#v. 02

#adair crying: what the fuck is a wcdonalds

     ❛  yes,  i  have  no  plan.    yes,  i’m  going  to  do  it  anyways.    i  am  unstoppable.  ❜

“I’m leaving!” Elisheva called over their shoulder and closed the door before their parents could prevent it. They weren’t bad parents, per-se. Mayhaps a tad concerned over their new hobby of coming and going at all hours (not that the hobby was entirely new to begin with) but even before they remembered why, Elisheva had never let themselves have more than a passing relationship with them. Roommates more than parents. Yet another thing to thank their original father for.

Picking a direction at random, Elisheva set off towards the woods. While they weren’t yet as fit as they had once been nothing harmful could come of a quick hike. Physical education and weight-training didn’t give one quite the same outdoorsy level of stamina they once had. A quick hike and then maybe a jog through the neighborhood.

Not that planning ahead had ever been a strong suit...

The sun had dipped down and the air around them turned an orange glow before it occurred to Elisheva that now might be a good time to turn back. Sundown came early in the forest. There would still be time before night truly fell to get home. And yet...

Something called to the part of them that had recently awoken. That made their skin tingle and hair stand on end. A breeze whisked several strands of hair across their face. If they so much as blinked... They did, and the forest around them changed. Younger, with sunlight filtering green through the leaves and birdsong floating like dust in the air. The way it had been when they met---

“Cob?”

Elisheva rocked back, caught their balance, and dashed forward. “Cob!” They called as they ran, again and again until their throat hurt from the effort. “Cob!”

Better than a half-baked knowledge of the written word, though, they remembered speech. Were remembering speech. The memories they had regained so far were still fuzzy. New memories were cropping up day by day. Like the one of Rowena patiently guiding Elisheva through a writing lesson. Elisheva got the feeling that hadn’t been the first attempt.

The clock at the center of the park chimed the hour. Elisheva flipped their notebook closed and stashed both it and pencil in the pocket at the front of their hoodie. Maybe they could go to a coffee shop next? They found being at home didn’t contribute much to their relearning of their past self. There was a slight suspicion Father had something to do with it. Elisheva’s new parents were...decent, as far as parents went. Elisheva had their own room and theirs was a rather quiet household. Perhaps there was too much of their modern stuff for attempts at recollecting their past life to be efficient?

Elisheva hummed to themselves as the passed the sign showing the park’s hours. They could remember voices, to an extent. Their favorite pastime had become digging up more and more memories of conversations held with their siblings. That morning they had woken to a song in their head. The words had yet to come to them, but the bigger success to Elisheva by far was that they knew it was Adair who had sung it. Elisheva tried to match his cadence as they hummed along to a half-remembered tune.

Adair had sounded...almost sad when he sang it. Had it been before he left home? Before he and their other siblings led the fight against Kalos? It felt like a going away song. But, there was a sense of happiness with it. Like the two had shared it before. Even now, just the memory of Adair’s voice made them feel safe.

Bursts into the room brandishing their phone.