The Insurrection

Chapter Two

"You cannot heal what you refuse to first acknowledge."

~ Bryant McGill

"To truly succeed in rebuilding this World, we must first heal. And to heal, we have to look back and see what went wrong. We have to acknowledge our past mistakes, own up to them, and promise ourselves and each other that they will never be repeated again." Taika finishes up her speech at the press conference before we head out to dinner.

We hold press conferences every few weeks to give the people an update on what is going on and where we are in the rebuilding process, as well as advise them on what they can do to help. This month's exercise topic is acknowledging our past. Recognizing that we have failed humanity, and place measures to ensure that we never do so again. That history doesn't repeat itself.

As we walk towards our favorite restaurant, people smile and wave at us. Some try to thank us and others ask what we'll be doing next. Hope, this is what hope feels like.

"Now that was a great speech," I tell Taika.

Leon snickers, "Do you remember when she used to shake from stage fright so hard that the podium almost collapsed?"

I smack his shoulder, "Dude, you're playing with fire."

Taika laughs, "No it's alright, as long as he remembers that his face turns as red as a tomato whenever Leila talks to him."

"Ooooh, what is this new information?" I ask him.

Leon rolls his eyes, "When did you two turn into gossiping schoolgirls?" He shoots back.

"We're just worried about our friend," Taika exaggerates.

I play along with her, "She's right, you might have first love syndrome. You should take it seriously."

He laughs along with us this time and we bicker back and forth until nightfall.

"What if we end up being no better than UniFed?" I ask them.

Leon shakes his head, "What UniFed did was oppress and deprive us. They had no regard for us or our well-being, and they didn't care. We're not entirely innocent either. We are the ones who let them rule this long. Rulers are nothing without their people, all it took was one movement and they were out."

Taika nods, "Leon's right. And as long as we remember our purpose and principles without letting any other distractions get in that way of what matters, we will already be doing much better than UniFed ever could."

"Promise me we won't let power consume us the way it consumed UniFed," I say.

"Yikes, I don't know about that one, Alan. You're a tad bit power-hungry." Taika teases.

"You are in a great mood today." I smile lightly.

Leon lifts his face to the stars and says, "How could we not be? This must be what it feels like to be free."