"Well that's not surprising since my memory keeps getting lost every time I seem to recover even a bit of it." He was quiet for a moment as he considered all that she had said. She said the laws forbade their friendship and their touching, but that wasn't the same as her saying she didn't want that to happen. At least not to his ears.<br/><br/>So, he reached out and grasped her hands gently but firmly so that she couldn't pull them away.<br/><br/>"Look, I don't care about the law. You want to be my friend. I can see it in your eyes. If it would do us better to keep it a secret, then I can handle that. But we're alone right now, Tilda. I need someone like you to help me reclaim my lost life. My mother tries but she is not a comforting presence for me at all. The law says a lot of things, but I'm willing to bet many people ignore menial laws like this one."<br/><br/>He sighed and released her hand.<br/><br/>"But I know what can make this easier for us both. I'm going to have mother assign you to me directly. I'm not sure what our relationship is exactly yet, but I am sure my mother won't say no to me if I insist upon it. So meet me in my room in thirty minutes."<br/><br/>After a somewhat heated discussion, his mother relented. Apparently she didn't really have a choice in the matter. There was some sort of law against women going against the word of a male even if she was his mother. As messed up as the law seemed to his amnesiac ears, he had to be thankful for it. It made things go a lot more smoothly. He was directed to his room and he waited for Tilda. Now that she was assigned to him directly, she wouldn't be able to run away from him or distance herself.