Sharon Shinn - Gateway

Kalen tried to draw her to her feet, but she twined her arms aroundhisneck.“Comewithme,”shesaid,suddenlystruckby inspiration. “You don’t have any reason to stay here-follow me to St. Louis.”

“You won’t remember me in St. Louis,” he said quietly.

“And he won’t remember you, either,” Ombri said. “I told you that on your first day here. There is something about the Earth iteration that erases a sojourner’s memories of any place he might have been before. Even Aurora and I will need some time to regain a sense of self once we arrive on your world.”

“Which is why we must find Chenglei as soon as possible,” Aurora said. “Before he regains his full strength.”

Daiyu turned her back on them. “Come to Earth anyway,” she pleaded, putting her hands up to Kalen’s cheeks. “I’ll find you. I’ll write myself a note! I’ll tell myself to go down to the Arch-the gateway-every day and wait for someone. I’ll describe you. I’ll tell myself to trust you and to be your friend.”

“Daiyu, it won’t work,” Aurora said.

“It will,” she said fiercely. “Kalen, promise you’ll come.”

He leaned his forehead against hers again; his eyes were huge and liquid just inches away. “And what happens to me if you cannot find me?” he said sadly. “What happens to me if you do not remember to look for me, if you do not recognize me when I appear? I am alone in a place I do not understand-”

“Where you do not speak the language,” Ombri interposed.

“And where I must appear like a lunatic to the authorities. What happens to me then?”

He was right. The thought was horrifying. The only thing that could make her wish him to stay behind was the fear of what could happen to him if he tried to follow her. “Then you must stay in Shenglang,” she whispered against his mouth. “And I must try to live without even the memory of you on Earth.”

“Come, Daiyu,” Ombri said. “We must get you home.”

Not surprisingly, it took a few more minutes to get ready. Daiyu had to change into her own clothes, so that she would not be startled, back on Earth, to find herself suddenly wearing a wholly unfamiliar outfit. In addition, despite Aurora ’s disapproval, she had to write herself a note trying to explain her adventure. But what could she possibly say? In the end, she merely put down the most important part: “You were briefly transported to another world, and you fell in love with a boy named Kalen. If you ever see him again, he won’t remember you and you won’t remember him, but you should trust him and let him into your life.” She wondered if she would believe the words when she saw them.

She had managed to keep the silken pouch she had carried the whole time she was in Shenglang. Chenglei had dropped it as he was flung to her iteration, and she had retrieved it from the grass before she rejoined Xiang. In it was the other note she had written to herself, which she discarded now, and the precious drawing Kalen had made of the riverfront. This, of course, she kept. Now she added the smoky brown rock Kalen had found in the river one day, the one decorated with bits of orange and cobalt. He had given it to her; maybe it would help her remember him.

“I’m ready,” she said finally in a quavering voice, although she wasn’t ready, she would never be ready, she didn’t think she had the strength to make this final journey. But “Good,” Aurora said, and Ombri nodded, and Kalen smiled at her and took her hand.

“Then let’s go to the gateway,” Kalen said.

He continued to hold her hand as the four of them walked to the nearest trolley stop, and he held her hand as they sat together on one of the hard wooden seats. His grip was reassuringly tight as they disembarked from the trolley and picked their way across the yin-yang border of stones until they were standing in front of the tall red-lacquer gate.

“What do I do now?” Daiyu asked, her voice roughened by the tightness of her throat.

“It’s simple,” Ombri said. “You will take this gem and step through the gate, and you will be back in your own iteration.”

Aurora handed her a silver necklace hung with a pink stone pendant. It was a piece of rose quartz much smaller than the talisman she had carried all these weeks. Apparently, since she was using it in conjunction with a gateway, it didn’t need to be as powerful.

“And no time will have passed since I left?” Daiyu asked.

“A second, maybe two,” Aurora said. “Nothing you would notice. You will probably feel dizzy. You might feel nauseated. You’ll be a little confused. Nothing you can’t explain away by sunstroke or heat exhaustion.”

She had left St. Louis on the evening of a scorching hot day. Sunstroke and heat exhaustion would be entirely believable.

“Are you sure I won’t remember?” she asked.

Ombri put his hands on her shoulders, even though Kalen continued to hold her hand. “We’re sure,” he said. He leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. “Travel safely, Daiyu. You have been a splendid companion.”

He stepped aside, and Aurora hugged her, kissing her on the cheek. “You have such courage and grace,” the older woman whispered. “Those will serve you well no matter what world you call home.”

Aurora drew back, and now there was only Kalen to say good-bye to. Daiyu wanted to fling herself into his arms, cling to him and refuse to let go, but she knew such a display would hurt him far longer than it hurt her. If ever there was a time to show courage and grace, it was now.

“I love you,” she told him, speaking steadily despite her falling tears. “Remember that for me, in case I forget.”

“I love you, too,” he said, kissing her on the mouth and finally releasing her hand. “And that will be true as long as either of us lives in either of our worlds.”

There was nothing else to say. Daiyu clutched the cool pink stone in her right hand, gave them all one last brave smile, and stepped through the red-lacquer gate.

DAIYU TRIPPED ON something and fell to the ground on the other side of the Arch, landing awkwardly on her hands and knees. The pendant flew from her grip to land a few feet away. For a moment, the breath was punched out of her body; for a moment, it was hard to see.

“Areyouallright?”someoneasked,andshelookeduptosee a pair of middle-aged women bending over her. One wore jeans and a Cardinals shirt, and the other had on a long sundress printed with palm trees and flamingos.

“I think so,” she said cautiously. “But I feel a little dizzy.”

“See if you can stand up,” said the Cardinals fan, offering her a friendly hand. The one in the Florida dress reached over to pick up the necklace from the grass.

“I think you dropped this,” she said, handing it over.

“Yes. Thank you,” Daiyu said. She felt unsteady on her feet, as if she’d spent too long on a carnival ride. Maybe she was dehydrated.

“You don’t look so good,” said the woman in the Cardinals shirt. “I think we’d better find first aid.”

Daiyu’s first instinct was to say, No, I’m fine, but the dizziness was getting worse and she was starting to see little spots in front of her eyes. A sizzle and boom overhead made her jump, though she knew it was just more practice fireworks being shot off. “Maybe we should,” she said. “But I have to give this necklace back-it belongs to that old woman at the booth back there-” She gestured behind her. At the moment, she didn’t have the energy to try to figure out which other vendor had been interested in buying the necklace from the old woman.

The flamingo woman said, “I’ll take it to her. You just wait right here. Katie, if you see any cops, you might flag them down.”