From the Ashes

33

"'We are all
Broken,
That's how the
Light
Gets in.'"

- Ernest Hemmingway

_____

Clawing her way out of that wretched mountain, Lovota stood at the open doors, her skin bathed in blood - now indulged in the feeling she had long forgotten.

The feeling of the sun.

Twirling one of the knives around her finger, she looked to the direction, where the sun had slowly begun to set. If who she's looking for hasn't died yet, then there is hope in revenge.

"I'm coming, my beloved, loathsome Queen."

-

"Mum!" A voice suddenly called out, making everyone smile at the sight.

Tangerine ran through the gates of Camp Jaha, no longer the girl who knew the inside and out of how to take care of a gun - no longer the soldier. Jumping into her mothers outstretched arms, she was now a little girl returning home.

"We were all suppose to make it!" Tangerine cried out, clinging to her mother, as she stuffed her face into her mother's neck.

Watching Tangerines mothers frail arms tighten around her daughters body, Bear felt sick to her stomach. A bag loosely hung off her right shoulder, holding all the belongings she held to of Noah and Reese.

Who did she have to return to?

Turning to see Monty and Kage embrace, the girl felt tears prick the corner of her eyes. She felt a small amount of relief wash over her, as she watched the two boys hold onto eachother.

"strawbearies!" A little voice cried out amongst the buzzing crowd.

Turning at the sound of a meek, shy voice calling out in the large crowd, Bears eyes were only on her. The one person who kept her now grounded, the one person who was keeping her here without even knowing it.

Little Eliza.

She saw Ember in everything that was the little girl, the way her hair bounced with each step, the way her nose scrunched up as she manoeuvred around every stranger.

I will survive, Bear thought, I will go on. For her. For Ember. For the people she was named after.

Without knowing so, the girl with an exterior as aggressive as a thunderstorm, fell to her knees and shattered like glass.

Pulling her arms out wide, before the little girls body made impact with hers, she saw the image of Ember rushing towards her for a hug.

Pulling her in, Bears hands softly circled the little girl, as Eliza began to cry onto her shoulder.

She had lost everything, but the one thing her mum promised her would always be there.

Running her hands through Elizas soft tresses of black hair, the strands of space and starlight. It was like ink, trickling down her back.

Hugging her closer, for a second, she got caught up in the reality she had created in her head, that this was Ember - not her child.

"I need you to tell me I'm a good person," Bear sniffled, feeling her nails dig into the little girls skin.

"I know I have been far from the sister you used to care for... but... but you know that who I am on the ground isn't me," Bear struggled, feeling two arms wrap around her neck,"who I was in that prison... it wasn't me! It was never me, I'm a stranger in my own skin."

"I'm a good person, Ember! I'll be a good person, for Eliza, for you..."

"Bear," a man called, brushing her hair aside, his voice as calm as a memory.

"I need you to tell me that I'm a good person, Ember," Bear sighed, Eliza standing silently in her broken aunties arms.

"And I needed you."

_________________________________
Authors note:

Now that, did a lot of damage...

Someone asked me how the characters would react with themselves before trauma, so here we go!

Bear
"You look like me," smiled a young Bear.

Reaching down, older bear scooped the little girl up in her arms, cradling her on her hip. The girls dress, too big for her little body.

"What if I told you," Bear smiled,"that I am you and you are me."

"If that's so," little Bear wondered, looking over her shoulder,"than where's Ember?"

"H-home," Bear stuttered, her sisters name bringing every pain and anguish to the forefront.

"We should go home!" Little Bear cheered,"come on, let's go see mummy and daddy!"

Holding her tighter, Bear looked down the hallway to where her old houses door was, awaiting her.

"How about we stay here a little while longer?"

Lovota
"You look like me," smiled a young Lovota.

Pulling down her mask, the older Lovota stared down at her younger self. The her free of scar.

"I am the Queen of the Hell Hounds," the older Lovota introduced, squatting, as she leant her forehead against her younger selves.

"You're her!" young Lovota laughed out in excitement,"the warrior from the stories!"

Smiling, Lovota sat back against the tree and pulled out one of her arrows. Dropping it in the little girls outstretched hands, the young Lovota hugged it to her body.

"Stories are just truths spun into fantasies," the older Lovota smiled, brushing her younger selves cheek affectionately,"keep working hard, little one, and maybe one day you'll be a force to be reckoned with."

Kage
"You look like me," smiled a young Kage.

"That's because I am you," older Kage smirked, leaning against the wall,"pretty cool, hey?"

"Awesome!" Young Kage exasperated, hopping on the heels of his shoes,"I can't wait to be as cool as you, one day!"

Looking up to the roof, Kage felt the guilt flooding over him,"just... be yourself first, you can figure me out later."

Tangerine
"You look like me," smiled a young Tangerine.

Bending down, so that she sat on her knees, the older Tangerine reached forward and clasped her younger selves shoulders.

"Stop defending him," she stated,"your father... our father is nothing but a snake with pretty scales."

Turning her head to the side, the younger Tangerine smiled,"I don't know what you mean. My father is the greatest."

Brushing back her bangs, the older Tangerine ran her hand over the bruise forming over her younger selves eye.

"Do me a favour," the older Tangerine smiled,"and run."