but it's been so long since I have known the truth

[memoryboxes]

Who: Initially Mithos and Sayo—anyone who wants to visit after she's awake can visit in a new thread, too, if they want!
What: After days of sleeping, Sayo wakes up. Mithos and her have a talk.
When: Thursday, September 13th
Where: At the clinic!
Summary: It just takes a little waiting. Prose or action brackets!
Rating: PG, but probably nothing at all.

She's been asleep for a few days, and during this time she dreams. Sometimes she hears the world beyond her closed eyes, unaware that it's even real... mostly, she's stuck behind a veil of darkness, with both painful and wonderful sequences fading in and out of her mind. The mushi in her head makes slow and steady work to a lot of things, but she distinctly remembers moving in one dream, clinging desperately to someone's hand.

Don't let me lose them

Don't take the memories away again

Suddenly she's sinking deep into the waters of somewhere, some place, and all she can pray as she goes is that she remembers their faces. She thinks, As long as I can keep them in my mind, I'll gladly keep all the painful images, too. She'd tried not to give in, but she did... and she shouldn't have. She remembers visions of Mithos, Sheena, Raine, Sanji, Nami, those at the Seventh Heaven... She reaches for those still frames and then it all shuts down, like a busted light.

But she feels more than one hand take hers in return.

On Thursday morning, there's a jarring energy in her room before a shadow escapes her bedside—visible to a select few, to those who can see or feel the Kagedama. This gray, large blot of life from an entirely different world waves weakly on the wall and then dies. Memories are gone.

Her eyes open slowly, and she stares blearily at the ceiling.

I won't forget.

((She'll be sitting up in bed. She'll make a point to rest there for a day or two, if only for caution and the sake of not worrying anyone too much, so visiting is entirely open))

Comments

[imatreenow]

[Mithos has become well-acquainted with the clinic over the past few days. He had been inside only once before, and not of his own choice, but he can't stay away with Sayo being held there. Even if all he does is sit by the bedside and watch her in her restless sleep and worry for her memories. Second-hand deja vu. He knows she slept like this another time, and by the time she woke up back then chapters of her life had been erased. Under his breath, he murmurs don't forget me, please don't forget me. Even if she cannot hear, he needs to keep saying it, to push it into her war-torn brain.

Raine is always near enough, to keep a watchful eye and take him back to the apartment. It feels wrong, being there and not knowing when Sayo would be walking through the door next. He feels out of place there without her, and he feels out of place here in such a public space. His path never crosses with other visitors - and he doesn't wonder that Raine arranged it that way - but he knows they come. Sayo is human. She isn't alone here.

On Thursday morning, he faintly sees the shadow of the kagedama flickering up the wall for just a second. He almost thinks he imagined it, or it was a dark spot imprinted on his eyes. It vanishes so quickly, taking what with it? Then her eyes open and he's leaning forward in his seat.]

...Sayo? [Quietly, hopefully, cautiously. Her name is as out of place in his mouth as he feels in this clinic. He still can't shake that.]

[memoryboxes]

[She bites her lip, groaning a little at the lights above before bringing her arm up to block it. It's only when he speaks that she realizes he's in the room as well; his stare is met with hers: a confused, unsure, thoughtful stare, as if she's trying to place everything, as if she's trying to figure out the blonde hair and pale teenaged features that she's looking at.

Her throat feels dry.]

[imatreenow]

[In her blurred stare, he slowly recoils. His eyes avert to the side. He doesn't like what he sees there, what he doesn't see. What would she remember? What was lost? Everything but her son - the other one, the real one - and the mundane chores? His mind flies dumbly through the wrenching possibilities. His heart sinks underneath wondering.

He doesn't want her to see past him like a stranger, to shunt him aside like a thing. He doesn't know what he would do.]

[memoryboxes]

... Mithos...

[After a moment she reaches over clumsily, aiming to take his hand. Whatever she's thinking, it's hidden behind a tired, confused face; she'll keep her demons to herself, for now. After all, Mithos needed her to be strong.]

I'm sorry—I don't... Did I fall asleep?

[A small smile.]

I do think I remember overdoing it a bit.

[imatreenow]

[His eyes snap back to her. She knows his name. She's smiling at him. His fear melts away and his body begins to uncoil from tension's grip.]

You...can remember? [His tone is still tentative, still half waiting for the floor to open up beneath him, but half elated with relief.]

[memoryboxes]

[The smile hardly fades. Not at all. Her brow does furrow though.]

... Why would I ever forget you?

[imatreenow]

[Why wouldn't she? What would make her, a human, assign him so much worth that he could stick in her memories no matter what? He's stopped trying to understand it, because while he can understand some pieces of the puzzle he'll never be able to grasp the whole thing, but that doesn't stop him from wondering anyway.] ...I don't know.

[His gaze falls.] I was afraid... That you would forget everything. [But she remembers him. He hasn't lost her to the oblivion of her own mind. He has little else to cling to.]

[memoryboxes]

[She drowsily runs her thumb over his hand.]

I'm sorry. I must've frightened you terribly. [...] I suppose I overworked and got myself a little ill, didn't I? I'll be more careful in the future, I promise.

[imatreenow]

[He'll clasp his free hand around hers. It's the only answer he can give, the only way he can express the terror that held him while she slept.]

Do you feel better now?

[memoryboxes]

[She barely leaves a moment hanging before she starts moving to push herself up with her elbows, of course.] Me? I feel just fine. I have plenty of energy, so I'm not even that tired now!

[imatreenow]

[His fingers tighten around her hand as he perks up in his seat with alarm.] You shouldn't get up so fast. You were out for a few days...it's better to take it easy right now.

[memoryboxes]

[Stopping, she looks over; he truly is worried so much, isn't he? She supposes that's not strange at all, especially considering the events of this last week... She squeezes his hand, smiling.]

Everything's going to be okay.

[imatreenow]

[He knows that's almost never true. But he can accept it from Sayo, wanting badly to believe her. It's okay now. She's better. The worst never came.]

...I just don't want anything to happen to you.

[memoryboxes]

[She really can't help but deepen the smile at that.]

Well, I can't really promise I won't trip over something or need you to dig me out from under a pile of fabric, but I can try to keep it at that, mm?

[imatreenow]

[He has to smile - a little wan, drained from the stress of the past days, but very real. He just nods. He wonders if she can remember anything from while she was asleep, because he can't help but worry that she's pushing down some of the hurt for everyone else's sake, but he isn't sure how to ask. Maybe he shouldn't say anything at all, but...]