3rd Person POV
Back then when Mia wasn't in the maze and wasn't involved with WCKD, Mia was always by her family's side. Usually, she would just stay home at their small cottage to play with her toys, just simply enjoying her life as a child.
With her older brother, Minho, she'd always enjoy spending time with him. They would have the small traditions that they would do together. Such as arts and crafts, sports, and their favorite: running in nature playing tag and/or hide and seek.
This pair of siblings has always been so close since their parents work pretty far away. This pair has always acted like best friends.
Their relationship is unlike any other, meaning even if they were stuck in an imperfect world, their family, their childhood was perfect.
What's even more perfect was their parents' love story. The ultimate love story of Jae and Athena. The lovers that went wrong.
It all started at WCKD, some may say, however, it all started at a train station. Athena was on one side and Jae was in the another. It was by far the definition of love at first sight.
Once they made eye-contact, both of them felt something. Love? No, not exactly. More like sparks. And with one smile. That one smile changed everything.
Now with two children and secretly hiding them, Jae and Athena had to be careful yet still wanted the children to feel loved and happy.
One night, Mia was getting ready for bed and her dad lifted her up laughing. Mia giggled and said, "Dad! Hi!"
He lifted her onto the bed and tucked her in, "Hey, princess."
"Hey, dad. How's work?" Mia smiled as her dad placed the blanket over her
"Eh, same old same old." Jae's face full of happiness. "I couldn't wait to come here and see my beautiful family."
"Of course he meant he couldn't wait to see me, right, dad?" Minho walked in and hopped into the bed
"What's up, bud?" Jae grinned over at Minho
"Nothing much. I beat Mia in tag today." Minho pointed out
Mia's eyes widen and glanced over at Minho and said back, "No, you didn't, you cheated."
"No, I did not."
"Did too."
"I did not."
"Did too."
"Mom!" They both called out and Athena walks into the room and crossed her arms, "What are my children bickering about now?"
"He cheated on our game of tag today." Mia responded
Athena stood across from Jae and told her children, "Well, did you guys have fun?"
Minho nodded his head, "Yeah, but-"
"No, but, okay? You guys had fun and you're both happy. It doesn't matter who wins or loses. It matters if you both had a good time." Athena pointed out
"Your mother's right." Jae added and Athena commented, "I'm always right."
Minho and Mia chuckled and laughed along with their parents.
"Both of you, promise us something, okay?" Jae asked
Minho asked back, "What is it?"
Athena sighed and replied, "That no matter what, you guys will look after and protect each other."
"I promise." Mia said and Minho added, "I promise."
Jae and Athena glanced at each other and smiled then at their children
Jae told them, "Good night, my children." He hugged both of them and the children started laughing
Athena laughed and said, "Hey, mama wants her turn too."
Jae removes himself as his children were laughing and their mother was kissing their cheeks. "Good night, my babies."
"Good night!" Mia called out as Athena walked over to Jae, and his arms were around Athena's shoulders
"We love you guys." Jae said to them and smiled
Minho said to them, "We love you more."
"Good night." The children said as they yawned. Jae and Athena strolled out of their room after Jae turned off the lights
"We raised amazing kids, Athena." Jae said to her and Athena replied, "We'll tell them tomorrow about everything. I got everything set up already."
"Are you sure about this?" Jae asked. "Don't get me wrong, I wanna leave too. It's just I don't want my family to get hurt."
"They'll understand when they're older, Jae." Athena informed him. "One day they'll know."
"Everything comes with a price." Jae said with a small smile. "It's gonna be okay, wifey."
---
The next morning, on a Saturday Afternoon, Mia was by the tree with her eyes covered counting to 10, "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10."
"Ready or not, here I come." Mia called out and turned around. She started walking around and strolled in the woods looking for Minho
"Minho? Minho?" Mia asked and said, "Come out, come out, wherever you are."
She kept on strolling then heard a loud gunshot. She covered her ears as her eyes widen. "Minho!"
She started to run as fast as she could back to her cottage. Once she got there, Mia spotted Minho being taken away by men in uniform. She gasped and her eyes welled up with tears.
"No!" Mia screamed and Athena immediately came to her daughter through the back-door. Mia was about to run then Athena grabbed Mia's wrist and said to her, "Mia, come on, let's go."
"We can't just leave them, Mom!" Mia shouted and Athena glanced over at Minho getting taken away and Jae getting beaten up by Janson
Athena sobbed and sniffled, "Mia...come on...we gotta go, okay?"
Mia trailed her eyes at her brother and her father. Athena held onto Mia's wrist and called out, "Mia! Run!"
Mia and Athena started to run away in the woods. Then in Mia's mind, this past memory of her last moment of her complete family transitioned to her present memory of encountering one of her biggest fears.
Thomas turned his body around and made eye-contact with Mia. He saw the fear that clouded her face, "MIA?! MIA!"
The building hits the WCKD compound and Mia tumbled on the ground with her palms on the ground. "NO!" Thomas screamed at the top of his lungs
"Mia! Mia!" Thomas shouted and Minho added, "Mia! Jump!"
Mia's face hardened, she thought about her memories. She thought about the pain that WCKD caused her. The people that died and sacrificed for her. She thought about her friends. Her family. And most importantly, Thomas.
To get over her fear of heights, she had to be fearless, not just for herself. But for the people that she cared about. The people that she loved.
Mia ran back and got a running start. She sprinted as fast as she can and jumped out of the cliff.
"MIA!"
"THOMAS!"