When All Was Lost...
Chapter Thirty-0ne
31
BOOM!
BANG!
CRASH!
CLATTER!
These were all the sounds Akarii could hear as she fell backwards under the weight of an ash-haired male that held her tightly in a blue leather clad embrace.
It seemed he caught them both in time as he landed on his knee pads and held her up against his chest.
"Akarii..." He spoke her name between his shaking sobs,"We thought you were dead!"
She didn't understand her own actions. Her hands trembled, gripping to the back of his leather jacket. All she could feel was loss...confusion...and the sting of tears. As though she had finally been found...
"Yusei...I'm scared..." she tried to muster out the words but it seemed her emotions remembered more than she did.
"It's okay!" Yusei said pulling back happily,"You're safe now! You're home! A-And Crow-"
She felt the shock jolt through her once again.
"Crow! Does he know!? We have to tell him-" As quickly as he stood, he just as quickly met the ground once again in a stumble as she gripped at his clothing and tugged him back.
"Akarii!?" Yusei stammered, in surprise of the sudden reaction.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry!" she panicked and quickly released him,"Just..please, please don't tell Crow anything yet-"
"What...? Why!?" he blinked,"Crow has been worried sick about you!" he said to her,"For 3 years he worried, we all did-Why don't you want him to know you're okay?"
"That's what I was trying to explain before Yusei..." said Rally as he entered in quietly and began to pick up the clutter that fell from Yusei's tackle into his long lost friend.
"This...is Akarii...but there's something odd about her..." he said awkwardly.
"What do you mean, 'odd' Rally?" Yusei blinked in confusion gathering quickly to help him clean up.
"Well...not in a bad way." Rally blinked,"Well I mean it's not exactly good either..."
"What is it, Rally!?"
"She seems to have amnesia, Yusei." said Nervin.
This got Yusei's attention and he jolted and glanced back at his friend.
"That's right." said Rally,"See I suggested to take her to Crow too...but she seemed real scared about it..."
"Because she doesn't remember him." Tank sighed sadly.
"...I see." the news was... unsettling...but he took in deep breaths and spoke calmly,"Do you remember me?" he asked her.
The weight of his eyes on hers was unbearable.
"I remember...some things." she muttered softly,"Just not...everything."
"I see." He appraoched her carefully and took her hand in his, pulling her to her feet from the dirty floor and sitting her on the couch next to him.
"All right Akarii." he said to her softly," I want you to tell me everything you remember." he said in a gentle tone,"I'll do my best to fill in the blanks."
"Okay." she sighed,"I warn you...it's not a lot, but I'll do my best to recall what I can..."
XXXXX
It was a long conversation.
Akarii poured everything out to him that she could recall.
How she was running away from somewhere.
How she hopped a barge and wound up here in search of someone.
All the way up to the point where she passed out in the alley and was found by Rally.
"That's... a lot to take in..." Yusei stated in a huff. He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to comprehend it all.
"There are a lot of blanks here Yusei...and I don't know how to fill them."
He sighed softly, twirling his thumbs together.
"Whatever you were running from...I think you put up a mental block to it."
"A mental block?" she blinked,"You mean...I did this to myself?"
"I'm not entirely sure." he blinked as he brought his folded hands to his chin,"But it seems likely..." he said softly, "You see...when someone endures a lot of trauma...sometimes it can be so bad...that it causes them to put up a block from remembering it..." he explained, "Snf from what I gathered here...it sounds like you went through some major trauma..." he sighed, "From what you told me...about moving on instinct ...like something you know but don't remember...that's just what it feels like to me." he sighed and leaned back on his hands, blue eyes glancing up to the ceiling,"That person you were looking for...I'm almost certain it was Crow."
"You think so?" she blinked,"Why do you think that?"
"Well...because that's what your "instinct" always did..." he said softly,"Ever since we were kids...Even when you did remember."
She turned to him and listened carefully.
"You and Crow... were always really close." he said softly, " Ever since we were all kids," he blinked,"He was your best friend even before I came along." he chuckled,"Whenever you were scared, or needed help...you always ran to Crow."
As she listened to his explanation, she closed her eyes to think about the things he said.
The more she thought about it as he went on...
The more it somehow made sense to her.
"If that's true then, shouldn't he be the one I remember most?"
"I think you do, Akarii." Yusei said softly."I think you remember him so much that he is more of a natural feeling now, than just some person like me or Jack."
She twitched at the mention of the name Jack.
Something about it sent shivers through her...but at the same time it hurt her heart.
"Look, I'm not gonna force you to go anywhere today." he said softly placing a gloved hand onto her head."You've had a long day...and a lot going on in your head." he sighed,"I won't tell Crow... for now...But we should tell him eventually, he might even be able to help even better than I can."
"...I just...need some time to figure out what's going on in my head." she sighed," I can't remember him, but somehow I do know that he meant a great deal to me...and if it's the same for him then..."
"...Then you don't want to go to him and tell him you don't remember." Yusei sighed,"I understand to an extent, but I also feel like he could help." He shifted his gaze over to her,"Crow is your friend Akarii, he'd never turn you away."
She didn't know how to respond to this.
"I just...want a chance to remember...on my own."
"I'll give you a little time." He said softly,"But eventually...you really should tell Crow."
Yusei's sighs were heavy.
She could hear the guilt of keeping this secret weighing on him.
If she was being honest, it was starting to weigh on her too.
She could feel her hands shake when suddenly one of them was swallowed into the warmth of a leather grip.
"Don't worry about it right now." he said softly, squeezing her hand in his,"You can stay here." He soon released her hand and peeled away his jacket which he then draped over her shoulders,"For now...you should get some rest." he said as he stood,"Don't try to rush anything...your memories should return in their own time."
That was the last thing he said before he walked out.
Like her, he also had a lot to ponder.
She sat alone on the broken couch, draping herself into his jacket as she lay, closing her eyes and just letting everything around her fade into the darkness...
To be Continued
