Author's Note: Wow, another chapter up already! This will be the last one until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. (I have classes tomorrow morning) So, I hope ya'll like this story so far. Once again, thank you to the reviewers.
Disclaimer: Again, I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square and Disney.
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Chapter Four: Lost Memories
Leon awoke in the most uncomfortable position a man could possibly be in when sleeping in a hard chair. He briefly wondered why he was in that chair to begin with, when his eyes rested upon Yuffie. Suddenly, it all came back to him: the accident with the shuriken, their fight, and Cloud carrying her limp body into the room. She looked as though she had not moved all night. He gently brushed her hair away from the knot on her head and sighed with relief when he noticed it had gone down as he had slept. He glanced at the rest of her, noting all the scabs that had formed on her arms and legs. Getting up, he limped to the door of the Red Room, still favoring his wounded leg.
Knocking on the door, Leon hollered, "Aerith, Cloud, are you guys awake? I need some one to check Yuffie. She looks better to me, but I don't know anything about this stuff."
"Hold on, Leon. I'm coming," he heard Aerith yell through the closed door. He hobbled to the small table in the room to wait for her to come.
Aerith walked into the room, immediately noting how haggard and disheveled Leon looked. Turning her attention to the injured ninja, she gasped.
"What?! Is something wrong? Aerith talk to me?" Leon pleaded as he tried to run to her. Still receiving no reply, he grabbed Aerith by the shoulders, turning her to face him. "What is wrong with her?"
Aerith looked up at him, and replied, "She just looks so much better. I was surprised. Look, the color has begun to come back to her cheeks. And the knot is so much smaller. I think she's going to make it!"
Leon sighed, thinking those had to be the sweetest words he ever heard. "Well, I'm going to take a walk," he declared as he walked towards the door.
"Okay, Leon. But, please be careful. We don't need someone else wounded."
"Don't worry. I'll take the Gunblade with me and I'll try to stay away from the Heartless," he said as he opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
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Aerith sat on the chair next to Yuffie's bed reading a book. She really didn't want to leave Yuffie alone in this condition. She could wake up at any time and need some help. Cloud walked into the room, startling Aerith who had begun to doze off.
"Any change yet, Aerith?" the blond asked.
"No, she's still out cold," she replied with a sigh.
"Maybe you should come back to our room and take a nap," he said when he noticed her yawn, thinking he could use a nap as well.
"Cloud, do you really think I would leave her here by herself? What if she wakes up and needs something? You go ahead and take a nap. You look tired," pushing Cloud into the Red Room as she said this.
"Okay, if you insist. But, Aerith, don't stay with her all day. Promise to come and get me if you need someone to take your place," he pleaded.
"I promise," she said sweetly, kissing him on the cheek. "Now, go get some rest. You need it more than I do." With that, she left him in the Red Room, shutting the door as she tiredly walked into the Green Room to return to her post.
Aerith sat down, desperately trying not to fall asleep in the chair. It wasn't working. Maybe Cloud's right, she thought, maybe I do need a nap. I think I'll just close my eyes for a minute.
An hour later, Aerith was awakened by, "Where I am? What happened?"
"Yuffie, are you okay? I was so worried about you!" Aerith gushed, sitting up in her chair to take a better look at Yuffie.
"Yuffie? Who's Yuffie? And, who are you?" the ninja asked.
"Oh no! You don't remember me?" Aerith begged, tears forming in her eyes. "Cloud! Get in here!"
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Leon slowly limped through the Third District of Traverse Town, carrying his Gunblade over his shoulder. He felt the waves of relief flow over him as he repeated Aerith's words in his mind. 'She's going to make it,' she had said. Leon tried to keep this feeling of relief, but it was soon followed by his own regret. How will Yuffie ever be able to forgive me? his inner voice asked him. Without warning, his own mind told him the words he never wanted to hear: She will hate you for the rest of her life.
