Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne. I own a pencil, a January YM, and a binder that Mandy organized for me! That's about it… ^_^; A/N: You guys are so nice… * Author huggles readers * I'm sorry about the formatting for the last chapter… I really don't know what went wrong with it… Gomen… Anyways, please enjoy chapter 4, the next one is the last! I'll update after I get 7 more reviews! Arigatou! Forever In Your Memory Chapter 4: You Can't Forget Love "Hitomi… Hitomi…" The voice repeated. "Come on Hitomi… Please wake up…" "What?" Hitomi whispered, blinking. "Oh Hitomi… Thank God…" The woman knelt before her broke down weeping for joy. "What's going on?" Hitomi muttered, sitting up. "They thought you were a goner. But you proved them wrong, Hitomi Kanzaki! You proved them wrong!" The lady whispered happily, hugging the girl to her chest. "But… Who are you?" Hitomi asked softly. "What do you mean Hitomi-chan?" Mrs. Kanzaki asked in confusion. "I… I don't… I don't know you… Get out…!" Hitomi shrieked, hiding beneath her pillow. "But… It's me… Your mother… You are my daughter, Hitomi Kanzaki!" The woman yelled, her daughter's words like knives through her heart. "I don't know what you're talking about! WHO is Hitomi Kanzaki?!" Hitomi screamed, collapsing in her bed. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "Alright Miss Kanzaki! You're making lots of progress. I'll see you at our next session." The psychiatrist ended their conversation. "Thank you Dr. Tashika. And I really mean that." She smiled at the doctor before exiting. "How is she Doctor?" Mrs. Kanzaki entered the room. "She's fine. Just fine, Mrs. Kanzaki. She's just confused and frustrated. She woke up among strange surroundings with a bunch of people she didn't remember. You tell her she's been missing for 5 years and no one knows where she was. But she'll recover. I doubt she'll ever remember everything she's forgotten, but a lot of it is coming back to her. Slowly, but she knows her own name, so that's progress, right?" "I guess… What else does she remember?" Mrs. Kanzaki asked anxiously. "Well, she remembers being on the track team at school and visiting her Grandma… And besides for a few other things, she doesn't remember anything else." He said, shaking his head sadly. "Really…? Not about me or Mamoru or Yukari or…?" Mrs. Kanzaki began to sob quietly. "Now Now, Mrs. Kanzaki. There is hope for her. There is always hope. She'll be fine; it'll take a long time though. You have to patient with her and treat her the same as you always have. That will quicken the healing process." "But… Dr. Tashika… My baby… She… She doesn't know who I am… Do you know how much that hurts?" Mrs. Kanzaki whispered softly. "Yes… But try this… Make her spend a lot of time in her room… She'll look, touch, smell, hear things… Maybe something will jog her memory… Try it… If you want I'll schedule an extra session for tomorrow…" "No… Regular session on Wednesday… Thank you, Doctor…" Mrs. Kanzaki replied, walking out the door, trying not to cry. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "So Mother… What did Dr. Tashika have to say?" Hitomi asked curiously, as they trudged through the streets of Tokyo clad in their cozy winterwear. "He… He said… He said you're making great progress Hitomi-chan…" Mrs. Kanzaki said softly. "Oh, that was nice of him…" Hitomi commented. "Yes… Yes it was…" Mrs. Kanzaki nodded. "Oh Mother, look! The sky is falling!" Hitomi laughed joyfully, dancing around as white flakes danced around her. "It's called snow, Dear." Mrs. Kanzaki whispered, tears filling her eyes again. "It's beautiful… Does it snow a lot here?" Hitomi asked anxiously. "Yes. In the winter months." Mrs. Kanzaki replied. "Wow! Great!" Hitomi twirled about, getting some odd looks from passerby at why a college-aged student was acting as if