“Open up!”
Jaiya pounded on her brother’s apartment door.
“I know you’re in there, Aydin! Open up!” Jaiya growled.
They didn’t have much time, and Jaiya didn’t want to waste what was left of the night dealing with her brother’s bullshit. Too much to be done before they left in the morning.
“Aydin!”
Just as her fist was about to land on his door again, it opened. Jaiya stilled.
“What the Stars, Jaiya?” Aydin hissed, flinching back.
She rolled her eyes and shoved her way past him.
The apartment was a mess. Dress robes and capes were thrown haphazardly all over the furniture. A half-filled bottle of liquor sat next to an empty glass on top of a table scattered with holodisks. Multiple travel cases were spread out on the couch, opened and partially packed.
“Why are you asking me, ‘What the Stars?’ when you are the one with a destroyed apartment?” Jaiya turned toward her brother. “I came here to talk to you about our mission and find you like . . .this?”
His styled black hair was in disarray as he watched her, confused. The top half of his dress shirt was unbuttoned, untucked, and barely covering his boxers.
“Why are you—” He combed his hair back with his fingers and sighed. “What are you talking about?”
“Your mission,” she hissed. “Is nowours. I was just assigned to escort you to the Daextru starbase.”
Aydin jerked his hand away in shock. “What? You can’t!”
“Yes, I can and will, Brother.” Jaiya narrowed her eyes. “You aren’t going to prevent me from going on this mission. It’s the opportunity I have been waiting for to bring honor back to our name. You know how hard I’ve been working to raise my rank.”
“You don’t understand,” he mumbled, turning away. “You can’t come with me.”
“And why not?”
Silence filled the room.
Aydin shook his head and growled in anger, turning away from her.
Jaiya watched as he aggressively shuffled through his belongings. Something troubled him. Her bold brotheralwayshad something to say, which sometimes got him in trouble.
Aydin was always the worrier of the two. Even though they were twins, their appearance was the only thing they shared. While she dreamed about flying a fighter into battle and leading the Cosmic Trinity Alliance to victory, he wished to stay planetside and resolve social issues through laws and treaties.
Their father was disappointed in both of their dreams. He didn’t want either child involved in the military—or dealing with any alien species. Whether it was because of his own personal failures or an attempt to protect them from the war, Jaiya didn’t know. Once they had both chosen their careers, she started to believe it was because their father thought each of them was better suited to the other’s role.
None of her achievements mattered to him. Father’s focus had always been on Aydin and how he could support his life as a diplomat, especially since he was following in their late mother’s footsteps.
Now both of his children had been chosen to fix a twenty-five-year-old mistake.
Jaiya crossed her arms and sighed. “Why can’t I come with you on this mission?”
Aydin dropped the holodisks he was holding onto the table, a loud crash resounded as they clattered in all directions. His face scrunched in anger as he stormed toward her, feet stomping. He clamped his hands onto her shoulders, locking his stormy hazel eyes with hers.
“Don’t you understand?” he hissed. “I am not coming back.” He shook her with each word, as if he tried to drill them into her. “You can’t come with me because this mission was doomed to fail from the beginning.”
“You are being over-dramatic,littlebrother,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. “How are you supposed to succeed with that attitude?”
“Don’t ‘littlebrother’ me, Jaiya,” Aydin grumbled, dropping his hold from her shoulders as he looked away. “Just because you were born first—and eleven minutes before midnight—doesn’t mean you can keep calling me that. We are both adults with respectable careers.” He slumped his shoulders and sighed. “Not that it matters anymore.”
“So, is that how it’s going to be?” Jaiya shoved his chest. “You’re just going to give up now, without even trying? What kind of diplomat are you?”
