"It's the one thing I haven't lost." Tomoyo said quietly, her voice almost silent. She fiddled with her thumbs as clear blue eyes watched her intensely. She didn't dare look up, to make eye contact and invite the young man into her soul, her very being, her most valuable possession... "My visions. They stay with me, haunting me." she bowed her head lower. "But they stay."
"Do you wish for them to leave you, Tomoyo?" Quatre asked, leaning in closer to her. He gently touched her chin to bring their faces to the same level, but she briskly moved her head away, and faced the window.
"No." she answered slowly. "Not only are they comforting now..." she felt the bitter, warm droplet of sadness on her hand, and she tried to blink the rest away. "Not only are they my comfort, they are my memories. They are my only memories."
A sharp knock at the door interrupted the tense moment. Both Quatre and Tomoyo rose, and she wiped her face on her sleeve as he went to open the door. A few murmurs later, he closed the door and turned to her again.
"You must excuse me, milady, but I have some business…"
"Don't explain." she interrupted. She wrapped her old, wool jacket closer around her and walked over to him. With one hand on the knob of the door, she said, "I was off anyway."
"Are you sure you won't stay..."
"No reason to." her cool demeanor slowly overtook her emotions. "I'll be in contact."
No sooner had she said that, Tomoyo was out the door and heading towards the staircase. Quatre hurried behind her.
"Tomoyo, please..." he pleaded loudly. "I don't want you to..."
"Be alone. Yes Quatre," she spat as she spun around mid-flight. "I know. You care for my well being. You do not want me alone. You do not want me to come to harm's way. Yes Quatre, I know. But I refuse to stay here, refuse to be another one of your experiments. I... I..." she stamped her foot and her pale face flushed red with anger. "I will not be a project of yours, or anyone else's. I will get my memory back, without your so-called guidance, and I will NOT become some killing spree, 'war-of-the-innocents' toy as you and your friends have. I will get all of my memories back!"
She turned around and ran out of the house, leaving a speechless Quatre at the top of the winding staircase, her words still echoing in his mind.
I will...
- - -
She turned the corner, her flowing lavender nightgown fluttering in the crisp breeze. Her hand, thin with long, elegant fingers, reached the cool glass and touched it. Water ripples flowed out from her fingertips, but once she put her hand down, the glass stiffened again.
"Don't touch the glass..."
Who's there, she thought angrily. Why won't they show themselves? Show yourself!
"Don't touch the glass..."
She fell through the glass, and suddenly icy water engulfed her, filling her nose, her mouth silently screaming beneath the clear liquid. Her deep purple hair floated around her as she struggled for air.
"Don't touch..."
She felt light-headed, her vision blurred... And she saw the outline of the young man again. Long, dark hair, longer then her own, cascaded down his shoulders in a royal elegance, half of it back in a messy ponytail held only by a single white cloth. He wore a smirk on his face and a pair of leather riding pants with no shirt. His arm extended to her, but she just couldn't breath...
"...The glass..."
Tomoyo sat up in her bed, and went to go wipe her forehead with the back of her hand when she felt a slight pain shoot up her arm. Startled, she looked down, and inhaled in sharply.
Her sleeve was slightly damp, and there was a fine chard of glass stuck in her wrist. Turning on the light on the nightstand, she swung her feet over the bed and scooted towards the lamp for a better look. Awed, she scanned her body for more clues, but found none.
Feeling suddenly helpless, she left out a small sob and started crying. A white flash made her look up, towards her window. She numbly walked over to it, and knelt down.
A strip of white cloth fluttered against the breeze. It too was wet.
Tomoyo wrapped it around the cut on her wrist, and sat against the wall, still crying.
'I will get all of my memories back...'
Quatre couldn't sleep. He walked onto his balcony and watched the moon cast it's eerie, cream glow on L2. Far enough in the distance, he could see explosions from the 'war-of-the-innocents' that Tomoyo so heatedly despised.
'I will...'
Yes, my dear. You will, he thought as the wind rustled his blonde hair. And I will help you.
- - -
Gingerly, Duo picked up the phone. "What?" he asked angrily.
"Duo, it's Quatre. Did I wake you?"
"Yes, you did." Came the sharp reply. "And it had better be for a good reason, too." Sitting up, Duo cradled the phone between his chin and shoulders, and used his hand to braid back his long, chestnut hair that smelt 'all too much like last night's brandy', he mused.
"I need you to do me a favor…"
"Such as?"
