p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian was startled awake by the bedroom door forcefully swinging open and Abigail's loud, angry voice, "Sebastian Washington-Park get your ass up right now!"/p
p class="MsoNormal"He groaned, burying his head in the pillow. Abby was having none of it, and ripped the blankets clear off the bed, "Mariah told me that you weren't feeling well but Yoba Seb that woman is too good for you. Unless you're actively dying or have a limb dangling by a string or something you need to get your ass in gear and go help her. What the fuck is wrong with you? I cannot believe that I have to tell you to go help your wife, the love of your life, the mother of your child, who is quite pregnant with your second child with the farm work. I know Mariah is stubborn and independent, but shit, you're better than this. Get the fuck up, and if you're not out of this room in five minutes I'm coming in here and doing it myself."/p
p class="MsoNormal"She stormed off, the door slamming behind her. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Well that was definitely Abby. And I guess my wife's name is Mariah. Mariah and Morgan. And I guess I'm not just going to wake up in my bed./em Sebastian rolled over on his back with a heavy sigh, staring up at the ceiling. The headache was still there, but it was dulled from how it had felt initially. He allowed himself to indulge in just lying there in his self-pity for a moment, before groaning and getting up. He got out his jeans, and swapped them for his pajama pants. He pulled off his shirt, looking down at himself. Yup, still all the same scars, guess that hasn't changed, but he spied another tattoo, which he couldn't bring himself to look at in the moment. He pulled a fresh shirt on instead of his hoodie, given the fact that he was going to apparently be doing farm work. He made his way to the bathroom, before going to get a cup of coffee. There was a pair of sunglasses on the kitchen counter that he donned, hoping that it would help his headache from getting worse while he was outside. Coffee in hand, he headed out the door, surveying what was in front of him./p
p class="MsoNormal"This was definitely the old abandoned farm, but it was far from abandoned now. In fact Sebastian would say that it was thriving. Abigail was with Morgan among some fruit trees. Abby noticed him, giving him a nod. Mariah was in the field in front of him, hoeing the ground around some sprinklers. She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and wiping some sweat from her brow. She smiled when she saw him and he saw her shoulders physically relax. She planted the hoe in the dirt in front of her, slowly making her way over to him./p
p class="MsoNormal""Abby said you're feeling a bit better?" she said, as she got close to him./p
p class="MsoNormal""Uh, yeah," he said, sipping at his coffee, "Head still hurts but not as bad."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Good," she said sounding relieved, "Animals are all set, Abby and Morgan are taking care of the orchard and the greenhouse. Morgan already took care of the bat cave. So all we need to do is plant. The rest of the weeds can wait, and I didn't see anything in need of repair, we did pretty good over the winter keeping up with everything."/p
p class="MsoNormal"She looked at him, waiting for some kind of response, but when he provided none, she continued, "When you finish your coffee, I need you to take over the hoeing for a bit, I need a break. Since the water was off, the sprinklers won't be useful until tomorrow, so we'll have to water by hand for today. First day of the season, especially spring, is always the worst. We'll be set for all the wedding stuff though."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay," Sebastian said, totally oblivious to what she was talking about./p
p class="MsoNormal""You sure you're okay?" she asked, studying him, "You're off today."/p
p class="MsoNormal""The morning hasn't been great," he said with honesty./p
p class="MsoNormal""Mmm," she agreed, but her uncertain gaze lingered for a moment. She moved away from him, sitting down on a chair under the overhang at the edge of the porch, sipping at a glass of ice water. She rubbed at her stomach lovingly./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian watched her for a moment, trying to find memories of their life hiding in the corners of his mind, but the act only caused a sharp pain through his head that made him flinch. He finished his coffee and brought the mug back into the house, putting it in the sink, before begrudgingly making his way back outside. He was tempted to bolt, and run right up the mountain path to his mother's house and go hide in his basement until this strangeness was all gone. The thought made his eyes tear up, but he forced that emotion away, rubbing at his eyes under the sunglasses./p
