It had been a long night. Ty'd managed to find a new chain for the necklace Tses had broken when they broke up, and he had thought putting the pendant on the new chain would be easy. But as a matter of fact, it was a pain. He'd spent all night pushing, pulling, and trying to get the moon on the new silver necklace. But it was no use.

Finally, hours later, he'd managed to get it on, and the jewelry had suffered minimal damage. Ty, however, had worn himself out. Why he even did it, well, he wasn't sure. The redhead was sure she was close to recovering, and he at least wanted some token of appreciation she could remember him by--if she even wanted it. If not, hey, he tried.

But now, he was tired. He lay sprawled on the couch, snoring lightly. On the coffee table lay the finished necklace and the old broken chain.

In his mind, he was dreaming, of happier days. The days with Tses, before he hurt her the way he did. On his sleeping face, was a small smile.

It was early morning and Tses was doing her best to sneak back into the apartment. Ty had been hanging around for the past week or so, making sure she didn't damage her amnesia ridden self, and for the most part, it was a success.

Although there was the lip piercing incident...

But, as nice as his intentions were, Tses got bored easily, and much of the time he was around she found herself wandering off and exploring on her own. Perhaps she thought it would spark a memory somehow. Perhaps she just needed the space. All the knew was the little apartment was suffocating over long periods of time, and she had to get out.

So, she did. She slipped out via the fire escape, went exploring the rooftops, and let the light of the first-quarter moon bathe her face. Relaxing and letting the energy slip across her arms and down to her fingertips, she felt more herself than she had in awhile. But that was not quite enough. A few little explosive tossed here or there woke her up and made her feel more alive, but something was still missing. Tired, she wandered back to her apartment, and pushed open the door.

Ty was sleeping on the couch, which seemed to be a normal thing. At least with amnesia she didn't think it was odd. It just seemed to be normal for them. Stretching and padding over to the coffee table, she stopped, and her eyes honed in on a glittering object. It seemed familiar, in a way, and her fingers reached out, tracing the shape of the moon. Next to the necklace was a broken chain. Her heart beat a little faster as she reached to pick it up, and as she did, a wave of memories seemed to crash into her mind.

Memories....her memories...

Stumbling backwards slightly, her hand went out and caught the new stuffed animal from the zoo. Fingers clasping around the tag that was still attached, she felt it come off in her hand and stared down at it, trying to focus on the image through the sudden rush of pictures. It was like seeing double as flickers of the past tumbled into the future. She didn't want this. She didn't want to remember. But her fingers couldn't release that broken chain.

Without thinking about it, she raced out the apartment door and took off at a run. As if somehow, running would help her get ahead of those images. As if running would help her get away from the feelings bubbling to the surface.

"Most of the time I think it revolves around whether or not hugging you will get me killed! I love you, I do. But it's not exactly easy."

She had to shut it out. She had to get rid of it.

"Maybe I'm just foolish for thinking this would actually work..."

That couldn't be right. That couldn't be what happened.

"Fine. Go home. I think I'll go, too. To Sanctuary. I...I can't take this anymore. The ups, the downs, the violence, just for trying to be the best boyfriend I can...Tses," he said, his voice low and dark, as he turned, walking slowly for the open door. "It's done. I'm done....Sorry for wasting your ****ing time."

The words cut deep, and Tses tried to keep it together. At least for now. Reaching up to her neck, she gave a sharp tug on the golden chain that was there, and then dropped the necklace on the floor next to her. The little moon hit the group with what felt like the loudest noise she'd ever head, and she didn't say a word. She just moved out door and walked out, tears streaming down her face. The little drops of water splattered around the moon, drowning the crescent in dust and debris.

She didn't remember climbing the fence. She didn't remember racing through the exhibits. She didn't remember falling to her knees in front of the tiger exhibit and bursting into tears. Her knees stung. Her arm stung. For the first time, she remembered what it felt like when it broke. For the first time, she remembered what it felt like having someones boot on her neck.

It felt a lot better than this did now.

"It's done. I'm done."

There had been a reason she had wanted to forget.

When Ty woke up, it was daylight.Harsh beams of sunlight shone through the window, stinging his eyes as he groggily sat up and looked around. Tses was gone, which...honestly didn't surprise him. She seemed to spend more time away from him than with him, not that he could honestly blame her. He'd been horrible to her, and though he was being nice now...maybe some part of her amnesia ridden self knew what a horrible person he had been for hurting her.

