The first time, she was memorizing words. No, not words-a sentence.
"Hello, my name is Dory. I suffer from short-term memory loss."
"Yes!"
"That's exactly what you say."
Her parents gave her a flood of joy only because she could remember a single sentence now, and Dory was sure that they'd told her that sentence for about a million times to make her remember.
"Okay, we're going to pretend to be the other kids now."
"One, two, three… four…"
...
What was she talking about again? Numbers? Why numbers?
She didn't remember.
"Sand. I like sand. Sand is squishy."
"Hello, my name is Dory and I suffer from short-term memory loss. Can you please help me?"
The fish is gone.
"Hi, I'm Dory and I suffer from short-term memory loss. I need-"
Gone.
"Hi, my name is-"
Gone again! Why were these fish so busy all the time? Was there even one that wasn't so busy? Was it something she could remember?
No, of course not.
So she wanders around in circles until she can't bring back what she was doing, and goes to find more to ask about her parents.
What was I thinking about? For a moment she ponders about talking about her thoughts just to make the cold, empty feeling disappear. But it will probably be worse, she thinks, but then again she can't be so sure. She literally can't remember what she was doing before, let alone to have wisdom for life.
...
Wait, what was I thinking about again?
Do I care?
"Hi! My name is Dory. Can you help me find my family?"
She doesn't know it's the fish she asked just moments ago.
She can't remember.
Her family! Something must have done it? Something to trigger her memory, something, she can't care, and her parents were at-
She can't remember. No way. Dory sputters about it in anger, shouts, and then Nimo reminds her. The jewel of Moro bay. How could she forget? She feels horrible. After years she finally has a clue about her parents, only to forget in a heartbeat. Marlin reluctantly agrees to come with her.
Turtles! The turtles were there, talking, and the young one too. She and Marlin and Nimo was there and they were going to meet her parents which were located in-
...
She forgot. She did. For what-the tenth time? Wow.
No.
Again?
Really?
She hated herself. She kept forgetting, forgetting the most important things that were supposed to stay in her mind and not get lost into some stupid hole called forgetting.
She couldn't remember.
The jewel of Moro Bay. Just keep remembering. Just keep remembering…
She swore to herself that she would not forget again, as she'd done so for the entire trip to California.
"They came to Quarantine, and when they didn't come back…" The other one said in a whisper, not trying to take her by surprise. Why? Did they go back to the ocean? What was wrong with not coming back?
"Dory, when a fish doesn't come back from Quarantine, it means…" What? What?
"They're dead, Dory. I'm so sorry."
No.
Oh, no. She looked so hard for them and they didn't come back and it means that their dead and oh no-
You don't have to walk. You don't have to talk. You don't have to think.
If…
If you're just alive.
But they weren't.
They're gone. They're gone. They're gone…
Everything was a mess around her, but she didn't care, couldn't care. They died. The very thought of it made her almost lose consciousness. I was too late. I was too late. I was too late. I was too late. I was too late…
...
For what?
For what?
For what?
All she could remember was that she was too late, and that horrible guilt strapping her like chains, but she couldn't let any information go through that invisible wall that she supposed kept all her memories locked.
What did I forget this time? I know it's something important, I know, I feel guilty, but I don't know anything else…
The kelp forest. She knew that place, except that she didn't, and she wasn't sure. She always wasn't sure. That was the way it had been since she'd been born. Her life might have been one big mistake…or memory.
"What would Dory do?"
Her voice broke the eerie swishing noise the kelp was making with every single gust of wind breaking through. She followed her instinct, but she couldn't let it go. What it was. Dory was still shaky from what she had forgotten.
She couldn't remember. It had to be important. She knew that much, at least.
But she couldn't remember.
Her parents. They were here. But-were they not dead? Nimo, no Marlin had said so, but then again she didn't see the bodies so she couldn't be sure…
"Hi, my name is…"
"Dory!"
She didn't believe it at first. Her parents died. The fish at the aquarium, whatever her name was, was absolutely sure of it. Dory saw it in her eyes.
But the warmness of their skin, their faint smell of orange she remembered by heart, couldn't be a lie.
"Parents."
It was different from telling someone about her parents, and talking to them directly. Dory wasn't used to the queer feeling, and she rolled her tongue in her mouth as if to savor the words. It was as if she could taste it-the words rolling of her tongue, eager to meet the world and slip into her parent's ears.
They were here.
Charlie and Jenny, her parents, they were here!
She found them.
At that moment she remembered the one bit of memory that was annoyingly lingering just out of her memory-that of her following shells to her home. The shells. It was the key. Why didn't she know? The shells. Those were it. She could have had found it if she had just stayed where she used to be in the first place, and not go around and ask for help.
But then again she did find her parents, so was that not enough?
Or was it?
Well. She could think about it later. She could feel guilty for not remembering later.
She needed to be happy now. She needed comfort from her parents.
They said a few words for themselves, then to her. They came to find her. They came and threw away the easy life in the aquarium. They waited for who knows how long for her.
She knew that Marlin and Nimo and Hank and all the others that could be in trouble, but she could allow herself to lower her worriedness for a tiny bit.
After all, she did remember now. She remembered her childhood, how everything happened.
She remembered.
She was happy.
That was what she needed.
Cheers for Dory!
I find Dory somewhat childish. I can't be the only one that thinks this way, can I? I tried to show that during writing this, but I can't be sure. If there's any mistakes in the writing, it's my ideal of showing how Dory is childish. I didn't intend on writing a Dory fic, but since my exam is done I put it to work.
Yay!