Memories

Ok, this is kinda old, and I'm not sure what to think of this, I watched too many sappy romantic dramas, I don't even know why, and this was the product of that. And yeah, another OC story too, and their humans. And this is sorta sad, eh, trying out different story types as well, I hope you guys like this~!

~Winter's ice~ Hello people, just here to say I edited and added things to the story and well, K-chan up there is right, it is sad, but those are the ideas where come up best with. Oh, and the character Arietta belongs to me, and please enjoy and review!

An old man shuffled slowly down the hallway of his old home. The walls in the hallway where plastered with pictures from his past. He sighed and then stopped what he was doing, which was a trip down memory lane, literally. He slowly moved towards a picture and placed his wrinkled, calloused hand on the wooden frame. The picture was rather worn with age; the picture was of a young looking couple at a beach. They had to be no older than seventeen, and they both had big goofy grins on their faces that contrasted with the surprised look in their eyes as they held each other closely. The boy had sandy blond hair with an odd cowlick and glasses that covered his bright blue eyes. The girl had long beautiful curly dark brown hair with an odd stray stand-up piece of hair in the part of her bangs, sort of like a boy. The old man smiled gently as he traced his finger along the frame of the picture and began to remember.

"Hey Al, this is great!" Koda yelled while running up to the blond. They were at the beach for both Koda's birthday and a well-needed vacation.
"Cool! Hey, Koda?" Alfred asked as he pulled a camera out of his hoodie pocket while looking at said girl.

"Yeah?" she inquired.

"Can we get a photo?" he asked with one of his goofy grins.

"Sure," Koda said while walking over to him.

After she almost reached him Alfred ran up to an old woman who was near and asked, "Excuse me ma'am? Can you take a couple of photos of me and my friend?" he asked while holding the camera out to the women, "Oh, an' my name is Alfred Jones ma'am!" he said in his usual cheery and loud tone.

The woman laughed and said, "Sure, my name is MaryAnn Tanner by the way."

"Thanks!" he said while walking back to where Koda was standing.
Alfred and Koda goofed around mostly during the picture that is, until, "Hey, Koda?" Alfred started, looking serious for once, "Remember when we where little and I said I wanna be your hero? Well, I also remembered when you asked if we will always be together. Well, we are but," he paused which kind of got Koda nervous, was he not going to be her friends anymore?

He then began again, "But, I want to be together, I want us to be together. I love you Koda, I always did, but it grew until I couldn't take it anymore. So, will you be the damsel to this hero?"

Koda just stood there, completely shocked, "Did…did he just…?" she thought.
She was quiet for a little, and then started to talk with an emotionless and blank face, "Well, I remember. You are my hero…somewhat. And I'm glad we have been together since we were tinny. But I can't be your damsel," Koda mumbled.

MaryAnn gave Alfred a sympathetic look. Alfred looked like his heart just imploded from those words. Heck, he even looked like he was going to cry.
"I can't save if I save your ass too. We always help each other out. So, I'm the hero's hero, Kuh-ahahahahahaha~," she started to laugh. Alfred just looked at her and thought, "Dose that mean she…?"

"Alfie, I love ya too, cheesiness n' all," she said with a smile. Alfred smiled back at her and hugged her tightly.

"Hey you two!" MaryAnn called over to the couple. They both looked over at her and she took a picture of them, which surprised them, "You two look so cute together," she said with a small smile.

The old man took his wrinkled hand off the frame with a small sad smile. He was that young happy boy in that picture. He remembered that day like it was yesterday. Koda and him became boyfriend and girlfriend that fabulous day, and they also gained a new friend, MaryAnn. They learned that MaryAnn was a photographer and she was a nurse in the army in World War 2, where she met her husband. Soon after they got married she had a pair of twins named Aria and Daria. Her husband had died a few years ago and that beach was his favorite place to go. Alfred smiled; MaryAnn was a very nice person, she was like another mother to him and especially Koda. He walked another few feet at a slow pace, looking at pictures of him, his brother Matthew, his cousin Arthur and his brothers, and Koda and her sister Arietta and her friends. He stopped at another picture smiling another sad smile going back to that memory.

