After the end of the world, Ryo could not remember it ever happening. In fact, he realized, with a sickly feeling in his gut, there was little he could hasten back to his memory. He remembered fire and destruction, chaos and a looming oblivion knocking on their shattered atmosphere. It seemed like he could only remember the last few moments of his old life, like the sum of his existence meant nothing compared to that fateful series of painful days. Or was it weeks, or hours? He couldn't recall anymore. The last thing he did remember was a wave of such brilliant white light, and then a cool touch, before everything went dark.

When he woke up, he could not remember who he was. The faces around him were just as strange as his own when he caught his reflection. He could only stand there as friends and family reunited, hoping someone would recognize his face, or come to explain what had happened. Someone did come; a woman in a red dress like a fashionable sailor, and another in green. They talked to the crowd and told them what had occurred, but Ryo could barely register any of it, as his mind tried to find something to hold on to. The two strange woman led everyone out into the open, where the world looked fresh and green and new. A make-shift settlement rested before them, but no other sign of civilization could be seen for miles. It all seemed like a dream, one that he desperately wanted to stay in, but to wake all the same.

Ryo followed everyone in line, stuffing his hands into his pockets nervously. He felt something rub against his skin, and pulled a picture from his pocket. There was a girl on it, with blue hair and blue eyes, and a smile that did strange things to him. She was very familiar, even though he could not remember her name, or anything about her. The picture was well taken care of, even though it was starting to show wear around the edges. She was obviously important, whoever she was. He got lost in her eyes, searching them in hopes of finding the lost parts of himself. One the back was writing perfect and precise: Ryo, This picture is better than the other. I hope it will be enough until we see each other again. Best of wishes, Ami. So he was Ryo. A name seemed so meaningless with nothing to connect it to. Ryo had followed like a mindless zombie as they received provisions and assignments, for there was nothing else he could do. He told them the name on the back of the picture, but nothing else. There was nothing else. He got a job as a builder, something he was sure he was probably not good at, if he could remember anything about himself.

Days, months, years passed, but Ryo's memory still remained illusive. It would have killed him, if not for the picture. He kept his mind occupied by thinking of his mystery woman; wondering who she was- was she a sister perhaps, a cousin, a friend, a lover? and searching for her amidst the crowds of people saved from the apocalypse. But mostly, she was the one tie he had to his former life, the one thing that made him believe that he had truly existed once. Without her, whoever she was, he would never been able to survive this new world. She was his first friend, his anchor. She had saved him, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew it wasn't the first time.