D.C. ~Da Capo~ Sakura's Lost Memories

In a dream, Sakura told her adopted son, Yoshiyuki, that he was nothing more than a wish granted to her by the sakura tree she created out of loneliness for long periods of time, but because the tree was incomplete, its magic soon becomes out of control, granting anyone's wish no matter whether its good or bad. In order to subdue the tree, but also wanting to keep her wish, Sakura sacrificed herself by fusing with the tree so she can act as a filter to rid of all the bad wishes made within the tree. After Yoshiyuki accepted Sakura's sacrifice, he also disappears as his sister, Otome Asakura, was forced to make the tree wither, but by a sudden miracle, the tree granted one last wish before disappearing, allowing Yoshiyuki to return back to Earth with no more connections to the tree.

While he accepts that Sakura maybe gone for the rest of his life, he, along with the Asakura sisters, promise to always keep her memory alive. Yoshiyuki then decides to take a walk outside to the area where the tree used to be, unsure about his feelings that the tree that created him is gone. Just when he was about to go back, he suddenly heard a familiar voice nearby.

"I don't know." Hearing this, Yoshiyuki immediately rushes to the source and was shocked to see the familiar blond hair (though it was cut short by Junichi), white clothes, and black skirt. Sakura Yoshino has returned. She is seen talking to another girl who was wondering what she was holding and Sakura replied that she doesn't know. The girl took a closer look at what Sakura as holding.

"Oh I see, it is a twig of a sakura tree." The girl said.

Sakura stares at the twig and mutters "Sakura..." Once the words are heard, the twig itself withers and disappears from her hands.

The girl soon starts feeling awkward as she continues to talk to Sakura and decides to leave.

"It seems like you still have your own problems to fix so I will leave you to it."

After the girl leaves, Yoshiyuki immediately comes in front of her excited.

"Sakura-san! Is that you? Is that really you?"

Sakura does not recognize him. "Who are you?"

Yoshiyuki becomes shocked that Sakura does not remember and frantically tries to get her to remember him.

"Don't you remember me Sakura-san? Is me, Yoshiyuki Sakurai, your son."

Sakura becomes a little irritated. "I don't even know who I am, but I saw what I look like in the mirror and there is no way I would have a son at my age so don't say something that is not true."

Sakura tries to walk away, but Yoshiyuki stops her by grabbing on to her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Sakura struggles to make Yoshiyuki let go.

"Do you not remember anything? Anything at all?" Yoshiyuki is becoming desperate to get Sakura to remember.

"No I don't! There is no way I have a son like you! I don't ever remember loving anyone before! Please let me go!" Sakura lashed out.

Sakura's outburst caused Yoshiyuki to let go as Sakura runs away from him, leaving him saddened and depressed. Not wanting to cause any more trouble to her, the depressed Yoshiyuki returns home only to find Otome and Yume in his living room, having already prepared dinner for him.

"You're late nii-san." Yume pouted at Yoshiyuki.

Otome was a lot more polite to his return. "Welcome back Otouto-kun, dinner is ready. Please eat with us."

Seeing his two sisters allow Yoshiyuki to briefly smile before heading to the table and eat his meal. As he eats, Otome and Yume find themselves staring curiously at Yoshiyuki.

"Otouto-kun?" Otome asked.

"What is it Oto-nee?"

"What did you do today? When I stopped by your house, you weren't there."

Hearing this got Yoshiyuki to stop eating. Putting down his chopsticks, he remains reluctant to tell them about Sakura, but decides that they will probably be mad if he doesn't tell them.

"I went to the park where the Sakura tree used to be. Sakura-san made it disappear so I can live, but I saw that something, or should I say someone, has not disappeared."

"Who hasn't disappeared?" Yume asked.

Yoshiyuki raised his head. "Sakura-san hasn't disappeared. I saw her talking to another girl, she is still alive."

Hearing this surprised Otome and Yume as they both knew Sakura disappeared trying to save Yoshiyuki.

