Title: The Forgotten: Memories and Love

Chapter 14: The Forgotten Memory

Written by: Lisse08

Xx Wolfram xX

One year ago

The frosty grass crunched underfoot as Wolfram strode down to the garden. The air was chilling cold, but Wolfram wasn't shivering, thanks to the coat that his mother had given him and thanks to his element of fire swirling inside his body. There was no sign of living in the garden. Everything was covered with cold frosts. He felt a snow made its way down gracefully from the sky. He snorted as more fell down. 'Snowing…'

He continued to walk towards the person who had summoned him, his king. Wolfram stopped in front of the door, and knocked on the door.

"Heika?"

"Wolfram, is that you? Come in." He heard Yuuri's voice from inside. Gently he pushed the door forward to reveal his loved. Wolfram knew his feelings were still there for him, but it had faded a little compared to three years ago. His pieces of memory with Yuuri that remained were lesser and lesser. Now, he could not tell which memories had he lost. All that left was those written by him himself in his diary back then. Sometimes when he looked back, he couldn't believe that those events happened to him since he had no account of them. Nevertheless, he knew that these were true, they once existed, at least in his world, they did.

"Why are you calling me this early in the morning?" Wolfram crossed his arm in front of his chest and asked.

"Let's play!" Wolfram blinked.

"Huh?"

"It's snow, Wolfram. Last few years I missed out the snow time in Shin Makoku. It's either I'm back in my world, or we were too busy with our jobs on our hands that we had no time to play." Yuuri continued to say, unable to hide his enthusiasms. However, Wolfram did not miss the action that Yuuri had shivered unconsciously.

He surveyed the room, being sensitive as always; he had found the source of the discomfort in just a few seconds. Wolfram stretched out his hand and directed towards the dying embers situated at the corner of the chamber.

"I can't believe that you didn't even light up the fire. To all elements that are afflicted with fire…" The fire beast raced out from his opened palm and towards the pillar. The whole room turned warm immediately as the orange light danced and heated up the room.

"Thanks, Wolfram."

"It will be a pain if the king falls sick because of the cold. I'm merely doing my job."

"Then, can you do your job by accompanying me and Greta?" Wolfram raised his brows at him.

"I don't recall having that in my job lists." Wolfram snorted. Inwardly enjoying Yuuri's disappointed face, he continued, "but I'll take that as my voluntary work." Yuuri grinned.

Both of their footsteps echoed in the corridors as they both marched towards the dining chamber. Wolfram entered the room, followed by Yuuri. The occupants in the room looked up at them.

Greta rushed over Yuuri and hugged him, which was welcomed most heatedly by his father.

"Greta, let's go play with snow later, okay? I had asked Wolfram to go with us." Yuuri said as he kneeled down to Greta's level.

"Really? Yes!! Thank you, Yuuri and Wolfram." Greta cheered. Wolfram smiled at her. He never did forget that Greta was his daughter too.

After breakfast, Greta had dragged Yuuri by his hand and walked out the room. Wolfram stood up from his chair, ready to follow, when Gwendal halted him.

"Wolfram, it's going to be freezing outside," said Gwendal.

"I know, brother." He looked back and saw Gwendal and took out two winter hats. Wolfram frowned at the bear-ear protruding out at the top.

"Take this, these are the last two left when I bought them…" Laughing inwardly, Wolfram shook his head and took them from his brother's hands.

"Thanks, brother."

Outside the yard, pile of snow had built up. It was exceptionally beautiful as snow was still flowing. Greta was running in the white land when Wolfram had come out.

"Yuuri, take this," said Wolfram as he thrust the winter hat onto Yuuri's head. He fumbled around with the ties, unaware of the heat that was emitting from the king's body. Yuuri stared up in awe onto Wolfram's face, the seriousness in his eyes, the fair smooth cheek, the moist lips, he was vaguely aware that he was blushing slightly until Wolfram's gaze met him.

"What happened? You look… red…" commented Wolfram.

"I'm fine. Thanks." Yuuri muttered as he eyes shun him. Wolfram shrugged and turned towards the field, where Greta was still playing around in the snow.

"Greta! Here." Greta had hopped over to Wolfram's calling. He tugged the hat onto Greta. Yuuri discarded the thoughts as he tried to clear his mind. He noted the hat on his and his daughter's head then turned to look at Wolfram's.

"What about you?"

"I don't need. Don't forget I'm a fire-magic mazoku." Wolfram huffed as he stood up.

"You sure?" Yuuri questioned again.

