The day seemed to be longer than usual. The unusual twist and turn of events, filled with surprises at every corner made Juliette extremely alert and conscious of her surroundings. Her eyes constantly flickered towards the compartment door through which her brother Vincent disappeared a few minutes ago.

"Young Lady, would you like to have anything to drink or eat?" the soft voice of the air hostess broke her out of the reverie.

"Um..is it ok.ay to..have a cup of..water?" the young girl posed the question with a look of hesitancy in her eyes.

"Sure, I would get you a cup of water immediately," the air hostess politely walked away after giving a small smile followed by a slight bow.

Juliette's eyes widened at the gesture. With a small shrug, her eyes travelled towards her bay window. The floating clouds in the bright blue sky and sun shining brightly through her window calmed down her jittery heart. Her body felt tired and painful but too many thoughts were racing in her brain, keeping her away from falling asleep.

'I hope my brothers would like me,' the single thought resonated continuously in her heart.

The sudden opening of the compartment door startled the young girl slightly, as she looked at her elder brother Vincent entering with a laptop in his hand.

"Is everyth..ing alright?" Juliette stuttered out meekly, as she felt a mild tension radiating off of him.

His shoulders dropped down and relaxed as soon as he heard the worried tone in his sister's voice.

"Everything is fine, my dear sister. You are very meek like a rabbit. As the trip was planned on short notice we had to face quite a lot of issues. But don't worry our lives aren't this dramatic on a daily basis," a small teasing smile formed on his face as he stared at the bulging eyes of his sister filled with concern

A small smile blossomed on the young girl's face as she looked at his brother. The carefree attitude, combined with a confident yet casual smile on his face created a small sense of trust and dependency on the young girl's heart.

A small knock was heard on the service door, with a quick command from Vincent the air hostess created a delicious spread containing cookies, cake, water and milkshake on their table.

"Please ring the bell near your seat for any assistance or query," the air hostess reminded the star-struck Juliette gently and walked towards the exit with yet another bow towards both the masters in the compartment.

"Is this all for..me?" the girl nervously stuttered out towards her brother.

Vincent looked at his wide-eyed sister who seemed to be shocked by the food in front of her. His eyes immediately softened, and he slowly sat opposite to her.

"Of course! We weren't sure on what you would like. So..." her brother trailed off while giving an explanatory look towards the spread.

The little girl's cheeks blazed with a pink tint to it. Never had she ever experienced such a situation in her life, and this seemed to put her in a state of complete confusion and happiness at the same time.

Picking up the glass of water and a cookie in her hand, she slowly began munching on it.

A soft chuckle echoed along the cabin. She immediately stopped eating and looked at her brother, who had his gaze on her with a look of mirth and happiness in his eyes.

"Um... I am sorry..I should have shared...with you," With a look of embarrassment she picked the cookie and held it to her brother.

"Eat." she muttered softly. Her beaded eyes shining brightly as she looked at him in anticipation holding the cookies, in front of his face.

The soft chuckles turned into full blown laughter, as Vincent couldn't control himself from laughing at his sister's antics. The small girl was so embarrassed that her completely flushed face fell slightly.

"I don't like sweets," he managed to blurt it out while laughing at the same time.

While gazing at the slightly fallen face of his sister, Vincent quickly snapped out of it and slowly patted her head.

"Princesses don't hold their heads down," he informed softly while clearing his throat.

"I am...not one," the young girl stuttered out, while still looking down.

"Ah, but that's where you are wrong Ju. In our family, you are our precious youngest. You would be given the attention and respect of a princess. Our princess," Vincent said fondly while gazing at her with a soft look in his eyes.

Seeing the unresponsive form of his sister, Vincent slowly picked the cookie from her hands and took a small bite out of it.

The young girl slowly peeped and looked at his brother eating the cookie with absolute difficulty.

"Do you hate cookies?" she pondered, "You dont need to eat them if you dont like it," she insisted meekly, while Vincent bit down the complete cookie and swallowed it down with water.

"I'm done," he smiled triumphantly. "It tasted...so good," he added with a suspicious pause.

"But...you looked like you hated it," she blurted out hesitantly. The look of pure confusion and innocence in the girl's eyes bought a content smile on Vincent's face.

"I'm glad we found you Juliette Ricci."

******************************************************************

Waiting for clearance from the ground patrol to ensure the security as we are entering the airport runway.

Julie was startled at the sight of around thirty people waiting at the base of the airplane. Each of them looked like highly trained soldiers with their arms tied behind and a strict pose.

"That are ...lot of... cars... and a ..lot of people...," she stuttered out as she looked at the impenetrable barrier created by the soldier-like guards, all of whom had their gazes trained on the ground

"Don't be scared. It's just for safety reasons. I am here. I will always be here to keep you safe sister," Vincent spoke softly, calming her down with his sole presence and reassurance.

One look at his eyes, and she knew he was speaking the truth.

"Promise?" a raw look of hope was seen in her eyes.

"It a vow, little Ju. The moment I got to meet you, I knew I will always do anything to keep you safe."

With a small smile Julie tightly gripped on her brother's arms, and the pair of siblings slowly walked down the flight of stairs towards their heavily armed cars.

"And, I am not...little," a soft sassy mutter followed by a chuckle was heard along the wind.

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(1100 words)

Hello guys! It's been quite a while. I am sorry about going MIA on you guys. It wasn't intentional. But, life happened and I wasn't in the right mind space to think or continue writing the story.

But, I'm back now. I would not be abandoning this story ever, and would obviously try to give faster updates and finish it up. I love Juliette, and hope you guys come around to loving this story as much as I do.

Thank you to all of you, who have waited patiently for the story's update.



Comment down your thoughts about the chapter.

Also, would you guys generally prefer to read an intense mafia story world building or a mellow warm sibling based story?