Lost Identity   von SusyCute
                              (Is there a hope?)
================================================================================
                      Kapitel 1: How everything had begun
                      -----------------------------------


"Sidi, come here!" the young man shouted. "What are you doing?"
Seeing, that his dog wouldn't listen, which was the exception, because normally
the dog listened to every word his master was speaking, Orlando ran after Sidi
and murmured to himself:
"Crazy dog!". 
The big black dog was jumping over a few little bushes, running across the grass
towards a big tree and then disappeared. 
It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining brightly, all kinds of birds
were singing and a gentle breeze was blowing. The young man suddenly stopped
running and looked around. He couldn't see his dog anymore. Shaking his head and
shading his eyes from the sun with his hand, Orlando took a few steps towards
the big tree.
"Where are you? Come outta there!"
First he thought, Sidi wasn't there, but then he suddenly heard his dog
barking.
"What's up, Sidi? I don't want to run after you to take you. Come here!"
But Orlando's dog wouldn't listen. He still barked, being very excited and
seemed to say: 
>Come, follow me, I've found something interesting!< 
Orlando took a deep breath and suddenly had to smile. He loved his dog. Having
been picked up by Orlando while the actor was shooting the movie "Kingdom of
Heaven", Sidi had never left the side of his master up to now. So the young man
gave in and walked through the dense bushes until he reached the big tree, whose
branches were almost hanging on the ground. Pushing away some branches, Orlando
entered the shade of the big tree. When his eyes got used to the dark, he could
see his young dog, sitting next to a person who was lying in the long grass.
Sidi looked at him and barked low, wagging his tail excitedly, but he didn't
come to his master, he remained sitting where he was. Orlando raised an eyebrow
and stepped slowly to his dog, who was like saying: 
>Hey, look, do something!<
Being speechless, the young man bent, then kneeled down, looking at the lying
person. It was a girl who seemed to be fallen asleep. Orlando would say that she
was about maybe 15 years old. Her dark hair was very long, hanging all around
her face, her eyes were closed. She was wearing jeans and a coat over a thin
pullover. Sidi stopped barking and waited for his master, to do something.
Gently touching her, Orlando tried to wake the girl, but she didn't move. There
were neither other people nor was there any stuff around like a backpack or
something. The young men had gone for a walk alone with his dog, so he didn't
know what to do. Giving Sidi a stroke, Orlando remained unmoved, still looking
at the pretty girl.
"What shall I do, Sidi boy? She seems to sleep, what is she doing here?" the
young man asked his dog, without expecting an answer. Sidi looked at him,
seeming to know how his master had to feel. 
Making up his mind, Orlando gently lifted her up and was surprised, because she
almost seemed to weigh nothing at all. He carried the girl carefully the way
back to the house, and even then she didn't wake up. The black Labrador-cross
followed him close by step. 

Being inside his house, Orlando gently laid the girl down to a couch, covered
her with a blanket and thought about what to do.
"Well, it's simply the best to wait until she wakes up, huh buddy?"
His dog barked excitedly and wagged his tail. His master laughed, kneeled down
and stroke him a while. But he had to look back to the girl. She looked kind of
Asian, maybe she was from China or Japan. What was she doing on his plot of
land? And why didn't she wake up? 
The young man shook his head and thought for a second about calling somebody,
maybe the police? But that was not quite a good idea... Well, she would
certainly tell him when she woke up, so he went to the bathroom in order to
shave. When he had nothing to do he was too lazy doing it, but he wanted to make
a good impression when the girl woke up. Then he waited in the living room,
because he had nothing else to do. 
After half an hour Sidi got bored and started playing with Orlando, who was just
sitting on the ground, looking out of the window, enjoying his free time and
being in deep thoughts. When his dog attacked him just for fun, he laughed and
tried to catch Sidi, who was wildly running across the room, waiting for his
master to follow. So Orlando played with his dog.

