*In any case I have an early start tomorrow so it's bedtime for me*
*Right*
And so time passed and soon it had been six months since Zoe had regained her memories which meant it had been a year and a half since she and Naoto were declared dead
"Six months huh?"
*Did you say something Zoe?*
*Yeah, sorry I was just thinking out loud*
*In a language I didn't understand*
*Yeah, my native language actually*
*I see, you know, seeing as how we surprisingly both have the day off why don't we just go into town and enjoy the festival that's going on right now?*
And so Zoe grabs the bag she always grabbed lately and Naoto decides to ask her about it
*Why do you always carry that bag around anyways whenever we both go out lately?*
*It has some supplies that are ultimately not needed but you never know*
*Supplies?*
*Yes supplies, first aid kit and things like that*
*Makes sense*
And with that the two head off to the local festival and for a while they enjoyed it, until a Bioron attack happened which was combined with a known terrorist group
*Not good*
Both of them were able to find shelter though with a few police officers leading the way and then speaking to all the civilians (Zoe didn't consider herself or Naoto civilians because of who they really were but knew that the police officers there did) there
*Everyone is to stay here where it's as safe as we think we can get it, we'll give you the all clear once we know the problem has been taken care of*
And with that the entire group is left in the pseudo shelter and things were okay initially but then Naoto saw several officers go down hard after being hit by a Bioron attack and Naoto instinctively moved to leave the safety of the area and thus Zoe spoke up using Naoto's false name as a precaution
*Masamune, where are you going?*
*I'm going out to help them*
*Masamune, you can't!, you're...*
Zoe cuts herself off when Naoto turns and looks at her because with that one look Zoe knew that Naoto had regained most, but not all of his memories and he turned and started to leave without one word but she called out
*Naoto wait!*
Naoto stops and turns around to see her right next to him
*I'm a police officer Zoe, I have to go*
*I know, but not without this*
With that Zoe goes into her bag and then hands Naoto a weapon which helped him regain the rest of his memories (and while it wasn't his Jiban weapons it was his standard police weapon since Zoe knew better than to bring out his Jiban weapon in public)
*Thanks, and we'll talk about this later right?*
*Definitely*
And with that Naoto leaves the safety of the shelter while Zoe does what she'd been holding in for a long, long time, she used her special abilities without announcing said use by making an invisible barrier in case of stray shots and then simply waited until she was given the all clear by both Naoto and another police officer, who promptly turned on Naoto since the officer considered Naoto a civilian (Naoto had also deliberately not changed into Jiban both because he didn't want the enemies to know about his return and the fact that it was way too dangerous to do so in the presence of so many people)
*You are coming back to the station with me mister, you put yourself in unnecessary danger and...*
*I understand and agree officer, I need to go there anyways for personal reasons*
Zoe also speaks up then
*I also need to go there for personal reasons, also...is it possible for an EDC representative to be present when we arrive?, or if not shortly afterwords?*
*There's actually already an EDC officer permanently stationed there as a precaution but...*
*It will all be explained at the station officer, I promise*
Twenty minutes later and Naoto and Zoe were both at the station with Yoko looking surprised
*Masamune, you're supposed to be off today, what brings you in here?*
*Official business that needs addressed as quickly as possible*
The officer who had wanted to arrest Naoto speaks up then
*Primarily joining in a fight when he has no right to as a civilian*
*And this is why I needed to come here, I have a lot of explaining to do, as does my comrade*
*Yeah, it's why I need the EDC officer in the room when the explaining is happening*
And so the group heads to an interrogation room since that was the only room known to be secure and sound proofed to a degree
*Okay you two, what's going on?*
*First off I need to know what you remember from about a year and a half ago*
*That case...when we lost Naoto and Jiban, and then not two weeks later the EDC...*
*Yeah, though more specifically the Cybertronians, and what I'm about to tell you is highly classified but needs explained right now, lost their adoptive daughter while searching for Tamura and Jiban since she was here for summer lessons*
*What about the case do you guys specifically remember?, and this is important*
*People had been missing and Jiban...I saw Jiban seriously wounded but he said he would go to the Bioron base anyways, Naoto had been following a different lead and then...well Naoto disappeared completely with very little traces left behind and Jiban never returned from the base which later exploded so...*
*So you had to give him up for dead definitively and Tamura up as possibly dead*
*Yeah*
*As for the Cybertronians, Zoe decided to try and see if she could get any definite answers on either of their status and then...contact was lost and evidence was found to suggest...*
*That she was killed?*
*Yeah*
Naoto was the one who spoke up since with their own little sign language that they had developed in their year and a half together they had managed a private conversation in the police car on the way in and it was agreed that except when absolutely necessary Naoto would be the one who did all the explaining to everyone
*As it turns out, that's not the end of the case, or the story*
*What?*
*Yes, I'm telling you the truth, as it turns out Jiban survived being in the exploding base by some miracle and as for Naoto and Zoe Kerenai they too survived the attacks on them when they were doing their separate investigations*
