Marley's Emily

Marlene smiled at the children - and in every single word they chattered the accent stuck out like a sore thumb; in every word. In them all was the accent that Emily had carried all her life like a burden, but here, it was a joy. As they talked amongst themselves, guilt bubbled up like bile in her throat - guilt that Emily wasn’t there to see her dream become reality at last. Of course, Marlene still wanted Paris badly...but it seemed like a small price, for what she had lost, and what her friend might have become.

“You’ll be fine, right Emily?” Marlene pleaded, voice cracking and the tears silent as she is racked with sobs, a few of the tears splashing on Emily’s face.

Emily smiled lightly and nodded, although it was a lie, touching a finger to the tears. “Y-yeah, I’m not passing out...just resting my head on the floor. I-I’ll be right as rain tomorrow...I’ll see the sun again, I promise.” Both of them saw the lie.

Marlene rested her head on Emily’s shoulder. “We’re so close...to getting rid of Kyarah at last. Even when I hid things from you, you’ve stood by me every single step. Don’t leave now.”

“It was never my destiny to see the end, and I should accept my destiny with grace,” Emily whispered, her smile fading slightly. “I’ll see them again, and in a while, I’ll see you.”

“Don’t leave.” Marlene insisted, quietly.

“Ah, but I don’t have to,” Emily told her, placing a hand on Marlene’s heart. “I’m here. Always. But promise me one thing…”

“Anything.” Marlene quipped without hesitation.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Berlin.” Emily says. “Do it, for me. Finish...it...my computer…” Her breathing quickened rapidly until she could barely speak. “Always there. Remember.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Wait! Emily!” Marlene sobs, but there was a smile there. “Trust you to leave me on a cliche moment, Beilschmidt.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">She could almost hear Emily’s response in the wind.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">And here she was...in a library full of laughing German children, and all of them were happy, like Emily might have been. Would have been. They clamoured her, tugging at her sleeve excitedly until she was pulled from her thoughts.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“What story are you going to tell us?” A girl with a long braid and an adorably crooked smile requested. Marlene already knew what story she was going to tell, she had to tell it now. Looking the girl in her bright brown eyes - eyes like Emily’s - she spoke.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“I’m going to tell you the story of a good friend of mine,” she told her. “Would you like to hear it?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The kids nodded, chanting. “Ja, ja, ja! We want to hear Miss Marley’s story!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Oh, nein,” Marlene corrected with a small smile, “the story is not about me. This story is about Emily.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Marlene took a breath and waited for the kids to start speaking again, still not having quite grasped where she was and who she was without. They fell silent at the name, as if they should remember.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“You won’t know Emily,” Marlene told them quickly, “she’s gone now, to a -” Dare she say better? No, she daren’t, because this was Emily’s haven. “- another place.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Tell us about her,” The girl with the braid encourages brightly.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Shush, Monika!” A blonde boy interjects slightly angry. “Look, you made Miss Marley cry!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“I did <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">not <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">!” The girl protests huffily, folding her arms, frowning, but then her expression changes to one of concern, touching Marlene’s arm with a small hand. “Geht es dir gut?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Nein, Friedrich, Monika did not make me cry,” Marlene confirmed - Friedrich was Emily’s brother’s name too, and it tugged at her.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Start the story!” another boy said, and it was soon joined by a chorus of other voices.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Marlene could barely breathe at that moment, and she focused purely on bringing it back to normal, listening to them. By the sound of it, colour was draining from her face. She wanted to say no, that she wasn’t feeling so good.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">But instead she nodded. “Okay.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Emily Beilschmidt lived in a different Deutschland than the one we knew. She lived in a Deutschland that was being attacked by <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">die Engländer <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">.” Marlene began carefully.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“ <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Die Engländer <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> wanted to destroy Emily’s Deutschland, and they won the battle. Deutschland was destroyed, and Emily’s family went to another place. Back in those days, she had a head of fiery red hair that was almost like a wig, or at least she used to say. Her voice was just like yours, it sounded like yours.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Marlene thought about what she remembered of Emily’s memoirs, and pulled out Emily’s drawings to show the children. A few of them chuckled, and she shot glares at them, because it wasn’t funny <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">at all <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“She had a younger brother, Friedrich, who had sable black hair and wore large glasses that were always too big for his face. Emily stayed with him as long as she could, before he left to another place, without her.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">She had a sister also - Lucia, with a fine, long blonde braid that fell down her back. She could pirouette, do the splits; she was so, so flexible, but she was called to the other place by the much faster rocks. Emily could not go with her siblings to the other place.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Emily’s sister is very pretty,” Monika commented with a smile. “I want to look as pretty as Lucia when I grow up.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">If only they knew. <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Emily was very pretty too,” Marlene whispered. “She had hair past her shoulders, and the most beautiful brown eyes...a lot like yours, actually, Monika.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Monika’s face lit up. “I have eyes like Marley’s Emily!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Marley’s Emily. <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“That’s right, Marley’s Emily.” Marlene couldn’t keep the smile from creeping onto her face. “Shall I carry on with the story now?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Ja, ja, ja!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Na gut, dann.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Emily was taken away from her home by <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">die Engländer <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The children gasped in horror. “Nein, Engländer!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Emily met me on the plane, when something happened to my home, too.” Marlene lowered her voice and smiled. “Now you say, ‘Nein, Engländer!’”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Nein, Engländer!” They sang happily. “Nein, Engländer, nein!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“What did they do to your home?” Friedrich asked with wide eyes. “Did they fight your home too? Is it destroyed? Is it rebuilt yet?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“What was your home called?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Woah, slow down,” Marlene threw up her hands. “I’ll answer your questions, if you give me time. Yes, they fought my home too - and yes, it was destroyed. We’re going to rebuild it, just like Berlin. And my home, it is called Paris.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Paris,” Monika rolled it around on her tongue in interest, “it sounds like a nice name. Was it a nice place?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Remember, this story is about Emily.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Marley’s Emily!” they chirped again. “Tell us more about Marley’s Emily!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Marlene lifted her arm to cover her face, to hide her tears this time around. The next bit, the very next bit, changed everything.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“So, we did not remember Berlin, or Paris, when we woke up. We were strangers to each other, but we thought we knew each other. <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Die Engländer <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> made it up, with some fancy science juice.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Yucky!” yelled Monika suddenly. “Fancy science juice is yucky!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Schrecklich Engländer!” Friedrich added, along with another boy in the back.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“We thought we were cousins,” Marlene added, “because of the yucky science juice. Soon, the plane took us to <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Amerika <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">, where we would live for a very long time. In our new home, Erudite, we lived for nine months before the next test.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Test? About what?” Friedrich’s face contorted.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“We could choose a new home, but we could only get one result for the test, or the evil Amerikaner would try to kill us because we were Divergent,” Marlene explained. “Me and Emily got three.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Marlene thought for a moment about the significance behind that. <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pristine, Erudite, Fervor <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">for her, and <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Dauntless, Erudite, Fervor <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">for Emily.

