~Chapter One~

Bittersweet Beginnings

Some years ahead, in a distant future, in a makeshift village, a blue alien Emoji woman was giving birth to her second child. Her first born and eldest, Anagé, sat patiently outside with her father William. The labor had been going on for about four hours or so. Anagé heard her mother moan with pain, as childbirth was not easy, for humans, animals, or creatures such as themselves, but none the less, she hoped for a little sister to play with and pretend tea party with.

While her father hoped for a son, he would be happy as long as the child was healthy. In the bedroom, another blue Emoji woman, acting as a mid-wife, helped the mother, whose name was Atarah, give birth. At long last, the baby was born and the mid-wife cut the cord and cleaned the baby, and the baby began to cry. At the sound, William and Anagé rushed into the room to see the new infant. It was a girl!

Anagé would have a little sister to play tea party with one day after all. William looked at Atarah, and she looked at him with love in her eyes, and then William carefully took his new daughter in his arms. He looked down at the tiny, squalling infant, and a red heart symbol appeared from his antenna's over his head. The four of them hugged close together then. Even in the midst of the chaotic future they had one thing that bound them together; love.

Within two days after giving birth, Atarah was up on her feet, moving around the house, getting everything back to normal. Other Emoji's in the small village came by to see the baby and check on the family, bringing small gifts, sometimes food, even though there wasn't that much to give around. Anagé played with the other children.

A week passed and the newborn still had no name. Atarah and William didn't know what to name her. Anagé just called her Baby Sister. Then, one day, Atarah had a talk with a very wise old lady, and at the end of the talk, Baby Sister now had a name. She was called Michaela. Every day of the week except Saturday and Sunday, Anagé went to school with other Emoji's her age, some older, some a little younger; to go learn. It was a small, one room classroom, taught by a human teacher, and there were only ten students.

Anagé's favorite lesson was history. She liked to hear and read stories about the time before Aku, pleasant times. But she also liked to hear about Samurai Jack, who she had only seen once, but her mother and father had seen many times before. After school, Anagé would do her homework. She was only six, and she could read and write well, and understand human language, thanks to the human teacher.

Really, all the blue emoji's could communicate to some degree with the human race, due to the advantages they had here on Earth. At least they were safe from Aku and his minions... for now. They didn't have much to live by, but at least they had each other. Two months after Michaela was born, the weather changed from summer to fall.

There was nothing more fascinating then the vibrant, rich, colors of the changing leaves falling from the tree's, and the crispness in the air that let you know winter wasn't too far behind. One morning, it felt very cold, and there was a whole layer of dew on the ground. The small heater kept in the main room of the small house kept everything nice and toasty. Anagé could see her own breath as she walked to and from school.

Baby Michaela had to be kept warm, so Atarah always held her or laid her down for her naps only a few feet away from the heater. Soon, it was time for the holidays, and all the emoji's shared what they had. At last, winter came, and it snowed. Anagé loved to play in the snow, make forts, throw snowballs, and even eat the snow. She liked to break icicles from the side of the house and crunch on those as well.

Since the emoji's didn't have any running water inside their houses, they collected water from the community tap, the river in the woods, or simply the snow outside as some did now. All that winter was very cold but the emoji's were snug, and it seemed nothing could go wrong, for now. And Anagé and her family were happy. They had a home, friends, and love. Most of December and January, the winter had mild snow. But then in February, a big snow came that piled up against doors and most of the emoji's couldn't get out their houses.

Luckily, with enough wood to burn in their heaters, buckets if water they had collected, and food from the store, or food from their gardens. They made it through winter. After the heavy snow, the snow got less and less until it disappeared completely. The days began to get warm again, green grass sprouted through the snow, and the icicles dripped. Spring was on its way.

There was a light snow towards the end of March, and then it was gone again. The ice melted away altogether, and then on April the fourth, Anagé had her birthday, she was now seven years old. Atarah baked her daughter a little cake and there was just enough sugar to make a bit of white frosting. Anagé blew out her candles and wished for nothing more than her family to be happy. Afterwards, they all had a slice of the cake and even baby Michaela had a taste.

With spring now here, it was time to start planting. Atarah got the seeds and her and William began the farming work. One day in late April, everything changed for Anagé and her family. It was her mother's birthday, and William had a surprise for her. After breakfast, he left the house, and went into the woods, to go find her favorite flowers. Atarah loved wild daisies. He didn't see any in the field, so he went deep into the woods to look.

Then, as luck would have it, he saw some. He bent down to sniff the lovely flowers, then he picked them up with one hand. As he stood, he heard a rustle behind him. He turned around to look, no one was there. He heard another rustle, still nothing. A question mark appeared above his head. He began to walk down the path to leave the woods, when suddenly, a giant beetle bot, on of Aku's minions appeared in front of him.

A scared face symbol appeared above William's head, and he ran, flowers in his hand, away from the bot. The beetle caught up to him, and slammed a spiked foot down on the back of William's leg, causing him to cry out in pain and fall down. He tried to scramble back up, but the bot only smashed him down again. William looked up in horror to see the beetle bot raise a sharp, spiky leg and slam it down to him.

Atarah wondered where her husband could be. When Anagé had come home from school, she has asked where her father was, and Atarah responded that she didn't know. Six o' clock came, and when dinner was ready, Atarah was worried. Five minutes later, her answer came. There was a knock on the door, and Atarah handed Michaela to Anagé and went to the door.

When she opened it, she was confused to see Anagé's teacher, the human lady, and two other emoji women behind her. The three of them looked grave. Atarah was confused.

"May we come in?" asked human teacher, whose name was Sarah.

Atarah took a step back, signaling that they could come in.

"Thank you," said Sarah, and they all sat at the table.

"Well, we're sorry to tell you this, but, your husband, William, was found dead in the woods this afternoon. He was killed by a beetle bot of Aku," said Sarah, her voice shaky as she said these words slowly.

In that moment, everything for Atarah and Anagé stood still. Atarah thought she must be dreaming. Her husband couldn't be dead, he was her bread and butter! And for Anagé, to hear that her daddy was dead, and she would never see him again, well, it seemed like something that only happened in nightmares. This couldn't be true. Her daddy couldn't be dead.

Atarah shook her head no, not believing it was true. Anagé's tears began to fall, and Michaela began to whimper, sensing something was wrong.

"I'm so sorry," said Sarah, and she and the two other emoji women put their arms around Atarah and her daughter's.

Sarah stayed with them throughout the night, and then the following morning, Atarah, Anagé, and baby Michaela went to go see the body. It was a gruesome thing to see, and Atarah turned her daughter's head away so she couldn't look at the mangled body. Atarah was in so much shock, she couldn't cry. It was like all her feelings were numbed. The other emoji's came to pay their respects at the funeral, checking on Atarah, Anagé, and Michaela. How would they go on?

Things would be harder without William. Atarah would have to do everything by herself. With two children, a house and a small farm to run, she didn't know what to do. What would happen now? A new chapter in their lives had begun, and it wasn't a pretty one.