On The Top Of The Eiffel Tower

[Have you seen the announcement for our test scores yet?]

Emma, who had just arrived in her classroom, frowned upon reading the SMS from Haoran. Before his text, she had no idea that last week's exam result had already been posted.

[Not yet. How is the result?]

Haoran sent a crying emoticon, and her chest suddenly felt heavy.

'He failed?'

Emma didn't know if she's sad because Haoran and his friends' failed to get good grades as it meant she hadn't been a good tutor or the fact that she and Haoran wouldn't be going on a date in Paris because he couldn't match the test scores of those from Class 2A.

For a while, she stared at her cellphone trying to think of an appropriate reply. [I....]

But before she could write more, a loud scream came from the classroom's entrance as Mary entered while pulling Nadya's hand with excitement.

"Oh my god, oh my god, I'm so happy! Oh my God! I told you, Haoran's actually smart! You just didn't want to believe me," Mary said to Nadya many times. Mary's face was filled with abundant joy as if she had just swallowed ecstasy.

"Uhm, what happened?" Emma asked in curiosity.

Nadya turned to her with a look of disbelief. "Emma, you won't believe this. A student from Class 2F—Haoran's test scores—is in the top 30..."

Emma frowned. "I don't understand."

Mary approached Emma and shook her shoulders vigorously. "I told you, right? Haoran's actually smart. Finally, this time he didn't leave his answer sheets empty. The test scores just came out, and his total score ranked him 25th!"

Emma shook her head. She was about to show the SMS from Haoran containing the crying emoticon, but fortunately, she quickly remembered that she didn't want Mary to know that she was well acquainted with Haoran.

"Oh..." Emma suspiciously reread the message on her cellphone.

"Oh, by the way, your score is ranked 1st. You're very smart! We're proud of you," Nadya said. "There have been many surprises this semester."

"Thank you." Emma nodded. For her, the exam questions were very easy. With her IQ, she could easily do college-level test problems.

She finally replied to Haoran's SMS to get confirmation.

[Your score put your name at number 25. Why did you trick me by sending a crying emoticon?] She scolded him via SMS.

[I didn't trick you. Those are tears of happiness.] Haoran replied.

Emma was stunned upon reading his reply. Gosh... His text earlier almost gave her a heart attack. Her lips slowly curled into a thin smile.

[I want my reward. In Paris.] Haoran sent an SMS again.

This time Emma responded with a crying emoticon too, leaving him to guess what she meant by that.

***

Sending that SMS was the last thing Emma remembered. The next thing she knew... she was sitting on top of the Eiffel Tower, with no recollection of how she got there.

'Is this a dream?' she thought before pinching herself and shaking her head in confusion. It hurt.

'What just happened? Why am I here? Weren't I in Singapore, replying to Haoran's text message?'

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh..." She let out a scream when she realized that this wasn't a dream.

Oh my God, oh my God.

She recognized Paris from the Seine river flowing across the city; there were also some landmarks like the Sacre Coeur Basilica, the revamped Notre-Dame Church, and The Louvre.

"I... am in Paris, I've come back," she whispered to herself. For years, she had longed for Paris. Suddenly waking up in this beautiful city moved her soul. The wind touched her face. It was a strange feeling.

'The view here is amazing,' she thought.

But...

How did she get here?

The realization came to her after a while. A normal human shouldn't be able to climb the Eiffel like this.

'Am I not a normal human? Is that why my parents left me in the orphanage?'

The thought made her chest feel heavy.

'Who am I?'

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhh..." She screamed at the top of her lungs, venting her frustration. This time, it's filled with the longing she had kept inside her for thirteen years. Suddenly, tendrils of lightning struck over the city and the whole of Paris went dark, engulfed by the worst blackout the city had ever experienced in the 21st century.

The lightning surprised her and wind swayed her. Emma lost her balance and fell from the tower.

"Haoraaannn!!!" As she got ready to face her imminent death, Haoran's name was the only thing she could remember. It's also the only word that came out of her lips.

But the death she was expecting never came. Her body felt light as she rose toward the sky, flying higher and higher, higher than the Eiffel Tower.

Emma finally realized that she could fly.

"Mother, father," she whispered. "Who am I? Why do I have all these abilities? Why did you leave me?"

