𝙁𝙇𝙊𝘼𝙏𝙀𝙍 ➶︎ 𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙔 𝘽𝙇𝘼𝙆𝙀

𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙈𝙄𝙎𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉

A/N: bonus chapter for you guys since i've been dead for a month!!

EIGHT YEARS PRIOR
"mama!!" madeline cheered, running towards the woman with long flowing brown hair that would soon mirror her own, dark green eyes, and a wide smile. passerby around the young woman stopped to stare not just at her beauty, but at the force of love that her child clearly had for her. the woman flung her arms wide, not bothering to pay anyone else even an ounce of attention. her mind was completely focused on the small child, her daughter, and making her happiness last for as long as possible. she wore a purple tattered dress with polka dots, and small sparkly silver shoes. she is mine, and no harm will ever touch her, the woman thought to herself as she scooped her baby up into her arms. she stood up, madeline still tightly hanging on, her arms wrapped around her mother's neck.

"there's my girl," she whispered into her daughters hair. "i've missed you so much."

madeline pulled back, her hands busying themselves with the ends of her mother's long sleeves. "but why haven't i seen you? where have you been?" the little girl frowned, refusing to look up at emily kane's face.

the woman only smiled, and shifted her daughter's weight from her left hip to her right. "i've been busy helping one of my friends. someone who has less than we do," she tried to explain, though madeline's face only scrunched in confusion.

"why do you have to help? why can't we play?" she pouted, her fists now firmly clenched. "daddy says—"

emily froze at the mention of her husband. marcus did not have any idea of the situation with the blakes, that aurora had given birth to a second child, a young girl, named octavia.

"daddy isn't always right," she started, before something else caught her attention.

another woman, only a few years older than herself, had begun to walk down the sloping hallway of the ark towards where they currently stood by a large bay window. her hair, shot through with grey, was pulled tightly into a ponytail at the base of her head. emily bent to place her daughter on the ground so that she could speak to aurora and her son.

the little boy, bellamy, who was certainly growing up, walked slightly behind his mother. his hands were stuffed into his pockets, freckles standing out starkly on his pale cheeks and nose. aurora waved pleasantly at the both of them, though bellamy did not. he appeared nervous.

"maddie," said her mother, peering down at her. "this is my friend, ms. blake. she is who i've been helping."

ms. blake smiled reassuringly at her companion, and bent to meet maddie's eye level. she stuck her hand out for her to shake. "i've heard so much about you, sweetie. your mother is a wonderful woman. it's nice to meet you."

madeline, who was always a sweet child, lit up and clasped her much smaller hand around aurora's. "nice to meet you too!" she then seemed to notice who was standing behind her newest acquaintance and widened her eyes.

"who are you?"

emily scoffed and shook her head at her daughters bluntness. "i'm so sorry. she's gotten so inquisitive lately—"

aurora waved a hand in the air and stood back up. "don't be silly, em. it's just bellamy. he's twelve now, and i'd really like for them to meet. it's perfectly okay."

madeline's mother seemed to agree, because she did not protest when madeline stepped curiously over to the taller boy and grinned. "hi!"

bellamy did not smile back, only blinked at the child before him. it wasn't a rude gesture, only an awkward one. "hey."

"i'm maddie. do you want to look out the window with me?" she wasted no time in getting straight to the point. tonight was one of the rare occasions where the stars were completely visible in the atmosphere. she grabbed the boy's hand and led him over to the large glass window. they both put their faces up against it, their breath making smudges on the glass. a guard nearby told them to back up, but this only made them lean in more. earth, a huge planet that consisted of greens, blues, and twinkling bulbs of light, loomed in the distance. it appeared as if you could reach it just in a few miles walk, though in reality, it would take a rocket.

"i'll never understand," bellamy whispered, "why there are blinking lights if no one's down there."

madeline raised her eyebrows. "someone must be, then. my dad has to turn on the lights in our room all the time. he turns them off, too. so there are people on earth, still."

"but they're supposed to be all gone. wiped out by something called radiation," bellamy countered. "or up here, on the ark."

madeline didn't answer right away. she turned away from the glass and looked at bellamy. his sneakers were worn, much more than her sparkly shoes were. she wondered why, but grew tired of it. "when i go to earth, i'll make sure to tell you if i meet anyone else or not."

bellamy stepped back from the glass too. he looked awestruck. "you're going to earth?"

"one day!"

he smiled, then quickly stopped himself, as if the effort pained him. "then i want to be on the guard. to protect people. to hold guns, and lasers, and handcuffs. i want to keep the ark safe."

madeline nodded eagerly. "that's great! you can keep the ark safe while i keep earth safe. then, once the people up here are all happy, and i meet the new people on earth, we can bring them together!"

bellamy tilted his head. "would we come to earth? or you to the ark?"

madeline stared at the dark expanse of sky again. "the earth is where we came from. that's what mama says. we rightfully belong there. not up here, hiding in the sky. we're people, not aliens!"

bellamy laughed. "aliens!"

"aliens!" giggled madeline, along with him.

aurora and emily smiled lovingly at their children, watching as they stuck their hands to the glass and chattered in happiness. "i only hope that they're right," emily said.

aurora sighed, turning away from the two younger children. "if they make it out, they will get a better shot than we've ever had. they can be free. they can run and dance, sing and shout, just as they do here, but with their feet on the ground. they can touch whatever it is that exists there still. they will be able to feel the wind on their faces. they will get to live life as it should be lived.

END OF INTERMISSION
word count: 1,137
chapter 17 —>