Dual Code ~ #04B486
Trinity/Khorra's Code ~ #8904B1
Serenity/Kierra's Code ~ #0431B4
Khorra'seyes scanned the page that she was on in her Forensics textbook, taking in the words and absorbing them as she did. She had a major test coming up and couldn't afford to get anything less than a 95% if she wanted to keep her scholarship, and the current chapter that they were studying was something that she was having difficulty grasping for some reason. She had already studied it for several hours over the last week and was still confused in some areas. More than likely she was going to need to ask the professor for further clarification which she hated to do, not only because it was relying on another person, but also because the Forensics Professor was a horrible old man who was stuck in the past believing that women did not need a higher education and should stay at home producing babies.
Stifling a sigh, Khorra slipped her bookmark into the spot that she stopped at, snapping the book closed and sliding it into her backpack beside her. She was currently sitting outside of the university pool building; it was nice outside for so early in the morning, not too chilly, and she was more than comfortable waiting for her sister outside. Her eyes grazed over the area that she was sitting in. It was fairly empty as it was still quite early with only a scattering of a few students here and there and one or two professors. A couple sat underneath a tree on a blanket, clearly having a breakfast date before their classes, and several feet away there was a small group of three students that she recognized but didn't know. A young girl with light orange hair sat a little further down on a bench holding what seemed to be a coffee and a folder filled with papers of some kind. A little further away from her stood a group of three women, the two younger ones she didn't know but seemed familiar and the older one being her English Professor, Ms. Evers.
Leaning back on the bench, she turned her violet gaze upwards peering through the leaves into the azure sky above. It reminded her of a beautiful ocean gently rippling in a breeze and she felt a calmness settle over her. Her hand absentmindedly reached up to grip the Kunzite pendant that hung from her neck, the only remnant of her former, forgotten life that she had. Her sister had an identical one, only it was set with an Aquamarine stone, and it was all they had to go off of for where they came from and who their former family may have been. The pendants brought them comfort for some reason and neither one of them had gone a single day without wearing it.
Meanwhile, Kierra was toweling off inside the girl's locker room. Swim practice had just concluded - they start at five am - and she had finally beaten her former PR for her Freestyle. If she could only shave off a few more seconds from her Butterfly Stroke now, she would be golden for the next swim meet, which was also the qualifier for the national tournaments.
Stifling a sigh, Kierra patted her short purple hair until it was only slightly damp before tugging a fresh set of clothes from her locker. After quickly slipping on a pair of leggings and a sweater with a shawl, she tugged a beanie over her wet hair to keep her from catching a cold. She plucked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, striding to the door to the girl's locker room, past the swimming pool where she gave a wave and a gentle smile to her teammates who were in the process of leaving as well and made her way through the front door of the building.
She wasn't surprised at all to see her sister waiting for her. Undoubtedly Khorra had been studying the entire time that Kierra was practicing and the younger sister felt a small warmth inside of her at the knowledge that her sister cared for her that much. With a soft smile on her face, Kierraapproached the identical girl, their only distinguishable features being Khorra's longer hair and their different eye colors, and dropped her bag at her feet as she sat down beside the other girl.
"Hey sis, how's your morning been going?" she inquired, accepting the bottle of water the slightly older girl offered her.
Khorra glanced up as her sister approached and gave her a smile that was identical to the other girl's, only not quite as innocent. "It's been going alright, I guess. It could be better. I'm having a difficult time grasping the current chapter that our next test will be on in my Forensics class and it's kind of stressing me out," she sighed, stretching her arms out and in front of her. She offered her sister a bottle of cool water, fresh from the canteen, and gave her an inquisitive look. "How about you? How are your times coming along?"
Kierra shrugged and took a swig from the bottle. "They could be going better, but I did shave off a few seconds on my Freestyle, which will be enough to qualify in the section for nationals. I need to drop down my Butterfly though before I'll be less nervous about the qualifiers. It's basically my deal-breaker on whether or not I'll be participating, so it's not an option for me to not improve it."
Dropping a hand on her sister's shoulder, Khorra gave her a confident smile. "If anyone can do it, you can, Era. I know you have the skills and the drive, you just need to get there. You've got this!" she boasted, giving her a thumbs up. Kierra gave her a small smile in response, clearly grateful for the uplifting message. "Thanks sis ... I know I can always count on you," she said softly, leaning a bit and resting her head on her slightly-older sister's shoulder. Closing her eyes, her hand moved up to subconsciously thumb over her pendant. A moment of silence passed between them before Kierra suddenly spoke once more, her voice holding a somber tone to it.
"Hey sis?" She paused for a moment as if to gather her courage before speaking once more. "Do you ever wonder ... Why we weren't good enough for our parents to keep? Why they had to abandon us on a front step of a building to strangers? How they managed to make us forget them?" When she was met by silence on her sister's end, Kierra opened her eyes and sat up, her gaze downcast. "I wonder about it a lot, that's all ... It makes me wonder if there's something wrong with us ... Something that we don't know about and that's why we can't remember. What if ... What if we did something bad?" Tears pricked at her eyes and she lifted her hand to rub at the liquid as it formed. "Why did we get abandoned? Why did we get so unlucky to have parents who hated us so much they'd want to throw us away?"
Khorra looked over at her sister helplessly. She knew it wouldn't matter what she said, because she herself had had the same thoughts time and time again. They both had issues of feeling inadequate and that was most of the reason why they were both so determined to excel and not disappoint their adoptive parents. They were both so afraid of being abandoned again that they strived for perfection even though they both knew logically that perfection was unachievable. Stifling a sigh, Khorra lifted her hand and dropped it on her sister's head, patting it gently. Kierra's tears slowed at the comforting touch and when she was a bit more calm Khorra spoke.
"There's nothing wrong with us. We're never going to rid ourselves of these feelings of not being good enough, no matter how illogical they are, because we're ingrained with that poison of not feeling good enough. We just need to remind ourselves that no matter what might have happened, we were young children at the time. We weren't responsible for our actions as we more than likely didn't even know what we were doing. Whatever reason our parents had to abandon us, that was their problems, not ours. We weren't the problems; they were. They were the ones who weren't good enough for us, and that's what we need to remember when we're having thoughts like that." Giving her sister a small smile, she tilted her head. "Now, why don't we stop by the canteen and get a couple of sandwiches to eat on the way to class, hm?" Kierra gave her sister a sad smile in response before nodding. "Yeah ... I'd like that. I'm really hungry from practice anyway," she laughed softly.