Emilia Maezon: A Fool's Paradise

She could feel the gentle poke against her cheek; Emilia swatted the little hand, turning in her bed, gentle giggles filling the rainy morning. "Marisol?" Emilia's soft voice called out to her sister, rubbing her eyes as she sat herself up. Emilia pushed her messy, curly long hair out of her face, yawning. At the same time, the little girl, no more than five years old, crawled onto her lap, wearing an old oversized t-shirt that once belonged to Emilia. "Good Morning Lia."  Emilia only smiled, placing her forehead against Marisol's and rubbing her nose against hers, her long thick arms wrapped around the younger one before her lips moved up to kiss Marisol's forehead gently. "Good Morning, Princess. Did you sleep well?" She glanced to her left to see her four-year-old brother was still fast asleep, hugging her pillow. "You woke up before us. Let's let Felix sleep some, yeah?"  Marisol nodded, holding onto Emilia as they walked out of their shared bed; a few feet from their kitchen, Emilia placed Marisol onto the counter and started washing Marisol's face and brushing her teeth. "What do you want for breakfast?"  Gurgling, Marisol held a thoughtful expression as she spat out the water and cleaned her mouth with her shirt. "Can we have pancakes with some fruit?"  "Yeah, I think I can make that happen for you little princess. Can you prepare for the day while I make breakfast?" Marisol jumped off the counter, nodding her head. "Yes, I can! Count on my Lia." She giggled, running to get her bag next to the door, and started getting ready.   It was the glance at her younger siblings that her heart broke; it had been six months since her mother left their life. Their mother disappeared without a word, and they lost their home. They had three bookbags filled with clothes, shoes, and a few school books for Marisol and Felix to study at home. Emilia was not only their caregiver; she was in charge of their education. However, that didn't put food on the table. It was a struggle to keep them fed and still teach them, but they somehow managed; after moving into an abandoned studio apartment because of the war, she could provide them with a roof over their heads, even if it wasn't ideal.  Emilia was highly grateful that their area was still providing some form of education, which only meant Emilia could find work during the day and bring back food to them for the evening. Emilia was only eighteen when she finished high school. Still, high school was not traditional in any way. Throughout those years, students were learning how to survive as half of the continent was gone, and there seemed to be no end to the war.  Things like phones, books, cars, planes, and banks no longer existed, and gathering food had become nearly impossible. It had become survival of the fittest, and humanity no longer lived as the government only cared about improving its agendas. Some would say this is paradise without rules, school, structure, or money problems, but this is a fool's paradise. There was a tug at Emilia's blouse; glancing over, she saw Felix had woken up, and she crouched down at the little boy, her arms instantly wrapped around him tightly, kissing his forehead. "Good Morning." He responds with a yawn and hugs her back tightly, his face rubbing into her shoulder. "Hey, breakfast is almost done. Let's get you ready so you can eat, and we can head out, yeah?" Felix nodded, letting her pick him up.  "Sol, it's time to eat. Lix is awake too, so come eat with him; we can do your hair in a little bit." Emilia had prepared two plates, each with cut-up pancakes, enough for one person, and three strawberries; handing them a fork each, she poured two plastic bottles cut in half with water for the little ones before she stood up from the floor. "You guys eat while I go and get ready. Make sure to eat everything, don't leave anything for the mice, or they will come and eat your little fingers." She smiled silly as she tickled both of her sibling's bellies to make them laugh; their laughter filled her with energy.  Emilia walked to the sink, brushed her teeth, and washed her face, combing her wet fingers through her black curly, dry hair, trying to revive them with water, hoping to look presentable. While the kids were asleep, Emilia washed up the night before. Without wasting any more of their water supply, she walked over to Marisol, who had finished eating. She braided her hair and twisted it into a bun, so her hair would stay out of her face. "One day, we will take a warm bath." "I want to take a long warm bath with bubbles." Marisol beamed. "And eat more strawberries. Lia, won't you eat too?"  "I already ate silly. I couldn't help but eat so much, I am fully now." Emilia smiled in return; lying to her sister didn't feel as bad as one would think; after all, the last thing Emilia wanted was to worry a five-year-old about food. Emilia walked over, helping Felix get changed out of one of her shirts that fit him like a blanket, and started fixing his little curly brown hair.  