p class="MsoNormal"When he came out the door, Mariah stood up as well, pushing herself up off the chair, "Alright, you get to hoeing, I'll start with the seeds."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian nodded his head, trying to appear calm while his insides were screaming. He didn't understand what was going on and he certainly had no idea how to use a hoe. All the same, he made his way over to where she'd left the hoe wedged in the soil. He picked it up, feeling the weight of it in his hands. He clumsily tried to copy the movements he'd seen Mariah do when he first came outside. It worked, but was not as clean as the other patches that had already been completed. He repeated the action, with a similar result. He looked across the field. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Yoba there is so much of this to do. This is going to take forever./em He did it again, not hearing Mariah approach him./p
p class="MsoNormal""Your hands are too close together," she commented, looking him over again her face unreadable. She moved closer to him, sliding his hands into different positions on the smooth wooden handle, "If you lift it up like this," she guided his arms, "You'll cover more ground at once and you won't tire yourself out so quickly. And don't feel like you need to go too hard on it, the soil isn't densely packed and should move easily."/p
p class="MsoNormal"He nodded at her, following her instructions, and it worked better. Her eyes were still on him, but as her moved on to the next spot, she turned and went to work planting the seeds where she had already cleared the soil. He kept hoeing, surprised at the strength in his body. He had never considered himself unfit, caring for his motorcycle and walking everywhere made sure of that, but he certainly didn't feel particularly strong. With each strike of the hoe, Sebastian repeated the mantra in his head, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"This is just a dream,/em over and over again so that he wouldn't get give into his fear and anxiety. The work was going more quickly than he had anticipated, but Mariah still caught up to him./p
p class="MsoNormal""Remember when you proposed to me at the flower dance?" she asked, "That was so romantic."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Mmmhmm," Sebastian lied with a nod. If he just agreed with her maybe she'd leave him alone./p
p class="MsoNormal"She was quiet for a bit, watching him hoe. She waited until he got a bit further ahead before planting more seeds./p
p class="MsoNormal""When Morgan was born, was it your mom who held her first? After us that is, I can't remember," Mariah said./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian let go of the hoe for a moment, sucking on his fingertips, desperate for a cigarette, "Uh yeah, that sounds right." em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Why is she saying these things?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"He sighed, picking up the hoe again, pushing forward. He got down the row to where the last sprinkler was and stopped for a minute. He put the hoe down, breathing in, sucking on his fingers again./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sebastian," Mariah said, drawing his attention. Her face remained unreadable, "How old are you?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I, uh, what?" he said, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"shit, shit, shit./em "Shouldn't you know that?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Pregnancy brain," she shrugged, patting her stomach. "I know your birthday wasn't that long ago, but I forget."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm, uh, I…," he trailed off, looking at her, "I don't know," he admitted. His heart started racing again./p
p class="MsoNormal"She sighed, stepping closer to him. She looked like she wanted to reach out and touch him, but restrained herself, "What's going on?" she asked softly, "You're not okay are you?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""No," he said, shaking his head, feeling like he was going to cry, "I don't know what's going on. I'm so confused, none of this is right."/p
p class="MsoNormal""How old were you at the last birthday you remember?" she asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Twenty-four," he answered./p
p class="MsoNormal"Her eyes widened for a moment, "And what's the last thing you remember before waking up this morning? You don't remember me at all, do you?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't really know. I went to bed in my room and woke up here," he said, "I don't know what's going and on and I don't remember you or any of this."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe sunk down, crouching against the ground and he did start to cry. He tried to shield himself from her, but he didn't really have anywhere to hide./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sebastian, I'm so sorry. You must be so scared," she said./p
p class="MsoNormal"He nodded his head through the tears, not speaking./p
p class="MsoNormal""It's okay," she assured him, "I don't know how, but I'm going to help you through this. We'll figure it out."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I just want to go home," he said with a shuddering breath through the tears./p
