Garrett sat by the dangerous entrance, panting. “Kaede. . .” He laid his head against the wood frame. “Love is the most important thing in life, huh?”

He held out his tobi pouch in front of him. “A life. . . without. . . love.” He took the blood-stained tobi out. “A life. . . without Kaede. . .” He hovered the tobi over his wrist, then dropped it. “A life without Kaede.” He buried his head inside his arms. “I can’t live a life without Kaede by my side. . .” His red hair was brimming with snow.

“Hey, sonny, what’s wrong?” A man with a scar on his eye came crunching his feet through the snow up to Garrett.

Garrett brushed snow off of his hair. “The girl I love forgot who I am. I can’t live without knowing she loves me back. But as long as she’s happy. . .” he stared at his tobis again.

The old man sat in the snow next to him. “Well, killing yourself won’t get her memory back, will it?” He fingered his scar. “The name’s Jeff. Something like that happened to me a while back. Some pretty lady was crying all over me, begging for me back. Had no idea who she was, though.”

Garrett looked up at the man. His eyes were sad and looked like he was searching for something for a long time.

“But sir. . . how am I going to get her back?”

The man got up. “Well, why don’t you go back to town and find out?”

BACK IN EL NATH:

“Winnie, please, tell me,” Stephen followed her around the hospital corridors.

She stopped in front of an office. “Stephen, the information on how to regain her memory will only hurt you.”

“But I want to know. I don’t care if I get hurt. I just want to help Kaede.”

She rested her hand on the doorknob. “The only way she can remember Garrett is if she kisses him willingly in your presence. But since she wants to get no where NEAR him when you’re there, it’s harder than it sounds. . .”

Stephen turned away. “Oh. . .” In his mind, of course, he wasn’t going to let Kaede remember Garrett. He’d do anything to keep her.

Garrett came bashing through the hallway. “WINNIE!”

She stared at him, not surprised he came back. “Garrett, I just finished telling Stephen how to get Kaede’s memory back. I’ll leave the two of you alone to talk about it.” She stepped inside the office and closed the door.

“Uhm. . . well, you see. . . to get Kaede’s memory back. . .” Stephen hesitated. ‘I don’t want Garrett to take Kaede away again. . .’

“Well, how the hell do we get her memory of me back?”

“Uh, I have to kiss her,” Stephen said nonchalantly.

Garrett sighed and leaned against the office door. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to let you kiss her.”

On the opposite side of the door, Winnie had her ear against the wall, listening to the conversation. She shook her head and whispered to herself, “Oh, Kaede. . .”

Stephen laughed to himself. ‘Heh, if I kill Garrett, then Kaede will never remember him.’ He fingered his steel arrows. “Hey, Garrett, let’s go back to Kaede’s room. You can lead the way.”