"Otouto-kun, if Sakura-san is still alive, why didn't you bring her back with you? I would have gotten her an extra bowl if I knew." Otome argued.

Yume agrees with Otome. "That's right nii-san, Sakura-san is part of the family. I can't believe you left her." Yume starts to feel disgusted with Yoshiyuki, believing that he purposely left Sakura outside, because he still believed that she is not there.

Yoshiyuki, angered by their accusations, slammed his hand on the table silencing both Otome and Yume. "It is not that simple! I never let go of Sakura-san as soon as I saw her, but when I tried to take her home, she ran away."

This made both Otome and Yume feel bad about accusing their own brother without hearing his side of the story.

Yume hesitates to ask, but her desire to see Sakura allows her to do so once Yoshiyuki calms down. "Why would Sakura-san run away from you? You are her family."

"She doesn't remember me. Actually, she doesn't remember anything about her life. When I tried to get her to remember, that is when she runs away. I don't know where she is now, but I do hope I find her soon. I don't want to leave her like this."

Otome puts her hand on Yoshiyuki's shoulder. "There is no way we can leave Sakura-san like this without having her remember us, we want to help too."

Yume stands up. "That's right, we will help you search for Sakura-san and have her remember us."

"How are we going to do that? She ran away from me when I tried." Yoshiyuki asked.

"We will figure that out when we find her tomorrow." Otome begins collecting the dishes and heads to the kitchen as Yume turns on the TV to watch the news. Yoshiyuki remains unsure what to do until then so he decides to go back to his room and tries to come up with a plan to make Sakura remember them.

After the Asakura sisters left his house, he then takes a bath to relax himself, not wanting to remain sulky after his first encounter with Sakura since his return. After his bath, he wen't inside Sakura's room and begins having flashbacks of the time Sakura took care of him when he was young and remembers calling her "mother" after Sakura feeds him. Yoshiyuki now knows his body has been separated from the tree, erasing any connection he had with Sakura other than the memories he has with her. In other words, he is no longer related to Sakura. He then looks at a family picture on her desk with him, Sakura, Otome, and Yume in it and never forgets his shopping day with them when the girls forced Yoshiyuki to pick which swimsuit would look best on them, which sometimes makes him laugh when he remembers.

As Yoshiyuki continues to look deeper into Sakura's room, he opens one of the drawers that he found and saw I photo album inside. As he slowly looks through the pictures, he then sees photos of Sakura 50 years in the past with Junichi when they were together. Yoshiyuki immediately figures out that Junichi was Sakura's first and only love as he looks through more and more. He then saw a picture of Nemu and Junichi's wedding Sakura next to them. Yoshiyuki thought about going to his sisters' place to ask Junichi some questions, but remembers Otome saying that he did the same thing as what Sakura did and forces him to go back to square one.

As he saw more pictures of Sakura and Junichi together, he soon starts to feel a slight resentment towards Junichi and blames him and Nemu for being partially responsible for Sakura's loneliness.

"It's because of you that Sakura-san's life is filled with loneliness. It's because of you that Sakura has disappeared and now can't remember who she is. What do you have to say about that Junichi-san?" Yoshiyuki spoke to himself.

Yoshiyuki suddenly got the idea that he can use the photo album to help Sakura regain her memories and takes the album with him in his room. Yoshiyuki continues to look at more pictures on the album and sees a photo of him and Sakura in the amusement park with Otome and Yume. Though he loves his sisters, his resentment towards their grandfather still hasn't changed for leaving Sakura to the point where she wished he existed in order to compensate her loneliness. He is now nothing more than a stranger to Sakura as he is no longer related to her.

