Zari and Amaya

You're Not Her

Prompt: Zari tells Charlie why she doesn't like her

"Look I get it, it was wrong of me to wear your friend's face. I just didn't want to get sent back." Charlie says as Zari walks by her in the hall of the Waverider and ignores her.

"She wasn't just a friend. You have no idea the person whose face you're wearing." Zari snaps, turning around sharply to look at the shapeshifter.

"What was she then, Z?" Charlie pushes.

"Leave me alone, Charlie. And don't call me that." Zari huffs before walking off.

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"Gideon?" Charlie called out.

"Yes, Ms. Charlie?" Gideon answers.

"Tell me about this face I'm wearing." Charlie says.

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"Seriously, you just don't quit do you?" Zari snaps as she storms toward Charlie who is casually chilling in the kitchen.

"Whatever do you mean, love?" Charlie sighs, putting her feet in the table and leaning back.

"You researched Amaya." Zari says.

"So what." Charlie shrugs.

"You may wear her face, but you're not her. You will never be her. This thing with The Legends, it will only be a matter of time before you screw up and we send you back." Zari spits out venomously.

"Maybe you're so hostile to me because of that little secret that you've been sitting on, yeah?" Charlie offers, taking a swing of her beer.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Zari says defensively.

"Correct if I'm wrong, but did you not have Gideon fabricate an engagement ring right before you battled with that monster you call Mallus? Again, you can correct me." Charlie smirks.

"You're a horrible person, Charlie." Zari whispers before fleeing the kitchen, bumping into Mick who was standing there quietly.

"That was wrong." Mick grumbles.

"Come on! Not you too, Mick! She was being an ass, she deserved it!" Charlie scoffs.

"You don't know her and you don't know her story either." Mick grumbles before walking off.

:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:

"Look, Zari, I'm-." Charlie tries to apologize as she enters Zari's room.

"You're right. I was planning on proposing to Amaya after Mallus, but she blind sided me. She said was going back home to Zambesi. I couldn't ruin that for her. And I wasn't going to make her choose between me and her family. So I let her go and I've been carrying around this very ring ever since." Zari explains as she's sitting on the foot of her bed, twirling the very ring.

"I shouldn't have pushed. I didn't know." Charlie sighs.

"You didn't know, in fact no one knows. The only people who know are you, me, and Gideon. I've been carrying around this secret, trying to ignore it. I carried this ring because I keep thinking she'll come back. She'll say that she's sorry for being gone so long and that's she here to stay. I'd says it's okay and I'd propose right there. She'd say yes and we'd live happily ever after." Zaria smiles fondly.

"It sounds amazing." Charlie says softly.

"An amazing fantasy. Amaya's gone, it was never going to work anyway. I'm from the future, she's from the past. It just wasn't meant to be." Zari smiles sadly.

Charlie sits down next to the girl and puts a comforting hand on Zari's knee.

"I don't know what to do here." Charlie says.

"You're doing fine. I'm sorry too. You're not, Amaya." Zari sighs.

"I'm not." Charlie agrees.

"I miss her." Zari admits.

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