Nothing had changed in Godric's Hollow; there were still the same old, quaint cottages, the same post office, the same shops, and the same church with the same graveyard. Harry and Saki, covered under the cloak of invisibility, walked slowly toward the graveyard. The desire to bring Saki to see his parents had come to him as a necessity the day before their departure, first because he wanted to go back after his first and only disastrous visit with Hermione, and secondly because it felt essential to him to introduce them to his sister. He would have liked to bring Gary as well, and he then promised himself to come back with him one day.

"Wait for me; I want to buy something," Saki whispered when they walked past a small flower shop.

She slipped away from the cloak and came back a few minutes later with a bouquet of lilies. Harry reopened his cloak to let her in and kissed her on the temple. She took his hand, and they entered the empty and quiet cemetery, only occupied by the keeper, who was gardening in the back. They walked through the graves and quickly reached the one they were interested in: Lily and James'. Harry hadn't even thought about their location; his legs had driven them automatically to the right place, like a muscle memory he could never forget. It was not the first time he was seeing their names engraved on this white marble, but he felt the same heart pain as the first time, the same anger and deep sadness to see the dates written in front of his eyes, how young they were when they died, how unfair their lives had been, and how different his childhood could have been without this prophecy.

"Oh Harry, they were younger than you…" Saki said with a sad voice.

Harry frowned and looked again at the date, even if he was already certain of their ages.

"No," he answered, "they were one year older than me."

Then he remembered. Saki believed he was twenty-two, and he had never corrected her after regaining his memory.

"I'll be twenty this summer," he added to clarify his statement.

"Oh…"

Saki nodded but didn't push the subject, as she felt it wasn't the right moment to discuss his age. Whether he was twenty or twenty-two, his parents had still died too young, and it didn't change anything.

"Can we remove the cloak? There is nobody here," asked Saki to change the subject.

Harry checked around him to make sure she was right and removed the cloak, allowing them to move freely. Saki kneeled before the grave and placed the lilies she had bought earlier on the tombstone.

"You should talk to them," she said as she got back to her feet.

"Hum…"

Harry wasn't feeling comfortable talking to them, this idea had never occurred to him in the first place, and he didn't know why.

Saki seemed to understand and offered to start first.

"Hello, Lily, hello, James."

Harry watched her talk and felt both proud, and grateful for her gesture.

"My name is Saki, I am very glad to finally meet you. I met your son almost two years ago, in very strange circumstances." They both grinned. "He quickly became my little brother, the most important person in my life. And I promise you, Harry is okay now; he is healthy, loved, safe, he is kind, generous, funny, smart, and very handsome, so you don't need to worry about him anymore." She stopped smiling. "Life has been unfair to him; it has not always been easy, that's true. But your son has managed to overcome all these challenges and has become a wonderful young man of whom you would be so proud. Thank you for having brought to the world such a beautiful soul, and I can promise you, all is fine."

She then turned to Harry, whose throat was constricted as he was trying to hold back his tears.

"Your turn, you should tell them something, Harry."

He eventually nodded and kneeled, his hands shaking slightly. When Saki noticed, she joined him on the floor and took his hand.

"Hi mom, hi dad."

He took a deep breath.

"I hope you're okay where you are, I'm sorry I didn't visit you more, and that I never talked to you... I'm okay; the war is over; he is dead, and now I can just live my life with the people I love, without caring about anything."

He paused, hesitant about what to say;

"I was adopted, after my eighteenth birthday. His name is Gary Byrd, and I hope one day you can meet him, and see how wonderful he is. I have good friends—loving and caring people who gravitate around me and look after me." He cast a look at Saki, who was smiling at him.

"I miss you every day, I wish you could have been here to see everything, to watch me grow; I wish I could take care of you when you get old, give you back everything you gave me. I wish we could have had more time... I hope you found Sirius and Lupin and were able to reunite after all these years. Please tell them I miss them, please tell Lupin and Tonks that Teddy is okay; he is healthy, happy, and loved by wonderful parents."

The tears were dangerously forming in his eyes, and his throat felt tighter and tighter, almost hurting him when he spoke.

"I must be honest with you, I have been wanting to join you at certain times in my life. It's been hard, it's even been hell sometimes, and I've been experiencing moments where I just wanted to end it and meet you in the afterlife. Sometimes I thought it was my only way to find peace. I dreamed of seeing you and hugging you for hours, of staying in your arms and hearing you tell me everything was fine now."

Saki's arm wrapped around his shoulders.

"But I promise you that I'm okay now. I still miss you deeply, but I want to join you when it is time for me to go. I'll be patient, and I'll try to enjoy every moment of my life, I'll live for you, dad, for you, mom, and I'll live for me.

