《Finding Stardust》Chapter 33 - Please, Don't Be Sad
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A few minutes later, Haoran nodded and touched Emma's hand, letting her know he was fine.
"Thank you, I'm okay now," said the young man. Emma released Haoran and let him by himself with a whirlpool of warm air under his feet.
"This is incredible. You can control two elements at once. While flying using the wind, you also created fire. I'd never believed this if I didn't see it with my own eyes," Haoran added, his face filled with admiration.
Emma nodded. She also didn't expect to control her powers like second nature, it was as if her body and mind knew exactly what to do.
"All right, I've tried fire. What else do you think I should try?" Emma asked him.
"Water?" said Haoran.
"Ah, that's right," Emma recalled when her mother controlled water. Arreya had brought down rain to the Ibukun Valley; she had also created a spring in the middle of the valley for people to drink.
Emma decided to try the same thing. She waved her left hand toward the ground. A moment later, heavy rain fell under their feet out of nowhere, soaking the ground.
Haoran involuntarily clapped as he watched the raindrops beneath them while they were completely dry.
"You're so amazing," Haoran said with a big smile on his face. "Imagine if you brought down rain in areas that are suffering drought and famine, people would be so grateful."
Emma smiled faintly at Haoran's words. That's what Emma also thought too when her memories returned. However, she didn't feel the need to explain it to Haoran.
"Great, now, what else can you do?" Haoran asked. "I'm curious to know."
Emma nodded. "Me too."
"Lightning, wind, plants, fire and water"—Haoran counted with his fingers—"we already know five, that's amazing."
Emma had no intention of telling Haoran she could also control the mind. Her mother also hid this particular power of hers; Emma believed there was a good reason for concealing this information from other people, except for her father. Therefore, Emma also felt the need to keep this a secret from anyone.
"Let's go down, we'll continue later," Emma said. She grabbed Haoran's hand and flew down to the Eiffel Tower.
Soon, flashes of memories would appear before her, and she'd feel safer if they were sitting on something solid. She didn't want to know what would happen if she left Haoran in the sky while memory replayed.
Emma landed gracefully on top of the tower with Haoran. Haoran hurriedly held onto the tower railing to keep his balance.
"Let's rest a bit," Emma said, closing her eyes.
"All right," Haoran nodded.
Haoran gazed at the city of Paris, enjoying the view for he wasn't afraid of heights. His chest was being filled with admiration and warmth; his hand still holding Emma's hand. The girl stood straight beside him with her eyes closed.
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'This is so romantic,' Haoran thought.
What happened tonight reminded him of the time when Peter Pan, the leader of the Lost Boys, had brought Wendy and her brothers with him to Neverland.
Peter Pan was his favorite story of all time. When Haoran was a child, he had often imagined how it would feel to fly like Peter Pan, but tonight, unexpectedly... he actually experienced it himself!
The two of them stood still without letting their hands go at the top of the Eiffel Tower, each busy with their minds. Haoran still felt like he was dreaming, while Emma thought if there was a clue on this Eiffel Tower that she needed to get.
Emma's beautiful eyes finally opened and stared at the full moon. Somehow, she felt the answer she was looking for was on the Moon. Didn't her mother say they left their capsule there?
If they were actually being chased by people from back home, why didn't Kaoshin and Arreya return to the Moon and use their capsule to go somewhere else?
Suddenly, Emma's shoulders felt shivers and a flash of memory came.
Arreya was floating gracefully at the top of the Eiffel Tower, holding little Emma's hand. The atmosphere was very dark and there was no moon in the sky. The whole area around the Eiffel Tower was surrounded by darkness because Arrondissement 1 and 13 were having a blackout.
Kaoshin was writing something on the highest pole of the tower with his fingers when little Emma drifted closer to him, wanting to see what her father was doing.
"What are you doing, Father?" Little Emma asked curiously.
Kaoshin glanced at her and smiled. "Giving you a direction to go home."
"Emma, if you remember this in the future, it means your memory has returned," whispered Arreya Stardust to little Emma. "We'll not be with you, and you'll certainly want to know many things."
"I still have my memory, Mother. I'm not forgetting anything," said little Emma, smiling broadly. The little girl approached her father and hugged Kaoshin's leg. She clung unto her father tightly, and for a moment, the man stopped writing. He rubbed little Emma's head affectionately. The little girl asked him in cute expression. "What are you writing, Father?"
"The coordinates of our home on the moon. You may not remember this, but when you were a baby, we took you to the moon," said Kaoshin patiently. "You really liked our home there and wanted to live there."
