First of all guys-I KNOW I just published an author's note and I PROMISE that's not what this is. 

BUT.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! For 113 reads!!!! That means so so so much to me-really-you guys have no idea. Also: I'm SO SO SORRY I DIDN'T PUBLISH FRIDAY!!! I know I said I was going to but then I had a piano recital and then it all went up in smoke, as they say. 

Ilysm!!!! (Now go read.)

Recap: All of a sudden, under a pile of rocks, I see a child. She is whimpering. And in the distance, I see some of Them, Viel's men, coming toward us.

They will not spare any of us, nor the child.

I run toward the girl as they come closer. 

~~~

My chest burns, but I press on. I hear her whimper again. 

"ARA!!! Come back-we have to stick together!" Cora cries, but all I can see is my nine-year-old self, hiding under a desk as the fire that Viel had his men set rages around me, and my parents die.

"WELL THEN FOR HEAVEN'S SAKES LET'S GO WITH HER!" Eval shouts.

They race toward me, but I am paralyzed. 

A burned house.

I hear more whimpers from somewhere underneath the rubble and I begin to dig furiously, unearthing a small, blond, female, child about seven, and very delicate. 

Yet in my mind, I see a small, brunette, female child that is nine.

"What happened?" I ask automatically, my mind reverting to the words the resistance worker had spoken to me, all those years ago. 

"F-fire-Mamma-g-gone... help her!" the child cries. "Find Mamma!" is all she says, before mercifully passing out. I lift her, surprised by how light she is. 

Eval studies me carefully, afraid I might break. 

"I'm all right," I say, even though I am not. For on repeat, for the billionth time, I see myself under that desk in an inferno. 

Eval takes the girl from me and we walk away, alert for danger. 

That is when I remember Them. 

They are still there, coming closer, pressing in. 

They look like normal people, but their eyes are vacant, and they move stiffly. 

Viel's men. 

Brainwashed to become mindless robots who do his will without question. 

They come towards us, ready to attack. They sense that we do not belong, for we do not wear the color assigned to this city, and our faces are not recognizable in the files, for every person has a file with their face on it which they are required to update every month so that They can always identify you, and our faces are not in the files. Are not in any of them. 

Judging by the color of the girl's shirt, that color is yellow.

We are all wearing black.

Eval sets the girl on the ground and cracks his knuckles. 

"Ready girls? This is what you've trained for," he says. We each take a stance and get ready. 

Here they come. 

~~~

I duck. I spin. I swing. It is all a blur until pain explodes in my head, shattering me. 

Breaking me.

And I know, as darkness clouds my vision, that this is where I will die.

But I do not. 

Eval jumps in, swinging and bursting the man's face. I get back up, but I can only see red-red blood, streaming down my face and blocking out the world in a curtain of red. 

I punch in a blind rage, deaf to the shouts of Cora and Eval. I am locked in my world, just me, the pain, and the man.

I have no control over my movements. It is as if I am a spectator, observing everything through someone else's eyes, off from a distance. I know that that is me and that those are my arms that are swinging and hitting, but I cannot feel them, I cannot move them, and I cannot make them stop.

I hit over and over again, numb to the punches and gouges and hits I receive in return. My rage drowns out the pain and I do not feel it. My anger surpasses my limits-I have never been this angry, to hit without remorse, to feel everything and yet to feel nothing, and to lose control of myself out of anger.

This is not the way of the Resistance workers. (Star wars reference anyone? This is not the way of the Jedi?? LOL)

We are not supposed to lose control, for that makes us no better than Viel himself.

I flip and kick, and I shatter his jaw. He falls to the ground, and I know what I do now. 

I will end him.

Beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. 

My watch. 

Our hour is up, and we must return or endanger the Resistance. 

All of a sudden I realize that Eval and Cora are trying to pull me away. When I see the girl, my rage dissipates like fog under the sun, and I am weak, so weak I fall over.

The pain hits me all at once; I am aware of a hundred places that all feel nothing but unending pain-unimaginable, uncontainable, unbearable.

And I thankfully succumb to the merciful darkness as Eval lifts me, and Cora carries the girl