Saki's hand was now tightly gripping him.

"I love you both."

He rose to his feet and wiped away his tears in a quick motion.

"Ok, we should go now."

Saki got up as well and looked at him with empathy.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded, his eyes avoiding her.

"Ok, let's go, Harry."

(***)

The narrow streets of Tenri in Nara teemed with the scents and colors of a budding spring, whose light breeze dispersed cherry petals like colorful confetti. It felt good to be back and to see those alleys where he had lived for a few weeks with Saki and Kiku. He hadn't gotten the chance to visit much at that time, mostly due to his mental and physical health, but also due to his lack of citizenship papers. Nonetheless; he felt a strong connection to this city, as if a part of him belonged here, in these streets, under these colorful trees, among the beauty of this peaceful nature. Saki first brought him in front of her aunt's house, where they stayed, contemplating this old, beautiful facade with nostalgic hearts. They then saw a family of three coming out of the door, the little boy holding firmly to his parents' hands as the three of them were laughing uproariously. Harry checked Saki's reaction; she watched the family with an expression mixing sadness and deception. They had purchased her aunt's house, where she had grown up, and spent every summer escaping the harsh reality of her family life in America, the house that processed her most important and cherished memories. Harry slipped his fingers between hers and pulled her slightly toward him.

"Come on"

She shook her head and started to walk away from the house with a firm step.

"It's fine, it's okay. Life goes on,"

She spoke with clenched teeth. Harry knew it was not fine but refrained from pushing the subject. He continued to hold her hand, each squeeze reminding her he was there if she needed to talk.

She then led him to the small street where they had met. Nothing had changed, the same vending machines, the same plants, the same stones, and concrete.

"It's where it began," Saki said as they watched the exact spot where they had talked for the first time.

"It is."

Harry stared at the exact spot where he had first seen Saki—his earliest memories of a new life with no past. This little piece of tar, on which he had woken up against the machine that no longer seemed to work, in this alley where few passersby walked, apart from this young girl, this young American who knew so well how it felt to be alone.

Harry could feel in his sister's gaze that she looked worried, unsure whether they knew what they were doing here, where they should go next, and what they were looking for exactly. A part of him thought the same; how could he even know where to find his answers when he had no recollection of what had happened in Japan? And yet, he knew. He knew exactly which way they should go, which path they should take, in every detail. So he reached for Saki's hand and started to walk toward the stone stairs at the other end of the street. Saki remained quiet; she followed him without asking questions, as she knew how to trust him. But she couldn't help but gasp when, after twenty arduous minutes of silent walking, they finally arrived in front of a broad temple. They slowly approached the main entrance, a wide, imposing wooden door, and entered a garden surrounded by a square of open corridors full of thin doors. In the middle of the garden, a tall statue representing a deer stood, its wide antlers and its deep eyes, leaving visitors in awe.

"Why are we here, Harry?" Asked Saki who trotted next to him.

"I think it's my ancestors' temple," he murmured, his eyes locked on the deer's deep gaze.

"What?" Saki looked surprised. "I used to come every weekend with my aunt when I was young, it's the most popular temple in Tenri…"

Harry didn't answer; he kept looking at the statue, his heart beating violently against his chest.

"We need to find a woman," he finally said out of nowhere.

"What?"

"A woman, an old woman, small..."

Images started to come back in his brain, blurry, vague memories of an old Japanese woman talking to him.

"Well, no offense Harry, but pretty much all the old Japanese women are small…"

"She has long hair, and is wearing red."

"Don't you think she could have changed her clothes in two years…? Maybe she cut her hair; maybe she's dead!"

"Hello."

The two siblings flipped around to face the voice coming behind them. An old woman was here, standing a few inches from them, her face relaxed and serene.

"Should I translate in Japanese for you?" Saki asked discreetly. Harry nodded, even if he had the feeling it wasn't necessary.

"Excuse me, my friend right here needs..."

"I am happy to see you again and glad to see you looking healthier." She cut Saki off in perfect English.

Harry stayed there, mouth open, without knowing what to say. He observed her, every inch of her face was creased by thin wrinkles, like the cracked earth of an arid desert. Her eyes, on the other hand, glowed with the eternal youth of a young girl eager for adventure.

"Should we go drink some tea?" She proposed with a smile.

"What the hell?" Saki whispered to herself.

She glanced at Harry to let him decide what they should do, and when he agreed, they both followed the older woman toward one of the doors, away from the crowd of visitors. She asked them to remove their shoes and closed the door behind them as they entered a rather small room with a tatami floor and a wooden ceiling. She invited them to sit on the floor, at the low wooden table, where a ceramic tea set was already placed in the middle. Then, she started filling the kettle with wandless magic.

