He dreamt of her again…with the long, wavy brown hair and soft, beautiful eyes. Her expression was kind and her smile was warm. Light shone through her as if she was a ghost. She sat with her legs crossed on the floor and in front of her were a collection of items. A large, beautiful goblet with colorful designs, a golden mask, a sparkling purple gem, worn scraps of paper with elegant writing, clay amulets with pictures of animals on the front, and many more things that seemed so familiar but he could not recognize. She motioned for him to sit down next to her and he did.
"What are these?" he inquired.
"Memories of our old adventures," she replied simply.
"I don't know you…" But did she know him? Who was she?
He ran his finger over the objects and struggled to remember what they were. He waited for a connection or a spark of inspiration but nothing came. Only that lingering feeling that told him he knew what they were and who she was.
"Don't you remember me, Fabian?" she looked at him with hopeful eyes.
"I should…but I just can't," he regretfully replied.
Her expression turned to sorrow and he felt an odd longing to reach up and to touch her face. He wanted to comfort her. But before he could soothe she looked up at him with sad eyes, gave him a half-smile, and vanished leaving behind only a wisp of black smoke.
That morning at the breakfast table, Fabian told Joy about his dream.
"So you've had this one before?" she asked.
"Loads of times, but the same thing always happens," Fabian replied.
"Maybe you could ask her what her name is or how she knows you?" suggested Patricia who had overheard their conversation.
"I read a book about dreams not long ago! It said that if you concentrate hard enough, you can actually force your subconscious to dream about something specific!" Mara proceeded to have an in-depth conversation with Jerome about the psychology of dreams.
"I tried to make myself dream about Justin Bieber once, except it wasn't Justin Bieber; it was just a beaver… I put that down as a brain typo," Amber made a hilarious face imitating a beaver.
Everyone had a good laugh with Amber and after they all shared a few of their stranger dreams Joy got up to leave.
"I have to go grab my French textbook, walk me to class?" she smiled sweetly at him.
"Of course," Fabian replied and the two shared a quick kiss before Joy grabbed a banana and went upstairs.
"Getting some lip action, are we now?" teased Alfie.
"Oh shut up, at least I have a girlfriend," replied Fabian.
He too, left the breakfast table. Fabian waited patiently at the foot of the stairs for Joy. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something in the old mirror that stood in the commons room. He looked closer and he saw the girl from his dreams. But she looked different; she wore long, black robes and a golden crown.
"Nina," he whispered without thinking. So that was her name? How did he know that?
Nina smiled and the mirror's image was replaced with different things. It was Fabian and Nina meeting, Joy's disappearance, making Sibuna, solving clues, finding the Cup of Ankh, kissing at prom, meeting Senkhara, surviving the tunnels, finding the mask, Rufus, and so much more.
As he watched these scenes unfold before him, Fabian almost remembered. But he could not. For the life of him, he could not remember the ghost girl.
"Nina," he repeated again, trying to force himself to remember.
"What was that?" Joy was back.
He looked again but there was no one in the mirror, "Nothing."
"Are you okay?" Joy asked eyeing him suspiciously.
"I am now," Fabian smiled, "I had just forgotten something."
Joy grinned at him and they walked to class holding hands.
Fabian never again saw the forgotten girl, but he did not completely forget her. Eventually, he would stop worrying about it and get on with life. But deep within him, the memory of her stayed.
Senkhara turned angrily to her servant.
"You fool! You know that he is not allowed to remember you," she continued, "That was the deal, you worked for me and your friends were safe but their memories were wiped."
"I know," Nina looked wistful, "I just had to make sure he could remember me."
"You are forgotten, like me. We are the forgotten ones," Senkhara's tone was bitter.
"Forgotten by the mind, but not by the heart," Nina said stubbornly, "I also know that somewhere, deep in his heart, he still loves and remembers me."
"Do not fill yourself up with pathetic fantasies," Senkhara growled.
Over the years, Nina would watch Fabian grow up. She saw him graduate from school, have children, become a wonderful father, and live a full life. She sat next to him on his deathbed and watched as he drew his last breaths. Senkhara allowed him to remember her. Fabian was deathly ill and through his fever he saw her.
"Nina," Fabian remembered everything. The memories came flooding back to him and he realized that all his life that he had felt a burning sensation to remember this girl, Nina. Perhaps he had loved her, but it did not matter now because he was just happy to remember her.
"Fabian," a few tear drops fell down Nina's cheeks. Finally, he had remembered her.
Fabian was finally at peace and he died with a smile of his face and look of remembrance. Nina could also let go of life, and her spirit was put to rest. The two lovers had found peace in each other, even in death, even in the last moments of their lives.
They had finally found each other.