Part 3

The small paper portrait had a lifetime of merely two hours but Veronica had worn and creased it because of how many times she would draw it out and inspect it. The face that stared back at her was the man she had seen in her dream. It warmed her heart to see the features of an older man whose smile crinkled the edges of his eyes. No matter the talent of the artist in the Ladies' Market, he had failed to capture the impossibly lively sparkle in that gaze. When the balding man looked at her in her dreams, Veronica wanted to cry. It was amazing to feel so much she choked on the emotions. After all, she had no name to tag to the stranger.

Duncan had made her understand very early on that it was for her own safety that she not leave their place without him. Looking down at the picture without knowing who it was that was portrayed there gnawed at her insides. It was a wealth of information regarding herself that she could not tap into. If there was nothing else she could figure out about her past, Veronica knew that the one thing she would be certain of was that she had a surplus of curiosity that might likely have put her in danger many times.

Veronica's eyebrows arched at a vivid feeling of standing on a rail, balancing against the wind high above a body of water. The fact that she had no idea where a sensation such as that had come from decided her next move. She leaned over Duncan's sleeping form and blew in his ear. When he smiled, murmured then turned to his side, Veronica grinned. He was dead asleep. When he slept like that, he was a log. Even if she rolled him out of bed, he would not wake up, only burrow deeper against the leg of the nightstand.

Veronica slipped out of the bed and placed her feet into her slippers. She silently made her way out of the room and picked up the large flat box she had had Duncan haul from the Ladies' Market to Causeway Bay.

i"I didn't know that silk would be this heavy," Duncan muttered when they got off in front of their building. Veronica gaze him a sideways glance and grinned. "You seriously think that this much silk will do the apartment good?"

Veronica shook her head. "Are you questioning my interior design capabilities?"

"Far be it for me to question anything about you!" he replied to her satisfaction.

"Good," she said. Veronica grabbed Duncan's arm as he was about to cross to their building. She pointed to the small stall of mobile phones and portable computers. "Is that the new LG camera phone—the MM 7810?" she gasped.

"Where did you learn about the MM 7810?"

"I watch tv," she reasoned. "In fact, that's all I do. Come on," she urged, pulling on his arm. "Put that down on the counter and look at the cool stuff. I'm going to ask about the phone."

Duncan saw the excitement in her eyes, and grinned. "All right. If you want it, you have your credit card, right?"

She nodded eagerly. "Now put that down there and you can check out the cameras."

He looked around, then agreed. Grateful for the chance to put down the box on the counter, Duncan wandered off to the different computers while Veronica talked to the shopkeeper. She glanced towards Duncan who had started looking through some CDs. She turned to the shopkeeper and flourished her platinum card for the very first time. "I need you to pack the Inspiron 6000 into this box." She pushed the silk carrier towards the shopkeeper. "Please just pack it inside the silk."

The shopkeeper glanced at Duncan, who waved at Veronica. Veronica nodded towards Duncan. "I saw a nice button down shirt two doors down that's going to look good on you! Check it out. I'll follow you in a bit."

Duncan stepped out of the store. Veronica signed the receipt. "So sweet," the shopkeeper commented. "You surprise for him? He will like. Very good computer."

Veronica agreed. Dell directly sold its laptops and desktops, and she was shocked to find a unit available in an electronics shop in Causeway Bay. They had ways she supposed. She waited for the shopkeeper to pack up the small computer and cover it with the silk. She tried to heft it, and was surprised that the weight difference was not that much. She slipped her platinum card back in her pocket.

Behind her, Duncan rushed up. "I forgot your silk." He took it from her and grunted. "Am I that tired, coz this got heavier."

"Wimp," she teased.

Duncan shook his head and lifted the box under one arm, then led her away with the other./i

Veronica opened the box and unwrapped the silk from around the notebook computer. She happily carried it to Duncan's home office, then charged the laptop. She glanced at the clock, then walked over to the door to lock it. Fully installed and ready to go, just the way she wanted it. Veronica went over to Duncan's own computer and scanned the portrait. Then she took the file to her new Inspiron and went to work.

