“Kak Dra!” 

Chandra looked up as she walked through her sister’s door. Kartika was smiling at her from where she was standing inside, neatly draping her wedding clothes on the bed. Her wedding kebàyas were lined up neatly across the sheets and Kartika was placing them into their protective clothes covers, arranging them in the order she would need them.

Chandra returned Kartika’s smile and closed the door of the kos. “Hi, Tik. You need any help?”

“Nah, I’m almost finished.” Kartika tucked one of the sequined kebàyas into its protective clothes cover. “How have you been? Did you have a good dinner with Kak Kyra the other day?”

“Ahh, I did.” So her sister remembered. Chandra plopped her backpack down on the floor. “It was really nice to hang out with her again. She brought me to that newly renovated place with all the cafes.”

“Near the old ball fields?” Kartika hummed in recognition. “That’s a great place to hangout after sunset. And how is she doing?”

Chandra smiled quietly to herself as she placed the food she bought on the table. “She’s doing well. She’s preparing to finish her master’s degree.”

“Her master’s degree!” Kartika gasped, looking up briefly as she laid down a batik long-cloth on the bed. “Oh, I hope it goes well for her. Does she still like making those homemade fruit jams?”

Chandra gave her sister a curious look. “She does, yeah. She actually gave me some pepaya jam if you wanna try some later. I also brought saté and we can eat once you’re finished.

“Ah!” Kartika snapped her head up. “Oh my god, I almost forgot about dinner! Thank you for getting us food.”

“No problem.” Chandra smiled and went over to the bed, looking over her sister’s shoulder. “You have everything ready for this weekend?” 

“I think so.” Kartika surveyed her wedding clothes. “I just need to make sure nothing happens to them until then, which shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Ah, that reminds me—your outfit is also here!” She went to an unsorted pile of dry-cleaned clothes on the bed.

Chandra glanced at Kartika’s five sets of wedding clothes in the meantime. It was a beautiful mix of fabric, batik cloth, and sequins that Chandra usually only saw during big celebrations like weddings. Each attire was unique in its own purpose.

The simplest was for the siraman, the cleansing ceremony, a beautiful batik long-cloth that would be wrapped around Kartika’s chest and fall to her ankles. It would later be completed with a shawl of fresh jasmine flowers, sewn to drape across her shoulders

The most intricate was the white kebàya brukat for the wedding ceremony, the same color that Alvaro would be wearing. Chandra gently lifted one of its sheer sleeves, sewn with intricate curling designs and sequins that trailed from its delicate neckline to the ends of its sleeves. Its accompanying lereng eneng cloth lay neatly folded beneath it. 

Chandra lifted the kebàya with its cloth to place into its clothes cover. “Would I be wearing the outfit for the whole ceremony, Tik? I’m not really used to wearing... kebàyas, to be honest.” 

“I know, which is why you’ll be wearing these.” Kartika pulled out a pale blue beskap jacket and its accompanying batik cloth. The clothes usually reserved for male relatives. 

Chandra stared at the two pieces of clothing in shock. 

Kartika gave her a smile. “What? You didn’t think that you wearing button-ups and basketball shoes my whole life wouldn’t tell me you’d be more comfortable in these?” She gestured towards Chandra to take them. 

Chandra gently set down the kebàya in her hands and slowly reached out to take the jacket and cloth. A part of her rose to greet them, like an old friend greeting another after much time had been spent apart. She gently ran her thumb across the sturdy material of the jacket and the soft fabric of the cloth. 

“Am I even allowed to wear this, Tik?” Chandra asked, her voice quiet. She had never seen anyone other than the men wear them during traditional ceremonies. 

“You tell me.” Kartika gave her a smile, turning back to the wedding clothes on the bed. “I think you’re allowed, but it’s up to you. We’re already breaking tradition anyway, with me getting married first, so I think we can make new traditions, don’t you think?”

Chandra looked at the buttons that trailed down the jacket. “Is… mom going to approve?”

“She already did.” Kartika’s smile turned a little wistful, zipping up one of the clothes covers. “Well, not without protest anyway, but she finally agreed. I told her that I wanted you to step in for dad, so you should be wearing it.”

