"After you were captured," begins Pikar. "Everything changed. Mom and dad were devastated. In the beginning, they spent every waking minute searching for you."
Pikar and I now sit on the couch in our pajamas. We are still in the room reserved for her within the Arena, stuffing our faces as she tells me everything that happened.
"Are mom and dad here?!" I ask. "Can I see them?"
Pikar gets a sad look on her face and continues.
"They tried everything," she adds. "I think a lot of illegal stuff too at one point, but they just couldn't figure out who took you and why - especially since the war was practically over at that stage."
I take a bite of the noodles we ordered. Pikar takes a sip of tea.
"Things got really weird and shady at one point," Pikar continues. "Mom and dad started fighting a lot. I think dad thought she was seeing someone else. I don't really know the full extent of everything, but I have a lot of memories of them both being so stressed out."
"Do you think mom cheated on dad?" I ask. "Do you remember any other people ever coming to the house?"
"Not really," she answers. "But at one point, just before my tenth birthday, I remember a couple of really scary-looking men breaking into our house and threatening mom and dad."
She shudders at the memory. I take her hand.
"Pikar, what happened?" I ask.
"They broke into the house and threatened mom and dad unless they gave them something," she continues. "I can't remember what, exactly, but my guess is money."
She begins to cry.
"It was terrible," she sobs. "First, you were taken away from me, and then I saw mom and dad taken away from me - literally."
"What do you mean?" I ask. "Literally?"
"I was upstairs, peeking through the tiny hole in the hallway that allowed us to see what was going on downstairs," she answers. "Do you remember that?"
"Of course I do," I answer, smiling a bit. "We used to pretend we were spies."
Pikar laughs a little.
"Anyway," she continues. "I saw them take mom and dad away, and then I hid. They didn't find me, so they left."
"I packed some of my things," she adds. "And then I ran as fast and as far away as I could from home."
"Where did you go?" I ask. "What did you do?"
"I eventually found this arts school for orphans," answers Pikar. "It was perfect, because I had always been drawn to music and writing and dance."
"But weren't people looking for you?" I ask.
"I'm sure for a while, in the beginning, they were," she answers. "I would like to think that mom and dad were worried about me, though sometimes I'm not so sure."
"I'm sure they were," I say.
"But I didn't really want anyone to find me," she admits. "So I asked to have my hair changed and also to get rid of my glasses. I got different colored contacts for a while, so my eyes were blue instead of brown."
"Honey," I chime in. "Not brown. Your eyes are honey. With gold and green speckles."
"Whatever," she answers. "But, after a couple of years of that, I decided to stick with my natural eye color. No one had found me, and no one seemed to care. I had started to build a new life for myself. I loved the orphanage."
"I'm glad you kept your original eye color, Pika Pika," I say. "That's how I knew without a doubt that it was you."
She smiles and takes my hand.
"So, how did all of this happen?" I ask. "How did you become so famous?"
"I was performing at an end-of-the-year talent show," she begins. "And there just happened to be an agent in the audience one of the nights. She loved me."
"And that was that," she adds. "She asked if I wanted to become a star, and obviously I said yes, and she's helped me ever since."
"What's her name?" I ask.
"Cecil," she responds.
"Cecil has been like a mother to me," continues Pikar. "She's wonderful. I hope you get to meet her."
"I hope so too," I smile. "Does Cecil know the whole story?" I ask.
"No," Pikar answers. "There's no point. No one knows the real story except me and now, you."
I nod. "I guess it's safest that way."
"Yes," Pikar says. "Who knows where mom and dad are, if they're even alive..."
"They are alive," I answer. "They have to be."
"I hope so, too, Kishmish," she responds. "I really do."
Pikar gets up from the couch and goes to her closet. "I have something for you," she says.
She comes back to the couch and sits down, holding out her hand.
"What's this?" I say, picking up the pile of muted gold from her hand.
"It's a locket," she answers. "Open it."
I open the delicate head of the rose-gold locket and inside, I see a picture of my mom on the left and my dad on the right.
"Did you ever try to look for me, Piks?" I ask, tears rolling down my face.
"Kish, are you serious?" she answers. "Of course. I tried, but there was so little I could do without giving away my identity, my safety, and this life."
"I'm so happy to see you," she adds. "I'll do anything for you. You know that, right?"
I nod, "Do you have any idea where mom and dad might be?"
"No, not really," answers Pikar. "I had to stop caring, because it got too depressing."
