Remembrance

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Wow, thank you all so much for reading this fic and reviewing/liking it. I'm glad that you all approve and gave me the inspiration to write this next chapter~

EgyptianKat: Haha, don't worry, even if you were the only one to like this fic, your review was so inspiring and great that I'm pretty sure I would have kept it up just for you ;)

Dream Writer 2 Life: AHAHAHAHA… Queen of Cliffhangers, Master of Flashbacks, All mighty Authoress… I knew there was a great reason why I like you so much. Lol ;)… thanks for your enthusiasm.

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2.

He got out of the bed and when she lightly laid her hand on his arm to steady him, he shivered at her sudden touch and got another flash of a memory.

He paused, leaning against the doorway, face creased in a smile as he watched the utter serenity that encompassed her face as she slept, her chest rising slowly and rhythmically as she breathed, her head on her arm as she slept in her curved position as if he was still there for her to be curled around.

And then he missed lying there and moved back to the bed, suddenly feeling that the only thing that he wanted to do was lie next to her and feel the complete length of her body curved inside his.

Breakfast could wait.

He set the steaming tray on the table and crawled back under the covers, glad that they were still warm from his body heat. He curled up around her, placing an arm over her, bringing her closer to him so that he could smell the sweet scent of her hair mixed in with the beautiful smell of her sleeping.

He could also smell some of his cologne on her.

She stirred in his embrace. "Michael?" Her voice was soft, a mere murmur.

"I'm right here, sweetie."

She nodded then, glad of his assurance and snuggled closer to him, bringing out a smile that showed his utter contentment at that precise moment.

"Michael?" Her worried voice shook him out of his reverie.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie." They both stiffened and he looked at her, an embarrassed flush coming over his face. "I'm sorry- I didn't mean- I mean I know that we know each other but I don't really remember knowing you and I didn't mean to call-"

She smiled sweetly at him and he wished he was back where he had been, knowing all of her, snuggling under the sheets to be closer to her. "It's fine. I'm just surprised at how fast you're remembering today."

He grinned. "I've always been a fast healer."

She smiled to herself. He said that every day she had commented on the rapidity of his memory. Too bad it never lasted. Relearning the man she loved everyday was a much harder experience than she ever could have imagined.

"Yeah, I know."

They walked out the door, him walking in his gown and sandals, her in a light blue dress. She slipped her arm through his and nodded at the lady at the front desk. As they sat on a bench that seemed to exude comfort and warmth, he turned to her.

"I loved you more than anything didn't I?"

Sudden tears sprang up in her eyes but she blinked them away as quickly as she could. He noticed. "Yes. And I think you still do."

He laughed. "The thing is that I do. Something inside of me is telling me that I love you, that I should love you, that I need to love you. But then my logic tells me that it's impossible, that I can't feel something so strong for someone I don't even re-" He stopped mid-sentence, sudden inexplicable anguish covering his face. "This must be so hard for you."

"I would say the same thing to you too."

"But having to go through this with me every day. It must be so hard. For me, everything is always new and so I always believe that what is happening is happening and it's not repetitive, it's not tedious… but for you… I am so sorry that you have to go through the same motions every day for someone who can't even rem-"

"It's not your fault Michael. And it's worth it. Just to be with you and finally experience you remembering me at the end of the day."

He looked up at her, her face somehow so familiar to him. He wanted it to be familiar. He gazed at her features, her textures, attempting to ingrain them into his memory. "Am I going to remember you by the end of the day?"

She smiled. "Yes. The memories won't stop, you know. And then you'll remember everything. Eventually."

He smiled. "Would you mind terribly if I held your hand?"

Sydney smiled and slipped hers into his. "Of course not. I love it when you do."

They were silent for awhile then, she was thinking about the hours to come and anticipating the joy that always came when his eyes finally sparked with recognition and he turned her around to face him with a hungry kiss and the eyes that lingered on her every part in order to remind himself that she was truly there.

He was thinking about how wonderful it was merely to sit there in the warm sun with her hand in his. This exotic, strange, beautiful woman that he had woken up to. Something he had done many times before he supposed.

God he was lucky.

