Come Back

By Kaytee Kudo

Chapter 1---A Forgotten Memory

Kaika had just made a move that would change his life forever. He had just proposed to the woman of his dreams---the woman that he dreamed of marrying. That woman was Hime, the most popular girl from the other village, the girl whom he had fallen for the moment he laid eyes on.

It was really a dream come true, being just the son of a poor farmer who lives in a small, peaceful village. His life had really changed since the day he met a strange man and gave him a chance for a free education. That man was Hime's father. When the man was there for a vacation, he had heard Kaika play the flute and liked its music. Kaika was asked to play for the man in his house everyday and in return, he would send him to the finest school around.

That was how he first met Hime. While he plays his flute, Hime would sit beside her father and listen too. Sometimes, when she feels like it, she would also sing to the tune Kaika was playing, and her father would be very happy. Her father had once said that the two of them looked great together, and the two would just smile and blush. Kaika liked Hime very much since then. She had the sweetest smile and had always treated him like an equal. She told many great stories to him and even helped him at school. But most of all, she was there when he needs a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand, or even just a friend to keep company. When his parents died, she was there to comfort him and even helped him take care of his brother, Kaihan. In other words, she was a woman he had never seen before, she was the girl he had intended to marry.

Hime had accepted his proposal, of course, and even her family, but with a condition. It was not a very easy task, since her condition is to discover his true identity and let all those connected to him---even in his past life, accept Hime as his wife, but he agreed to it anyway.

Hime's intentions were for the good of everyone. It all started the day Kaika's father died with a dying message. Kaika's father confessed to Kaika that he and his brother, Kaihan, were really adopted. He told them about Kaihan's parents, that they died in the war between Kotou and Konan, and that Kaihan was entrusted to them before they died. For Kaika, it was a different story. He was told that they had never met his real parents, for they had found him unconscious in the river, and decided to call him Kaika, as their own son. Kaika's heart was devastated. For years, all he had believed in was a lie. He had told this to Hime, who had comforted him.

"It's all right, Kaika-chan. Maybe it was all for the best."

"They should have just told the truth when they had found me. I would have loved them just the same but...."

"They wanted to protect you."

"I...."

"Listen, Kaika-chan. You should get a hold of yourself. Forget about what they did and live in the present. You should be thankful for them for taking care of you even though they don't know who you are. There's still a chance to discover your true self. Maybe those strange dreams you've been telling me are connected to your past."

"Hime-chan."

"Don't worry, I'll help you all the way. "

Although Hime did all her best t help him, all their searches were in vain. It had been ten years now since the old couple had found him on the river, but there were still no clues on his past. Only his dreams seem to keep him searching for his past, but it was not enough to connect it to anything, as they were only flashes of a scene.

For many times he had tried to give up on searching for his true self, but his dreams keep haunting him to go on, and in all of his dreams he had seen the same strange boy---over and over. One time he had dreamt of playing with the boy, telling him a story and even carrying him home. He had dreamt of protecting the boy with all his might. Sometimes, he will dream of the same boy---but a little older, that he was already fighting, listening while he plays the flute and most especially, he had dreamt of promising that boy that he will always be there on his side. But then, in all of these dreams he had not managed to even have a glimpse of the boy's face, and it made the dreams useless.

It was only until last night that he had dreamt of the boy again. He dreamt that he was wounded from protecting a girl and was about to be killed when the boy had saved him. The boy asked so many questions and he tried to answer it with care. He had offered the boy a drink and took it, and then kissed him....

As strange as the dream may be, Kaika believed that the dream may be the key in remembering all of his lost memory, and he would hold on to it no matter what.

For now, he would try to convince the only family he knew, his brother Kaihan. There he was, waiting for him by the gate as usual. He has really loved this boy like a real brother, his family. A strange thought had hit him, as he greeted Kaihan with a hug. It was that maybe, the love he was feeling now for Kaihan was the same as he had for the boy in his dreams.

"How's your day, nii-chan?"

"Well, as always, it was great. Oh! I have great news for you!"

"Really? What is it?"

"Well, we'll have a new member in the family!"

"Why?"

"Because, I'M GONNA GET MARRIED!! Are you happy?"

From his great smile and excitement, Kaika didn't notice that his brother had greeted the news with a frown. "That's great, nii-chan," Kaihan replied in a dull voice. It only took that to help Kaika figure that his brother doesn't agree to the planned marriage.

"Well, why aren't you happy?" asked the confused Kaika.

"It's nothing, nii-chan. I'm happy for you." Kaihan replied which sounded quite the contrary.

"Look, whatever you're thinking about this, I'm just gonna say that I love Hime and after the marriage, I'll still be your brother, I promise."

