The Epilogue of Champion (from Day's POV)

Today we go back to Los Angeles. 

I don't remember much about my hometown. My days there are a blur of faces and fragments of memories. I know I had a family larger than Eden, but I had to leave them. I know I made a friend named Tess on the streets of Lake sector, and we helped each other. I know that I hated the Republic, but somewhere in the last year or so before I woke up, that changed, and I was loyal to it instead. 

When Eden and I moved to Ross City, they gave us glasses that showed us what the city was supposed to really be like. A constant stream of numbers and information that made me exhausted whenever I had to wear them. Eden trained with their engineering schools, but now he wants to go back. 

The wheel comes full circle, I guess. 

"Maybe going back will help you remember," he told me last night, as we were packing up the apartment we share. He has grown over the past ten years, losing the childishness and becoming a young man. I am so glad to have been able to watch him grow. Our family would be proud, I think. 

When we arrive in Los Angeles, we are greeted by a throng of people screaming our names. I smile pleasantly, trying to remember how I led these people for so long. Our faces smile back at me from the JumboTrons that, so many years ago, my wanted poster often looked back at me from, with faces that weren't mine because the Republic could never find me. 

We are ushered straight to the apartment we will share. "Things are different now," Eden whispers. "Do you see how there aren't that many soldiers on the streets? There used to be a few constantly on patrol. That was before Anden came to power, and before the war between the Republic and the Colonies ended."

"The war I helped to stop," I say. It's a statement of my life all those years ago. Eden only nods.

When we go to our apartment, the first thing I do is to contact Tess. It’s only right. “Day!” she shrieks when she picks up the call. I’m not used to hearing that name, the name of a Daniel I can’t remember being. “I’m so sorry I haven’t contacted you in a while. I see you’re back in town.”

“That’s right. Eden’s going to be interviewed for a job.”

“Well, that’s great for him. I’m glad you’re both doing fine. Hey, why don’t we go out for dinner tonight? You, me, a few old friends?”

Old friends? It puzzles me, because I can’t remember being friends with anyone other than Tess. I play along with her anyways. “Tell me when, and I’ll be there.”

~~~~~~~~

Eden chatters excitedly about his interview, his hands moving about to illustrate his thoughts. He brushes his golden curls out of his eyes as we go, rolling his sleeves back up to the elbows. I’m ashamed to say that I can’t share his excitement. I’m happy for him, really, but I can’t relate. I still smile, and laugh occasionally when he says something funny.

Suddenly, his words stop mid-sentence. “What?” I ask. “What is it?” I see his eyes flit to young woman walking in the opposite direction of us. The sense of familiarity that hits me is almost overwhelming, but when I try to put a name to this face, there is a fog in my thoughts. We pass without a word.

"Eden," I say slowly, turning to watch the girl again as we walk our separate ways. A feeling of loss washes over me, and even stronger is the pull I feel towards the stranger. "Did…I know her?"

There was a game we used to play, back when we first moved to Ross City. I'd step into the glass cylinders and browse the internet for everything it had on Los Angeles in the past two years, on the person called Day that I no longer remember being. Eden would be with me as I asked him questions. 

"Did I know the Elector Primo?" "Yes. You and Anden—that's his name—didn't have the best relationship, but you helped him to win over the people."

"Did I help the Republic win over the Colonies?" "You got the people empowered enough to fight back against the Colonies. Back when you still went by Day, you were a celebrity amongst the people."

At first, it was a steady flow each night, until it slowly ebbed into nothing. "Why do you keep trying to figure out the past when you can just make yourself a future?" Eden had asked one night. 

I had no answer. 

Now, when I saw that stranger, questions flow through my head like the dam I had built was broken. Who is she? Did I know her?

Did she mean anything to me?

Before he can say anything, I tell him, "Stay here. I'm going to talk to her." I jog after her and, when she turns around, I stop in front of her. "Excuse me, have we met before?"

She stares at me for a while, perhaps in shock. “No,” she finally whispers. “Sorry.”

I frown, running my hand through my hair. “Oh. I’m sorry to bother you, then. I just… You look really familiar. Are you sure we don’t know each other from somewhere?”

Her eyes search my face and, I return, I search hers. Something clicks in my head, but it won’t come. I shake my head. “I have known you,” I murmur. “A long time ago. I don’t know where, but I think I know why.”

“Why, then?” she asks gently, coaxing me.

I pause for a moment, stepping closer to her. The lines of her face, that feeling of familiarity… I let out a short laugh. She must think I'm insane. "I'm sorry. This is going to sound so strange. I…." How do I even begin to tell her how I feel? "I've been searching a long time for something I think I lost."

"It's not strange at all," she replies. 

I smile. She understands, oh, she understands. "I felt like I found something when I saw you back there. Are you sure…do you know me? Do I know you?"

She hesitates, almost as if she can't figure out how to reply. Finally, she settles on, "I have to go meet up with some friends."

"Oh. Sorry." I clear my throat. Stupid, why did I bother wasting her time? "I do too, actually. An old friend down in Ruby."

Her eyes widen in surprise. "Is your friend's name Tess?" she asks hesitantly. 

This time, it's my turn to be surprised. I give her an uncertain smile back, puzzled. "You know her." Maybe this is what Tess meant when she said dinner with some old friends. 

We stare at each other in silence. I drink in her dark eyes, her pale face. A memory tries to surface. A long, long moment passes between us. "I do remember," I say finally. And I do. Images flit across my eyes. Me and her, together. 

"It's you," I whisper in awe. 

"Is it?" she whispers back, her voice trembling with emotion. There are depths of sorrow in her eyes, but there is also hope. Maybe I caused that pain, maybe that hope is for me. 

I want to make it up to her, this familiar stranger. 

"I hope," I reply softly, "to get to know you again. If you are open to it. There is a fog around you that I would like to clear away."

For a long moment, we do nothing but stare at each other. The world fades so that I see nothing but her. I reach out and touch her hand with mine. I enclose it in a handshake. I feel that we have been separated for too long. I want to fix things between us, restore it to what my distant memories are telling me about us and our history. And she can help me with that. 

"Hi," I say. "I'm Daniel."

"Hi," she replies. "I'm June."