Approval in a Perfect World

Before you can be shown the light, you have to endure the darkness.




As she enters the dark, gloomy flat, escaping the cold, crispy weather, Rogue is accompanied by a rather quiet Sadie. Rogue had been rambling excessively about her soon-to-be finalized plans to gain the government's approval, by presenting her well-thought ideas to save her generation in the city of Una, which had become the last of the great, vast world to be fighting for a spot in the end. While Sadie is rummaging for a cold drink to soothe her, Rogue realizes just how quiet she has been.
"Are you alright? You've been awfully quiet... I know I've been going on and on, but I just wanted you to confirm to me that my plans weren't too rash," Rogue expressed, in high hopes of not making Sadie irritated.
Sadie began to tie back her long, straight blonde hair as she nestled into the corner of the armchair, ready to hide away from the world, after a painfully exhausting day. She heard Rogue end with a question, but she was not too sure what it was. She had been absorbed in her own thoughts. She just could not shake the thoughts of the remains of their vast world crashing to ruins.
"I'm trying to focus and listen to you, but I've got other important things crossing my mind. I don't believe there is a possible way of saving this," she retorts, gesturing to her surroundings.
The government of Una, the Phoenix, had lessened the world to solely Rogue and Sadie's generation. They had managed to contain all of the people left into this small, hard-working city. The last of the previous generation had all been killed off by the end of 2040, leaving a generation behind that was ready to form the 'perfect world' with what they had left. The only thing in the way was the gain of approval.
The Phoenix was negative and condescending. The reason that generation after generation had been killed is because the Phoenix did not believe that people occupying Una had a purpose, nor were they an asset. Within the next few upcoming years, the Phoenix would begin killing off the current generation in order to achieve their idea of a 'perfect world'. Rogue did not necessarily want to stop it, she just knew that she was going to have a say in who was saved to continue rebuilding and restoring the next generations to come. She was ambitious and had many dreams to fill.
Having just recently graduated from their strict, knowledgeable, technologically updated schools, none of the remaining few were much younger or older than eighteen years of age. Even though most of the class had gone their separate ways after graduation, Rogue and Sadie continued to be best friends with a rocky relationship. Rogue was determined to make things happened and she knew that things were possible if you set your mind to it; she had always been driven. Sadie, on the other hand, was at times a bit lazy; she relied on hoping for the best, not being prepared for what was coming her way. She was very stubborn and apathetic. These aspects put a strain on the growing friendship. They both could still have contact with most of their high school friends and acquaintances if they needed to, but the conditions of the high school relationships were still mainly the same.
"Do you think I have an inkling of a chance of convincing the Phoenix that I have what it takes to earn a say in who should live, or should I just accept the fact that I can't reach that sort of power, that sort of approval, to stop the whole generation from taking an end, just the way our parent's generation ended?" Rogue questioned with immense self-doubt. After pacing for several slowly passing minutes, she took a seat on the couch and buried her face in her hands.
"I just wish everyone would stand behind me," she continued. "I don't understand why people won't exert a little effort to at least try and save themselves from what it doomed to happen, so that maybe they can be prosperous and start families. Maybe our lives could not turn out to be like our parents, just crawling through life, anxiously anticipating the dreadful day that they have to die."
Sadie began to resituate herself in her seat. She had a deepened, concerned look, thoughts etched all over her face.
"Rogue, what have I always done, regardless of my understandings for your thought process?" she asked, waiting intently for a response that would lead to Rogue's subsided talking.
"Supported me, I guess," Rogue answers, blankly.
Sadie clarifies, "And that's what I'm going to continue to do now." She matter-of-factly returned to her book that she had been lost in moments before.
Rogue immediately jumps out of her seat and begins to rummage through the desk by the door.
"What exactly are you doing?" Sadie questioned, bewildered at Rogue's urgency.
"I need to find paper and pens, so I can finalize and rewrite my plan of action. It has to be perfect before I present it to the Phoenix. Then I am going to need you to help me recruit our old classmates, if you can. If they aren't willing to help, they are just going to be doomed to their death. If they are willing to support my ideas, they will have a better chance of making it to the end, simply for trying," she states. She continued to search for what she needed, not having the patience to wait for one of Sadie's snide remarks.