"Are you… are you a witch?" Asked Harry

She didn't answer until she was done with the tea.

"Of course I am. Even if the terms wizards and witches are foreign to us,"

Harry's mind was saturated with questions; he couldn't decide where he wanted to start.

"Are you a Potter?"

"I think you know the answer; we already had this conversation before."

Her voice was calm, so relaxed and deep that it made him feel uncomfortable.

"I don't remember what happened here, that's why I'm here today…"

"I see." She gestured for them to drink. Harry looked down at his cup of green steaming liquid, but despite the fact that his throat was dry, he refused to drink.

"My name is Yui Mihara."

She noticed his disappointment at the mention of her name and added:

"We share the same ancestors, young Potter, the Kanoko clan. When the Oda left Japan in 1603, not the entire family fled, some of them managed to stay, mostly women who decided to marry other families in order to get new names. We lived hidden, and for four hundred years we lived among the Chikyujin. It is not very surprising to say that the Oda family rejected us as well, calling us traitors."

"What is Chikyunjin?"

"I reckon you call them Muggles."

Harry nodded and took a sip of his tea, as if knowing she was related to the Potters made him finally trust her. In any case, Saki hadn't waited to drink hers before he had the time to stop her.

"So am I right if I say you came back to get some answers?"

Harry put down his cup and took a deep breath.

"Yes. I want to know what happened here… Why did I lose my memory?"

The old lady looked at him for a long time. The room was eerily quiet, despite the thin walls separating them from the crowds of tourists in the garden. It seemed like all sound from the outside world had been locked out, leaving them in this intimate, eerie atmosphere where only the friction of ceramic against the table filled the air.

"Because you asked me to."

Harry froze. Saki stole a wary glance at her brother, but his attention was fully locked on Yui.

"What?"

"You came to this temple in the middle of the night, confused, desperate. I invited you to come in and tell me your story. I knew exactly who you were—the last son of the Potter line and England's hero. You kept asking me to forget your past, to live in peace, and to find happiness."

"And so you erased my memory…?" Harry stammered.

Yui chuckled "Oh no, I am only a messenger, I invited you to talk, but you refused to say more and became quiet, as if you had already decided to leave this world; So I invited you to eat, and rest in this temple. Once you finally fell asleep, I let nature decide what to do for you. If you didn't need what you asked for, the spirits would have let you sleep without intervening. But I suppose they acted since you are here today asking me all these questions."

"Nature…? Spirits?"

He was confused, nothing made sense.

"Are you talking about Baku?" Saki asked timidly.

When Yui nodded, Harry turned to Saki.

"Wait, what is Baku, and how do you know?"

"Bakus are Japanese spirits, my aunt used to read me many folklore stories. They come during the night and eat your nightmares. But I didn't know they really existed…"

Yui chuckled, while Harry looked disgusted at the idea of creatures eating his brain while he was asleep.

"It is the folklore version indeed." She said, "However, it is not completely exact. Bakus don't eat nightmares or memories; they simply carry them for you until you are ready to accept them. They don't steal; they help. You always have the opportunity to get them back."

"But... I wanted to remember! I wanted to remember as soon as I woke up on that street!"

"You wanted to remember because you didn't know what you would remember. It is different. You wanted to fill holes, but your consciousness knew you were not ready yet."

"But I was ready!" He exclaimed

"Are you sure?"

She observed him with a calmness that reminded him of Dumbledore.

"Are you sure you were ready to remember?"

"Yes." His voice sounded unconvinced, but he held his gaze as best he could.

"So they would have given them back to you." She said calmly;

Harry sighed;

"I don't understand… And why don't I remember what happened after the war?"

Yui finished her cup of tea, "I don't know if you will ever remember what happened during that time."

"Why?"

"The Bakus are not responsible for this, your brain decided to erase this moment of your life by itself. You weren't whole when you came here the first time, your soul was somewhere else, protecting you from yourself."

"How do you know that…"

"I could see it in your eyes, Harry, I could see a dark fog behind them."

He opened his mouth to answer; but her words struck him silent.

"So he will never remember this period?" Asked Saki who sensed her brother's malaise.

"It is up to you, young Potter, perhaps a day will come when these foggy memories will reappear, perhaps this day will never happen. But please remember that a human brain will always do everything to protect its owner. Don't fight too much against it, sometimes it is better to erase dark memories, and leave more room for brighter ones.

"Did I answer all your interrogations?" She added when Harry remained thoughtful, trying to process everything she had told him.

