All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! (/) Cyancat

Forgotten Memories

Chapter Twelve – Apology Accepted

Shampoo cradled on her lap the head of the man that she had cared for these many years. It had been hours since his seizure and at first she was scared that he had died at that moment, but no, there was a heartbeat and his chest rose and fell with even breathing. The worst thing was that now Shampoo feared he might never wake up.

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Mousse woke with a dizzy head and opened his eyes to see black and bleak darkness still surrounding him. He stood up and tried to survey his surroundings, squinting into the dark. Suddenly there was light all around him and Mousse noticed he wasn't alone. Ten feet away from him stood a figure with his back turned towards Mousse. His long black hair hung to his waist and he wore a white robe with a yellow and red triangular pattern on it. It took him a few moments but the reality of who this person was quickly dawned upon Mousse. He slowly started to approach, but before he could take five steps, his younger version whipped around and glared daggers at him.

"What're you doing here? No one is supposed to be here but me!"

Mousse didn't stop. Not until he stood directly in front of the boy and glared back down at him. "Well, I'm here now. What're you gonna do about it?"

Young Mousse clenched his hands. He didn't like this person and how he was acting. He shot his left hand up and toward Mousse's face, but was stopped by a much stronger force. He stared in dismayed stock at the offending person's hand gripping his wrist. This had never happened to him before. Quickly he tried again with the other hand, adding on a pair brass knuckles, but before anything could happen his arm was stopped just as suddenly as the first time.

Horror-stricken he looked from his hands to the man and back again. He couldn't comprehend how this was possible. How was he able to overpower him? The master of the hidden martial arts?

Mousse smiled to himself as he watched his younger version look back and forth from his hands that he held in his own. He had even surprised himself at how fast he moved and how he could predict the boys movements. Though, his smile slowly faded. This was taking too long, he had to get this over with now!

The boy looked up at him, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, not knowing what to do. Mousse stepped back one pace and then instantly rammed his knee into the young man's gut. Young Mousse gasped for air as the huge force was slammed against him. He fell to the ground on his knees, coughing and wheezing as he held his stomach. He looked up as the man before him, eyes searching for a reason why this happened.

"Ready to listen to me now?" Mousse barked at the young boy. Young Mousse just looked down to the ground, knowing he was beaten. "Good, then pay attention to every word I say! I won't repeat myself. First of all, as you wonder who I am, yes I know you're wondering who I am. That's because you're me." The boy's head shot up instantly in shock, with his eyes wide. "Yes, you see I am the same person you are. We are one, got it? It's just that I'm seventeen years older than you."

The boy slowly stood up, a hand still holding the place where he had been hit. "Never thought I could change so much in seventeen years. I hardly recognize myself. So what am I doing seventeen years in the future?"

"Why weren't you able to defeat Suko? She didn't seem that hard to beat. Shampoo has been waiting for years for you to come back, yet you... I haven't. Why is that?" Mousse stated impassively, not listening to the boy's question.

Young Mousse froze instantly. He quickly turned and began to walk away. "Shut up!! Shampoo isn't any of your business!! None of that has anything to do with you!! Get away from me!"

That made Mousse twitch. He reached out and grabbed the boy's shoulder, pulling him back and shoved him down to the floor.

"This has nothing to do with me?! Listen up, punk! This has everything to do with me! I have loved Shampoo with all my heart ever since the first time I met her and I know that you do too. You've locked yourself away in this place for some stupid reason that I don't know why and left her behind all these years!

I thought I could be content living with her as the person I am. Yet I know all she wants is you, she doesn't want me! Even if I were to live the rest of my life with her, I know she'd look at me everyday looking for you and be pained when she can't find you! You are the person that she grew up with, matured with, and whom she grew to love over the many problems plaguing you both! I understand how she feels and I want the best for her. Everyday I was with her, I saw the pain of years and years of loneliness in her eyes." Mousse turned his back to the boy. "I just… I just don't want to see her in pain anymore. And you're the only thing that can help her."

Mousse, clear of his rant, stood in the silence that hung in the air. He was shocked at himself, as he usually would never act so forceful, but that boy had set off something inside him.