"Oh, dear, can't wait. Let the games begin," Sadie remarks anyways, as she starts to realize just what she has gotten herself into.
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Just as Rogue had settled herself in the desk chair and had begun to perfect her plans into writing, Ryo and Miles burst through the door, slamming it against the wall.
"Oops," Ryo mutters as he picks up the photograph that fell off the wall. Ryo was Rogue's childhood friend. They shared everything; they knew everything about each other. Growing up, she would spend weeks at a time at his house, and his at hers, because their parents had been very close friends, making Ryo and Rogue all but blood relatives. Ryo was strongly raised by his old-fashioned parents. That being said, he did not agree with some of Rogue's ideas about society, but he still played the protective brother role in her life. This role had been carried down from their parents being in the same predicament. Rogue's mother and Ryo's father had been childhood best friends. The difference between the relationships was that, they in fact, did let their views on life sever their friendship. Before any mending could be done, they were killed off by the Phoenix. Because of this, Rogue was determined not to let minor differences get in the way of hers and Ryo's relationship. She still valued his opinions.
Miles was also Rogue's best friend. Even though they had not been close friends but for the past few years, Miles and Rogue grew closer with every day that passed. He was her rock. Her motivation. Miles knew enough about her to see clearly through her tough-girl persona; he continued to slowly peel back each layer of her personality, determined to know her heart to the core. While they may have had minor differences on the ways things should work or be handled, Miles stood up for Rogue anyways. He always wanted what was best for her. He wanted to show her that she was more than just what she thought of herself. Little did she know, he intended on staying by her side until he could no longer.
"Hey, Ro. Whatcha doin'?" Miles asked with interest, as he entered the small living room. He bent down to give her a hug, leaving his arm rested on the back of the chair as he nudged into the same seat with her. "What are these?" he asked, pointing at the papers scattered all over the desk.
"Please don't look at them," she said as her cheeks turned her olive toned skin into a bright, rosy red. She scrambled to cover up her mess. "I'm not quite finished," she added, hoping he would look away.
"She's finishing her plans, so that she can present them to the Phoenix," Sadie chimed in, without even glancing up from her book.
"Thanks for the input now, Sadie," Rogue said sulkily, sinking back into her seat. By then, Ryo had made his way across the room to pester Sadie. It was typical.
"Just let me finish reading," whined Sadie, just as Ryo snatched her book away from her, playfully.
"You may surely have it back, once you've found where I've hidden it," Ryo shouted, running off through the flat, searching for a hiding place that he had not already used before. Sadie rolled her eyes trying to appear annoyed even though they all knew she enjoyed being the victim of Ryo's games. She took a folded chair from the wall and dragged it across the room to the desk where Miles was still trying to help Rogue sort out her plans. Soft strums of a guitar being played began to lightly float downstairs. Sadie smiled to herself. She loved how easily Ryo could change from a state of distraction to intense concentration when he picked up his guitar. She reached over and picked up some of Rogue's miscellaneous notes and started analyzing them as side effect listened to the effortless musical notes that could be heard from the loft upstairs.
As they added in the last little minute detailed perfections to the plans, Miles happened to glance down at his watch.
"Eleven o' clock!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "Who knew it took so long to write down a few general ideas," Miles said, knowingly winking at Rogue.
She smirked and rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever, I'm starving. Who's down for a typical Friday night consisting of take-out and a few re-run movies?" she asked.
"I'll call in the order," Miles offered, very aware of the drill, pulling out his phone and walking upstairs.
"I get to pick out the movies!" called Sadie, dashing to the entertainment center.
"No! I do! You got to pick last weekend!" shouted Ryo as he barreled down the stairs, following quickly behind her. Rogue began to neatly tuck away her plans into the folder that she would present to the Phoenix in no less than two days. I'll just have a good rest of the evening and set my worries aside. Focus on the people you love while you have them here; worry about everything else tomorrow, she reminded herself. She turned to claim a seat on the couch grabbing a pile of blankets on the way, leaving her worries for tomorrow, knowing that the next few days were going to quickly change her life. First, she was to be reunited with old classmates and following that was the hard work of training. The day after that would begin their team's journey.
