memoryboxes | 31st Memory [Video/Action]

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31st Memory [Video/Action]

[Sayo couldn't remember a lot concerning her kidnapping and how long she'd been gone (she never does), but it actually hadn't been long. Felt like a long time, but it wasn't. All she could think opening her eyes was that she had to go to work soon. She tries to drag herself to her feet using a fallen tree, reaching for the journal that had just fallen from numbed hands. The feed starts up staring up at the trees, where sun was streaming through.

And then the sounds of rustling stops. Off-screen, Sayo is reaching behind her ear shakily, under her hair, where a thumping jagged wound—newly stitched—ran from the back of her ear toward the back of her head. About three inches, but enough to scare her. It hurt to the touch, and maybe it was causing this pain thrumming in her head. Was this always there? This painful mark? And then it hits her.

Something's wrong.

Who's this person in her memories? Why is she thinking of these things? She doesn't remember—

"Mom, why didn't you say anything?!"

I just want to forget...

"Mom!!"

She tries to control her breathing, but the flood of images hit her from all sides, and she wraps her arms around herself. These things—she'd forgotten these things, she wanted to forget them.]

No...

[She jars the journal over with her leg, and clutches her head in her hands before she doubles over. She doesn't even remember his name. It's not fair that she remembers the rest of it: Kaji's hand clutched in hers, she fell, and then that was it. She'd forgotten. She'd forgotten what he'd done to her. She'd loved him so much—]

No!!

[Muffled by her kimono she screams at first, and then the tears start, raw and throaty sounds escaping her. Why did they give these back to her? She didn't want them. She was happy just having Kaji and never remembering the rest. She breathlessly reaches over and hits the journal away, and it lands upside down. Black screen.]

Why—why—

I thought I was... I thought you...

[She hadn't forgotten him the same way she'd played out in her mind.

He forgot her.]

[She'll get up and start wearily toward the village eventually. She just wants to get home--Mithos needs her, and she needs to get ready for the day, and... she's not sure what time it is, but she needs to go.]

[Through the first few days, she goes right back to work at the tea shop and the restaurant. She's found working to be... some sort of distraction. Anything is a welcomed distraction. She's not her usual best, but she'll try hard. She might be forgetting things that she wouldn't usually forget; lately, she's had a hard time focusing, so her notes are blurring together for her. She'll serve as usual, though. She'll be a good worker. Or at least a decent one, all things considered.]

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[Sheena is working on sorting the tea shop back into its proper order - tables and chairs instead of beds and toys, for starters - when Sayo comes in looking determined and lost. And a little wobbly.]

Sayo? ...Everything okay?

[In all the chaos, and being absent from the shop for the week, she didn't notice the kidnapping.]

[It takes her a little longer to get here, since there's so much to be done at the restaurant. At least the tea shop is starting to look more like a tea shop when she walks in. If Sheena hadn't been too observant with Sayo being missing, she wasn't about to mention anything about any kidnappings.]

Ah? Of course! I'm just a little shaky. Must've gone from sitting to working too quickly earlier. And the last few days around here had taken a lot out of me, I admit...

Yeah? What'd you end up doing?

[...And no. She's not about to let Sayo start cleaning up when she looks like this. Instead she pulls her out a chair.]

Sit down then, I'll get you tea.

[She blinks and looks thoroughly surprised by the gesture; she hasn't really stopped to look at herself in a mirror—what's a mirror?—so she hadn't considered she looks as tired and dazed as she feels on the inside. Without another pause she all but flops down.]

I... um... I was. Helping fix up the restaurant, after all that working waiting people...

It was such a commotion last week, wasn't it?

Mmm. Waiting people, huh? Did you have any problems cooking last week, then?

[She's looking for the right question. Sayo's acting kind of suspicious. Also she looks like someone grabbed her and shook her, among other things.]

No, nothing too bad... I admit, I was forgetting a lot because of how much was going on. It was such a rush of things going on... [Hopefully Sheena hadn't seen her little episode on the journals—she shifts in her seat, frowning, hands feeling heavy as they sit in front of her; this sitting has helped considerably, she's ashamed to admit...] I apologize for being missing here the last few days! I hope it wasn't too much.

[Then she realizes that chances are good that Sayo just plain doesn't remember what went on in the past week anymore.]

I wasn't here either. I was doing Brave Vesperia stuff, and I guess while I was out the kids were giving the place a new paint job. ...Look, I wasn't gonna say anything, but are you sure you're, uh, okay right now?

[She never did go get the tea. In fact she just sat down in the chair nearest Sayo's.]

You kinda look like you've seen a ghost. If that weren't a thing that could really happen here I'd be less worried.

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[She hadn't come home yesterday. He'd waited to hear the sound of the door opening and closing behind her, but the silence was never broken. He'd left messages on her journal and was left with more silence. At least the filter hadn't broken; at least the apartment wasn't empty. He'd thought about leaving, about running off and finding her, about the fruitlessness it would wind down to. He'd thrown his journal against the wall. He'd pounded his fists against the floor, his bed, the table. He hadn't eaten - his mind was occupied enough for his stomach too. He'd slept, restlessly, fragmented by long stretches of worrying and wondering and listening to the minutes tick by.

In the morning, he checks his journal again. And again. Then he sees the entry left by her, and watching her eases none of his worry. It's thick in his throat.]

What happened? Where are you?

