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"Earning back the Memories"

"Did I owned all of this when we started this trip?" Caliope frowned as she looked at all the things she had in the closet; the outfits, coats, boots, shoes, she was scratching her head as she touched each and every one of them.

Amra chuckled as he leaned against the big couch and called her with his hand; she shrugged and walked towards him "You went shopping over a week ago, Elaine and Pronab kind of forced you to get them." he pulled her to his lap and she nodded slowly as she snuggled in his arms; it had become a ritual for them to sit like this, she found peace in his arms every single time.

"There is something troubling you... I can feel that... is that one of my powers?" she said almost casually as she kept looking at her empty bags. He sighed and leaned his forehead on her shoulder. She turned around to look at him; silence giving confirmation to her question.

"I have something in my mind that makes me worried, not about you thought... but I will be ok, you keep me focused."

"You keep me sane..." she whispered softly as she put her arm around his shoulder and he looked up at her; a tender smile made her lean close to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around her and made her gasp, taking her by surprise. His kiss was needy.

A knock on the door pulled their lips apart, and he chuckled. "Your friend is here, she wants to see how you are, Pronab is with her."

"They have been together long? I don't remember yet..."

"No, not long... but time of dating is really of no concern to us... when we meet the one, it can happen in seconds..."

Another knock on the door made Caliope smile. "Maybe I should take a walk with her, to talk and try to see if that brings back more memories."

He nodded "I agree..." he got up effortlessly with her in his arms, she giggled and held tighter to him as he took her to the door and opened it. Vanessa's eyes widened and Pronab smirked.

"Came to take her away from me?" Amra teased.

"I... I just wanted to know how she was... how do you feel Caly?" Vanessa asked almost shily.

"I feel well, a bit surprised with the amount of clothing I have been forced to get apparently, I think I have to thank you Pronab for that... and Elaine when I see her."

Pronab laughed and lifted his hands up in sign of surrender "I couldn't help it, back then was my only choice, to go with you shopping or come see Falshore... ugh!"

Vanessa chuckled and Caliope laughed; she might not remember many things but she had felt the very well open discomfort relationship between them. Amra lowered himself to allow her to stand, she smiled up at him.

"I would like to take a walk with you Nessa, just the two of us... I think it will help me remember more... Don't worry Pronab, I will keep my distance from her..." she smiled at him and he shrugged.

"I am not worried about you, she is the troublemaker..."

Vanessa frowned and looked at him "Me? come on! that was only one time!"

--

It was noon when Caliope found herself walking in the gardens with Vanessa at a safe distance. They had been walking around and talking for over an hour, Caliope would mention something she vaguely remembered and Vanessa would fill the gaps on the story; sometimes this brought more memories, sometimes it didn't. It was a great way to keep her mind busy, and most of the memories were funny stories so she never felt stressed.

"Before my wedding, I was able to touch you, right?"

"Yes, of course... we hugged, danced together, never a worry... "

"So after my wedding that changed... I can't touch people because I see thru them?"

"The way Pronab explained to me is; your dad was a very powerful dark Angel, and your mother was human, so when they had you, you had half of his blood which means half of the dark in you... this affected you by giving you powers, well they call them 'abilities'... and they were kind of dormant in you until you met them..."

"And that is how I started to become a super human?" she couldn't hold the laugh and Vanessa laughed with her.

"Yes, you could touch some of them, not all, and you would see some of their past, their memories... but not just any memory, Pronab said it was kind of specific; if they were thinking on a certain memory, you could see it as well... and that became more powerful when you married, you became more powerful, you had the ability of thinking on someone and then you would see where they were and such, but you didn't know how to control it."

"But I don't understand how that makes me unable to touch anyone... including you."

"Because before that, you didn't visit the memories of everyone you touched, only those who you wanted to... after, it was every single one... and with me it went weird, you saw my future, you saw I was going to have a plane crash and made me stop going back to work... but I fainted when you touched me..."

Caliope stood silent for a moment and then looked up at her "so that means I really need to learn how to control myself, or I might end up hurting everyone..."

"You have to find some kind of balance, the memories affect you, but didn't affect them, only me..." Vanessa sighed and then smiled "we will figure it out baby, I know we will..."