When the coffee table came into focus, he noticed something. The chain and necklace were both gone, and on the ground was the tag from her newest tiger. "ZOO." Could that be where she went? The young man didn't know, but it was worth a shot. Pulling on his denim jacket, he tightened his green fingerless gloves and for one reason or another, he bolted out the door.

Something didn't feel right. It caused a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and his heart felt as if it was on fire. Unlike Tses, Ty knew full well when he climbed over the fence, still bolting to the tiger exhibit. Seeing her on her knees and crying broke him even more. He didn't know what to say, what to do. But the next thing he knew, he was on his knees beside her, one arm around her, head leaned against her shoulder as tears streamed down his face.

The zoo was silent, but the memories inside her mind were not. Her mind was filled with a spinning wheel of the good, the bad, the painful and the joyful. Everything that she forgot kept spinning and trying to find it's resting place, the fog lifting and leaving her at the mercy of these painful images. She remembered...she remembered her days on the streets, fighting for survival; she remembered her time in New York, learning to let people care about her; she remembered, falling for Ty, and loosing him, not once, but twice.

Then she heard someone coming, and felt the arm around her shoulder. Part of her felt comforted, while the rest felt terrified.

She flinched at the contact, and lifted her head to look at him. A string of emotions shot through her: anger, betrayal, loss, happiness. With tears on her face she felt her lip quiver, and a glare finally settled into place. It was a soft glare, mingled with a wounded look, the one she'd hid from him when he left the first time. "You left." She accused, her voice somewhere between that quieter one from her amnesia and the more hardened Tses that he first met. The vulnerable side that had showed through hadn't quite vanished; it was showing through all the broken places of the real Tses.

When his eyes met hers, that look hurt him deep. He knew he'd messed up, and now...she knew too.

"I...I ran away," he murmured, his voice raspy and hoarse, every word he spoke leaving a bitter aftertaste on his tongue as he spoke it. He pulled away and leaned against the fence, sitting down. "I guess I have a knack for that when things don't go the way I want...it was cowardly, selfish, and it was the stupidest thing I've ever done." He sighed, not knowing how much she actually remembered.

"I threw away the closest person I had in my life, over something stupid. I've kicked myself every day for it, but...my only hope now is that you'll at least forgive me for being such an ass...If nothing else." His eyes were soft, solemn and just a little bit hopeful.

Tses bit her lip slightly, and looked down at her broken arm. She stared at her boots. She stared at the tigers. She looked anywhere then back at him where she would see that sad look on his face. She didn't want to see him sad. She was feeling too much pain to feel sorry right now.

"You dumped me. On Valentine's Day." Her voice said shakily, and she tightened her fist around her necklace. There was a small tone of accusation to it, then it got quiet again. " I told myself I deserved it though. Told myself when you let the first time it must've been for the better. Went back to stealing, stole from the wrong person. Found myself flat on my back with a busted arm and a boot on my throat and you know what? I told myself I deserved that too." She lifted her eyes to look at him for a moment, and the expression just looked confused. Betrayed.

"You came back and helped.... You keep saying that you regretted it. You keep wanting me to forgive you. But, it's the same old story. How long ago was it when you left? When you said you wouldn't leave like that again. You talk about trusting you, and then when it's too much you drop it all and run away. I never wanted a relationship. I knew I wasn't good with people and caring and all that crap. But you said that's ok. You convinced me to try anyway. And then... you gave up." Her pained glare was blurry from the tears in her face before she looked away.

"You convinced me to open my heart just so you could break it." She hissed in a low voice.

Ty sighed, looking at her. "Don't you think I know that?" he asked gently. "This has been eating at me and eating at me. Unlike you, I never got to forget. The memory's always been there. No amount of killing, stealing cars, picking pockets, or even dodging death could make it go away..." His voice shook a little.

"So I cracked that day...I had this selfish image of what I thought it would be, and I got butt-hurt when it started off on the wrong foot. I guess after that I was looking for a reason to snap...I never intended to dump you...the words just...flew out of my mouth before I could stop them. All I wanted was...dare I say a cliched Valentine's day...one full of nothing but sweet and happy moments..." he wiped a stray tear, looking at the ground. "Deep down, I never once felt different about you...I always cared."

He leaned back, lightly hitting his head on the fence. "I've beaten myself up, down, and sideways over this, believe me..."

Tses looked at him. Really looked at him. Her brain still hurt, there was still too much to process. She had liked him, really really liked him. But it just felt like he would be sorry now, and then later, it would all happen again. No amount of 'I'm sorry's could fix his broken word. Or her broken heart.

