Serena had been at the apartment again, she had been reading through her older brothers case notes on various things. It was slightly disturbing to read about the serial killers, and she was also fairly sure that he shouldn't have kept all of those files...

But, it provided her with a deeper insight into how her brothers mind worked. It was interesting, seeing how he deduced things. She knew that her brother was smart, when she was 14, she believed that he was the smartest man in the town, he could figure things out instantly and learned new things incredibly fast.

Serena had picked up the fast learning skill from her older brother, he had always been proud of how hard she worked with school, and she had always been proud of the way that he dedicated himself to his work, even though this meant that during school term, they couldn't see each other as much as they would have liked to.

She sighed as she walked through the streets on the way back from her apartment, it was getting late. She walked across the street, it was surprisingly quiet.

She saw a familiar alley and felt herself drawn to it. She walked up to it.

Now was home left, or right? Oh this was completely hopeless. Tses adjusted her shopping bags on her arm then sighed, looking around the alleyway she had turned down. Nothing looked familiar here, and the more she tried to remember the fuzzier things seemed to get. Even her recent memories felt fuzzy now. She couldn't remember which way she'd walked to get to the store in the first place. Heck, she didn't even know where she got the money to buy groceries. Or maybe she did, but she was trying hard not to remember. She wasn't sure she was comfortable with thievery right now, mostly because of her encounter with Regan at the mansion. With a grumble and a slump, she sank against the brick wall and sank to the ground, putting her head against her knees. She rubbed her injured wrist as she sat, the broken bone aching and causing her pain today. She wanted nothing more than to be home right now, but home seemed forever away.

Maybe that's not true. I want to remember.... something, anything... She thought to herself, and her fingers tightened on her hair. She was in jeans and a t-shirt right now, looking oddly under-dressed for herself, and her hair was down, in loose little waves until it met her shoulders. Her lip sported a lip ring (she still hadn't been brave enough to take it out), and the skin was still irritated and healing poorly. It didn't help she had yanked her mouth away getting the dumb jewelry put in. She was just glad she hadn't gotten a tongue piercing accidentally in the process.

Putting her cheek against the wall, she stared ahead with a melancholy expression and tried to decide what to do from here. No idea came to mind, so for now, she just let herself continue to wait.

Serena took a slow peaceful walk through the alley. It was wonderful. It was relaxing. IT WAS CREEPY!

Why was she here? This was where her brother had died, and where she had nearly been murdered and had activated her mutation for the first time. Where she had then killed the man who had killed her brother. She held her chest in a tight grip for a moment.

She hadn't meant to, and her brother would have known that and would have protected her, so to honor him, she carried on living.

That same night she had met- Wait, was that Tses? It was! She was leaning against a wall with shopping. DEJA VU!

She ran over to her with a smile on her face. "Tses! Heya!

Slowly the moonlight powered mutant raised her head, brain taking a moment to process the words being directed at her. A younger blond girl was coming for her, but the lack of recognition she felt didn't upset her at this point. It was growing to be annoyingly normal. She felt like she should wear a sign: Amnesia'd. Please introduce with name and short description of how a know you. She had a sneaking suspicion she would get the wrong responses from that though.

"Hi..." She slowly said, blinking and shuffling to her feet. How could she say this? What was the best way to warn the girl of her current predicament? Maybe blunt? Blunt could always work... "Listen, kinda don't remember people right now, please don't get mad at me." She blurted out, flinching slightly as she waited for the person's disappointment.

Whoever she was.

Serena was taken aback. Everything about Tses was so... Fragile, that was not like her at all. It was so... unsettling. She then spoke and Serena's mouth dropped.

"Oh my god Tses, I am so so sorry. I'd never be mad at you. I'm Serena, you pretty much saved my life and we're sorta friends." Serena's eyes sparkled while she spoke, the sincerity in her voice resounding through the creepy alley.

She gave Tses a warm smile and gently squeezed her arm. "Listen, if there is anything you ever need. I'm here, even if it's just to talk." Serena really felt the need to hug Tses, but she wasn't sure if it was appropriate.

