Day

I look outside my window, watching the glistening ocean waves crash onto the rocky shores once, twice, three times. I slide open the window to feel the cold refreshing breeze.

They say Antarctica was once completely covered in ice. They say the only things that lived here were a handful of goddy scientists and strange birds that walked almost like humans.

They say a lot of things. They say I'm a hero, a legend. That I was the people's champion, the one who changed the future. They tell me how I almost died, and how it's a miracle I lived. But they refuse to tell me the terrible things I've done. They're always silent when I ask.

For ten years, I've been living in a haze, lost in confusion. But piece by piece, year by year, I've managed to put the puzzle pieces back together. All except one.

I know my name is Daniel Altan Wing. People used to call me Day. I did everything I could for my family when Eden got really sick. I know the Republic murdered my parents and John, and that they experimented on me and Eden. I know that we were all victims of the Republic. And I know I met a girl.

Not a random girl. She was special. Different.

I know she had long hair she kept in a high ponytail and gold swimming in her beautiful dark eyes.

She-

I cannot remember who she is. Who is the girl that haunts me?

"Daniel?" Eden interrupts my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I ask. My voice is low and rough when I speak. "What is it?"

"I should've told you sooner...I'm sorry..."

"Just tell me," I say. Usually my patience would run thin, but this is Eden. I can't get mad at my little brother.

"I applied for an engineering position a few months ago," he says breathlessly. "I just got a call from them. They say they want to interview me!"

A smile spreads across my face. "That's great, kid!" I exclaim.

Eden's face is still a bit grim. "There's one problem." He pauses. "I applied for a job in Los Angeles, at Batalla Hall."

"Oh." A shiver runs down my back. That was the place where John died. I brush away my thought. We're trying to move forward, I say to myself. "So when do you have to go?" I ask.

Eden bites his tongue. "Tomorrow afternoon. There's a 95% chance I'm getting the job." He meets my eyes. "I'm moving out."

"Then I'll come with you," I tell him firmly.

He protests. "But don't you want to stay here?"

I shake my head. "I've wanted to leave for a long time now. There's something out there I need to figure out."

We've managed to pack up our belongings while leaving the unnecessary stuff behind. I don't have much to bring- just my pendant, a bag of clothes, and the paperclip ring I wear on my finger. Eden on the other hand, stored all of his mechanical creations in boxes and carefully put his hand-built computers in suitcases.

"Do you really need all this?" I ask, watching the pilot load heavy boxes into the bottom of the plane.

"Yes!" Eden says, nodding furiously. "They're my prototypes. And with the technology they have at Batalla, I can build improved models. You see, recently the other engineers in LA developed a new power source that comes from absorbing the radiation of a commonly found element, therefore avoiding to use any carbon material but something-"

"Eden, you do realize I'm not smart enough to understand what you're saying, right?

"Well, you could if you'd chosen engineering rather than becoming a secret agent," Eden grumbles.

I ruffle his curly messy hair. "There's room for only one genius in the family, and it's you," I say.

Eden smiles, seeming quite pleased as he boards the private plane. I follow after him, shutting the door.

The engine rumbles, the jet speeding down the runway before taking off. The ground becomes smaller and smaller. I watch as the place that's been my home for ten years begins to shrink until it's nothing but a blob. "It's going to be a nine hour flight," says the pilot. "Make yourselves comfortable."

As if on cue, my phone vibrates. I take it out of my pocket, seeing that the caller's Tess. Wow, I haven't talked to her in a while. "Hello?" I answer the phone.

"Hey Day. Eden told me you guys were moving back to LA. I was just wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight," says Tess.

She doesn't sound like the kid I met on the streets. She's all grown up. Matured. I wonder how she looks like now, with ten years passing by. Contact between us had been growing less frequent, and I'm glad that we can reconnect again.

"That sounds great. See you tonight?"

"Yeah." Tess sounds relieved. "There's someone I want you to meet," she says.

"Really? Who?" I ask, curious.

Tess's voice becomes mischievous. "You'll see." She hangs up.

I can't help but to smile at her antics before putting my phone back in my pocket. I sigh, settling into the comfy chair and close my eyes. I drift into a dreamless sleep.

