Chapter 1

"W-where am I?" a soft voice that belongs to a woman can be heard  despite it being strained. A woman laying in bed opens her eyes slowly adjusting to the light that sits on her face.

After a few seconds upon waking up, she can now clearly see her surroundings, walls painted in white, a window on her left side and outside of it a tree stands preventing too much sunlight from entering the room indicating that it is morning, a door at the right side corner of the room that seems to be an exit, and an another door in front of her.

Curious to where it leads, she gets up from the bed, her hospital dress sways as she walk towards the door. Opening the door to find that it is a small bathroom.

Spotting a mirror, she looks at her own reflection. With the current state of her looks, someone can mistaken her for a zombie, black wavy hair resembling the night sky that looks like a birds nest, under her blue eyes are a pair of dark circles, chapped lips resulted from lack of water, and skin paler than snow. Trying to at least fix her looks she washed her face with water from the sink and combed her hair with her hands where she finds a scar that is on visible when looked at closely seeing it's already been healed.

Satisfied with how she looks, she goes out of the bathroom and towards the window opening it to let the breeze in. It's still morning so the breeze isn't too hot, you can also hear the birds chirping, and not too far from her she sees a lake. "Why can't I remember a single thing?" she whispered to herself while staring outside.

Minutes have passed when someone entered the room, "Belle?" distracted to her own thoughts, she got startled and snapped her head towards the person, meeting his eyes. A tall handsome looking man stood right in front of her, caramel colored hair and hazel eyes that are enough for girls to fall for him with only one glance of his which are now staring right back at her.

"Tell me, I'm not dreaming right?" taking a step closer, the woman, still confused on who he is, goes further away from him. Noticing her movements, the man felt a sting in his heart but his joy is still overflowing seeing the woman had finally woken up.

Unable to control his emotions, he quickly goes to the woman and hugged her tightly like it's been a decade since they last saw each other.

"I missed you, Belle" he said with a longing voice. Even though unfamiliar with the man, the woman felt her heart softened with the words he spouted.

Realizing his own actions, he lets go of her and stared at her checking every inch of her face while holding her like a porcelain doll that can break easily with the slightest wrong touch.

Embarrassed by the actions of the stranger her face started to heat up, "I'm sorry, but who are you?" the woman tilted her head in question. "You don't remember me? Ethan?" still unfamiliar with him she shook her head as a reply. Saddened by her answer, he doesn't want to believe that what he might be thinking might be true. "Do you at least remember what happened before you lost consciousness?" again, she shook her head to his question. "How about your name?" the man named Arthur asked with eyes glimmering with hope that she will at least remember her name suddenly crumbled into pieces when he heard her say, "I'm sorry, but I really can't remember anything."

He looked straight into her eyes hoping she is joking but he only sees an innocent and confused look. Shock and sadness consumed him like a thunderstorm flooding an entire village with no end. Seeing the way how he look right now, she thought hard to remember him only for her head to ache, the only thing she can come up with is that he must be an acquaintance of her.

Getting back to reality, he breaks the silence by coughing and telling her that he will go out quickly to find a doctor. She asked for a glass of water when noticed that her throat is a little dry.

With her all alone again she decided to sit on the bed because of the headache she is having.

Not too long had passed when the man entered the room again but this time with a doctor. He gave her the glass of water she asked for and after drinking it the doctor started to checking her condition, asking a few questions on what she is feeling right now, and questions about herself and her past which she didn't managed to answer any of them.

The doctor looked at the woman with pity and told her, "You have amnesia. Prevent forcing yourself to recall your memories too much as it will only give you a headache and it can worsen your condition."  the news did not really shock her that much since she already expected what the doctor's going to say. Considering she can't remember anything it could only come up with one conclusion.

It has been some time now after the doctor left and the man leaning against the wall with his arms crossed is still lost in his own thoughts after hearing what the doctor said, and the woman who is quietly sitting on her bed since she doesn't really know what to say makes the room quiet and awkward, well, for her at least.

"Uhm, how do you know me?" the woman asked breaking the silence inside the room. "We're childhood friends. Gaius Ethan Connue is the name." Ethan answered, and the room fell into a complete silence again.

"Ysabelle Von" Ethan said now looking at her intently . Another unfamiliar name, who might that be? another acquaintance of mine? the woman thought to herself. "It's you, Belle. That's your name" it doesn't take the man to hear what she needs to say to answer her question, with her expression and knowing her since childhood, he can clearly read her like an open book. "We call you Belle instead of Ysabelle and Von is your second name. You never really told me your surname and I still don't know why."

"Do you happen to know what happened to me?" tilting his head and looking up as if the answers are written on the ceiling , he looks at her again and shook his head. "Unfortunately, I don't really know what exactly happened but what I do know is that an elderly couple brought you here 4 years ago after seeing you passed out near the shore."

4 years?! she thought to herself, it must be a dream to some people to sleep that long specially to those who are really desperate but still, nobody really wants to lost his/her memories.

Trying to keep the conversation going to prevent having the room filled with awkwardness, she asked, "But, how did you know I was here?" reaching his hand to his right pocket he brought something out and threw it to her. Ysabelle caught it and saw that it's a badge. "I saw you 2 years ago while working as a detective and since then I always visit you when I have the time."

"So, you've been watching over me for the past 2 years?" Ysabelle smiled thinking how he didn't lose hope through those years. Ethan smiled back still can't believe that the smile who gave him light from his dark life is now back.

"Can you tell me about some of the things that happened when we're still young?" she moved farther patting the space beside her to let him sit down and continue their chat.

"Well, when we first met you had this brown ribbon on your head and you cried when you lost it while playing at the field which is close to both of our homes. You said that time that you secretly escaped from your home just because you are curious of the field and you are only 10 at that time."

"Wait, I really did that?" Ysabelle asked finding the reason quite shocking and amusing at the same time. "To think I would do such a thing in such a young age"

"You are a stubborn and curious person, Belle. Your personality really did not change that much until you reached the age 16." patting her head while thinking about the good old days.

"Aren't there any person that we are both friends with?" Ethan suddenly became annoyed after remembering someone. Ysabelle noticed his sudden change of mood for a split second before seeing him smile again. "There is one, and that one is cold and playful at the same time that really enjoys to annoy me. I don't really know what's going on in his head but it's better for you to forget about him for the greater good." curious to who he is, she didn't ask further seeing how annoyed Ethan became.

They talked and ate throughout the day until they didn't realize that it's already late. Ysabelle really enjoyed talking to Ethan, at first he looked like a stern person, but she realized he is actually a soft person and protective based on his stories, maybe because of their age difference that he is like an older brother to her.

Ethan spends the night on the sofa un wanting for her to be alone but also for him to patch his loneliness. After saying their good nights, they proceeded to sleep. Ethan is now snoring but Ysabelle is still awake, looking at the moon while in deep thought wishing for her memories to come back, until darkness finally consumed her vision.