As Kate broke apart from Johnny, she looked over to see Lucy staring at her.
"Kerttu? Is it really you?" Lucy said, putting her hands over her mouth.
"Miss Lucy?" Kerttu said, walking over to Lucy, tears coming to her eyes.
"You're alive. The last time I saw you, I didn't know if you would make it. Johnny and Connor told me you had amnesia, that you couldn't remember anything until very recently..."
"What happened to me? I am starting to remember some things, but it is still so fuzzy. The clearest memories that are starting to come back are of playing with Johnny, but I can barely remember what my parents sounded like. I can't remember that night..."
"We were trying to escape some of Marid's guard. We were running through the woods, and you tripped and hit your head on a rock very hard. I knew I would be recognized by the guard, and there was no way I could outrun them while I was carrying you. I made the choice to leave you hoping you would be found. I can't tell you how happy I am to see you alive."
Lucy's eyes were filled with tears as Kate ran into her embrace.
"The clearest first memory I have is waking up in a hospital in Belcourt. They told me that there was a note saying I was loved, but no one had reported me as missing or had come to claim me in the town. The only thing they knew about me was that my name started with a K. They told me my name was going to be Kate and sent me to a youth home, assuming I was unwanted," Kate said, tears now coming into her eyes.
"You were always loved, darling, always," Lucy said, squeezing Kate even tighter.
When they both stepped back, Lucy looked in disbelief at the young woman the little girl she had loved had become.
"You look so much like your mother, but you have your father's eyes," she said, giving a small smile. "Oh Ker-, I mean Kate. Oh goodness, what should I call you?"
"Maybe for now, just call me Kate," Kate said, looking down at her brown hiking boots. "I know who I am, I didn't want to admit it for a long time because it scared me, but now I know I am Kerttu Koskinen. However, it is too much yet to be called that. I don't know if I will ever be ready to be called that again. Being Kate is all I have known for so long. It feels important to still hang onto it."
"I understand," Lucy said. "We all love you no matter what name you go by or what has happened to you."
"I love you too," Kate said, looking first at Lucy and then to General Leger. "Both of you. You were the ones who saved me that night. I wish I could remember what happened. Sometimes when I am dreaming, I hear echoes of screams and gunshots..."
"It might be best that you do not remember the rest," Johnny said, coming over and putting his arms around her shoulder.
"All you need to know is it was your grandmother who told us to save you. As soon as the shooting started, all that mattered was getting you to safety. At that point, your parents and brother were already gone," General Leger said.
"Aleksi," Kate whispered. "I hardly can remember him."
"They live in you," Ahren said, joining the group with Connor and Jensen.
"So anyway, this is all very touching, but can somebody please explain to me how they all got here and what they are doing here?" Connor asked.
"Breaking the moment as usual," Johnny deadpanned.
"What we are doing here is everything is almost ago to take down Marid once and for all," Ahren said, giving Connor a sideglance.
"What?" Johnny asked, noticing for the first time that they all dressed from head-to-toe in dark durable clothing and that General Leger was carrying a gun.
"France is going to help us, Johnny," Kate said, taking his hand in her own. "France is sending its army, and there is an underground network of resistance across Illéa. They have helped us get here. Jansen is one of the leaders."
"Like the Niève Underground? Aren't those groups persecuted?" Johnny asked.
"We are far better organized and more disciplined than smaller local resistance groups," Jansen said, scoffing as though the idea of being compared to local resistance groups was an insult. "We could not make a call to arms unless we knew that Illéa would rise up to support us. The people long for the Schreave line from the oppression they face under Marid. Kate's mother struggled as changes were being made during her reign. But, the people were loyal to the Schreaves, especially after Queen America and King Maxon. Things now are worse than they were under the caste system. If the people know that the true heir to Illéa is alive, they will rise up in an overthrow of Marid."
"You are going to be Queen?" Johnny asked, looking at Kate.
"Well, if everything goes according to plan, it looks like it," she said, giving an awkward laugh.
"The French troops are on their way now," Ahren said. "We are ready to stand with the resistance at all costs."
"Is it possible?" Johnny asked. "Not that Kate can't rule of course, but that we can overthrow Marid? He's ruthless. He has no limits.
"It won't be easy, but we have to try," Kate said, giving hand a squeeze.
"Since when did you become optimist, Kate?" Connor asked.
"Connor, even though you most likely will never change, I can change, and for the better," Kate said, giving Johnny a grin.
In that moment, despite the tense situation and the future of the country at stake, the whole group burst into laughs.