"I have a friend, and she's ill. I need you to watch over her." Quatre quieted himself, waiting for Duo's usual retort. But silence hung on the other end of the phone, so he continued. "She's somewhat delusional, and I'm afraid she might do something to injure herself."
Much to Quatre's relief, Duo finally broke the stretched silence. "For how long?"
"Until I can figure out how to get her memory back. You see, when she sleeps, she goes into these episodes. She's practically comatose while she's awake, so usually she can't even be woken when she's not. But in her dreams she's very much alive. Her mind plays back whatever memories she has left."
"How did she lose her memories?" Duo asked, now engaged by the story. He slipped into a bathrobe and, waving a silent hello to his roommate Wufei, he went into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub.
Quatre sighed. "She was a civilian in the first War of the Innocents." His throat suddenly went dry. "It was me and Trowa's mission, and only her and her friend Sakura survived. I found her… she was half dead, and she looked so lost…" His eyes misted over, but he kept his voice steady. "I killed her family, and her friends… everything she ever knew. So I brought her home with me. Sakura wasn't as lucky. You know Chance Joliet?"
"The latest female Oz general?"
"That's Sakura." Quatre heard a low whistle from the receiving end. "They brainwashed her. She may never be herself again."
"Does Tomoyo know?"
"No. I never told her. She won't let me get close to her, and I need to in order to help her. All I want you to do is protect her. Don't interfere with her life. Just protect her."
Duo let the scenario play back in his mind. "Alright."
"Thank you." Then the line went dead. So I suppose I'm just supposed to find her? , Duo thought irritably as he ran his bath. What a genius.
His hair came once again out of its braid, falling lavishly over his creamy skin. He undressed and slipped into the water, his slim frame slowly covering with a thin sheet of sweat. So, I have to find some girl who has mental problems and make sure she doesn't die before Quatre can get to her. Great. He closed his eyes and sunk deeper into the water. Just great.
- - -
"I don't know,
What words I can say,
The wind has a wayTo talk to me.
Now I sleep a silent lullaby,
I pray for reply,
I'm ready.
Quiet day calms me,
Oh serenity.
Someone please tell me,
What is it they say?
Maybe I will know one day..."
Tomoyo finally opened her eyes, and placed her violin in her lap. It was the violin that Quatre had given her when she was able to walk properly again. She ran her hand over the smooth, dark wood and sighed. It had a history, a soul, and memories.
She might as well work for Oz. She had almost no memory, so she didn't have a history, and she was practically soulless. They wouldn't have to do much, and there was no reason to brainwash her.
She placed the violin back in its cherry wood case and closed it slowly. Standing up, she dusted off her simple, black dress and put the case on top of a nearby bookcase. She grabbed her old, wool jacket and left her apartment. Now where did I put that list?
Just as the elevator came, Tomoyo pulled a white slip of paper out of her jacket and smirked. Gotcha.
"Just as well, next time let me know, alright?" Duo said as he hung up his cell. He fixed his long, leather trench coat and waited for the elevator door to open. 8th floor, huh?
The door opened slowly… And he was met by a pair of amethyst eyes similar to his own, but unique in beauty. Duo's chest stopped, and her gaze on him made his blood boil. Time seemed to stop as she walked slowly into the elevator, tucking her long, plum hair behind her ear. Her skin looked so soft and pale, and her hands were thin and elegant. He could hardly breath…
"Um, are you getting out? Or going down?" she asked, breaking him out of his trance. Duo cleared his throat and pressed one. Act right, Maxwell.
Tomoyo leaned against the steel wall and watched the numbers go down. She couldn't help but to steal glances at the man next to her. He looked no more then 20, but the way he had looked at her when the door opened… And for some reason, he seemed so familiar… She glimpsed at his hair and her breath caught in her throat.
It was long, in a messy braid, with a white tie at the end of it. She turned quickly away and closed her eyes. Pieces of the dream flashed through her mind, sending painful throbbing through her brain. She squealed in pain and fell to the floor, holding her head. Duo pressed the 'stop' button on the elevator controls and rushed over to her.
"What happened?" he asked huskily, worry creasing his eyebrows. She looked up at him slowly, and touched his face, causing him to tense up in shock. The white cloth around her wrist caught his eye, but he was too worried to care about it.
"Why couldn't you save me?" Tomoyo's voice came out slow and shaky. "Why…"
Just as he went to pick her up, she blacked out.