she'd never seen snow before. She suddenly stopped, staring at the sky. "My home… Is so beautiful… I don't know… Why I left it…" She whispered as the wind tossed her brown hair. "Hitomi… Do you…? Do you remember…? Where you've been all these years?" Mrs. Kanzaki asked awkwardly. "I… I don't really… But I have dreams… A boy… Holding me… And… I wasn't afraid…" Hitomi whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "And we were happy…" "I'm glad…" Mrs. Kanzaki said, taking her daughter's hand and smiling faintly. "So glad." "But… Mother… Who is he? Will I ever see him again?" Hitomi asked, turning her green eyes to gaze into her mother's. Searching for an answer. "I don't know. I really don't know." Mrs. Kanzaki said softly. "But Hitomi… You'll live out your life, and you'll find someone… Someone who makes you feel special… And then, it won't really matter at all." "But Mother… What if… What if he's the one…? The one I'll look for… What if he's him…? And I had him, but I lost him…" Hitomi asked softly. "Hitomi… If you were meant to be together… Then you'll meet again. You can't forget love…" Mrs. Kanzaki said gently. "It changes you…" "I guess. But it's hard. Not knowing if he's the one I was meant to be with. I don't even know his name…" Hitomi whispered, holding back tears. "I know." Mrs. Kanzaki whispered, clasping her daughter's hand tighter. "I know…" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "Hey…" Hitomi greeted her little brother who was watching TV in the living room. "I'm watching my show and I'm not changing the channel!" Mamoru declared in a determined tone. "I don't care. I just want to sit down." Hitomi said weakly. Mamoru turned to the TV for a few minutes as Hitomi collapsed on the couch, catching her breath. Then, with a grunt of anger, he picked up the remote; hitting the off button and whirling round to face her. "Hey, what's wrong?" Hitomi asked, blinking in confusion. "WHAT THE HECK'S WRONG WITH YOU?! I CAN'T TAKE IT!" The boy yelled at her. "Can't take what?" Hitomi blinked again. Extremely puzzled. "Hitomi… You've changed… You're not my sister… You can't be my sister… My sister was different… And… That's why I liked her…" He turned to face her again, tears pooled in his eyes. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?! GIVE ME BACK MY SISTER!" He screamed, grabbing her neck, as though trying to choke her. "Mamoru… I… I'm sorry…" She bowed her head. "Please don't." "I want you to remember me…" He whispered, tears running down his cheeks as he lowered his head in sorrow. "REMEMBER ME!" He yelled desperately. "Mamoru… I'm sorry… I can't… I want to… I want to remember all of you… But no matter how hard I try… I… I can't seem to… I'm sorry, Mamoru…" She hugged him gently. "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! WHY CAN'T YOU REMEMBER ME?! I'M YOUR BROTHER! I'M YOUR ONLY BROTHER!" He yelled in pain, his face flushed, eyes watery. "Your only brother…" He whispered, more as to himself than anyone else. "I know… And I want to… I want to remember all the times we were together Mamoru-kun… I'm sure I cared about you very much…" She tucked a strand of his brown hair behind his ear. "But… Will you ever remember me? Us? Or that boy you were in love with?" Mamoru asked. "What do you mean that boy that I was in love with?" Hitomi asked in confusion. "Oh, your stupid diary… I love Van… Oh he's so handsome and smart and kind and ohh… I just want to kiss him all night long and…" Mamoru imitated her, making over-exaggerated kissing sounds. "His name… You know his name?" She whispered in disbelief. "So, what's the big deal?" Mamoru asked casually. "I… I don't remember him… I loved him… I was to stay with him… Always… Why can't I remember what happened?" She fell to the floor sobbing.
"Hitomi-chan…" Mamoru knelt down beside her, hugging her comfortingly.