p class="MsoNormal""I.." she started trying to gather her thoughts, "I'm sorry. This is your home. There's virtually nothing of yours left at Robin's anymore. It's been years since you've lived there. You're thirty. We've been married for four years. You fucking hate the flower dance and would never have proposed there. In fact we both proposed to each other at the same time. Robin wasn't the first one to hold Morgan, Maru was. She was there because she and Harvey helped me give birth because labor happened really quickly and we couldn't get to the city in time. Robin was upset about it, but got over it pretty quickly, but you know how she is so she still brings it up occasionally when she's annoyed with something else."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian was getting overloaded with this information, his breathing becoming rapid, and his head hurting badly. The words she was saying were causing bright flashes in his mind, but there was still nothing that made any sort of sense. He shifted onto his knees, pressing his head into his hands./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah got down on the ground next to him, "I'm so sorry. So, so sorry. Can I rub your back?" Sebastian didn't provide an answer either way, so she gingerly pressed her hand to his back, and started rubbing small circles, "I know you're scared. It's okay. It's going to be okay." Other than the occasional assurance that it was going to be okay Mariah was quiet. The only sounds were the noises coming from Sebastian. Her touch was comforting to him, which was a shock to him, but he was able to avoid a full blown panic attack. Sebastian sat up on his knees, his breathing still ragged. He wiped the tears away from his face, though more were coming. Mariah stopped rubbing his back, but her hand stayed pressed against him. He absentmindedly sucked on his fingertips again./p
p class="MsoNormal""If you want cigarettes, that's going to have to wait. Pierre stopped carrying them after you quit, and Joja mart closed after we fixed up the community center and there's a movie theater there now. You'll have to take a ride out of town to pick some up, which you are in no state to do right now. Personally, I'd prefer if you didn't all together, but you do what you need to do," Mariah said./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian sighed, blinking at her, "How did you…"/p
p class="MsoNormal""You sucked on your fingertips like that a lot when you quit," she explained, "Plus twenty-four year old you would be chain smoking right now."/p
p class="MsoNormal"He nodded, that was fucking right./p
p class="MsoNormal""So no cigarettes, but we do have some weed," she continued, as he looked up at her with that, "We can get a joint, go for a walk."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian's tears had slowed, and he wiped away the drops left on his cheeks, "Please."/p
p class="MsoNormal""You're going to have to help me up," Mariah admitted, "I mean I could probably do it myself, but it would be a lot easier with your help."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian, looked over at her, and nodded. He stood up slowly, and wiped at his face again. He held his arms out for Mariah, who gratefully grabbed onto him. She pushed down on him to support herself getting up./p
p class="MsoNormal""Thank you," she said dusting off her pants, "I am going to try my best to be mindful of the fact that I'm a complete stranger to you, but you're not at all to me. I don't want to overwhelm you either, so please tell me to shut up if I'm getting to be too much."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay," Sebastian croaked./p
p class="MsoNormal"They walked towards the farmhouse, and Abby was looking at them, her face confused./p
p class="MsoNormal""You go ahead in," Mariah said to Sebastian, "I'll talk to Abby."/p
p class="MsoNormal"He went into the house, unsure of what to do with himself. He supposed that perhaps the weed was stored in the same place he used to hide his, so he made his way into the bed room, bee-lining for his desk. He was trembling slightly, so pulling at the false grommet was clumsy and took him a couple of tries. He grabbed the dime bag out./p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh shit there's still some of that left?" Mariah said from behind him, wrinkling her nose, "That is not what you're smoking. That's got to be so stale. It'd probably only be good for baking at this point. Although that is an idea," she said thoughtful for a moment, "Maybe I'll do that later. Anyway, up here," she said, gesturing at the bookcase./p
p class="MsoNormal"She reached on her tip toes to get down a box from the top of it, her fingertips barely able to grip it, but she successfully got it down. She pulled the lid off, holding the open box out to him. He pulled out a pre-rolled joint and the lighter from inside. She replaced the lid, and held the box out to him, "Can you put that back for me?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"He took the box, and slid it back into place./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yoba, you're shaking," she said, "You need to eat something. And drink some more water."/p
