Chapter 10

Kiba

I followed Cheza's scent to the laboratory where she was being held. I used my human disguise to sneak in. I crawled through the air ducts to avoid being noticed. It wasn't that hard. I followed the scent to the room it was coming from. She was definitely there. Cheza.

I ran to the control panel and pressed what I assumed was the release button. It worked. Cheza started coughing after the water was below her. She looked up and saw me. A smile graced her lips. I smiled back and helped her out of the tank. I wrapped her in tight embrace. Oh, God I missed her!

"Kiba," she said. "This one missed you." She had that sweet voice in this life.

"I missed you, too," I told her. I closed my eyes, enjoying the moment. Cheza and I have a bond that transcends time.

Alarms started blaring. It was time to go. "Come with me." I said.

We ran as fast as we could to the air ducts. I let her go first. I led her through to the closest exit in the building; where I came in. We ran as quickly as we could to the apartment.

When we finally got there, I led Cheza inside. Tsume and Toboe were watching TV. Hige and Blue were in the kitchen talking. Everyone turned and saw Cheza. Instantly the atmosphere became lighter, happier. Blue ran up to Cheza and hugged her.

"It's good to have you back, Cheza," Blue said.

"This one is happy to see all of you," Cheza said. She turned to Tsume. "Tsume." Tsume regarded her, but didn't do anything else. To Hige. "Hige."

"Good to see you," Hige said.

She turned to Toboe. "You don't remember this one."

Toboe looked guilty. "I just have one brief memory of you."

"That's all right," Cheza said. "I gave you three memories to help you."

"Can you give me all my memories back?" Toboe asked.

"Toboe…" I started to say. I didn't want him to be burdened with his past memories.

"It's okay. I want to. I decided I want to go with you guys to Paradise," Toboe announced.

I hadn't been expecting that. I'm happy that he made this decision. I'm not going to let Cheza give him back his memories if it will hurt him. His safety comes first.

"Cheza, is it safe?" I asked.

"Only if the memories come back one at a time. It's best his memories come back in timeline order; it'll be more straightforward. I can give him memories in his subconscious," Cheza said.

"I'm okay with that," Toboe said.

"Toboe, the bad memories will feel like nightmares," I warned. He needed to understand what he was asking for. "For Blue, Hige, Tsume, and I, it took years for our memories to completely come back. You just started getting them back and you got sick and scared."

"I got scared, because I didn't understand what was happening to me. Now I know what's going on. I'm tougher than I look. I can take it," Toboe argued.

I sighed. There was no convincing this kid. His mind was made up. I had to admit that he is brave. "I really hope I don't regret letting you do this." I turned to Cheza. "Do what you need to, Cheza."

Cheza walked up to Toboe and put both hands on his shoulders-

"Wait," Tsume interrupted. He stood up and looked Toboe right in the eyes. "You don't have to prove anything to us, Toboe. I want you to understand that. Do this for yourself."

"I am," Toboe murmured. Toboe turned back to Cheza. "Just do it."

Cheza proceeded and kissed his forehead. Toboe groaned as he fell to his knees, clutching his hair. Everyone rushed to his side. Why did I let him do this?