A/N: Since the last two chapters were kind of short, here's a long one. It's seven pages. You're welcome.
Also, in response to a review I received, I have seen There's an Eraser in My Head, and I'm glad that someone else knew that move. It's really wonderful, one of my favorites. Although, as the story progresses, I'm planning something a bit more dramatic for Maka.
Think of me, think of me fondly
When we've said goodbye
Remember me
Once in a while
Please promise me you'll try
My hands are shaking slightly as I bring the phone to my ear. Maka shrugs and continues eating her cereal as if nothing's wrong while I walk into the other room so that Maka won't hear me and be concerned. That's the last thing that I want to happen.
After I close the door, I whisper a greeting to the person on the other line, who happens to be Maka's mother, Kami. I hear her sigh before speaking to me.
"It's gotten worse, then?" She asks me, and I reply with a yes. Kami sighs once more. "I knew it would come to this eventually. It was only a matter of time, really. I don't blame you, of course, don't worry, I know you've been trying to help her... Is it okay if I come to visit you two?" She asks me. "Of course, you're always welcome." I tell her. "Okay, I'll probably be there in an hour or two. I'll see you then." She concludes, and hangs up the phone.
I walk back into the kitchen and Maka is washing her bowl in the sink. I silently slink to the table and eat my now unappetizing, soggy cereal. She turns to me. "Soul, what was all that about? Is something wrong?" She asks, concerned, and I shake my head in denial. "Nothing's wrong, Maka. Can you get dressed? Someone's coming to see you." I tell her, and she nods, heading to our room to put on her everyday clothes.
After I finish my breakfast, Maka is reading on the couch. I go to our room to get dressed and join her when I'm all ready. I sit next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders and peering over to her book.
"'We won!' yelled Ron, bounding into sight and brandishing the silver cup at Harry. 'We won! Four hundred and fifty to a hundred and forty! We won!'"
That was all I read before I instantly knew what she was reading. "Harry Potter?" I asked, and she nodded. "Half-Blood Prince. Harry's about to kiss Ginny." She informed me, pointing to the sentence at the bottom of the page.
"...without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her."
"How romantic." I say, and kiss her head, ruffling her hair afterward. She giggles, adjusting her skirt and fixing her hair. She continues to silently read while I watch the window. I'm waiting for Kami, although I know she lives two hours away and she'll probably take a while to get here. I just want to be ready when she does.
An hour and a half later, her car pulls into out driveway. I can see that she rushed here, because her hair is not made and her shirt is on backwards. "Company," I tell Maka, and she marks her page, checking her hair in the mirror. I rush to the door and nearly collide with Maka's mother. "Maka," I say, and she turns to us. "Your mother came to visit." I tell her, pointing to Kami, who's smiling at her daughter, but it looks forced.
"Hi, dear, how are you?" Kami asks, ready to go over and hug Maka. Maka walks over and shakes her hand instead. Kami looks hurt. I cringe. This is not going well at all. "Hello, nice to meet you. You're the woman I talked to on the phone earlier." She says, smiling politely. Kami smiles back, and nods. "I am. Tell me, dear," She says, taking Maka over to the couch and sitting her down. "...Do... Do you... Know who I am? Other than being your mother? Do you remember me? Any good times we had together?" Kami blurts out. I hold my breath, hoping it all comes back to Maka like it usually does.
But it doesn't.
Maka bites her lip. She's looking down now. I hear her softly mutter a 'no.' Kami and I glance at each other. "Is that... bad?" Maka asks, and Kami puts a hand on her shoulder. "...Maka. We should go to the doctor."
I say that I want to go, but Kami asks me to stay home. I don't get why, I am Maka's husband, but I get that she doesn't want to worry me or make it seem dire to Maka. She looks confused, and I can tell she wants me to come. I would be too, I mean, Maka doesn't know who this woman who's claiming to be her mother is. And now she's taking her to the doctor's all alone. I smile reassuringly at her and squeeze her hand before she walks out the door, and decide to make a few phone calls before they come back. I need some advice.
My first instinct is to call Black Star, seeing as he's my best friend. (Other than Maka of course.) So I dial his house number and Tsubaki picks up the phone. I decided to talk to her instead, since I figured that Black Star probably won't be much help.
"Hello? This is Tsubaki speaking." I hear her say. "Hi, Tsubaki. It's Soul." I reply to her, and she immediately says "Hi, Soul. You wanna talk to Black Star?" But I tell her that no, I wanted to talk to her. "Oh, I see. So... what is it you wanted to talk about? Is it about Maka?" She asks, and I grunt. "Yeah, it is. It's gotten worse, her memory. She doesn't remember her mom. She came over and now they're at the doctor." I confess, and I hear her gasp. "Do you think she'll be alright? Has anything like this ever happened before?" She asks, and I sigh. "I dunno, Tsubaki. She always remembers things after I remind her, but she was completely stumped. She had no idea who she was."
Tsubaki sighs sadly. "I hope she gets better. How about we all go to visit you tomorrow? I'll tell everyone if you'd like. It'll be a nice way to cheer you two up." She suggests, and I think about it. "Tsubaki, do you really think that's a good idea? I mean, I'm sure she'd love it, but what if she forgets a few of you?" I ask, and she hums. "I think we should try it. It'll be fun. Like a get better soon party." She says, and I smile a bit. Tsubaki is really thoughtful, I like that about her. Black Star's one lucky guy. "Alright, Tsubaki, if you insist. I'll keep it a surprise." I tell her, and we say goodbye and hang up. Just as I'm about to call Liz, the phone rings. It's Kami.