Well, at least this person wasn't irritated at her. Always a good way to start. Considering her rather distasteful reputation she'd come to learn about, she was glad a conversation was starting on a good note, and not with an accusation that she was up to no good. She shuffled slightly and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, I'm glad we're sorta friends and I at least was nice to you. That's a relief right now." She said and adjusted the bag of groceries on her arm. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where I live around here would you? I kinda got lost on the way home and can't for the life of me remember which way to go." She let out a deep sigh and rubbed her forehead. "This whole thing has been frustrating and humiliating. I sound like a broken record." What did a broken record sound like anyway? Did she really sound like one/

She may never find out.

Serena's smile had faded. She was happy to see Tses. But this was awful! How could she have lost her memory. And since when had her lip been pierced?

She proceeded to shake her head. "Sorry. I've never actually been to your apartment. last time I saw you, you had come to visit me and the mansion." It then dawned on Serena that Tses might not actually know what the mansion was, or where it was at the moment.

She felt so bad for Tses. She gave her a hug. She didn't care if it was unexpected.

She then let go and looked up at Tses and said "If you need a place to stay, my apartment isn't too far, and you are welcome to stay there.

"Oh! I was at the mansion just the other day. Regan kinda found me and we made cupcakes." She blurted out, then flushed slightly and coughed, trying to act more normal. Well, how she assumed normal Tses would be. She doubted normal Tses would have been super thrilled with either of those things. So she just gave a sorta shrug and chewed on her lip a bit, the lip ring hitting her teeth and making them tingle slightly from the vibrations. "I don't think people there are really too fond of me. Regan really seemed to dislike me being there at first. How come we're friends?" She said with a slight tilt of her head. She tried to think of something, but the only word that came to mind was 'blood', and that was just a little bit on the freaky side of things.

Controls blood. Her mind started to say, then she Serena embraced her before she could respond on it.

The hug took her aback, but she gave a little smile and fiddled with her groceries a bit as the considered the idea of going to the apartment, at least for the night. But she was worried someone would try to come check on her, and if she wasn't there they might worry. "Well, that is nice of you, but I know home can't be too far from here... Maybe we can just look together? I kinda know what it looks like... it's an older building and it's got a fire escape and a door and... well that's not helpful at all is it." She frowned again and exhaled, trying to remember an address or something.

A smile spear across the Young haemokinetic's face. "Regan is so sweet."

Serena smiled. Even though this made her a little uncomfortable, she would respond as if it wasn't. To make Tses feel more comfortable. "something awful happened, and I discovered my power. You found me and even though I was freaked out and crying, you helped me and brought me to the mansion because you thought I'd be safe there."

She felt a warm feeling take a hold of her, she really liked Tses, like a sister. "And then you came to check on me a little later." she continued.

She smiled and nodded "Yeah I can help you look." another smile.

Well, that did seem like a reason for her not to be completely dis-trustworthy. Ever since she lost her memories, it felt getting her memories back would be painful and depressing. She wasn't sure she liked who she was, but if there was something that she did before she could be proud of... maybe she wouldn't be all too bad when she came back. but there was still a small amount of fear at the possibility.

"Well, I'm glad I did something ok. Regan said I kinda got in a fight with her when we met, and that kinda was why we didn't get along. At least maybe now we can sorta be friends... I hope. I don't know what'll happen...." She trailed off and then started to look around.

"I feel like home is that way. Maybe let's start over there." She said, started to wander in the general direction.

Serena smiled to Tses. "Regan is quite nice, she helped me out when I was being chased through the woods and we've been friends since. She's really nice to hug too. Her fur is warm. Serena murmured.

Serena rolled her eyes, visibly. "Oh dear, am I going to have to tell you this again?" Serena teased. "It's not that you did something "Ok", you literally helped me to get somewhere safe, honestly, you saved me by taking me there. And I respect you a lot, for everything which you may have said and done, you are a lovely person and also a strong person, that I know for certain.

Serena smiled, slightly embarassed. "And sorry, I have rambled on to you about it for a second time now..." they were moving in the general direction which Tses believed her apartment to be in.

Tses awkwardly fiddled with her hair and her grocery bags as she looked around, trying to find something familiar. The sad things was, everything seemed familiar, but she didn't know why and couldn't tell what to do from there. It was like being lost in a maze of mirrors. Everywhere you looked you thought you saw the exit, but you just kept spinning in circles. She was eternally spinning in circles right now.

