Rebel (Legend, #4)(99)
DANIEL
There was a time when my wanted poster was scattered on the JumboTrons all over Los Angeles. It’s still strange to be in the Republic without seeing those ads, to know that I’m not walking down the streets as a criminal anymore. Hell, it’s strange to walk down these streets and know that I’m not going to sleep huddled against an alley wall, that I’m not constantly searching for my next meal.
Eden and I have been back in the Republic for a little over two weeks. Behind us and across the oceans, Antarctica has begun the first experimental phase of revising its Level system. Although the President doesn’t want to admit it, they’ve incorporated a lot of the changes that Eden had originally put in. Ways for people in the Undercity to redeem themselves, Level exemptions for things like medicine and food and shelter. More freedom and less punishment for what you can say and express.
They’re small steps, of course, just like the Republic’s progress. All around the world, everyone’s just gradually trying to move forward.
The streets are still slick tonight from a gentle rain earlier in the afternoon, and the air smells crisp and clean, the breeze cooling my cheeks. I take my time strolling toward the complex where June lives, counting out steps of my own. My fingers brush against a small box tucked in one of my pockets. I haven’t opened it since I packed it away. I’m too afraid to.
I reach the main entrance of her complex and exchange a familiar nod with the security guard. June and I have had several dates since I arrived. We’ve caught up over quiet dinners in the corners of restaurants and drinks in the dim recesses of her living room, our faces turned out toward the lights of the city. I’ve talked to her every day. She’s told me about how Anden is securing funding for the Republic’s rebuilding. I’ve told her about how quickly Eden has adapted to his internship and life back in the Republic.
I go over everything I want to say again in my head. Maybe she’ll tell me that I’m rushing things too much. The thought sends a shiver of uncertainty through me as I head up the elevator to her floor. June is a practical person, after all. How long has it been since we were reunited, anyway? Only several months, with a lot of chaos in between.
* * *
I reach her door. There, I press her doorbell and then linger for a moment, trying to stop my fidgeting.
I’m still debating with myself when the door swings open to reveal June.
The sight of her cuts through the train of nervous questions engulfing my thoughts. Her hair is down to her shoulders tonight, dark and wavy, and she has pinned one side with a delicate floral pin. She’s wearing a pale dress that shimmers slightly in the light. Seeing her in full military gear is always breathtaking, but it’s when she’s like this—off duty, her guard down and smile on, her eyes relaxed—that I find myself barely able to handle how stunning she is. She looks so gorgeous in this moment that I just end up staring at her in disbelief.
She laughs at me, then takes a step toward me and kisses me once. “Good evening,” she says, raising an eyebrow at me. “Nice to see you too.”
Does she suspect anything? I smile at her, trying to stay casual, then offer her my arm. “Just so you know,” I say as we start heading back down the hall, “I wasn’t completely overwhelmed at how beautiful you look. That would be stupid.”
“Right.” She tilts her head at me. “Then why were you staring off into space?”
“You had a spider in your hair.”
She laughs again, and I realize that I’ll never get enough of the sound. “Thanks for not telling me,” she says.
We banter as we head out of her complex and into the freshly washed night. I guide her around the puddles still on the sidewalk and watch as the light dances against her hair. Our conversations come more easily now, and somehow, I almost feel like we’ve gone back in time to when we’d first met.
“You said you found a new café that opened near the train station?” she asks curiously as I lead her down the street. “How come I’ve never heard of this place?”
I smile a little. “Eden told me about it. I think they just opened their doors today, and haven’t really publicized it. He said it looks perfect for a quiet night.”
June just frowns and concentrates harder on figuring it out. “I usually know about all the openings in this area. Their permits need to go through a strict check, and if they were able to get it approved, I would have heard and sent someone to inspect it.”
I sigh at her and laugh. Keeping a secret from June is just as hard as it’s always been. “Just trust me,” I say before she digs too much deeper.
The train station I take her toward is the same one that I saw her walk by several months ago, for the first time in ten years. I’m quiet as we head through the space. It’s serene right now, the newly paved area empty as no more trains are running here for the night. Patches of grass decorate the gates around the station. The area is dimly lit, only a few streetlights dotting the night.
The memory of that meeting plays sharply in my mind. Eden walking beside me after his first internship interview, his spirits high as he tells me what he wants to do for the Republic, my hands in my pockets, a smile on my face as I listen to him. The sight of June walking toward me from the opposite side of this walkway. The way I had stopped as she passed me by, how everything about her—her eyes, her walk, the sense of her there—had seized me like a hook. I think of how I’d caught up to her, how we’d introduced ourselves to each other again after so much time apart.