We're walking down the streets of LA, having dropped our bags off in the hotel we rented for the week. "Test me," pleads Eden.

I roll my eyes. "You'll do fine, kid," I say.

"Come on," he insists.

I sigh. "What's your name?" I ask in a monotone voice.

"Eden Bataar Wing," he answers promptly.

"Why do you want this job?"

He doesn't skip a beat. "I'm interested in engineering, and using my skills to make the world a better place."

"See? You'll do fine." I say. "As I said before, they have to pick you for the job. If they don't, then they're just a bunch of goddy idiots."

"Still," Eden whines.

I'm about to say something else when someone catches my eye. I see a young woman walking down the street, her brown hair tied in a high ponytail, every bit of her elegant. She's beautiful. Gorgeous. Nothing like the other women I've met in Antarctica. For some peculiar reason, she seems so familiar, yet she is a stranger. As she walks closer, I zone out of my conversation with Eden and focus on her. The woman walks in deliberate steps, turning heads when she walks past people.

Her dark hair turns lighter in the sun. Her gold flecked eyes shimmer and dazzle. It's her. It has to be. She's real. She's the girl that haunts me.

I don't know who she is, though. Perhaps a friend, hopefully a lover. I just know this: I cannot lose her again.

We walk past each other without a word. I try desperately to catch her attention but her enchanting eyes are fixed on the horizon. I turn my head and watch her walk away. We're drifting apart. And I can't let that happen. "Just a second," I say to Eden before running after the woman. She looks over her shoulder when she hears my hurried footsteps.

"Excuse me," I say breathlessly. "Have we met before?"

The woman looks at me, unable to conceal the pain in her dark eyes. "No," she whispers back after a pause. "Sorry."

I frown, disappointed. I swore it was her. I run a hand through my hair- a habit I have. The woman's eyes flicker to the ring on my hand. "Oh," I say. "I'm sorry to bother you, then. I just...You look really familiar. Are you sure we don't know each other from somewhere?"

She searches my face for something. I wish I could get rid of the pain that resonated in her eyes. Something flickers across her face. Realization. Hope. But she keeps her lips closed, the words she wants to say left unspoken.

She's lying. She does know me. "I have known you," I murmur softly. "A long time ago. I don't know where, but I think I know why."

"Why then?" Her voice is gentle and delicate, as if she's trying not to cry.

I try to pull together an answer that doesn't sound crazy, but fail to. I take a step closer. Red rises on my cheeks as I try to explain. "I'm sorry. This is going to sound so strange. I...I've been searching a long time for something I think I lost."

"It's not strange at all," she says, swallowing back hidden emotions.

A smile breaks across my face. "I felt like I found something when I saw you back there. Are you sure...do you know me? Do I know you?" Conflict is written all across her face. She seems to be having an internal debate in her head, each side too strong to defeat one another. Please, I pray. Let the side with the truth win. I need to know. I need to know.

After a long, eternal moment, she says, "I have to go meet up with some friends."

"Oh. Sorry." I apologize to her for a third time. "I do too, actually. An old friend down in Ruby."

She freezes, her eyes widening. "Is your friend's name Tess?" The woman asks hesitantly.

I smile. "You know her." The disappointment stirring in my chest fades.

"Yes," she murmurs. "I'm having dinner with her tonight." She must be the friend Tess wanted me to meet!

I gaze at her, my face serious and sincere. It's her. She's what I lost ten years ago. "I do remember," I whisper. Memories of her, no- us, are coming back together. Still faint and filled with holes, but there. "It's you," the words leave my lips, my voice filled with wonder.

"Is it?" The woman whispers, her voice trembling. Her eyes are bright, shining with hope.

"I hope," I reply softly, "to get to know you again. If you are open to it. There is a fog around you that I would like to clear away." I reach out to shake her hand. The second I touch her, I feel a spark igniting, starting at our palms, running through my arm and straight to my heart. My heart thuds quickly in my chest, a feeling I haven't felt in a long, long time. The feeling of love.

"Hi," I say. "I'm Daniel."

"Hi," she replies. "I'm June." She smiles softly, happy tears filling in her eyes.

Just one look from her and I know. I know we were together. Me and June. June and I. We were together, once.

I forget the rest.