***

That was how he had found her, and he had nobody told about the girl. But how
did the press get to know about her? After the interview the actor was kind of
angry. Interviews were okay, but only when talking about his work, not about his
personal life or rather his personal relationships. Nobody had to know about how
he was living or whom he was meeting. Personal questions about people he was
meeting slowly got on his nerves. He had to be careful not to involve other
people. All he hated was, when he couldn't live his own life anymore, because
the press would be always after him, trying to get some good photos or to catch
some news. But the actor tried avoided this, that's why he said very clearly
that he didn't want it, but there were often people of the press, being very
persistent. Somebody must have seen him together with her, and Orlando never
wanted to know what several magazines were writing about this news. Ignoring
them was the best solution. 
When he finally reached the house he forgot all about his worries. His dog
welcomed him at the front door and she was sitting in the living room, waiting
for him. She smiled, and so did Orlando. He was home. 

***

There were noises, strange noises, seeming to come from afar. Slowly, very
slowly she opened her eyes. It was very light, and her eyes needed some time to
get used to that. Her head was terribly aching, so she remained still unmoved,
until she felt a little bit better. She moved her head to the side where she
could hear the noises now louder. Her look fell on a person clothed in black,
sitting on the ground and playing with a black, excited dog. The girl realized
that she was lying on a big couch and her body was covered with a soft blanket
of a yellow colour. Feeling warm and comfortable, ignoring her headache, the
girl just thought about sleeping again, when the big dog suddenly ran to her and
licked off her hand. She looked at him, being irritated. Slowly she started
thinking. Where on earth was she? Who was that dog?
"Hey Sidi, what's up?" 
She could see the person, who had shortly played with the dog and now stood up,
coming towards her. She couldn't remember, having ever seen him, so she just
looked at him. The big, slender, young man was now standing in front of her. He
had longer, dark brown hair and looked at her with bright, shining, brown eyes
and a smile on his lips. His face was beautiful and the girl just could look at
him without being able to speak.

Orlando, who followed his dog, looked at the girl and was happy that she finally
didn't sleep anymore. At the moment, when he wanted to talk to her, he saw her
eyes and was suddenly surprised. He had never seen this colour of eyes in his
life! They were dark blue, being a big contrast to her black hair. Her colour of
eyes reminded him somehow of midnight. He thought her to have brown eyes at all
and he suddenly realized, that she was looking at him and. Having forgotten
about his dog, he smiled at her. Finally he found words to say:
"Hey, how are you doing?"
Still looking at him she answered with a soft voice after a little pause:
"Except a bad headache I am fine, thank you for asking."
Orlando nodded, and then asked:
"Want something to drink?"
"Thank you that would be great."
The young man went to the kitchen and came out again after a minute, a glass of
juice in his hand. Sidi was still sitting at the girl's side. Orlando raised an
eyebrow, looking at his dog, then shook his head and gave the juice to the girl.
She took it gratefully and drank very slowly. After a while she wanted to know:
"Where am I?"
Orlando waited, until she was ready with drinking, then he said:
"Well, I found you outside on my plot of land, I mean, Sidi found you", he
looked proudly at his dog, and then continued:
"You were sleeping, I guess, or you lost your consciousness, so I carried you
into my house, because I didn't know what else to do..."
The girl thought for a while, then mentioned slowly:
"I... I can't remember anything... Where did you find me?"
"You were lying below a big tree... Without Sidi, that's my dog, I'd have never
found you... But tell me, you can't remember anything? Not even your address or
something...?"
The girl shook her head and slowly rose.
"No... Hell no! I can't even remember my name! Do you know me?"
Orlando sat down next to her, looking at his dog and answered:
"If I did I wouldn't have asked you... but..." 
Suddenly he had an idea, coming straight into his mind, so he asked: 
"...do you know me? I mean, by sight?"
She took a look at his face for a while, and then she answered:
"No, I haven't seen you before..."
The young man just nodded. Thinking about what to do, he suddenly realized a
silver necklace, hanging from around her neck. She followed his look and pulled
the necklace out of her pullover. At the end of it hang a small silver sign.
Orlando remarked:
"Looks kinda Chinese...", but the girl shook her head, still looking at the
sign. 
A few pieces of her memory came back.
"No", she said. "That's >ai<, the Japanese word for >love<. It's a kanji-sign,
which the Japanese took from the Chinese in the past..."
The young man was impressed by her answer.
"How comes that you know this?" he asked, being curious, but after having asked
this question he regretted. 
"I do not know!" the girl said worried.
Orlando looked out of the window, being deep in thoughts. Sidi lay to his feet,
not moving.
"Well, I am sorry, but calm down", Orlando said softly, looking at her again.
"I'll take you to the doctor, when you feel that you can get up... By the way, I
am Orlando. I totally forgot to introduce myself to you..."
"Nice to meet you...", she said, and then she picked up the topic Orlando
mentioned before introducing himself: 
"It's a good idea to see a doctor, but only if that is okay for you..." 
She looked at him.
"Of course", he answered. "At the moment I have nothing else to do..."
The girl just nodded. In that very moment Orlando had a strange feeling. He
thought: 
'She doesn't speak like a girl... Of course she looks very young, but she
behaves like a woman...' 