Given her intelligent mind, memories came rushing, sweeping her brain like a flood. She finally put two and two together.

Arreya Stardust could indeed read her husband's mind. Emma now remembered why her father never talked much. It's because he didn't have to.

Emma remembered because... she could hear the hundreds of thoughts from down there. It's deafening.

People were complaining and cursing the government for the blackout.

Somehow she knew, the blackout was her doing.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I was just upset."

Her heart was filled with guilt, knowing that she's responsible for the blackout, even though she wasn't sure how she did it.

Emma moved her body naturally and drifted back to the top of the Eiffel Tower and stayed there.

The beautiful city of Paris couldn't be seen as if it was swallowed by darkness. But Emma could hear the voices of so many people.

When her gaze had swept the night sky, she was charmed by its lovely view. Now, without lights coming from the city, the billions of stars from the bright milky way covered the city.

She stood still and a feeling of solemnity came on to her while gazing at the beautiful sky. Sadly, the silent and deep ambiance didn't last long as the buildings in Paris lit up one by one.

Most of the buildings had their own power generators for emergency situations like this.

Following that, her emotions began to calm down. Emma took out her cellphone and tried to contact Haoran. She must meet the young man to find out what had happened.

Fortunately, the telecommunications towers were also equipped with generators that turned on automatically several minutes after a blackout. The connection bars on her phone started to appear.

The time on the cellphone showed 1 AM. The calendar on the top left side of the screen said June 21, 2056. The exam result was posted on June 19, so that meant she had lost memories of the past two days.

"Happy birthday, Emma," the girl whispered to herself. She remembered her birthday because her mother always said Emma was the gift of summer for Arreya and Kaoshin.

[Haoran, are you still awake? I unknowingly sleepwalked, and now I don't remember the way home. What's the name of the hotel we're staying in? Can you tell me?]

If Haoran had fallen asleep and couldn't reply to her text, Emma would wait here until morning arrived. Fortunately, she didn't have to do that. Emma was so relieved when a reply came from him a minute later.

[Send your location now, I'll pick you up.]

The girl looked at her cellphone in surprise. Apparently, Haoran's still awake and even offered to pick her up!

[It's okay. I'll take a taxi. I just need the name of our hotel.]

As soon as she pressed the SEND button, Haoran called her.

"Stardust, it's already past midnight. It's not safe for a girl to roam alone. Hurry up and send me your location, I'm in the lobby and will be taking a taxi!"

When Emma heard Haoran's voice on the phone, all of a sudden, the noise around her disappeared. It was as if no other sound in the world meant anything to her except for his voice.

"I-I'm in the Eiffel Tower," Emma stammered.

"Monsieur, we're going to the Eiffel Tower. Please hurry, my friend is in danger." She could hear Haoran speak to the taxi driver. "Stardust, hang in there. I'll be there soon."

Hearing Haoran's words, Emma soon realized that she couldn't let Haoran be suspicious by making him see her 320 meters above the ground. The girl flung herself down in a beautiful movement and landed in her two feet gracefully, like a fairy.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, a flash of memory played before her eyes.

Arreya Stardust jumped down lightly from the top of the apple tree in their garden after picking an apple for Emma. She landed gracefully on her two feet, almost like a butterfly. Kaoshin, who's carrying little Emma, looked to the left and right to make sure their neighbors didn't see Arreya's actions.

"Your worried face looks adorable, General Kaoshin Stardust," Arreya teased her husband.

'What if somebody saw you?' Kaoshin's lips weren't moving, but Emma could hear her father's voice.

"If anyone saw me, I'll erase their memories," answered the beautiful woman nonchalantly.

'You shouldn't use your magic unnecessarily, especially mind control. You're still weak from that time.'

Little Emma just looked at her father and mother alternately. They both looked very intimate. Kaoshin's gaze at his wife was always filled with profound love.

RING

RING

Emma's flash of memory ended when her cellphone rang.

"I'm already in Trocadero. Where are you?" Haoran asked.

"I'm at one of the feet of the tower."

"Fine. Stay there, I am heading that way."

Emma held her cellphone to her chest, filled with warm feelings. Her tears dripped down because, just now, she finally managed to remember her parents' faces.