How long had it been?  Six months?  Cyrus really couldn't remember how long ago it been since he had found his wife, without memory of her even being his wife.  That wasn't to say that she forgot him.  No, as a matter of fact she only couldn't remember the last six years.  Which meant she didn't even remember them getting together.  She remembered their childhood together, but not what he considered the important memories.  He had no doubt that he memory had been altered.  Whoever had done it had wiped out a bit too much of her memory.  When Cyrus had finally tracked her down, she had set in to a routine with a family that had taken her in.

She had been surprised to see him.  But even more so when he told her that he was her husband.  After some convincing, and showing some evidence of their marriage, they came back to London.  He had hoped to help jog her memory in some fashion.  To help ease her mind, he had moved them back to the apartments that they had grown up at.  Plus his parents were close by, and his mother specifically was gifted with memory altering charms.  With her help he was hoping that little by little he could restore her memory.

Cyrus was currently laying down on the couch, looking up at the ceiling.  There were some days when he just wanted to give up.  At least he felt that way.  It seemed like he would never get his Aureliane back.  Mostly he just had no idea on how to talk to her.  His body reacted naturally, and often times hers would too.  But it led to awkward situations.  He needed to find someway to find a middle ground.  But maybe he was approaching the whole situation wrong?  He sighed as he sat up.  There was no easy answer.

The only thing he could do...was try everything until something happened.  No matter how long it took, he wouldn't give up.  He loved Aureliane too much to ever do that.

Ever since Aure woke up in a strange muggle hospital things had been crazy, for the lack of a better word. She wasn't even sure who she was anymore. It was scary, down right terrifying to discover that the last six years of your life was suddenly gone. She was an entirely different person that she had to relearn. She was just getting use to the fact that she was married.

Married? and for two years to none other than her childhood friend and one time first love Cyrus Vandalier. Sometimes, early in the morning just as Aure was walking up, she thought it was all a dream but it wasn't. She was married and couldn't even remember the day. Her life had suddenly become so frustrating. Still there was no denying that there was something between her and the man that loved her. The tension that was sometimes between them could cause a wand to spark.

Still as the weeks passed and Aureliane moved in with Cyrus, although they had separate bedrooms. Life was getting back to normal, sometimes she had vague dreams about Cyrus, they were fragments that went by in a flash and it was very hard to grasp a hold of them when she was awake but she tried. After two months of trying to remember, after spell after spell scourged up no results Aure resolved to make new memories. Get to know her "husband" the old fashion way. They forged a relationship twice before and they could do it again.

Despite the fact she couldn't remember the years following her courtship and marriage to Cyrus, she did remember their summer of love and their years of friendship. She had known this man nearly half her life and that counted. He wasn't a complete stranger!

Aureliane had been out shopping. she had been bored in the small apartment and wanted to do something special for Cyrus. The poor guy really had been trying to make everything comfortable for her. She knew it wasn't easy for him. So she had went to Diagon Alley picked up a record that sounded great and bought food from a muggle French restaurant.  She struggled to wave her wand to open the door before waltzing in with her arm full of bags.

"I'M HOME!" She called out in a sing song voice.
"Stay where you are please!" She called out as she quickly rushed into the small kitchen to hide her packages in a cupboard before finding Cyrus.

She practically bounced into the living where she found the man sprawled out on the couch taking a nap. An evil, mischievous grin lit up Aure's face, lighting her green eyes. Oh it was very tempting to just pounce on the man. She had done it once before as a teenager. The results had been a tickle war of magnification proportions. The tickle war to end all tickle wars.

"I have a surprise." She said as she plopped down on the couch near his feet, half sitting on them as she did so. "But I have to set it up and you mustn't peep, or protest." she said with a bright smile, clearly enjoying herself as she flipped her long black hair across one shoulder, the longish strands gently swiping Cyrus' legs.

"A suprise you say?" Cyrus couldn't help but wonder at what Aure would do to surprise him.  Despite himself he was curious.  Still if she said he wasn't allowed to peep, then he wouldn't.  Perhaps when he was younger he would have ignored the warning.  "Oh, alright.  I can wait.  I won't be going anywhere."

She was so beautiful.  Even after all the time that had passed it was something that he had never failed to notice.  So much had changed, and even though he was working so hard to get back the memories she had lost, they were also forging new ones along the way.  What if she never remembered?  What if this was all that could be done?  It wasn't like he loved her any less. 

