Unfinished Puzzle

Piece 7

When she was 6, the campsite burned down. Whatever they'd been doing with the children they kidnapped and sent off on boats across the harbor, the kids didn't matter to them anymore as long as they themselves were in danger too.

Lots of children took the opportunity to escape, but she laid down in the snow and covered herself, watching. 

She laid there in silence for what seemed to be hours, but she didn't mind. She simply watched everything burn and everyone escape. When it seemed like everything and everyone was gone, she closed her eyes, and she felt herself drift away.

An unmemorable amount of time passed by until she felt the warmth of fire once again. But upon opening her eyes, she realized she wasn't in the snow anymore. Instead, she was in a house. A woman sat by the fireplace writing, and turned to look at her. "Oh dear..." She stood up and walked over, feeling the child's forehead. "You poor thing, you're so cold. Where did you come from?"

She tried to remember, but it was so long ago. Instead, she could only give one answer. "The snow." She remembered the snow. She remembered sitting in the snow, playing in the snow, and laying in the snow. She remembered when it was just her and the snow, and everything else was lost in the depths of her memory.

"I see..." The woman stood up straight, examining her with her eyes. "You're one of those kids from the Market, aren't you? Oh, you poor dear-" She teared up, leaning down to hug the child. "You're okay now, you're safe. Those horrible men are gone now." She stroked her hair. "What's your name, baby?"

The little girl thought about it. "8934."

"...that's not a name, that's a number." She woman sat down in front of the girl, her eyes watering. "Do you have a name?"

"8934."

"My dear..." She hugged the child again. "I'll give you a name. How about I call you... Aster." She smiled warmly. "You remind me of my home, and mostly, the windwheel asters that grew there. They were such beautiful flowers. Do you like that?"

The little girl paused once more to think. Something about being named after a flower struck her as nice, and she nodded in return. "Yes, I like that."

"Well, Aster. From now on, I'll take care of you."