Is It True Love?

Chapter 22: Family Matters

Lucille

The two teen girls sit across from one another at the kitchen table currently cluttered with ingredients. It's Leslie's turn to cook tonight, and aiming to get closer with the second oldest, she volunteers to pitch in. Lucille is instructed to peel the potatoes while the one beside her handles their freshly caught fish.

"You know, what I said earlier about my brother's change of attitude is true." Leslie starts a conversation, but she isn't sure what the girl is referring to exactly.

"What do you mean?"

"Alphonse was in an overall brighter mood when you accepted his confession. Given our closeness in age, we often share certain things with each other. That's why I already knew all about you during the earlier introduction," Leslie further explains, and she did make it clear their relationship was mentioned to her before.

"Well it's purely good things he told you concerning me I hope," she replies only half-joking.

"I'd say a mixture of the two. Though when someone can see your faults and accept them is what matters most. Al probably never noticed this, but he always spoke about you way more than Kana. That's when I knew my brother fell for this girl, even if he hadn't realized it himself yet."

This information causes a scarlet to color Lucille's cheeks that match her hair. "I-I'm surprised to have occupied his thoughts so much."

"Yeah, but you didn't hear that from me. Honesty, he's been rather depressed ever since your courtship got split up. Alphonse tried to wave it off so we wouldn't worry, but regardless if they were fooled, I knew he was hurting." Leslie's hazel eyes break away from the task momentarily to her brother relaxing on the couch. "Despite that, there was nothing I could do to cheer him up. Then you suddenly appeared at our doorstep today, and finally brought a genuine smile to his face."

The noble visitor's hands begin to slow from her work as the shocking news causes her chest to flutter. Of course, Alphonse holds mutual affection and he is the one who confessed in the first place. Still, she somewhat feared this whole predicament just hadn't fazed him as much as it did herself.

I was a fool to believe the heartache was one-sided.

"That really makes me happy. Not about him being down in the dumps, but I'm glad these past two weeks were hard for him too. I kinda came here on a whim after firmly deciding to see him last night."

"Wow, you have guts. Your personalities seem like they would clash but it somehow mashes perfectly. I don't know the full details of the situation--which isn't my business, but I'm praying everything works out for you both in the end."

Leslie's warm encouraging smile truly helps soothe her worries. She has one sibling's approval for sure, and that alone gives the older teen motivation. How tomorrow will play out remains unclear, but she refuses to allow them to keep dictating every aspect of her life.

"Thank you, Leslie. Alphonse has also told me a lot about you too. I was a tad nervous to meet everyone originally, but I feel the two of us will get along just fine," Lucille replies, and the girls continue light conversation as they resume their cooking.

When the dishes are finished and the table is set, the five gather around to eat. Truthfully, all she did was prep work as most of the real cooking Leslie handled by herself. Once everybody holds hands for a short prayer Alphonse says, they begin digging into the meal. However, Lucille jabs at the evenly sliced unknown fish on her plate. The aroma coming from the catch isn't very appetizing, but you can't judge food by how terrible it smells.

"You're staring at it as if there's a live flopping fish presented for you to eat. You did say you have this occasionally, and my sister's sashimi is the best. Just give it a try and if you don't like it, Javier will take care of that problem," Alphonse assures, the younger boy eagerly nodding in approval.