Into The Woods- Bellamy Blake

Chapter 31

At six, Ember’s parents asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. She told them she wanted to be a doctor, to save lives. She had an idea of this fantasy world where playing nice was the answer and being nice to someone could get you anything you wanted. She was inspired to be this hero, to be someone that people looked up to for all the good she had done.

By nine she had changed her answer. The truth that she wouldn’t be her own person had settled in and she knew she wouldn’t get to do what she wanted. She said she wanted to be whatever Emma was going to be, so she could be by her sister forever, to love her sister, to be her sister. That was her destiny on the Ark, and even at nine, she knew it would always be that way.

In the Sky Box she was just Ember, finally her own person. No hopes, no dreams. She was herself, and it was enough for her. She had friends of her own, and people that knew her for who she was, not who Emma was. She had known her time was limited, and didn’t let that stop her from living every day to the fullest.

On the ground, Ember knew surviving and living were two different things. Her goal had been surviving since the minute the drop ship hit the ground, and not a second less. Surviving together with her friends was the only thing that mattered to her deep down. Keeping all of her people alive and safe, even if she didn’t like them, even if she hadn’t known them very well. She felt responsible for all of them, because that’s who she was. Someone who believed that living should mean something, and everyone deserved a happy ending, no matter how they got there.

Ember may have survived on the Ark with Emma, but she didn’t live until she got to the ground. For Emma it was the opposite. On the Ark she was happy, she had their parents, and all of her friends. But she also knew the truth. The Ark wasn’t her home anymore. Her home was with whoever she loved was, with whoever made her feel safe A place that she knew was with her sister.

Death wasn’t something that should be dealt with easily. It was something that Ember used to fear. Fear of causing anyone she loved to die. Fear of ending a life. Fear of losing herself by going too far to save those she loved. She was a person who defended those she loved, willing to lay down her life for others. Risking her life for her people, and now she was going to be ending one.

The only thing Ember was even slightly happy about was having her sister at her side. Ember knew that the two hadn’t always gotten along. Growing up, Ember knew deep down that Emma believed that Ember was just the girl that made her life complicated. The one who risked their parents lives if she got caught. The one who cut her time on the Ark short, making Emma share her life, her friends, and her job with her sister.

They had both grown, since on the ground. Emma had realized that they didn’t get to choose if they were sisters, but they did get to choose if they acted like it. Ember had learned that even though the two cared about each other, they didn’t know each other. They had grown up siblings, but they were never close.

The past month had taught the twins the truth meaning behind siblings. How one being willing to sacrifice their life for the other, while the other watches, that wasn’t family. Family was loving the other unconditionally, both willing to sacrifice themselves, but knowing when to stop and trust that the other knew best.

Emma had faith in her sister, knowing that even if she didn’t think that what Ember was doing was the best choice, she believed that Ember could handle herself, and supported her choice. Ember was just glad to have her sister by her side.

That’s why, as they stood outside of the Ark at dusk, Ember and Emma held each other’s hands, grieving for different things. Emma for the man that was going to die if Ember went through with it, while Ember grieved for the man she would kill, and the part of herself that she would lose when she did.