Unable to sleep, Yoshiyuki decides to talk a walk outside to the same area where the sakura trees used to be. He is left frustrated that he cannot make one more wish to make Sakura remember him as he stares at the spot where he was created. Just as Yoshiyuki turns back, he saw a twig on very similar to what Sakura was holding before it disappeared. In fact, there seems to be more of them pointing to one direction of the surrounding trees. Yoshiyuki decides to investigate where it all leads and finds Sakura sleeping next to one of the trees using her cape as a blanket.

"Sakura-san." Yoshiyuki quietly calls out.

Sakura woke up still half-asleep and the first thing she saw was Yoshiyuki's face. "Oh, you are that boy the other day who thinks I am your mother. Well I am not."

"Never mind that and more importantly, what are you doing sleeping out here. It's freezing you know."

"I..." Sakura hesitated. "I don't know where else to go. For some reason, this place feels like my only sanctuary."

"But you are going to get sick if you continue to stay out here. Come with me, I'll give you a place to stay."

"Is this another one of you plans to make me convince that I am your mother?"

"Right now, your health is more important to me than your memories. Come on let's go."

With nowhere else to go, Sakura pouts and reluctantly follows Yoshiyuki to the house. Once they reached the house, Yoshiyuki goes into Sakura's bedroom first to put back the photo album he took from there.

"We'll discuss more of this tomorrow. Right now, you can either take a shower first or get some sleep." Yoshiyuki then goes to bed and leaves Sakura in her room. Sakura looks into the drawers to see if there is any sleepwear for her and finds some, not knowing that they are hers, and heads to the bathroom. As she relaxes in the bathtub, she begins to wonder what her memories are like tries to see if she at least have a memory of the house, but to no avail. After she gets out of the bath, she puts on her robe and gets ready for bed, but just as she was about to lay down, she saw a portrait of her and Yoshiyuki with Otome and Yume and begins to wonder whether what he said about her memories are true. Already physically exhausted, Sakura decides its best to save such issue in the morning and immediately falls asleep.

The next morning, Sakura woke up and heads to the bathroom to wash her face. She then hears her stomach rumbling and realizes that it has been almost a whole day since she has last eaten anything. She heads downstairs to find Yoshiyuki already preparing breakfast, who saw that Sakura is already awake.

"Did you sleep well last night?"

"Better than where I slept last night before you found me. By the way, when you first came to me, what did you say my name was?"

"Your full name is Sakura Yoshino, but I always call you Sakura-san." Once Yoshiyuki was done making breakfast, he sits down across from Sakura to listen what she has to say.

"Last night when I was about to go to sleep, I saw a picture of me and you with two girls I don't even recognize. Can you explain to me what this picture is?"

"We took this picture about a couple of months back after the four of us went shopping. The two other girls you see are my stepsisters, Otome and Yume Asakura. They are your cousins granddaughters."

"Cousin? There is no way my cousin would be able to have grandchildren, especially since I still look like a teenage girl."

"You'll find that out later when your memories return, because it is really complicated to explain right now. Anyway, let's eat. Yoshiyuki and Sakura finally begins eating their breakfast.

After Yoshiyuki is done washing the dishes, Sakura was watching TV when he heard the door bell rang. When Yoshiyuki answered it, it was none other than Otome and Yume reminding him to get ready to look for Sakura.

"Good morning Otouto-kun, are you ready to look for Sakura-san?" Otome is excited upon knowing the possibility to see her again.

"There is no need to do that Oto-nee, Sakura-san is already here, look." Yoshiyuki points to Sakura, who sat there confused.

Otome and Yume immediately put their hands in their mouths and start crying tears of joy as soon as they see Sakura and immediately rushes in to hug her.

"Sakura-san, I am so happy that you've returned." Otome cried out.

"I am just glad you are back Sakura-san." Yume also cried out as she spoke.

Yoshiyuki saw that Sakura was not enjoying this and stops them. "Calm down both of you, her memory has not returned yet, let her breathe."

"Oh sorry." Both of the girls apologized to Sakura and release her to allow her to catch her breath.

After the welcome is over Sakura looks at the two girls and becomes curious to see if they know anything about her.

