"Her twinkling eyes in tears"

[December 3rd, 2021]

Aurora combed her hair looking straight into the mirror. 'Today is a memorial gathering.' She thought to herself as she tied her hair into a pony-tail. 'Sean told me not to go.' She tried getting her memories straight, just-in-case she forgot something.

After sleeping well last night, she was able to remember her week partially. So, she was calmer. According to Dr. Matthias, she suffered from short-term memory loss. It shouldn't be that bad, right? If the memories travel elsewhere and turn into long-term memories, it shouldn't be that bad.

Her head was filled with thoughts as she wore her plain black dress and left her room. Her father was already seated in the car and her mother waited to escort her to her seat. Then they drove to Lucy's house where a lot of her relatives were already present.

They held a memorial gathering year so Aurora was familiar with all her relatives as well. They were welcomed to the gathering. The relatives gave their speeches and later helped the family of the deceased distribute financial aid to those in need in the loving memory of Mr. Stephan.

Before the sun had set, they left to visit the graveyard to offer their condolences. Mr. Stephan and his wife's mother was buried in the same row. Giving respect to Lucy's Grandmother, they went over to Mr. Stephan's grave.

It had only been a few days since Lucy's Grandmother passed away. The scars were fresh in their memory. Hence, the day was more of an emotional overload than a memorial gathering. 4 years had passed since her father's death, and now her grandmother. It was rather hard to hide all the lurking emotions embedded deep inside herself. Her eyes teared up, standing in front of her father's grave before she could realize it.

The relatives who were leaving one by one didn't notice her faint tears. She looked down trying to hide them so no one asks about it. She didn't need comfort. She just needed to be alone. Sean was the first one to notice, as he leaned forward towards the grave to put a flower bouquet. Seeing Lucy cry, he paused to switch. Strange enough, he never switched when Aurora cried. Why did Lucy's tears trigger an alter?

"Useless to cry for someone you despise." An alter spoke to her tears, however no one was sure which one.

The others leaned in to her crying.

"Lucy!" Aurora exclaimed her name in concern, walking closer to her and patting her shoulders.

However, what the alter said made her cry even more. It was a bitter truth.

"Sean, What the hell?!" Ethan exclaimed at his harsh words.

"Lyla. And what I said was the truth." Lyla said sternly.

"Whoever you are, I could care less!" Ethan shouted at her. "Who are you to say something like that to her?!" He complained seriously.

But Lyla was right. Lucy despised her father. She never forgave him for hiding that he had cancer until he became seriously ill. From her point of view, if she had known that he had cancer, she wouldn't have taken him for granted. Just thinking about that disgusted her. She knew she shouldn't be despising him for that, but she hated that her own father couldn't be a little more honest with her.

"Why don't you ask her herself, if she is supposed to cry here or not?" Lyla asked.

For Lyla, it was a self-defense mechanism as she wanted to keep Sean away from any physical or mental issues. So, even if her words were harsh and cruel, they were meant for Sean's mental well-being. In Lyla's eyes, Lucy's tears were fake.

Lucy didn't shed a single tear on the day of her father's funeral. She had been emotionally numb and closely observed by Lyla. Unlike her grandmother's funeral, where she cried for hours, at her father's funeral she was rather angry.

"Shut up!" Ethan landed a powerful blow on her face out of anger.

The girls gasped at the sight. However, for Lyla, even Ethan was considered a danger now. Hence, she returned a punch with all her might. Lucy stopped crying as she started to fight and focused rather on stopping the fight.

However, Lyla and Ethan had become arch-enemies. It was too late to try and stop them. Lyla wasn't ready to appreciate Lucy's long-buried tears that were finally showing up now that her grandmother had also passed away and Ethan wasn't ready to understand Lyla's point of view.

Though, Lucy understood both and wanted to explain verbally than physically. However, the arch-enemies weren't going to stop landing punching and kicks on each other any time soon. Even when the girls were trying so hard to stop them.

Aurora watched the fight from a distance, as Lucy and Giselle were trying to get the boys off each other. She forgot. She forgot why they were standing in front of Lucy's father's grave. She forgot today was a memorial gathering.