"Did I really cause her so much pain?" Mousse heard the boy faintly question. Turning around, he saw his younger version sitting on the floor, arms resting on his legs and a mournful look upon his face. "I didn't think she would be hurt so much. I knew what happened between us that night was special, but I…" He faltered in ending his sentence.

"But you what? You wanted to go on a sudden training trip without telling her?" Mousse stalked toward him and squatting down beside him, grabbed a fistful of robe, pulling him face to face with the younger man. "What was it, because I know it wasn't because of some silly village rule that you had to earn the love of your woman! You earned it three-fold and there was no need to leave! So why did you run off?!"

Young Mousse looked away from the angry glare he was getting, "I thought that she would regret what happened between us…"

"Regret?" Mousse asked, confused and let go his grip on the boy. "What do you mean?"

Young Mousse looked back at Mousse in the eye. "I mean, I thought that she would deny that anything even happened between us. That she wouldn't even look at me or even talk to me. I was so scared to see how she was going to act that morning that I took off." He sighed heavily once, recollecting his thoughts and memories. "I-I had to find something or do something that would make her proud of me and prove any feelings that she might have had for me… I was just scared to lose her after something so meaningful happened between us."

There was a weighted pause between the two. Mousse finally stood up after some time and walked a few paces back and forth before approaching his younger self. "You want to see her again, don't you?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, more than anything."

"Then forget everything that happened back then, forget about Suko, forget about being gone all this time and go back to her. She needs you more than anything, I know that and you should know that by now. Just remember her and see that she loves you."

"You sure? You think that she'll really forgive me for everything that's happened?" Young Mousse asked as he looked up at the man beside him.

Mousse laughed lightly to himself and held out his hand to the boy. " I know so. You're the only person that can make her happy. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it. I can't stay away from her. I love Shampoo too much to do this anymore." With a flash of a smile, Young Mousse reached out and grabbed the outstretched hand of Mousse. Instantaneously there was a bright white light emanating from their grip and it hastily enveloped the two until there was nothing left but the clear white nothing.

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You don't remember me but I remember you
I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you
but who can decide what they dream?
and dream I do...

Mousse slowly blinked his eyes open as a soft voice murmured close to him. He felt his right hand being grasped firmly by a pair of warm hands. Both it and the voice were soothing and so familiar to him that he had to know who was speaking.

I believe in you
I'll give up everything just to find you
I have to be with you to live to breathe
you're taking over me

As his vision cleared, Mousse realized that he was back at the Tendo home. Looking over he noticed with amazement that it was Shampoo grasping his hand and speaking those words. She was so intent on what she said, she had her eyes shut tight and it nearly seemed as if she was praying those very words.

have you forgotten all I know
and all we had?
You saw me mourning my love for you
and touched my hand
I knew you loved me then

Mousse was amazed at what he saw. Shampoo had grown up into such a beautiful woman, her figure was more full and all of her youthful curves had filled out. Even though he KNEW that he had seen her before, he was taken away at how beautiful she still looked since that last day he had seen her. Those flowing purple tresses that stopped just short of her shoulder and her perfect oval face that radiated such beauty. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

I believe in you
I'll give up everything just to find you
I have to be with you to live to breathe
you're taking over me

Gods, how much it hurt to hear her pained words. Now he fully understood how much pain she had been in all these years. He had to see her eyes open, he had to see if she still loved him. Softly he made sure with his left hand that he could move at all, much less move his hand before trying what he wanted. When he was sure that it was possible, he centered his sights on Shampoo's face and softly squeezed his hand, encased in her own grasp.

Instantly she stopped speaking, much less even breathing for that matter. She was waiting for that next squeeze, that next assurance that Mousse was really awake. He smiled at her, amused at her behavior. It was like her to be over emotional in these kinds of situations. Gladly he squeezed her hands once more and watched as Shampoo's violet eyes instantly shot open, searching for his own.

He smiled softly at her, seeing her shocked expression pass over her face and then slowly dissipate. Her eyes danced with a renewed fervor and he gazed at her shining eyes brimming with new tears as the pain hidden behind them slowly began to fade.

Shampoo's mouth opened once and then closed just as quickly, the words she wanted to say were lost in her throat. Slowly Mousse reached up with his free hand, softly cupping her face and wiped away a fallen tear with his thumb. Somehow, what he wanted to say, he suddenly couldn't find the words. The only thing left to say was…

"Sorry I'm late."

