A Book of One-Shots

Memories - Xephna

hip: Xephna (Or any ship really, I just picked this one)

Type:Emotional / Sad/ Do-You-Feel-Like-Killing-Your-Readers

Due to some kind of accident, Lalna ends up in a coma. Xephos stays by his side every day, even though his friends try to drag him away, because he feels like he should have been there to help. After months and months of waiting, Lalna slowly wakes up, only to have lost all of his memory of who he is or his relationship with any of the others, his love for Xephos lost with it.

Day 1?

Ridge just handed me this journal, patted me on the back, winked, and vanished. He’s a bit strange, isn’t he? I might as well use it, considering. I don’t really know how to set the days, we don’t really have calendars here, just a basic setup so people can plan things. I’ll just go by how many days apart these are, that should work.

Day 2

What do people do with journals? Spill secrets? Don’t think they’ll be much of that coming from boring me. Maybe I could talk about Lalna? I don’t really talk about him so much as I talk to him, so maybe I can tell - er, write about how wonderful he is in here. Or some of his habits that bother me. Hah! Already it seems nice just spilling things out - perhaps Ridge knew I had too little contact with others recently. The things I keep from Lalna are few and far between - but maybe they’ll be safe inside the leaves of a leather bound journal. Interesting concept.

Day 3

Let’s start, shall we?

I finally convinced Lalna to go to sleep, and he’s now snoring away in the bed behind me. I managed to take off his goggles and lab coat, but he refused to change into some clean clothes to sleep in. Maybe I’ll get away with washing that damn coat before he wakes up.

Anyways, he’s been truly wrapped up in this project of his. He says its one of the most exciting things he’s ever built, and it’ll improve our lives together. I believe him, of course, but I already find our lives to be perfect. As long as he’s with me, things are wonderful.

Day 7

He doesn’t come out for dinner anymore.

I bring it to him, and in the morning find the plate, still filled with food. I worry about him. I think I’ll talk to him tomorrow, convince him to take his experimentation in moderation. It’s really not necessary to spend so much time on this project of his.

I miss him.

Day 8

He got extremely upset when I went into the lab today. He started pushing me out, telling me it was too dangerous for me to be in there. I told him that he needed to get some rest, eat, just take a break from the project. I guess I should’ve known he’d lash out then, but I had to try. He said he’s doing it for us, so that we can be safe and happy. I tried to explain that we’re safe when we’re together, I’m happy when we’re together. He wouldn’t listen. He said it’s bigger than I know, that I wouldn’t understand why he had to do this.

I guess I don’t.

Day 9

I don’t know what to do anymore.

The bed is always cold on his side. His place at the table always empty. His food always untouched. The lights in the lab are always on. He’s locked the door, “for my own good.”

I feel like I’m losing him.

Day 14

There was an… accident. An accident. My God it was awful. I hadn’t been able to sleep, and I was just standing there on the balcony, and then suddenly there was just an explosion - an explosion of light, of sound, of heat. When I came to, I was in the courtyard, the grass having been burned away, the fountain rubble. Smoke was thick in the air, and I tried to find the lab. Where it had been, at least. I staggered about, knives stabbing at my lungs with each shaky breath. I could feel tears streaking down my face as my hoarse voice called out his name repeatedly. Eventually, I felt a something crack beneath my feet, and found his goggles. I carried them with me until I found him face down on the ground. I staggered forward, falling down next to him, shaking his shoulders desperately.

Then there was a soft touch on my shoulder, and I turned to see a girl with flaming red hair standing over me. She knelt down next to me and told me to focus on her, and she began bandaging my arm. There was a flash of purple, and then there was the mage. He stood over Lalna, disappointment in his eyes. I wanted to get up and shove him away, knowing their history. Couldn’t they just leave me with him?

But Zoeya gently grabbed my face and made me look at her again while she took a cool rag to my face. Rythian picked up Lalna and flew off. I tried to get up then, but once again Zoeya pulled me back down, pulling out a life stone and putting it in my hands.

She said Lalna would be okay, and that I’d be okay, and I’d get to see him soon.

I never let go of the goggles.

Day 16

He’s in a coma.

That’s all they could say. His burns had been treated, his skin was healing, there was nothing seriously wrong with him. My hand hurts when I write, and the nurses keep telling me I should be resting as well, but I ignore them. I spend my waking hours in the chair next to his bed, and I fall asleep there to. Rythian comes by every now and then, casts a few spells, but none of them never seem to work. Yesterday, when he was leaving, I grabbed his arm and thanked him. He only nodded and left once more. I still don’t know why he helped us.

Honeydew comes by too, asking if I would come back to the factory soon. I didn’t know how to reply. Part of me wanted to try and return to a normal life, but it truly wouldn’t feel normal with Lalna gone. I had to stay here. I had to wake him up.

Day 23

Everyone keeps trying to get me to leave. They tell me that I need to get out and do things, and that if I stay here it’ll only make things worse. But I have to be here when he wakes. I have to be here so that I can hold him, so that I can apologize over and over. So I can tell him how much I love him, how sorry I was that I hadn’t been by his side the whole time, that I hadn’t gotten him away from that stupid machine to rest. How all I wanted now was to just be with him, and nothing more.

Day 30

He’s awake. Oh Gods he’s awake.

Day 31

He’s gone. He left. He doesn’t know us. He doesn’t remember the blast. He doesn’t remember. He doesn’t remember.

He doesn’t remember.

Day 35

I’m sitting on the mountain that the castle was situated on. I can still see the lights, the carefully placed stone bricks, the beautiful courtyard. My legs are hanging over the edge. Lalna doesn’t love me. Not anymore. I hugged him, I held him. He was confused and shoved me away. He asked who the hell I was, where was he, what was going on? That broke me, I didn’t know what to do. All I could do was stutter out a: You don’t remember?

And he didn’t. So I told him about the blast, how he had been working on an experiment, how the blast burned him and destroyed the castle, and when I got to him he was unconscious, in a coma. He asked me who I was. I told him my name. That I had lived in the castle with him at the time. That the machine he was working on was supposed to be important.

How to tell him I love him. That he loved me. He asked why I lived there with him shortly after, so I just said quietly that we were together. He seemed confused, and then realization seemed to flood over him, and he looked at me with… sympathy? pity?

But he doesn’t know me.

He doesn’t love me.

~

The sun is setting, no one knows I’m here. The invisibility potions work well.

Thanks, Ridge.

Honeydew walked past. Rythian flew over, Zoeya shortly after. Even Sips and Sjin came up here, looking over the rubble. I guess they’re worried about me. But I don’t really feel anything right now. It’s all just kind of… numb. There’s no anger nor sorrow, no heaviness or urge to do anything. I feel like I’m floating in a pool of neutrality. Feeling nothing and everything. I just want to watch the sunset for now. I wonder if Lalna went back to the Jaffa Factory. I wonder if we’ll still work together. I wonder if we can learn to love each other again.

I guess there’s always hope.