The EDC officer is the one to speak up this time
*But the evidence...*
*Was very convincing I'm sure, it was meant to be that ways by the enemy, but the three are alive, I can't tell you where Jiban is at the moment because I'm not sure, but I know exactly where Tamura and Kerenai are right now*
*Really, where are they and...and why haven't they come home sooner?*
*As to the second question, the reason they haven't been able to come home sooner is because they forgot who they were, how could one go home if one doesn't even know where home is?*
*True, so again, where are they?*
*Right in front of you this whole time, hello Yoko, sorry it took me so long to come home*
*Naoto?...is that you Naoto?*
*It's me*
*Naoto...then that means...Kerenai!, you're alive*
*Hello officer Dunham, been a while huh?*
The officer who brought them in suddenly speaks up
*Hold on, they could be impostors you know*
Zoe suddenly sighs and speaks up again
*Somehow I knew you were going to say that*
And so after two hours of rigourous testing it was ultimately proven that the two were real and that it was actually them, during that time Naoto apologized again for not returning sooner and explaining that he'd been Masamune and thus had been working at his old job without knowing it under a different name and different position while Zoe explained that she had regained her memories six months earlier at the memorial but had deliberately stayed away since Naoto hadn't regained his memories until earlier that day
*This is going to take some doing to work out*
*Sorry*
*Not your fault Naoto*
*Still, if Kerenai remembered sooner than you did why didn't she tell us?*
*I'm not sure, all I know is that she said that her family would understand why she did that*
*Her...okay yeah I know why she didn't return now, should have cued in on that the moment I learned she regained her memories before you did*
*But the trouble she'll be in...*
*Won't be any most likely or if she does get in trouble for not telling them sooner she's going to have the lightest possible punishment*
*That's why I didn't say anything the day I remembered my true self because I know my family and...*
*And they would most likely approve of what you did, and even if they don't fully approve they'll understand and be extremely lenient with you*
*Exactly*
*How lenient are we talking Zoe?, because...*
*The worst that will happen is that I'm grounded and confined to base over the weekend*
*You remember the last time don't you?*
*Yes, yes I do*
*In any case one both identities can be confirmed you are going back to base with me and explaining your decision in person considering you could have been home six months ago*
*Sure, I've missed them so much since I regained my memories*
*I'm sure you have*
Once their identities had been proven Zoe went back to base and her family was indeed understanding of her decision to stay away for as long as she had once she had regained her memories though there were a few initial choice words about hiding Naoto's weapon which could have helped him remember his true identity sooner
"Hey it was either hide the weapons or risk them being discovered by the enemy, I didn't exactly have a lot of time between finding Naoto and search teams from Bioron finding our location"
"I guess you didn't have much of a choice after all then"
"Nope, not really, if not for the search teams I would have asked him if he knew who he was and then called you guys and offered this place as a safe location to regain his memories and making sure that friends of his knew of his location so that they could come try and help also"
"And we would have agreed to shelter him until he remembered who he was"
"I know, it's why that was the initial plan"
"In any case, what are your plans now?"
"Well that depends on you guys really"
"Oh?"
"Yes I...I think I'm needed in Japan but I know for a fact I've probably missed too much schooling to be allowed to stay, plus there's the whole legal guardian thing we have going on"
"We'll make it work because you're right, you are needed in Japan, because if what you've told us about Tamura Naoto is true then..."
"It's true, and I'm surprised I was the one who figured it out first"
"We had our suspicions but decided not to confront him about it"
"I see, well that confrontation is going to have to happen now, along with him finding out our true relationship because of how long I've lived with him"
"Good point, Cybertronian lessons?"
"Not unless he wants to guys, I think it best that ways, but mandatory English lessons all things considered"
"Think he'll agree to it?"
"Most likely"
Zoe thinks about something and then winces at said thought
"I just realized that he's technically homeless unless the department kept up his rent despite his being thought dead"
"Well since he knows you how about you go to the police station and ask him about his living situation...if he's even still at the station"
"He will be, last I heard he was doing a lot of legal paperwork to get himself declared alive again and seeing if he needed to do any refresher training to become a police officer again...you know speaking of how come I'm not doing a lot of paperwork to deal with the legal complications of being declared dead a year and a half ago?"
"It's because the way the two of you were declared dead differed from each other by necessity of the fact that we were the ones who raised you"
"Oh I see, in any case I'm heading back to the station to figure out Naoto's living situation and take it from there"
And so Zoe heads back over to the station and finds that Naoto was indeed still dealing with paperwork, specifically the paperwork regarding his ability to return to his actual job at the station rather than being the person who maintained the basic stuff and cleaned the building and decided that he was in a good place to interrupt him
