Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.
Problem Three: Meet my quest
"My name…", he uttered slowly with horror tone. "I…I can't remember."
After hearing those words, Katara felt like choking to her toast. What did he mean he didn't remember? Wait, had he… had he lost his memory? She swallowed hard, trying to recover from another shock that had been thrown into her face that night. That made things way more difficult than one would've thought, she realized. More, more difficult.
The problem was how they would get his memory back. She had no idea how they should act, because in the hospital doctors usually said, like, : "The memory normally returns after some time, do not worry about it." But she wasn't going to tell him any of those clichés. No, there had to be another way.
She cleared her throat, "Well, what do you remember then?" she looked straight into his eyes. "Your hometown, for example? Address? Family?"
He just shook his head slowly as she listed the things, eyes intensively locked to the table.
"No. Not a thing."
She gave a sigh. What was she going to do now? What was she going to do anyway? She couldn't just throw him out of the door and tell it was nice knowing him. She bit her thumbnail and her eyebrows furrowed, making clear she was thinking hard. Of course she hadn't expected he had an amnesia. She had thought that after cleaning himself she would have taken him to his apartment. But since he had no idea where he lived, that was pretty hard.
Folding her knees, she inquired, "Do you remember anything at all?"
He shut his eyes tightly as he tried to search the deepest corners of his darkened memories. He rubbed his forehead by his other hand, and when he finally thought he'd remember something important, he lost it again into the darkness.
"Are you a student? Or are you working?" she tried to help him.
Then it hit him, "I'm… I'm a college student. No, I graduated in Spring…"
Hope jumped on the bottom of Katara's stomach, "Great! Anything else?" she asked enthusiastically. "Do you remember the name of the academy? That would help a lot.
He focused to search his mind again for a moment, but then shook his head.
"No, that's all I've got."
Katara's mood dropped a degree. Of course she understood him; when you couldn't remember something, then you couldn't. No one was able to force someone, even him-/herself, to remember something.
He noticed her expression, "I'm sorry, but I…I just can't."
She waved her hand as the matter was insignificant, "You don't have anything to apologize. You can't help about it, I understand."
Well, tomorrow would be a new day. Maybe a good night's sleep would help him recovering and remembering. Tomorrow she would help him to get his life back to normal again. And Yue would drop by… with her ever-lasting problems she would have to listen to…
Suddenly she felt very tired and sick of everything. It was like she had to take care of everyone's problems, listen to them, help them… But who would help her when she needed it? Tomorrow, she decided, tomorrow would be Yue's turn to finally help and listen to her.
She yawned, "I'm tired. Let's go to sleep."
"But…", he started, protest in his voice.
"You can sleep on the couch. I'll make a bed for you", she interrupted before he could say anything else.
He followed her into the living room, and watched while she made a bed in a jiffy. She had got used to make beds because of her job, so it really wasn't a big deal.
"You can watch the TV if you like", she told him when she had finished. "Just switch it off when you go to sleep, okay? I'm not a very rich person, you know…"
"Okay…", he nodded in agreement. But before she left the room, he stopped her by asking. "Katara?"
She turned to look at her quest, "Yes?"
He hesitated, then said, "Goodnight…"
"Goodnight…", she told him too. But while she climbed up the stairs, she had the feeling that 'goodnight' wasn't the thing he had wanted to say.
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He laid on his stomach on the couch, surfing from channel to channel. Not one of them showed a program he wanted to watch, but he stopped the surfing to the music channel. He dropped the remote softly onto the floor, and then tried to focus on his mind again. He rested his chin on the pillow, looking straight forward. Straight to the ficus that stood on a low table under the window, next to a little aquarium. He shifted his glance from the plant to the aquarium. The fishes were glaring at him, like they wanted to murder him. He quickly shook his head, and tried on focusing again.
Who was he? Where was he from? The questions whirled around and around his head. One thing he knew for sure: he wasn't from the same nationality as his hostess.
He drowned his face into his pillow and sighed, relaxing his muscles. Nothing, nothing. He could remember nothing.
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Katara was just putting some cinnamon rolls into the microwave when the doorbell rang.
"It must be Yue…", she muttered and hurried into the hall.
"Good morning! Hopefully I didn't come too early", the silver-haired female uttered when her friend opened the door.
"Not at all! Come in!"
Yue stepped into the house she was very familiar with, since she had been there hundreds of times.
"Do sit down", Katara pointed towards the dining table. "The coffee is almost done."
Yue flipped through newspaper while the Waterbender made something to eat. She pondered how she should tell the hostess about her "problem". Her friend would probably laugh at her and ask what kind of problem that was.
Katara tried to gather her thoughts. Telling about her quest to her friend made her feel so nervous, even her hands were shaking, though she didn't even notice it. But thinking about how Yue (or anyone in general) would react about the stranger living in her house (at least by the moment).
She took a deep breath and hid her nervousness, "So, what did you wanna tell me?" she sat down to the opposite of the silver-haired young woman.
Yue blushed, "Well, I…", the words stuck into her throat, but she decided to force them out anyway. "There is a guy I met last night… And, well, he kind of seemed to be interested in me…"
"So? You meet guys every now and then."