"Yes," Wolfram said, firmly. Yuuri gave a sigh and jogged over to join Greta. Wolfram's eyes lingered at the hats he had given to them. A fleeting memory, enclosed within a dark chamber, shifted in his mind but he couldn't track it down. He saw Yuuri took off his thick coat and covered Greta with it. He could see Greta resisting as Yuuri buttoned up the coat around Greta. The coat just seemed to be a little too big for the child but sufficient to keep her warm.

Greta scooped some of the snow in her hands and threw it over to Yuuri, smacking him square in his face. Wolfram heard himself laughing despite of the problem that persisted in his mind. Yuuri furiously taken another handful of snowball and threw it right across to Wolfram.

"Hey!"

"That's my revenge for laughing at me." Yuuri let out a shout of laughter with Greta. Wolfram groaned.

"Wolfram, come and have fun." Yuuri pleaded. 'Darn those puppy eyes, I can never resist him.' Wolfram thought.

After deciding to throw aside the problem first, he joined them in the snow attack.

Xxxx Yuuri xxxX

Yuuri ran down the path that was now covered with snow. It proved to be a little bit hard running in snow as his boots keep on sinking into it. He turned and saw Wolfram caught up with him. He smiled. Hide and seek. That was just something that little kid would think of playing, but then, Wolfram joined him and Greta for the game nevertheless.

While keeping his stance stable in the run, Yuuri felt himself staggered forward a little. His body lost its balance. His mouth opened in horror as he watched himself stumbling into the snow.

But before his face hit the snow, his hand was grabbed firmly from behind, hurtling him up again back into his position. Yuuri's world revolved a little as he tried to focus what had happened.

"You're such a trouble." He heard the voice saying. Yuuri blinked and realized who it was. He steadied himself onto the ground, and looked back at the emerald eyes. The warmth of Wolfram's holding seeped through his palm. He still had not released his grips, and for awhile, Yuuri thought of the eternity. How he wished the time would just stopped here.

Before he could make his own move, Wolfram had released his hand. Disappointment welled up in Yuuri's stomach as the coldness seeped through his own hand again, despite the gloves. It was from the point that he realized that he was wearing a glove, then, why did he still feel the coldness? He sighed. He blinked in disbelief when the warmth touched his hands again.

"Come on, Greta's going to find us if we don't hurry." Yuuri blinked for the second time. Wolfram was pulling him by his hands.

"Wolfram…" Yuuri whispered at a soft voice behind him. He allowed himself being dragged by the prince. He didn't mind the touch at all. Tightening his own grip around Wolfram's, he followed him from behind.

Xxxxx Wolf xxxX

Wolfram concentrated as he tried to command the fire elements to build up in between his palm. It was done with great care so as to not accidentally release them at a large amount and burnt the others. Somehow whether if he wanted to call them or gather them, both proved to be a difficult task. It was darn chilling; he himself was shivering from the coldness that was penetrating his own bone. It was quite hard to find any elements that were made from fire around him. When he could finally summon them, he would give nothing to allow all those fire to accumulate in his body at their greatest. But then, if he was going to transfer the heat to another being, he needed to be careful.

"Where are we going to hide?" Yuuri asked from behind. Darting his eyes around the bushed and trees that was buried deep in the white snow, Wolfram finally spot a huge tree. Dragging Yuuri's hand, still emitting his heat, he jogged over to the tree. He pushed aside the bushes around and made his way into the spacious part.

"Here," Wolfram whispered as he ducked down behind it, followed by Yuuri.

Studying the surroundings around them, Wolfram concluded that it was a pretty good hideout. For it was quite some distance away from where they had started out the game, and there were more bushes around them to shed them from anyone. He turned around to face Yuuri to find out that Yuuri's face was once again red.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned. He hoped that it was not because of the fire that he was trying to build up. 'Is it too much?' He stopped the fire momentarily.

"Nothing… I think it's okay now." Yuuri said. It took Wolfram awhile to figure out what he meant by that. His gaze followed Yuuri's and saw that their hands were still holding together. He released the grip without second thought.

"I was trying to warm you up, sorry heika." Wolfram mumbled. He could feel the startled look at Yuuri's face even without looking at him.

"So, that's why I feel so warm… Thanks, Wolfram…It's really okay now, thanks." Wolfram turned to meet his gaze and smiled back.

"Anytime," With that, Wolfram turned away again and studied the snow beneath his feet.

Due to unknown reason, Yuuri had looked away as well. 'Damn. This is so uncomfortable.' Wolfram thought as he observed the snow melt into water due to his magic.