"Do you girls happen to know who I am and where I came from?"

"We don't know as much about you as our grandfather, Junichi, but he is now gone. We can tell you what we do know about you though." Otome answered.

"Please do."

"Well, for one thing, you own this whole house." Otome said without hesitation, putting Sakura in shock.

"What? You mean this entire house was mine? You didn't tell me that." Sakura complained while facing Yoshiyuki.

"I was going to tell you today before they arrived." Yoshiyuki protested.

Yume sees Sakura's confused look and decided to use her past life to tease her. "You also happen to be the principle of our school."

Sakura reacted the way Yume wanted her to react. Everything she heard has left her speechless. "Did I really do that much before I lost memory? Ow, my head hurts now from hearing all of this."

Yoshiyuki suddenly has another idea. "If just explaining to her is not enough to make her remember, then we should take her to the places she go to instead."

Yume became impressed. "I see you are finally using your head nii-san. All right, let's get ready onee-san."

"Just a minute."

Yoshiyuki tells Sakura to get dressed as he sees that she is still in her sleepwear. After all of them are ready, they decided to head to Kazemi Academy, where the three of them attend and where Sakura worked as the principal.

Although Sakura was greeted with a warm welcome by the students, Yoshiyuki decides to contact the Superintendent to tell him about Sakura's condition. He then decides to allow Sakura to get some time off until she recovers her memories and allows Yoshiyuki to give Sakura a tour around the school to see if that will help her remember.

The rest of Yoshiyuki's friends Wataru, Suginami, Koko, Akane, Nanaka, and Anzu also tried to welcome back Sakura, but realized that she was no longer able to recognize them. Nanaka went to Yoshiyuki to ask what is wrong.

"What is going on Yoshiyuki-kun? Why doesn't Sakura-san recognize us?"

"She has amnesia right now so she won't be able to work as the principle for a while. We took her here to see if it will help her regain her memory."

"I hope Sakura-san regains her memory soon. If you need any help, just call us." Koko spoke up with the rest nodding.

"Thank you everyone, but right now I want to try to help her on my own. Oto-nee and Yume will be enough help for now." Yoshiyuki left and continues dragging Sakura around the school as she looks around.

Nothing worked despite their efforts, though Sakura won't deny her involvement in the school after looking at several pictures despite not remembering them. They then took her to Otome and Yume's house, which was also the former home of Junichi, and points to the window where Sakura used to climb to see him 50 years back. Their efforts were in vain, especially due to the fact that it has been a long time since Sakura has done this.

They then tried the beach, the shopping malls, and even the park, where Sakura claims that her sanctuary was there, but even that wasn't enough. They decided to call it a day and will continue tomorrow after they have some free time.

Yoshiyuki was clearly the one who was affected the most by Sakura's memory lost as he fears that the Sakura he once knew has permanently disappeared. Sakura sees Yoshiyuki in distress and tries to comfort him.

"I thank you for trying to help me regain my memories, but it saddens me to see you like this so please don't cry. It's not over until I say it's over. Tell me, what is your name again?"

"Yoshiyuki. Yoshiyuki Sakurai." Yoshiyuki answered.

"Then I will call you Yoshiyuki-kun from now on okay?"

Yoshiyuki wiped out a tear from his eye. "That is what your old self used to call me Sakura-san."

"I don't want to change too much once I regain my memories Yoshiyuki-kun. I want to remain the same as possible for you, for Otome-chan, and Yume-chan."

"That is what your old self used to call Oto-nee and Yume. Thank you Sakura-san." Yoshiyuki and Sakura shared a brief hug before Yoshiyuki heads to the kitchen to prepare dinner, though he already expected Otome and Yume to come and prepare instead.

When Otome and Yume arrived as Yoshiyuki predicted, they helped prepare dinner and as the four of them sit down and eat, they soon found themselves laughing, including Sakura, the first time she has done so since she came back.