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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Three? Is that bad?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Ja, es war sehr schlecht.” Marlene answered with a slight frown. “But before we could choose our new homes, a girl who Emily knew, Kyarah, began running tests on us. That caused us to remember our old pasts.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“...You remembered?” Monika smiled. “That’s good.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“It was hard for Emily to deal with, and she needed to know more. She stayed in Erudite when we chose our new homes, and I left for Fervor, a place I didn’t know I could survive.” Marlene brushes her blonde locks from her face with a slight frown.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“You left Emily?” Friedrich looked sad, so Marlene laid a hand on his shoulder.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Emily dated Kyarah for a while, and she trusted her too much. We blamed each other for leaving and for a moment it seemed we were never going to see each other again.” Blinking back further tears, she sighed. “But she visited Fervor in disguise, and we drank dizzy water.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“I promised Mutti I shan’t ever drink dizzy water,” Monika told her proudly.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">If only Marlene could have ever made such a promise, maybe she wouldn’t be in this mess - maybe she’d have gotten away.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Maybe.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Emily was very clever, and she came up with a plan. We ran away from the factions, and restarted the Allegiant. It grew, and it grew, and she let me take control. Emily preferred to operate behind the scenes as my lieutenant, but all she really wanted was Berlin. She cut her hair until it was short, and dyed it blonde in a long bob. And somehow, Emily was even more beautiful. We were already dating, by now.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Even more beautiful?” A girl with Emily’s long red hair of her youth spoke up.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Yes. We found out what <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">die Engländer <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> did to us, so we were able to stop it, and found other places like Berlin and Paris so we could protect them. It got us engaged in another war, against Kyarah and her evil doings.” Her last words were filled with passion.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“But Kyarah helped you remember,” Monika looked confused. “Isn’t that good?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“She made Emily see Berlin fall down again, see her siblings die again, to get information out of me,” Marlene spat in a voice that made the children flinch. “Emily was never the same. Not ever again.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">She shivered at the memory of how vacant her friend had been - it had been terrible to watch, so terrible.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Emily became obsessive. She found out so much.” Marlene struggled to keep her voice steady. “She hid it on her computer, and then went to raid Kyarah’s headquarters.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“That sounds like a fight.” Friedrich muttered.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“It was, there were many punches and blows. And then Kyarah took out a gun. Bang, bang, bang. Three times. Emily couldn’t dodge all three, and she finally joined her siblings in another place, far from here.” She sighed. “She was still here when I arrived, and she made me promise - promise to rebuild Berlin.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“And you did!”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Yes, but not before I made sure the person responsible for Emily’s death went to hell.” Marlene replied.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Bang, bang, bang?” Monika asked.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Yes, Monika, bang, bang, bang.” Marlene grinned for the first time that day. “And I kept on going. And I rebuilt Berlin, just like she wanted.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">And she knew Emily would have loved to see it, and the selfsame bitterness from earlier rose again.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“You did.” A voice, one with an accent, and it ended on a high note. She turned her head vigorously, until she noticed the translucent figure leaning against the bookcase.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“This, children, is my Emily.” Marlene introduced them to the blonde, and the figure chuckled musically.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Yes, I’m Marley’s Emily,” Emily confirmed.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">There was an uproar of cheers from the children.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Once it died down, Marley gaped. “You’re here…”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“If you thought I’d just leave without you, it’s you who ended on the cliche moment,” Emily raised an eyebrow, and both of them laughed together for the first time in years. “Do I say <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">ich liebe dich <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">or <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">je’taime <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Both,” Marlene told her, “Both. And you just did.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“I guess I did, didn’t I?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Marlene’s face broke out into a huge smile.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Fin.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Beendet.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Finished.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Or, even better,

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:36pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Cambria;color:#212121;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">t h e  e n d.