whatever souls are made of..

Settling comfortably on a large rock and gazing out at the empty, barren land before her, Jade hums a tune that has always brought her comfort. When Jade was younger -- before her mom had died -- and felt a loneliness that seemed too big for her small body, her mom would pet her hair and sing a soft song that came from the Before.

Before, when Earth was full of busy people and enormous buildings and thriving technology; when people would not heed the warnings given to them about climate change and its dangers. When people would, instead, choose to waste time arguing about what could be done without taking real action.

At least, that’s what Jade’s mom had always told her. That Earth used to be beautiful, full of life and diversity, and that selfish people had taken it for granted. Not that Jade would know; she has spent all 21 years of her life merely among the ruins of what used to be, living underground in barely-lit bunkers with what remained of her family.

For all that 6 year old Jade used to feel like her body could not withstand the enormous despair of loneliness, it feels impossibly worse now. She still has her uncle, and her older brother, but she cannot help but still feel like her life is empty, devoid of meaning or purpose or fulfillment. Such feelings were hard to come by when the world looked as broken and helpless as Jade herself felt, but still. She is 21 and she has not yet met --

“What’s that song called?” A high-pitched, eager voice asks, jolting Jade out of her thoughts and startling her into bringing the song to a stop. She turns to where the voice had come from and is surprised to see a young girl with a short tuft of curly hair and wide, curious eyes gazing up at her with wonder. “Your voice is so pretty!”

Jade feels at a loss, never having interacted with such a young child before. As she ponders over how to respond, the light in the girl’s eyes starts to dim, filling Jade with panic. She desperately does not want the child to start crying. Mind racing, she manages to pat the seat next to her on the rock, hoping the child will forgive her reticence and sit with her.

Thankfully, the girl’s face immediately brightens again and she scrambles onto the rock with Jade. Once she seems safely settled, she excitedly turns towards Jade again. “My name’s Marigold! Who are you? What’s that song called? Can you teach me how to sing it?” She fires each question rapidly, and Jade wills herself to stop feeling so anxious; the child is obviously harmless.

“My name is Jade. My mom never told me what the song was called. I can teach it to you, though,” Jade says as gently as she can.

Marigold thrusts an object into her hand. Blinking a few times, Jade notices that Marigold has given her a ring with a rabbit on it. She lets out a tiny gasp of awe, always having loved rabbits. She’s never seen a real one, but her mom had shown her drawings of them before and Jade always found them utterly charming.

“My mama told me this is my soulmate charm! She said I was born with it and one day I will meet someone with this same ring and then I can be happy with them forever!” Marigold exclaims, waving her arms around. Jade feels everything in her soften, feeling inexplicably protective of this child she’s just met. “I’m only 5 years old, but I can meet them any time, my mama says.” Marigold has a dreamy, happy look on her face and Jade carefully takes her small hand to slide the ring back onto it. Marigold beams with gratitude.

“It’s a very pretty ring,” Jade tells her honestly. “It is hard to live in the After, but having a partner helps. I hope you meet them soon.”

Suddenly, Marigold jumps a little, seemingly having realized something. “But Jade!” She tugs on the older woman’s arm. “Can I see your charm? Is it pretty like mine?”

Jade hesitates. She has never shown her charm to anyone before, other than her family, so it feels strange. However, there is no harm in showing a young child, especially one as enthusiastic and precious as Marigold, whom Jade feels more affection for with each passing second. She goes to pull back her sleeve to show Marigold her bracelet, but before it comes into view, Jade hears a desperately terrified voice yell Marigold’s name. Jade stiffens, dropping her sleeve and scanning the area. She spots a woman who appears to be about her age standing approximately 400 feet away.

Marigold jumps off of the rock as quick as lightning. Jade’s heart nearly seizes up in panic at the thought of Marigold falling down in her haste, but she’s already running towards the woman’s open arms. “Mama! You found me!”

The mother catches Marigold in her arms and cradles her close to her chest. “Ah, Marigold, you scared the hell out of me!” She scolds with a flood of relief audible in her voice. “Don’t run off on me again!”

Jade abruptly feels awkward for just standing off to the side witnessing their reunion, so she turns to leave. She knows she should be happy that Marigold was reunited with her mother, and she is, but she also feels the loneliness welling up in her chest again. Though Jade has no idea how to raise a child, she had foolishly hoped that she could bring Marigold back home with her, if she learned that Marigold had no caretaker.

But Jade only manages to walk a few paces away before long fingers close around her wrist, halting her escape. “Wait! You waited with Marigold. What’s your name?” An urgent, melodic voice asks.

