"It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow."

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Chapter 6 - Yesterdays Both Old and New

In a world of endless tomorrows and yesterdays, you'd think that one might be worried when those yesterdays disappeared, and yet for Ayame that was not the case, for instead of chasing his lost yesterdays, he spent the first week or so with Jaromir in a general state of contentment. He remained unrushed in any pursuit of his former memories, if he even still planned to hold such a pursuit, and he soon grew accustomed to the lifestyle of his new companion.

Yes, it seemed that Ayame fit right in for, as soon as he was up and out of bed, he'd begun trying to help, not knowing what else to do, and usually not what to say either.

However it that turned out to matter very little in actuality, for talk didn't often seem needed to fill the space between them. No, for them the silence that stole about in the air around and between them was a companionable one and when they wished to speak with one another, they did without worries. Ayame was grateful to the man for saving his life, and Jaromir was just glad to have someone to talk to again for the first time in years on the occasions when they did sit down and talk.

And talk was something that became more regular as the days wore on. Talk and work, anything to fill the void within him...At times it almost seemed t do the trick, but there were night when for seemingly no reason at all, the silver haired man would wake up with an ache in his chest that never seemed to go away, as though there was something important missing there, and yet he was considered intact...he looked intact, so why did he feel that way?

In actuality, Ayame knew the answer to that as well for, sometimes he would dream, for dreams are fickle things that, at times, cannot be helped. They are doorways to the past, the present, the future, and the inner wishes and desires, and for Ayame, when was missing touched each and every one of those bases.

This was because, though he could not put a name or face to the voice in his dreams, he knew it represented the past he could not recollect, a future he had once desperately strived for, a wish to be with whoever it was that spoke to him now each and every night as he slept, and something he was clearly missing at the present time. Yes, it seemed Hatori was there even as he was not there, a clear driving force where there should have been none to be had...but I suppose that is simply what love does to you, it leaves a mark that you can never rid yourself of, no matter what you do, or how hard you try.

As the night before it, the dream had come again, this time thought, came flashes, images, things he could not quite make out, but which seemed to hover just on the edges of his memory, still skittering away when he tried to grasp and make sense of them, but coming ever closer each day. But no, he wasn't trying to find out what he had obviously made himself forget. It would have made absolutely no sense to go looking for such trouble, for he knew he would only find trouble, and that ever present ache...if he found out, that ache would intensify...because of that man...wait, what man?

Jaromir had entered and stared at the man who was so like and yet so unlike his beloved brother, and he reached out to brush a lock of hair from the man's face, when Ayame shifted suddenly and nuzzled his hand, a name falling from his lips, a name that Jaromir almost recognized...No wait that was Hitori, a former friend of his late brothers...no, what the snake had said was Hatori, no Hitori...but who was this Hatori wondered Jaromir as he pulled the felled covers up over the silver haired beauty upon the bed.

Who was he indeed that made tears run down Ayame's cheeks, tears which Jaromir carefully brushed away with his fingertips before he left the room.

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The phone rang and an anxious Hatori quickly picked it up. "Any sign of him?" he asked the one on the other line, not bothering to ask who it as and no longer caring to hide his distress. Ayame had been missing for nearly a week and a half now, a whole week and a half. He hadn't called, hadn't said he was going to leave and...Hatori looked down at his clenched fist; or rather he looked at the piece of paper curled up within it. 'Damn him, damn him for doing this to them...why couldn't he...why couldn't he have just said something?'

The phone hang limply in his hand now, "Why was I so blind?" Hatori mused aloud while inwardly kicking himself, if only he'd paid more attention...if only...

There'd been a reply on the other end of the line, but he hadn't heard it, and so he quickly picked it up the receiver and held it to his ear once more. "What?" he asked, feeling uncharacteristically stupid.

"I said I've found him Hari, I've found him!" came the excited voice, followed by, "He's alive!"

According to the note he shouldn't have been, but despite Shigure's being a known prankster, this was something he wouldn't dare joke about...Ayame was alive, at least that much the dragon could be grateful for, but how would he ever face him now?

"Hari, you still there?...I'll be over in a few, and then we can go get him," Shigure said.

"I can't," came the dragon's response.

"Why the hell not? He's your best friend!" the dog exclaimed, for once losing his cool, something that almost never happened...Shigure didn't know about the note.

"I just...can't, he won't want to see me" Hatori replied and then hung up the phone, not wanting to hear whatever else Shigure had to say to him for that comment along the lines of, 'Why wouldn't he want to see you?' or 'Baka, he always wants to see you,' or something else that should have made this all blatantly obvious...that should have given him the ability to prevent all of this from happening. 'But at least he's alive...thank god he's alive.'

And so it now seemed that Ayame's yesterdays, both the old and the new, were going to collide for better or worse, even if he couldn't remember the former ones.

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And so I end this forced and horribly written (oh and rushed, haven't mentioned overly rushed) chapter to the story. Don't worry, I won't be offended if this causes reviews to flag.