Sighing, Leon slowly walked to the doors leading to the First District and headed towards the Accessory Shop. Arriving there, he saw Cid standing behind the counter.
"Hey, kid, why the long face?" Cid asked him.
"What? Oh, that's right, you haven't heard about Yuffie yet, have you?" Leon said, surprised.
"Heard what about Yuffie? What did she do now?"
"She went out last night and got in a fight with the damn Heartless from what we can tell. But we aren't really sure because she's been unconscious since then," Leon stated in his usual unemotional voice.
"What the hell?! Are you telling me that she's in the hotel, hurt, and you're out here. Aren't you even worried about her?!" Cid demanded.
"No, I'm not worried about her. It was stupid of her to go out in the first place by herself with the Heartless running around. And, secondly, Aerith said this morning she would be okay," Leon said angrily, ignoring the voice that told him he really was worried.
"Okay, calm down. Look, can you handle the shop while I go see how she's doing? I'll be back in an hour."
"Yeah, sure."
As Cid left, Leon silently chastised himself. Liar, he told himself, you know that you are worried about her. You can't even admit it to yourself that you care for the girl.
"I can't care for her," he muttered under his breath. "I can't!" he said, louder this time as he slammed his fist on the counter.
But you do. You know you do. Why else are you so upset? Why did you sit with her half the night, barely sleeping? Would you do that if you didn't care for her? the inner voice told him.
Leon sat on the stool behind the counter, running his hand through his hair, trying unsuccessfully to block out the voice in his head.
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Back in the Green Room, Cloud had come running as soon as he heard Aerith calling his name. She had sounded so upset. He couldn't remember ever hearing that much emotion in her voice as he did just then.
Thinking Yuffie had taken a turn for the worse, he asked, "What's wrong, Aerith? Is she alright?" Then he noticed that Yuffie was sitting up in the bed, clutching her head. "Yuffie, you're awake. How're you feeling?" he inquired, obviously relieved to see her up, but still confused at the emotion present in Aerith's voice.
"Yuffie? You keep saying that name. Is that my name?" the ninja dazedly asked, looking at Cloud, then back at Aerith.
Aerith looked at Cloud sadly, "Yuffie has amnesia," she stated.
It was at this moment that Cid showed up at the Green Room. He softly walked in the door, hoping not to wake anyone who might be sleeping. Noticing everyone was awake, including Yuffie, he said, "Leon told me what happened, so I came to check up on Yuffie. But apparently she's much better. So, Yuffie, what the hell happened last night?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't remember," she said quietly. Then coming to the full realization of what was happening, she sobbed, "I don't remember anything!"
"Shh, it's okay Yuffie. You'll get your memory back. This is probably temporary," Aerith said soothingly, hugging Yuffie.
Yuffie cringed from her touch, not realizing that Aerith was her best friend, almost like a sister. "Please, leave me alone. I want to be alone. I want to think about this," she said, laying back down and rolling over to face the wall.
They stood there for a minute, watching Yuffie curl into a fetal position and cry. Looking at Cid and Cloud, Aerith motioned for the two men to follow her into the Red Room.
Once in the Red Room, Aerith closed the door connecting to the Yuffie's room. She looked down at the floor, tears slowly falling down her cheeks. Running to Cloud, she clutched his shirt as she sobbed into his chest.
Ignoring Cid, Cloud wrapped his arms around Aerith and rested his head on hers, trying to soothe her. "I know, Aerith, I know. But, you said it yourself, this is probably temporary. It'll come back to her soon."
"But what if it doesn't? What if she never remembers?" she wailed.
"Well, we'll just have to try and give her back her lost memories. But I don't think that we'll be necessary. They'll return to her on their own," he said hopefully, half doubting himself. "We can't give up hope," he continued, "you said yourself that Yuffie would never give up hope. We just have to hope."
