Can you promise me something?

After Leah had arrived, she stayed with Lyssandra at the hospital almost twenty-four seven.

She may have been the top student at the police academy, and the most favoured to be scouted by the violent crimes department, but Leah was still only a fifteen year old girl that had recently lost her parents.

The guilt of being late to be by her sister's side was eating away at her conscious, while the pain of grief was consuming her soul. The only reason why she had not gone insane, was because her little sister needed her, now more than ever.

Her poor baby sister was the one who had to go through the experience first-hand; only Lyssandra knew what she had seen that day, but it would have still been traumatic no matter what she saw.

Leah could only pray that her baby sister would not torture herself with what she remembered, helpless against the suffering she could not even imagine.

Going back to their family home, knowing that neither of the people they wanted to see the most would be there, was something Leah couldn't bare to even think about, and she hated the thought of leaving Lyssandra's side - as if to make up for the fact that she had left her alone for over a week after the incident.

It took Leah two weeks before she had the courage to go to the family home and pack clothes and food for Lyssandra.

Leah looked up at the door of the home that their parents had worked so hard to buy when Leah was still a baby, and Lyssandra's first home since the day she was born.

The couple had designed and decorated every single aspect of the two story, decently sized house in order to make it a home for their two girls to live in, in the future.

Only, no one expected that future to be so soon.

She couldn't even bring herself to open the dark brown, oak door, as the memory of her father bragging about how he had designed the door and forged the hinges himself, flashed through her mind.

The teenager broke down in sobs, falling into a crouch on the porch step with her head buried into her arms. Leah spent over an hour crying by the front door, before finally finding the courage to walk through the house.

Memories of their childhood haunted every corner of every room; phantoms of the birthdays celebrated, fights that had erupted, and even the simplest happy memory of all four of them cuddling together on the couch to watch movies, floated around Leah as she took each step.

She stood in front of their room, the door left slightly ajar. She could see the room through the gap, the clothes hanging off both desk chairs and files of paper neatly organised along the walls beside their desks.

Taking a deep breath, Leah only stood still, listening to memories of keys tapping rapidly as the two of them worked on their cases, even at home.

Amidst the painful flashbacks, Leah dragged herself around, packing clothes for Lyssandra and herself, along with essentials, before heading to the kitchen to clear out any rotten food and packing whatever was salvageable from the last meals their parents had made. All she could do was focus on her task, otherwise she would never be able to stop mourning their beloved mother and father's deaths.

The stifling silence was broken by Leah's ringtone, and she hurriedly answered, sniffling as she put the phone to her ear.

"Uncle Ryder," her voice was hoarse as she greeted him, making him pause.

"Are you still at home?" He asked, his gentle tone comforting the young lady as she continued to sniffle.

"Yeah, I'm just sorting out the kitchen. Some of the food needed to be thrown away."

"Alright. I'll be there to pick you up in about fifteen minutes, so just wait for me there. Did you manage to pack everything?"

Leah could hear the sound of a car door closing through the phone.

"Un. I've got everything. I'll wait for you outside."

"Alright. I'll be there soon."

The two cut the line, before Leah shuffled around the house once more, gathering all the bags and food towards the door as she tried to control her tears.

She was going back to Lyssandra now, and she couldn't go back crying.

Leah waited for Ryder, who quickly pulled up in his black ford focus, the brother car of her father's. The two men had bought their prized cars together, but now Ryder's car had lost it's matching partner.

The two bundled everything into the car before driving back to the hospital, discussing the funeral on the way. Ryder had also been helping to arrange the funeral for Vincent and Lydia, organising it a month after the crash, so that Lyssandra was able to attend, even if she was bound to a wheelchair and IV drip the entire time.

"It's gonna get easier." He suddenly said, confusing Leah as she looked towards him. "Walking back into that house, I mean."

At his words, Leah went silent. After a moment, she sighed as she slouched into her seat and whispered,

"I sure hope so."

One month later, Lyssandra was finally able to speak again, albeit very painfully and quietly. Ryder had come to visit the girls at the hospital with several other police officers that had worked with their parents.

All of them were in black and had a piece of black tape covering their badges as a sign of mourning. They had come to explain the funeral procession to Leah, and how they would make it so that Lyssandra would be able to leave straight for the hospital if something went wrong during the lengthy service.

Although her throat was much better, and the cuts and bruises on her skin had mostly faded, Lyssandra still had her casts and bandages around her head, so everyone around her was still treating her like a fragile doll that could break at any moment.

A few days later, Lyssandra was being wheeled out of the hospital in a simple black dress, her casts and bandages wrapped with black cloth so they stood out less.

Ryder lead both Leah and Lyssandra towards a black SUV, but as soon as Lyssandra saw the car approach the group in the car park, she refused to get in it, almost crying hysterically at the sight of a car similar to the one that killed their parents and almost killed her.

Quickly, Ryder arranged a different black car to escort them to the funeral venue.

Once there, the two sisters were surprised to see reporters trying to capture photos along a barricade with guards, as well as the sheer number of officers and people that had come to pay their respects.

The funeral itself was a long procession, with full police escorts for both Vincent and Lydia Cane. The two sisters spent the entire time side by side, holding hands as they stood, or sat by their parents' caskets alongside the officers keeping vigil, thanking the people who came.

