Sibling Rivalry

[Omi]

Marisa's heart twisted, and she grit her teeth. She really could have done without remembering that freighter. God knows what the recovery crew had seen - let alone the poor survivor whom she'd heard screaming and shouting from within.

"We all saw it," she said weakly, feeling utterly useless. "There's- at that point, Mal, there wasn't anything we could have done." The phrase felt so cliché that it hurt, but she had no idea how to otherwise console her brother. In fact, she almost felt like she could do with consoling herself.

"Look," she pressed on, placing her hands on his shoulders and making firm eye contact. "There's no use dwelling on that any more - all right?" Clearly, she was making an effort to sound both reassuring and firm, but even she could tell that it wasn't really working. "All we can do is try an' stop anything like that ever happenin' again as best we can. Y'hear me?"

Sighing heavily, Marisa gave her brother a gentle tug on the shoulder. "C'mon. It's freezing out here," she mumbled, leading the way into the building.

---