Ember started blinking after I asked her about her parents. She turned, looking away. "They're... well... they died," she says softly.
"Oh." I blink in surprise. I study her stricken face, seeing a reflection of my own feelings about my mother. Without thinking, I squeeze her hand since ours are linked.
She looks sideways at me, one side of her mouth lightly curled upwards. And then her hand moves in mine, squeezing back.
"How'd they die?" I ask.
Something flashes in the golden depths of her chocolate eyes. "Oh, look, it's our turn."
I turn, finding that we're indeed the ones in front of the cart.
"What can I get you?" The man glances at us briefly.
"Two of those," I say confidently, pointing at some sort of pastry.
The man takes a pair of tongs and takes two of them off a pan, dropping them into a paper bag, which he passes over to me. "That'll be three Sovereigns."
I reach into my hole-less pocket, pulling out three of the four Sovereigns Ember gave me. I slide them across the counter. "Here!"
He takes them, giving us a nod. "Good day, young 'uns."
I tip my hat to him. "Good day to you, sir!"
Ember tugs my hand with her as she steps away from the cart.
I smile towards the man, taking the paper bag as Ember pulls me away without much force.
I extract my hand from hers, using both hands to open the bag. I reach in and pull a pastry out, following her as we wander down the street. "For you." I hold it out to her with a flourish.
She looks down at it, her eyes softening slightly.
"Take it, it smells good."
Ember glances up at me before gingerly taking the pastry. "It's warm," she says, surprised.
"That proves it'll be good." I reach into the bag, taking out mine. I take a deep breath, smiling at the scent. It smells wonderful. Although I'm partial to chocolate.
Ember hesitantly raises hers to her face, taking a breath. "It does smell good." She lowers it to her mouth level and takes a little bite.
My own pastry forgotten in my hands, I watch with rapt attention as she opens her mouth, biting off the smallest chunk. Her mouth moves as she chews and her throat bobs when she swallows. "It's good," she says softly, glancing up at me.
I smile over at her, appreciating the way the gold in her eyes gleams. Her eyes look like melted, swirly chocolate with the most wonderful undercurrent of gold that swims to the surface at random times.
"Willy?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you going to eat your pastry?"
Oh, right. I put it to my lips, taking a bite. "Mmmm."
Ember giggles softly.
I can almost feel my eyes twinkling at her laugh. "MmmMM," I say again.
Her smile broadens and she shakes her head.
"MmmmMmmMMM," I say again, taking another bite.
"Do you like it? I can't tell." Ember's tone is serious, but the gold in her eyes is gleaming at me.
I look down at the pastry, seeing the filling trying to slowly escape. "It could use some chocolate."
Ember takes another bite of hers as I reach up to tap my hat back into place. "I make the best chocolate in the world."
"That's nice."
"I'm going to open a shop. Share chocolate with the world."
"That's a wonderful goal, Willy." Her lips twist upwards.
I reach into my coat and run my fingers over the chocolate bar inside. "She promised she'd be there," I say softly, nodding my head once.
Ember gives me an odd look but takes another bite of her pastry.
I take a bite of the pastry, closing my eyes for a moment in bliss. I open them to find Ember watching me. "What's your dream?"
"My.... dream?" Ember stares past me for a moment.
"Yeah. Your dream." I bite off another chunk of pastry. "Everyone has one."
Ember's gaze stays fixed on something behind me so I twist and look. "What is it? Did you see the little orange man?"
She blinks, shaking her head slightly and refocusing on me. "What?"
I squint at a short stack of crates. "The little orange man. Yay big." I lift my hands up to show his size, most of my chest. "Orange skin, green hair. Chocolate thief."
Ember gives me an even odder look. "Um..?"
I squint a little smaller at the crates before returning my attention to her. "He's been following me. One of these days, I'm going to catch him, and when I do, I'm going to-" I stop speaking abruptly, my gaze caught on something else. "LOOK a squirrel!"
I scramble forward, stopping far enough away not to scare it. "They always know where to find the best nuts," I say seriously, watching the squirrel.
Ember who's come up beside me, laughs softly. "Willy, you're something else."
"That's better than just plain something." The squirrel look up at me and I nod to it.
Ember glances between me and the squirrel as I merrily give the squirrel a wave. "Am I missing something here..?" Her brow furrows.
I eat the last of my pastry, licking the syrup off my fingers. "I don't think so, why?"
She blows out a breath, her eye on the disappearing squirrel. "No reason really...." Her last bit of pastry dangles in her hands.
I glance down at her pastry. "Are you going to finish that?"
Her chocolate eyes return to meet mine, then dip down to the last bit in her hands. "Yeah." She lifts it to her lips before pausing. "Why? Did you want it?"