When Duncan woke up in the morning, Veronica had fresh waffles and sunny side ups on a plate. She saw the surprise in his face when he sat down for breakfast. Veronica almost felt guilty about hiding things from him. Duncan simply looked too happy with their life. Sometimes she felt bad about not being content as well. To herself, she reasoned that Duncan had full recollection of his past. She did not even know about her life. He seemed unwilling to help her remember.

In the morning, across the water, Logan Echolls walked perilously close to the water. Morning had broken like a burst of light across the Pacific. The soft rays were warm on his skin, and he loved taking photographs of people walking their dogs by the dock. There was such beautiful simplicity in the bond between humans and their pets. Veronica used to walk Backup in Dog Beach each morning, and watching her from afar comforted him in his youth. This soothed him a little, especially when he saw toddlers running after dogs that were so much larger than they were. Beasts that the dogs were, they did nothing to hurt the children. The image sent a pang of longing and gut-wrenching hurt in his gut.

iShe waited outside their building, standing under the shed that barely sheltered her from the steady rain. Veronica was huddled under his oversized coat. When Logan's bus stopped in front of her, he jumped down. Logan rushed over to her and stopped a foot away. The rain poured hard, and the wind whipped water towards him. He frowned.

"Veronica, what's wrong? Why are you waiting out here? You should be inside." He saw her eyes that were moist. "Are you okay?" Logan stepped closer.

Veronica's tears fell from her eyes and she smiled through them. She nodded her head. "I'm fine. Happy anniversary!" She handed him an envelope. Small circular droplets darkened on the envelope.

"Happy anniversary!" He leaned to kiss her lips. He then took the envelope from her. "This couldn't wait til I came home?" he asked. Veronica shook her head as her tears slipped from her eyes. Logan opened the envelope and took out the slip of paper. The wet wind whipped through, and he gripped the slip of paper more tightly. Logan held what appeared to be test results. He chuckled, then looked up at Veronica. "This is in Chinese," he mumbled.

She laughed and nodded. "Yes, it's in Chinese! But something's in English," she pointed out.

Logan narrowed his eyes as he read through the characters until he found that one word that was comprehensible. "Positive," he said. He frowned and stared at it. Realization sank in. His gaze slammed back to Veronica's teary face. "Is this--?"

"Yes," she said hoarsely.

Logan released a deep guttural breath, then threw his arms around her, embracing her tightly, burying his face in the crook of her neck. "God, I love you, Veronica!" he whispered into her skin that was wet with rain and tears./i

Logan brought the camera up and looked through the lenses, focusing on a toddler who gripped a pet dog's fur as he tried uneven steps. He zoomed in to take the shot when its father bent and lifted him high up into the air and Logan clicked on the picture of the man and his son.

He closed his eyes and felt the tug around his neck. The camera lace broke off at the end. Logan sucked in his breath and ran after the man sprinting away with his camera. At the end of the dock, the man stood, assessing his position to check which way was best to run to.

"Give it back!" Logan spat.

"Go away, American!" the thief cried out and he teetered over the edge.

"I'll let you go," Logan snarled, "if you hand over the camera now."

At Logan's growl, the thief panicked. He tossed the camera into the water. Logan watched in horror as his precious equipment fell in. He jumped up onto the ledge and looked down at the ripples that ate the camera. Logan glared at the thief, who backed away quickly and then sprinted back to the ferry. Logan took a deep breath and dove.

iHe was wet, and so was she. They ran back to Happy Valley, staying on the sidewalk because the treacherous, twisting and narrow road that curved around and around the island was unpredictable. Despite the state of their wetness, they laughed the entire time.

The umbrella she had been holding over their heads gave no protection because the rain came from all directions. The wind blasted, and the umbrella twisted.

