“You're really milking this for all it's worth, aren't you?” Shana said with a sulky look on her face, her head resting on the table between her crossed arms.

“Oh, come on! There's no need to be such a jerk! They're a nice and sweet reminder of a happy moment, don't you think?” Maya said as she looked at the various photos that showed her and her older sister sleeping together, holding each other.

“Well... yes. But... do you really have to look so damn smug?” Shana replied, pointing at Emily, who was wearing a smug smile as she prepared lunch.

“And why not? When am I going to get the chance to see you looking so vulnerable and adorable again? I have to make the most of it!” Emily said with a laugh as she added the salt and took a taste of what she was cooking.

“Every day? Now that we're finally back to being full-time sisters, I'm going to make up for all the time we've missed together! From now on, we will have cuddles every single day!” Maya said confidently as she lovingly caressed the photo, causing Shana to cringe.

“Hell no! That was a one-time thing! A moment of weakness! I have no intention of doing this every single goddamn day!” Shana said in a panic, crossing her arms into an X.

“Eh...? Why not? You said you love me, right?” Maya said in a tearful tone, looking at her with puppy eyes.

Caught off guard, Shana jumped to her feet, worried that she might have upset her little sister, and tried to make up for her faux pas.

“Of course I do! This is only natural! I just wanted to say-" but a flash of light cut her off and she turned around to see that Emily had just taken another picture of her with her cell phone, “Can you fucking not?!”

“Um... no.” Emily replied, pretending to give it some thought before just snapping another picture.

“You dumb bitch... anyway, what the hell are you doing?” Shana said as she sat back with her arms crossed and her legs stretched out, looking at Emily with a pout on her face.

“Cooking?” Emily replied absent-mindedly, rummaging through a drawer before she pulled out a long wooden spoon.

“I know you're cooking! I'm neither blind nor stupid!” Shana said angrily, rolling her eyes.

“Then why did you ask?” Emily asked in a confused tone as she stirred the contents of the pot on the stove.

“I meant that! What are you making?” Shana said, stretching out both arms and pointing at the pot.

“Oh, that's what you mean! I'm making... something to eat, of course!” Emily replied, biting down on her cheeks to keep herself from laughing in Shana's face as she rubbed her hand over her face in desperation, “Where did the polite and kind to a fault Barbie go...?”

“Gone. Reduced to atoms.” Jane replied with a sour look on her face.

Her smile fading, Emily rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, "What are you pouting about? I thought we patched things up."

"Huh? You patched things up? Why? Did something happen?" Maya asked, wondering why Jane was so grumpy.

"Well, nothing really happened. We just had a talk, and--" Emily started to elaborate, but Jane cut her off.

"Emily just kept yelling in my face..." Jane whined, looking miserable, "and she even said that she was going to put a collar on me!"

"Th-there's context behind that! I swear!" Emily frantically tried to explain, but Shana, who smelled blood in the water, decided to use it to make up for all the teasing she had been getting.

“Seriously, Barbie? Now you're pickin' on the mini gnome? And all that kinky shit, too? And here I was thinkin' you were a good girl! Maybe... Maybe I am the nicest one around here now, huh?" Shana asked her, tapping her chin thoughtfully, although the grin on her face made it clear that she was just pretending.

"S-shut up..." Emily muttered as she realized that the tables had been turned on her.

"The only thing for sure is that I'm the most mature person here..." Maya commented with a shake of her head, drawing a snort of laughter from all three of them, "What are you guys laughing at?"

"All kidding aside," Shana continued, ignoring Maya's protests, "why are you so obsessed with making me lunch? What's the big deal?"

Looking at the water and seeing it boiling, Emily went to the pantry and grabbed a box of pasta, "Someone as athletic as you need to eat healthy, nutritious food, not the junk you find in fast food."

She took the box, walked back to the stove, grabbed a pair of scissors, and opened the box before pouring the contents into the pot, “This is something that I've been wanting to do for quite a while, and now I finally have the chance to do it.”

“Hang on! Wait a damn second!” Shana made a 'T' with her hands and called a time-out, “What do you mean by 'before'? When you used to hate me?”

Emily lowered her head sadly, “I'm still sorry about that... I-”

“Who gives a fuck about that? I deserve it and it's what I wanted anyway.” Shana dismissed the topic with a wave of her hand, “My point is... You hated me. But you still wanted to make sure that I ate well?”

