A BEGINNING

By: Majinbuttercup

I do not own the books of Ember and am making no profit off of this. Comments Welcome!

It had been about five years since the people of Ember had left their city. Doon and his father had a small two bedroom house, and Lina, Poppy, and Mrs. Murdo had a three bedroom one near the doctor. Usually it was just Lina and Poppy, because Mrs. Murdo stayed with the doctor most of the time. Lina had taken up her job as a Messenger again, riding her horse Fleet to nearby villages. A few days before, he and Lina had sat together piecing together a letter for Edward Pocket, the town librarian. Something which had been growing inside him changed noticeably as he and Lina sat together, huddled over a diamond light, laughing at the irony of the situation. He and Lina were each nearly eighteen.

It was almost time for the Singing. The Singing was one tradition which had been held over from the time in Ember. The people of Sparks, who had never been Emberites, found it strange that one day a year, half of the shops in town closed up, half of the workers took the day off, and everyone from Ember gathered at the Pioneer Hotel to sing. The people sang the three songs which were always sung at the Singing, the "Song of the City," the "Song of the River," and the "Song of the Darkness" but they had also added two more songs. They sung the "Song of Good – Bye," which had previously been sung for people who died, and a new song, which had been written by the old Songmaster and some of the former Believers. It was called the "Song of Hope." The "Song of Good – Bye" was the people's way of honoring their loved ones who did not escape the city, as well as a way of telling Ember that it was beloved and would never be forgotten. "The Song of Hope" spoke of the promise this new world brought to the people, and stated that they would persevere over all obstacles which came their way. Lina and Doon had been able to convince the authors to leave their names out of it, and so it merely referenced the "actions of a brave boy and girl." It was embarrassing enough when children were born with names such as "Dina" or "Doona" or "Harrow" or any other combination the parents could come up with that involved their names. While they were proud of what they had done, they said it was something anyone else would have done if they had been the ones to find the Instructions. Doon wasn't so sure, but that didn't matter. They were out, they were above ground, and their people would survive.

Adulthood was hard to determine in this new world. In Ember, after your Evaluation, you were considered an adult. You either continued the job you had been doing over the past three years, or you were reassigned. This may be because your work was unsatisfactory, or because your labor was more needed elsewhere. If you decided to leave your profession, to open up a shop for instance, you had to get permission from the Mayor. Children, before they were assigned jobs, often helped out in their parents' shops, for spare pocket money, or merely because the shop needed help. In this new world, however, there were no Assignment Days. There was no Evaluation. Doon knew that in Ancient Times, adulthood was reached at eighteen. This seemed a bit old to him, but the people of Sparks had sort of taken it as an unofficial barrier between childhood and adulthood. So, from the time they were finished from school, until their eighteenth year, they were neither children, nor adults. However, they often began to be treated as adults much younger. They had jobs and were able to trade for goods. Some even established their own households, although not many. It all seemed very disorderly to Doon. There was no defining moment in which you could say, "A – ha! I am now a man!" He and Lina had actually sat together pondering that very problem the day before, after she had returned from delivering Edward Pocket's reply to his letter.

Lina had thought Doon was merely discussing it because of his thirst for knowledge and understanding. While this was part of it, Doon had another reason. He and Lina had been friends for a very long time. With the exception of the few years in which they had grown apart after the street lamp incident, and the few years before they were old enough for school, they had been friends for their entire lives. There was always something different about Lina, something that set her apart from girls such as Lizzie. She was smart, curious, and adventurous. She rarely turned down an opportunity for excitement, and, while she may not always understand them, was tolerant of his quirks.

For the past few years, and especially since the day in which they were poring over the letter, he had begun to notice more. He could tell when she was happy, or upset, and at times, her smile could be enough to make his breath catch in his throat. She occasionally invaded his most personal dreams, and was often the one who came to mind during his most private moments. He often wondered if this was the case for her as well, but for the sake of propriety and because he knew just how embarrassing it would be for the two of them to discuss it, he never asked. That day was the first in which he had ever outwardly shown any sign of his inner feelings. It was the first time in which she had ever looked at him as anything more than a friend, like he could possibly be something more. He could see it in her eyes, but they had yet to discuss it.

Both of them had had short instances of seeing other people. He had had two girlfriends before, and she three boyfriends. None of them lasted more than a few weeks. Her longest relationship had been two months, three weeks, and four days. They always ended with the person mentioning Doon or Lina as a source of jealousy. It was always denied, stating they were merely friends. Doon knew this wasn't true, or at least he hoped it wasn't. Lina meant more to him than either of his girlfriends had. When they had broken up with him, he didn't cry. Lina didn't cry, although she was a little sad after her longest relationship ended. She had come to him to talk about it. A few days later she was back to her cheerful self. Those few days were like a knife in his heart, worse than listening to her laugh at his jokes, or snicker as she pushed his hand away from her thigh as he tried to raise up her skirt. It had been hard for him to avoid punching the guy in the nose.

He thought about asking Lina to go somewhere with him. Somewhere more than just to eat lunch near the apple tree she had inadvertently planted, a few years before when she had buried her apple core, or to go with him to the library to find a book on something. Or perhaps to hold her head to his chest when she cried during the Singing, which she always did. Or even to go with her on another Messenger run, holding her close as the horse jostled them together. When she first got her horse, he would ride with her often. As he got a bit older, this changed. After a few uncomfortable instances, he often sat as far back on the horse as possible, and decided he shouldn't go with her as often as he would like. He still went with her sometimes, but many times he claimed he was too busy, so he wouldn't have to explain the sudden changes that would occur below his waist. He knew Lina didn't mind. She was not stupid, and could see his embarrassment, but more than that, she loved riding, and was always looking for a chance to do so. She even took Poppy with her a few times, but Poppy didn't like it as much as she did. With some satisfaction, he recalled that she had never taken any of her boyfriends riding with her.

