"So do you remember now?" Laurel asks as she sits down opposite Nyssa. The diner is quieter than usual, probably because it's quite late already – around eleven o'clock, last time Laurel checked.
They've ordered what they had last time the two of them were here – burgers, fries and black and white milkshakes. This time, though, there is no hesitance on Nyssa's sharp features as she dips a fry into her milkshake and eats it. Laurel can't help but laugh at the way Nyssa closes her eyes and relishes it with a loud "mmm".
"I bet you never thought you would be able to have one of those again," Laurel says with a smile.
Nyssa shakes her head. "I knew I would somehow find my way back to you," she says softly, and the way she surveys Laurel with this intense kind of gaze makes her flush involuntarily. Nyssa doesn't seem to notice, though, or if she does, she doesn't say anything. "In answer to your question… yes, I remember now."
"When you told me I left you to rot in that dungeon… I knew something wasn't right," Laurel says.
Nyssa sighs. "I am sorry, samaya. At some point during my incarceration… Merlyn must have exposed me to a drug. The type that made me susceptible to suggestion."
"That's what I thought at first." Laurel squirts ketchup over her fries, and despite the subject matter she can't help but be amused by the look of distaste on Nyssa's face as she does so.
(Laurel's glad some things never change.)
"But you were most likely wondering… why he had not used me the way he used his daughter. To kill. To do his bidding. But that is not how votora works. I have been trained so my mind is near impenetrable against its effects. Only if he knew my vulnerabilities could he prey on them."
"So he convinced you that I just left you there, in Nanda Parbat?"
"Amongst other things," Nyssa says. She pauses, as if considering, and then she covers Laurel's hand with her own. "But I remember now. You wanted to free me and I told you not to."
"Part of me wishes I hadn't listened to you," Laurel admits. "But then – I don't know what would have happened to Sara if I tried to break you out."
"It does not matter, ya Laurel," Nyssa says firmly. "You freed me from another prison, and I will forever be in your debt for that."
But Laurel can see Nyssa's expression has changed at the mention of Sara. "You know, I meant it when I said Sara was happy. She's off time travelling and saving the world."
"How did you restore her soul to her body?" Nyssa asks, eating another fry.
"Ollie had his friend perform a kind of… exorcism."
"You mean a restitution," she corrects, and Laurel smiles.
"That's what the other guy said. And… I mean, it worked. I got my sister back. Only I don't think being around Thea was really helping… so she left. Went travelling for a bit."
"And now she is travelling through time to…"
"... to stop some awful thing from happening like a hundred years from now, I think she said."
"I see heroism runs in the family for the two of you," Nyssa says with a smile. But it fades a little as she asks the question that Laurel has been waiting for. "Does she know?"
Laurel sighs. "She… figured it out. Considering our history, I shouldn't have been surprised that she could put two and two together on her own."
And Nyssa avoids Laurel's gaze as she asks, "And was she angry?"
"No." The one word alone makes Nyssa look up in surprise. "I believe her exact words were 'I was dead'."
"Sara has many talents, but tact is not one of them," Nyssa says fondly.
"She wasn't angry. Or upset. Not really. Confused, sure. And surprised. But mostly she said she was glad we had each other. And she was glad you taught me how to fight so she can sleep a little easier knowing I can handle myself on the streets." At Nyssa's raised eyebrows, Laurel shakes her head in exasperation. "Sometimes I have to remind her who's older. Though… I guess it's comforting to know her overprotectiveness didn't die with her."
"That it is," Nyssa agrees.
"So what's next for you?" Laurel asks. "I mean, now the League's been disbanded, you could go wherever you like."
"I do not know for certain yet. Now that the burden of the League has been lifted, I am sure of very few things."
Laurel grins. "I'm guessing one of those things is how much you've missed black and white milkshakes."
"Not to mention my intense dislike for ketchup," Nyssa adds, and Laurel laughs at Nyssa's wrinkled nose as she dips her fry into the ketchup and then places it in her mouth.
"Can I ask you something?" Laurel says. Nyssa nods before taking a bite from her burger. "Did you plan on disbanding the League all along?"
"I had entertained the possibility, certainly. But my priority was conquering Malcolm Merlyn. It was difficult to see past that." Nyssa puts down her burger, looks Laurel full in the eyes. "Until you reminded me of who I was."
"You made the right call," Laurel tells her, her hand going to touch Nyssa's wrist ever so lightly. "If it's worth anything… I'm proud of you. And I'm so glad I didn't have to lose you in the process."
"That would make two of us. And, Laurel? I meant what I said too."
"What do you mean?"
"Last year, we were sat in this very same diner and I told you that you had shown me kindness. That I had felt happier in those few weeks with you than I had ever felt in my life."
Laurel smiles, but she still furrows her brow in curiosity. "Nyssa, what are you saying?"
"I am saying that… it would give me great pleasure to try and remember what happiness feels like."
She's still being cryptic, though, so Laurel eventually says tentatively, "W-with me, you mean?"
And Nyssa just smiles, covers Laurel's hand with hers on the table once more. "Who else could I possibly mean?"