I do not remember anymore. 

~~~

When I awake, at first I hear only, 

"Oh, Ara! Why did you let your rage take control? Why did you give in?" But slowly my eyes adjust to the sudden dimness, a sharp contrast to the bright lights behind my eyelids.

I look around and see I am laying on a bed in the doctor's ward. I am the only patient. 

In a chair, I see Eval, head in his hands, muttering words I should be thankful I cannot hear. 

How long has he been here?

His clothes are wrinkled, his hair is messy and disastrous, and his dusty cornflower blue eyes have large, dark bags under them.

"Eval?" I croak. 

His head jerks up, and in two strides he crosses the room and tips my head up, pouring water down my throat. 

"Water first," he says.

I choke and sputter, but the numbing cold eases the ache in my throat.

"Good. Now. WHAT IN THE WORLD ARA?? WE ALL THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!" his voice catches, and he pauses, resuming after a moment. "Even the doctor was giving up. And now... you wake up?"

"Good to see you too. And for your information, no, I am not dead," I tease him. 

"Doctor Worth said your injuries were so severe he would be surprised if you lasted a day, much less pull through."

"I'm a tough one to kill," I rasp.

"Here," he says, pouring more water down my throat, even though I am perfectly capable of doing it myself. 

Or am I?

I ache places I didn't think could ache, so I may not be capable, I realize. 

"Orla and Cora just left to go get food," he laughs. "Because I forced them to. Of course, you chose this moment to wake up."

Then everything hits me, and I leap out of bed, for I am not the only patient. 

My knees buckle under me and...

... I hit the ground. 

But I do not quite hit it, for Eval catches me. 

"WHAT IN THE... WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" he yells. I ignore him and hobble over to the girl in yellow. 

She does not move, only lays there, sleeping. 

"How long have I been out?" I demand. 

"A...a week," he says nervously. 

"A WEEK??" I nearly hit the ceiling. 

Suddenly, a lullaby surfaces in the ocean of my memory, and I begin to sing it softly. 

Though for a time you are alone,

Though you fear that you are lone,

You are not alone for I am here,

Listen to the wind. 

The wind has many voices, child. 

Though some are loud, soft, others mild,

The wind is made of those who have

Passed away, they join the wind, 

Listen to the wind. 

My voice will be the one that calls, 

When you need more than walls,

Between you and your breaking heart, 

I will be here for you, 

From the end until the start,

From the fail until the win. 

Listen to the wind. 

The wind is all of those you love, 

So look to the wind up above,

And listen to the wind.

Listen to the wind, my dear, 

Its voices are many and wise,

For though they are thought to have met their demise,

Thought that their wisdom has perished with them,

They live on the wind.

Listen to the wind, my dear,

Listen to the wind. 

Listen to my voice, my dear,

I will help you through,

Listen to the wind, my love, 

Listen to the wind.

(So yeah I wrote that it's called Listen to the Wind and IDK but it was fun. Also, I wrote the first draft of this song/poem at nine seventeen Friday night but then as you know it deleted itself and I almost cried lol so I tried to recreate it-hopefully it's not bad... :))

~~~

The girl stirs and wakes. 

She looks at me with bright, beautiful eyes. They look like gray and blue and green were thrown into a bowl and mixed, and the dregs were drawn up and put in her eyes.

"My mamma thingth that thong," she says. Oh no. She does not know her mamma is dead which means I must tell her. 

Eval is staring at me. 

"What?" I ask, somewhat disconcerted.

"I didn't know you sang!" he exclaims, surprised.

"Neither did I," I reply ruefully.

"Where'th my mamma?" the child asks with an adorable lisp.

I sigh. "What's your name?" 

She looks at me, worried, but replies, "Layla," while sucking on her thumb.

"How old are you, Layal?"

"Theven."

"Well, my seven-year-old Layla, you are a very beautiful child," I say. I was going to tell her... but I cannot, not yet, not so soon. Not that way. 

Then I know. 

"Layla..." I breathe deeply, trying to muster the courage to tell her, "your mother has joined the voices in the wind."

I see shock, recognition, and pain, and then her eyes go dull. 

Oh, no. no no no no no no no.

Anything but dull. Please! I cry out mentally. Please no!

"Layla, listen. My mother died too-my father died as well. And I felt just the way you do. But you know what? I took my anger and used it to fuel myself so that the next time I saw one of Them I was prepared, and you know what else? I was. I will help you, Layla."

Her eyes are not so dull, and there is more life in them. They are dark, and in them I see them same resolve I see in mine. 

I kiss her forehead and tell her to take a nap.

"Will you be my mamma?" she asks me shyly. 

"Yes," I whisper.

I turn to go, but she grabs my hand in terror. 

"THTAY!" she shouts. "THTAY WIF ME!" (Awww I love her lisp!!) 

"I'm just going to class Layla. You're safe here. I promise They can't get you."

"That'th what Mamma thaid." Her eyes are once more dull and resigned. Oh please no! 

I will do anything to keep her here, with me. 

She is my missing piece. 

I can feel it. 

"Alright," I succumb. "I'll stay."

She takes my hand and squeezes it tightly as an added precaution. In case I leave while she is asleep.

She falls asleep. 

~~~

"Ara." Eval is upset. "You cannot be her mother. You are sixteen. You have classes. You have a life. You cannot just throw it all away for her. The Five are not happy."

"Aren't you one of the Five?" I point out.

They are the First. The formers of the Resistance. 

"Yes. And I come to you on your behalf, as a friend. You cannot adopt her. The Five has forbidden it. You are needed."

"Or else what?" I ask defiantly. 

"Do not make us deal an ultimatum," he warns. 

"I will not leave her!" I am shaky. I am still healing from my wounds and I do not have the mental strength for this. 

"You must. She will be taken care of, I promise," he says.

"NOT ENOUGH! She needs me- and I need her!" I cry. "You are killing me! I will die if she is taken away!" I am furious. Can he not see that I need her? That she needs me? "Please. Do not do this to me!"

"Ara, you are forcing us to do this. If you do not let Layla go, you will both be ejected from the Resistance to the Outside."

I'm not always that mean-promise!!! :):):) But I thought it would be a great cliffhanger and then yeah. 

How did your guys' day go? This is my longest chapter yet! 2101 words!! Happy... Tuesday? Lol anyway have a good day/night!!!

ILYSM!!!!!!!!!!!

--ElleGrace