A Reason for Being

45. Para siempre

"Let's get married, Ru," a young Y/N said as they ate their favorite snack, mint chocolate ice cream. They paused their daily competition of running around the pond to sit on the grass.

"My parents say I have to graduate college before I get married, and besides, best friends can't get married." He responded.

"That's not true. My grandmother always tells me she married her best friend."

"Marriage is forever, you know." He tried to catch his breath after their race around the pond.

"I know. So is friendship." She replied after successfully beating him in their race. Even as competitive as he was, Y/N always beat him. Not that it bothered him, she always excelled at everything.

A few weeks later, summer came to an end, "Where are you going!?" She yelled as tears ran down her cheek, "summer break is over. I have to go home now, Y/N."

"But what about me? Tooru, you're my best friend...." She cried.

"I'll always be your friend, Y/N. I'll never forget you."

"Wait! One more thing, take Juno with you." She handed Tooru her favorite stuffed animal. The reversible plush was always smiling, even when bullies teased Y/N for having a stuffed animal, as they threw it up into the tree. Juno remained happy. "Why are you changing it to angry?" Tooru asked.

"Because he's angry we are apart. And he will never be happy until we are together again."

"Best friends forever?"

"Yeah, forever."

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That memory replays in her mind as she stares into his cosmic eyes. "I am so sorry." She sobs, "I said I wouldn't forget you, and that's exactly what I did."

In a way, Tooru envied Y/N for forgetting. That year, that summer, and the autumn that followed. All memories were painful for Tooru to replay all alone in his mind.

After he left that summer, as autumn leaves began to disappear, he heard the phone call and the sadness in his parent's tone. Even as he boarded the airplane, he was confused. They waited until they were on land to break the news about Y/N's parents.

"Where is she? She needs me." He cried out, running to the hospital. Even though his parents stopped him from entering Y/N's room, he snuck through.

"I'm here, Y/N. I'm never leaving your side." He latches on to her hand.

Her eyes open to see chocolate-colored orbs looking at her.

"You have pretty eyes. Are you a patient here too? What's your name?"

"My name? It's me, Y/N. It's Ru. It's Tooru. Don't you recognize me?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you are." Her once glimmering eyes were dull looking at the stranger before her eyes.

Tooru was just a kid then. He reacted as a kid would, yelling and crying at his best friend, who seemed forgotten all about him. "YOU SAID YOU WOULD NEVER FORGET ME, YOU LIAR!" he cried out as his parents carried him out of the room.

Localized Dissociative Amnesia. The dissociative disorder causes a person to become unable to recall a specific event or events or a specific period of time. The inability to recall important personal information that would not typically be lost with ordinary forgetting. It is usually caused by trauma or stress.

Such big medical words, Tooru did not understand. He heard the doctors talking as he sat outside of the room. He refused to leave Y/N's side.

"You always took good care of my Y/N." Her grandmother spoke to the little boy, bringing him some hot chocolate, as they sat outside the room.