"Okay, Thanks nii-chan." Kaihan said in a low voice, and went to his room.

Kaika was about to follow his young brother when it had happened. The flashes that had been haunting him at night had returned, only now he was still awake. He clutched his head in pain.

"Don't go aniki! Let someone else do it!"

"I'm the only one they could trust."

"Please, don't leave me again. We've just reunited."

"But I've already promised Nakago that I will go tonight. I have to go there, it's the only way to obtain peace throughout Kotou."

"You'll get killed! Why can't I go with you?"

"You have to stay here so that Nakago will know what they're doing. Besides...." He looked at the boy who was clutching his shoulders tightly, tears flowing in his face.

"We can communicate with our link. I'll come back. I promise."

"Really? Do you really promise to come back?"

"Yes, I'll never forget you. No matter what."

Kaika's head continued to ache as he rushed to his room. It was the first time that he had seen the face of the boy, but it was blurred and distorted. Much more, he had heard of new names, Nakago and Kotou. "This is getting worse," he thought, and decided that he would get help from a doctor.

***

"Please wait here, Kaika-san."

"Okay," Kaika replied to the kind nurse. He had followed his heart and visited a doctor the next day. Hime had suggested seeing this doctor, as he was known in all places as the miracle doctor, a student of the late Mitsukake, a healer and also a Suzaku Seishi. Hime had particularly said that this doctor was an expert in mind cases, what she had called 'amnesia'. But then, since the doctor was famous, many people visit him all the time, and since Kaika's problem is not as worse, he was made to wait for a long time. Smiling, he looked for anything to do until he saw two boys playing outside, and then it happened again. He felt that it was becoming worse and worse and he could see a clearer picture of things. It was the boy again, but a bit younger. They were playing like the two boys he had seen.

"Aniki!" The boy was calling him, half-laughing.

"What is it, Shunkaku-chan?"

"Why can't I run as fast as you?"

"Well, that's because you're not running as fast as you can."

"I can't catch you now then. C'mon, let's race to that hill!"

"Not now!"

"Why?"

"Because, Shun-chan, you've already played long enough. See, you're already wet from sweat. You'll get sick again and then we couldn't play at all."

"But we'll play again if I rest for a while, right?"

"Yes, if you really want to."

"Okay, because next time, I'll beat you, aniki!"

"Oh yeah? That won't happen 'cause I won't let you!"

"We'll see about that." They both laughed.

"Ne, aniki. Tell me a story."

"About what, Shun-chan?"

"About anything."

"But I'm not a great story-teller like mom."

"Oh? But I like your stories too."

"How about a song?"

"Okay, that would be great too."

Kaika managed to get himself back to reality, but it was not for long. When he saw a wounded boy rushed to the doctor for help, another dream came.

"What do you mean he's sick?!"

"Please, ma'am. My brother is sick so he couldn't work today."

"No! That boy had been sick many times! You, wake up!" The woman violently shook a young boy, red-hot with fever.

"Enough of this nonsense! Work now!"

"Please stop, he needs to rest." He tried to hold back the old woman, but he was thrown over and had hit the hard wall.

"And he needs to work for his stay!"



Kaika felt that he was about to cry, until a hand touched him. "It's okay....aniki. I can work" The young boy smiled at Kaika, now on a verge of tears.

"And you've got to! Hmph!"

"I'll be all right, don't worry, aniki."

Tears freely flowed in his eyes.

"Kaika-san! Kaika-san!" It was a voice from the nurse that made Kaika snap back to reality.

"The doctor will be seeing you."

"Oh." Kaika wiped his tear-damp face and proceeded to the doctor's room.

He was welcomed by a warm smile from the doctor. The room looked very pleasant and comfortable. The doctor offered him a seat.

"So, Kaika-san, what's wrong?"

"Umm, it's just that I had been dreaming of strange things, and lately, it's been haunting me even if I'm awake."

"Oh. It sounds like repressed memories are coming back."

"Huh?"

"I call it amnesia, Kaika-san. It seems like you have a forgotten memory that tries to surge to your consciousness. Amnesia happens when you try to repress a painful experience or when you took a kind of drug that made you forget. Anyway, it makes you forget everything about it."

"So now, my mind wants to remember those memories."

"I guess so. Many people who suffer from amnesia have suffered painful experiences from their early life that they couldn't bear, that's why they want to repress it. But those memories are permanently stored in their minds, so a time comes when those experiences some back fresh to their mind."

"Then, I can remember my past life again?"

"From the looks of it, you will soon regain your memory. Remember, Kaika-san, memories like these are to be accepted, not forgotten."

Those were the words that keep talking in Kaika's mind when he left for home.

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