Jade turns to face Marigold’s mother and cannot help herself from sucking in a breath at the sight of the woman. Her skin is tan, undoubtedly from spending a lot of time outside -- unlike Jade who usually prefers to spend her time reading from books she manages to find from time to time, learning about how the world used to work before it broke. Her long, flowing black hair is styled half up, adorned with a red ribbon. There is a mole underneath her bottom lip which Jade has to determinedly tear her gaze away from. Her entire face is beautiful, but her most striking feature would have to be her bright, sparkling, grey eyes, which seem to be patiently waiting for a response. They are not literally sparkling, but Jade feels that such dramatics are understandable when confronted with such a breathtaking woman.

It takes Jade several moments to realize she has been staring for what must have been an uncomfortably long amount of time. Feeling a slight flush crawl up her neck, she pulls her arm away from the woman’s grip and focuses her eyes on the ground. “My name is Jade. I did not know anyone was looking for Marigold. I apologize. We only spoke for a few minutes and I had not gotten the chance to ask her yet.”

Jade glances at the woman once more and sees her eyes widen a little as she waves a hand. “No, it’s okay! Don’t apologize. I am grateful you sat with her.” She pauses, a friendly smile spreading across her lips. “Jade, huh? I’m Ruby! And this one,” Ruby says while giving a little ruffle to Marigold’s hair, “is my daughter.” At being addressed, Marigold starts to wriggle in Ruby’s grasp. “Alright, alright, you can get down.” Ruby acquiesces fondly and lets Marigold down.

Once Marigold is on the ground she reaches for Jade’s hand. “Mama, this is my friend now! Can she come back with us?”

Ruby laughs a little uncomfortably, aiming a sort of “kids, right?” expression at Jade, but Jade cannot find any problem with Marigold’s suggestion. This little girl has just met her and has already decided she likes Jade, enough to want to spend more time together. Jade’s heart is soaring with happiness at being so immediately accepted. “If it is alright with your mom, I would be happy to,” Jade says a little breathlessly. Ruby makes eye contact with Jade again. There’s a little crease in between her eyebrows, her eyes questioning. Are you sure?

Jade nods gravely. She can happily accompany them and hopefully learn more about them on the way. Since she often opts to stay inside, content with the familiar presences of her brother and uncle, she does not have a chance to meet many people. Due to the unbearably hot weather and depressing ruins of Before, the Earth isn’t exactly bustling with crowds anymore. On the early mornings that Jade habitually comes to the surface for alone time, she usually sees a dozen people at most. No one ever comes up to her, and she does not go up to them. Despite her longing for a companion, she has always been terrified that people would not enjoy her company.

Marigold claps and squeals with delight, tugging Jade’s hand. “Yay! Let’s go, let’s go!” Ruby rolls her eyes and calls out a “Yes, ma’am!” as she begins to follow.

“Jade was about to show me her soulmate charm!” Marigold looks up at Jade with a pleading, curious gaze. Jade’s heart skips a beat, suddenly nervous now that Ruby is watching, but she dutifully pulls back the sleeve on her right arm. “It’s a heart-shaped locket. See?” She holds up the bracelet for the child to see, but a loud gasp from behind makes her turn around questioningly.

Ruby’s eyes immediately fall to the bracelet, and she takes a quick step forward, grabbing Jade’s wrist again and peering closer at the object. She gives Jade’s wrist a little shake “Jade! My charm looks like that too!”

Jade furrows her eyebrows, noticing that both of Ruby’s wrists are bare, but then Ruby is lifting a chain out of her shirt and pointing at the pendant. “See! It’s the exact same! A heart-shaped locket.” The dazzling grin on her face is blinding, and this is too much for Jade to process at once. Ruby is her.. soulmate? Jade has finally found her soulmate?

“But.. but Marigold is..” Jade trails off in a daze. A laugh bubbles out of Ruby and Jade suddenly has an armful of her. Jade’s arms helplessly come up to embrace Ruby in return. “I found Marigold alone last year and couldn’t just leave her. I haven’t.. been with anyone before. It felt rude to the soulmate I hadn’t met yet.” She says, chuckling into Jade’s ear.

Jade pulls back from the hug to see that Ruby’s face is bright red and Jade finds it endlessly endearing. Her heart feels like it will burst with how much joy she is feeling. “It would be my honor to raise Marigold with you.” She assures seriously. She looks down at Marigold, then, who has tears silently running down her cheeks. Ruby falls to her knees in front of Marigold, smoothing her tears away with her thumbs. “Shh, it’s okay, my little treasure. You’ll have two mamas now, is that okay?”

Marigold nods quickly and she holds her arms out for Jade to pick her up, making Jade feel like she wants to start crying, too. When she pulls back from the embrace, she sees that Marigold’s eyes are wide and disbelieving.

“Jade and Ruby,” Jade blurts. “Green and red make yellow. Marigold.” She feels a bit embarrassed for accidentally speaking this revelation aloud until she is met with two incandescent smiles.

Jade is struck with a fierce certainty that nothing on Earth from Before could have been nearly as wonderful as the sight before her. She feels the hole in her heart closing up; she has finally found her soulmates.