"I'm not taking you back." She said with a level of darkness. But the tears in her pain gave away how much it hurt to say it. "But that doesn't mean I don't care, or stopped caring. I just... I don't think I'm ready for a boyfriend right now. And I don't think you're ready to handle someone like me. Problems don't just go away: we'd still fight, I'd still get pissed, you'd still get hurt, and you know, I don't believe you wouldn't leave again. Until some of that, most of that changes... we'll just end up back here. Back hurt. Back... broken."

She glanced at the tigers, and bit her lip, tasting blood. But it helped her say what she needed to. "Sure...you had time to forget, to hurt, to understand what happened. I had my head pitched into concrete and there is still this feeling of... betrayal, that can't go away." She looked down at the broken necklace chain, and closed her eyes with a sigh. Tears splashed down on it, and it felt like it would be permanently drowned in the salty solution. "So I'm sorry... I wish I could just...make things go back to the way they were. Or forget. Both seem a lot better right now."

Ty nodded slowly. "Honestly, I don't blame you," he murmured softly. "I ran this scene over in my head a million times since I...made the biggest mistake of my life. But honestly, none of them ended with you taking me back." He sighed softly, looking at her.

"But...this is one of the happier endings. I was never really trying to win you back...I just wanted to make it right. I wanted closure." He stood up.

"Anything you want to keep that I gave you, keep it. Gifts from a friend. Maybe we're not girlfriend or boyfriend material for one another but...punks like us would do better on the same side." He flashed a small grin.

She hated this. Hated this feeling of sadness. Hated this feeling of hurt. Hated...letting go. If she had followed her instincts, none of this would happened. But... none of this would have happened.

She let her face rest against her knees and she stared at the broken necklace chain. It was ironic, in a way. She never wore a necklace before he bought her that one. She wasn't a big jewelry person, other than her earrings. But it became a part of her. Without it now, she didn't quite feel like her. Even though it hadn't always been there. With Ty leaving, she still didn't feel like her. Even though he hadn't always been there.

Nothing felt quite right.

She sighed as he remarked that she could keep the things he gave her. It felt like a little knife wedged in her throat. She couldn't quite swallow the idea of having so many reminders of him around. Her mind was flickering with all the memories she tried so hard to suppress. "Thanks... Maybe someday we can hang out or...make cupcakes or something." She gave the tiniest little smile, a flicker of the side that had taken over while she had amnesia. Then it vanished once more and the sad look took back over.

Ty smiled softly. "Maybe we can," he said softly, a sort of distant look in his eyes. Deep down, he hated this too, just as much as she did. But they'd grown because of the time they had together.

"Thanks for hearing me out, and...you know," he gave a slight chuckle. "Not blowing me up. I'd fixed the necklace, that's yours regardless. It's...you." His eyes softened as he said this, and he stuffed his gloved hands in his pockets.

"So...I guess this is it, then..." His voice trailed off.

Tses nodded slowly, and managed to get to her feet. Even without amnesia, something about her still seemed lost. She didn't know what to do with herself, or where to go from here. But this time, she had to sort it out on her own.

"I wouldn't blow you up...maybe I'd throw a stuffed animal or two at you... I save explosives for people that really tick me off." She gave a rueful smile, and crossed her arms. Then she took a few steps towards the exit. "And yeah, I guess that's best for now. I'll see you later Fish." She gave him a sad smile, then turned and walked into the dark shadows of the zoo. She'd take the long way out, think about what happened, and try to clear her thoughts. Maybe get rid of a few more stubborn tears.

But if that's what it took to get better, then she'd just get used to the sting until then.

Ty cracked a smile, the sadness now really sinking in. They weren't to be. And it was his fault. But...what's done was done. "Yeah...see ya around..." He watched her leave, then brushed his hair from his face.

Digging his feet into the ground, he suddenly took off running towards the back, where he came from, and used the momentum to jump onto the fence, climb to the top, then jump down and hit the ground running.

He didn't know why he was running. Maybe he was just trying to outrun everything. All of his previous fears, the sadness, and that empty feeling of being alone again. Everything. He just...ran...jumping over park benches and dodging people where necessary, and he didn't even stop when he entered Sanctuary's golden doors. He only stopped when he reached his room, where he flopped onto his bed, crying himself back to sleep.

No...you couldn't outrun emotions. Couldn't outrun mistakes. All one could hope to do, was cope with them.