(Gah, this long hiatus has crippled my posting ability...expect the next couple to be a bit shaky...sorry :/ )
Lily followed after Lauren, wanting to help and judging by the expression on Caleb's face, he needed some time alone. She was tasked with helping take care of the sick children, a job that made her heart sink upon seeing them. Many of them looked to be on their last legs but she was determined to make them feel better and to help the people around her.
For a short while, she helped without taking any of it to heart...but there was one girl who just made her stop and cry. The girl lay there, disheveled and broken in her posture. Lily slowly picked up the chart, her hands shaking as she did so, and read the name on the board.
"Jessabelle Nolan. This...this cant be...Jess..."
Lily walked up to the side of the bed, sobbing and clenching the board in her hand. The girl, Jess, tossed and turned, wimpering in her crippled state. Lily looked at the board again, daring to see what was wrong with her and she dropped the board, collapsing next to Jess and crying on the bed. One of the other helpers ran over to her and put her arms around her, trying to comfort Lily.
"Whats wrong, dear?"
"She...she...shes my sister..."
"Oh dear...you are the flower she spoke so often of then. Come with me, I want to show you something."
The woman stood up, taking Lily's hand in hers, and led her over to a locker and opened it. She reached in and pulled out a bundle wrapped in dingy cloth. The woman turned around and faced her, slowly unraveling the bundle and she pulled out a book, sitting down and opening it at the same time. Lily sat next to her, curious to see what it was that the woman wanted to show her. Lily's eyes immediately filled with tears and she slumped forward. It was a photo album, one that her sister had saved from a life long since drifting away into the dust.
"She said that she wanted you to have this should you ever come across her. This is for you now."
Lily reached for the book and pulled it closer to her, her hands shaking as she did so. She remembered the day every one of these pictures was taken. She remembers everything from back then, how simple life used to be and how safe it was. She remembered all the friends that she had and the friends that she would play with with her sister. She turned the page and looked at a photo of her and her sister playing in a playground that the city of NewHope had rebuilt. Her sister broke her wrist that day and she remembered picking flowers for her when she was at the doctors. Orange Tiger Lilies.
She turned the page again and saw a picture of her sister standing with all her friends, all their friends. There was Blake, Kris, Elysia, Rob, Lyz and her sister, Jess. They were all around fifteen when this picture was taken and from what she remembered, that was a good day. But a couple years after, she remembered holding this picture and crying...crying like she was now. That was the day that Blake had went off into the military to help defend NewHope but was stationed in Sanctuary farther south. Soon after, Kris just vanished. No one ever heard from him again. Elysia left to go across the sea and try to make do in the other world, also never heard from again. Rob...He became a wreck and he moved off into another community. Out of them all, he kept in contact the best. Then there was Lyz...she just snapped. Everything in her life fell apart and all her dreams broke under the strain. She wasnt the same after and just left. She remembered holding her sister and crying as Jess cried into her chest. Everyone they knew and loved had moved on or left. They had no one but each other.
She forced herself to turn the page and found a picture that made her smile a little. There was she and her family having a party. Jess' 17th, to be exact. June 21. Thats right...her birthday was coming soon. Lily looked around for a calender and followed the 'Xs' to the day...the 21st of June. Today was her birthday.
She slowly got up and went back into the room where her sister was and sat next to her, holding her hand in hers.
"I knew...you would come...sis..."
"Save your strength...sis..." Lily forced herself to speak, her voice choking up as her sister turned to face her and the pained expressions she had cut right through her heart.
"I felt my heart leap, sister...like it had been asleep. You gave it the spark it needed for me to be happy on this one last birthday of mine."
"What are you saying? You are going to get better, I know it."
"No, Im afraid...Im afraid I wont. I can barely breathe...sis...my whole body hurts...and my heart ached, at least it did. Thank you so much for making my heart calm for the first...for the first time in so long."
"Jess...please dont talk like that..."
"Thank you, Lily...you have given me the best gift I could have ever asked for...mom and dad would be so proud of you...and Ill be sure...Ill be sure to tell them everything you have done today when...when I see them. Please...please just hold me, Lily...I missed you so much."
Lily climbed onto the bed and picked her sister up and held her in her arms, crying and rocking slightly. Her sister slowly stopped wimpering in pain and her restlessness began to still.
"Thank you, Lily. I love you, be safe...be safe for us all."
Jess let out a shallow sigh, a faint smile on her face and her body stilled.
"Jess? Jess? Please...please dont go..."
Lily curled over her sister and cried. And cried. And cried.
Jacob had taken Ashley to get some ice cream and he was excited. He had never had it before but from what he had learned, it sounded fantastic.
"So, Ashley. Tell me about yourself."
"Well...Im a ten year old girl that can explode into fire. What else do you want to know?"
"Hey now, no need to get snippy with me. I was just asking a question and besides, Im taking you out to ice cream."
"Yea, I suppose you're right. Sorry about that...Well...I was raised in Sanctuary but we had to flee as it was attacked by raiders. I remember this guy named Sergeant Blake. He was a good guy, very helpful. He helped me and my family escape but he couldn't leave with us. He said he had to go back and find a woman named Lyz. He was really nice...its sad to know he didnt make it out of the attack. Heh, strange how some of the people that you barely know and never considered your friends end up being the closest friends you will have ever had. Anyways...after the attack, we left for NewHope. My father joined the city council and began funding the artifact hunt of the old world and my mother became a nurse. This one day, my dad found a strange, black gem and brought it home to examine it. My curiosity got the better of me that night. It was so beautiful...it was jet black with a glowing red fire inside of it...like literally, there was a fire inside of it. Then I, well I uhh...I touched it. It exploded and so did the room and I was on fire! I was so scared, I ran out of the house and out of the city. I came back a couple days later, scared and alone, and learned that my parents never made it out of the house. I had killed them. Targas and Summer offered me a place to stay, a place where I wouldnt be hurt or hurt anyone...but I was scared so I ran and hid in the sewers. For a couple years, I lived as a beggar and scavenger...until they came...they came and killed everyone. I just go so mad and scared...I exploded again and killed a lot of those bad men. I was just so...angry...and I killed and killed, my anger fueling my fires...but like any fire, I withered away and died. Luckily, I was taken by the survivors before the bad men did but I was still scared of everyone and they were scared of me...so I just trailed behind them like a hunter to prey and eventually ended up in that alleyway. There you have it. My life story."
By the time she had finished her story, they had reached the ice cream stand and she ordered chocolate and he ordered strawberry. Frak, was it fantastic. His pleasures were shortlived, however. He felt in his heart that Lily was in pain, that her heart was filled with tears of sadness and remorse and anger.
"Im afraid we have to go back...one of my friends needs my help."
"Damn, alright..."
The two of them turned around and began their way back to the Lower Levels.