[She flinches at the familiar voice, hesitates to answer—Mithos. That's right, he'd needed her... He needs her because he's had a hard time lately; she couldn't just leave him to help himself, no matter what. Even if her head feels like it's about to burst. She clumsily crawls through the grass, keeping the voice on, letting the video remain black for now. She has to compose herself, try to clear her eyes and throat.]

Mithos, I—

[No, still too panicked, like she's trying to breathe needily between words.]

I'm sorry, I just—I think I was just confused. I'm alright, I was just... [She drops her head into her hand, fingers curled in her hair. Another quiet, composing breath.] confused.

No, you aren't alright... [He can hear the sharp breathing. He's listening for any clues that give away how not alright she is, because he's had years of practice doing the same with his sister. The lack of video feed is disconcerting, leaving him in the dark.]

Can you remember what happened? [Had someone hurt her? Tried to hurt her? Had she been taken by the Malnosso? Someone else?]

I remember... [everything. She bites her lip, and is quiet for a moment.] I was taken. Those strange machines grabbed me when I—when I was walking home.

I can't remember what happened after that... I just-

There was a room with metal bars...

You were kidnapped... [And returned so quickly. Still, half a day is enough time to inflict all sorts of damage.] Did they hurt you badly?

[That he isn't trying to keep the panic out of his voice, that it hasn't even occurred to him to do so, is a mark of how far he's poked out of his shell with her.]

No, I... I'm alright...

[The thumping pain behind her ear says otherwise, but she's scared to mention it. She's scared to worry them, and also, scared of the reason why it hurts so much. No, she's too busy burning through lost memories, remembering his face, his voice, his soothing way of talking. Kaji's birth, how her husband held him proudly—it's all overwhelming. She can't-

She puts her hands over her mouth, eyes burning as a choked sob tries to escape around her fingers. She trembles at the effort, unseen by the blocked screen.]

I'm alright... It'll be okay... I'm sorry—I'm sorry I worried you. I'm sorry—

[Why didn't he love me? Was it something I did wrong?

I'm sorry if I made a mistake-

What did she do wrong?

Was she too weak?

Was she not there when he needed her? She always waited for him. She was always waiting for him, and even when she wasn't, she found him.]

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[ Prediction of the day: it is not going to be a pleasant one. He'd tell himself this isn't necessarily worrying, but Jesus, what a load that would be. ]

Oi! Hello? Are you still there?

[It's really hard for her to compose herself so she can manage a decent reply, especially when she's just about hyperventilating off-screen. But she swallows the knot in her throat, leaving it to linger in her stomach. This was—this was... no, she knew this one. This was Lestrade. What was his first name? she couldn't remember. She squeezes her eyes shut, leaning against the fallen tree, leaving no reply at first but more distant, sharp intake of breaths—crying has never been this exhausting before, and she wishes she could get a grip on it.

But then she remembers the truth, and the pang in her chest reignites all over again.

Finally, a small, hesitant reply. The screen remains black.]

... I'm here. I was kidnapped, but I-

I'm sorry, I'm okay.

[Breathe. Just. Breathe and try to push it all away.]

Edited 2012-09-04 06:43 (UTC)

You don't have to apologize for it. [ Just a bit of a pause here, but power right on through he will. ] And if I'm honest, I don't think you sound all that okay.

[No, she supposes she doesn't... but what can she say?

Certainly nothing that mattered right now. She can't bring herself to.]

I'm just a little stunned, that's all...

[She lets a little honesty slip.]

My head hurts; I... can't remember a lot of what happened when they took me this time.

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All right. I think that happens once in a while, nothing to be afraid of. [ Or if it is, he's certainly not about to say as much. Better that nobody strays close to panicking right now. ] D'you need a hand getting to the clinic?

It's okay; I'll wait until it's easier to walk. I can take myself.

[Because having someone see her in the mess of a state she's in right now wouldn't do much good; she feels like crawling into the brush and laying there until something clicks, fixes itself. There's the sound of grass shuffling under her hands as she attempts to raise to her knees properly.

Breathe.

...

Which way is the clinic?

What is the clinic, again??

She rubs her temple, wincing.]

If you... um.... could tell me what the clinic looks like...

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[After one of her shifts at the flower shop ends with a little visit to the tea shop, sometime once she's a little more rested and had some time to realize what must have happened, Raine will stop Sayo to talk to her. With the chaos she hadn't even been keeping tabs on Mithos, so of course, something like this...]

-- Sayo. Is your shift almost done here?

[Ah-! Raine, yes. She turns and pats down on the front of her apron and kimono. She looks better than the first moment she'd returned, but it's hard to truly rest when your mind is torturing you. Regardless, there's a sheepish smile Raine's way.]

Hello, Raine! Just a little while more, really. The shop's been in a bit of disarray like a lot of peoples around here, so I've been helping where I can.

[She studies the older woman with a careful look.] You seem to be in a bit of a disarray yourself, you know.

Who, me? [Like usual, her hand goes to her cheek and rests there; it's a tick at this point that Sayo's so used to.] I suppose I am a little worse for wear right now... I've been sitting and resting a lot to get my strength back.

Last week was very hectic. [She gestures toward the mat on the other side of the table, as she's sitting at one of the lower ones.] Why don't you join me for a few minutes?

[Right, she's good with doing that; she plops down with her hands in her lap.]

Certainly... Did you have a difficult time during all that mess, Raine?