Toby waited for Luna to leave her house, then followed her at a distance. He tried to remind himself that, for the moment, he was not dealing with his girlfriend but a girl who'd lost her entire memory. And this girl was part-wolf, which could turn out very badly if she got angry at him.
Luna went into the boiler room, where she found Pete sitting at a crate with a large ham, likely stolen, in front of him. "Hey, Pete."
"Hey, Luna. How's your head?"
"Fine, thanks." She looked at the table, which Pete had fashioned from an old barrel and circular piece of wood. "What, no spaghetti and meatballs?" she queried.
A look of surprise crossed Pete's face, but disappeared so fast that Luna would have missed it if she hadn't been looking for it. "No, why?"
She shrugged, wondering how to interpret the look of surprise. Was he surprised that she'd asked, or that she seemed to remember it? This is getting more confusing by the minute, she thought.
Despite the cold outside, Toby watched through a crack as Pete and Luna ate the ham. "If they do the same thing with that ham as Luna and I did with the spaghetti, I'm gonna hurl," he muttered.
Luna seemed to be thinking more or less the same thing. While Pete ate with gusto, she ate slowly and avoided going anywhere near his muzzle. She was also eating very slowly, as if she was beginning to sense that something was wrong. At last, all the meat was gone. "So, who gets the bone?" asked Luna.
Pete grinned. "Well, how about we each take an end…?"
Toby couldn't take any more. He barged through the door with every hair on his body standing on end. "All right, Pete," he growled. "Enough is enough."
Pete's head whipped around and he bared his teeth. "Not you again, pipsqueak."
"Pete, you're taking this way too far."
"Grow up, kid. Luna doesn't want to talk to you. Deal with it."
Luna cleared her throat. "Pete," she interjected, "I can speak for myself, thank you very much." She turned to Toby. "Toby, I've done as you asked and given the matter some thought. Now please leave me alone."
Toby put his foot down hard. "No, Luna. I'm not going anywhere until you remember me for who I am and not who this phony wants you to think I am."
Pete snarled deep in his throat. "Go away," he ordered. "Or I will make you go away."
Toby stood defiant. "If you do that," he replied, "your little act is over. If there's any of the real Luna here—the Luna that I care about—she wouldn't let you hurt me unless I directly attacked someone."
"Boys!" snapped Luna. "If you're going to argue over me, do it someplace where I don't have to put up with listening to it."
Pete grinned. "Fine by me. Come on, pest. Let's settle this outside."
"I'm not going to fight you, Pete. I just want Luna back."
Luna glared at him. "Now, Toby."
Reluctantly, Toby left the room, followed by Pete. "Look, Pete," he said slowly, "I know I got you kicked out of your gang, and I can't say I'm sorry. But if you want to get back at me, leave Luna out of it."
Pete laughed. "Don't treat me like an idiot, Toby." Toby resisted an urge to retort that doing so would be perfectly fitting. "We both know good and well that Luna had as much part in that as you did."
No, I didn't, thought Luna, listening to their conversation. Or did I?
"Pete," Toby growled. "Luna and I have been friends since we were pups and you've been trying to drive us apart almost as long. Now once and for all, back off."
Pete laughed. "Don't you get it?" he asked. "I didn't take her away from you. She chose to ditch you because she doesn't remember all your little games, or your silly dates, or Loki…"
As Luna listened to Pete's taunts, it was like someone was running through the hallways of her brain and throwing open doors. In a flash, she remembered her puppyhood games with Toby, his many visits to her in the hospital, their search for her mother when Steele came back to Nome…
Luna gritted her teeth. Nobody takes me away from me. She strode out the door and sidled up to Pete. "Hey, big boy," she said in a sing-song voice. Then she slammed her head into his chin, sending him reeling. "That's for lying," she snarled. She drove her full weight against him, knocking him into the snow. "That's for using me. And this…" Pete cringed, unable to take the surprise assault. But Luna just turned her back to him, kicked some snow in his face, and trotted over to Toby. "This is for not giving up," she said with a peck on the cheek.
Toby smiled. "It about time," he said, turning back to Pete. "Looks like the show's over, Pete."
"How did you…?" asked Pete.
"The next time you blab your plans," Luna interrupted, "try checking to see who's listening first. Now get out of here before my real boyfriend and I make you."
Pete rolled to his feet and stalked away. "Next time…"
"Pete, if you don't get out of here, there won't be a next time," said Toby. As soon as Pete was gone, Toby turned to face Luna. "It's good to have you back."
Luna smiled. "Once I knew what Pete was up to, and heard him mention some of the stuff you tried to tell me, things started to click," she explained. Then she made a face. "Now if only I could forget that I ever dated him."
Toby grinned. "Maybe we should try to give you amnesia again and hope that part never comes back."
Luna shook her head. "No, it wouldn't be worth the effort. Besides, I still can't remember everything. Just enough."
"Oh," said Toby, looking at the ground. "Is there any way I could jog your memory?"
Luna wrinkled one corner of her mouth and stared upward for a moment. "Well, I can think of one thing that might help. Come on." She led him to the storage lot. "Do you think you could lead us to the exact spot you told me about?"
Toby shrugged. "I guess so." The two of them wandered around a little until Toby stopped. "I think it was here," he said.
Luna stared around. "No," she said sadly. "Not ringing any bells."
Toby frowned. "Oh," he sighed. "Well, you'll remember sooner or later."
Luna nodded and smiled just a little. "Yeah, but until then…" She trailed off.
"What?" asked Toby.
"Well, you could always refresh my memory a little."