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Katie walked the streets of San Francisco. It was beautiful this time of year, with the beach and streets filled with people. The music was everywhere too. She hadn’t planned on coming here during pride week, but it was a nice little coincidence. Ever since finding out her sister’s secret, a secret that had taken her sister right out of her life, she had felt it important to support pride and the community. And here she cheered along with the crowds, enjoyed the music and just let herself have a good time in the city. The latest on her tour of the west coast, it had this vibrant energy that filled her with joy. That day, she had decided to watch the parade, since these were usually pretty exciting. Todays was going to be even more exciting than she could’ve predicted.
All the groups passed by one by one, representing different organizations of the city and even the whole state. The theme this year was “Its about Freedom”, and the marchers showed their freedom to the world. Some were holding signs, asking for the freedom to simply love. Others still wanted justice for the aids epidemic, that had killed so many of their community while the government simply watched. But together, they simply wanted to be free. Katie admired that. She traveled the world and had loved everywhere she’d been. For a lot of these people, they couldn’t leave their neighborhood without fearing for their lives unless they hid who they were. And so her thoughts turned to her sister, as they always did during the parade. She was devastated when she read her letter explaining why she ran away, but she couldn’t blame her either. Their parents were not the most progressive or understanding people. Not to mention they had always been harsher on Sam than they ever had been with her. Katie had written a few letters of her own, keeping them with her hoping to one day see her sister again, knowing it was never going to happen.
Which is why at first, she was sure she has hallucinating.
So she looked again.
And despite the blue hair and new piercings, she knew she was seeing her sister again. Marching hand in hand with girl with red hair who Katie had only seen once, in a picture in her sister’s locker. Time seemed to slow down as she froze up, tears welling up in her eyes immediately. There she was, happier than Katie had ever seen her, smiling and singing along with the music and waving to the crowd. Sam had finally found a place where she belonged, where she could be herself. And Katie considered for a brief moment weather or not she should try to get her attention. It had been a few years, would she still want to see her after all that time? But before she could really come up with an answer (or fully formulate the question in her head) Katie was up against the metal barrier calling out Sam’s name. She screamed as loud as she could, hopping her sister could hear her over the music and the crowd.
Sam looked around confused before locking eyes with Katie. Several emotions seemed to happen at once inside Sam, all of them flashing in her eyes in face at once. But before she could fully process what she was seeing, she was already running for the barrier, her girlfriend tagging along in confusion. They hugged over the barrier, hugging hard to try to make up for the several years they had lived apart. “Katie!” Sam cried into her sisters shoulder. “Sam!” Katie cried into her sisters shoulder. The people around them seemed to give them a cheer, and Sam laughed. The moment seemed to last forever, an embrace that would never end. “Do you want help getting over the barrier, Sam?” asked the girl who could only be Lonnie. Katie had always wondered about her, about if her and her sister had stuck together and made it work. She was glad it had. Sam simply nodded before breaking the hug. Lonnie used her hands to boost Sam over the barrier, and then Sam helped Lonnie jump it. They moved away from the crowd, before hugging again, though a little less desperately this time. “How is this even possible, how did you find us!” Sam said, before realising that the two didn’t know each other. “Oh, right! Katie, this is my girlfriend Lonnie. Lonnie, this is my sister Katie.” The two exchanged hellos before Sam’s question came back once again. “I didn’t tell you where we were going in my note. I’m sorry I didn’t, I just didn’t want mom and dad to find us if they got home before you did.” Sam’s eyes were fearful for a second. “They’re not with you, are they?” “No, they’re still back home”, Katie was quick to answer. She didn’t want to panic her sister, though there wouldn’t be much they could do if they were here. Sam was a fully grown adult now. She had grown up so much since the last time they talked in person, Katie couldn’t believe it. “And I didn’t try to track you down, I understood why you wanted to leave even if it was extremely hard for me. I had to let live your own life away from them. But I tried to support pride whenever I could because of you. And I was traveling the West coast this summer. I guess I just happened to be at the right place.” At this, Katie felt another wave of tears coming, so she hugged her sister again. “I thought I’d never see you again” Katie said, trying to hold back her tears. “Come on” Sam said, “I know a great place we can talk. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”