I do not own these characters, and this is not a product of the original series. The story is my own.

Chapter 1

Drowning On Dry Land

Dorothy stared at the piano in front of her over the easel, eyes narrow with concentration. The early morning sun beamed through the window casting a glow on the instrument. Her tongue stuck out a bit as she carefully and slowly stroked the canvas with her paintbrush, trying to get the details of the piano and room exactly. She heard a door open and looked in the direction of the sound. Roger stood in the doorway still in his robe with his hair disheveled. Her face brightened when she saw him, and a big smile spread on her lips. His somber eyes looked her up and down, and his face remained blank.

She put the brush down and turned to him, her heart swelling with excitement.

"Good morning." She took a few steps toward him, nervously playing with her fingers. "Did you sleep well?"

He took a few breaths to gather himself before he responded in a defeated tone.

"No… I think I'll go back to sleep."

Roger turned to go back into his room, grabbing the door to close it. Dorothy quickly rushed forward.

"R-Roger."

He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder out of the corner of his eye.

"Hm?"

She walked up to him, uncertainty on her face.

"H-Have I done something?"

"Why would you think that?"

She fidgeted with her fingers again.

"We've been home a week… And you always leave when you see me… You won't talk to me. You won't eat with me… S-So…" Her gaze dropped to her shoes. "So, I'd like to know what I did."

Roger gripped the door and stared ahead of him. His breath shook as he inhaled, desperately trying to keep his wave of emotions at bay. He wanted nothing more than to be around her, to talk to her, to kiss her and hold her in his arms… To feel her under him while he made love to her… But he couldn't. After Leon had repaired her, he had sworn he'd win her heart again, but the grief of losing what they had was too great. And so, he stayed away, unable to deal with the loss.

After a few moments of silence, he felt her gently tug on the back of his robe.

"Roger?"

He let go of the door and turned to her, a forced smile on his sad face. Her gaze was still on her shoes.

"You losing your memories has been… Hard."

"O-Oh… So…"

"You didn't do anything."

She looked up and when their eyes met it nearly knocked the wind out of him. He never imagined being in love would have the power to mess his heart up as badly as it had.

Dorothy stayed quiet for a moment- His face causing a fluttering in her chest. Although he had told her they were close friends, every time he was near, no matter how briefly, her body yearned for him.

"If that's the case," She began, "Then will you join me for breakfast today? Norman should have it ready soon."

"Dorothy-"

"Please?"

He raised his eyebrows, taken aback by the desperation in her voice, and nodded.

"Alright. I'll join you."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Shall we go to the dining room now?"

"Sure."

He followed her to the table and sat at the opposite end as always.

"Why not sit next to me?" She asked.

"Here is good."

She stared off, contemplating for a moment, before getting up and dragging her chair next to his. He watched her plop back into her seat, expecting her to say something, but she remained quiet. In the awkward silence as they waited for breakfast, they both stole glances at each other, looking away when the other began to look.

Dorothy gripped the skirt of her dress.

"If all we are is friends, why does he seem so distraught?" She thought.

Finally, Norman came out with a tray of food and promptly served them their meal.

"Good to see you two dining together once again, Master Roger."

Roger forced a faint smile and gave an acknowledging nod. Norman looked between the two of them. The tension was thick enough to cut with a butter knife. He stood up straight and cleared his throat.

"Enjoy."

And with that he returned to the kitchen.

They ate quietly, Dorothy peeking at him, Roger peeking at her, until finally Dorothy looked at him with a big smile and spoke.

"What do you plan to do today? Norman says you're taking some time off work."

Roger didn't look at her. "I think I might return to work early. Give myself something to do…"

"Well then… Maybe afterwards we could talk?"

"About?"

"About our life before I lost my memories. All I do is paint and play piano all day and I just… I want to know what we did."

Roger took a bite of egg and kept his eyes on his plate.

"You and Norman kept the house in order."

Dorothy's face fell. "That's it? I was… The cleaning lady?"

