Disclaimer: I do not own any Harvest Moon's characters.
Ash stared at the girl in disbelief. Did the girl he once loved say she loved him? How could that be? Four years ago, she was the one who rejected him and chose Cam instead. Then all of a sudden, she said she loved him. Everything didn't seem to go together. He studied Lillian's honest face. She was smiling yet her smile showed her desperation for a good answer.
"What did you remember?" Ash asked.
"The image is kind of fuzzy but I remember when I go to school, you kick me out of your seat because it was yours," Lillian said.
"Anything else you remember?"
Lillian squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to replay the memories from before.
"I.. I think I became a maid at your house, you saved me from sinking in the pool, you tell me about your mom, and…" The girl blushed. The heat ran to her ears as she confessed to Ash. "That one night in the rain, y-you suddenly uh-uhh… p-put you lip on mine."
Every confusion Ash had were now solved. He didn't remember any of those moments with Lillian so there must be one last conclusion. Her memories were of Cam but she was just mixing up the person. Ash didn't know whether this could be a bad news or good news. He was glad that she had gained some of her early recollections with Cam. Then again, it would be bad if she fully recognized him since he was getting married to Laney. This could tear her heart apart. Ash bit his lip and frowned. He hated lying to Lillian but this was for Cam's and her goods.
"What's wrong? You look sad…"
"No… It's just that….I-" Ash paused and clenched his fist. "I'm sorry Lillian, but I love someone else. Those memories you saw were false. You only make them up in your head! They only live in your mind! They're not real."
Lillian looked at Ash with a puzzled expressions. Then she stared blankly into space.
"Were those memories lying to me..? They are liars!" Lillian cried. She hugged her head as tears ran down her cheeks. "M-my head hurts. Make it stop! Make it stop! I do not like it! My head hurts! I do not like the pain! Please make it go away!"
"C-calm down, Lillian… I…" Ash tried to reassure her.
She looked at him with her teary eyes. She frowned and blinked a few times.
"W-who are you…?" Lillian asked.
"I'm Ash! Get a hold of yourself, please!"
Lillian looked more frightened than ever. She pushed Ash away and held her hands to her chest.
"You are scary!" She cried.
"H-hey.. I'm sorry… Let's get back to your room," Ash suggested.
She nodded her head. "Can you take me back to Phillip?"
"Y-you know who Phillip is?"
The girl nodded and replied, "He is my brother."
"Do you know me?" Ash pointed at himself.
She shook her head. "No, but you said your name is Ash, right?"
"Yeah... Let's just go back." Ash sighed. He knew he had done something terrible to Lillian. All the guilt were haunting him as he stared at the confused girl. She had lost her memories once again.
"Welcome young master Ash!" Nori greeted in front of the mansion. "Are you looking for our young master today?"
Ash nodded then entered the mansion. He stormed to his best friend's room and violently knocked the door.
"What?" Cam replied as soon as he opened the door.
"We—No, you have an emergency!" Ash exclaimed.
"What are you talking about?"
Ash entered Cam's room and closed the door behind him.
"It's about Lillian's memories."
Cam stared at him quizzically and furrows his eyebrows. His heart was racing, afraid of words that might be spilled.
"Cam, she's slowly remembering you," Ash said. "Her memories were only about you. That was all she remembered."
"What? Are you saying she knows me?" Cam asked.
"I don't know if it's bad that she doesn't remember who you are. But it seems like her memories were mixed up and confused with me and you. So she thought she remembers me instead of you."
Cam forced a small smile and stared at the big teddy bear that Lillian once hugged during their movie night. The thought of not being with her anymore made him sad but he had no choice. He could only carry the sorrowful feeling inside his heart and kept it hidden.
"That's good. She's not remembering me," Cam murmured.
"Are you not listening to what I am saying or are you just being stupid? Those memories of you might be blurry to her for now but she will remember you soon, very soon," Ash replied. "To cover up her recollection of you, I had to lie to her. I told her those memories were fake. She broke down crying then forgot everything, again."
"Thank you for helping me, Ash."
"Look, there is still a possibility she will remember you before she falls in love with someone else. It might not go as you plan, Cam. You might think this is the best for her but you're hurting her," Ash stated.
Cam clenched his fist and punched the wall. The room shook.
"What do you think I can do now in this situation?! Can you tell me the answer, Ash?! Do you really think I want to get marry to Laney?! My father's stupid wife gave in her temptation with money and set up a marriage for me without my permission! I can't even run away because she hires securities to watch over me twenty- four seven. Now, Lillian can only be confused with her blurry memories and my lies!" Cam shouted. He punched the wall once more time, creating a massive hole. His knuckles were dripping blood but he didn't seem to care at this point.
Ash had been so caught up with Lillian's feelings that he forgot about his best friend's. How could he be so selfish as to not consider Cam's feelings in this moment? Cam loved Lillian so much yet he could only stand there, watching her slowly fading away from him. He was the one who wanted to talk to her the most, more than anybody else. Cam was drowning in the sea of despair and hopelessness and he was more desperate to gasp for air. Yet no one wanted to save him; they couldn't.
"I—"
"Forget it," Cam cut Ash's sentence off. "I know you were only frustrated that you had to lie to Lillian. That's the last thing you want to do, right? Thank you for helping me. Can you give me some alone time with myself. I think I might need to breathe a little bit."
"Okay…" Ash said as he exited the room.