“Rain, it’s good to see you!” called the cheerful voice of Ms. River the moment Rain appeared in the now familiar pub.

 

“Hi Ms. Ver! I’m great.”

 

“Well, take a seat, and I’ll get you something to eat.”

 

Ms. River had changed a lot since Rain had first met the woman. She used to be small and hunched like she was trying to disappear. But now she stood proudly. Her body had even changed, gaining a lot more curves, and her face would now be perfect for an actress. 

 

The odd part was that Rain didn’t think Ms. River knew she was changing. The transformation had been slow, and when Rain last asked about it, Ms. River seemed confused. 

 

“Has your dream gotten bigger? I think I could go to one of the buildings across the street if I wanted to.”

 

Ms. River beamed at that, placing a bowl of grain and mushroom soup in front of Rain along with a plate of wnop: the sweet brown jelly Rain loved so much. 

 

“It has! I don’t even have to change my dream to go places now; it makes this place feel more real. Sometimes, I even meet people I don’t remember creating.”

 

Rain thanked her for the food before chowing down. The fact that Ms. River’s dream world was growing was kinda cool. It made Rain wonder how much Ms. River would be able to expand other skills she picked up.

 

“Ms. Ver, can I ask you something?”

 

“Of course, I don’t know if I’m the best person to ask, but feel free!”

 

Rain fidgeted on her stool as she tried to figure out how to ask her question.

 

“How do… What does it take to be a big sister?"

 

Before Ms. River could say anything, Rain plowed on.

 

“You see, I have a sister now, and she’s only a little younger than me, but she’s also getting taller than me now, and she wants to be my maid, so she brings me my food and cleans our rooms. I told her I don’t want her to be my maid, but she insists, and I can’t tell her no and…” Rain trailed off, feeling lost.

 

“Sounds like you two get along well, so um, why do you feel like you need to be the big sister? Er, if you don't mind me asking. You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

 

Rain gave that a good thought. Why did she want to be Ise’s big sister so bad?

 

“Well… because I would see other kids, and there would always be one who was the big sibling. They would look out for the others. I remember watching them and wishing they would do that for me. That I could feel like someone strong was protecting me. And now that I see Ise, I don’t ever want her to feel like that. I want to make sure that she always feels like someone is looking out for her. The idea of being the person I wished I had in my life for someone else is exciting.”

 

As Rain hesitantly put words to her emotions and thoughts, the reason she felt so strongly about being a big sister became clearer. She had Lucus to look out for her. As grumpy as he could sometimes be, he was also thoughtful, like when he gave her Snow. Now that Rain had that kind of relationship in her life, she wanted to make sure Ise had it, too. 

 

Once she understood that, what Rain needed to do to be a good big sister became clear.

 

“Thanks, Ms. Ver. I think I understand now.”

 

Ms. River chuckled. “I didn’t say anything. It looks like you just needed to talk it out.”

 

Rain grinned, a little chagrined at asking for advice only to tell herself what she needed to know.

 

“Sorry about wasting your time. And oh right, did you feel a new connection?”

 

“I did! Who is it? I can’t wait to meet someone new!”

 

“That's my little sister. I promised to take her with me so she could be a part of what I do. Can you bring her in here when it's safe?”

 

“Ohh, I get to meet the little sister so soon! Of course, I’ll bring her in!”

 

Rain had rarely seen Ms. River so excited. The older woman looked like she was being given a present, and for a moment, Rain worried.

 

“You aren't going to do anything that could get her hurt, are you?”

 

“Of course not!”

 

The aghast look on Ms. River’s face matched the color of her words. Good. Rain had used her truth sight to interrogate Ms. River and Mr. Mirage thoroughly, and they both were incredibly loyal to her. Still, it was a good idea to continue to check them to make sure. They both knew too much to be allowed to betray her.

 

After that, Rain ate and waited for Ise to fall asleep. It was taking her a surprisingly long time to do. Rain usually could fall asleep in a few minutes, but it had already been over half an hour, and nothing had happened. So Rain found herself watching Ms. River interact with her dream people. She knew most of them by name, and they all seemed to have history with each other. 

 

Did these dream people have their own memories, or was Ms. River controlling them, making them act like puppets on a stage? 

 

The thought of puppets broke Rain out of her contemplation. She could handle screaming books, macabre sculptures, and the insanity that embodied her library, but puppets were too much. Those things were creepy.

 

As Rain pondered the virtue of eradicating all puppets, Sunrise finally fell asleep, and both Rain and Ms. River felt it.

 

“I’m bringing her in.” Ms. River called from where she was serving drinks to a table of muscular men in tight-fitting clothes.

 

“Okay!” Rain called back, excited to share this part of her life.

 

A moment later, Sunrise stood at the pub's entrance with a slightly dazed expression. The moment she saw Rain, though, her face cleared up. 

 

“Woah, this is a dream? It feels so real!”

 

“Thank you for the compliment.”

 

Sunrise snapped her attention to Ms. River at the unexpected reply to her outburst.

 

“Who are you?” She was a lot more guarded with Ms. River.

 

“I’m a friend of your sister. She told me a lot about you. I’m excited to get a chance to meet you.”

 

“Same.”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“Um, your sister is really cool.”

 

“Isn’t she! She’s also super pretty!”

 

“I know I love her black hair; it's pretty and gives her that mysterious look.”

 

And like that, the two girls built up momentum until their conversation was unstoppable. Rain was glad to see it. Ms. River might be the first person besides Rain that Ise seemed to genuinely get along with. That alone was a good enough reason to bring Ise here.

 

After a few minutes, Rain was forced to butt into their conversation so she could get some things done.

 

“Ms. River, will Mr. Mirage be sleeping any time soon?”

 

“Wha? Oh, right, let me think. I would guess he’ll be asleep in around seven hours.”

 

“Okay, thanks! You really need to teach me how you got so good at guessing when people will be sleeping sometime. I’m going to go for now. I’ll be back to talk with Mr. Mirage later. You two can keep talking without me.”

 

Rain was about to leave when Ms. River called to her to wait. Rain did, watching as Ms. River whispered back and forth with Sunrise. Nothing either said was a lie, but Rain wished she could hear them. 

 

“Alright, never mind.” Ms River called.

 

“Bye, big sis!”

 

Those three words hit Rain hard. Sunrise had never called her that before, but now that she had, Rain realized how good it felt.

 

Rain rushed over and hugged Ise.

 

“See you later, little sis.”

 

Rain didn’t miss the satisfied smirk on Ms. River’s face.