The "Forget You" Brew

VI.

"Why won't you tell me about what happened with Tim? Is there something wrong?" 

"No, he's fine. He just needs to reflect on his actions, is all." 

"Did he really steal something from the Repository?" 

Mithi never answered her question straight. "It's classified," he told her, and although Likha knew he wasonly following protocol, as he was wont to do, she felt upset. It wasn't like Mithi to keep things from her,especially not when it involved Tim. After Tim's release,she'd tried talking to him as well, but all her efforts were futile. 

She stepped on the brakes. The bunny carrier sitting in the sidecar would have flown out of the vehicle if she hadn't done a quick arm save on instinct. 

Likha closed her eyes and tried to recall that one day.The day she came to Kaipuhan with a basket of cinnamon bread, her way of thanking Tim for saving her life. The first words he uttered were "Welcome to Kaipuhan Kafe," a generic greeting he never ever used on her. With her, it was always "Hey, Likha—how are you doing today?" or "Now there's a sight for sore eyes!" or some other cheesy comment only he could get away with. 

He hadn't been too receptive about the things she'd said, but she'd chalked that up to Tim simply being the no-fuss guy he was. 

At least, up until now, when Likha recalled how he never called her by name for a long while, how his eyes were missing the warm, familiar feeling they held when he looked at her. 

"I told you—I made a mistake of making someone drink the afforgeto" was as far as he could tell her after he had received the penalty for his offense. "I went in there in an attempt to reverse my error. Got caught. End of story." 

Tim drank his own potion for forgetting, Likha knew that now. And her heart sank to the pit of her stomach,realizing it had been her whom he desperately wanted to forget, and her he risked his life to remember once more. 

. . . . .

The Repository of the Intangible was a castle-like structure in the northernmost side of town, mostly hidden from view by the tall trees of the forest trail leading to it. It was a place where Mithi's father dedicated most of his life,consequently a place where the three childhood friends spent a lot of time exploring. 

Tim knew almost every single nook and cranny of this building, but New Arrivals was a fairly easy place to infiltrate, even with minimal supervision. 

After leaving Feathers several meters away from the Repository, Tim and Kyle sprinted to the rear entrance.Several bolts of what seemed like lightning erupted from the top of the structure, frightening Kyle enough to trip on something (possibly his own leg again) and fall on his face on the grass. 

"Hey, buddy, you all right?" Tim's efforts to hold in his laughter while helping Kyle up were futile. 

"What the hell was that?" Kyle asked, pointing to the sky. The bolts of light have faded into haze by then. 

"Sometimes memories are summoned by the people who own them," the barista explained, dusting grass off Kyle's shoulder. "You know . . . when you suddenly remember things. It happens every so often. It's not aweapon of some sort. Nobody's going to shoot you with that, if that's what you're worried about." 

"Do we really need to do this? I mean, what if I just wait for Allison to . . . summon her memories?" 

Tim placed his hands on his hips and stared at him."How long are you willing to wait, exactly? Ten years?Fifty?"