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"Oliver!" I called out with an unusual sliver of hope sounding in my voice as I set a fire with a large pile of rocks and a single purple-tipped arrow. I caught sight of Oliver hopping on rocks stones, and over trees and branches to reach me, so I set the arrow in my old bow and aimed high and far for the pile of sticks on the island shore below.
To my contentment, the arrow inflamed the pile and created a large explosion, drawing the attention of a fishing boat farther away down the sea. By this time Oliver had finally reached me and we both traveled down the shore to meet our rescuers, the people who would bring us home and return us to our families that we had fought so hard to stay alive to see again.
It had taken a short while for the boat to reach us, but the people were very generous. They didn't speak much English, but we understood every word of Mandarin they had said, or rather Oliver understood, I was familiar with Japanese, not Chinese. But no matter, the few men on the boat had docked and met us halfway on the shore. We must have looked truly atrocious. I know I felt like I did, I hardly felt like I was in my own body, and here these strangers were with the one goal of helping us off the island and making sure we were safe, and they probably thought they were looking at cavemen.
After they had helped us onto the boat, we were given blankets to wrap around our shaking bodies. We appeared as if we were helpless and shipwrecked, yet helpless is not a word I would use to describe Oliver and I. But we needed to return to Starling, our home, and we needed help to do it. So maybe in the sense that we couldn't get off the island ourselves we were helpless, sure, I could accept that.
What I couldn't accept was knowing that five years had gone by, our families had probably since long moved on from us, we couldn't expect them to wait for us.
As one of the fishermen approached me, I lightly smiled and accepted the cup of clean water he handed me. He nodded before stepping away and I glanced over at my boyfriend who was staring at the blue waters. "We're going to be fine," he spoke up, almost like he had known I was looking at him. I sighed and pursed my lips before staring at my cup, "Oliver, we're dead. Remember?" I wondered, hoping that he understood our situation as much as he should have. He closed his eyes, almost as if he were remembering something. "Maybe."
•••
"Oliver Queen and Annabelle Carter are alive," the news reporter announced. "These Starling City residents were found by fishermen in the North China Sea five days ago," he continued. "...five years after they were missing and presumed dead following the accident at sea which claimed the 'Queen's Gambit'. Queen was a regular tabloid presence and a fixture at the Starling City club scene. Shortly before his disappearance he was acquited of assault charges stemming from a highly publicized drunken altercation with paparazzi.
