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Zari lay awake in her bed. She couldn't sleep. Was she hot? Of course she was, but not in terms of temperature. She reached over and checked her space heater. Of course she had a space heater. She wasn't an animal, after all.
Yup, it was dialed to the middle, slightly under room temperature-- perfect for her.
And yet... she couldn't sleep.
Something felt off. That'd been happening for a while, now ever since she hacked her way out of that room on the Waverider. Flashes. Glimpses. Flickers of a life that seemed so familiar, and yet she couldn't remember any of it ever happening. Her computer skills, her love for donuts (and many other kinds of food)...and now, she could feel it forming in her mind again.
A moment.
"So... Two truths and a lie."
"Seriously? Are we team-building right now?"
"Number one, back home. My friends used to call me Z. Number two, I got a copy of Zelda on the black market and never beat that final boss."
"Ganon."
"Number three... I love musicals."
"Z... We're watching Singing in the Rain. I'll go get the popcorn."
Ray. Ray Palmer. Another image flashed across Zari's mind as she stared at the ceiling. His face. His chiseled, cheerful face. That's when it hit Zari: she knew him...in another life. They were close. And just like that, a series of memories flickered through her mind at the speed of light. All the movies they'd watch together, all the video games she'd invited him to play with her...
Another memory flickered through her mind.
Zari watched her younger self leave the park with her mother. Her mother... Someone she hadn't seen in a such a long time. Someone she loved.
And at that moment, she caved in. She burst into tears crying, wrapping her arms around herself as the icy feeling of sadness--the feeling of loss-- swept over her like a wave. Then, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her surprisingly gently.
And the cold was gone, replaced by a warmth like no other. She leaned into Ray as he continued to hug her, enjoying his embrace.
Now, Zari could feel the warmth again, and the rest of her memories with Ray in them flooded her head like a dam had burst. He'd always be there for her, she'd always be there for him and--
Oh. Right. How could she have forgotten?
Ray was gone, he had left two days ago... and was never coming back. He probably hadn't remembered her either... Unless he'd been having the same flashes of memory like she had, which was highly unlikely.
Now, as she felt a fresh wave of grief coming, it felt... different. Remembering Ray had created a convergence in her mind, between the the life that she knew and the life she hadn't yet fully remembered. They never even had a proper goodbye.
Zari felt a tear rolling down her cheek as she sat up and turned up the space heater to as high as it would go. The whole room felt like an oven now, she felt herself sweating.
But why did she still feel cold?
The icy feeling of sadness... the feeling of loss.
And so, on the Waverider, when everyone else was asleep, when the engines continued to hum gently, when the hallways were filled with the sound of nothing but silence, Zari Tomaz --not Zari Tarazi-- began to cry softly, remembering the ray of sunshine who was gone from her life.