"She was pretty nice. I like her hair. I wish I had red-hair, I think that'd look awesome. At least, it seems like it would. I thought a lip ring would look awesome but that idea was probably not my brightest one and I have regretted it since then. If you ever think about getting one, I would recommend against it. Especially if it's some punk teenager who has an evil twinkle in their eye." Darn teenagers. She paused at the end of the alleyway, and glanced back at Serena. She gave a soft smile at her story.

"It's fine. I don't mind rambling. That's about all I do right now. I feel like my thoughts are stuck on a cd spinning around and around, but it just keeps playing the same song. I wish I remembered more. Then I wish I remember less... Even if you're rambling, it's reassuring. Lately I've kinda been glad I don't remember who I am. It feels too depressing." She paused suddenly, looking at the girl more intensely. Then she sighed and leaned against the alley wall, rubbing her forehead and setting her bags down for a second.

" If you had a chance to forget all the sad times in your life... would you? Or would you want to remember? I .... I don't know what I want. Sometimes, I feel like I want my memories, because I don't feel like I'm 'me' without them.... then sometimes, I feel like I could be a better me without them... Everyone says I used to steal and get in fights and that seems sorta mean and rude to me, but now I just feel... empty. Maybe I fought and all that, but when I try to remember that me I feel like she was stronger. I just feel...lost. I don't know what I want." She admitted slowly, and looked up at the moon then back down again. "What if I don't like who I am when I remember?" She quietly lamented.

Serena smiled and nodded to the comments about Regan. She was lovely, and she had probably suffered a lot of abuse due to her very visible mutation, but she was still quite warm and friendly, and cuddly. She even purred.

She laughed at the comment about the piercing. And then looked unhappy about how Tses felt. She couldn't remember anything, and she must felt incredibly trapped in the same place.

She then paused for a moment to consider Tses comment. And then she nodded in response "Sure I feel like that sometimes, there is a scenario that will occasionally play in my head, maybe if I could forget about what happened to my older brother, maybe I could move on more easily with my life, but ultimately, I think what has happened to us shapes who we are, and even if you get your memories back and don't like your reputation or anything, you can always work to change it, but from my experience, you are a very strong person and I think you will be fine.

Serena turned her head slightly and giggled.

Tses listened quietly to Serena's response, then gave a slow nod. She did feel like, although she was happier without her memories, something was ... missing. Maybe all that sadness had made her 'strong' like Serena said. Without it, she just felt scared and lost. She didn't feel like the person who would run on roof tops and stand up for someone who needed it. She even didn't feel like the person who would pick fights with random people when she felt upset or sad. Perhaps some of that was bad, perhaps some of that was good. But without her memories, she wasn't her.

And she was starting to think, maybe she still wanted to be her again.

"I'm... afraid... but... I feel like if I don't remember, I'm just living a lie, hiding from something I don't want to face. But, I think I should be braver than that. I'd like to think I'm not the person to run from something. Even if that something is me." She looked more like herself for a moment, as that sad undercurrent drifted through her. Then she gave a grin and glanced at Serena.

"I just hope that maybe part of the me I found without my memories will stay around when I get them back. I feel like there are some friendships I would like to keep if I can. I think we turn left here." she finally said, and turned to walk down the side walk. For some reason it felt like this was more than just a hunt for her apartment. Step by step, she was still looking for herself as well.

Serena giggled at Tses. She hoped that Tses could keep these friendships, she hoped that her and Tses could get closer, because she really liked Tses, and no matter what other people said, she knew that Tses was a good person. She didn't care what those other people thought.

She smiled at her blonde friend. "Hey, I'm sure you'll be able to keep all of your friends, as I've said, Regan is lovely, I'm sure you two can stay friends, and also, I'm betting that the only reason you are different with amnesia is that this personality has always been a part of you, it's not just going to vanish."

Serena squeezed her friends arm.

She smiled and turned the corner as Tses had suggested. "I wonder what possessed me to go back down that damned alley..." Serena wondered aloud, the bitterness in her voice evident.