"Do you have money for a cab?" she yelled into the wind. Logan gestured that he heard nothing. "Money," she repeated, "for a cab!"

Veronica's foot slipped off the sidewalk and she stumbled onto the street. Logan quickly pulled her back up the sidewalk. "No. And be careful," he cried back. "You know Hong Kong drivers are crazy!" Logan saw the umbrella broken by the wind. He took it from her hands and threw it in a bin. "We're wet anyway," he reasoned. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Together they ran away from the furnished and tall buildings in Happy Valley and arrived at the outskirts of the village. Their bliss, the low cost housing that Logan rented for them, loomed dark against the sky. "Welcome to the castle."

"Home sweet home," Veronica murmured.

They jogged up the stairs until they reached their door. They shivered at the water drying off their skin. Logan inserted the key into the knob and opened the door, ushering Veronica in. "Sugarpuss, can you turn up the heat?" he requested as he bolted the door.

Veronica proceeded to the heater and twisted, then twisted again. "Logan, the heater's busted."

"This is just great!" He shrugged out of his wet clothes and walked over to her to help her take off her dripping coat. He saw goosebumps crawl on her skin as she divested herself of the clothes. He took a deep breath and made the difficult decision. "Everything will be better tomorrow," he promised. "I'll tell Trina to wire us some of Aaron's money. We can live in Eaton House," he said, referring to the high class apartelle in the center of Happy Valley, where executives were housed when they were stationed in Hong Kong.

She turned around and looked at Logan from beneath straggly wet hair. "No, Logan. You're not comfortable with his money. You've succeeded in making it on your own. We're doing just fine."/i

Logan did not care how deep it as, or how freezing cold he had become. He dove deeper into the water until his head exploded with oxygen deprivation. The dark murkiness of the underwater gripped him.

The next thing he was aware of was being hauled up by the police. They tossed him on the dock and waited out his coughing up the water.

"No swim in water!" they yelled. "Crazy foreigner!"

Logan lay limply on the dock and gazed longingly at the water, where his camera no rested at the bottom, buried in time by sand and silt—like everything that was precious.

"Phone call," he rasped as the police grabbed him by his upper arms and dragged him towards their car. "My phone call."

Meanwhile, in the penthouse apartment way out in Causeway Bay, Duncan arrived to find Veronica sitting on the dining table. The television was turned off, and she had a folder in front of her. He walked up to her and kissed her on the forehead, putting down his phone in front of her. "You've got a slight fever, baby," he said. "I'll get you some medicine."

"I already took one," she informed him, her voice hoarse.

"Did you take the right one? It looks like you've got a sore throat too."

"I'm not a child, Duncan." At those words, he turned around and looked at her. Every day he recognized more the Veronica that had been lost after she woke up from her trance. "I want you to sit down and answer some questions."

Slowly, he walked over to sit down in front of her. He waited for her to speak.

"I want you to tell me why I've been dreaming of a dead American PI." She pushed the folder towards Duncan. He opened it to the first page and saw information on Keith Mars, who he was, his death. Veronica continued, "You used to live in California, right?"

"Yes," Duncan admitted. "So did you. We were high school sweethearts. You've seen the pictures. I've never denied it." Duncan closed the file and pushed it back towards Veronica. "You didn't need to have this done," he told her. "If you'd asked me, I would've told you."

"All right," Veronica agreed. She swallowed, because her throat was thick and sore, and her voice ended up sounding like it grated. "Tell me who Keith Mars is, Duncan, and why I see him in my dreams."

Duncan looked at Veronica, assessed her condition, and weighed his options. Before he even spoke, his phone rang. Veronica stuck out her chin and answered it herself. "Hello," she said hoarsely. "Please hold." She slid the phone over to Duncan. "I guess that's what they call saved by the bell. It's an emergency. He said his name is Logan Echolls."

Duncan's hand froze over the phone.

tbc

I am amazingly surprised with how warmly this story has been accepted. Thank you very much!