“...yes?” Emily replied, not quite understanding what the problem was, “Was that inappropriate?”

Shana let out a long sigh and leaned back in her chair in lieu of an answer, “Never mind what I said earlier... You're a freakin' saint.”

“Thank you?” Emily said, confused, before she resumed cooking.

Maya spent the next fifteen minutes, while the food was being prepared, drawing up a long and complex plan to make up for all of the time she had lost with her sister.

She also proceeded to completely shut down all of Shana's unnecessary remarks, such as the fact that sleeping an hour a week was not feasible, or the fact that wearing a diaper was no substitute for going to the bathroom.

By the time Emily finally brought the dishes to the table, Shana was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. Fortunately for her, the food was enough of a distraction for Maya to give her some breathing room.

Picking up her fork, Shana tasted the food in front of her.  After a couple of bites, she gave a nod of approval, “That shit's good…”

“Of course it is! Emily made it!” Maya answered proudly, her chest swelling with pride.

“What the hell are you so proud of...? This isn't your doing…” Shana muttered with a shake of her head before taking another bite.

When they were all done eating, Emily made tea for herself and Maya, and a coffee for Shana. Then she got some milk from the fridge and poured it for Maya, who thanked her with a smile that she returned in kind.

When she sat down again, she poured some milk for herself and while she stirred it with her spoon, she looked at Shana who was silently looking at her cup, “Hm? What's wrong Shana? Do you want some sugar? Sorry, I didn't ask you…”

Shaking her head, Shana picked up her cup, “No, no, I like it just as black as I am. It's just…”

She raised the cup to her mouth and took a sip from it before setting it back down on the table, “Why are we acting like we're buddies? It was only this morning that you thought I was the scum of the earth, and now it seems like nothing has happened at all!”

“What the heck, big sis? Where–” Maya started to speak before Emily put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head, stopping her in her tracks before turning her attention to Shana.

“Because most of the accusations I made against you were either wrong or a misunderstanding on my part. I can't continue to hate you for things you haven't done or aren't responsible for.” she said with a sigh, before taking a sip of her tea. “It's just not fair. Not to you or to anyone else.”

“And what about all the things I did?” Shana pressed, pointing at Jane, “Or have you forgotten how I tried to stop you from saving her when Suki was about to devour her?”

Emily sucked her lips at that one, which was actually still an unresolved issue, but Jane made her voice heard, “Since I am the one directly involved, I guess I should answer that, right?”

“Indeed.” Shana nodded, watching her intently.

Taking another bite of the piece of pasta she had been given, Jane took a moment to think before gulping down and answering… with another question, "Let me ask you: Why did you do that?"

“Who the hell gives a damn what the reason is!” Shana snapped angrily, “If Emily hadn't gotten away from me, you'd be dead right now! All because of me! What kind of a justification could there possibly be for that?

“You seem much more upset about it than I do!” Jane chuckled and ate another mouthful.

“Well, someone has to be, since you don't seem to be taking it very seriously!” Shana replies, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I see that you've avoided answering what I asked.” Jane replied, getting to her feet and dusting off her dress before she gave Shana a look of determination, “But I prefer it like this! Now the time has come for me to reveal the truth!”

“What the hell are you doin'?” Shana said in a confused tone, raising a questioning eyebrow, drawing a sigh from Emily, “Sorry about her... She had become a bit obsessed with crime shows on TV...”

“These are great stories, Emily! Now be quiet, please! I'm about to unveil my discoveries!” Jane admonished Emily before she cleared her voice and tried to put on a straight face.

With her arms folded behind her back, Jane began pacing back and forth on her plate, “While yesterday's revelations had given me a lot of clues, they had also been a source of great confusion for me. There were a lot of things that had happened over the past few days that didn't make sense in this new context. But after a long night of contemplation, I finally managed to put all the details in the right place!”

There was a snort and an eye roll from Shana, but Jane continued, “First of all! If it's true that she did it all for Maya, why would she do something that would destroy their relationship forever?”

Maya leaned forward, curious to know, “That's actually a good question... Why did you do that?”

She addressed the question to Shana, but instead of answering, she looked at Jane with a suspicious frown on her face, “Yes, why did I do that? Got a response, Sherlock?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Jane replied proudly, smiling as she said this, “And I'm pretty sure it's the right answer!”

Trying to shove her hands into the pockets of her coat, only to remember that she wasn't wearing one, Jane took a moment to feel sorry for herself before continuing, “I admit it's been hard, and it's only based on the information I've gathered by listening to you and watching TV, but it all makes sense when you connect the dots.”

