FOUND / CAGED.

“ultimately I am alone;”

001.  ECHO AND HELO DETECTED THEIR CONNECTION AT AGE OF FIVE.    neither really knows if they shared the connection for years beforehand,   but they can both distinctly remember feeling it then.  echo was in trouble for stealing food to survive,    and she was punished with a handful of lashes against her right side.    she still has a small scar to this day.     helo felt her pain;   not only the physical hurt of the tip of the leather slicing into her skin,    but also the emotional,     as she tried not to cry.  he frantically checked his skin for any marks or scarring, but found no trace of the sudden onslaught of pain.     in turn,  she felt his confusion & fear.     they were both left momentarily paralyzed from the unexpected assault of emotions not entirely their own. 

002.  HE IS THE REASON SHE ENTERED THE CITY OF LIGHT.      if there’s anything echo is skilled at, it’s hiding.    she managed to escape ALIE a handful of times,    slipping away into darkness when her fellow clansmen came for her.     this worked for awhile   -   until helo.    whether ALIE know about & intentionally used their connection to achieve her goal,    neither of them know. but when helo was tortured on that cross,   echo felt every ounce of his pain.     she dropped to her knees and writhed in agony, barely muffling the piercing sound of her screams.     the pain she could handle, though;    it was what came afterwards:     the bliss.    the peace that came over helo when he took the chip,   and which echo felt just enough to dampen her resolve.     she had never known a ceasing of pain quite like this,    and so she wanted it.  desperately.    became intoxicated with the serenity she felt radiating from him.   she stopped fighting,   choosing instead to stay rooted in her spot until ALIE’s people came from her.     echo entered the city of light because she felt how serene helo was in its presence.

003. THEY DID NOT PHYSICALLY FIND ONE ANOTHER UNTIL AFTER THE CITY OF LIGHT.      once ALIE’s programming gained access to the very core of who both echo and helo are,     their connection was discovered   -   but not by them.     she carefully kept them separated as a tactical move,    knowing their bond was dangerous and perhaps capable of overcoming the chip if under the right circumstances.     it was after they were released that they began to hear each other’s thoughts and feel their touch,   which led them to finding one another in polis. 

004.  SHE STRUGGLES TO ACCEPT HOW DEEPLY HE UNDERSTANDS HER.     she’s better about it now, but echo still doesn’t like that helo can read her emotions.     she can never hide anything from him, or pretend she’s okay when she isn’t.    in the beginning, she would be outright mean to him when she was upset,     not knowing how to process the fact this man understood everything she felt and thought.      she could wear a mask with everyone but him,  her lifetime of warrior training doing little to mask her emotions from him.     eventually she learned to just accept his comforting presence,    to let him hold her when he knows she needs it.   even so, she continues to be a little disgruntled that she can’t mask pain from him.

005. THEY SPENT TWO MONTHS AFTER PRAIMFAYA THINKING THE OTHER WAS DEAD.     their connection fizzled because the distance between them was so great,     and the distinct absence there made them scared the other was gone.      they found one another again because of the algae,     interestingly enough.       she went into a four-day coma,     and when she woke up,    he was there.     in her unconscious mind, she had reached for him so hard that their connection was revived.     before alerting anyone she was awake,     she laid there on that cot and let him hold her for as long as their connection would last.      they were both overwhelmed with relief that the other was alive.

006. THEIR BIGGEST STRUGGLE WILL PROBABLY ALWAYS BE OCTAVIA.    helo is devoted to the woman who wants echo banished from safety.   as you can imagine,   this puts a small strain on their relationship.   it’s the area in which his allegiance is torn   –   the woman he loves and is connected to on such an incredibly deep level,    versus the woman he vowed to follow through it all.     echo wasn’t in that bunker with them,    so she doesn’t know what they faced together  —  only that she feels his devotion,   his torrent of emotions,   and she loathes being the reason he’s so torn.    she tries to tell him it’s okay, that he can choose octavia and she will prove herself,   but it’s difficult for both of them.      there’s all this longing and emotion from six years apart shared between them.    they’re miserable.

007.  AFTER THEY WAKE UP FROM CRYO,  THEY’RE TOGETHER.   officially,  though neither of them bothers announcing it.   she’s proven herself enough to be granted a place on the ship,   and he doesn’t have to feel quite so torn anymore.   though they’ve made their mistakes (namely  echo sleeping with someone else on the ring during their time apart),   they know their connection is unwavering.   whatever comes their way,  they’ll figure it out.   he’s her person,   and she’s his.