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The next two days were all a blur. Sadie and Rogue were in charge of retrieving all the contact information they would need in order to get in touch with the people Rogue thought would be of support and assistance. Because Rogue and Sadie had not been too popular with the people they went to school with, Rogue and Sadie pleaded with Ryo and Miles to do the calling.
At last, all the people had been contacted and they were all set to meet at Rogue and Sadie's flat the next morning to begin their vigilant training. They would all need to discover things about themselves that that had not taken part to before; they would have to learn how to play up the strengths and how to be strategic in times of pressure.
The next morning was very serious. Not to say the attitudes were solemn, but every person who passed through that flat, knew by the end of the day just exactly what they had to lose. The group of soon-to-be team members that Rogue was under the impression that she knew, were all scattered across her living room.
Trying to ease the tension, Aurora, Rogue's old best friend from high school, was searching for some music to play in order to ease some stress. She had suggested taking a hit, but everyone quickly let her know that was a bad idea. She had always been wild, but she was adaptive to a more serious attitude when she needed one. Aurora always knew the perfect edge of advice that would push Rogue to press on in life. That aspect was valued.
Mada was Rogue's step sister, once removed. They had been fairly close growing up, mainly because they were forced to share everything. But once Mada hit high school, a year before Rogue, everything changed. Rogue became of less importance to her than Mada was to Rogue. Despite this, Rogues always gave Maida the benefit of the doubt, hoping to herself that Mada would have a drastic change of heart, turning her back into the sister she used to be. People of the city described her as "captivating, but wicked", and you were lucky if you missed the hit of her spell.
Conjuring up plans with Maida was her ever-so -faithful sidekick, Georgia. She had always been the class sweetheart, never thinking about batting a single evil-seeming eyelash that is until she became inseparable with Maida. It was almost as if Maida had cloned a selfish, conceited, backstabbing twin of herself, taking place of the class sweetheart everyone knew her to be. She could be even more captivating than she led on. Georgia could lure someone into her life in as much as a blink of an eye, just with the charming things that would escape her wicked lips. A long time ago, Georgia and Rogue were best friends, right up to the time Maida seized her into a friendship that would turn into just another edition.
Then there was Miranda. She was just what every girl dreamed of being, yet loathed all at the same time. To most eyes, Miranda was perfectly beautiful, having the most sculpted figure, long, flowing hair bouncing off her back, and all while her ugly heart was using her gleaming gray eyes to capture the hearts of anyone who would gift her the attention she craved. She, too, was captivating. Even so much as to say that Miranda had achieved a higher level of popularity than Maida could ever dream of.
Accidentally stumbling upon each other's friendship were Shadow and Maeve. Dealing with a recent loss of social power, Shadow tried to grasp onto anyone who would show her the attention that she had always thrived on. As a last resort, Maeve had been chosen by Shadow to be the "friend" Shadow used to acquire all the things and people she wanted. What she did not expect was Maeve turning out to be the best friend she never had. Shadow was not about to compromise this newfound friendship, her only means of support. She decided that she would use Maeve to do the dirty work of scoping out drama and spreading rumors, the kinds of things that would have them rising to the top of the social scale in no time. Or so she thought.
Tycen was an obnoxious and condescending individual. Although he rarely to almost never admitted an instant where he could have been wrong in a situation, Tycen was still well-liked. He had wisdom and knowledge for days, his problem-solving skills and genuineness always managing to shine brightly through his protruding pride. Rogue insisted him a good friend and graciously dismissed his flaws, admitting to herself that she could take care of a few flaws of her own.
Lastly, siding with Rogue as he always was determined to do, was Zared. He was a short, muscular character with a feeble personality, his insecurities always on display for anyone to see. He got frustrated to easily, with himself and others, and those were the things that made him difficult to get along with. He was constantly begging for Rogue's approval, which she did not enjoy. Zared would risk his life if he had the opportunity, just to show Rogue that he was worth her time. She decided to recruit Zared as a part of her team, knowing that she could use all the support that could be thrown her way. He was always easily discouraged, but Rogue hoped that maybe him being included in such an important task would boost his self-esteem. She was just afraid that the small amount of curdling courage Zared did possess, would run out much too quickly, leaving him in a fight for his life with only himself.
