AN: Okay, I'm sooo sorry I haven't updated in forever! I've had a crazy couple of days, but it won't happen again.

Thanks to all my awesome reviewers, and those of you who have added me or my story to your alerts or favorites. Especially Kalli-wa1607, for doing all those things.

Also, I'm going to start trying to make my chapters longer. Up until now they've been fairly short, but I'm trying to update daily, so you still are going to get more pretty quick.

Anyway, onward with the story!


Tally looked up at David with confusion

Tally looked up at David with confusion. She had no idea what had happened. David sighed and looked her straight in the eye. He was going to have to tell her sooner or later…

"David, what happened?" She asked him. This would be a long conversation.

"First tell me what you remember."

Tally thought for a minute. "We met those rangers, Kayla and Todd." David grimaced when she said Kayla's name. If that ranger honestly thought…

"And then we went to the Smoke, and it was as if nothing had happened there. Your dad was there also."

"Yes." Replied David, a smile playing on his lips. "The Smoke is alive, as well as my dad." Tally smiled. David seemed so happy.

"But, how exactly… did he live?" She asked. Honestly, she had no idea. When they had been caught, what reason would Dr. Cable have had to say that Az was dead?

"Would you like to hear his story?" David asked. He obviously wanted to tell her. Tally smiled, and David took it as a yes.

"Once we left my parents house the night the Specials came, after we had our, um, talk, the house caught on fire. My mom had been making tea the old fashioned way. The Specials never even burned the house. My dad just accidentally put a towel on top of the burner without realizing it was on, and it started the flames. Then, after about fifteen minutes of trying to put it out, Dr. Cable came with her little Special army. Dad told me that one of the Specials had said something about not being able to find the house had there not been a fire. Special Circumstances took them completely by surprise. While they were busy fanning and throwing water on a fire, the Specials simply snuck up behind them and that was that."

Tally bit her lip. David's story was a lot different than the heroic fight Maddy and Az had put up against the Specials that she had imagined. It took all her effort not to burst out laughing at David's story. It was just so random.

Finally, after getting herself under control so she wouldn't laugh, she redirected her attention to David. "So what happened once they were caught?" She asked.

"Dad woke up in one of the cells that you and I saw after taking Dr. Cable out. My mom, Shay, Croy, and some others were there too."

"What happened to Croy anyway? I haven't seen him since…" Her voice faded out. She didn't want to think about the day she had left the New Smoke and became Special. That had been one of the worst days of her life.

Noticing her discomfort David answered her question. "Croy is at the Smoke with my dad." He said smiling. Even though she hadn't seen him in years, Croy had been one of Tally's friends as an ugly. She smiled thinking about all the good times she had had back in the Old Smoke.

"Anyway, as the days passed, they all started making plans on how to escape. My parents had to explain to the other uglies there who didn't know the real purpose of the operation. They all seemed to be under the impression that the city just wanted to ask them some questions, and then they could all go back to the Smoke. Some of them didn't believe that was the city could ever be so cruel, and told the Specials what mom and dad were saying. Of course, my parents were right and Special Circumstances knew it. So, they brought Dr. Cable back in to see if she could fix the memory problem. Since Shay and Croy both completely believed my parents, and weren't as easily persuaded as the other Smokies, they were the last to turn. All the others were pretty long before we got there, since the Specials didn't want to run the risk of them being convinced. By the time you and I got there, Shay had been pretty almost a week, and they were planning on turning Croy later that night."

"Then we came." Tally stated.

"Right." Said David before continuing. "Earlier that day, they had taken dad back. My mom assumed that they would turn him, and be done with it. Instead, Dr. Cable first gave him the option of becoming Special, or getting his memory erased and turning pretty. Being as stubborn as he is, dad chose being pretty. He wanted nothing to do with the treachery of Special Circumstances."

Tally sat confused a minute. "But I thought the test for becoming Special was being pretty, and then thinking your way out of it."

"It usually is. But since my parents had done all they had, from running away, to founding the Smoke, and everything in between, Dr. Cable was willing to make an exception. She wouldn't have if they had just been some random Smokies, who had been led there in a group. But they started the whole thing from scratch, so Dr. Cable reconsidered. Also, though, the whole memory erasing thing wasn't quite perfected. And even Specials don't want to kill people, merely keep the cities under control. Dr. Cable thought that making my parents Special would solve that."

"Oh." Said Tally in response. This was a lot to think over.

"When he refused her offer, Dr. Cable decided to go ahead and erase his memory and turn him. So, since at the time Dr. Cable always seemed to get her way, that's what happened." This part surprised Tally. If Az had been pretty, and he didn't remember anything, than…

"How did he end up back in the Smoke then?" She asked. David smiled that crooked smile. "I'm getting there." He said.

"So, the way the memory erasing works, goes like this. The surgeons operate on your brain basically, and put in tiny new lesions that are different than the ones just regular pretties have. These, say your whole past was something completely different than what it actually was. My dad thought he had been a rebellious ugly who had taken some trips to the rusty ruins but nothing more than that. Then, he thought he had been in something called a Hot-Air as a New Pretty." David looked at Tally. "What exactly is a Hot-Air?"

Tally grinned. "A Hot-Air is a member of a specific clique. They go around riding hot air balloons all night. If Shay hadn't convinced me to be a Crim, I would've ended up a Hot-Air." After spending all this time with David, he new all about her time as a pretty.

David smiled at her and continued his story. "So basically his past was not what it actually was. They told my mom he was dead because they didn't want the two to find each other again and jog each others memories. These particular lesions work the like the pretty lesions and can be thought out of. Anyway, after so long living like a middle pretty, the mind rain came along. Well, going along with the crowd like most pretties do, the pills got rid of the lesions. Since the memory lesions are smaller than pretty lesions, the pretty lesions support them. So if someone took the pretty lesions away, the memory lesions fade away with them. Once he remembered everything that had happened, my dad immediately left the city and began re-building the Smoke with old and new Smokies. He tried to find my mom, but still hasn't. He will eventually though. If dad's determined enough to do something, he'll get it done." David smiled at her, proclaiming that he had finished. She smiled back, but then remembered something important.

"David?" She asked cautiously.

"Um-hum?"

"What were you and Az talking about in the hospital?"


What were David and Az talking about in the hospital? Why did David have to leave so quickly? Once again, why did that arrow hurt Tally? Most of these questions will be answered in the next chapter, though some may not, for plot reasoning. Be patient! I do have a reason!

Anyways, I like reviews, though if you don't feel like it you don't have to. But they are nice...

Once again, thanks for reading.

Your BFF,

coela32!