Things I Almost Remember: A Selection Story

Awakening

"No, no! Uncle Ahren! Mother! Help me!" Kate shrieked as she jerked awake.

 She swatted her hands at the empty air as though trying to grab onto something, and in the process, she accidentally smacked Johnny across the face as he reached in to try to comfort her. He pulled back quickly, pressing his hand to his reddened cheek.

"Ouch! Geez, Kate!" he moaned.

"Well, that is gonna leave a mark. It seems like Kate just can't keep her hands off you," a self-satisfied voice said from across the back of the time.

"Connor!" Johnny warned, glaring at his old brother.

"Connor?! When did you get here?" Kate said, pulling herself into a sitting position and noticeably scooting away from Johnny. 

"You apparently had dozed off when you guys found me waiting at the train station. I have to say this plan is way better than anything I could have come up with, assuming we can trust this general guy," Connor said, point at General Leger.

General Leger groaned.

"Please don't make me regret picking you up. This is a rather serious situation," he said, side-eyeing Connor from the front seat.

"Oh believe me, I know," Connor said putting both of his hands up as if in surrender. "I know because Kate decided that, if we all truly are doomed, she might as well give my dear little brother here what he has been pining for since he was ten."

Kate's face flushed a deep red and stared down at the floor. She had forgotten in her doze and sudden awakening that she had kissed Johnny. Johnny glared at his brother before side-eyeing Kate to see her reaction. Kate glanced at him quickly and then averted her eyes back to the floor.

"My dream," she began, desperate to change the subject. "I was...I was back at the palace in Angeles, in the ballroom. I have dreamed of it many times before, but I never could remember where I was before. They were always just things I could almost remember. My family was there too. I've seen them in my dreams too before, but I could never remember them. They were covered in blood. They were still alive, but not quite, like they were ghosts or something. I spoke to them. They called me..."

The whole van went silent, waiting for her to finish.

"They called me Kerttu," Kate whispered silently. "They said that they would live when the true heir became known."

They all stared at each other waiting to see who would an

"Who was there?" General Leger asked, breaking the silence.

"My mother and father," she said, pausing and looking at him. "My grandmother, and my uncle, but my uncle wasn't with us, not exactly. He was outside the window. Somehow, he couldn't see me. He was calling my name."

Tears began to stream from her blue eyes, and Johnny instinctively moved to her side and put his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into his chest, accepting the embrace. Connor looked like he was about to make another remark, but not even he could manage given the feeling in the van.

"You saw Americ...your grandmother?" General Leger asked, his voice quiet.

"Yes," Kate whispered, looking up at him. A moment passed before she asked, "She was the one who asked you to save me, wasn't she?" 

"She was," General Leger said, taking a deep breath in, preparing himself. "My relationship to your grandmother was complicated. I would have done anything for her and your family. Kate, your mother never knew, at least not to the fullest extent, but your grandmother and I were involved, romantically, when we were very young when we both lived in Carolina."