p class="MsoNormal"She made her way into the kitchen, pulling a plate of maki roll out of the fridge, placing it on the table. She filled a glass of water putting it next to the plate./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sit, eat," she said to him, pointing at the table. She pulled a container out of the freezer and put it into the fridge, "I'm going to go pee."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian sat down at the table, and picked up a piece of the sushi. He really didn't want to eat, but knew that she was right. He took a bite of it, chewing slowly. He finished the first one, and was sipping his water when Mariah came out of the bathroom. She got another glass of water and sat down across from him at the table. They were silent for a while, just looking at each other as Sebastian picking at the maki roll slowly./p
p class="MsoNormal""It's killing me not knowing what's going on in your head," she broke the silence./p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't talk much," he said. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Especially to strangers./em/p
p class="MsoNormal""I know," she sighed, "But my husband would talk things through with me. I know this is significantly worse for you than it is for me, but can you understand how I'm struggling with this too? You look like him. Fuck I hope he's still in there somewhere."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Sorry I'm not good enough for you," Sebastian snapped at her./p
p class="MsoNormal""You know that's not what I meant," she said with annoyance, "For fucks sake I'm just recognizing the fact that you're not the same person. I know you don't know me, and you don't know that version of yourself, but I'm familiar with you. I just haven't seen you like this in a very long time. I can be patient and supportive, and I'll do my best to try and make this less terrible for you. I just can't be the only one trying here. I'm scared too, and hormonal to boot."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian frowned and mumbled, "Sorry," He put the maki roll he'd been holding back down on the plate./p
p class="MsoNormal""Are you done?" she asked in a softer tone./p
p class="MsoNormal"He nodded his head. She took the plate, covering it up again, and putting it back into the fridge./p
p class="MsoNormal""Let's go on that walk," she said. He stood up, following her out the door, "You can light that up once we're past Marnie's. Just stay downwind from me."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay," he said patting his pocket. They were silent as they walked through the farm, waving to Abby and Morgan. Morgan beamed, waving enthusiastically back, before bringing her attention back to what she was doing./p
p class="MsoNormal""I told Abby that you had a panic attack, and that we were going to take a walk and relax," Mariah explained as they headed down the path to the forest, "People are pretty good with giving us our privacy, so you shouldn't have to worry about too much. If anyone does talk to us, it's normal for me to be the one to maintain the conversation so no one will think much of it if you don't talk."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian nodded his head. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Good./em/p
p class="MsoNormal""We are just going to walk, but we're also going to see the wizard," Mariah said, "See if he knows anything about this."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Wizard?" Sebastian cocked his head./p
p class="MsoNormal""The weird guy in the tower," Mariah explained, "He's actually a legitimate wizard, though he's a bit of a dick. There's actually quite a lot of real magic around here. Of course not everyone knows that."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh," he said. They passed Marnie's heading around the lake. Sebastian took the joint out of his pocket, and lit it up, inhaling deeply. The breeze was blowing towards the north, so there was a small space between them, and Mariah was about a pace ahead of him. They were still close enough that he could hear her when she spoke./p
p class="MsoNormal""So I guess some highlights that you should know if this is going to last a while," Mariah began, "Abigail is married to one of my friends from Zuzu, Carver. They live there for now, but come here frequently. They've been here since Winter Star, and will be going back after the wedding- I'll get to that. They debate about moving here all the fricken time. I think they will eventually, most likely they'll take over the store when Pierre retires, although they might come back before then. I'm guessing Carver will be on the farm when we get back, so that's who that stranger is," She looked over at him, to gauge how well he was doing. When he appeared to be okay, she continued./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sam still lives here, though that's a bit complicated. He's engaged to this wonderful woman named Elizabeth that he met at work and they have a baby girl named Sophie. Jodi was absolutely pissed when she found out that Liz was pregnant and they weren't married. I think she didn't talk to them for more than a week after she found out, until Kent told her to get her head out of her ass. Oh right, Kent is back from the war. Has been for about five years now. He's got some PTSD stuff that he's not doing shit about, but he's mellowed out with time. Anyway, as soon as Sophie was born, Jodi softened right up. She's still pushes for them to set a date for their wedding sometimes, but overall isn't too bad. After Joja closed, Sam started working part time at the museum. He still does. The Goblin Destroyers, your band, still performs occasionally, and Sam also ended up getting a job in the city doing music for a local kid's show. He mostly works remotely, but occasionally goes into the city for meetings. In true Sam fashion, he's unbelievably happy. Oh and one of the sheds on the farm is the music shed, all of the band's stuff is in there, and that's where you guys practice. Although most of the time it's just you and Sam messing around. He works out of there so he's around a lot."