Chandra almost choked on air. “You want me to—what?”

“Ah!” Kartika snapped her head up. She turned back to face Chandra, reaching her hands out towards her. Chandra draped the jacket and cloth over her arm and reached out in return to hold her sister’s hands. 

“I can’t believe I almost forgot to ask,” Kartika mumbled to herself. She took a deep breath before standing up straight. “Kak Dra. As someone who I view to be an integral part of how I grew up, will you do the honors of standing in for dad?”

Chandra stared at her in another round of shock. 

Kartika gave her a soft smile and squeezed her hands. “You stepped in for dad when he passed and you took care of me in his place. You were the one who encouraged me to do a Music degree and checked in on me when I was struggling in school. It would be the greatest gift if you stepped in for him during the wedding.”

Chandra continued to look at her younger sister, finding it difficult to speak even as Kartika continued to smile at her in earnesty. What could she possibly say to respond to the kindness and forgiveness that Kartika was offering her? Chandra had been absent for the past five years, running from things in her past, and here was Kartika showing no hesitation in asking her to be a part of her wedding.

“Am I even allowed to step in for dad, Tik?” Chandra finally said, her voice quiet. That would be doing more than just breaking tradition, it would be disregarding it altogether. 

“I talked to everyone about it—mom, Uncle Haris who’s going to marry me off, and the ceremony elders,” Kartika replied. “They were hellbent that the legal and religious matters be dealt with Uncle Haris, but for ceremonial purposes, I would rather have you be in that position. If you’re willing to, of course.”

Chandra’s brows softly creased. “Are you sure?”

Kartika grinned. “I am. I even asked permission from the ancestors.”

That made Chandra laugh a little. “And did the ancestors agree?”

“Well,” Kartika hummed. “I’m sure they would’ve visited me in a dream by now if they didn’t. But they haven’t.”

Chandra chuckled in response and looked down at the jacket and batik cloth draped over her arm. Her voice became a whisper. “I don’t know if I deserve to step into that role, Tik. You’ve done so much for me. More than I've probably done in the past few years.”

“Partially raising me kinda counts as doing a lot for me, Kak.” Kartika smiled. “And I mean that. But you really don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to, and you’re still free to wear this jacket if you’d like. I would rather you be comfortable at my wedding more than anything else.”

Chandra gently gripped her sister’s hands, closing her eyes for a brief moment at the fact that Kartika was considering her well-being above anything else. Her gratitude bloomed inside of her throat and she silently thanked the stars that they had looked over Kartika while she was gone, watching over her as she grew into the person she is now. Someone kind, someone loving, someone dear. A single tear fell on the jacket that was draped across Chandra’s arm.

“Ah!” Chandra dabbed at it with her sleeve but found it futile as more tears began rolling down her cheeks. She laughed, letting go of Kartika’s hands for a moment to drape the jacket and cloth carefully on the bed.

“Tika,” Chandra sniffled, turning back to face her younger sister who was already blinking away the beginnings of her own tears. Chandra held onto her hands again. “It would be my absolute pleasure to stand in for dad.”

Kartika squealed, laughter bursting from her chest as she launched herself into Chandra’s arms. Her laughter was bright as it was damp as she hugged Chandra tight. 

Chandra returned her sister’s laughter, hugging her through their tears as they finally shared joy together. They cried and they laughed and they hugged, in a siblinghood that far surpassed the absence that occurred between them; a siblinghood that survived any period of time that was spent apart. A joy that had always wanted to be.

“You know what else you could do for my wedding?” Kartika said when they had broken apart and sat on the floor, wiping away their tears. 

“What?” Chandra sniffled.

“Ask Kak Kyra to be your plus one.” Kartika grinned through the dampness of her cheeks.

Chandra whipped her head up to look at her sister—first in curious surprise, then with an incredulous smile—wondering how her sister could pack so many surprises in one day. It made Chandra quietly wonder if Kartika secretly knew about her and Kyra, and whether this was her way of giving her blessing. 

Chandra made no response but moved to wipe away her sister’s tears, thinking to herself that she actually might ask Kyra, now that she was endowed with Kartika’s blessing.