My memory of him was still foggy. Images of him flashed through my mind as if they were a silent film. My headache grew dull, and the pain was now only in the back of my head. Taking a few deep breaths, I took his hand in mine and pressed it lightly. Staring him in the eyes I let what memories of him I had flood throw me. Bits and pieces of us playing in a field of flowers. A young me running into his arms and hugging him so tight that you could tell I had missed him. Tears formed in the corner of my eye.

"I don't remember everything, but just now I remembered a few things. I am not sure what will happen from now on. Just promise me you won't lose me again," I said.

He looked at me and placed a hand on my face using his thumb to wipe away my tears. His eyes softened as he placed his forehead onto mine.

"I would never lose you a second time; I give you, my word."

It felt good to hear that people were searching for me and now that they found me would do whatever it took to keep me by their side. My desire to have a family is what led me to trust his words as much as I did.  Whatever the reason I just wanted to have a place that I could call home. A place where I felt comfortable and at peace. I had so many questions, but I didn't ask any of them and for that moment we just held hands like two lost fools who were scared to be alone. I looked him over carefully, trying my best to remember anything else about him and my short life here on Nami. Then I heard the ringtone of my cell phone,

"Alex's ringtone?" I mumbled.

I looked over by the bed and saw my phone as it danced across the table.

"We didn't throw away any of your belongings from that planet," Zori got up and walked over to the table to retrieve the phone for me, "Here you should answer it. I have heard that song a few times now while you slept. Whoever it is, they must wish to speak to you. I will return at a later time and check on you."

I took the phone in my hand as it rang. Looking back at me was Alex's picture displayed on the screen. His smile could always brighten up my day, but at that moment it only made my stomach churn in knots. The fact that he didn't answer me was still fresh in my mind. The fact that for months our whole relationship was via text message or phone call. We drifted so far apart that I became a second thought to him. How could I ever forgive him for breaking his promise? I understand that it was a childish promise made between two naive kids, but if he couldn't stay by my side any longer, he should have told me and let me go. I looked up at Zori as the phone stopped ringing.

"How can I receive calls from another planet? Should my phone even be able to work on this planet?"

Zori chuckled at my question and smiled.

"After so many years trying to find a way to bring you back home, we managed a way for us to convert our tech to support the tech of that planet. I had them remodel your phone so that you may stay connected with friends from that world. We finished the remodeling last night," He walked up to me and placed a hand on my head smoothing my hair back then kissed my forehead. "I may want you home, but I am not so cold as to tell you to forget your life back on Earth. It is a part of who you are now. The choice to stay with us or go back to Earth is yours to make. Just know that I will always be here for you."

I smiled, it had to be hard for him to say that he would let me return to my life on Earth instead of trying to force me to stay with him on Nami. I thought about what waited for me back there. An empty house, a failed relationship, an angry boss who needed to relax...the occasional reporter trying to get an exclusive on how the mysterious child of the wild is doing.

"This is a lot to take in. I want to at least familiarize myself with everything before I make my decision."

Looking down at my face he smiled,

"I understand," he walked over to the door, opened it, looked back at me, and said, "I will be back later to check on you. Perhaps we can have dinner together."

I nodded my yes,

"That sounds nice, I would like that."

He nodded in response and then closed the door behind him as he stepped out of the room.

I looked back out the window for a moment and inhaled deeply as the view swallowed me. The phone began to ring again; Alex's name was on the display with his ID picture behind it. His ringtone filled the room as it vibrated in my hand. I still didn't understand how my phone was able to work on a different planet, but I clicked the talk button and placed the phone to my ear.

His voice boomed through,

"Hello, Tessa? Tessa, are you there?"

I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at it then took a few breaths before answering,

"Yes, I'm right here. Can you hear me, okay?"

"Tessa, oh thank God! Where in the blue hell are you? I've been trying to reach you for three weeks now."

