Her head is held high, her gaze steady and unwavering.
So many things have changed about her since the first time we met. She was a girl then, full of anger and grief; now she’s a woman, poised and mature and sure of her place in the world.
But in some ways, she hasn’t changed at all. I still watch her in the same way I did the first moment I saw her on the streets, whenshe stepped into that Skiz duel ring. I still marvel at that glint of fierce intelligence in her eyes, how awake and alive and invincible she seems. I am still entranced.
Her eyes are searching too. They stop when they settle on me.
It could be my imagination, but there’s a slight blush on her cheeks right as she passes me. I have to remind myself not to break out of my formation. Then she’s sweeping by with her soldiers, and I’m closing our ranks to follow behind them, and the roar of the press consumes us all as the Elector shakes hands with President Ikari.
As they pose for photos, I make my way through the crowd behind June, who is standing off to the side with her soldiers. She nods once at the sight of me, then looks away to pay attention to the Elector and the President’s conversation.
I try to concentrate on guarding my President too. But my thoughts whirl like a storm through my head. Was there really a time when I could instinctively know her thoughts? When we had such a comfortable rapport with each other that we could share anything? Or have we always had this strange chemistry—where I have no idea what to say to her, but would do anything to be near her again?
I must have lingered too long on these thoughts, because one moment we’re standing separately and watching over our world leaders… and the next, we’re closing ranks behind them and walking next to each other.
“Agent Wing,” June says with a tilt of her head and the arch of a slender eyebrow.
Damn. She can still make me weak with a single, searing gaze.
“Commander Iparis,” I reply, forcing myself to stay formal andpolite. Her eyes dart away for a moment and she clears her throat. We don’t say anything else. Instead, we keep walking in an awkward silence, keenly aware of the other’s presence.
Finally, when the two men start to head down the walkway and we follow in the wake of their entourage, June turns her head slightly toward me. “When are you free?” she asks.
My heart lifts at her question. Maybe she’s been looking forward to seeing me too.
“Tonight,” I reply. “After the President’s meeting, I report back to the AIS headquarters for a while. I’m out at sunset.”
For the first time, she looks directly at me. “Would you like to have dinner?” she asks. “It’d be nice to catch up.”
Our words are formal and stilted. Is it because it’s been so long? Because we’re older now? I give her a nod and try not to sound too eager. “I’d like that,” I reply.
She smiles a little. It softens everything about her, and I find myself wanting to lean in and pull her to me for a kiss. At one point in our lives, that had been something I could do naturally. Now? I feel like I’m stretched tight between two poles, unable to breathe.
“Great,” she says, and her voice stays formal. “Where should I meet you?”
“Tell me where you’re staying,” I answer in a low voice. This time, I’m unable to keep the pull out of my reply. “I’ll come to you.”
Her cheeks turn pink, and I find myself wondering how I managed to bear ten years without her in my life.
Then the President and the Elector are shaking hands and moving toward the elevators to head downstairs, and we’re all following along with them. Our units are about to diverge.
My heart beats rapidly at the thought of meeting up with her later. All I can do is give June a slight bow. “Commander,” I say to her, then wink once and turn away to join the rest of my fellow agents.
Sunset in Antarctica, of course, isn’t really sunset at all. It’s a simulation created by the biodome encasing Ross City. Still, it doesn’t make it any less beautiful, and by the time I meet up with June in front of the hotel where the Elector is staying, swaths of pink and purple are streaking the sky.
Their hotel is perched on the highest floor of a luxury skyscraper, a property that covers ten floors from the top down, with each of its walkways connecting to other skyscrapers adorned with lush, potted trees and strips of grass. From up here, you get a view of the entire twinkling upper half of the city as it dips into the clouds.
I’m perched in one of the trees lining either side of the hotel entrance when I see June emerge from the lobby. She’s changed out of her formal military uniform into a sleek, comfortable shirt and coat, her tall black boots pulled over her jeans.
My heartbeat quickens as she looks around for me. This angle, looking at her from a perch somewhere above, is so familiar. It’s how I’d first seen her, after all, with her hands on her hips as she challenged Kaede to a Skiz duel. I admire her for a moment, then step off from the branch and land lightly on my feet before her, my hands in my pockets.
She almost startles, but her expression turns amused an instantlater at the sight of me. “You still like making your entrances,” she says.
I grin, relieved at her reaction. “Only for you, yeah?” I reply.
She laughs. “And still as insufferable as always, I see.”
Insufferable. Was I that bad? I think back, trying to pinpoint a specific moment when I might have been insufferable to her.