Heat was building up between them and he knew this had to continue for awhile before Greta managed to find them. Why did he choose this stupid place? This just left him in a tight spot. He heaved a sigh. At least they weren't that cold now. Not with Yuuri's bent legs that were occasionally brushing across his own and their arms knocking into each other once in a while. The place was vast enough for hiding, but only for one person, two persons were a little too packed. He could hear the breathing of the king and was clearly aware of the presence of the latter. He continued to study the snow as he tried to clear his mind. A hot, prickly feeling spread from the top of his head all the way down his body. He knew it wasn't due to his fire. He mentally smacked himself for that. 'Don't have false hope!! This is nothing!'

Xxxx Yuuri xxxX

Yuuri looked away from Wolfram. He couldn't stop himself from wanting to touch the blond. Now, that they were this close. He really wished he could stand up and step out from their hideout. 'Why? Why am I behaving like a love sick puppy? I don't love boy!' But then, why…? His determination faltered as he tried to steal a glance at the prince beside him. He could feel see the slight shade of redness on his face. He turned his face again and closed his eyes. 'Did I really fall in love for him?' The pounding heart in his body had answered his question.

"Yuuri."

Yuuri opened his eyes and turned abruptly. His dark black eyes found the emerald green eyes. They were too close! Apparently the blonde had turned towards him at the same time. Not only were their eyes too close, so were their lips! It was too close until they brushed across each other.

Astonished, Yuuri shifted his head a little and tumbled backwards, sitting on the ground. The bushes around him rattled at his sudden movements. Wolfram looked as dumbstruck as he was, but his reactions were not as exaggerating as the king. Yuuri blinked for a moment, and still would not believe it. They just kissed! Or... he had just perked at Wolfram's lips. Whatever it was, they definitely just kissed! His numb lips were slightly warm from the touch earlier and he felt his heart that was still pounding against his chest. He could even hear them beside his ear.

Xxxx Wolf xxxX

'What…?' Wolfram thought in horror. His mind blank, even if it was only a little, the heart-throbbing remainder of the sensation still would not disappear from his lips.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that, Wolf." Some senses seemed to knock back into Wolfram's mind.

"My apologies, heika." Wolfram mumbled.

"Did we…?" Wolfram cut him off.

"No, we didn't." Wolfram said. 'Yes, it doesn't mean anything, that's not even a perk.'

"I see," he heard Yuuri laughed nervously beside him, Wolfram had shut his eyes tight and thus did not see a flicker of disappointment pass over Yuuri's face.

Xxxx Wolf xxxX

It was a tiring day. After that incident, Wolfram had taken the initiative to stand up and offered to find another hideout. Yuuri had reluctantly agreed to it. He had chosen an easier-to-find tree where there were no bushes around him. He deliberately did so, so that he needed not to bear with the unknown heavy weight on his heart. He did not wished to be alone any longer. He was extremely glad when Greta had found him. It, of course took her awhile before she could finally prick out Yuuri from behind the bushes, with a little tips off from Wolfram.

Yuuri acted perfectly normal as if nothing had happened but he could see that Yuuri was avoiding his look once in awhile when their gaze met. After which was replaced by the redness on his face.

After that, Yuuri had returned the hat to Wolfram. "It's from your brother right? If it's meant to be given to you, then I guess it should better be return to you." Yuuri muttered. "And, I'm really sorry about that…"

"Look, heika. Please don't worry about that. I don't care about it, so neither should you. And also, I really don't like taking back what I had given out, so keep it." Wolfram said with a smile. To his relief, Yuuri scratched his head before returning the smile to Wolfram.

Sighing helplessly, Wolfram settled down his own hat on his bookshelves. He frowned at the hat for a few seconds. The question that he had been wondering in the afternoon returned. He was troubled.

'Why is it that… I have this feeling that I had seen this hat from somewhere before?'

Reaching out his hands, he touched the bear-ear. The warm fur was brushing against his skin. It left a smooth trace when he removed his hand. He stared at it for a full thirty seconds. He tried to chase them down again but still, nothing came to his mind.

'Ah, forget it.' He turned and headed towards his slumber, the bear-protruding hat sitting lonely on its place.

A/N

Thank you so much for the reviews! They always heightened me to write more.

To rubi who commented on my previous chapter, my mail failed to reach you. Gome…

Chapter 15… Intention…

In the previous chapter, Yuuri saw that scene between Tesca and Wolfram. He did it on purpose, yes. But, Tesca's proposal to Wolfram was done with another hidden intention, what was it? Is it good or bad…?