A LEAP OF THE EARLY BIRD

Between siblings...

How does one describe a relationship with their sibling? Does it build one up? Does it break one down? It may depend on the way the siblings were raised. It may depend on the amount of love they share. But one thing is for sure - there comes a point in one's life when they begin to understand why they were born into one family, one homestead, one brood...

Nothing in the Aydin household compared to Mevkibe's Vow of Silence. Nothing. Sanem, for her part, was glad that Leyla possessed a true gift of understanding and deciphering their mother's stares, glares, and voiceless expressions. Especially on occassions where Layla loved to pretend telling Nihat the exact opposite of Mevkibe's antics, just to watch Mevkibe's sparks in her eyes, and bring a little restless peace between them. And that evening that the four of them shared was no different. But instead of enjoying herself, Sanem left the table preoccupied by something that lay heavy on her heart. And that something was also visible to Leyla.

Knowing something was off, Leyla came to Sanem's room and asked if they could talk. Hesitant at first, Sanem decided to reveal the truth to Leyla. And the truth hit Leyla in a way she had not expected. Sanem not only revealed that it was Emre who took the globe out of Fikri Harika, but that he threatened her when she confronted him about it. Leyla could see the hurt behind her sister's words. She could also see those words did not come easily to Sanem. Because what she revealed left no shred of doubt that Emre did not change. And that hurt her right down to the core. She had feelings for Emre for as long as she could remember, but he disappointed her. Time after time. She herself told Sanem many times that Emre changed for worse when Can took over after Aziz took a leave of absence, but she realized now that may not have been the case. She hoped Emre had changed after the accident. But what Sanem told her proved her wrong, and proved to her that Emre took advantage of her yet again...

When the two sisters came to the agency, they made a decision to tell Can the truth about Emre. Seeking that both Divit brothers made it to the agency, Sanem finally gathered courage and went to speak with Can. She expected for his temper to crush his barely mended heart. She expected him to storm into Emre's room. But she did not expect for him to calmly admit that he knew that Emre took the globe. He knew, because Emre came to him and admitted his fault. Well, Aylin's fault. What Can did not tell Sanem was that his temper did fly out of his control. His words did spew back at Emre. He did feel pas hurt as he felt insulted, again. And his mind barely wrapped itself around the thought that Emre told Aylin they would NOT file charges against her. He also did not tell her how much effort and how hard it was for him to forgive Emre just then, and accept his apology and the peace offering in the form of that globe...

What Can did reveal to Sanem was that Emre did come to him all by himself. That he asked for forgiveness. And that is why Can forgave him. After all, hadn't Sanem asked Can to forgive his brother? Hadn't she asked him to forget the past? Hadn't she told him to look past past mistakes? Those words stung Sanem's heart more than any others he said at that moment. Because she knew he wasn't speaking just about Emre. He was speaking about her as well. She paused, and agreed with Can. Past mistakes should have been forgiven. But not the ones Emre was still making. Because although Emre may have found a way to convince Can he changed his ways, Sanem saw through his fake smiles and false good intentions. Emre had not changed. He may have softened up, but he had not changed by the least. And that may have been because Emre was shaken physically after the accident, but not emotionally...

Little did Sanem know, Emre's foundation was about to receive a blow so hard, that his heart shook to its core. And it took her sister's soft spoken words. But words lined with dissappointment. While Sanem spoke with Can, Leyla went to drop off documents for Emre to sign. She carried so much hurt in her heart, that Emre could not help to notice a change in her. She was always shy when it came to speaking with Emre. But not this time. Before she came to his office, she was afraid she would not find courage nor the right words to confront him. But now, when he asked her what was wrong, her words flew out from somewhere deep inside. Most importantly, she let her words be guided by hurt, lost hopes, and lost trust. Because she lost faith in his goodness...

She told Emre that she trusted him. She trusted him when he lied, over and over again. So now, his words would carry little truth to them. And she left. She left him standing there, shaken and scared. Scared like he had never been scared before. Because he had come to rely on Leyla's innocence and her warm heart, and he did not even realize when that happened. He also did not realize how much her view of him mattered. And why. But something broke inside when she confronted him, then and there. She did not throw anything at him.  She did not shout, as Aylin always did. She just whispered that she lost trust in him and his good heart. She stood feet away from him, mere inches away. They stood by the same door when she told him how truly disappointed she was with him, but he felt a distance growing between them. He finally began to realize that he, in fact, delved far too far into Aylin's dark side of influence. And it took Leyla's hurt in her eyes to make him face that hard reality...

Although moments later Sanem advised Leyla that it appeared Emre had come clean to Can about retrieving the globe, and Leyla felt embarrased beyond words, her confrontation with Emre was exactly what he needed. Exactly what he needed to hear. Exactly from whom. Because as it stood, fate knew who needed who. And why. As the bonds between siblings grew, so would their dependence on each other. And they would all grow stronger from it in the end...