***

So the young man took her to the doctor, who examined her and after doing some
tests told him:
"Well, according to her teeth she must be around 20 years of age, but concerning
her amnesia I can't do anything, I'm sorry. She somehow must have been fallen on
her head, because she has a bump at the back of her head, and as a result she
lost her memory. There is nothing else to do, besides waiting, until her memory
comes back, and no one can tell when that will be..." 
He stopped speaking for a short while and then added: 
"But I couldn't find other injuries. I can give her some pills against her
headache..." 
Orlando took the pack, thanked him and went back to his car with the young
woman. 
"What... what shall I do? I am nobody, I have no name...!" she said very
despaired. 
The young man tried to comfort her:
"Hey, don't worry. All you can do is waiting, until your memory is back..." 
He laid his arms around her shoulders and led her the way back to his car. 

Inside the car, while driving, Orlando said after thinking a while:
"Well, the only thing I can do is to drive to the police... if you want me
to...?"
"Seems to be the only solution...", the young woman agreed, so the young man
drove to the next police station. 
But there they couldn't get much help, either. The policeman promised to do
anything he could, asked a lot of questions and took some photos. Orlando
agreed, taking the young woman with him, so that she had at least a place to
sleep until the police found out something, or her memory came back. The
policeman namely had no better idea of what else to do. So Orlando left him one
of his phone numbers and then went out of the police station quickly, because he
recognized some people, staring at him.
Walking along the road, the young woman looked at him and wanted to know:
"Is that really okay for you? I mean, we don't know each other... and I don't
want to disturb your life and your privacy..."
Orlando smiled at her, saying:
"Believe me, it's very okay. I somehow feel responsible for you, because you
were on my plot of land... And I love, when lots of different things happen in
my life, so I will never be boring... But maybe I should ask your question the
other way round: Is it okay for you to live together with a man, you just know
since some hours...?"
She looked at him and said, smiling:
"Don't ask me why, but I simply know that you would never harm me or
something... Thank you so much. I wouldn't know what to do if you weren't
there..."
"You're welcome", Orlando replied and then suddenly mentioned: 
"Wait a moment! When you are going to live with me for a while, you will need a
lot of things, because in my house there normally are no women..." 
He somehow was embarrassed.
"You... you are right...", she said nervously, and the young man answered:
"Well then... I love shopping! Let's go!"
He laughed and went to the next shopping mall, where not so many people were.
"Here are a lot of different shops", Orlando explained.
He gave her a little card, saying:
"Buy what you need and want, it's all right with me, do not think about it. I
will wait outside..."
She wanted to protest, but when she saw his look, she just nodded, slowly took
the card and went to the first shop, in order to buy some clothes.
'He's really smart', the young woman thought. 'He waits outside so that I can by
my private things, without him standing behind me and looking...' 
When she had found what she needed she paid and wanted to leave, when she saw
shelves with magazines, and she couldn't believe her eyes. At the cover of one
of the magazines was the face of the pretty young man who was standing outside,
waiting for her! She took the magazine and glanced through the article. She
couldn't believe what she was reading. This man with the long name of Orlando
Jonathan Blanchard Bloom was a famous actor?! He was born in Canterbury, Kent,
England on January 13th 1977, so he was 29 years old. There were a lot of fans,
and he was single. He played important roles in big movies like "The Lord of the
Rings", "Pirates of the Caribbean", and one of the newest movies: "Kingdom of
Heaven". She also read that having made one movie after another, he now had
taken a downtime for some time... She didn't read the whole article, but simply
bought the magazine, put it in one of the shopping bags and then went outside. 
She could see Orlando, being surrounded by some people who obviously wanted to
get an autograph, and she stopped walking, in order to watch the scene. So it
really was true, she couldn't believe that. She suddenly remembered when she
watched "The Lord the Rings", she had been fascinated of the Elf Legolas, whom
Orlando was playing, from the beginning... but she couldn't remember where she
had watched the movie... 
"Everything all right?" she suddenly heard the voice of Orlando.
He had been left by the people and was now standing next to her, watching her
concerned with his dark brown eyes. 'No wonder I didn't recognize him', she
thought. 'He's looking totally different than Legolas...'
"I am fine", she just said, smiling at him.
So they went to a lot of other shops, until the young woman had everything she
thought she would need. Orlando insisted on carrying her shopping bags as they
walked back to the car, and people often talked to him or wanted him to sign
something. Being always friendly and smiling, the young actor signed everything
and talked to his fans. That took some time. 
"I am sorry", Orlando said some time later, apologizing. "I still can't believe
that I am so famous... You know, I am an..."
"... actor, I know", she ended his sentence, smiling, and he looked at her,
being very confused. 
"Where on earth...", he only managed to say.
The young woman laughed, took the magazine out of one of the shopping bags and
showed him the page. He saw his face at the front page and just said:
"Oh... well..."
She explained: 
"Well, seeing your face at this page I was curious. So I read one article..."
The young actor nodded.
"Okay. I hoped that you maybe remembered me or something..."
The young woman looked down and said:
"No, I am sorry... I just remembered having seen "The Lord of the Rings", but I
couldn't remember where it was..."
Orlando again tried to comfort her:
"Hey, don't worry, I was just very confused..." 
He laughed and then they finally reached the big black car and got in.