Shampoo seemed to shudder for a moment, the shock scattering from her body in an instant. She dropped his hand and threw herself down upon Mousse, wrapping her arms around his head and burying her face in his shoulder, the tears she had been fighting back fell down in a cascade. Digging her hands into the folds of his robe, she never wanted to let go.

"Oh Mousse, I-I thought I'd never see you again! You left without even telling me! I was so lonely and miserable without you. Why? Why did you have to go? Didn't you see I loved you? How could you leave me like that!?"

Mousse sighed knowing he had done wrong and wrapped his arms around her trembling body. "I'm sorry I left you like that, I-I…" Mousse paused, unsure how to say the right words. "I guess I was too blind to see what was right in front of me. I know that it's not an excuse, but I'm here now and I won't be going anywhere without you by my side."

Shampoo sniffled hearing Mousse's words, but kept her head buried in his shoulder not daring to look him in the eye. "But why? Why did you leave me?! Don't you know how much it hurt me? I was so lost and alone…"

Again she broke into a cascade of tears as she confronted everything she had wished to know. Mousse frowned, seeing the woman he loved so much, cry and it was because of him. He had never thought that she'd be like this. She'd always been strong when they were children and even as they lived in Nerima. She'd never shown any feelings like these, tears and loneliness. He had really hurt her and now he had to find someway to mend her broken heart.

Slowly Mousse sat up, though his body screamed its opposition to the movement. Shampoo still clung tightly to his chest, tears falling down her cheeks in silent weeping. He brought a hand to her face, caressing her jaw line and the soft skin of her cheek. As Shampoo slowly turned her head up at him, he noticed that her eyes were closed tightly with tears breaking away from the corners.

"Shampoo, why don't you look at me?" He rubbed her cheek with a thumb, trying to coax her eyes open.

Shampoo covered his hand with hers, leaning her face into the warmth of his skin. "I-I can't. This happened so many times in my dreams. If I open my eyes, you'll be gone and this nightmare that is my life will keep going. You won't be here and I won't be holding you. If it means that I have to lose you, then I don't want to wake up."

"I'm right here, Shampoo. I'm not going to leave you again, you have my word." With that said, he leaned over and covered her lips with is own, catching her in a searing kiss that spoke every word of love that couldn't be said. The passion that he felt with her the first night was just as it was now. The spark that they shared together had never dimmed and even grown in its intensity. As Mousse slowly broke the kiss, Shampoo lingered with abated breath, her lips parted with fervor. He watched with an expectant gaze as her eyes fluttered open and her violet met his blue-gray.

"I haven't left you, have I?" Mousse asked the breathless Shampoo. "I'm still here, just like I said."

A smile appeared on her tear-stained face and one appeared on his as well. The pair gazed each other for sometime, passing silent words between them until Mousse broke their eye contact and pulled Shampoo into a crushing hug.

"Kami, how I've missed holding you. Its like I've been holding my breath this whole time and now I can finally breathe. All because you're here beside me, Shampoo." Mousse kissed her forehead and felt her shiver in an answer.

Shampoo slowly pulled herself from his grasp and looked up to his gaze, wanting to have her one question answered. The one question that she was sure everyone would ask him. "Mousse, why didn't you come back? You said in the note you'd left me that you would return. It's been over sixteen years since that day. Why? Please tell me why you didn't return to me!"

Mousse looked away from her expectant eyes and sighed. How could he tell her of what happened to him? Everything had been a mistake and he'd fallen into the worst part of it. His eyes searched the room looking for a way to explain it, but when he looked back at Shampoo's hopeful gaze, he couldn't help it. Slowly he started with the details of where he traveled to and how he had always looked behind him, looking for her. Mousse then came to where he had met Suko.

It was hard enough to tell Shampoo about it, being that an Amazon, male or female, hardly ever mentioned their defeats. But she deserved it, she had the right to know and Mousse began with the details of how he had been talking to a tree, imagining that it was her. Then how the tree fell over (apparently some villagers played a prank on him) and then his sudden introduction to the raven blue-haired maiden named Suko.

