Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.

I would like tp personally thank Phillip363 for his help with the memories for this chapter.

The three looked at the scene. Oliver was in a forest clearing, Shado standing next to him. It appeared that Shado was trying to teach Oliver how to shoot the bow. Suddenly, the two looked at each other and stared at each other before they kissed. Laurel looked away, not prepared for the stab of hurt that shot through her. Unexpectedly, Oliver pulled back.

"You're right," Shado said as she turned back to focus on teaching him, "this is definitely not the time or place-"

"It's not that, it's just there's, uh, someone," Oliver said and Laurel looked back up sharply as everyone stared at Oliver, "and it's a mile past complicated…but I can't."

"Does she know how much you love her?" Shado wondered.

"I suspect right now she doesn't…but as soon as I'm home she will." Oliver vowed.

The trio stared at Oliver stunned, no doubt who the 'someone' was. Thea and Diggle looked over at Laurel to see her reaction. Laurel open and closed her mouth but no sound came out. Before she could begin to wrap her head around this, the scene changed.

They were in a cavern this time. Oliver was kneeling on the ground, Tiana standing not far from him.

"You're right, this island changed you," Tiana said as Oliver wrapped something, "do you still look at your picture?"

The others had no idea what she was talking about until Oliver pulled out something. He handed Tiana the picture of Laurel they had seen earlier, though it was more worn now.

"She's beautiful." Tiana said as she handed Oliver the picture back.

"Her name is Laurel Lance and she was my…home before all of this," Oliver said as he took the picture, "I don't know what she would think of the man I've become."

"If I don't make it, you will go Russia and tell my parents what happened to me. And if you don't make it, I will find your Laurel and tell her how you saved us all," Tiana said as she held out a hand to Oliver, "deal?"

"Deal." Oliver said as he took her hand.

Oliver stood up as the scene changed once more. They were in Queen Mansion; Oliver was sitting on the couch, watching TV. Suddenly, Sara came down the stairs and walked into the room, Oliver looking over at her as she walked in.

"Can't sleep?" Oliver asked as he sat cross legged on the couch, offering her a seat.

"I don't do well with my eyes closed," Sara said and Oliver nodded, "thanks for letting me stay here, I know you have a lot going on with your mom."

"Thea's mostly staying with her boyfriend, so you don't have to worry about anyone finding out you're back." Oliver assured her.

"Thanks for understanding." Sara thanked him.

"I don't understand." Oliver disagreed.

"And he speaks sense." Laurel mumbled.

"Not a day goes by where your family doesn't miss you." Oliver told Sara.

"Yeah, how do you know?" Sara asked as she leaned against the doorframe.

"Because I missed you." Oliver said and they shared a moment as they gazed at each other.

"Please tell me I'm not here to watch my brother make out with people." Thea groaned.

As if in answer, the scene changed once more. They were in a river, though they couldn't feel the water. Oliver and Shado were standing not far from them, Oliver's hands in the river.

"I just feel like this island is…turning me into something terrible." Oliver told Shado.

Shado reached into the lake and then brought her water laced hands over Oliver's face.

"No island can make you something you're not." Shado told him.

"So I've always been a killer?" Oliver asked glumly.

"Everyone has a demon inside them. The 'Dao de Jing' recognizes the Yin and the Yang. Opposing forces inside all of us. Darkness and light, the killer….and the hero." Shado said as she put a hand to Oliver's face.

"I see what Slade saw in her." Diggle said softly with Thea and Laurel silently nodding.

"Oh god," Thea covers her eyes as Oliver and Shado begin undressing, "take me back to the kissing, make it stop!"

"Uh, I think you got your wish." Diggle told her.

Thea uncovers her eyes to see the scene has changed again. They were in the original lair; Sara was there as Oliver came down, dressed in his Arrow suit.

"I don't know what to do. He's too far ahead; he's spent years planning this. He knows everything about me and I…I don't know how to stop him." Oliver confessed.

"You start by letting people help you." Sara said as she walked over to him.

"He's gonna come after you. You're alive…because Shado isn't." Oliver said dismayed.

"Then do you really think it'll make a difference whether or not we're together?" Sara asked him.

Oliver sighed and looked down. Sara walked over to him and put her hands on either side of his face.

"Let him come. I'm not the same girl you knew on the island, I'm not that easy to kill" Sara told him and he looked up, "together?"

"Together." Oliver agreed finally.

Sara hugged him and Oliver wrapped his arms around her. The viewers all watched, actually touched by the scene. Sara couldn't help but feel that Sara supported her brother in a way that Felicity never had. Diggle, who had thought the relationship was just a snap decision, could now see that it was genuine love. Laurel, who thought it was just a fling, likewise had her eyes opened. Before anyone could say something, the scene changed again.

They were back in Queen Mansion. Oliver was walking down the stairs to meet Laurel on the ground floor.

"Oliver, I'm trying not to think that our history is repeating, that you're scared again." Memory-Laurel told him.

"No, that's not it." Oliver assured her.

"Then will you tell me what's going on with you?" Laurel asked.

"There are…so many things I wanted to tell you for so long. I never told you what happened to me on the island." Oliver said as he reached her.

"Now I can see why." Laurel muttered.

"It's okay, I can see that it changed you." Memory-Laurel told him.

"No, it didn't," Oliver said and everyone but Laurel looked at him like he was crazy, "Those five years didn't change me, they just scraped away everything that wasn't and revealed the person I always was. Which is the person you always saw. And I don't know why you saw it but you did. Nobody in my life is who I thought they were, except you." Oliver said before he leaned down and kissed her.

"This was the day of The Undertaking…he didn't think he was gonna make it, did he?" Laurel demanded ass he looked over at Diggle.

"No." Diggle shook his head sadly.

"What a load of crap. We all know the island changed him." Thea scoffed.

"Well, there is some truth to that," Laurel admitted and Diggle and Thea both looked at her, "the island did changed him but it also brought his true self to the surface. It brought to the surface the version of himself that I always knew he could be…I just wish he didn't have to suffer to be that version of himself."

So, what do you think? Please leave any thoughts or comments you may have in a review, feedback is greatly appreciated.