Chapter 15: As if He Had Forgotten
Seconds after Lloyd began to cry, everything went black and Aura awoke. Her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright, breathing as though she had been running. Catching her breath, she looked around. She was sitting in Lloyd's bed, alone in his room. Everyone else was outside, except for Kratos and Lloyd, who were standing on the terrace by Lloyd's bedroom.
Remembering what she had just seem Aura began to tremble. She knew who she really was now, the truth of her life of lies, what had really happened to her. All this time, they'd been with her, and she hadn't realized. How stupid she felt and was oddly annoyed that she hadn't suspected that Lloyd was her son. Now that she thought of it, it seemed kind of obvious.
As if he could sense that she was awake, Kratos turned and looked at her. Still trembling, she got up and walked over to them. Lloyd looked at her with a look of concern on his face.
"Aura, are you okay?" he asked. "You're shaking like crazy." Aura nodded.
"I-I'm fine," she assured him. "It was just dream." Lloyd appeared satisfied with this answer, for he said no more. (More like a nightmare...) she added silently.
A few hours later, everyone was in bed, except Aura. She sat alone, by Noishe's shed, back against the wall of the house, staring up at the stars in the night sky. She was silent, and lost in thought, but as she stood up to go to bed, Kratos came out of the door. She stared at him for a moment, then he said,
"There you are, I was wondering where you'd gotten to." Aura didn't reply, but thought for a moment. Then she said,
"Do you want to go for a walk?" Kratos blinked, surprised at this sudden question, then nodded and said,
"Alright." They then began to walk toward the woods and out of sight. Lloyd, watching them from the terrace, silently went through the house and followed them. He dashed through the trees, swiftly and silently, following Kratos and Aura's tracks in the soft earth. He slowed down when he heard their voices and stopped when he got to the edge of the clearing they were standing in. Aura appeared to be crying again and she was standing facing Kratos. Lloyd heard the end of what she was saying.
"...and I'm too much of a coward to tell him who I am..." Kratos, to Lloyd's surprise, reached out and took her in his arms, her arms around his neck and her face buried in his shoulder. She sobbed into his shoulder as he just stood there holding her. A few seconds later, however, he began to stroke her long brown hair comfortingly and said,
"You don't have to tell him right away...but you should still tell him. It would clear up a lot of things." Aura looked up at him and he shifted his arms down to her waist so she could move back and see him.
"I know..." she said. "But I guess I'm afraid he won't believe me, or he'll reject me...I"
"As was I." Kratos said gently. Aura looked into his eyes and smiled.
"Well, if it will make him happy, I'll tell him...I'll tell him tomorrow..." Kratos nodded and Lloyd watched, horrified as his father kissed Aura, as if he had forgotten all about his wife, Anna, and their son, Lloyd. As if all he cared about now was Aura and helping her find her lost memories. Lloyd wanted to look away, to run from his father and Aura, but he couldn't move at all. His body was completely numb, and he still watched as Kratos parted from Aura and simply hugged her, while she buried her face in his shoulder again, as if Kratos could protect her from all the fear and hurt in the world, as if he could bring back everything she had lost and make her pain go away.
And while she stood there, she began to hum a tune. A soft, sweet tune that sounded like a lullabye. Lloyd recognized it at once. He had sung that song all the time when he was young, so why was Aura, the woman he had only met two months ago, singing it? Why did Kratos kiss her? Why had she collapsed? And why did Dirk say he knew who she was? So many things didn't make sense, and when he had found the strength to move and gone back to bed, he couldn't fall asleep until long after the sun had already begun to rise.