Emma shook her head while smiling. "I don't remember."
"That's okay. At that time, you were still very young." Kaoshin smiled warmly. "One day, if you want to go back there, you can communicate with AWA. She'll come and get you."
"Who is AWA?" Little Emma asked curiously.
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"AWA is a friend. She'll help you if you need anything," Kaoshin answered again. He then pointed to the pole. There were some numbers carved there. "I wrote down the coordinates here so that only you can read them."
Arreya took little Emma from her husband's leg and carried the little girl, so Kaoshin could continue his work. The woman kissed the girl on the cheek, and slowly tears welled up on her eyes.
"I hope you'll never remember any of this," Arreya whispered as she buried her face on little Emma's shoulder. The little girl looked so confused. "I hope you'll be able to live a quiet life as an ordinary human being and forget all this."
Little Emma rubbed her mother's hair and cried with Arreya. Little Emma didn't understand why her mother was suddenly in tears. Weren't they playing happily above the Eiffel Tower and having fun just now?
"Mother, don't cry. I'll forget everything if it'll stop you from crying," Emma said in her small voice.
"Emma..." Arreya lowered little Emma and moved down so that her face was at level with Emma's. She looked at the little girl deeply. "If one day, you get your memory back and remember tonight's events, you must contact AWA and return to the moon to answer all your questions. But, whatever happens, please don't be sad."
Little Emma tried to ingrain her mother's words that 'she shouldn't be sad' even though little Emma didn't understand the reason. Why couldn't she be sad? What had happened?
Meanwhile, Kaoshin had finished writing the coordinates and approached his wife and daughter. He nodded before hugging his wife.
"It's done," Kaoshin said.
Arreya glanced at the pole, which now had several numbers carved on its surface. She smiled a little and waved her right hand. All of a sudden, the area engulfed by darkness around Eiffel Tower disappeared as hundreds of buildings had their lights on.
The little family drifted down to the ground and walked casually along Mars De Champ.
"Mother... I'll not remember what happened tonight, if it makes you cry..." blurted Emma. She said it in a way where she sounded more mature than her actual age, and for a moment, Arreya and Kaoshin were stunned to hear her.
The two looked at each other. Kaoshin knelt and looked at his daughter with eyes filled with sadness.
"I only want you to be happy, Emma. If one day you remember this day, know that Father and Mother were very happy to see you. We've never regretted the choices that we made. Please, don't be sad."
Arreya looked away to hide her tears. Her hands trembled as she clenched her fists on her sides.
Kaoshin and little Emma stared at each other for a long time. Suddenly, the present Emma, who was standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower, felt as if she was the one that her father was talking to, and not little Emma.
At that moment, Kaoshin's blue-green eyes looked straight into Emma's eyes, and his handsome face was so close from hers. Emma almost reached out to touch her father's face, whom she had longed to see for thirteen long years.
She heard clearly her father repeated his words, directly to her, "I only want you to be happy, Emma. If one day you remember this day, know that Father and Mother were very happy to see you. We've never regretted the choices that we made. Please, don't be sad."
Emma was rooted to the spot, but she suddenly had difficulty breathing; she held onto Haoran. Haoran was surprised to see Emma panic and hurriedly grabbed her shoulders. Fortunately, he was in a fairly safe location with safety railing at the top of the tower, so he didn't lose balance.
"What's wrong?" Haoran asked quickly.
Emma shook her head. "I don't understand. My parents locked my memory but before doing so, they told me a lot of things. It was as if they were creating a contingency plan. They were preparing for my memory to return, and I would look for them. They seemed to have thought about everything. Father and Mother even prepared all this information for me. They never left me alone without a plan."
"So they've thought of the possibility you'd break the memory lock," said Haoran. "Your parents are very smart."
Emma nodded. She, however, still didn't understand what her father had meant with his last words. Kaoshin had spoken to little Emma as if he was talking to an adult. That's why Emma felt as if her father was talking directly to her 13 years later.
This was very confusing.
"I need to look for something," Emma said. She was finally calm and flew around the antenna tower and checked the pole. Her father wrote a really important piece of information. She had to find the coordinates that would take her home, back to the moon.
Her parents had thought of everything, including providing the instructions for Emma at the top of the Eiffel Tower. They put it in a place that was only accessible to humans who could fly, like her. No one, except Emma, would be able to find the clue.
Emma couldn't help but feel she was doing a scavenger hunt by piecing together all the clues left by her parents. Now that she almost collected all the clues, she felt that she was getting closer to her goal. She couldn't wait!
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