Chapter Twelve: Unforgettable
When Kie awoke it was in a bed with white linens and lavender smells. It took him a few seconds to remember everything but when he finally did he jumped out of bed and looked at his surrounding. There were three large windows that were spaced on the wall around him. His bed was a large king sized four-poster that looked as if he had been sleeping in it for days. There was a cabinet and dresser set against the wall and a short series of stairs leading down to the door.
On the dresser sat a bowl of warm water and washcloth, but Kie disregarded them and headed for the door. He noticed that he had been changed into nightclothes.
The door opened easily, which, for some reason, slightly surprised him. He found himself in yet another brightly lit room, covered with plush red and gold carpets and wall hangings. It seemed familiar.
He tore down the hallway that separated him from what seemed like the main room. Once there he saw a door at the top of a set of stairs that was guarded by two sentries. He eyed them momentarily before walking out into the open. He felt a light tap on his shoulder before he turned swiftly around to find himself face to face with a soldier.
"They've been waiting for you Mr. Kie," the man said motioning to the door above his head. Kie looked at it, then back at the man curiously.
"Where's--" Kie began, then noticing the emblem on the man's right chest he shut his mouth. He knew exactly where he was. He was home. Well, as much as home as he'd ever known.
He sprinted up the stairs and knocked on the doors once. He quickly realized that he was in a castle now, not the manner in Burmecia and he didn't have to knock. He cleared his throat and looked nervously down at his knees as the sentries eyed him inquisitively and opened the doors for him. He nodded to them and entered.
There he saw Freya, Fratly, Zidane, Garnet, their old friends Steiner, Beatrix, Eiko and Amarant, but no sign of Nami.
"Zidane, you're up," Fratly said warmly, though he seemed to be the only one. The others looked at him with either worried eyes, or blaming gazes. The blame was mostly by Zidane.
"What happened?" Kie asked nervously, though he felt that now was no time to be shy.
"You appeared at the castle not long ago, you and Nami. You were unconscious and she had wings, strangely enough. You were taken to bed immediately," Fratly explained as he stood with the rest. Until now he had been the only one seated besides Garnet who was perched on a throne at the head of the room, looking worn and worried.
"And…Nami?" he asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"Has no recollection of anything," Fratly said.
"You mean of what happened on the Forbidden Continent?"
"No. He means of anything," Zidane cut in harshly. Garnet sent him a pleading look, causing him to look less furuios and more compassionate.
"What Zidane means is that it goes farther back than that," Eiko said hesitantly. Kie always liked her. Though he'd been told that she was somewhat of troublemaker in her younger days, she was now a kind and beautiful princess. He did not, however, understand what she was trying to say.
"What do you mean?"
"She can't remember anything Kie," Garnet piped up. "She doesn't know me, or Zidane, or Freya, Fratly, or…you."
"She doesn't remember anything?" Kie repeated. How was that possible? What could possibly have taken her memory of the ones who loved her the most? "Wh—ho—I don't understand," he finally managed.
"When we approached her on the court yard, where you both appeared, she didn't know us. She didn't know where she was, who we were, or what she was doing here," Freya said.
"Even worse," Eiko put in, looking sadly into nothing, "she didn't even know who she was."
"Where is she now?" Kie asked trying very hard to keep the shaking out of his voice.
"In her room. I think she slept a bit, but she can't have gotten much," Garnet said.
Without another word, Kie turned from the others and bolted out the door. Amarant made his way after him but Zidane put a hand on his old friend's shoulder and shook his head, looking sadly after the boy that was currently running to a person who knew nothing of his existence.
Kie tore up and down stairways, flew over benches and chairs and skipped around the few courtiers that dotted the hallways. He was almost there; surely once Nami saw him, looked him in the eye, she would know who he was. They had, after all, been inseparable since childhood.
Finally he reached her door. There were guards posted around it but they gladly let him enter. Kie noticed, uncomfortably, that they all wore grim expressions on their faces. It couldn't be true!
Kie knocked. "Nami?" he called before pushing it slightly open. There she was, sitting stiff as a board on her own bed that she had fallen asleep on countless night before. She glanced out the window with a look on her face like she wanted to go home. But you are home, Kie thought miserably.
She turned to him in a flash of strawberry blonde hair and shinning eyes. She had been crying. She stood in one fluid motion.
"Yes?" she asked formally. Kie stepped inside, unable to believe his ears. "Has someone sent for me?" she inquired. There was silence and an awkwardness so intense you could cut it with a dagger. "Who are you?" she finally blurted out. Kie's heart skipped a beat. Who are you? Her words echoed in his mind like a broken record. He searched her face for any kind of recognition but there was none. She truly didn't know him.