Aphmau MyStreet: Searching Hearts

Ep 22: I Forgive You

Aaron wasn't surprised when he found himself under the tree looking up at the night sky. If anything, he was almost expecting it. 

He always knew where the girl would be and when she'd show up. What he never understood was why he never remembered her when he woke up. 

He wanted to ask her about it, but something told him the best thing to do was to keep his mouth shut. 

"You know, I've noticed a pattern." He heard the girl with the amber eyes say, "When you first meet someone, they normally hate you. But after a while, they warm up to you." 

"Is that referring to Garroth and Laurence?" He said not looking back at her. 

In the corner of his eye, Aaron saw the girl walk up to him and sit down next to him, her chin resting on her knees. 

"Well, yeah, but I'm talking about my mom." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I think you've heard me talk about her before. When she first met you, she pretty much wished you were dead." 

"What, why??" 

"Can't say it was for anything rational."

Aaron thought he did remember the girl talk about her mom, but he can't say for sure. 

"And based on your pattern, should I guess that she likes me?" He asked with a grin.

"After what happened, I really don't know." The girl's eyes appeared to have dulled for a moment, as though she were turning lifeless. 

In the flip of a switch, her eyes brightened again, "But hey, she came around once. Who's to say she won't again?"

Aaron felt a sense of doubt wash over him. All his memories came to him slightly fuzzy, but something told him something dark was looming in their shadows.

Why did she shrink away when she thought of what supposedly happened? Did he do something horrible? 

"Is everything alright?" He asked shyly. 

He was trying to test the waters around the question of what he did, to see if it was alright to ask.

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?" The girl said in her usual chipper tone. 

"You seemed upset for a second there. Did I do something wrong?" 

As soon as he said the words, he wished he could take them back. He knew he didn't ask right away, but the question felt it may have been a bit too provoking for her. 

He saw the girl's eyes grow slightly and tense up a little as her smile fell. She looked away at her feet and squeezed herself tighter into a ball.

He's never seen her so nervous before. 

Why did he say that?

After a moment of silence, the girl finally said without looking at him, "I like to think you did nothing wrong, but I know that's not the truth. It's just so easy for me to forgive you, it feels like you didn't do anything. I still love you and I forgive you for it, but I'd be lying to myself if I kept saying that you did nothing." 

So he did do something wrong. 

As much as he wanted to know what he did, he didn't want to push her any further on it. It was obviously a very sensitive subject.

"Well..." He said, being careful with his words, "...thanks for sticking around." 

The girl kept her eyes to the ground, but Aaron saw a faint smile return to her lips, "You're welcome."

"Hey, Aaron." 

Aaron opened his eyes to see the dark silhouette of Shu gently shaking his arm. She seemed to have another person with her. 

"Oh, hey, Shu." He said sitting up on the couch, "What's up?" 

"Shu?" Asked an unfamiliar voice. It sounded like an older woman. Must've been the person with Shu. 

"I thought I'd introduce you to my mom, Sylvanna. You've met before. I know you don't remember, but if you don't mind, she wants to talk to you." 

"Sylvanna..." Aaron thought, "That does sound a little familiar." 

He saw the dark silhouette of Sylvanna sit down next to him on the couch, "Please, Aaron." She said gently, "Tell me everything you remember." 

"Not much. I know that Shu and I were online friends. At some point, we met in high school, but I wasn't the nicest to her when we first met. Laurence and Garroth weren't the biggest fans of me and we all went to IHOP at some point."

"You... you don't remember... anything else?" 

Aaron shook his head. 

He heard Sylvanna's breathing as she sat in silence for a while. He could tell she was thinking about something. 

She took a deep breath and said, "I... I don't know what to say. I can't say you've changed... but you're clearly not the same." 

"Is that a bad thing?" Aaron asked. 

"No." 

Aaron stayed silent. He knew that she was gonna say more to him. 

"I can't say I'll ever understand you, Aaron. If you had your memoires, you'd know what I'm talking about. Even now, I especially don't understand you. It's gonna take me a little while to fully process what's happened, but I was wrong... about you. I know that with you're memories, you'd have nothing but remorse for what happened. You're a good person, Aaron. As long as you make Aph--" 

He didn't know what made her stop for a second, but he was curious about that name she was about to say. 

Aph?

"...uh, Shu happy... then I'll be ok. And I hope you get your memories back soon. I'm sorry for how I treated you and what you went through." 

He felt Sylvanna rub his shoulder in sympathy before he felt her get up from the couch. 

He heard some footsteps leave the room and heard a door close. 

Aaron didn't know what she was talking about, but something about what Sylvanna said made a tear fall from his eye.