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And one for one desperate moment there,
he crept back in her memory,
God it's so painful when something that's so close,
is still so far out of reach.
:: American Girl :: Tom Petty

And then, a huge grin broke out across his face and he pulled me in for a hug.

Well I guess Tony was a smarty, because yes, I was indeed alive. But why was that such a surprise?

Finally he let go of me and I must have had the most confused look on my face. I shook my head, "Should I know you?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "They told me you were dead, that our father shot you. I…I had no idea, all this time! The Piper Kirby that Orroro was telling me about was…was you! My sister! Back from the dead!" He went in to hug me again but I took a step back and put my hands up while Storm and Logan watched, confused.

"You...you can't be…" I shook my head, "No."

"Yes! I am! Don't you remember? Did you know…"

"No! I don't remember or know a thing! I have no recollection of anything, and no one mentioned a brother to me at all."

"Same! Well, I didn't remember, that is."

"Uh, should we take this outside?" Storm asked nervously.

"We…" Tony looked from me to Storm, "This is my sister, Orroro."

Logan butted in just then, thankfully, "I do think we should…take it outside. We don't need to…" He met my eyes and said, "Cause a scene." But we both understood that he really meant 'Be overheard'.

Tony practically dragged me outside, "Just give us a moment!" He called over his shoulder. I nodded that I was ok with being alone with him. Alone, as in, outside, not in a room with just him.

Once we were standing on the sidewalk, he threw his arms out, "After everything happened that night, our father shooting…well, you know the story don't you?"

"I've heard it, but I don't recall it personally."

He nodded as if this made perfect sense, "Well, yes. I didn't remember either! I woke up in a hospital and they sent me off to an orphanage. I had no memories of anything, just a name! They told me you had been killed along with our mother, and our father who took his own life."

"Wait, Tony." I waved my arms around, "You knew I existed?"

"Of course. I was told all about you. Couldn't remember a thing though, not until I was about 17. One day, bits and pieces started coming back to me. Eventually, it all did. Of course, I had been adopted by then and put in therapy by my new family – ah, respectively. But I had remembered! And there you were. But…they told me you were gone."

"Who exactly is 'they'?"

"The police who investigated everything. The cops who found me. They said I was outside hiding along the side of the house when they pulled up."

"I…No. They lied." I rubbed my forehead. Asa found me. Asa told me that everyone was dead and never mentioned a brother. Suddenly I didn't feel too safe being with him.

"Wait – so you remember everything about that night?"

"I…it's still hazy…that whole year is. But from the best of my abilities…I think I was outside for everything. I remember being cold. I guess this isn't helping."

"Tony, I'm sorry but…I'm not…"

"But you are! Piper Isabelle Stranton! But for some reason you go by Kirby - I assume it's because of your adoptive family?"

"Did you…?" I asked, surprised.

"No, my family let me keep my old name. They hoped it would inspire memories, or at least, good memories." He inhaled nervously, "You really don't believe me?"

"Well, unlike you, Tony Stranton, I still don't have my memories back."

He narrowed his eyes, "Yes, but surely you see that…our stories, the similarities – how else would I know all of this about you?"

"I don't know, you tell me! Were you stalking me? I mean, you had Storm to feed you advice and knew whenever you wanted. And I wasn't that secretive, I had a facebook, a twitter, you could have googled me and found whatever you were looking for, I bet!" I wasn't implying that I didn't trust Storm, don't take that from what I was saying. I'm just saying, all he had to do was ask about me, and she'd tell him, unknowing.

"What are you saying, Piper? You think I'm making this all up? And for what purpose? What joy would I get in lying about having my dead sister back?"

I opened my mouth but no sound came out. What could I say? You killed Asa! No, I couldn't just accuse him, not yet.

"What was the cops name?"

"Huh?" He asked.

"Who found you that night, or who was with you in the hospital, what was her name?"

"I don't recall, it was long ago. And besides, I never saw him again after I originally woke up."

I shook my head, "See, that's why none of this makes sense! A cop was there when I woke up and she took me in! Her name was Asa!" There! See…nothing. I had hoped her name would inspire some sort of change of facial expression. But nope, nada.

"Well, certainly. I'm sure there was more than one officer-"

"And what, it's just a coincidence that we both don't remember? That's a little fishy to me."

"What exactly are you accusing me of, here?"

He looked completely confused and like he was thinking me crazy. Which was completely possible. OK, do the math here, Piper. If he remembered when he was 17…he had plenty of time to plot a murder. But that didn't click either.

"I'm sorry, Tony, but this just…"

"Isn't adding up? Look, I agree that it's strange that we both don't remember, but it was traumatizing – we were young. It makes sense."

"Yes, but only to a point!"

"You want proof, is that it? I can supply you with anything you want. I have photo albums! I think…yes, I even have your birth certificate!"

Well, that was something. "Please, that could be anyone's birth certificate!"

"Then look at the pictures!" He exclaimed, getting frustrated. I felt bad; his sudden elation at finding his long last sister was gone. She was denying and refusing him. But he could have killed Asa! I couldn't just look past that.

"How do you have photo albums?" I asked.

He let out a frustrated sigh, "My adoptive parents got one for me, and they said they had to go through hell to obtain them, but they did. It was a gift for my 16th birthday. I think that's part of what led up to me believing."

"Uh-huh." I grunted, "But…ah…Tony." Shit. It was all too good to be true. "Had you told your story to Storm?"

"Orroro? Well."

Of course not. How convenient. But I kept it inside, because he looked lost enough.

"Yeah." I bit my lip, a 'see?' Look on my face. "I think that…" Well, I couldn't be honest with him and say "I think that you killed Asa because she told me you didn't exist. So instead I said, "I'm not saying you're not my brother, but I think that we're doing good for ourselves and…" Ok, c'mon, this was just an excuse, I didn't believe what I was saying, "and I don't want to mess with that. I don't know if you heard, but Asa was killed a few months back and I'm just getting back on my feet now. And things seem to be going well for you, with Orroro. So let's not mess these good things up, ok?"

Ok, but really, what I meant was – You are not going to see Storm after tonight, I'm going to prove you murdered Asa, and then I'm going to fry your ass.

"Ok, look, I didn't tell Storm everything because…it is so confusing, even for me! I didn't want to reveal that part of me. So as far as she knows, I had messed up parents and so I was adopted. I was confused – I still am, seeing as you're alive and standing in front of me right now! I'm sorry! But Piper, all these years…don't just walk away and pretend you never found me." He sounded so desperate. It was so hard.

So I thought it over, "Ok, I'm not. I just need time to accept this, all right? Let me deal with it in my own way, just like you did. Just give me that."

"I can do that. But Piper, please, try not to make assumptions about me?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, glaring at him now.

"I don't know, but you look determined, as if you're set on something. And I just…I've never even met you and you don't remember me. So I don't know what you think about me, but…let me prove to you whether or not it's even true."

"Huh." I said. "I'm gonna," I gestured towards the restaurant, "go get my boyfriend, there, and we're gonna head out."

"Yeah." He agreed but didn't move. "Nice meeting you, Piper." He called, sadly, as I walked away.

I shrugged with my back to him and shook my head. Well, what could I say back? So I settled on, "Goodnight Tony."

And then I stopped and turned to ask him one last question, "Say, uh, Tony…did you like wrestling when you were little?"

"Oh. I loved it for some reason. You didn't though. Mom & Dad would go out on dates every Friday and since I was older I was supposed to babysit you. I'd make you watch it and you hated me for it. We got into the worst fights over it…"

Huh. And then I left, ready to think things through. Maybe he was my brother, but, well, it didn't make him innocent.

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