Those that had a particularly close relationship to Vincent and Lydia, such as their teammates and fellow officers in the violent crimes department, had spent a particularly long time giving them their respects.

The two girls, especially Lyssandra, were the focus of their sympathy as they all looked at her with a certain look that the young girl had noticed, but couldn't understand why she was at the receiving end of such looks.

It was as if they knew something but were skilled enough to direct the flow of conversation to a different topic.

Finally, it was time for the eulogy, and Lyssandra had specifically asked to be the one to do it. Although she could barely talk, she had spent the entire night prior, writing out a speech that Leah would read out loud for her.

Silence filled the entire venue, as every member of the procession watched Lyssandra being wheeled up to the stage and sat in the middle, while Leah walked to the podium, her trembling hands clutching her sister's speech.

She had not been allowed to read through it until it was time to say it, so she had not been able to prepare her heart for the words her nine-year-old sister had written.

Her words had brought everyone present to tears within the first two sentences, and Leah could not continue reading.

Ryder had just managed to catch her before her legs gave out, not even being able to say the words Lyssandra had worked so hard to write.

Regaining her balance, Leah immediately ran towards her sister in the middle of the stage and knelt in front of her, wrapping her arms around the small girl's waist and sobbing into her lap.

Slightly flustered, Ryder looked towards the girls, only to freeze at Lyssandra's gaze. Her eyes held the gentle gaze that he had only ever seen in Lydia's eyes before.

It was the gaze she had always given him when she was asking him to do something difficult and felt sorry for it.

Suddenly realising what she wanted him to do, Ryder took in a deep breath and braced himself as he stepped up to the podium and smoothed out the paper that Leah had crinkled in her grip.

With a strong voice, he read each word out loud as Lyssandra comforted her elder sister. The little girl sat up straight in her wheelchair as she stroked Leah's head that was buried in her lap, the sight of which both bewildered the audience, and garnered their admiration.

How could such a little girl have written such heart-wrenching and heart-warming words at the same time? Her resolute figure looked determined as she stared at the two caskets displayed in front of the stage with her chin held high.

"From now on, I'll tell myself that the reason I was the only one to survive, was because both of my parents wished for me to live before they died. That they both wished I would stay with my sister, as I stared into their eyes before they were engulfed in flames. That it wasn't my fault they died.

"That is what I must and will tell myself, so that I may live the life they gave me, without any regrets, because that was the kind of people that they were. They were the kind of people that wanted to help those in need, those who couldn't protect themselves, those who needed someone with the courage to step in and help.

"Vincent and Lydia Cane held their oaths to protect and save others without any regard to themselves, to the very end, because when I looked into my father's eyes seconds before the car exploded, he was holding my mother's hand and telling me to live.

"My parents were my heroes. My angels. My reason to live. I owe them my life, twice, and I must live twice as happily because of it."

Ryder's voice had long lost the initial strength he had started with, and had delivered the final few paragraphs with a much quieter, slightly quivering tone.

The words Lyssandra had written shocked everyone, as they looked up at the girl who had closed her eyes, tears slowly rolling down her pale, sunken cheeks.

The fact that she had clearly seen the entire crash, and even the moment Vincent and Lydia were burned to death, stunned the entire venue as their hearts went out to the young girl.

But Lyssandra had not been looking for pity or sympathy when she had written that speech. Instead, she was declaring her resolution to live on, despite the trauma and grief, in order to fulfil her parents' final wish. She would learn to live happily and healthy, just as she had promised Ryder.

"Lyssa, I'm so sorry." Leah heaved into her lap, her worst fear of Lyssandra having seen their parents die in front of her eyes being confirmed by her sister's words wrecked her. Her baby sister should have never had to experience anything like that, and the fact that Lyssandra was so resolute in her oath to live even after that, made Leah feel like she was completely and utterly powerless against the gods that were determined to make the innocent Lyssandra suffer.

"Leah," Lyssandra's quiet voice made Leah look up, her face a mess after her sobbing into Lyssandra's lap. "I'm okay."

Leah gazed up at the tiny smile on her little sister's face, and her heart suddenly found a resolve of it's own: she would protect this child no matter what.

Just like what their parents had done, Leah would sacrifice herself to make sure that this incredibly strong, precious child would live a long, happy life.

After the ceremony and procession was finished, the sun had already long set. Lyssandra and Leah sat in front of the two gravestones, silently staring at the names beautifully carved into the stones.

"Lyssa, will you promise me something?" Leah's soft voice broke the silence of the night, and Lyssandra looked up at her sister.

"Survive every year, until your birthday. Live every day happily and survive until your birthday, then every year you renew that promise. Can you do that?" Leah asked, gripping her sister's hand and she looked at their parents graves.

Lyssandra stared at Leah for a while, wondering why she had to make a promise like that when she had already made an oath to follow their parents' wishes and live on. She wondered if she had not been clear enough about her intentions earlier, but she was sure her message had been portrayed correctly.

Lyssandra didn't understand that Leah only wanted to make sure she wouldn't forget the oath she had made, no matter how difficult times would inevitably become in the future.

After thinking silently for a while, Lyssandra finally turned to face the graves as well and nodded slightly.

"I promise. I'll live happily and survive until my birthday."