Gwendolyn Caspian was still sore. So very, very sore. And to say that her pride was still tender was a gross understatement, as she hadn’t really ventured out of her room, as either Gwen or her Senshi alter-ego Sailor Tsui ever since the attack and it wasn’t just recovering from the physical wounds that she had suffered. Everything seemed to have gotten so complicated in the past few weeks, and Gwen thought she had it figured out. Then the meeting happened, and then, the ambush. Now, she was back to understanding and knowing nothing about her Senshi alter-ego and her duties or goals… again. So, she surrendered the alter-ego for awhile, at least until she could move around from point A to point B without groaning like a wounded animal. However, it was her wounded pride that kept Gwen a shut in throughout the rest of the week.

She didn’t want to do anything. She didn’t want to draw, or play her video games, or even call anyone, family, friends or anything of the like. And the worst part was that she couldn’t pinpoint why. She thought she had handled the fight considerably well, and while her ego was rather big, she usually could accept when she was wrong about something. But this was something different. It wasn’t being wrong on a school test or something stupid as a fandom or casual talk. Because she was wrong, Senshi and Pages had died, and that was kept Gwen under her blankets, even as she could hear her sister climbing up the stairs. And it wasn’t just being wrong and their deaths that tore at her conscious, but the fact that when it came to fight the members of Chaos or seek peace with them, as she had been advocating, she had thrown a punch without hesitation the moment they attacked, and though brief, there was still the thought of outright killing them that was present in her mind. Still present in her mind.

The click of the lights did nothing for Gwen as she had already surrendered deeper under the blankets, but she couldn’t pretend to ignore Maddy’s shout, the only warning before someone came jumping onto her bed. “Get up, lazy butt! Get up, get up!”

Gwen moaned and grabbed the blankets before her sister could think to pull them off, and she hid back a pained hiss as her sides and legs were still sore from the fight. “Don’t wanna.”

“But it’s your birthday! And not just ANY birthday!” Maddy said triumphantly, grabbing the blankets and practically ripping it out of Gwen’s fingers before she had the chance to latch on. With the way that she was acting, one would think that it was Maddy’s birthday, and Gwen tried to keep her bitterness to herself, as well as her surprise. She had completely forgotten what day it was, much less what month! “It’s your Sweet Sixteen! Do you know what that means?”

“I finally get to drink?” Gwen replied back with some snark, a hint of her old self shining through but only for a moment before she actually crawled closer to Maddy’s lap. She took her sister by surprise when she rested her head on her thigh and she made sure to put on the biggest smile she could muster as to not worry her sister anymore than she already had for her to be acting like this. “Or maybe I can finally get a license and drive away?”

“Ha ha, very funny. But that means that your big sister is going to smother you with all the love and affection that she can muster, as well as throw you the biggest party that she can! I even got cake and ice cream!” Maddy didn’t fight the affection, relaxing into the hold and stroking Gwen’s hair as though she were a cat. Maddy hadn’t said anything but Gwen knew she worried her with her sudden reclusive nature, and this was merely an excuse to draw her out. “You have any friends that you want to invite?”

“A few, but… they’re busy.” Gwen said, then mentally, to herself. ”Or Senshi… assuming they weren’t killed or corrupted in the battle…”

Then, a thought came to her mind, and Gwen gave her sister’s stomach a poke. “We haven’t been to the zoo in awhile. Can we go there?”

“It’s YOUR birthday, you chose what we do!” Maddy said with a kind smile, and she found a way to wriggle herself out from under Gwen’s head without completely dropping her on the floor as she left the room. “You can even bring Micah with you, just promise me you won’t pull him out and cause a riot or something? I doubt the police will allow that excuse to fly.”

Gwen replied with a nod and a smile of her own, this one more genuine and true, and she lingered on the bed for a few moments more before willing herself to sit up. It was painful, but she was certain that she’d be able to walk it off. To think, her whole ordeal with the ambush had almost made her forget about her birthday… she scoffed, jumping to her feet and giving her body a stretch. They had already taken away the lives of her fellow Senshi and pages, had damaged her pride and made her a fool to the others. But they will NOT take away this girl’s Sweet Sixteen birthday!

(Word count: 910)