Y HALO THAR SEKRIT SANTA.

[thearratik]

Everything that I said in my email goes. I'm a fandom whore, basically, and would enjoy icons, art, fic, whatever.

Edit: Dropping Sanzo makes me no less a whore for him. Fic and art of him is still A++.

Comments

[anonymous]

He was always smiling warmly as he thought about the past. His dear memories always made him feel much more at peace, both with himself and with his chaotic life.

Looking back on these moments kept his smile in place. If it weren't for the time he spent here, and these innocent reflections, he did not know if he could continue doing as he did now. The struggle to keep sane was one that, too often, he had seen overwhelm those close to him.

He was going to stay strong. He couldn't lose now.

As he turned the page in the album, he found himself frozen. This photograph... Not for the life of him could he remember who had taken it. Nor could the young man recall when, but one thing was certain---though he had never before seen it, now the picture was his.

His breath escaped him in a whisper. Was he trembling? It didn't seem too horrid---all he would have to do to learn the facts would be to slide the photo out of the protective plastic sheet and turn it over to find a name and date.

The question, of course, was did he dare ruin this moment? It would just take an instant---he barely touched the glossy surface for fear of smudging the faces there. In a moment, he would know. As soon as he turned it face down, right?

Then he laughed.

The back of the picture was blank, white, and seemed to stare up at him in total mockery. There was no hint of that lost moment in time, the same as his own mind.

But as sad as that was, he still found that he was smiling. He did not have to remember the moment to remember how he must have felt, and surely he had been loved. This---and he paused only to carefully put the picture back in its place---was what mattered.

Later, when his friends found the book open to that page, they saw how he had fixed the simple error of a nervous girl with a camera, who had unknowingly caught a short scene between the youngest clerk and a now-deceased young woman. That girl had given it to them when he had mourned, and it seemed now that he had at last found it.

They smiled too, as one lifted the album back to its place on the shelf, the thick leather cover hiding the memories and the new caption---

'Little sister.'

[thearratik]

Oh, what a delightful start. Thank you!