Roger paused before answering. "You'd help on cases occasionally and we'd… We'd spend our nights talking on the roof before bed."

Her smile returned. "That sounds lovely."

"It was…"

"Can we start doing it again?"

He froze with his fork in his hand and looked at her. The emotion in his eyes made her fidget yet again.

"If we were close before, I want to be close again. I feel…"

He put his fork down. A glimmer of hope peeking through the fog.

"You feel?"

"I feel…"

She trailed off not knowing what to say. She didn't want to tell him she felt hollow without his presence- That she had an unexplainable need for him, and it confused her. They might have been close, but she had no idea if her previous self ever expressed emotions beyond friendship.

"Yes?"

"I-I feel." She closed her eyes and sighed in defeat, not having the courage to say it. "Just let me be close to you. Please. Just let me."

He quietly stared at her. She said it in such a pleading tone he almost didn't know how to respond.

"Why does her voice sound so… She sounds like she needs…" His thoughts trailed off.

He had spent the week thinking of himself and his heartbreak. He never considered she might be struggling with difficult emotions as well, and not just desiring to get her memory back.

"Ok."

She reopened her eyes and looked at him.

"Really?"

"If that's what you really want."

Dorothy's face broke into a smile once more and she nodded happily.

"Yes! Yes, that's exactly what I want." She grabbed his hand and held it. "Thank you."

Roger let out a shallow breath at the sensation of her skin touching his. He looked down at their hands together and curled his fingers around hers.

"You're welcome."

He tried to move his hand away, but she gripped it tighter. He reluctantly looked at her again, and her face held a mix of emotions within her smile.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Are you lying to me?"

His muscles stiffened.

"What?"

She bit her bottom lip not being able to take it.

"Talking on the roof… What did we talk about on the roof?"

"I-I… We talked about a lot of things."

"Where is this coming from?" He wondered.

Her heart began to beat uncontrollably, and her tone became urgent- Almost panicked.

"But what? And what did we do after? You said we were close? How close? And in what way? In what way were you close to me?"

Roger placed his other hand on top of hers.

"Dorothy, are you alright?"

She began to breathe heavily and nodded her head. An overwhelming mix of anxiety, fear, anger, and sadness from deep within erupted like a volcano.

"Tell me what we were."

Roger frowned in concern.

"Dorothy-"

"Tell me what we were, Roger."

"Dorothy, what's-"

"Just tell me what we were!"

Roger stood from his chair and lifted her out of hers by her shoulders, pulling her trembling body into a tight embrace.

"Wow… It's ok. Whatever it is, you're ok."

She wrapped her arms around him and clutched his robe, clinging to him as if she'd die if she'd let go. Her chest heaved as she struggled to control her breath. He rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head, repeatedly ensuring her she was alright. His kiss seemed to knock her back to her senses and she began to calm down the longer he held her in his arms. When she was calm enough, she pulled away embarrassed.

She stared wide-eyed at the floor. "I'm sorry I- I don't know what just happened."

"Dorothy…"

Roger took a step forward as she took a step back from him. Confusion and concern spread on his face. What had just happened to her?

"Dorothy…"

He tried again and took a slow step forward. She looked at him still wide eyed. She had no clue what had come over her, but it frightened her.

"I think I should lie down…"

She quickly turned to leave.

He reached out to her. "Wait!"

She ignored his call and hurried to her bedroom. He stared after her in a state of uncertainty and shock. Why did she panic like that? Could it be residual aftershock from everything she went through? But how? Her memories were gone. He hurried after her and knocked on her bedroom door.

"I'm lying down." She called from inside.

"It's me. I'm worried about you. Can I come in?"

"No. No, I don't think so."

"Come on, please, Dorothy. Can you please let me make sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine I'll- I'll see you later."

Roger sighed. Perhaps staying away from her wasn't a good idea after all. He headed back to the dining room to finish his food. He'd give her the space she requested for the moment, but he wasn't going to let it go that easily.