"Why?" She whispered, before falling asleep in his arms.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hitomi was wandering around her room in her nightgown, touching things. Mother said it might help her remember something. She was willing to try anything at this point. She looked at her pictures and smiled slightly. Every day her mother and father would hold them up and quiz her over who everyone was. She didn't remember them, but at least she knew their names. She was walking when she got careless, tripping over a book on the floor. "Uh…" She fell to the floor. She shook her head in frustration at how clumsy she was. She blinked before noticing that one of her floorboards was slightly loose. Curious, she tugged at it, surprised when she easily removed it. Dust came flying out and she coughed. "Wow… Weird… This house was sure built poorly." She commented, she then was surprised to find a small engraved cedar box hidden within the floorboards. "What's this?" She pulled it out, opening it carefully. "Huh?" There were several things in the box. She pulled out a diploma. Her high school diploma. Then there was a carnation, maybe from her prom corsage? She found a picture of herself with Amano and… what was her name? Oh yes, Yukari… They were smiling. Were they always smiling? There was a pack of cards… Wait… They weren't playing cards… They were… "My tarot cards…" She breathed in disbelief. ** Flashback ** The Emperor… Justice… Don't worry… It looks like you're going to be a great king and everyone's going to want to help you…" She then began reading the next card. ** Backflash ** "At the bottom was a feather. Why was that in there? What was it? She picked it up and twirled in between her fingers. ** Flashback ** "You know what… We can see each other anytime we want… We just have to think of each other…" The boy said softly, smiling at her. ** Backflash ** "Was that Van?" Hitomi wondered aloud, caressing the feather gently. "But what's with the feather?" ** Flashback ** "The Draconians ruled the land, ruled the sea, and ruled the sky…" ** Backflash ** "Does this mean they could fly?" Hitomi whispered. ** Flashback ** "The Draconians…" "The Winged people…" "The Descendants of Atlantis…" "The Destroyers of Atlantis…" "The end of the world…" ** Backflash ** "What…? The Draconians?" Hitomi whispered softly in wonder. Then the candle she had lit on her dresser began to flare brightly, before igniting into a torrent of flames. It engulfed her and everything else within the room. Everything vanished, dying in the inferno, yet she remained. Unscathed. Untouched. She walked through the flames, eyes cast downward. Her steps made loud clacking sounds as she walked down what turned into an endless corridor of heat and smoke. The flames licked at her heels. She felt no pain. But the unbearable heat was thrust upon her, smothering her. She walked faster, then began to run, trying to get out of the fire, out of the smoke. Then, the ground crumbled beneath her and she was falling. Falling into darkness. She shrieked, clenching her eyes shut, trying to hold back the onslaught of tears. She looked up, hoping to see the sky one last time when she noticed a strange glow and a burst of white. "What?" She whispered, staring up at the glow. It seemed to draw nearer… As though it were… Coming for her… With a sharp intake of breath, she saw him. It was a boy. And he had wings. He swooped down, locking eyes with hers. They were a deep amber and fixed on her own, as though he was looking right through her. She looked fearfully, was he going to let her keep falling? Let her perish? Her eyes began to tear up. She was surprised then, when she felt a warmth surround her hand. She opened her eyes to see his hand was locked with hers. "I never want to see you cry…" He said softly. Then the world went white. "And you know I'd walk a thousand miles… If I could just see you… Tonight…" The girl on the radio sang, waking Hitomi as she rolled over, whacking her alarm in annoyance that it had ended her dream. "It was Van… Wasn't it?" She asked the silence. "I know it was… There's no doubt… So… What do I do now?" She looked out the window as the sun rose, reflecting the uncertainty in her emerald eyes as she gazed out at the horizon.
A/N: Last chap of memories… The next one is the big finale… Will the pieces come together? Will they live happily ever after…? Review and you'll find out! (I finally finished writing chapter 5…)
Sneak peat at Forever In Your Memory- Chapter 5:
"I'm fine, Merle." The princess said firmly, straightening her posture. She turned to Hitomi. "I know you… I know who you are…" She pointed at the green-eyed young woman and Merle turned. "I know you do…" Hitomi whispered. "One of us should have figured it out to begin with." She looked out the window. "It's raining… You know… The rain washes everything away…" She turned to look at the young girl, her green eyes reflecting pain and sadness.
"And I'm sorry, that I can not be your mother…" Without warning, she ran down the hall, away from the catwoman and the princess.
Please review! Happy Holidays! Arigatou and Sayonara! ^_^
~Trunks Gal~