His eyes darted to look at Shampoo's face as he mentioned Suko, wanting to see her reaction. Shampoo's body jumped a little at the woman's description, but other than that Shampoo sat still beside him listening to the description. He took a deep breath and continued with his explanation. He went on with Suko inviting him to her 'inn' and staying there for the night, but not without noticing that there were no other customers there, just a lot of servants, male servants to be exact. Mousse spoke about how he overheard Suko the next morning, planning to make him her next 'boy-toy.' When he confronted her about it, she had simply pulled a lever and down he fell into a steel cage below the house.

Mousse continued with how he had fought back against Suko's magic, leaving him severely wounded but still not giving up. When she attacked him with her blue bolts of energy, Mousse pointed out how he used his memories of her to fight against the magic that was struggling to make him forget. It worked the first time, but the second time…his mind had taken another way out. Instead of forgetting everything and succumbing to Suko's magic, his mind locked it all away deep in a place that only Mousse's subconscious could get to, making Mousse unusable to Suko.

Remembering that moment, Mousse looked at Shampoo and realized something, he hadn't been using glasses this entire time. His vision was clearer than he had ever known and suddenly he knew how. Suko's magic had done it. The men that she had taken control of had no imperfections, they were perfect in her mind's eye. The reason for that was because along with making a person forget their dearest memories, it also fixed any 'imperfections' that a person might have had. The last few moments that he recalled being at Suko's, Mousse recollected his eyes burning and itching like crazy, which meant the magic had been working. No more glasses, ever.

Mousse looked back to Shampoo satisfied that he had finally told her the truth. But when he looked at her face, he was taken aback at her reaction. Her eyes watered with renewed tears and her bottom lip quivered, suggesting she could start crying again at any moment. Quickly he scrambled to take her in his arms and hugged her close.

"What?! What is it? Wha'd I say?" Mousse panicked.

Shampoo sniffled, fighting back her tears. "It's not what you said, it's what happened to you. I'm sorry I doubted you, thinking that you didn't love me during all those years you were gone, but when you told me about fighting Suko's magic…I realized how stupid I was. I'm just so happy that you're here."

Relieved, Mousse kissed her forehead once more, "Shampoo, I'm always gonna be here. Now that we're together again, we can be a family."

Instantly Shampoo froze at the word 'family'. She had almost forgotten the most important thing about this meeting, the person that had brought them together. Shampoo pushed out of Mousse's arms and looked up at his face for a moment before standing up and pulling him up after her.

"What? What is it Shampoo?" Mousse asked worriedly.

Shampoo sighed and squeezed his hand. "I have to show you something. Follow me."

Shampoo then lead a confused Mousse by the hand out of the room and into the hall. She noticed that it was a little past dawn, so thankfully everyone would still be asleep. Then they were at the second door down the hall, Shampoo paused in front of it for a moment before glancing at Mousse's puzzled face while she gripped the door handle. Softly she opened the door and led Mousse in, walking him over to the bed.

She spied her daughter still asleep and smiled lightly at the young girl. Soon she would be meeting her father and he, his daughter. Bringing him to the edge of the bed, Shampoo sat down beside her daughter and pulled back the cover so that they could see her sleeping face.

Shampoo stood up next to Mousse and motioned for him to sit down where she had been sitting. He obliged, still mystified at what was going on, but was unsure what to do. Looking up at Shampoo, his eyes begged her to tell him what was going on.

"Mousse, two months after you left I found out something." Shampoo knelt beside the bed and ran a hand through her daughter's hair. "This is our daughter."

She saw Mousse out of the corner of her eye instantly freeze at her words and smiled. She kept her eyes on her daughter and stroked her long black hair once more. Suddenly she felt a hand on her arm and was jerked out of the room. When they finally arrived in the hall, she turned to see Mousse standing before door, starting to wring his hands in anxiety.

"Sh-sh-shampoo, h-h-how is this possible?" Mousse gulped as finally responded to Shampoo's words, "I mean, how can WE actually have a daughter?"

Shampoo smiled coyly at the stunned man before her and stayed his fretting hands "Mousse, you know how it's possible. Everything was there and it just sort-of happened. But so you know, I never thought her to be a mistake. I was happy to have our child."

Mousse looked back over his shoulder at the door and stared, his eyes remembering the angelic face that slept within.

"What's her name?" he asked, eyes still glued to the door.

"Mousse."