"I am happy you have such faith in me..."

"Because I know you, and you had always been the resilient kind of gal." she winked at her and smiled.

Elaine walked towards them with a hand waving, both Caliope and Vanessa waved back and smiled.

"Here you are young ladies, lunch is ready to be served, are you hungry at all?"

"I really hadn't thought about food to be honest... weird..."

Elaine chuckled "it is not really weird darling... you see, we do not depend on food so much as humans do, we depend on emotions and feelings... you will notice how some of those things have changed in you... when you woke up after your Awakening, you said you saw better, you felt better... it is because you have improved in many ways, your health won't be a problem anymore, unless you get attacked directly by an Angel or a dark Angel, a supernatural creature... it doesn't mean you don't have to eat... it just means you do not depend on it anymore..."

And she nodded, somehow it made sense; she wasn't hungry and everything around her was clearer than before, than any of her memories. She saw colors more vividly, and smell the different fragrances in each object or live creature.

When they entered the dining room, Amra's eyes brightened as he saw Caliope smile. The table distribution felt unusual for her, as she walked towards him, she noticed her place was a little apart from the others.

'It is only a little apart from them, but still next to me... they want to make you comfortable to be around them, but also make sure you don't get affected by what a small touch on them produces on you...'

She nodded at him and sat at his side; Maxwell made a gesture and a wave of waiters flew in and quickly deposited plates in front of them. The food never smell so apetizedable to her, it woke a strange feeling inside, of wanting to taste everything displayed on the table. Everyone laughed and joked about different subjects and although she did not talked much, she enjoyed the sense of family surrounding them. It was so natural for her to hear them and see them interact together.

'Are you ok love? we can go rest if you feel tired...'

She sighed, tilting her head to look at him. "I am ok, I am enjoying this."

He nodded and took her hand under the table, gently squeezing it. She ate a few bites and delighted herself in the flavors, she smiled wide. "Did this always tasted so good?"

Vanessa looked at her and chuckled "No, not really, but I guess is one of the perks of being the new you, right?" and Caliope nodded, starting to eat more of what it was around her.

During the afternoon, she sat on the bed and looked at her empty bags again; Amra leaned against the door and looked at her. "Something wrong? You were like that this morning as well..."

She lifted her gaze and smiled at him "I am kind of lost, I guess..." she sighed and he walked towards her; he sat on the floor and took her hands on his. "I promise you that all will get better... missing pieces of your life can make you a little lost, but you have us with you..."

Someone knocked on the door and Amra perked a brow, he looked at it and then back at her.

"You asked Elaine to come?"

"I did, yes... come in Elaine!"

Elaine opened the door and smiled at them both, getting in as Amra got up and sat next to Caliope. "Thank you for coming Elaine, I really needed you to help us. Please take a seat."

"Of course I would do anything to help you my dear ones..."

As Elaine pulled a small chair near them, Amra was looking at Caliope expectantly. She felt a little nervous, but since the idea crossed her mind earlier that day, she wanted to give it a try.

"So... what can I help you with darling?"

"I know it sounds strange, but I wanted to try something, a theory I came up with..."

"And what would that be sweetheart?"

"I think I know how I can control my powers... but there is only one way to know for sure... and I can't test it on Amra, since he is immune to everything..." she looked up at him shily. He chuckled and leaned to kiss her forehead. "Not everything..."

She smiled at him "Everything that is not me... is that better?" he smirked and nodded.

"I am more than interested in hearing your theory darling!" Elaine said with excitement.

"Well... it started with a strange dream I had last night... in it, everything seemed so clear... I think before I lost my memories, I had a suspicious idea about it... you always mention how our wills control our gifts, right?"

"Yes, that is true... and although it sounds easy, it isn't at all... it took many of us quite a while to master our gifts... and we were born with them!"

"I think that is why I could stop Gusion from finding what ever he was looking inside me, under the danger, I saw the need to protect myself... and under those extreme circumstances, it became clearer how and what I had to do. That was what made me think of this... can I try it on you?"

Elaine nodded and smiled "I would love to help you have a try... let me pick a memory for you..."

