🌸Lost in Memories🌸

Chapter 4: Past Reflections

"And this is where I started messing everything up..." Taranza explained, the still somewhat cheerful tone in his voice had vanished. "Her birthday was coming up and I wanted to get her something special. After searching the library for a while, I found it. An old book, talking about ancient artifacts. That's where I saw the dimension mirror." Susie interrupted again. "That was the portal to the mirror dimension that Kirby and Metaknight had traveled through once before, correct?" Taranza nodded. "I thought it'd be perfect, so I was planning to go and find it. I even lied to Sectonia about it, saying that I was visiting some family members and that I'd definitely be back by her birthday. It was supposed to be the best birthday ever...." Susie looked at him confused. "What happened? Did you not manage to get it?" A pained expression went across Taranza's face. "No, I got it. Only now... I wish I hadn't."

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He opened the book and looked at the notes again. 'Just above Dreamland... it should be right here.' he thought. As Taranza floated through the clouds, eventually he was blinded by something. After closer inspection, it turned out to be a golden mirror with wing like shapes at its sides, its slightly grayish surface reflecting the last few rays of sunshine. Comparing it to the sketch in the book made it clear. It truly was the dimension mirror. Without having gazed into it once, Taranza covered it up and went on his way back. He was surprised by its light weight, but didn't think about it for long. There was only one things going around in his mind. Getting back to Sectonia.

Arriving a tad bit later than planned, Taranza made his way to Sectonia. The second he knocked on the door, it was opened and Taranza stood in front of Sectonia. "Told you, I'd be back by your birthday." he grinned before hugging her. "Happy Birthday Sectonia" She seemed a bit uneasy. "It's late, I was super afraid you weren't gonna make it." she said with a slightly nervous undertone in her voice. "Ya, ran into a bit of trouble. But besides that, I got something for you." Taranza triumphantly handed her the gift, still covered up. Upon uncovering it, he explained "Since you're always so harsh with yourself, I figured you could really use to just look in the mirror and see that wonderful person everyone around you sees when they look at you." He had prepared to say that for a while now and was now proud of himself. Everything from the atmosphere to the delivery of his words was excellent. Sectonia looked from Taranza at her own reflection, then back at him before her face lit up with happiness. "That's so sweet of you, thank you so so much." she hugged and sobbed a bit. "You're crying?" "Y-yes, sorry. It's just.... you're right. I am very harsh with myself. This means so much to me, you have no idea...thank you."

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"From that point onward, she got increasingly more popular. Maybe her personality already started changing back then, I don't know for sure... we didn't meet up as often as we used to. Sure, we still met up a lot, just not as much. And I noticed that..." Taranza stopped for a second. Susie, who had just been listening carefully, patiently waited for him to continue. "I knew that if I wanted to tell her how I feel, I had to do it soon."

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About two months after Sectonia's birthday, they hung out again. This time on a beautiful field of flowers somewhat distant from the town. "It's always nice to just relax with you around, you know." Taranza mentioned as Sectonia played with a strand of her hair. "Agreed. It is rather calming..." she responded. "But I'll have to get going soon." "Oh, that's fine... You probably have a lot to do..." Sectonia got up, preparing to leave. ". . ." Taranza quickly got up as well. "Hey Sectonia?" "Yes?" she asked whilst still elsewhere with her mind. Her thoughts were abruptly cut short by Taranza grabbing her hand. "T-there's something I need to tell you." he stuttered, feeling both anxious yet determined at the same time. "Can we talk about it later? I really need to go." "P-please, it's very very important and I..." A bunch of people interrupted. "Hey Sectonia, are you coming or not?" "Of course, I'll be with you in a second!" she replied before turning back to face Taranza. "Look, you can tell me another time, right? We have all the time in the world after all." She hugged him tightly before letting go of his hand and going with the others. 'All the time in the world... yes, that's right. I have plenty of time. I'll just wait until she's free and then I can tell her.... I...I need to tell her.'

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"I was just waiting from that point on. I didn't hear from her for five weeks, maybe six even. Maybe she'd forgotten about what I said, knowing her that might as well have been the case... Regardless, I eventually couldn't take it anymore and just wanted to see her again. So I went to her house only to see that she had supposedly moved out. After asking around I found out that she could be found in the palace, so I was on my way there."

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He floated up to one of the guards.

"I'm looking for Sectonia. Where can I find her?" "Name?" "Taranza? She knows me, we're best friends!"  ". . .third room to the left is likely where she is right now." "Alright thank you." He quickly headed inside and was taken aback by the interior. Everything was sparkling, very extravagant. 'This.... This looks really pretty... Wait no, I'm here for Sectonia. Let's go.' Taranza snapped out of it and headed to the room the guard mentioned, only to freeze up upon looking into the room.

"Who's there? Oh, Taranza. It's you..."
"S-sectonia? I-is that...you?"
"Who else would I be?"