"But this guy is different. He's very… I don't know if this is the right words to describe him… dominating. Very… purposive, I'd say."
Katara listened to her friend, then said, "Well, what do you think of him? Do you like him…that way?"
Avoiding eye contact with the Waterbender, Yue stirred her coffee, "I do not know my opinion on him…"
"Then don't go out with him."
"It's not that simple."
Finally Yue looked up at her, "True, I said he's kind of purposeful, but he's also… very attractive."
Katara sighed, suddenly so sick of her friend, "I can't help you. You have to finally decide… on your own!"
Yue frowned, "Thanks a lot, Katara. I thought you wanted to help me!" she stood up with very uncharacteristically angry expression.
"What?!"
It was Katara who stood up next.
"It was you who called me last night!" she almost shouted. "It was you who imposed yourself on here to whine about your damned little so called problems!!"
Yue opened her mouth to counter on her, but Katara didn't let her interrupt herself.
"You always talk about you or your matters! You never ask if I happen to have something to worry about!" she pointed furiously at her friend. "Well, since you never ask, let me tell you: I couldn't care less to listen about you whimpering about your insignificant problems, because I have enough of my own!"
After that the chocolate-haired girl shut her mouth and glared the other woman. Yue sat down, clearly confused about Katara's outburst.
"I'm… I'm so sorry, Katara", she muttered. "What a selfish… bitch I've been…"
Seeing her co-worker so regretting, Katara calmed down.
"Look, I'm sorry I yelled you so…", the Waterbender began. "But you have to admit I was just being honest. Because that's what I really feel."
Yue nodded in pure agreement, "You're right. I'm the one who should feel sorry", she glanced up at her and gave a smile. "Thanks for saying all those things out loud. You opened my eyes."
"That's…", Katara started, but Yue interrupted her by lifting her other hand up.
"Please, let me speak. I've never noticed how unfair I've been… And a really miserable friend", she dropped her glance down back to the coffee cup, ashamed of herself. If her parents knew how… disrespectful she'd been to her friend… how ashamed they would be!
Bringing back her eyes towards Katara, she continued, "So, my humblest apologies. Please, get furious on me if I ever do start doing that again."
Katara laughed, "You got a deal."
Yue then gave her a questioning look, "You said you had some… problems of your own, hm?" she had her teasing tone. "Tell me. That's why I'm here right now."
Katara wiped a hair lock behind her ear, "Well, last night…", she paused to think how to put her words right.
"Yes?" her friend asked with thrill in her voice.
"Last night when I got home there was this guy lying on my doorstep, he had got beaten up and I brought him in, checked his wounds, let him clean himself up and fed him, it turned out that he has an amnesia and remembers only that he graduated from college last Spring, and now he's sleeping on my couch", she let everything said out loud quickly and without taking breath.
Yue looked puzzled, "W-what…? I couldn't catch it."
Katara explained again, this time slower and with every detail requested by Yue.
Yue gave a laugh, "I see. So that's why you were busy last night!"
"Yue! This is a serious thing!"
"Of course it is. But I'm sure he'll be okay anytime soon", the silver-haired woman said. Then she asked enthusiastically, "Well, can I see him? Is he cute?"
"Hey, I thought you had the new guy around", Katara teased. "And what about my brother? Don't you like Sokka anymore?"
Yue blushed, "He never showed any interest in me, so…"
"So now you've given up, aren't you?"
The older woman nodded, then said, "Well, now I want to see your little quest!"
Katara led her to the other doorway that went to the living room. Yue gasped as she saw the sleeping quest.
"He's not bad-looking at all", she whispered hit the Waterbeder gently by her elbow.
"Okay, now you've seen him. Back to the kitchen", Katara pushed the other young woman away from the doorway. "What nation do you think he is from?" she asked when they sat around the table again. "Definitely not from the Water Tribes."
"It is pretty clear to me", Yue uttered. Katara arched an eye brow.
Meanwhile on the living room, the well-known quest opened his eyes slowly. He winced as the pain hit his head. For a moment he pondered where he was, but then he remembered again. He was about to get up, but remained still as he heard clear voices coming out from the kitchen. The other belonged to that girl, Katara, but the another he had never heard before.
"Open your eyes, Katara! You have to admit it: he's definitely from the…"
Katara shook her head in pure confusement, "No way…"
He felt like paralysed. The beating pain in his head. The memories came rushing into his mind. Some of them were clear, some of them still blurry. But there was one name that came clearly into the top of his mind.
Now I remember, he realized. And my name is…
A/N: Wahoo, a quick update! I surprised even myself ;D I'm a master of cliffhangering... But soon the guy's name will be revealed! Keep guessing! I love when you do that *evil laugh* ;D Oh, and can you guess who is the guy Yue was talking about (one thing is for sure: it's not Sokka ;))?? Do not worry, it'll be revealed too. But before that, keep on guessing! R&R please, maybe that will inspire me to update soon...
(Oh, and about last chapter... believe me, straightening a crooked and broken nose really does hurt. I talk from experience.)