Marisol pouted, crossing her arms. "You never eat with us, Lia; that's not nice." "I know, I promise; we will eat together tonight, okay? Now come on, get your shoes on. We have to go. it's almost six in the morning." Emilia picked up Felix and settled him on her hip. Emilia grabbed Marisol's hand, ensuring they both had their bags since they would need lunch, a tuna sandwich split in half and a few berries and crackers. It wasn't much, but it should hold them over for the next few hours; saving the milk for their lunch would be enough, at least for tomorrow, if Emilia failed to bring them something for dinner.  Emilia peeked out of the apartment first to check that everything was safe. Once things seemed safe, she started walking down the hall and quickly down the steps. It had stopped raining, thankfully for the trip, but she could only hope they caught enough rainwater for the next few days. Felix was snuggling into her neck, closing his eyes tightly. Emilia placed a gentle kiss on Felix's head, whispering that everything was going to be okay.  "Lia, what's school gonna be like?" Marisol whispered.  "You couldn't have asked me when we were in the apartment, princess?"  Emilia placed Felix in the basket before her and had Marisol piggyback on her back. Emilia took a deep breath, pushed the handmade bike, and peddled off. "It's fun, safe, and you will learn a lot, so much you can help me one day." "That does sound like fun! I want to help gather berries and oranges. The books said oranges are very good for you." "I hope we can gather a lot more than just oranges. I like grapes." Emilia smiled softly. "We will have it all one day." It had been about seven miles, and she finally made it, panting heavily and sweating. Emilia felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. Emilia carefully let Marisol down, hiding the bike behind a tree. She picked up Felix, carrying him and holding Marisol's hand; they walked into an old training center covered in trees, leaves, branches, and graffiti. Emilia walked inside carefully, looking around the facility while holding Marisol behind her back. "Hello!" Emilia shouted out, moving Felix onto her back to keep them hidden with her body.  Footsteps started approaching, echoing through the hallway. With a loud bang, Emilia held a weapon in her railway. In her hand, a knife attached to a gun stared in the direction of the sounds, preparing herself for anything. "You know what to do if I say jelly, right Marisol?" Emilia whispered.  "Yes." Marisol grabbed Felix's hand, Felix gripping onto Emilia's shirt, peaking over her shoulder.   The lights flicked on, and everything came into view; an old woman with gray hair had stopped moving, and the steps silenced themselves. Emilia took a deep breath, placing the weapon on the back of her jeans. "Sorry about that; Hector is fixing the lights. We found a generator we can use for the time being. You are the first one here. Miss Maezon. We didn't mean to scare you guys; come on, nothing to fear, I promise."  Emilia looked at Marisol and placed Felix down next to her. "Come on."  "Hi! I am Marisol Maezon, and I am five years old; it's nice to meet you, Teacher Maria."  "I am Felix Maezon, and I am four years old." He blinked at the gray woman until Marisol bumped his hip. "Oh! it's nice to meet you, Teacher Maria." The little ones smiled brightly, holding each other's hands tightly as they looked at Emilia, who smiled in return.  "You've taught them well."  "Well, I don't want them to lose their manners," Emilia said softly, patting their heads. "I am very proud of them. Thank you for taking the time to teach them; we didn't want to be late, so we were a bit early. I hope you don't mind. We are far out; I was wondering how long it would take, so better safe than sorry."  "I understand; we will find a way to get you closer so you don't travel at night. Once you are comfortable, of course," Maria said. "Let's go; the others should be arriving soon."  Emilia grabbed each of their hands, followed Maria into the gym, and took a deep breath; slowly, the kids started to arrive with a guardian. Emilia felt better about leaving the two alone for a few hours after seeing about twenty other kids; she was sure they would be safe. Emilia pulled her siblings aside and looked at them, naturally moving her thumb across Felix's cheek to clean up some dirt.  "Listen, I love you both very much; I will never let anything happen to you. Okay? But I have to leave you here to learn, okay? You have to learn a lot so I can gather food for us, so we can fill our bellies and sleep like bears." Emilia watched their worry, sad expressions that even her silly sayings couldn't dent their faces. "I am not going to leave you here. I am going to be back. I always comeback, don't I?" Marisol nodded, squeezing Felix's hand. "We will be brave, right, Lix?" Lix nodded, placing his forehead against Emilia's. "I'll be brave. Don't cry, Lia. We will be good." Emilia didn't even realize that the tears appeared until he spoke those words. "Thank you little Prince. I will be brave too. Marisol, you know what to do if you think something is wrong?"  Marisol nodded. "I will take Felix and run as fast as we can somewhere safe and hide until we hear your voice."  Emilia nodded, looking at Marisol and Felix, taking a deep breath, and kissing their foreheads. "Protect each other until I get back, but be kind and friendly, make friends, and have lots of fun, but don't forget our rules. Your safety first, understood?" They both nodded, hugging Emilia tightly before waving her off. Emilia walked over to Maria, giving her a silent stare, and thank you. She left the fact, looking back to see them waving goodbye, blowing them a kiss before the doors closed. Emilia's heart felt heavy, yet her body felt like it could pass out instantly. She took a few steps forward before her knees caved in, falling forward.  "Woah there, girl, come on now." The voice snapped Emilia out of it, leaning against a post, her eyes looking for them; the bright curly ginger hair in a high ponytail came into sight. "You didn't eat again, did you." Emilia instantly rolled her eyes at the scolding female. "I'm gonna tell Ian." "You know I don't have enough food to feed Felix, Marisol, and myself. They wanted pancakes and fruit today. I could barely provide that, and you still want me to eat?" Emilia sighed. "You are no good to them dead, you know? Which you will be if you keep starving yourself." "You make it sound like it's by choice, Abigail."  Abigail Summers is an Ireland, green-eyed, tall, fawn-skinned with beautiful facial features, a short, curly red-headed female with a flamboyant natural body. Abigail's strong personality comes from her military parents. She was one of the seven of her childhood friends trying to make things work. Abigail hasn't seen her parents in a few weeks but believes they will return with good news; at least, that's everyone's hope. Unlike Abigail, Emilia is a Hispanic, brown-eyed, average-height, hazel-skinned, elegant, lovely natural beauty with a beautiful thick romantic hourglass figure. Emilia's hair is naturally ebony and reaches down to her waist but often braids to keep it out of the way, similar to Marisol's hairstyles. "Even if it's not by choice, you can ask for help, you know?" Abigail handed her a sandwich from her bag and a water bottle. "All this fighting, planning and working on a solution is pointless if you're not at your best." "Let's be honest, I can't ask for help, everyone is watching out for themselves, and I don't blame them. I haven't been at my best in years, and now with Lix and Sol, there is no way I can keep this up. I am so tired these days. I keep telling myself not to give up, but sometimes. I just wonder if." She paused, taking the food and water offered.  "If?" The voice came from behind her, but this voice was different. It called to her heart with its worry, yet the feeling of home and comfort. Emilia looked over her shoulder, and there it was. She couldn't help but fall silent, the delicate features on his face as he looked at her, yet the slight worry. Emilia couldn't help the smile, taking a few steps towards him. "Ian! you made it with the others." Abigail smiled, patting his back and walking right past him to greet the rest of their friends.  Ian was a handsome East Asian man with black hair, brown eyes, and a tall and muscular body; he was incredibly kind and musically talented. Ian was also very family oriented and had a little sister the same age as Felix, who would often hang out with Felix when the two were together. Ian was also Emilia's childhood crush that only grew over time, but time was never right. Ian and Emilia's eyes locked on one another for what felt like a century. "If, if anything, I am just having a hard time with gathering food for the kids and making sure there is enough for me." "Em, you know I could help you." He walked over to her, taking her hand and squeezing it. "I know, but you have Minju and your grandparents and parents. You have more mouths to feed. I got this. Felix and Marisol are finally not going to be a worry during the day. I can do better with them busy." "I am still going to help you," Ian stated, his hand coming up to ruffle her hair. "And I won't let you say no this time. Come on, eat up so we can head out; we have to use the time we have wisely." "You already watch my back as it is, but thank you." Emilia gave him a firm nod and started eating her sandwich, getting her bike, and chugging the water down.  "If you lovebirds are done, we have stuff to do! Let's go already!"