Searching For Time (book 2) ✔

And He Scores!

The gang were all making their way through the school grounds, heading towards the Tourney field. They had all subconsciously formed a circle around Carlos, with Harry at the front, and frowned at anyone who got too close. After ten minutes of tense silence broken only by small cheers or waves at Carlos they arrived at the green, yellow and blue field.

"Do you want to take a walk around?" Ben offered, gesturing to the field.

Carlos nodded before wandering onto the field. He walked right onto the blue and yellow striped area as that caught his attention, and seemed familiar...

"The kill zone." he said after a while of thought. "This is the kill zone!" he shouted over with a grin.

"You remember!" Jay shouted then walked over to his friend.

"I guess. It's strange how I remember something so random. And here," he paused and walked over to the left goal, "was where we helped Ben score the winning goal. Right?"

"Without you two we would have lost." Ben spoke as he walked over to the pair.

"Sounds intense." Carlos smiled before something caught his attention.

His eyes gazed upon a small opening in the forest and he saw a small path between the trees. Something in the back of his mind was pulling him there and his body reacted. He sprinted over to the trees, ignoring the shouts from his friends, and made his way into the forest. As he was submerged by the brown and green his pace slowed to a jog. He started down the thin trail and came upon an unusual looking tree that seemed to be split in half, as if it was waiting for someone to stand between its trunk.

Carlos looked with intrigue at the tree before climbing up and standing upon the small log at its base. All of a sudden a memory washed over him. It wasn't clear or perfect but the words washed over him alongside a smile.

"... meet Dude..."

"Good boy..."

He shook his head to clear his vision but the movement made him lose balance and he fell forwards. His reflexes pushed his hands out in front of him to brace for impact but a pair of arms caught him before he hit the floor.

"Carlos! Are ya alright?" Harry asked looking in worry at the younger.

"I am. I just had a vision, I heard something. Someone."

"What was it? Don't force yourself." he added when he saw Carlos frown in concentration.

"Ben."

"What happened?" Evie questioned with wide eyes as the rest of the group caught up to them.

"You suddenly ran off and we were frightened you were having another pan- episode." Mal corrected after seeing the look of warning on the pirate's face.

"Why did you run off Carlos?" Jay asked.

"Ben, who is Dude?" Carlos asked, ignoring the questions.

"He's the campus mutt. You were afraid of dogs in the beginning but then I introduced you two and from then on you were inseparable. He's your best animal friend." the King explained with a smile.

"Where is he now?"

"I asked Jane to take care of him. I can get her to come by later so you can see him. Honestly they both miss you, you and Jane were also good friends."

"Jane. Jane. Jane..." he repeated but the name didn't ring any bells. So that was another important thing he forgot. Brilliant. It seemed when something good happened another bad thing appeared.

"It's okay if you don't know her. You didn't know us right away, remember?" Uma said.

"I guess." he frowned and looked down.

"Hey, don't take it to heart pup. She'll understand. Aye?"

"Thanks." Carlos smiled at his pirate and the two hugged. Everyone looked away with small smiles to give them a moment and when they pulled apart Carlos looked happier.

"Wait. Wasn't there somewhere else we were going to go today?" Gil questioned aloud as he looked at Harry with an innocent expression.

"Aye." Harry said, sending a icy glare to Gil who looked away scared.

"I don't want, I don't want to go anywhere yet. I, I've already remembered a lot and, and I need a little time to... think." he ended and gave a knowing look to Harry who understood straight away.

"Okay. We do whatever for the rest of the morning then meet at the school entrance at noon." Harry declared before waving the gang away with his hand and hook.

The gang all seemed a little reluctant to leave after Carlos had regained some memory but they didn't want to go against their leader. With waves and goodbyes they went back down the path and walked in their own directions.

Mal and Evie were going to show Uma around the school whilst Jay and Gil were going to the fencing room for some friendly competition. Ben had a meeting that he didn't want to be late for- since he had put meetings and councils on hold- so kissed Mal on the cheek and headed to his office.

Once everyone had left, Carlos sat down on the log and gave a heavy sigh. Harry said nothing but sat down next to the younger and placed a comforting arm around his love's shoulders.