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah looked back at him again, "You good? Or do you need a break? I know that was a huge information dump."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It's a lot, so I need a break to process, but it's not making my head hurt like before," Sebastian said./p
p class="MsoNormal"They paused for a moment, Mariah picking a daffodil and twirling it in her hand. Sebastian took a few hits, his mind swirling with all of this information. He was getting so frustrated by the fact that he knew nothing and how much had changed. He felt a bit of resentment towards this woman who he knew nothing about, who seemed to know everything about him and his friends. Things he didn't know at all. Sebastian knew it wasn't her fault, but he was so frustrated by everything and it just wasn't fair. He breathed his next hit in deeply, trying to clear his head. She didn't deserve his anger./p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay," he said as he breathed out./p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay," she nodded, "Things you don't care about, but should still be aware of. Leah and Elliot have both gotten some success with their respective arts. We get some increased tourists because of it, but usually only when something is actually going on. Leah has art shows occasionally, and Elliot always previews his new books at the library before going on tour anywhere else. Shane quit drinking after he almost died. He's been sober for a few years now. Still goes to the Saloon every night though, just drinks sparkling water instead. Still kind of an asshole, unless it has something to do with the ranch, then he's much more pleasant. He's working there full time now that Joja closed. Marnie and Lewis came out with their relationship, which I guess you didn't know about until now."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Huh," Sebastian said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Are you ready to hear about your family?" she asked, "Or I could put a pin in that."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah let's wait on that one," Sebastian said, really not ready to get into that./p
p class="MsoNormal""Alright," she agreed, "So my plan if you're up for it, is to go to the tower, and from there we can go sit in the secret woods, Yoba only knows why we still call it that when everyone knows it's there, and relax to the best of your ability and I'll answer questions you have."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay," he shrugged./p
p class="MsoNormal""Alright," she said. They continued the rest of the way to the tower in silence. The cogs in Sebastian's brain slowly turning, still taking in this new information./p
p class="MsoNormal"When they got to the tower, Mariah banged loudly on the door./p
p class="MsoNormal""Rasmodius open up right now!" she shouted, her face showing a ferocity that Sebastian found incredibly intimidating./p
p class="MsoNormal"The door swung up suddenly and the purple haired bearded man stood before them, looking grouchy. He opened his mouth, but Mariah cut him off./p
p class="MsoNormal""I am not in the mood, don't say a fucking word," she hissed at him, "Any clue as to what could have possibly happened to my husband that he has no memory of the last six years?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"The wizard looked Sebastian up and down, which felt incredibly invasive, "You didn't.." he trailed off./p
p class="MsoNormal""Of course I fucking didn't," she snapped at him. Sebastian wasn't sure as to what they were referring, but Mariah's visceral was a bit of a shock to him./p
p class="MsoNormal""Well I don't know. I had nothing to do with it," The wizard began closing the door, but Mariah wedged herself in front of the door frame./p
p class="MsoNormal""So maybe you had nothing to do with it, but then I'm guessing that em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"she/em did. And I'm guessing that has something to do with you. So you are going to fucking help us, or I will tell her. She's on the farm right now, it would be easy."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Are you blackmailing me?" The wizard asked in an annoyed tone with one eyebrow raised./p
p class="MsoNormal""Kind of sounds like that doesn't it," Mariah said, crossing her arms, resting on top of her pregnant belly./p
p class="MsoNormal"The wizard thought for a moment and then sighed, opening the door, "Come in then."/p