He could show her all the pictures in the world of their wedding and various other events that had happened when they dated.  But was it a waste of time?  A picture of their wedding was on the wall, and he had spent several nights looking at it since she had returned.  What he wanted was for her to know the joy that they had experienced.  Even more he wanted to hurt the person who had taken those precious memories away from her.

"You want me to just stay in here or want me to step outside while you prep your surprise?" Cyrus asked as he sat up on the couch.

Aureliane wasn't sure that she loved Cyrus. At sixteen she would have said yes but really it was more infatuation then, he was  a boy, he was hot and he was her close friend.  Now things were different and yet they were still the same in some ways. She wanted to love Cyrus, so much because he loved her and she wanted  to please him but wanting to love someone and actually loving them was too different things. What was love anyways? Still, Aure knew that Cyrus wanted her to love him back, almost to the point of desperation so she tried. It wasn't that she found him revolting or anything, infact she found him very appealing she just didn't know Cyrus the Adult and it was odd that he knew things about her that she didn't know, well remember.

"Good. I would hate to have to be forced to restrain you." She teased  as she shifted position, resting one thin arm on his leg. Aureliane was a happy person. She would not let something like a few lost memories stop her from living and right now she was defenitantly living for the moment. She liked to do spur of the moment, carefree things and this impromptu dinner surprise was one of them.

Aure hadn't thought about sending Cyrus away but since he offered she would jump on the wagon and it was of course a brilliant idea!

"Fifteen minutes, twenty tops. Maybe you can check on Scirey? I worry about her all alone with out Ciarra, that girl needs someone to look after her." She said with a slight frown. She had met Scirey after she had moved in with Cyrus. She was a nice enough girl who did not eat enough. She was fragile though and that made Aureliane worry. Besides maybe Ciarra had finally came home from what she was doing.

Aureliane jumped up, always on the move and grabbed for Cyrus' larger hand, meaning to pull him up.

"Alright, alright.  I'll get out of your hair for a while.  I won't be too far," Cyrus gave a smile as Aureliane led him towards the door.  "I'm sure Scirey wouldn't mind me stopping by to say hi."  He didn't linger too long.  After all he was used to giving Aure space by now.  That's all it had been lately, but he couldn't blame her, she just didn't remember.  But her body remembered and that led to awkward situations.

Sometimes she would move to him without thinking, but then would quickly move away from her when she realized what she had done.  Cyrus wasn't too sure anymore if he would ever have the Aureliane back that had fallen in love with him.  A lot of ways she was like her younger self.  She was missing a portion of her experiences, and some that had changed her.

Walking away from the apartment he stopped infront of Scirey's apartment.  That was another thing, Ciarra was actually back already, but she had said she wasn't returning back to the apartment quite yet.  Something about her boss wanting her to ease back into her life in London and so she wouldn't be so comfortable.  She was on the job 24/7 as far as Vane Hendric was concerned.  Cyrus himself had recently started working again after taking an extended leave to take care of Aureliane.  But it was suggested that returning to a routine could help Aure recover some of her memories.  Cyrus was skeptical, but he did as advised.  It was all he could do anymore.

Despite himself, he knocked on the door to see if Scirey was around.  He wish he had thought to bring her something.  But more so he was wondering what kind of surprise that Aure was doing back at their apartment.

(sorry this took so long)

A very satisfied grin turned Aureliane into a mischievous nymph as Cyrus caved in. She practically shoved him outside, all but slamming the door as she hurried to set the mood. She had barely enough time to transform her day dream into reality, even with the help of magic.

A flick of her wand caused the scented candles she had spotted in the cupboard the week before to spread out across the house. Another wave caused flames to burst out of the tiny wicks. A tap of her wand caused a few to float in the air. A swish unpacked her groceries as she began to heat the scrumptious food meant to tantalize.

She used her hands to select the music and shift some of the candles. As an after thought she fixed her hair, piling her curls on top of her head, leaving only a few errant wisps to frame her face.

Fifteen minutes later she was nearly finished. The food was covered, resting on china she had no clue they owned. Chilled dragon's wine rested in a ice bucket. Everything was perfect. Well almost. All she needed was Cyrus.