text | un: anonymous

[otherflash]

Hypothetically speaking, what would you do if the person you were in love with literally forgot you existed? Or, what if you remember having a life with this person except it technically never happened for them?

Would you try to build a connection with them? Would it even be fair to do that? Would you simply try to move on?

Comments

[text | un: edward.elric]

[alchemyfreak]

I think they deserve to know.

[This happened all the time in places like Purg, and although Ed had tried not to let people know they were even friends in the past here, there it was different. It was only honest to give a person the heads up that their experiences were not the same as the other versions that had been there before them.

He'd told Lockon and Lyle that he knew them both even though they would have no memory of him. If Taiga showed up here wouldn't he try to befriend her, too?]

[otherflash]

[ The funny thing is this is actually something Wally had been wrestling with back home. Right now he's reexamining the choices he made during that time and trying to figure out what it means, if anything, for his future here in this place. ]

But then what? Do you think it's possible to have an actual relationship with them after that even if they're open to the idea?

[ He knows it's not a question someone can answer with any sort of certainty because every person and relationship is different. But, he could use the opinion from someone who doesn't know him or Linda or how happy the two of them were together. Is the mismatched memories really a hurdle two people could get over? ]

[alchemyfreak]

That would be up to both of you.

I've been away from home for five years now, in that time plenty of people have come and gone back to their own home worlds. It's not the same, but I met friends here that I knew who have never met me.

I told them about it. Because they deserve to know that even if I'm a stranger to them,
one of them was my best friend for several years.

The relationship isn't nearly the same as it was before, everyone is different. Things are going to be different, but as long as you don't expect it to be the same when you go into it there's no reason it might not happen in another way.

If you're lucky, a better way.

[Meeting Rhode in Attollo after knowing her in Purg was not exactly how he would have liked that to go down, but... Lyle was a pleasant surprise from the man he knew before. It was strange to think that over time he might actually become better friends with him than he even was with his brother before.]

The only thing you can do is be honest and go into it without expectations.

[otherflash]

[ The advice sounds similar to what Superman had told him, that the potential for love and happiness is still there even if it's not going to be exactly the same. ]

That's what I was trying to do before I ended up here. Though the weight of everything was still there even if we tried to ignore it.

[alchemyfreak]

Different world, huh?

[Not an alien concept to him, whether this person means their home world or another world, Ed could understand both.]

While you're here there isn't a whole lot you can do about it, you're just going to stress yourself out. Unless this other person shows up too it makes more sense to focus on life here until you can get back.

[Honestly, Ed's experience with this thing told him that this was pointless. This person would find someone else while they were here, or gradually move past these feelings if around long enough. If not? Well, then they wouldn't remember all of this anyway, so it didn't make much of a difference when they got home, did it?]

If they do show up here they might not be the same person you left back home, they could even be the one that remembers your life together.

Things are different in this kind of place, you have to be ready for anything.

[Like your brother randomly showing up when you least expect it after how many times he disappeared in the last place. Or being this close to starting a relationship only for her boyfriend from home to show up. These places weren't kind when it came to relationships, and Ed gets the sense that this person's home world wasn't either.]

[otherflash]

[ The thought about whether anything that happens here really matters if and when he gets back home has bounced around his head. Still, he can't stop himself from "stressing out" about it as the other person put it. ]

Back home, actually. I got lost outside of reality for a bit. It's how I got these memories of things people don't remember.

[ The benefit of being anonymous is he doesn't have to worry about sounding crazy. ]

I got an idea of how things work around here. I just thought someone might have dealt with something similar because of it. I guess you could say I'm reassessing the choices I've made even if it doesn't really matter in the long run.

[alchemyfreak]

Getting lost outside of reality is kind of how these places work, too.

[So, that’s totally relate-able to him. He’s not going to consider anyone crazy for having an experience outside of their control after his history.]

Different circumstances, same outcome I think. My brother lost his memories because of a mistake I made, he still spent two years looking for me after.

Do you think the weight of things is enough for you to give it up?