Things I Almost Remember: A Selection Story

France

"You're telling me we have to sit in these wooden crates for hours on end on the flight to Paris?" Connor whined.

It was in the early hours of the morning, and Kota had driven Kate, Johnny, Connor, and General Leger to the nearby airport where his art was being sent en route to Paris.

Kota turned around from the front seat to look back to Connor and frowned.

"What were you expecting, to sit in first class?" Kota asked, rolling his eyes.

"Well not exactly that extravagant, but business class would be nice," he retorted.

Johnny groaned and glared at his older brother. 

"You don't have to come. We can leave you here," he said.

"You're only okay with this because you get presumedly are going to get to sit next to Kate in a dark, confined space for seven hours," Connor said, smirking.

"I promise I will make excellent company if you keep that attitude to yourself for most of the flight," General Leger said

"We are getting to Paris, that is enough," Kate said, giving them all a look that told them to be quiet.

"I will not be able to come because it is much harder to get me there with the art, and the more people we smuggle in, the greater risk we are creating both here in Illéa and in France," Kota said. "I have it listed on the crates you  all will be traveling in that they contain valuable sculptures so whoever is transporting them will be careful and expect them to be heavy."

"Hey! I don't weigh that much!" Connor objected.

Kate, Johnny, and General Leger all simultaneously glared at him.

"Let him finish, it is important," Kate said.

"Thank you, Kate," Kota said. "Now I have given instruction to General Leger on what to do once you land. Johnny, Kate, you do not get out of your crate until General Leger gets you out. I also have given General Leger a map of where to go from the airport in Paris and how to get to the palace from there."

"What are we going to do once we get to the palace?" Johnny asked.

"That, we will have to figure out when we get there," General Leger said. "Let's focus on getting out of the country first."

They all nodded and were quiet for the rest of the ride, even Connor did not mutter a word. Kate clutched at her locket under her shirt and coat and breathed. This was it. She was going to find her family. She was going to see them again after so many years of tragedy and heartbreak. She tried, as she had many times before, to push her mind back into her memories, but traveling through the vast recesses of her memory felt like drowning in murky water. She could see light coming from the surface, but she kept getting pulled down by something holding her deep in the water. She could see around herself, but everything was unclear and muggy. 

"Johnny," she whispered just loudly enough so he could hear. "There are so many things I almost remember, that I can almost just see clearly, but there is some block, everything is so fuzzy. I can hear voices that are calming, but I also can hear screams and gunshots. It frightens me to try to remember."

Johnny put his arm around her and pulled her into his chest.

"That is the thing about memories, they are both comforting and painful, but we can't have the good times without the bad," he said. "Your Uncle Ahren is one of those good memories that you can look back to for hope."

She nodded to him and closed her eyes as the car continued to drive onto a dusty road turning into the airport. The car rocked back and forth as it went along the bumpy road. After several minutes the car stopped and Kota turned back.

"We are here," he said quietly. "No one but my associates will be here, and they won't ask questions. I have done this before to help other people, but you cannot say a word about who Kate really is, everyone clear?"

"I guess this is one situation where my identity crisis may actually be a good thing," Kate muttered.

"See Kate, you can be funny," Connor said. 

Johnny rolled his eyes.

The group walked quietly over to a nearby tarmac to where several burly men were loading crates and other cargo into a plane.

"Good morning, Schwartz, Browning," Kota said, nodding his head to two of the men. "These are them."

"Very good, boss," one of the men said. "The crates are over here, I assume they know the plan?"

Kota nodded and gestured over to the crates. They were large and had high sides that looked difficult to climb over, though after years on the streets, Kate, Johnny, and Connor had no problem climbing into them. General Leger easily scaled into a crate as well, taking a seat next to Connor. 

"You did that pretty easily for someone of, well, older age," Connor said as General Leger settled himself into a seated position.

"Don't make us leave you here," General Leger said.

In their crate, Johnny was sitting leaning against the wall with Kate snuggled in his lap trying to keep her eyes open.

"It's okay," Johnny whispered holding her closer. "You can sleep. I can wake you up once we get there."

"I won't sleep that long," she said smiling and suddenly letting out a yawn

Johnny signed and pressed his lips against her hair.

"I'll be here whenever you wake up regardless," he said, leaning further back against the wall.

"I love you, Johnny..." Kate murmured as she dozed off into sleep.

It seemed as though hardly any time had passed when Kate was awoken by a loud thump.

"Qui êtes-vous?" someone shouted from just outside.

"I don't understand," they heard someone say.

"That sounded like General Leger!" Kate hissed looking to Johnny. "We need to help!"

"Kate no, you know what..." Johnny began just as their box was flung open. A man wearing a police uniform.

"Qui êtes-vous?" the man said pulling Johnny up by the collar.

"I can't speak a lot of French," Johnny said, trying to remain calm.

"Est-ce qu'elle avec vous?"  another man said, ignoring Johnny and grabbing Kate.

"Leave her alone," Johnny shouted, anger flashing in his eyes. The man holding him held up a gun, and he stopped froze,  his eyes dodging from Kate to the gun.

Something from deep within Kate suddenly broke out as she struggled against the man holding her.

"Arretez maintenant! Libérez-nous ou il y aura une problème!," she snapped.

Everyone in the room gasped.

"Kate speaks French?"Connor asked, but everyone ignored him.

The guard holding Kate glared at her angrily but released his grip on her.

"Qui êtes-vous?" he repeated.

"Qui êtes-vous? C'est le général Leger, Connor Abernathy, et Johnny Abernathy. Nous venons d'Illéa. Je suis la princesse Kerttu Koskinen, la fille de la reine Eadlyn Schreave Koskinen et la nièce de la reine française Camille et son prince consort Ahren," Kate snapped, reaching under her shirt and pulling out her heart-shaped locket.

The guards all gasped, and the one holding Johnny dropped his gun to the floor.

Author's note: Please let me know if you need the French translated, I am happy to do so, and I apologize if any of it is incorrect. I took French for nine years, but I am a little out of practice :)