Doon sat pondering various things: what he should do about Lina; when he would be a man; how to tell his father that he was not interested in taking over the Small Things shop one day; the final days of Ember – which his mind always turned to around the time of the Singing. He was so deeply engrossed in his thoughts, he almost missed Poppy coming up to him. "Thinking about Lina?" she teased.

'She's a little smart – ass,' he thought, before he mentally berated himself. He had taken to using some of the phrases of the residents of Sparks in the past five years, and was often surprised when they came out of his mouth or into his thoughts. "No. Well, not exclusively, anyway. Shouldn't you be in school?"

Poppy snickered in the way all seven year olds do when they have a secret. "School's over for the day. Anyway, Lina's out delivering messages today, so Mrs. Murdo told me to ask you and your father over for dinner tonight. She should be back by then."

"It should be fine, let me go ask him." Doon walked around the courtyard in the middle of a cluster of houses to his house. "Father, are you here?"

"I'm here, son." His father came around from the back of the house, holding a bag of chicken feed, a few chickens following him and squawking at the interruption in their feeding. "What is it?"

"Poppy's here. Mrs. Murdo wanted to know if we wanted to come over for dinner."

"Tell her we'd be delighted." With that he returned to feeding the chickens.

Doon returned to where Poppy was standing, and returned to where he had been sitting, in the shade of a pine tree, looking at the shapes of the various pinecones scattered around it, marveling at how, despite coming from the same tree, how each one was slightly different. "Father says we'll come."

"Great, I'll tell Lina when she gets back, so she'll take a bath in the river before you come over. She can be pretty stinky when she gets back from a ride." She turned to go, skipping away a few paces before turning back to Doon, "So, what else are you thinking about?"

"Lots of things, pine cones, manhood, Ember."

Poppy sighed and came over to sit by him, setting her jacket down underneath her so she wouldn't get grass stains on her skirt. Doon had been coming around for as long as she could remember, and she thought of him like a big brother, just as much as Torren, even if they didn't actually live with the Doctor and her nephew any more. "What was it like? I don't remember it very much. Just little stuff like the house always being covered in string, and Lina drawing, and Mrs. Murdo singing. I remember the boat ride out of Ember, which I think is why I don't really like horses much. I remember how fun it was to throw stones into the pond after getting out of the boat. I wish I could remember Granny, but I really don't. I'm afraid I'll forget even what I do remember. I hear Mrs. Murdo saying stuff like, 'Amazing!' every once in a while to stuff like a pretty sunset, but I don't remember ever not seeing the sun. Kids at school ask me about it, but I don't remember it. Will you tell me about it?"

"Sure Poppy. I'll tell you a few stories tonight at dinner, how about that? You can go home, do your homework, and that way, tonight, we can talk about Ember."

"Okay!" Her face lit up and she smiled a miniature version of Lina's excited smile, and she reached over to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She whispered in his ear, "I can't wait until you're really my big brother" and then, as Doon's eyes grew wide and his face turned red, she ran toward home, laughing. Doon chuckled, shook his head, and turned around to go home to find a towel, some soap, and some clean clothes so he could take a bath in the wash basin before going over to Lina's house.

Dinner had been a success. Poppy had fallen asleep listening to Doon telling stories about Ember, some including Lina, some not. Mrs. Murdo had long since gone to bed, and his father had long since gone home. After helping Lina carry Poppy to her room and lay her in her bed, he said that he must be getting home. "Okay, I'll walk you out." The two walked out of Lina's house, toward the road that would take Doon home. "You're very good with Poppy, Doon. She loves it when you come over. And why didn't you ever tell me you were such a great story teller? I could see everything you were describing in my mind!"

"You've seen it before, though. Poppy was too young to remember it, so I had to describe it in a way that she could too."

"Well, it was wonderful." Doon's face took on a slight reddish tinge and he nodded, scratching the back of his head.

"Thank you. Lina, do you want to stand by me at the Singing? I know you were going to help the Doctor all day tomorrow, but you have the next day off to Sing, right? I thought, maybe you'd want to stand together, Poppy, too, of course. And Mrs. Murdff."

Lina had put her hand over his mouth to cut him off. "Of course I will, Doon. I stand by you every year. Why would this year be any different?"

"I don't know. It's just…" He shook his head, and just stopped talking. He looked over at Lina, and brushed a few strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear, watching how the moon shone in her dark hair. She smiled, and his breath caught. Without really stopping to consider the consequences, he leaned down and kissed her. He felt her surprise, and then her mouth opened slightly as she deepened the kiss.

How long they stood like that, he did not know, nor did he care. It felt like a very long time, but it probably wasn't more than a few moments, because suddenly they heard a small giggle, and, "About time!"

They broke apart and, blushing, Lina looked over at her sister who had her head poked out the window. "Poppy, I'm going to pound you!" Lina turned and ran towards the house. As she reached her doorstep, she looked back, blushed, and said, "'Bye Doon!" before slamming the door behind her. As Doon walked down the road towards his house, shaking his head and chuckling, he was sure he could hear two girls squealing and laughing into the night.

~~~~~~~Owari~~~~~~