our roleplaying journey. Because that was all it was, wasn't it?

"You probably saved yourself some awkwardness," Jaden volunteered, "He had us kiss before he could tell us anything."

"Yeah," Amy replied oddly unconvincingly, "that would be awkward."

"I don't know," Ashley replied, again out of character, "I think it would have been cute."

Amy, Jaden, and I all stared at her awkwardly.

"Really," Jaden asked, "You don't find anything at all awkward about Amy and her brother, Gabe, kissing?"

"Oh, right. Um," Ashley stammered, "I sort of, must have forgotten, too much roleplaying today, I guess."

Despite her complete lack of sincerity, we all accepted her excuse.

"Grogun, if we hurry we can still meet him," Amy said excitedly, as Elyveria, despite the information she was just given.

I sighed, but replied in character, "Father Aringol's right, we should go meet Kordek. You know how grumpy he gets if we're late."

Amy sighed, then turned to Ashley, "Fine, let's not keep your brother waiting."

They way she emphasized "your brother" had to mean something to the two of them, but I was left out of the loop.

"Don't feel so bad, Amy," Jaden consoled, "the oracle was just the same elf who suggested we see him anyway, probably just a gimmick for the fair."

Amy and I looked at each other confused.

"But we just saw him," I replied, "still in the elven village, pressing us to hurry so we don't miss the oracle."

Ashley and Jaden stared at each other for a moment, then Ashley gasped, "That's impossible."

"It's true," Amy defended, "He was just as creepy as before, too."

"Regardless," Jaden noted, "We should be going."

As if on cue, fair employees from the elven village began trying to convince guests to head to Aeldar because the "Kingdom was under siege and they needed to protect everyone."

We hurriedly walked toward the entrance. There were fair employees ushering people out of the fairgrounds.

We followed the crowds, keeping an eye out for Tommy. We found him just outside the gate.

"What took you guys so long?" he asked in a voice that truly could have either been his own or Kordek's.

"We went to see the oracle in Lover's grove," Ashley replied, "Apparently Jaden and I are destined lovers."

"That's not exactly what..." Jaden started to say, but Ashley cut him off.

"Destined and True! Yup!" Ashley almost slipped into Adora's voice.

"Okaay," Tommy replied, "Anyway, You guys want to go get something to eat before we head home?"

"Actually," Amy sighed, "I'm not very hungry. I'm ready to go home, if that's okay, Gabe."

I placed my hand on her arm gently, "Sure," then to the others, "We'll see you on Monday."

"Sounds good," Jaden replied, then turned to Ashley and Tommy, "I am hungry, so let's get something on the way home."

Ashley hugged us goodbye with her usual "friendly, but not intimate" hug, unlike earlier. However, when she hugged Amy she whispered something into her ear, but I couldn't hear what.

The ride home started filled with tension. I turned my music on, like usual, but Amy almost instantly turned the volume down, "Gabe, can we talk?"

"Of course. What's up?"

"I had a lot of fun today," her happy demeanor from earlier was all but gone, making her words sound hollow, "I just wanted to say, about how I was acting... I mean, about going to Lover's Grove and all..." she paused as if pondering her own words, "You know I was just being in character, right? I mean, I didn't want you to feel... uncomfortable about it."

I smiled, laughing slightly, hiding the pain I felt, but knew I shouldn't, suppressing it deep until I believed my own lying smile, "I know. So was I, with Grogun. I just wanted you to have fun... playing our characters. You know?"

She smiled. "Good. I hoped you would understand."

She turned my music back up to its normal volume, and turned to face the window.

As the sounds of AC/DC, Kiss, and Ozzy Osborne flooded through the car, I found I wasn't that interested in what they had to say. Instead of zoning out, I found myself intently focused on everything around me: the road, the cars, the heat trickling out of the air vents in the car... and Amy. She kept her face to the window the whole time, but in her reflection, I could see her smiling. Something was off, but I couldn't place what.

What was her smile hiding? Was it the same pain as mine? I mean, what pain. There was no pain, I'd had an amazing day hanging out with my baby sister and our amazing friends. And Ashley hugged me. But so did Amy. But the one I enjoyed more was...

"Gabe?" Amy waved her hand in front of my face, snapping me out of... okay, so I did zone out.

I looked around and realized we were home, parked in our usual spot.

"You okay?" Amy asked worried.

"Yeah," I replied, "I just... zoned out."

I expected a punch in the arm, or some other form of chiding. But all Amy said was, "yeah, you do that."

She got out of the car and waited until I did the same, then we went into the house together.

We bade hello to our parents, all of whom were watching a movie, cuddled together in a pile on the couch, then we went upstairs. As we reached my bedroom door, she gave me a hug. A very sisterly hug.

"Thank you for going with me, Gabe. I had more fun than I had even expected." She kissed me gently on the cheek, then skipped happily to her room. I guess I had been worrying for nothing.

We took turns showering, I dressed in my usual bedclothes, boxers and a t-shirt and collapsed on my bed, exhausted. Even though it was early, I quickly found myself drifting off into the black abyss of sleep.

*

Late that night, around midnight, something roused me from my sleep. I had to pee. I quietly went into the bathroom that connected Amy's room to mine.

Originally, each of the three upstairs bedrooms (Amy's and mine on one side of the hall, Jenny's opposite Amy's) had a full walk-in closet, but our parents had one of the closets between Amy and my room converted into a bathroom that was accessible through either bedroom, and was basically still a closet with a shower (no tub), toilet, and sink shoved in, with very little standing room. They had the other closet walled in the middle to create two smaller closets, one in each bedroom.

As I was about to lift the toilet lid, I heard Amy's voice. It was soft and unintelligible, but I could tell, even through the door, that she was crying.

I felt a pain in my chest, knowing that she was upset always hurt. I was about to knock on her door, to see what was wrong, but what I heard made me stop mid knock, hand raised, knuckles inches from the door:

"He's my brother. How could I expect him to share the feelings I have?" Amy was muttering to herself, "How could I be so stupid? I know it's wrong, being in love with my brother. But I can't help it. I just whish he loved me back."

Did I really just hear what I thought I had? My baby sister, admitting to herself... that she... Loved me? Was in love with me?

I should have been disgusted. I should have gone back to my room and forgotten I heard the whole thing. I should have told my parents that she needed psychiatric help. But I did none of those things. Well, I did go back to my room, my need to pee no longer so immediate. I wasn't ready to confront my sister about this yet. But I didn't forget what I'd heard. Because when I heard her saying she loved me, when I heard that my sister, my baby sister, was in love with me, my heart began to race. My face got hot, and my breathing sped up. I could feel the palms of my hands sweating as I tiptoed back to my room and laid back down on my bed. I could barely think, but what I was thinking about was that knowing how my sister felt, that she could even admit it to herself, forced me to face the unpleasant truth I'd been too afraid to admit. Something that I had buried deep inside myself, telling myself I could never release. I had to face the fact that the closeness we shared had awakened feelings in me that a brother shouldn't have for his sister. I had to admit to myself that I, too, was in love with my sibling. That I was in love... with Amy.

To Be Continued...