While she was pleasantly surprised at the outcome of her team of action, she could not help but feel the lump of discouragement rising back up again. While she was appreciative of the help she did have, she could not help but wonder what exactly the flaws were of her plan that drove those few peers away. She started to convince herself that some people who were on her side now may not reside there forever, whatever the reason may be, trying to prepare for what was to come.
It had been rumored that the Phoenix was ready to have the team's work cut out for them; their trek to the Mear- the Phoenix's massive, but well-hidden quarters- was not going to be a walk in the park to find. The Phoenix was determined to make it the most difficult journey ever traveled, using it as the price Rogue's team was going to pay for asking so much.
Getting lost in her own thought, Rogue had barely noticed that people had begun to gather their belongings and were preparing to leave. Everyone was beginning to grow restless, their bodies aching for the sleep that was required to be able to participate in the upcoming events. Rogue leapt out of her seat and began thanking the people for their time they were devoting and for their effort they were giving to her, as they were seeing themselves out the door.
After everyone had gone home from training, and the flat had been cleaned to her approval, Rogue headed up to bed leaving Sadie and Miles downstairs. She needed to at least attempt to get some sleep, but she knew all too well that it was going to be nearly impossible. She trudged up the stairs hearing the soft whispers of the television fade into the background. As she wedged herself under the mountain of blankets and the fluffy down comforter, she grew sadder and sadder. She was stressed and overwhelmed because of the life-altering events that were going to take place the next day. All this time, throughout the intricate planning and training, she had avoided releasing the one truth that she carefully kept tucked away in her mid: everyone would not make it, but it was up to her to make sure the right people did.
Trying to silence her sobs so Sadie would not hear, Rogue heard the door quietly open and shut. Moments later, she felt Miles' strong, warm body slip around hers. He began to stroke her hair as she began to calm herself peacefully.
"It will be okay," he softly assured her.
"But how can you be so sure? I'm so frustrated because everyone doubts me. I also can't bear the thought of losing people that I can't live without. What if it's you, me, Ryo, or Sadie? I'm just so overwhelmed and stressed and tired of being the tough, strong one that's supposed to hold everyone together," she rambled with a big sigh.
"Rogue. It's alright to cry. It's okay to let your guard down. You don't need to impress everyone as much as you think. The important people are already on your side. Sure, I think you're crazy, but you're brilliant, too," he giggles playfully. In a more serious tone he continues, "Darling, you are your own worst critic. You are courageous, strong, and beautiful. Whatever is meant to happen tomorrow, will happen. Whoever is meant to make it to the end, will make it. But honestly, as long as there is you and me, that's my idea of a 'perfect world'," he grinned sleepily as he tucked in closer.
"Thank you for always believing in me. Thank you for always being there for me. For miles, and miles, and miles," she responded, her mind at ease. She turned over and hugged him tightly as they calmly drifted into a deep sleep.
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Rogue glanced up into the early morning sunlight with her nerves standing on their ends, because she was realizing just how hard she was going to have to push herself in order to achieve her 'perfect world'. She felt the heaviness of the backpack full of supplies for their journey on her back, but also the weighing heaviness on her heart. She could feel the essence of fear standing all around her, yet she was also embracing the warmth of trust.
Just as the bell was about to sound signaling the beginning of their life-threatening journey, Miles stepped up and grabbed Rogue's hand.
"You're not alone," he smiled meekly. After Miles gave her hand a tight squeeze, Ryo appeared on her other side, sporting a brave look of determination and grabbed her hand. She saw Sadie join hands on the other side of Ryo out of the corner of her eye. She was suddenly overcome with a fuzzy feeling of warm love and satisfaction because she knew in her heart that what was meant to be will be.
As an awakening to her thoughts, the bell shrilled, jolting Rogue into a level of what appeared to be alertness. Instead of beginning her trek onward to fulfill her purpose, she then began sinking downward.