After Otome and Yume left, Sakura turns to Yoshiyuki. "Yoshiyuki-kun?"

"What is it?"

"Is having a meal with your sisters always this much fun, even back then?"

"It has always been like that whenever we have meals with Oto-nee and Yume. You laughed all the time every time one of them makes a mistake."

Sakura turns her head up to look at the night sky. "I really wish my memories would come back."

Yoshiyuki pats Sakura on the head. "Who knows, maybe they will return sooner than you think."

Yoshiyuki gives off a smile on his face and Sakura does the same as they head back into the house.

Late at night, Sakura rummages through her drawers to see if there is anything that can help her regain her memories faster and finds a photo album that Yoshiyuki returned and saw the pictures of her with everyone she formerly knew and although her memories have not returned, she seems to know that the sakura trees in the pictures might have something to do with her memories since a twig from a sakura tree was the first thing she was holding when she came back. Sakura closes the album and heads to Yoshiyuki's room.

"Yoshiyuki-kun, please wake up." Sakura shakes Yoshiyuki gently as he slowly regains consciousness.

"Sakura-san? It is 11:30 at night, what do you want?"

"I know it is late, but can you take me to the park again?"

"What? Now?"

"Please. I think I might have found something that could help me remember a little bit."

"Fine." Yoshiyuki reluctantly gets up and gets dressed and the two head out to the park.

As soon as they are in the park, Sakura senses something in the area where her created sakura tree disappeared. As she looks deeper and deeper, she saw a lone sakura peddle in the middle and picks it up. Yoshiyuki just watches Sakura curiously, wondering what she is up to. The sakura peddle begins to glow, much to the surprise of both of them, and continues to glow until a burst of light suddenly comes out and blinds both of them temporarily.

After the flash, the sakura peddle disappeared and Sakura turns to Yoshiyuki confused. Yoshiyuki sees that Sakura is beginning to cry and does not know what to do until Sakura comes after him with her arms wide open.

"YOSHIYUKI-KUNNNN!" Sakura cried out as she leaps towards Yoshiyuki and tearfully embraces him.

Yoshiyuki soon finds himself crying as well. "Sakura-san, does this mean your memory has returned?"

"Yes, I remember everything Yoshiyuki-kun." Both continue to cry out of happiness as they stood in the middle of the park continuing to embrace each other.

Two months later, Yoshiyuki is about to get ready for school when he saw Sakura getting ready as well. Sakura has noticeably grown back her hair to shoulder length, although she has yet to reach her previous length.

"Good morning Yoshiyuki-kun."

"Good morning Sakura-san."

As Yoshiyuki is about to head through the door with Otome and Yume waiting in front, Sakura stops him. "Do you think we can talk for a bit Yoshiyuki-kun?"

"What is it Sakura-san?"

"Because your connection to the sakura tree is now gone, you and I are no longer related to each other anymore."

"Don't worry Sakura-san. You will always be family to me."

"I am glad, but what I really wanted to say was that now that I am aging normally again, I can fall in love as well and since you and I are no longer related, I can fall in love with you Yoshiyuki-kun."

Yoshiyuki freaks out and takes a step back. "Wow Sakura-san, I am happy about your feelings, but you and I just recently came back and..." Before Yoshiyuki can finish, Sakura starts to laugh.

"Calm down Yoshiyuki-kun, I was just kidding. If I ever wanted to fall in love again, I would never start off so quickly. Right now I will just let the future decide what is best for me." Nevertheless, Sakura kissed him on the cheek before seeing him off.

Yoshiyuki smiles and waves goodbye to Sakura as he heads to school with Otome and Yume with Sakura watching proudly at them, knowing that they would no longer have to be separated anymore as a family.

**I was very unsatisfied with what Sakura Yoshino has been through in the anime and visual novel, so I decided to make my own ending about her. It maybe short, but I hope you enjoyed it.**


End file.

D.C. ~Da Capo~, Drama, Family