Fiance?

Atlas found himself staring at the girl beside him. Time froze as their eyes locked. Hope was the first to break eye contact. She looked around the table searching the new faces for an answer. 

"F-fiance? We...?" she trailed off. Blood visibly rushed to her cheeks. The entire table turned to face us in shock. 

"Oh," the intoxicated man that had brought up the embarrassing subject spoke once more, "You were engaged and set to marry a week before they invaded the retreat."  He was obviously uncomfortable with the topic now. The man scratched at his blonde hair before finishing his thought, "Then Adira- Hope's mother was captured and everything was called off..." 

The table was quiet as they eyed the couple with sympathy and worry. Atlas felt like a ton of bricks had been handed to him. Hope's mom was captured. 

We have to save her.

Recalling his dream, the pieces started to click together. She had been at the same facilities as them. She had called his name. 

Hope looks exactly like her.

Atlas' heartfelt heavy. He knew what she looked like. He had heard Adira's voice in his dream. He couldn't remember anything else about her. He strained against the block in his mind. His emotions were running wild. He knew that she was important to him, that much he could feel, but he couldn't construct any memories of the woman.

A suppressed cry jerked his attention from his pitiful thoughts. Hope was doubled over and clutching her neck. The familiar sight caused him to recall that pain. It wasn't intense, but the dull throb in his neck was enough to make him uncomfortable.

The boy jumped into action as worried onlookers eagerly stood to their feet. They immediately swarmed Hope's crumpled form as she gritted her teeth. Their hands were reaching for her as she fought her own mind. Those hands were supposed to be comforting, but the way they snaked around Hope's body was suffocating to watch. Atlas begged the helpful hands to back up. Before anyone could react to his pleas, Hope slinked away from the crowd. She was sprinting across the dirty floor. The distraught woman bust through the large doors and into the dark night. 

Atlas shot a glare at the helpful mob. He pushed past the group to chase after Hope. He stomped his way out into the humid air and looked for her bright red curls. 

"They are beautiful," a voice to his left croaked. Atlas smiled as he turned towards the Hope. She had her knees tucked into her body as she leaned her head up. She was staring off into the distance at the sky. She seemed to have calmed down as she looked at him; though the faint glisten of a tear was present in her emerald eye. 

"I can't believe I forgot about the stars," she said as she fixed her vision back on the mesmerizing lights.

The moonlight was extraordinarily bright tonight. Its luminescence reflected on her clear and smooth skin. The shadows of her face were more prominent in contrast. Atlas studied her and watched a smile form on her lips, 

"Yeah, they're beautiful," he said as his white teeth shined down at the girl.

Atlas settled himself beside the girl and leaned his back against the cold metal building. They had toured the warehouse earlier that day. It was pretty rusty and beat down, but it provided shelter. For that, Atlas was grateful. 

Hope turned towards him and plastered a smile on her face. Her smile seemed cheerful, but her eyes gave away her true emotions. Pain flickered across her eyes as she spoke. "I'm sorry that I can't remember you." Bitterness washed the fake smile off of her face. 

She let out a sour laugh, "I can't even remember my own mother. Only her face. All of those memories. Gone," she was facing him now as her eyes filled with tears.

Atlas reached his hand out to touch her shoulder. It felt so natural that it made him wonder what kinds of experiences they had created together. So many memories locked away behind their eyes that were waiting to be set free. He gave her a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

"We will get there. Just give it time." Atlas contemplated telling her about his dream but refrained himself. He was concerned that it might upset her even more. After all, he remembered her mother better than she did right now. He felt butterflies in his stomach as Hope's shining face beamed up at him. 

"So I guess you're my fiance, huh?" Hope breathed out a laugh and her face flushed as she spoke. She quickly averted her gaze. She must have found the twinkling stars pretty distracting as she returned to viewing them again.

Atlas removed his hand from her shoulder and awkwardly scratched the back of his head, "I guess so, but I don't remember anything yet." Heat flooded his face. He hoped the darkness masked his red complexion. He mimicked Hope and examined the constellations as they danced across the black sky.

Atlas silently prayed that he would regain control of his memories soon. The unanswered questions were gnawing at his skull. At least some things had been answered. This felt right. Being next to her. It was a genuine feeling of warmth and security. Atlas felt as if he had known this girl his entire life. Thus far, nothing had proved that theory wrong. They slumped comfortably against the building as they continued to converse.

"Hey, Atlas?"

"Hm?" 

"Do you think...," Hope paused for a moment. Choosing her next words carefully, she continued, "Do you think that we could... I don't know... forget about it? The whole fiance thing?" she turned to watch him.

Atlas felt his heart stop. He knew she didn't mean for her words to be malicious, but it still sent a wave of sadness through him.

Why am I upset? Neither of us remembers anything anyways.

"Sure." Atlas put on his best and brightest smile as he turned to her. He tried to hide his pain as she gave him a gentle smile.

"Good. Maybe we can start over. It would just be strange considering we don't remember anything." A frown tugged her mouth down as she lowered her head. 

She's upset too.

While her saddened form was not something he enjoyed seeing, the thought was oddly comforting. She couldn't remember, and despite that, she was experiencing the same sadness he felt.

"All we can do is wait. We can wait for all of those memories to return." Atlas tried to comfort her with his words. His fingers itched to brush the stray strand of hair that had fallen in her face. He mentally scolded himself to stay true to their agreement.

Keeping her head low and her voice quiet, Hope said, "I'm tired of waiting. I feel like that's all I've done since waking up in that Hell hole. I miss my mom."

Atlas caved to the temptations and gently pushed the taunting hair behind her ear. Hope looked up now to meet his baby blue eyes. In one fluid motion, he moved his hand from her ear and into her hand. He gave it a hard squeeze. He knew words could not ease the pain she was feeling. More emotions rushed through his own body as his thoughts produced even more questions. 

What about my mother? What about both of our fathers?

"We can start first thing tomorrow." He gave her a reassuring smile. Hope mimed his smile. She scooted a little closer to him and rested her heavy head onto his shoulder. 

"Thank you," she whispered as they enjoyed each other's company. Taking advantage of the warmth. The cool of night moved in and the pair leaned into one another, gazing up at the flickering lights.