I pick up with uncertainty. "Kami?" I ask, and she sounds frantic. "At the doctor. Bring a photo album. Doctor insists. Come quickly." She says in a rush, and then hangs up. I grab our photo album and speed to the doctor. I think I nearly killed a few people, but Kami sounded panicked. I was slightly worried.
I get there and jump out of my car. Kami's waiting for me outside and ushers me in, taking me into a room where Maka is. The doctor asks for her to leave, and she argues for five minutes before saying she'll be in the waiting room. Maka looks overly-excited to see me. The doctor takes me to the side so that Maka can't hear us. "Listen," He says. "Your her husband?" He asks, and I nod, smiling. I'm proud to hold that title. "Right. Take the photo album and tell her to name every person in each photo. This is just to see how bad her condition is. If it's bad, she could possibly have Alzheimer's. But it's unlikely, don't worry." He says, pointing to Maka. She looks nervous.
I open the photo album to the first page. There's a picture of Her and Spirit there. "Do you know who this is?" I ask her, pointing to the red-haired man. She scowls. "I wish I didn't. That's Papa." She says, and I sigh in relief. I turn to the next picture. It's her and Black Star as kids. They knew each other when they were growing up. I point to his recognizable blue hair. "And this?" I ask. She laughs. "How can I forget? That's Black Star." She says, and I smile. So far, so good. Next page. It's Kami. "That's that lady. Kami, I think she said her name was. But I don't really remember her." She says, frowning. I nod. "That's okay, Maka. Don't worry." I turn the page.
The next one is of me and her. I can feel myself sweating. She smiles. "That's you and me, silly. I'd never, ever forget you. Ever." She says, and I smile too. Next page has Tsubaki and Black Star. "That's Tsu... Tsu... Tsubari...? I don't really remember her name, but I know who she is. She's Black Star's weapon. She's really nice and patient and I like her. We've been friends for a long time." She says. "Her name is Tsubaki." I say quickly, turning the page. It's a group picture. I point to each person, and she names them for me.
"That's me. You. Kid. Liz. Patty. Tsu...baki. Black Star. Crona. Ragnarok. Kim. Jackie. Ox. Harvar. I don't remember his name but I know who he is. He's their meister, but I always get them mixed up. One's Pot of... Fire, and the other's Pot of... Lightning?" She says. "That's Kilik," I say, pointing to him. "And you were close. Pot of Fire and Pot of Thunder." I say, pointing to them. She nods. "You also got Crona and Ragnarok mixed up. Crona's the one with Pink hair, Ragnarok's the little black blob... thing." I say, and she bites her lip. I just want to test her a little more, to make sure she still knows who Crona is.
"Where did we first meet Crona?" I ask, pointing to the pink haired meister. "In the church. In Italy." She says confidently. I nod. "Who is Crona's mother? What was she?" I ask, hoping she remembers. "She was Medusa. A witch. I hated her so much. She used to abuse Crona. That's why we had to fight Crona when we first met her. She was eating human souls unknowingly because Medusa told her it was okay. But we became friends under the academy, when I matched her soul's wavelength. That was the fight where the Kishin was revived." She states. I smile. "Good, perfect. Next photo. Who are they?" I ask, turning the page and pointing to the photo.
It's Spirit, Marie, Lord Death, Azusa, and Stein. She gets them all right. Next, Blair. After that, Crona and Ragnarok again. She gets all the rest of the photos right, too. She even managed to remember Tsubaki's full name. I tell the doctor that she got most everyone right, and he asks me a few questions about Maka's relationship with her mother. I told him how she wasn't really there for Maka when we were teens, because she was always traveling around the world. He says that she may have forgotten her because Kami spent so little time with her.
He tells us to come back in a week. Kami drives home after we say goodbye to her, and I drive Maka home. It's getting dark out now, and she tells me that she's hungry. I sigh and go to the nearest fast food restaurant since I'm not in the mood to cook. After we finally (finally!) get home, I sink on the couch and lay there for a while. She goes to take a bath, so I call Liz. She tells me that she and Tsubaki planned to swing by our place with all our friends at around three the next day and told me to get Maka out of the house for a while. I agree, and tell her where we hide our spare key.
Maka sleeps like she's been up for days. But I can't manage to fall asleep, even with how tired I am. I'm nervous, I admit. Maka forgot who her mother was and I thought I saw Kami sniffing as she walked to her car. I don't want to end up like that, with my wife forgetting who I am. When she first started forgetting everything, she told me I'd be better off leaving her. But I told her that I'd never, ever do that. I love her too much. I can't bear the thought of ever leaving her. But this relationship is killing me.
I know it's going to happen. I know she's going to forget me. And I know that all we're doing is just delaying the inevitable. But I'll stay with her until the end. Even if she does forget who I am.
When you find
That once again you long
To take your heart back and be free
If you ever find a moment,
Spare a thought for me.
-The Phantom of the Opera, Think of Me