I pulled my phone from my ear again and looked at the date and time then placed the phone back in my ear,

"Three weeks? I haven't heard my phone ring until now. I just woke up."

"Just woke up. What do you mean? Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

I bit my bottom lip as I heard his panicked tone echo in my ear.

"I'm fine. I'm not hurt anywhere. Just a bit sore. Slept the wrong way. Or maybe the bed was too soft for me."

"Bed... Where are you? I'll come to pick you up. Are you in the hospital? Which one?"

"I'm not in the hospital, Alex.  I don't think you can come to get me either. Even if I told you where I was, you'd have a hard time believing me."

"Just tell me where to go", he sighed then she heard a door open, "I get a billion text messages from you saying you're scared to go home and then you disappear. Your office is a mess, and no one sees you leave that night. You just vanish. I even had to put out a missing person report, Tessa."

She paused as his tone became shaky as if he were ready to cry. The erratic raspiness of it pulled at her heart, but she couldn't waver in her decision from that night. Things had gone on for far too long and they couldn't get back that time,

"Alex, just let me go. I'm okay where I'm at."

The sound of a car being started coming through the background and he inhaled deeply,

"Dammit, Tessa, just tell me where you are so I can come to get you. I'm in my car, I can set up the GPS to find the quickest route."

She pulled the phone from her ear and looked up at the ceiling. Placing the phone back to her ear she closed her eyes.

"No, I'm okay where I'm at."

After a long pause, he whispered into the phone,

"Why won't you let me pick you up? What is going on?"

"Alex, a lot has happened. There's a bunch of things I have to take in and think about, but I'm okay." I pressed my lips together and inhaled as the knot in my stomach made its way to my throat, "Come to think of it, that night I tried to contact you, why didn't you answer your phone?"

"I didn't have my phone with me, Tessa, I am sorry, okay? I left it at the office that night. I had a last-minute meeting to get ready for and I only grabbed my business cell."

I giggled in my mouth and covered my eyes with my arm to hide the tears about to roll down my cheeks.

"I call bullshit...why didn't you pick up the phone or answer my text messages that night?"

His voice became panicked as he spoke,

"It never crossed my mind that you'd try to call me so late at night. You normally go to sleep early. When I walked into my office the next morning, I got your message and immediately called you, but you didn't answer."

I giggled again and sat up straight then looked out the window. My phone pressed against my ear as I tried to hold on to the last bit of strength I had.

"Alex, please, stop lying and tell me the truth."

He was quiet for a moment then he said,

"I am telling you the truth. I went to your house and your job to see if I could get a hold of you there and no one knew where you had gone. Your office was a mess, and they didn't see you leave on the video playback. Tell me where you are so I can pick you up. Please, Tessa, we can talk once you are home."

I rolled my eyes. He was doing it again giving me an answer he thought I wanted to hear. All I wanted was the truth and it seemed with Alex that would never happen unless I pushed him into a corner, and he had no other choice but to.

"Alex, I've been with you long enough to know that you wouldn't ever leave either of your phones behind. They're always glued to you. If you don't want to tell me it's fine, I understand. Just hear me when I say this is getting a bit old now."

"Tessa, I'm telling you the truth. Work has been stressful lately and I ran out of the office because I was late for a meeting. Listen, right now the only important thing is where are you? I've been worried sick about you, Tessa. Just let me bring you home."

I took the phone away from my ear and looked at it. I scoffed and shook my head then placed the phone back to my ear.

"Alex, I am okay. I'm not hurt, just a little sore from sleeping in that bed. I wonder if I can get Zen to get me a different one. I wonder if he'll talk to me again. I made him kind of mad earlier."

"Who is Zen? Is that why you won't tell me where you're at? Have you disappeared with some random guy?"

The anger in his voice when he said Zen's name confused me a bit. I didn't mean to blurt out his name, but I did. Alex had been avoiding me for weeks, which turned into months. We were just dragging out what was to be done.

"Zen is just... someone who helped explain a few things to me. We grew up together before I went to that hospital. I woke up not too long ago and met him and my father."