She forgot why Sean and Ethan were fighting. She forgot Lyla had switched with Sean. She forgot the comments Lyla made on Lucy's honest tears. She forgot everything that happened in a split second. Her eyes teared up.

Why were fighting? Why were they in a grave-yard? What was wrong with her? Her breathing became uneven as she started to unconsciously hyperventilate. Her eyes were twinkling in tears as she forgot everything.

She fell on her knees for everyone to notice something was off. Ethan and Lyla stopped the fight and the girls ran towards Aurora as she continued to lose her breaths.

"Aurora, what's wrong?!" Giselle asked as she massaged her hand to her back, thinking she would feel better. "The hell is wrong you guys?!" She shouted at Ethan and Lyla, who was in the middle of switching back.

"Did you guys have to fight?! Are you guys insane?!" Lucy shouted at them as she sat down to tend to Aurora.

Aurora lost her vision and felt her head becoming extremely heavy. Her breathing became normal as she passed out on Giselle's shoulder. They quickly took her to her parents, where they all drove to the hospital.

"You guys had to fight…" Giselle complained, waiting as the ER doctor checked up on Aurora.

"I don't what happened. Lyla was probably mistaken. I apologize on her behalf." Sean explained patiently.

"But still… This has never happened. She wasn't this sensitive if I remember correctly." Giselle arose suspicion.

"Right. To be honest, she has been acting weird lately." Lucy said while she looked at Sean. "And I bet she at least told you what's up…"

Sean tried to avoid eye-contact. He wasn't sure if he should bring it up or not. Aurora's father cleared his throat.

"I think she's going to hate me for saying this but…" Her father said to add up to their suspicions. "She is terminally-"

"It appears she has been overly stressed." The ER doctor concluded after getting an IV drip for her. "I suppose the neurologist has already advised you to keep her away from stress as it will just aid in increasing the growth of the tumor." The doctor added.

"T-Tumor?!" Lucy exclaimed looking at her father.

"She should wake up in a while. My advice is to keep her away from stress at all costs. I'm sure you understand what I mean." The ER doctor said and left, indicating that stress would just reduce her life-span than it already is.

"What is going on guys?!" Giselle asked as she panicked. "Am I the only one kept in the dark?!"

"Only me and Ethan knew." Sean murmured. "But that's not what matters now, is it?"

"Are you kidding me?! She was ill, and no one told us?!" Lucy asked impatiently.

"Lucy, Giselle… We're in a hospital. I know you're troubled by this but… Give yourself some time. Please." Her father pleaded as he held his daughter's pale, weak hand.

Her mother just sobbed in a corner after watching her friends freaking out. She was reminded of herself when she found out. Giselle held her head from a side as she walked far enough to avoid the conversation. Lucy just sat down on the side of her bed staring at Aurora.

"H-How… many years?" Lucy asked hesitantly as she looked at Aurora with her eyes tearing up. "It's curable right?"

"Do you want me to be honest?" Sean asked, being the most confident and straightforward to talk in such a situation.

Lucy nodded. Her father's death replayed in front of her eyes as she hated the fact of staying in a false hope. Giselle leaned forward to at least hear the time span.

"5 weeks." Sean said. "No, 4 weeks." He corrected himself.

Lucy gasped loudly. Upon hearing that, Giselle just walked away. She needed to be alone. She was too scared to hear anymore.

"It's curable right?!" Lucy panicked, not being able to stop her eyes from tearing up.

"I want to believe it is. But it's not."

"No… T-This can't be." Lucy covered her face with her hands as she wept.

Aurora's father tried to comfort her but it was of no use. It was too much for her. First, her father. Then her grandmother and now her friend. It was too much bear. She hated that she didn't know up until now but she was too numb to make a fuss about it.

Giselle just the hospital and wandered about here and there. She didn't cry. She kept thinking and thinking about how to make her 4 weeks painless. Both emotionally and physically.

She thought, in such a less time, it would be a waste if she herself wasn't emotionally alright. A part of her understood why Sean was so calm about it and why he was the first one to learn about it. It was merely because Aurora feared everyone's reaction but his. She realized that it was too late to sob about it. Hence, she went to her house and decided to cook a meal for her to have when she wakes up.