"What?"

"No, Mousse."

"What?!" he exclaimed, looking back over at Shampoo.

She shook her head at Mousse and grasped his face with both hands. "Mousse, her name is Mousse. I named her after you."

"You-you named her after me? Really?" Part of a smile formed on his lips, "But, why?"

"Because," Leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest, Shampoo sighed in regret. "Before she was born, Great-grandmother told me that I couldn't keep her as we were returning to the village as soon as I had the baby. I hated to do it, but it was her decision at a time where I was very confused.

I named her after you because…because I would have to only leave one person, one name behind. I thought that I would never see either of you again, so I didn't want to have to burden myself with a past that I would never see again. That's why she's named after her father, named after you Mousse. I loved both of you so much, it hurt too much to leave both of you behind."

Mousse looked at Shampoo and then down at the floor and back again. SO much had happened since he left, how could he ever, ever make it up? Stepping forward, Mousse slowly wrapped his arms around her. "Shampoo, I can't believe that I didn't realize this. If I had even thought for a second that you might have been…"

Shampoo silenced him with a finger to his lips. She softly kissed him and smiled at his bewildered face. "I know that. You don't have to explain. I just want to give our daughter a family, finally, for the first time in her life. Alright?"

"S-sure, if that's what you want." Mousse stuttered and with that Shampoo quickly lead him back to the girl's bedside.

Shampoo sat down on the bed and shaking the girl's shoulders, roused Mousse from her sleep.

"What is it mom? It's too early for training." Mousse whined, flopping over and hiding her head underneath the pillow.

Shampoo gave a laughing look to Mousse as he stood beside her and then leaned down beside the pillow and softly whispered. Instantly the young girl sprang up on the bed, shock obvious in her wide eyes. Immediately she met the gaze of the man beside her bed and couldn't look away.

Shampoo placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder and then took Mousse's hand in her own. She squeezed his hand, comforting the man, because he looked ready to faint on the spot. "Mousse, this is your daughter."

Mousse smiled lightly at the young girl, uneasy at what to do as she stared wide-eyed at him. "Hey." He said weakly, as this was the only thing he could think of to say.

Mousse felt the tears start to well up in her eyes as she stared ahead at the man standing nervously beside her bed. She looked frantically back and forth from Shampoo to Mousse as realization set in. Swiftly she jumped out of bed and hugged her mother once before throwing her arms around Mousse. Her tears made a path down her cheeks and quickly stained his black robe.

Mousse looked down at the girl who he had just been told was his daughter. Even through these few moments, Mousse could see her beauty shine from beneath, just like her mother. Her oval face and violet eyes were just like her mothers and that long black hair, well he had to give something to this didn't he? After a few moments of staring down at the girl hugging him tight, he returned the embrace, feeling his own eyes start to water.

Immediately Mousse knew that in his heart that she was his own daughter, borne from the woman he loved more than anything. The absence of sixteen years hadn't changed a thing between them except for the creation of a new life that Mousse knew that he would do anything for.

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What is to happen in the future for our new family? Stay tuned for the epilogue!

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Well, I knew it was going to be a long one. But hey it turned out all right in the end.

Did you think that the few moments between Shampoo and Mousse were too much? Maybe and bit too sappy? I don't know, its that I just couldn't end it all very fast, and it just seemed to go on and on. But maybe it's just me.

There will be an epilogue soon, well hopefully soon. I still gotta write the end to "When I Thought I'd Lost You" I must get these done quickly! Did it seem too sappy? I tried really hard not to make it like that, but it just happened. The epilogue will not be that sappy though, I have it already outlined on how to do it, so it should happen soon.

I also havta start working on my costume for Nan Desu Kon in Aurora, Colorado. I'm gonna be Illpalazo from Excel Saga! So much work!! Armor and the clothes. And I'm making all from scratch. His armor won't be cardboard and tin foil, it'll be real metal, oh yeah!! Anyone else going this year???

Please everyone take a look at my Challenge chapter, I really want to do this and I think it will be fun for everyone if you all try.

Thanks To ALL for staying with ME!!
Cyancat (/)

Oh and the lyrics are again from Evanescence's song "Taking Over Me" Love their songs. Listened to that CD a lot while writing these last few chapters. Lovely, just lovely.