"No." I shake my head, maybe a beat too quickly. "What were we talking about?"
Ember narrows her eyes but eats the last bit of pastry. "We were talking about how I need to, uh, go home."
I snap my fingers. "I remember, you were about to tell me your dream." I turn expectantly and hopefully towards her.
She looks at me for a moment before looking away. "I don't have a dream."
"Come on, everyone has a dream! 'Every good thing in this world starts with a dream'."
"I guess..... I guess...."
"What?" I hold my breath.
"I guess I never had time to have a dream." Ember still averts her gaze, not looking at me.
For some reason that makes me sad. "You really don't have a dream?"
She takes a breath, glancing at me and nodding.
I try to wrap my head around the idea. How could anyone not have a dream? It's beyond my knowledge. "Maybe you just haven't discovered your dream yet! Maybe you'll discover it and start your own good thing!"
She smiles softly, but sadly. "That's a nice thought."
"I'll help you discover your dream," I say confidently, reaching out and grabbing her hand.
Ember yelps in surprise as I start forward, tugging her along. "Willy!"
"What?" I tug her down the snow dusted street.
"Where are we going?" She lets me tug her along, not trying to escape.
"Where ever your dream leads us, of course!" We leave the quieter side streets and come out onto a people-filled one.
I swing my cane with every other step, letting my excitement show in my step itself.
"Are we exploring..?" Ember asks tentatively.
I wind around a clump of people, her hand still entwined with mine. "Sure!"
"I work near here."
"Have you seen everything?"
"Well... No, but, it's a big city."
"Well then, we need to find somewhere high up for you to see everything!" My eyes skim the buildings ahead. "Come on!" I increase my speed.
She yelps again, but actually takes an extra stride to come up beside me. "Where are we going now?"
"No idea! I've never been here before." I smile over at her. I'm leading us between people and buildings, trying to get to the roof I spotted.
Ember sighs as one of the passerby pushes past her, almost dislodging her hand from mine. "I can tell."
I crane my neck, trying to follow the roof I have my eyes on as I pull her down the streets.
Ember finally seems to see the tall roof ahead of us. "We're going to the abandoned warehouse..?"
"A warehouse? We can find something to kick off your dream in there!" I round the last building between us.
The apparently abandoned warehouse looms overhead, a faded coat of a once bright color peeling off in tiny chips. The roof is only slightly sloped, almost looks flat enough to stand on. The building itself seems to stretch at least two if not three stories, catching the eye even though it isn't necessarily that much taller than the other two story buildings around. It takes the space of at least two houses, the large doors on the building somehow still clinging to their hinges.
She tips her head back, studying the building. "Are you sure we should go in..? I mean, are we allowed to?"
I shrug, stepping up to the doors. "No one's going to stop us," I point out lightly.
Ember tugs her hand out of mine and starts wringing her hands.
A wave of disappointment crashes over me when her hand slips out of mine. I like her hands, even though they're cold, bordering on freezing. "It's going to be fine, Ember." I push on the door, feeling it give slightly. "See!" I cry when the door creaks open.
She steps up beside me and squints inwards, still twisting her hands together.
"Come on!" I start to slip through the door.
"Wait! Are you sure it's.... safe?" She twists her hands tighter, staring inwards with widened eyes.
I pause, halfway in the warehouse. "Why wouldn't I be?" I twist and look at her.
Ember stares past me. "Well... it's probably old. The structure might not be sound anymore."
I note, with some confusion, that her face is slightly white. "It's still here, isn't it?"
She nods shakily. "That doesn't mean it still will be in 5 minutes."
"All the more reason to use what time we do have!" I lean over and snatch her hand again, tugging her after me.
She yanks back, resisting my pull. "W-Willy."
I pause, looking down as she places her free hand on top of our linked ones. "What?"
She takes a deep breath, one that trembles slightly. "I'm scared."
I blink. "Scared?" This bright, light, girl with the chocolate hair, temperment and eyes to match is scared? "Scared of what?"
Her eyes are still wide as she looks past me into the warehouse. "I don't know."
I offer her one of my lopsided smiles. "Ember, it's okay." I meet her eyes, the gold in their depths winking at me like fire embers. Huh, her name really fits her. "Everyone gets scared. But you don't have to be scared."
"Don't I...?" Her eyes have almost a haunted look as she stares into the dim interior.
"You don't," I say firmly, squeezing her hand which is still clasped in mine. "Because I'm here with you."
She looks up at me, the idea of a smile on her lips. "Okay, Willy. Lead the way."
I thought she'd never ask! "With pleasure!" I gently tug her after me and into the abandoned warehouse.
I hope the chapter feels cohesive... I wrote it in chunks, lol...
Hope you like it 💜
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