Saki was about to stand up when Harry finally spoke;

"yes, I have one more question."

He glanced at Saki

"Was my encounter with Saki an accident?"

The old woman grinned

"I don't think there are such things as accidents in life. Would you be here today, at this table, discussing your memories with me if you hadn't met this young girl?"

He took a moment to analyze her question. Meeting Saki had led him to his adoption by Gary, had led him to live in New York, where he worked at the Howling Monkey Club, where he took that picture with an English client, a picture that ended up in Draco's hands, then in his best friend's hands, leading to their reunification. He averted his gaze from his tea and turned to face Yui.

"Did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Making me and Saki meet?"

"What do you think?"

"I…"

Harry stopped talking, he knew the answer, or believed he knew. He nodded quietly and looked at Saki, who reciprocated with a small, encouraging smile.

"All right, thank you for all your answers and your time, I think we will go now," he said as he got up. Yui and Saki followed him, but without a word, the elder woman walked to another room before she came back with a wand in her hands. She approached Harry and gently placed the familiar wooden object in his open palms.

"I think you forgot this when you left that morning in 1998."

Harry stared at the wand, completely intact, with the same intimate and powerful feeling against his skin. He'd always been so fond of this wand that he couldn't believe he'd forgotten to take it with him. But without any memories of his past, it made sense that he'd left that room without a strange, small piece of wood. He carefully tucked the wand in his pocket, next to Fred's.

"Thank you," he whispered.

She nodded, then reached for his hands.

"It's good to see you again, my dear. Please don't forget to live, young Potter; you are the descendant of a long and powerful family who valued their blood, status, and power far more than anything else. Your grandfather broke the rules, and your father followed him. It doesn't make you weaker or impure. Don't mind too much about what others might say about you, about how they look at you; remember to surround yourself with good people, and most importantly, to listen to yourself."

She patted his hand and turned to Saki.

"It was nice meeting you, young girl, you seem to be a beautiful soul, a very sharp-witted and loving woman. You must ask yourself many questions, how and why you ended up in this strange story, with these strange people in a strange world. But I think you have been bright enough to accept this new reality without judgment. You are pure, and your kindness, as much as that of your aunt, has proved that there is still good in the world.

Saki thanked her awkwardly, embarrassed to have received such nice compliments from someone she didn't know. Yui walked them outside. A stronger wind had risen in the garden and swayed the branches above the visitors. Harry took the time to look at the statue one last time, then bade farewell to the old woman.

"I hope I never have to see you again, young Potter, in a good way."

Harry smiled, he also hoped he wouldn't have to come back, at least not for the same reasons.

"In all cases; you know where to find me," Yui added with a wink.

He and Saki said their goodbyes and headed to the temple's main gate. Saki's stomach rumbled every few minutes, and although she tried to hide it with clearings of her throat, Harry noticed.

"We better go get something to eat before we do anything else."

"Oh really? As you wish, if you are hungry, we can look for a restaurant, yes."

Harry stared at her with a mocking look on his face, but didn't argue.

"How are you feeling?" Saki asked him when he finally got out of the temple and found themselves at the top of the stairs.

He shrugged and tucked his hands in his pockets, his gaze cast far away over the city.

"I don't know. I guess I hadn't expected that; I always assumed something bad had happened to me here, like an attack or something, and that it wasn't my fault. But in fact, it was me—just me.

Saki slipped her arm around his and rested her head against his shoulder.

"At least now you know, you have all the pieces of the puzzle."

They slowly descended the steps, admiring in detail the nature mixed with the architecture of this old town. The weather was good, much warmer than in New York or England. The air was pleasant, pure, and soothing. Saki stopped to buy food at a stand down the stairs, and they sat down on the nearest bench to eat.

"She's a nice lady, but she made me feel a little uncomfortable," Saki said between bites. Harry laughed and attacked his meal.

He could see why Yui had impressed Saki; he had long been intimidated by such wizards and witches when he had first discovered magic. They gave off something special that you couldn't find elsewhere: an aura, a charisma that inspired everyone's respect. And even though he was used to the Wizarding World after all these years, there were also times when he was still awed by characters like her.

"Can we go see Kiku's grave afterward?" Saki suddenly asked

Harry looked up from his food. He swallowed his last bite and turned to his sister.

"Of course, I was thinking about that too."

Saki smiled,

"And after that, where are we going?"

They looked at each other for a moment, Saki's face bright in the sun, making her skin glow golden. She was so radiant, so important, it seemed impossible to imagine a world where he wouldn't see that smile every day.

"Let's go home."

"Which home?" She asked,

"Our home."