31_days | Dec. 12th [Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE] What is Lost

Title: What is Lost
Day/Theme: Dec. 12th - Collecting memories in a rainbow pot
Series: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE
Character/Pairing: Syaoran x Sakura
Rating: PG

In the beginning, he was the one in charge of collecting her lost feathers, those little shards of memory from a precious past.

That had been the boy’s job ever since the moment their journey first started, a mission that he was ultimately devoted, even way before their deal with the Dimensional Witch was sealed. The princess could never seem to understand – or rather, remember – why those feathers were of such importance to him, given he was as much of a stranger to her as the magician and the ninja were. He was, of course, very kind and helpful, and as time passed, he proved to be a most wonderful friend, and eventually, the person she liked the most.

Still, it was hard for her to comprehend why he was especially caring towards her since the very beginning, why he had always showered her with so much attention and warmth - and sometimes, she could not help but have this feeling they already knew each other for much longer that he would let her know, way before the day she opened her eyes from a deep slumber and found him by her side.

Perhaps that was indeed right, she decided one day. Perhaps once all of her feathers had been retrieved, Sakura could finally remember him – yes, if her suspicious held any truth, she would definitely remember him. Until that was made possible, they would build new memories together, and she would treasure them as much as she did with the recollections of what life was like back in Clow country.

At least, so she had hoped.

And then came the day when dreams were crushed, and reality displayed its merciless facet. The giant web of lies loosened around the dimensional travelers and they fell, too deep to be able to rise from the pit without permanent injuries. That once sweet and gentle boy became someone else, just an empty shell of who he used to be, and even though his ultimate goal might have remained the same, his motives certainly did not. Her Syaoran-kun was no longer hers.

Instead, he was someone else’s pawn, just a machine with no soul. This time, it was Syaoran who did not remember their journeys, the friends they had made or the moments they all had shared – the life they had so carefully built together over blood and tears, day after day. Fate was being ironically cruel, for now he did not remember her.

And in the end, she was the one gathering and clinging to her precious recollections, those little fragments of a memory from a lost past.