Fishermen sailing on the coast of an island the North China Sea noticed smoke coming from it.
As they sailed to investigate, they noticed 2 people standing at the shore, near a signal fire.
When they arrived at the island, they saw 2 people standing on a dock and both of them looked like they'd been there for awhile. It was a man and a woman.
"Who are you?" one of the fishermen asked in chinese.
"2 people who really want to go home." the man said.
"But what are your names?" the other fisherman, who apparently spoke english, asked.
"My name is Oliver Queen and this is my girlfriend Laurel Lance. We've been stranded on this island for 5 years." Oliver said.
The fishermen easily believed that story due to their appearances and helped them get aboard their ship.
"It's over Ollie. We're going home." Laurel barely managed to whisper to her beloved.
"At long last." Oliver said as they down into chairs on the boat, relieved that their five year nightmare was finally over.
"Oliver Queen and Laurel Lance are alive. The Starling City power couple were found on an island in the North China Sea 5 days ago." a newscaster said on the tv of the hospital room in Hong Kong that Oliver and Laurel were in, since after they'd been rescued from Lian Yu.
"Remember what happened the last time we were here?" Laurel asked Oliver as she gently placed her head on his shoulder as they looked out the window.
"I try not to. Too many painful memories." Oliver said and Laurel nodded as she felt him wrap his arm around her waist, which she was fine with. After all they'd been through together, all she really cared about now was that they were together.
"Are you sure that what we're going to do when we get back home is the right thing?" Laurel asked him.
"I know that I'm sure of it, since I promised my dad I'd right his wrongs, but that doesn't mean you have to Laurel. Your fight can finally be over." Oliver said.
"No, like I told you before when we first found out the meaning of the list, we're in this together. Forever." Laurel said.
Oliver smiled at her and said "Together forever."
Laurel smiled back at him, but before either of them could say anything else to each other, they heard the door to their room open and they turned to see their doctors enter with 2 people they weren't sure they'd ever see again.
"Oliver." Moira Queen said to her son.
"Mom." Oliver said.
"Laurel." Quentin Lance said to his daughter.
"Dad." Laurel said as both parents rushed forward to hug their respective children.
Both Oliver and Laurel spent the whole car ride from the airport to the Queen Family mansion staring out the windows, taking a look at how much their city had changed while they were away.
When they arrived, Oliver and Laurel both quickly moved to grab crates with Chinese writing on them from the chauffeurs.
"Welcome home Oliver." Moira said to her son happily as she showed them both into the mansion that had once been so familiar to both of them, but now it was almost foreign.
"Your room is exactly the same way you left it." Moira began.
"A mess then?" Laurel asked and both Oliver and Moira chuckled slightly before Moira continued.
"I never had the heart to change a thing." Moira said as a tall dark-skinned man walked up to them.
"Oliver, Laurel, damn good to see you." the man said in a British accent and Oliver could tell this man was familiar, he just couldn't place it.
"Oliver, you remember your father's friend Walter from the company?" Moira asked.
"I guess you two got really friendly while we were gone." Oliver said, judging from the pictures he saw on the table.
"There never was any point in trying to fool you." Moira conceded as they heard more footsteps come down the stairs and Oliver and Laurel turned to see Oliver's little sister Thea standing at the top of the stairs.
"Hey sis." Oliver said to her.
"I knew it. I knew you were still alive." Thea said as she ran into her big brother's arms.
"I missed you so much." Thea said.
"You were with me the whole time." Oliver told her.
"Hey, what about me?" Laurel asked Thea, who quickly ran to her.
"Of course I missed you to Laurel. After all, you're the closest thing I've got to a big sister." Thea said as she hugged her.
"And you're like another little sister to me." Laurel said with a smile.
"So, what am I? Chopped liver?" another familiar voice said and Laurel let go of Thea to see her own younger sister Sara standing in the doorway of the mansion.
"Sara." Laurel said as she ran up to her little sister and hugged her tightly.
"Okay, okay, I'm happy to see you to, but dial it back on the hug. Seriously, when did you get so strong?" Sara asked her.
Laurel chuckled and said "I spent 5 years on an island in the North China Sea. Let's just say I learned to toughen up."
"Fair point and I'm sorry for asking." Sara said, since honestly, she should've guessed how Laurel got so strong.
"It's fine, but please, until I'm ready to talk about it, no more questions like that." Laurel said and Sara nodded.
"That rule goes for me to Speedy." Oliver said to his sister, who just held her hands up in surrender.
"Anyways, where's mom? I thought for sure she'd at the very least be here since she wasn't at the hospital in Hong Kong or the airport." Laurel asked, since her mother was the only member of her family she hadn't seen yet.
Thea shot Sara a look that read, you have to tell her.
"What's going on?" Oliver asked.
"Maybe we should go sit down. This won't be easy for you to hear." Sara said and Laurel nodded as she and Oliver followed Sara into the living room.
"So, what's going on?" Laurel asked.
"Laurel, after the Gambit went down and we all thought you died, dad started drinking excessively. He became moodier and well, mom and I tried our best to help him, but in the end, dad got so bad that mom ended leaving him and moving Central City. And then his drinking only got worse and then he began his new favorite coping mechanism." Sara said.
"Let me guess, he blamed me for what happened." Oliver guessed.
"Yep and since you were dead, he couldn't take his anger out on you, so." Sara said.
"He took it out on Thea didn't he? I mean, I know he wouldn't dare go after my mom." Oliver said.
"Yeah. But now that you're back, he'll probably start laying into you." Sara warned.
"Thanks for the heads up. But right now I need to figure out how to get a message across to him not to blame my sister for actions that he blames me for, without killing him." Oliver said as he got up.
"Well, I guess it was nice knowing dad." Laurel said, since she was equally pissed with her father and she intended to confront him about this as soon as she could.