"Well, we can't pressure her, that's for sure," Cid said, interrupting Cloud and Aerith's moment. "Hell, we can't force her to remember us. She'll have to remember on her own." With that Cid started for the door, turning back he added, "I don't think I'll be much help here, so I'm going back to the shop. Come get me if there's any change."
As he left, Aerith heard him muttering, "Damn! Amnesia. Who would have thought that something like that would happen to her of all people?"
Sighing sadly, Aerith released herself from Cloud's arms and started towards the Green Room.
"Aerith, where are you going? She said she wanted to be left alone," Cloud said.
"Cloud Strife, if you think that I'm going to let my best friend lay in there and cry all alone because she can't remember anything, you have another think coming! I'm going in there to try and comfort her. Even if she can't remember me, she needs comforting!" she said angrily.
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Back in the Green Room, Yuffie looked at the door when she heard Aerith open it. Yuffie examined her, trying to bring back a memory. Let's see, she said to herself, a girl dressed in a pink dress. Any memories yet? No. Um, she looks really nice, and she looks like she's sad because I don't remember her. Damn, still nothing. I guess I should try talking to her to see if anything comes back.
"You said my name is Yuffie, right?" Yuffie said pleadingly, trying to grasp onto something concrete in her mind.
"Yes," the girl in pink announced quietly, "your name is Yuffie. I know you don't remember me, but my name is Aerith. We've been friends ever since we came here."
"Aerith, that's a pretty name," Yuffie said wonderingly. "Where is here, exactly?"
"Traverse Town. More specifically, we're in the Green Room of the hotel in the Second District. This is yours and Leon's room."
"Leon? Who's Leon? Was he one of the men in here earlier?" she implored, her eyes begging for answers. She just wanted to know what was going on around here. Damn it, she thought to herself, why can't I remember? But the only thing she could remember was just what had happened since she woke up.
Aerith sighed, "I'm sorry. It's hard to remember that you don't remember anything. Leon wasn't in here earlier, in fact, I don't know where he is. But, anyway, Leon is your fighting partner. You've known him since you were seven. You share this room with him. The two men who were here earlier are Cloud and Cid. Cloud is the one with the blond hair and blue eyes. The older man is Cid."
"Are Leon and I...lovers?" Yuffie asked, tentatively.
Nearly laughing Aerith said, "No, of course not, what makes you think that?"
"You said we shared a room, so I thought..." she trailed off.
"No, you share this room with Leon for two reasons: one, its more convenient when the Heartless attack, and, two, there was no other way," Aerith explained.
"Why didn't I room with you?"
"Um, because you see Cloud and I..."
"Oh, I see, you and Cloud share a room," Yuffie laughed, but then grew serious again. "You mentioned 'the Heartless.' What are they?"
"Oh, dear. I think you need to take a break Yuffie. This may be too much for you right now. Maybe you should go back to sleep," Aerith begged.
"The Heartless are the ones who did this to me, aren't they? You don't have to say it, I can see it in your eyes. I just wish I could remember," she said bitterly.
"It's okay Yuffie. You'll remember eventually. Just wait and see," Aerith said as she patted Yuffie's shoulder.
Yuffie lay back on the bed and closed her eyes, trying to make her memories come back. Maybe, if I just think hard enough, I'll remember everything. Come on, Yuffie. Think! Nope, still nothing. Sighing, she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. She heard Aerith get up and leave the room, saying before she shut the door, "Yuffie, if you need anything, Cloud and I will be right here."
Yuffie didn't answer. She just wanted to try and sort all that Aerith had told her out. She couldn't believe that she shared a room with a man called Leon. Well, maybe when I wake up, I'll remember something about him, she thought as she fell asleep.
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Author's Note: Ooh, Yuffie has amnesia. I'm on a roll and it's all downhill. Next chapter should be up tomorrow and the story will probably be finished by this weekend. I think I know where I'm going with this.
To Vulpes Lapis: See, Yuffie's not hurt that bad. :)