Everyone was rushing around; it was a very special day anyway. As Alfred stood there with a few others, watching a man as he rushed around blabbering how everything had to be perfect and what not. Alfred looked around the room, was weddings always this hectic? He hoped not, for what he plans on doing latter, maybe next month? He was busy taking notes from this for his to be wedding with Koda.

Off in another room down the hall and on the left from the room Alfred was in was Koda watching her little sister running around franticly in only her under clothes and stockings.

Koda let out a small laugh, "Aren't ya going to put on your dress and actually get ready?" she asked in return she got a cold icy glare from Ari and a laugh from the other girls in the room, Elizaveta, Lilli, and Yakatrina.

"Yeah Ari, like we want to see your penguin panties~," Elizaveta said teasingly with a small giggle at the end.

"H-Hey! Shut it, Vetta! You'd be frantic too if you where getting married!" yelled Ari with a small blush on her face. Elizaveta kept laughing, along with Koda. Ari rolled her icy-blue eyes as she walked over to a beautiful white dress hanging on a hanger. She stared at it for a moment; this was a BIG step for the girl. She hesitantly grabbed it and put it on her petite body. The small accents of a very light purple complemented her and the dress it self looks perfect. She looked in the mirror, she looked so different in the dress, she was no longer little Arietta Grayer, Koda's weird little sister, but she was definitely older from the years, but she was still young, yes, but still... she looked over to the other girls nervously. She wasn't sure if she was quite ready for this and felt a little self-conscious. Oh, does she want to run off and hide somewhere and not go threw it, why must she have such bad nerves?

When they noticed her in the dress with an embarrassed look on her face, they all gasp and walk over, "Wow Ari, you look beautiful," said Elizaveta as she zipped up the dress.

Lilli smiled and nodded, "Ja, you know who is a very lucky guy," she squeaked quietly as she started to help with styling Ari's hair.

Yakatrina nodded and started to cry, "Ja, little Ari is growing up," she said happily as she helped Lilli.

Koda sighed and gave a caring yet sad smile, "Yeah...," she said absentmindedly and slowly walked to a small box in the far corner of the room. She started to dig through it as the others chatted happily about this and that. Koda pulled something out of the box, walked over to Ari and plopped it right on the shorter girl's head, "Perfect... you are perfect for your wedding, no matter what, Ari," Koda said with a soft smile; Ari looked up and felt the top of her head. What Koda put on her head was an old veil that was connected to a small silver crown that had small silver roses on it. Ari had a shocked expression on her face when she also realized it was their mothers, and she made it clear she wanted Koda to wear it when she got married, since that was the least she could do for her, The crown was real silver anyway.

"I-I can't wear this, it's for you" Ari said as she reached up to take it off her dark brown haired head, but Koda stopped her, "Nah, you wear it. You look much better in it then me," she said with a faint smile. Ari just gave her big sister a cute smile and left it at that and finished getting ready.

Everything was now up and ready and the grooms men and the brides maids where walking down the aisle, and her to-be husband was at the alter already. Alfred watched Koda as she walked up to him and gave him a sweet and kind smile. They both walked down the aisle, of course they aren't even engaged yet, but still they can't wait for their marriage. When everyone was where they were supposed to be; then came the bride, since Ari and Koda's mom and dad where...dead...the man who was walking Ari down the aisle was Koda's best friend, Berwald.

Ari looked up at the scary looking man and turned her head away quickly and thought, "Why couldn't it be someone less scary!"

Everything went like any other wedding, except for some fighting and plain stupidness, which was a lot considering the people there, but that was expected from these people, especially Koda, Gilbert, Matthias, Arthur, and the some of the others. Alfred couldn't wait for one thing, which was Koda being his, sure they are dating, for a year now actually, but, he wanted more, to be more to her, and her to him.

