Heather looked down at the table groaning from her lack of interest. Imhotep was teaching her how to read and write Egyptian text, so that she would be able to learn more about her past. The heat in the building took getting used to, and she was constantly trying focus. The wooden table she sat at studying the ancient writing made it harder for her to focus. Eventually, she began to voice her frustration realizing that she was only making more mistakes than correct translations. "Imhotep I don't understand." His voice encouraged her, and it gave her something to focus on besides the heat in the building. "I know it's hard but you will learn." Sighing Heather went back to the page, she was determined to get at least one of them right the first time. When she did, Imhotep smiled proud of her effort. He knew it was hard to relearn so much of the past again. "I have something for all your hard work." Heather's eyes shot up from the page she was working on in order to look at him curious. "What is it?"
Imhotep went to the closet and pulled out a gown of pure white linen, Heather couldn't believe how beautiful it was, especially when it seemed so simple. "I thought this could help you remember." She couldn't help but smile slightly; she went to the bathroom to change into the dress unable to hide her excitement at wearing something so beautiful. It felt awkward at first, yet the breeze ran through the fabric cooling her off. The coolness of the dress was a welcome relief in such a hot room of the building. She walked out of the bathroom and felt Imhotep's eyes on her. Blushing she stood before him, her mind wishing to hear his voice, and his thoughts of her in the dress. A few minutes passed and soon Heather worried if he liked her wearing the dress at all, or if she had done something wrong, but his voice was soft when he finally spoke to her. She could tell though his voice was soft, it was filled with love.
"Come to the mirror. I want you to watch your transformation." Heather went to the mirror and closed her eyes, she was curious as to what transformation she could possibly go through. It was so easy to imagine him with her now however; the more time she spent with him he gave a connection to the past. He began to tie a necklace around her neck; the necklace was heavier than any she had worn before. She looked into the mirror running her hands along the beautiful stones in the necklace, it must have cost a fortune in today's society, yet she knew it was much older than anything made in today's society. "Imhotep it's so beautiful." He smiled as if pleased by her liking the necklace he had given her. "It was yours and now it is again." Imhotep wrapped his arms around Heather's waist slowly. She had welcomed his touch now and found it easier to remember her past, though before she had never liked being touched by anyone.
"I want you to close your eyes again." Heather did as he asked, and laid her head gently on his shoulder finding comfort in the gesture. "Think back, I want you to imagine the smell of incense burning all around you." She did as he asked surprised; she could indeed smell incense around her and soon a moan escape her. Heather recognized it was a moan of pain and Imhotep could feel her body tense from the recognition. "Relax it'll be over soon enough." Heather tried to relax under the pain; it took effort just to live with the temporary pain. Soon however, it diminished to a bearable amount and Heather began to describe what she was remembering. Though Imhotep had never asked her to tell him, she knew this is what she was supposed to do. Deep down her body was afraid, as the memory must not be a pleasant one. Still, Imhotep had comforted her by telling her it was temporary, it wouldn't always be painful, and so she began to relive the memory.
"I can smell incense burning, yet there's a damp musty smell all around the room. It's so dark and I feel so lonely, so very lonely in this place. I'm so afraid, I can hear chanting around me, yet I can't make out the words. They seem to be muffled by something, as if my ears are blocked. There's a faint light suddenly, but nothing else can be made out around me. My body can't even move more than a few inches because I'm so weak. I think I can hear your voice, that it's your voice making the chanting around me. You're trying to save me from something, something that must be horrible. You suddenly stopped chanting, and I realize that there is no more hope left in that moment. My eyes become heavy again and I no longer even...even feel. I must have dozed back asleep for I can't remember anything after that."
When Heather looked up, she could see Imhotep holding her. She gently moved closer into his embrace scared from the memory she had experienced. The thoughts were so scary recently; she couldn't help herself, and she buried her head into his chest. The gesture itself brought her comfort, for she felt safe in his arms. Imhotep run his fingers through her hair in order to comfort her. He could only wait for her to ask him more about what she had been. He wanted so badly for her to ask more about their love, yet he knew of all people to let the past awaken itself at its own pace. If he simply told her everything, she'd be scared, or even worse no longer wish to know about who she was. For though life for her had been so good, it was also very bad at times. He couldn't protect her from the bad moments, and it seemed unfair to make her relive them when she wasn't ready to do so.
Heather looked away from the mirror and back to Imhotep. She truly was feeling like someone else suddenly, as if the memory had transformed a part of her. It was so hard for her to understand everything that had just happened, yet alone the outcome of what had happened. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, yet she wanted to make sure she asked the right ones first. Imhotep had said he'd teach her everything, but she didn't know it'd be this much work. A thought came to her and she looked back to Imhotep. "Why did you stop?" He put his arm on her shoulder looking at her, the question was indeed one of the harder ones to answer, so he made sure it was what her thought. "When did I stop what" Heather looked at him a bit nervous worried she hadn't asked the right question, yet she felt she needed to know the answer to this question above so many other ones. "The chanting in my dream." Imhotep looked away from her and she began to wonder if she would never know, or worse that she had offended him by asking too personal a question.
"You at that point were not with the living you were caught in between life and death." Heather felt her eyes widen slightly from what he had said, she never thought it was possible. "How can that happen? I felt everything as if I was still alive. I certainly didn't feel dead." He sat beside her and took her hand in his. "I tried to bring you back from the Underworld. The Pharaoh's guards took me away, because they didn't want me to bring you back." Looking down Heather realized there was an awkward silence, and she tried to break it the softest way possible. "How? How did you plan to bring me back?" Imhotep got up and brought a book to her. "This is the book of the dead. It has ways to bring people back." Heather traced the cover of the book in fascination trying to read some of the symbols on the cover, yet was unable to get the gist of the main idea. She figured it must be important if he had gone through so much trouble to keep it, yet she wished she could read it herself. Heather suddenly understood the importance of being able to read and write Ancient Egyptian.
"Can, Can we use it?" Imhotep stared at her for a moment before thinking of what to say, he was unsure she truly knew what one could use it for. "Why would we use it?" Heather looked down, that feeling of stupidity rushing over her. She was still so unsure of herself, yet she thought her conclusion had been correct. "If you could bring me back then can you now?" He looked at her not knowing if he should tell her all this so soon, but she had been so quick in putting things together. "We would have to go to Egypt. Back to the temple where I first tried to bring you back." Heather's eyes shone slightly, with a hope of getting to know who she was, and all the answers to the questions she had. "We can do that?" Imhotep laughed slightly amused by how eager she was. "We've defeated death. Do you think traveling is a problem?" Heather smiled as they made plans for them to go to Egypt and bring her back to who she was before. The thought she would have to give up the future of her current life never occurred to her, Imhotep thought she had understood that the moment she asked him to do so.