He stood up, bringing her with him. "Tell me something. Just talk to me. It helps me remember things and I want to remember everything so badly I can't wait for it to happen on its own."

She was only too happy to oblige. Her mere smile sparked another memory.

She smiled shyly, conscious of his inspection of her though he held onto her arms in order to convince herself of how beautiful she was.

"You are absolutely gorgeous Syd. I can't believe I ever found someone like you. And I can't believe that you would want me too."

His lips lowered onto hers slowly, tantalizingly, lifting away a breadth of an inch just to whisper 'Happy Birthday' before kissing her again.

"You don't listen to directions very well. When people tell you to stay, you go, when they tell you to run, you don't… you are a very complicated person Michael Vaughn."

He stopped in his tracks. "What did you call me?"

Her brow furrowed in consternation. "Michael Vaughn…"

"Did you always call me just Michael?"

"No, for about 5 years and then some, you were always Vaughn to me. It seemed more comfortable and that name was special to me because that was the name that not everyone knew you by. So you were mine. My Vaughn."

He nodded. "It sounds familiar. And really good."

"Oh god. Oh Vaughn…" Her cries trickled away as he brought his mouth crashing down on hers, muffling all sounds of ecstasy and release. He felt her fingers run through his hair, entangling themselves into the strands as if in desire of keeping them connected forever.

"You always wondered why I didn't call you Michael much."

"After a while, I became Vaughn. I didn't even feel like Michael around you anymore. Whenever I was with you, I became a whole other person," He grinned. "A better person. One who knew when to use his own mind instead of just reciting rules from the book. And it just made sense that the new me should have another name."

She stopped. "How did you know that?"

He paused, unsure of what he was saying. The words that had spilled out his mouth had been natural, easy… if he had thought about what he was going to say, they wouldn't have been said. His statement had come out immediately, like muscle memory. Like practicing piano. After a certain point, the song would play itself out of your fingers without any thought required. However, when you consciously thought about which note to play next, the blunders occurred.

"I.. don't know," he said helplessly, "What rules? What book? And why do I hate the word 'protocol' so much right now?"

She laughed, surprised. "That's a story that you'll remember soon enough."

His brow furrowed, producing the worry lines she loved so much on his forehead. Without thinking, she traced them with her finger, lightly, intently, not noticing his gaze on hers.

"Sydney-" He stopped, unsure of what he was about to say.

"What is it?"

"Well… I'm not sure what this says about me as a person and I'm sure it's not that great a character trait and I'm not sure that you would want to know but nearly everything that I have remembered so far has been memories of us… in bed." He stopped, wondering what had made him say that. To his surprise however, she was unfazed.

"It makes sense. You remember things that had the most emotion, the most feeling involved. And we did spend quite a lot of time… together."

He shook his head smiling. "I must confess this to you every day."

She smiled back. "Not all the days. Sometimes you're too embarrassed to tell me but I can always tell because you hold my hand a little tighter and I feel that you feel as though you know me a little more."

He nodded. "So how did we meet?"

She opened her mouth before closing it again. "You wouldn't believe me at this point if I told you."

"Try me."

Her voice was soft. "I did. I have."

At that, he turned from her though it wasn't before she saw the look of anguish in his eyes. Cautiously she lifted a hand to his shoulder, concern lighting up her eyes. "What is it?"

When he turned back to her, his voice hitched, full of emotion. "This is hard. I feel as if I'm two separate people and it doesn't make sense; it's as if I'm leading two different lives at the same time. I know you but I don't, I love you but I only met you an hour ago… I remember you but your face still feels new to me…"

She kissed him on the cheek. "It's all right. It will pass."

He looked at her. "You would know."

"Yeah. I would."

TBC…

Moni: FYI, "TBC" means "To be continued"… hope that clears a few things up.

Thank you all so much for all your support. I'm really starting to love writing this fic. R/R!!!

TO AUS FANS: I know what's happening… I just can't get it down on paper/computer screen so just be patient… It's about 1/3 done. Look on the bright side: There's two chapters left not one. And I'm absolutely positive that the last one will come within a week of the Chapter 41. OMG I might actually get to 1000 I think I'm going to hyperventilate ;)

Muchos loves~

-Jenn