Caliope let go of Amra's hand and walked close to her "I hope I don't hurt you..."

"Go ahead, give it a try... it's ok sweetie, you won't hurt me unless it is your purpose, and I know it's not."

Caliope took a deep breath; this was the moment she had been waiting for, she focused into what she wanted to do, how she wanted it to go, and rested her hand on Elaine's shoulder. What happened next took her by surprise; time seemed to stop and she saw how the room started to go dark slowly. Her heart beating fast, she knew she would be caught in darkness, but the way it happened was much smoother than expected. As the darkness embraced her, she felt calm, she saw a spot of light and walked towards it; the darkness seemed like a fabric, and the light a torn piece in it. She pulled the edges and could feel the strange texture of this darkened fabric, it reminded her to liquid latex. When she walked into the light, she saw herself into a living room, the place felt familiar but she couldn't remember from where. She seemed a little pale, but otherwise happy, a little anxious. At the side, a very elegant suited Elaine walked in and greeted her, an interview taking place. Suddenly she could remember; it was the job interview she had with Elaine to start working for her. As that memory became complete, she became excited and watched the room around them, she was not inside Elaine but outside as an expectator; and as such, she could walk and see everything she wanted. When she tried to walk out of the room it became impossible, and she felt being pushed away from the door. She tried again and some invisible force rejected her almost instantly. And then everything became still, the memory stopping or being put in pause for an indefinite time. She sighed, thinking it was the last of what Elaine picked to show her, and so she focused on how to come back. She closed her eyes and put together all her focus into coming back. A small dizziness took over her and she opened her eyes, finding stability as darkness surrounded her. This time the darkness remained for longer, and she walked around touching the fabric; it pulsed. She gasped and took her hand back at first, but then she slowly tried to touch the fabric again obtaining the same result; it felt alive. She giggled and began to run her fingers over it and it reacted with her, almost caressing her in return. She smiled.

'This is amazing...'

She said almost without thinking, and the fabric reacted by vibrating with an almost purring sound. It was alive. She breathed faster as she tried to communicate with it. 'Are you alive? can you understand me?' And the darkness vibrated again. She couldn't believe it, whatever it was, it responded to her and it didn't scare her, she could feel it was safe. Then it happened, a torn piece of light almost blinded her, and through it she could see Amra and Elaine waiting for her in their room at Maxwell's castle. For a moment she felt conflicted between staying or going back to them, but then she walked towards the light and saw the darkness fading. She wasn't sad, she knew it would be there anytime she wanted to find it.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Amra holding her and Elaine breathing heavy. She was smiling but the smile was erased at the sight of their worries.

"What happened? Elaine are you ok?"

Amra held her gently "she will be ok, what did you saw? she said she felt like you were punching walls..."

Caliope frowned "how...? I saw us the first day we met, I didn't remember but she made me remember... the job interview..."

"What else happened? what did you see?"

She paused for a moment, unsure of where to start, there was so much in her little experiment she wanted to tell them all but Elaine's situation was something completely different.

"I... I don't understand what could have happened... it was so easy, so smooth..."

"I felt like you were punching my head... not too hard, but was enough to shake me." Elaine was breathing fast and her face covered with perspiration.

"When I touch you, the room went dark, but slowly, not like before... and I saw us meeting for the first time... at first I didn't know when or what it was but I remembered! and after that it was like it stopped... and I moved around, I could move around the room, like I was watching everything from outside me and you... and then... oh no! I am so sorry Elaine! it was my fault!"

She let herself go from Amra's arms and walked to Elaine; without thinking she hugged her tightly and sobbed "It was my fault, so sorry... I tried to go further from your memories... I tried to push... I wasn't thinking... please forgive me Elaine, I am so sorry..."

She felt Elaine gasp and after seconds of hesitation, her arms held her tight as well, she was sobbing "Oh darling!"

"You made it love...! you took control." Amra pulled her from her state, she lift her head and looked at him not understanding completely, and only then she realized; she was hugging Elaine and nothing happened, she was there with them and not taken by any memory to some other place in her mind. "Oh wow..." was all she could mumble.