New Wings

Chapter 15

Thank you so much for being patient with all of this. It means so much that you all still read this. I've been going through a hard time, but updates will be back to normal now!

Please review on this one, and if I get ten reviews tonight I'll update the second half of the chapter tomorrow. How does that sound?

Scarlet-

The sweat-filled, smokey streets of Brooklyn Square were more crowded than usual, and that was definitely saying something. Scarlet was wrong to have assumed that simply because the air was coming close to below freezing, people would stay in their apartments. No, it seemed as though everyone had decided that this was the opportune moment to step outside and get in her way.

She could only hope Ben didn't notice her fists clenching as they continued to get bumped and shoved around through the bustling alleyways. He remained by her side, his fist clenched around her weathered pant leg, his eyes alert and bright, despite having just woke up. It was moments like these that she understood just how much Cinder had meant to the newsies.

They'd only just left the warm fires of "Le Petite Auberge" and already the sky was beginning to dim. Scarlet was torn between wishing it was simply getting dark or hoping it wouldn't snow. Either way there was something to lose. That seemed to have become a pattern for her lately.

She shivered, clenching her red scarf more tightly around her pale neck. The sweat formed from baking over the oven had left her wet and made the chill even harder to handle. Which in turn increased her need to move.

So really, Scarlet didn't feel she needed to be blamed for cursing quite loudly when the pint-sized old lady barged into her side, knocking her with a crash onto the cobblestones. Ben jumped back, and Scarlet knew he was praying she hadn't heard his laugh, or seen the smile he was furiously trying to hide.

She let out a groan, pulling herself up by the elbows. There were still puddles from the rain the night before, so now even her scarf couldn't protect her from the muggy chill.

"Seriously, Madam? I understand being in a hurry, but it vas not necessary to--" She was cut off when the lady turned around to give her a glare that even she was a little scared by.

The woman looked almost identical to her Grandmother. Memories poured over her, soaking through her muddled mind and filling to the brim with images and moments.

Learning to bake in their cottage, flour and powdered sugar covering her face and clothes after hours of breads and beignets to sell to the neighbors.

Sitting on her bed, going over how to sew and mend, and afterwards, learning how to clean up a punctured finger. She still wouldn't forgive those knitting needles.

Or the best moments, gardening together until the sunset, then sitting on the front porch steps as Grandmama sang folk songs from the olden days of France, when wine and love were the two most important things to life.

Leaving her was the hardest part about loving Ze'ev. One could not have both.

A sharp breath left her, and her mind cleared enough to see Ben looking at her in confusion.

"Isn't youse gonna stand up Mudda?" He asked, tugging timidly on her scarf. She blinked a few times, the scent of spice and Grandmama's roses fading as the woman scoffed, shuffling away.

"Vait!" Scarlet scrambled to her feet, reaching out to the old lady. With a huff the woman turned around.

"What is it girl? I haven't got all day, or much time left in general. JUst look at me." The woman shimmied her hips, laughing scornfully. Scarlet's throat tightened. Her Grandmother was getting old too.