"Brother..." The word escaped Brooke's mouth before she realised she was forming it. The plate her mother had been carrying to the sink crashed onto the ground, shattering into a thousand thousands of shards, glittering in the late evening's light. Everything was silent.

Aiken sat at the table, still as a statue. His hands were folded like a rational man's, but his knuckles were white and he was still only close to sixteen. He had trained his face not to show emotion--Brooke could tell--but he could never keep anything from her, nor she him. Under his cool facade, he was tense. He had gotten one rock off his chest, but another was about to replace it.

"T-the army? Aiken, you can't be serious!" their mother cried. He nodded solemnly.

"I must, Mother. Humanity cannot let the Titans take any more innocent lives!" His eyes blazed as he stood up. "I wanted to tell you before I officially joined. I hope that someday, the three of you can come to terms with my decision." With that, he started to walk out.

Emotions bubbled in Brooke's chest. Her thoughts were a jumble of strange nonsensical clumps, but she knew, in that very moment, what she was going to do.

"Wait, Aiken!" He looked back, regret in his eyes, so similar to hers.

"Don't try to convince me, Rook." She shook her head wildly, fair hairs escaping from the red ribbon at the nape of her neck.

"I'm not." She walked towards him, long strides only hindered by the skirt of her dress. "I'm going to join too." His eyes widened, displaying the small brown speck at the very tip of his left iris--the same one that she had. "I'm old enough! The minimum age for joining is 15, right?" She stared into his eyes challengingly. Eventually, he cracked an almost-sad smile.

"That's right. Together til the end, you and me," he said, quoting the promise they had repeated to each other almost daily as children. She smiled and nodded.

The two of them turned back to see their parents smiling at them through tears.

"Oh, Aiken, Brooke. We wouldn't try to stop you. We were going to congratulate you," their father said.

"Heh. Don't congratulate us until we've officially been accepted!" The siblings shared an identical smile. Suddenly, their parents rushed up and embraced them.

"Too late for that," Brooke heard her mother say.

When they disentangled, all four were smiling.

"We'll visit when we can," Brooke supplied. Her mother playfully wagged a finger at her.

"You had better, miss, or I don't care how many soldiers there are, they won't be able to protect you from me!" They laughed and hugged again.

"You'd better pack your bags, love. You'll have to be off soon," her father said. She mocked the salute that she had seen some of the guards do, placing a fist on her puffed chest and the other behind her.

"Yes, sir!" With that, she bounded up the stairs, grinning.