Italic = French or German I translate it afterwards don´t worry ;)


Time jump – A few weeks later

She woke up with the sun rising and blinding her through the small dirty window. Leaving Jonathan sleep some more, she made her way to the small living area. She tried to find something to eat for him, but there wasn´t much left. Soon, the little boy had woken up and gotten out of bed.

"Clary? I´m hungry." He said as he rubbed his sleepy eyes. She sighed and her hands shook. As much as she wanted to feed him, she couldn´t find anything. He had lost weight, so had she, so had everybody since the war began. She promised him she would try her best today to find him something. Pulling out an old coat that had been their mother´s, she kissed him on the cheeks and made her way to the cold spring weather outside. The wind ruffled her red curls and she tried to block out the wind, but she shivered and her feet and hands already started to go numb. She slowly made her way to the hôtel de ville. It was the only place that seemed to still be living. Many people were waiting outside, a few soldiers were entering and going out of the building not having to wait up in a line in the cold weather. She made her way to the end of the waiting line.

She knew it would take her the whole day, but she had no other choice. There was still the possibility that once she arrived at the desk there wouldn´t be any tickets left for her and her brother. She could only hope. The hours passed and the line grew longer behind her and shorter in front of her. She had been waiting for more than six hours as she made it to the desk.

"Was brauchen Sie?" (What do you need?), asked the man as he readjusted his red armband.

"Un…ticket?" (A ticket?) she answered not knowing what to call it else. She hoped he had understood her. He cocked an eyebrow and he eyed her up and down.

"Ein Ticket? Zum Essen nehm´ ich mal an." (A ticket? I guess you meant a ticket for food.) She nodded hesitantly, not really knowing what he was telling her. He opened a folder in front of him. Clary saw it was empty. "Kommen Sie morgen nochmal wieder, wir haben heute keine mehr." (Come again tomorrow, he have no tickets left.) She was frozen in shock, anger and coldness. She had been waiting for hours, her brother was hungry, she was as well. They couldn´t even heat up their apartment, they couldn´t afford any wood. The officer shot her an impatient look and she stormed outside, colliding with a few of the soldiers. She practically ran down the street. Angry tears rolled down her cold-reddened cheeks. She bumped into an elderly man. She excused herself and helped him pick up what he had dropped with the impact.

"Je suis vraiment désolée, Je ne regardais pas devant moi./I´m terribly sorry. I wasn´t looking where I was going." He looked at her tired face.

"Ne vous inquiétez pas. Rien n´est cassé. /Do not worry. Nothing is broken." Both let out a weak laugh. Her stomach grumbled. An embarrassed smile grazed her lips as he started to dig in his pockets. She started biding her goodbyes and turned to leave.

"Attendez!/Wait!" She turned around and saw the old man handing her a rumbled piece of pink paper. She took it and immediately gave it back to him as she saw what it was.

"Non, je ne peux pas accepter./No, I can´t accept this."

"Vous en avez plus besoin que moi. Tenez, prenez le./You need it more than me. Here, take it." She hesitated, before she reached out to take the paper from his hands.

"Comment est-ce que je peux vous repayer?/ How can I repay you?" He chuckled.

"Pas besoin de faire quoique ce soit Mademoiselle. Faites moi le plaisir de l´utiliser./ No need to repay me. I´m only asking you to use it." She looked down at the paper in her hands and up again, only to see the elderly man already walking far away. Such generosity warmed her heart. The man mustn´t have had much more than her, and he still decided to let her take his food ticket so she could eat something. The old church´s bell rung 6 p.m. and she ran to the nearest bakery. She entered the empty shop, seeing it was completely out of stock. A woman that could have been the age of her mother walked in.

"Bonjour, il ne vous resterais pas quelque chose par hazard?/ Good evening, do you still have something left?" The woman warm smile faded away as she shook her head.

"Je suis désolée, nous n´avons plus une miète de pain à vous proposer. / I´m sorry, we have nothing left." Clary´s shoulders slumped. She didn´t know how she would be able to tell Jonathan again. She didn´t want to disappoint him again.

"Par contre si vous revenez demain, je peux vous garder quelque chose de côté. Venez tôt comme ca il y aura moins de queue./ If you want you can come back tomorrow and I´ll put a loaf of bread aside for you. Come early, so there won´t be many people." Clary´s head shot up, she wanted to hug her. She nodded franticly, thanking her. Even if she came home with nothing, she still had some good news. They had waited longer once for food, they could wait another night.


Eat chocolate!