"Your father? Do you mean Mr. Thompson? I thought he and his wife were dead."

"No, not my foster dad. I met my birth father. He's been looking for me since I was ten. We've been talking about what happened and how we got separated. He's great...they both seem to care about me a lot."

"That's great news, Tessa! I want to meet him as well. So, are you at his house right now?"

I took a deep breath and released it slowly then said,

"I don't think that will be possible, Alex. Just be okay with knowing I'm fine."

"Why not, we're practically engaged aren't we?" 

A laugh caught in my throat I managed to ask,

"How are we practically engaged?"

"Tessa, come on now you know I love you, right? I miss you and want to see you. "

His sweet words cut at me like a knife cuts butter. I told myself that crying over him was not an option and that I should just do what had to be done. If I wanted to figure out what my life was like before I ended up in the hospital, I had to stay on Nami. I had to start with Zori and Zen.

"Alex, please, let's stop this okay? It's been a long day for me. Just let me go. I'm not saying forget about what we had, but just move on with your life."

"What do you mean by that?"

I could feel tears streaming down my face. The warmth on my cheek only made me cry more and the lump in my throat made it hard to talk,

"Listen, I love you, Alex. Believe me when I say I do but for the last year that we've been together, we've only been going through the motions. I don't believe for a second that you left your phone in your office because you were going to be late for a meeting. That is not your style, Alex, but if you want to keep up with the lies then be my guest. I'm quite sure what has happened is you've already replaced me. You replaced me a long time ago, but you just didn't want to hurt my feelings with a breakup. You didn't want to be seen as someone who breaks promises. It's ok, Alex, I'm okay...at least I will be anyway."

There was an awkward silence as if time had become still and we had become frozen within it.

"I haven't replaced you with anybody, Tess. I have just been busy with work, and I had some things I had to investigate the past couple of months. Please believe me when I tell you I love you with all my heart." His voice whispered into my ear.

Months of pent-up anger rushed forward. There are nights I just wanted him around only to get blown off for business trips and meetings. I was just done with being lonely. Over being made a fool of and being lied to. He didn't love me, not enough to be available for me.

"So, you ignore me and push me away because you love me? You have a very funny way of showing your love, Alex." I snapped.

"No Tessa you g-"

"Alex, find happiness, okay? I'm going to find mine so don't you worry about me? I'm okay where I'm at right now. I've found my family and they're all nice people. I'm going to hang up now. Take care of yourself, okay? Oh, and the Thomason's house you can have it. I'm not going to need it anymore."

"Wait, Tessa don't d-"

"Bye Alex."

"Wait Tes-"

I hung up before he could finish speaking then threw the phone as hard as I could toward the wall. I was hoping to break it so that Alex could not call me again. Tears streamed down my cheeks and dripped off my chin. Alex was the love of my life, but I always had a gut feeling he might have been cheating on me. That night I spent scared and crying in my office proved to me that I wasn't first on his list of essential people. It could have been because I would not sleep with him, and he couldn't wait until we were married. Or it could be that he just fell out of love with me, but still cared for me in his way. Whatever the reason it was clear to me now that our relationship was done.

"It's for the best, breaking up was inevitable, " I buried my face into my hands and leaned forward. Wiping my face on my arm I turned my head to face the door, "I'll just get to know Zen again. I'm sure everything will be fine. He seemed like a nice person."

It hurt so much to tell Alex goodbye; I hadn't felt like that since my high school prom night when my date stood me up. I grabbed at my shirt as I remembered all the good times we had and how I once thought we would always be together. I knew for a long time that our relationship was over, and it was more of a friendship. But I didn't want to admit it just yet. Sliding out of the chair and onto the floor, I curled up in the fetal position hugging my knees tightly. I slowly drifted off into the darkness that surrounded me as memories of what used to be fueled my stream of tears.

'Who am I kidding...I can't move on so easily."