family m a t t e r s {kaia/open}

[kaia]

A smile came across Kaia's face at the mention of flying. Even when she had homework, she still sometimes found herself flying around for fun in the afternoons. It was a great stress-reliever for Kaia. "That sounds like an excellent plan," Kaia replied with a firm nod. "I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall in a few minutes."

[sarabi]

"Okay," said Sarabi, a smile coming to her lips for the very first time that day. She questioned the wisdom of sending something like information for a custody hearing at breakfast, to set the mood for a generally awful day, but Sarabi had no control over when her mail came. As quickly as she could, Sarabi made her way up to Gryffindor tower to retrieve her broom, and then wound back down to the Entrance Hall, confident that Kaia would be there waiting already.

[kaia]

Kaia grabbed her broom quickly and then made her way up to the Entrance Hall and waited a few minutes for Sarabi. A smile came across her face as she saw her younger sister. Sarabi seemed to be in a better mood now, holding her broom. "Ready?" Kaia asked, switching her broomstick to the other hand, excited to fly around a bit.

[sarabi]

"Yeah," said Sarabi with a nod, smiling. For once that day she felt good about doing something, rather than aimlessly wandering about the castle feeling sorry for herself. Sarabi figured that as it was still April she couldn't do much of anything- she was going to have to wait until the hearing in June. The mere thought of it made a lump form in Sarabi's throat, but it lessened considerably once they were outside. Once the doors had closed Sarabi mounted her broom and kicked off, hovering a foot or two off the ground. "Race me to the pitch?" said Sarabi, grinning.

[kaia]

Kaia grinned at Sarabi's challenge. She was already on her broom. "Oh, you're on," Kaia said with a wry smile, kicking off from the ground and propelling herself toward the pitch without waiting for Sarabi to say go. Kaia laughed slightly as she flew faster, loving the feeling of flying again. For Kaia, there was really nothing better.

[sarabi]

Sarabi lowered herself closer to her broom, so she was almost laying on it, to increase her speed. She easily caught up with her older sister, a smile on her face the entire way. Once she reached the center of the Quidditch pitch, Sarabi aggressively pulled her broom to a stop, taking a few feet to get completely still. "Too close to call, don't you think?" Sarabi called to her sister.

[kaia]

Kaia pulled herself to sharp stop next to Sarabi. "I don't know," she replied with a shrug, smiling slightly. "I think you might've won." She was grateful that her sister wasn't a seeker at the moment, they were known for being extremely quick on their broomsticks. Kaia didn't think she could quite compete with that, even if she was fairly fast.

[sarabi]

Sarabi grinned, although she had a feeling that Kaia might just be saying that to make her feel better about what was going on. The redhead, however, didn't care what the intentions behind the words were- she already felt as if an immense weight had been taken off of her shoulders by just being in the air. Sarabi flew slowly to get closer to her sister, still smiling. Quickly, she reached over and tapped Kaia on the arm before speeding off again. "You're it!" Sarabi called over her shoulder.

[kaia]

"What?!" Kaia exclaimed, confused for a moment. Then she took off after her sister, bending low on her broom to gain speed as she chased Sarabi around the pitch. But a smile was coming across Kaia's face now and Sarabi looked happier as well. It seemed that flying a little bit was all they needed to feel better.

[sarabi]

Sarabi continued to tear around the pitch in their modified version of tag. She couldn't help but grin, even if the air stung her eyes and whipped her hair just because of the speed that she was going at. The captain had commented a few times that maybe she should try out for seeker the next term, but Sarabi wasn't convinced. She enjoyed being a chaser, Sarabi was comfortable where she was.

[kaia]

Kaia followed Sarabi closely, trying to anticipate her next move. At last when her sister swerved, Kaia cut her off and was able to tag her on the arm. "You're it!" she yelled over the roar of the breeze and then took off in the other direction. A smile crossed Kaia's face again as she bent herself low over her broom. It had been a long while since she had had this much fun. It seemed that the world was being stubbornly depressing; Kaia lived for these moments, they were much better than day-to-day activities, even if she felt slightly immature.

[sarabi]

Sarabi shrieked with laughter as her sister finally caught her, and then immediately took off on Kaia's tail. She knew that it wasn't the best thing in the world, but Kaia was definitely her favourite siblings. None of the others would engage in such activities with her. To tell the truth, she often felt unwanted around the house, sometimes even by her own mother. Maybe she wasn't supposed to be there... Sarabi shook those thoughts from her mind and continued to chase her older sister around the Quidditch pitch.

[kaia]

Turned the other direction, Kaia did not see the brief moment of self-doubt on Sarabi's face. She heard Sarabi's laughter though and propelled herself faster, laughing as well. She suddenly wished this moment would never end. It was a great break from everything else that had been going on. Kaia enjoyed the moment of bliss. She zig-zagged fiercely, looking out of the corner of her eye to see how close Sarabi was to catching her.

[sarabi]

Sarabi, after focusing more on catching her sister, decided to go for a different approach. She flew lower, until she was able to get beneath her elder sister, who was still looking from side-to-side instead of up or down. She grinned once she got into range and was finally able to tap her sister's ankle. "You're it," Sarabi shouted, and then immediately turned herself around and started flying in the other direction.

[kaia]

"Dang it!" Kaia yelled after Sarabi tapped her on the ankle. She hadn't expected her younger sister to sneak up from beneath her; it had been rather a good idea. Quickly turning around, Kaia shot off again after Sarabi, beginning to laugh once more and planning how she might catch her little sister this time.