"Thank you for this locket," I say, giving Pikar a big, long hug. "It's beautiful, and I love it. Will you put it on me?"
"Of course," she says, taking the locket from my hand. "Turn around."
I turn around and lift up my hair, but as I do, a small piece of paper falls out of my jumpsuit. It's the blank sheet I found inside the well on Mimba, along with the ring. Pikar wraps the locket's chain around my neck and snaps the clasp together. I pick up the piece of paper from the floor.
"All set," she says, as I turn back around to face her. "What's that piece of paper?"
"Oh, nothing," I answer. "It's blank."
She takes it from my hand and examines it a bit more closely.
"I think it's been written-on with invisible ink," she asserts. "I use invisible ink to write letters sometimes, so that I can say what I want without worrying about anyone seeing."
"How do you read it?" I ask.
Pikar grabs a small tube - it looks like a pen - and presses the button on its side. A small, purple light turns on. She points it toward the paper. There's writing on it!
Together, we read what it says.
Dear L,
I have always loved you. I will always love you.
Wait for things to settle. Wait for me.
Yours,
X
"L," says Pikar. "As in L for Lily...our mom Lily?!"
"I'm not sure," I respond.
"Where did you find this?" she asks. "Wait - I haven't even asked you what you're doing here. How'd you even get to Shinar in the first place?"
I explain to Pikar what happened on Dard, how Niko sacrificed himself for me and how I was accepted into the Squad. I tell her about meeting Xeno and Zayn and about how Eva and Max hated me at first and then decided to befriend me, because of what happened on Mimba.
I recount the adventures I experienced on Mimba - how I found the ring and this letter there - and how Zayn and I have a thing, I think, but how it's confusing and how I still dream about Niko sometimes, how I miss him and his kindness.
I tell her about seeing her concert in a VR booth, and how I recognized her by her eyes, how Zayn got me this ticket and pass - how everything until now, from my perspective, has come to be.
"Wow, Karina," says Pikar. "I'm so proud of you."
"I'm so proud of you, Piks," I respond. "International Pop Star!"
She laughs, "Yeah I guess we haven't done too bad for ourselves, right?"
I smile, "Yeah, I guess not."
"I'm gonna get to the bottom of this letter," I add, wondering if the X stands for Xeno.
"Yeah it's really weird," says Pikar. "But hey, there's gotta be more than one Lily out there in the world." She laughs.
I smile, wondering what she's really thinking.
"That ring though," adds Pikar. "I remember mom used to love a ring just like that."
"She didn't have it when I was still around," I say. "Or at least, I don't remember it."
"Yeah, you're right," says Pikar. "She started wearing it after you had already gone."
Pikar and I hang out for a bit more, and then I tell her that I need to head back to my place, because training starts early tomorrow.
"Yeah, I head out early tomorrow for my next concert," says Pikar. "You sure you don't want to stay with me?"
"Not this time," I say. "I need to be ready for the first day of training."
"Makes sense," she answers. "Let me at least call you a car, then."
"Thanks," I say. "Hey Piks - quick question."
"Yup?" she asks.
"That Elixir of yours," I begin. "Do you drink it?"
"Oh, I mean sometimes," she says. "It's just water with some minerals in it. It's sort of a scam, to be honest, but it's making me so much money, it's insane."
"But this," Pikar adds, pulling a black vial out of her pocket, "this stuff is insanely awesome."
Could that be Element X?! The tube looks exactly the same.
"Where did you get that from?" I ask, a bit alarmed.
"Oh, the company that's helping to manufacture my Elixir - it's called KORP - gave me a sample of it," she responds. "It's their new product, still in testing. It gives me so much energy - I love it. I feel like I'm glowing when I drink it!"
"Piks," I say, "Promise me you won't drink any more of that stuff until it's been officially approved, okay?"
She looks at me a bit confused but agrees. The car arrives.
"I love you," she says. "So much."
"I love you too, Piks," I answer. "Thank you again for the locket."
I grab my jacket and exit the room, looking back at her and smiling.
Her driver whisks me home, and by the time I enter the building, it's 2am. Good thing Rex is my Monitor, I think.
I open the door to my apartment and tip-toe quietly so as not to wake Eva. Still wearing the pajamas that Pikar gave to me, I brush my teeth and hop into bed.
As soon as my head hits the pillow, my eyes become heavy. I fall straight asleep, exhausted from the day's events.