Alfred sighed, that was a big thing to him, believe it or not, since it made him realize that he wanted to be happy like Ari and the man she loved. He wanted to marry Koda and forever be with the woman he loved. He let out a sad sigh and stared to move along again.

He stopped short though, seeing another picture in the long hallway; no it wasn't his and Koda's wedding picture, but a picture of him proposing to the brunette girl. They were still young, only twenty-one. But, no one knew how much they love each other unless you really knew them. He looked at the picture from his spot; he really did go and make a cliché love story proposal, but who cares? She said yes! He knew that memory well, since he saw it in his dreams all the time along with some others.

He kept walking and saw the pictures of them at their jobs, Koda was a fire fighter since she was good with any physical work and she had odd super human strength like he did. Alfred though, had two jobs, he was a police officer, and he owned a small family restaurant chain, which was a "hobby" until he retired his other job. He saw even more pictures of his family and Koda's, along with pictures of their friends.

He stopped again, no; it wasn't because of a picture, but his thoughts and memories. The reason why he didn't walk over to his proposal picture and enjoy the memory was not because he dreamed of it all the time, he didn't care about that, no, and he loved his memories he had with her. Right beside that picture was a big old dusty and empty frame with a small worn post-it on it that read, "Reserved for the hero and the heroin's awesome wedding!"
Alfred usually avoided sad memories, but they rushed in on his poor old mind. He walked over to a wall closest to him, leaned his old bones against it as tears silently ran down his wrinkled face; he looked at the picture beside him. It was Koda in her fire fighter uniform, the background was the American flag, and this was first taken after she graduated from the academy. She had determination in her eyes and a cocky smirk-like half smile, which was so like her.

He let out a small sob, "Wh-why Koda...why did you go...?" he whimpered like a child as a certain unwanted memories creped in like a snake…

It started off with him getting a nice "romantic" diner going at home, where he suddenly got a call.

Alfred looked over to the phone and he rolled his eyes, it was probably Arietta calling to complain to Koda about her day or something about books. Koda was at work though, so it was kind of odd, but she'll be back around 4 or 5 O'clock. Maybe it was some annoying survey thing? He walked over and answered the annoying phone,
"Hello?" he answered in an annoyed tone. But what he heard on the other line...but...what he heard, he, he couldn't take. Koda his beloved fiancé, his best friend the love of his life, the half of his soul, was…

...

...

...

...

…

dead.

She died saving someone in a fire. He felt something start to run down his face. Tears. He was crying, but yet, he couldn't really feel anything inside. He didn't even feel the phone slip out of his hand; he also didn't even pay attention to the loud clatter it made when it hit the ground. He was just so numb inside, and after that giant wave of pain, sorrow, heartbreak, and so much aloneness and among a couple others that all came from those cruel words; he then felt nothing, like he died along with her. The rest of that year went in a sad and lonely blur. He let work take up all of his time; he hoped he would die too, in the very back of his head. That way, he wouldn't be alone; he would be with the one he will love for evermore.

After that, he managed to pull himself together, and decide to live for her as well. She was only twenty-one, Alfred was now seventy-five, and he did what she wanted to do a long time ago and never missed a visit to her grave site. You could say, he blocked that out until now; she was alive within his soul until he finally let that in.

Alfred finally pulled himself together after he felt something like a hand on his shoulder and in an instant he felt alright. He kept walking and went up the set of stairs and into his room; all the while he felt another familiar hand holding his. He sat on his bed, "I'm glad you're here finally," he said happily as he laid down, ready for what was going to happen after this. A grand old smile crossed his face as he felt his heart beat slow down in his chest, and his breathing dissipating like a breeze of wind coming to a stop.

"Same, babe. I'm happy you didn't forget me," said a very familiar voice beside him, he finely could be happy now. With his lost love by his side, he began to feel his new life begin with her as he felt his time moving backwards on the clock's hand, like he was becoming younger.

End
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i hope you guys liked this, and this wasnt to depressing. it was a little better then i thought and yeah, a sad little story, if ya have any questions about certen parts, just ask. the only thing i own is Koda and MaryAnn.