"It was Maya's future, not her present, that was important to you." she said as she turned to face Maya, who was looking back at her, "If you could ensure that, then things like your relationship with her would be of secondary importance, if not irrelevant. Am I correct?"

Shana just grunted and looked away.

“You also said yesterday that you trust Emily with Maya because you know she will take care of her. Will you confirm that?”

“Yeah, yeah, but what of it? Get to the goddamn point!” Shana said angrily, her cheeks darkening with embarrassment.

“You're getting mad... Which means I'm right!” Jane said with a chuckle as she turned to look at Emily, who was thinking about the matter as well.

“The reason you did what you did is... to protect Emily!" Jane exclaimed as she spread her arms wide open, leaving everyone in a state of shock.

“Me?!” Emily said in disbelief as Shana jumped to her feet and slammed her hands down on the table, “This is bullshit! Why the fuck should I care about her?”

"Because otherwise..." Jane replied, getting back to her feet with a groan of pain from the impact, causing Shana to recoil slightly with guilt, "Maya would have been on her own..."

"Jane! Are you all right?" Emily panicked, picking Jane up in her hands and bringing her closer to her eyes for a closer inspection, but Jane waved away her concerns, "I was just surprised, nothing serious. Don't worry yourself. Now, can you put me down, please?"

After a moment's hesitation, Emily decided to do as Jane asked and placed her back on the table. However, looking at Shana with a mixture of curiosity and doubt, she asked a question of her own, “But protecting me from what? She was the only one who was a threat to me.”

“From what I have seen on television, you humans have a group called the 'police' who are responsible for protecting people... even from each other.” Jane replied as she straightened up her back, “So you could have been in a lot of trouble if you had gone after Suki and hurt her in any way.”

“But she wanted to eat you!” Emily replied with outrage.

“And that would not have meant anything to anyone but you and Maya.” Jane let out a sigh and shook her head, “And even if they did, what kind of proof would you have?”

Emily nodded silently, admitting that she was right... but she didn't let it go, "But I ended up attacking her anyway! So it wasn't all for nothing?"

“Well, not exactly,” Jane was quick to point out.

“Not only did you attack without leaving any marks, which makes it hard to prove, but even how she felt about getting attacked was different!” she explained as she pointed at Shana, “She saw you break free from Shana's grip, someone strong and whom she feared, before you attacked her. This clearly portrayed you as someone not to be underestimated or angered... Exactly how you wanted it, didn't you, Shana?”

Both Emily and Maya suddenly turned to look at Shana, who sat back down and let out a deep sigh as she bowed her head, “Ahh... cut the crap. I was just going to let you get eaten. You are only alive because of Emily.”

“I have no doubt that's the case,” Jane said as she went over to Shana and stood right before her, looking straight into her eyes, "But... Can you please tell me how an athlete like you could be so easily outrun by a little girl?"

Shana scratched her head and turned away, “She had caught me off-guard. I hadn't had a chance to catch up…”

“Enough with the lies!” Jane yelled, stomping her foot in frustration, "I was looking right at you the whole time Maya was running off with me. It would have been easy for you to catch up with her before we were even halfway there! But you didn't. Why was that?”

Shana looked around, saw everyone staring at her, and sighed in defeat, “Okay, fine, I'll fucking admit it! When I saw that Maya was willing to risk a beating for your sake, I didn't want to be the one to be the one to stop her. I mean, what good would it do?”

As she rubbed her face with her hands, she went on, “Killing you would have been pointless. Just senseless cruelty. I just couldn't.”

Maya let out a squeal of delight. Emily muttered Shana's name in astonishment. And with a satisfied smile on her face, Jane clapped her hands together, “She confessed everything! Case closed!”

Then Jane felt Emily looking at her, “...what?”

“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking that there are other things that you have kept me in the dark about. I guess we are going to have to have a round 2 of our conversation soon...” Emily said, rubbing her forehead in irritation.

Frightened, Jane turned to Shana with a whimper, “H-help me...?”

“You reap what you sow.” Shana replied, refusing to help her before getting up, “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go. There is something I have to do.”

“Huh? Like what?” Maya asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

“Like having a little chat with dear slant-eye, of course.” Shana replied as she made her way out of the kitchen, “After all, I have already humiliated myself up to this point. What is a little bit more?”