This story is a little weird in my experiences of fanfiction. The story and plot itself is mine, Cliodnha_LadyOfSorrow. However I am not good at writing. That's just kinda how it is, so the writing and detail work is courtesy of my sister, steampunkiw on . The story itself is just a thing we've put together, wondering if anyone would read it. If anyone finds any issues please mention it to us.

Prologue

September 27th, 2007

Lilian Queen opened the car door with exasperation. "Come on. Get in Ollie."

"Why should I?" Oliver questioned with a drunken smirk.

"Because," She replied smoothly, "you're gonna get yourself in trouble if you don't. Plus, I'm older."

"Only by ten minutes!"

Lili sighed, "Just get in, I'm taking you home."

"Fine, whatever." He conceded and slid into the passenger seat.

Oliver grumbled quietly to himself for about five minutes before being lulled to sleep by the steady flash of streetlights. His head rested on the window and his body was slumped over, likely from exhaustion. Lili turned her head towards Ollie and sighed before turning back to the road.

The drive back to the Queen mansion was quiet, the only sounds coming from the radio, turned way down low, and the quiet murmuring that Oliver let out in his sleep. He's like a child. Lili thought, almost wistfully, as she remembered when they were younger, back when things weren't so complicated. The shared birthday parties, the playdates, when little Thea was born, all the while Oliver had been her one constant. He always stayed youthful, sweet, innocent. Even now. Although, recently, it might be classified as irresponsible and naive.

"Oh Ollie, you should know you can't stay this way forever."

"Hmmm?" Oliver hummed in response, still mostly asleep and fully uncomprehending.

"Shhhh. It's okay. Go back to sleep." she patted his head lightly as he fell back into his alcohol induced slumber.

Two weeks later…

Something came up. I got the internship! But I have to do some preliminaries today to secure my position. I won't make the boat. Go on without me. I'll try to meet up with you in China. Love you :))))) 3

The message on Sara's screen sent a shiver of disappointment up her spine. Lili wasn't going to be on the Queen's Gambit with them. And Oliver hadn't invited Laurel because they were going. Sara felt a twinge of guilt at that. Now, she chided herself mentally, It's not your fault. Besides, you know Laurel would absolutely NOT be okay with you if she knew.

"Hey, are you okay?" It was Ollie, a careful question in his face, What happened?

"Oh yea-yeah, I'm fine. But there's really no use waiting any longer. Lili's not gonna make it." Sara shook her head and chuckled, trying to hide her disappointment from him.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Did you want to stay here instead?" his voice was soft, like how one might speak when confronted with a wounded animal, cautious. And yet, his eyes seemed to be slightly pleading, begging her to say no.

"No." she shook her head, "I want to go. Besides, who else is gonna watch out for you in China?" She emphasized the joke with a light jab to his rib with her elbow.

"Hey!" Ollie exclaimed, laughter lighting his face, and a smile tugging at his lips.

"But seriously, let's go."

"Yup. After you, M'lady." he performed an exuberant bow, turning his face up at the end to show her the mischievous smile that lit his face.

"Ollie, what are you- No! Put me Down! Ollie!" she broke into laughter as Ollie carried her over his shoulder down the dock at a near sprint. People turned their heads at the commotion, but Sara couldn't care less what they thought, she needed cheering up right about now.

Breaking News: Queen's Gambit shipwrecked, no known survivors…

Lili stared numbly at the headline that scrolled across the tv screen, tears stinging her eyes. Her cup of coffee slipped from her hand and shattered on the hard ground at her feet. She barely noticed as the ceramic shards stabbed her bare feet. Oh God. Ollie. And then another thought struck her, even more terrible than the last. Sara. Sara had been on that boat because of her. And now she's gone, along with Lili's twin brother. It didn't make any sense. Lili always knew when Ollie was hurt. Like that time he fell out of a tree in fifth grade and broke his arm. The moment it happened, she just knew. But, now? She didn't feel anything. No. There's no way Ollie's gone and I didn't know about it.

"Lili! Oh my God, are you okay?" Thea rushed into the room at the sound of the shattering cup.

"Thea?" Lili was suddenly shaken from her stupor by the sound of her little sister's voice, "It's five in the morning. What are you doing up so early?"

"I heard a crash. Your room is right next to mine. Remember?"

"Oh. Right." she was still fuzzy, like she was swimming through honey.

"Yeah. Right. So…" Thea surveyed the room with her eyes, "Are you gonna tell me what's up with you or…" a quiet gasp escaped Thea's lips as her gaze landed on the screen which had captivated Lili's attention only moments before. "No… No. It's wrong, it can't be true." Thea's head was shaking vigorously as if the motion could fix the world that was suddenly crashing down around them.

"It's not." Lili stated boldly, hardening her sudden resolve.

"But… The ship, i-it crashed." Thea's head spun towards Lili, her eyes wide with fear as well as her own quiet tears.

"That doesn't mean Dad and Ollie aren't okay. They're strong." Lili said confidently, and then, more to convince herself than Thea, "They'll be fine."

Late October, 2009

Second Queen twin still missing after sudden disappearance, just three months after the loss of the Queen's Gambit….

The words scrolled across the bottom of the Yamashiro's television in Cantonese. Of course, Oliver couldn't read it, not yet. Maseo and Tatsu would soon remedy this however, as they felt it would be helpful for him to know the language. They were also tutoring him in their native language of Japanese. The process itself was long and dull and tried Oliver's patience often.

The weather outside was torrential, one of the late showers in the season. Oliver was in the kitchen, studying languages with Akio while Tatsu did dishes. There was a particular string of characters that Oliver was struggling to understand, and he was beginning to feel the stress of his situation as a whole bubble over.

"Lili would be so good at this. She always picked up stuff like this quickly." Oliver's pencil cracked in his iron grip as he growled to himself.

"Who is Lili?" Akio asked softly, pulling his attention from his own work to look at Oliver.

"Akio. No!" Tatsu continued to speak in rapid Japanese, of which Oliver only understood a few spoken words. Tatsu said something in a harsh tone, Oliver thought he could pick up the word "sister" but he couldn't be certain.

"Hey," he huffed, "I'm right here y'know. Maybe you'd like to share with the class?" He pushed his too long hair out of his face, annoyance clear in his expression.

"She was telling him that it's rude to ask about those we have lost," Maseo said as he walked in the door.

"Lost?" Oliver asked in confusion, there was no way Tatsu knew about everyone he'd lost on the island, "do you mean my father?"

"Your sister"

"My, my-What? What do you mean, my sisters are safe in Starling City."

"No," Tatsu said slowly, "your sister, Lilian? She went missing right after you. I thought you knew." As she spoke, Tatsu proceeded to pull Akio way from Oliver, directing him to go to the other room.

Oliver's heart felt like it had stopped breathing in his chest, he had never even considered the possibility that Lili was anything less than safe. He stumbled back into the chair he hadn't realised he'd stepped away from, hitting his elbow in the arm as he went down. He didn't know how many minutes he spent in shock with the Yamashiros watching in worry, but he knew it wasn't nearly was enough to process the concept of Lili being gone.