Aurora woke up a few hours later. Giselle had just arrived with a freshly cooked meal. She wasn't mentally prepared to face her but she was at least going to try. Her eyes were still moist despite being asleep for so long.

"Aurora!" Her mother exclaimed as she noticed her eyes slowly open.

The ER doctor was called again and she was declared discharged after complete IV administration.

"I'm sorry, Aurora. We shouldn't have fought." Ethan apologized because he thought he was at fault.

Aurora shook her head as she slowly sat up.

"Why am I here?"

She seemed to have forgotten, again.

[December 3rd, 2020]

"Hey, Aurora! Thanks for the letter! It was sooooooooo sweet." Lucy's text was heartwarming.

Even though she couldn't attend the memorial gathering, she managed to send her condolences through a letter. And since it made Lucy happy, she was proud of herself. She was alone at home when she received the text. Her parents had gone to the memorial gathering. Suddenly, the door bell rang. She walked out her room. She opened the door before looking through the peephole. It was Sean.

"Why are you here?" She asked while letting him inside.

"Baby Sean got triggered and made a mess." Sean said showing off his wet clothes "He just can't drink water normally." He added.

Aurora chuckled as she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him to her room, towards her dressing table. She plugged her blow-dryer on the switch board and helped Sean dry himself up.

"Baby Sean never liked memorial gatherings anyway." Aurora said. "Can you switch?"

"Not voluntarily. He shows up if he feels like it."

Aurora sulked.

"I love Baby Sean. He should show up more often."

"Wow."

His sarcasm was light, yet it made Aurora laugh. She continued to help him dry himself up.

"Did he just spray water on you?" Aurora asked. "You're such a baby if you're whining about that." She chuckled trying to tease him.

"You haven't seen the real baby."

"I have"

They both chuckled. Sean grabbed the blow dryer from her hands and started to do it himself as her ankle was still sprained. She sat down on her bed watching him do so.

"By the way, your parents sent me here." Sean mentioned. "I was going to go home but they told me check up on you."

"Eh? You should've kept the credits to yourself. That way you could brag that you came to check on me." Aurora chuckled.

"Right." Sean smiled. "I would rather want to let you know that your parents care deeply about you. You should start eating healthy. Stop stressing. And take care of yourself better."

"Get out of my house." She said playfully. "Get out, get out!"

She wasn't going to hear any lectures now, was she?

"Sean. Are you free on Sunday?" She asked with her eyes sparkling in excitement.

"You wanna hangout?"

She vigorously nodded.

"Fix your foot first."

"I hate you!"

She was hoping for a fun weekend but no one was going to let her have it. She hated taking care of herself more than anything. It felt like a chore.

Of course, she hated getting hurt too. But caring for herself was harder. After drying himself up, Sean went to the kitchen as per her mother's guide. He opened the fridge and found the pasta her mother had cooked for her. She knew her daughter would never touch it on her own, so, she asked him to do it for her.

He warmed up the pasta in the microwave and set up the table. He even warmed it up for himself knowing Aurora would never eat alone, and because her mother's cooking was just fantastic. Since he was from a wealthy family, they had hired a top tier chef to cook for them. However, Sean still preferred her mother's cooking.

"I had a weird dream last night." He said as he sat beside her on the dinner table.

"Hm?" She murmured while chewing.

Just how Aurora trusted Sean as a safeguard of all her problems and secrets, Sean considered Aurora for that as well. However, he was fine telling everyone about his problems as mostly he would just keep them to himself.

"I was at my house." Sean said. "My house." He specified again to make her understand.

"The old one?" Aurora asked.

"Hm."

"Aww, then it must've been a nightmare."

"Not really. I was just standing there. Going through the album."

Aurora understood each of his words.

"Don't overthink. You're out of there now. You're never going back. You don't have a reason to. You're Sean Anderson now." Aurora comforted him in her own way.

He nodded. She smiled at him while munching on her pasta. How could he not take words of comfort from her?