Orlando started driving and didn't talk, because he could see that the young
woman sitting next to him was deep in thoughts. She was looking out of the
window and was very quiet. She didn't seem to care, that Orlando was a famous
actor and the young man somehow was relieved. He often had the problem that
people saw in his person one character he had played in one of his movies, and
that they somehow didn't really want to see him as a person. The young woman
sitting next to him didn't mention the topic again, at least not at the moment.
When she finally started talking she said:
"I realized that I was watching the road signs and the way how you are driving
and draw the conclusion, that I am able to drive a car... But where then is my
driving license? Why didn't I have anything with me when you found me?"
The young actor gave her a short look, and then concentrated on the road again.
After a while he said:
"Well, maybe you were on the way to me, getting something signed, whatever, and
then, I don't know, fell from something and lost your mind?"
She just shook her head.
"I don't think so, because I had not even keys with me... and do you think
people know where you are living? I don't think so, but anyway..."
There was a pause, until Orlando mentioned:
"Well, I guess you just have to concentrate on yourself, on the way how you
react, behave and think..."
The young woman nodded and totally agreed with his opinion. Out of the blue the
young actor suddenly wanted to know:
"How can I call you?"
She looked at him, being confused, and he explained:
"Well, when you cannot remember your name... I can't shout all the time >Hey,
young woman, whom I've shortly picked up...<..."
He smiled, and the young woman had to laugh.
"Well, yes...", she said, and gently touched the Japanese sign, hanging at her
necklace. 
At this moment she had an idea.
"What about... Ai? That's a Japanese name..."
"Why not? Sounds quite cool", Orlando answered, smiling.
So the young woman at least had a name.                                         
                              

***

 "Hey", Ai said friendly and brought him something to drink.
Orlando said:
"Thank you", took the glass and sat down on the yellow couch.
The young woman wanted to ask him, how the interview had been, but she felt that
it wasn't the right time of asking this question. She could see it in his face.
Before she could say anything else, the actor wanted to know:
"How are you doing?"
"Fine", she answered. "I had a nice time with your dog." 
She smiled, and then added: 
"He's so cute!"
Orlando nodded and agreed:
"He is. I am glad that somebody takes care of him when I am away, because I
can't take him with me all the time..." 
Ai smiled and wanted to know:
"How old is he?"
Orlando said:
"I don't really know for sure, but he is still young, about..."
"How comes that you do not know the age of your dog?" the young woman wanted to
know.
Orlando smiled and answered:
"That's a great story."
Ai looked at him, waiting for him to continue. She hadn't to wait long.
"I found Sidi on the street in Morocco, while we were filming >Kingdom of
Heaven<. He was in the arms of this old man the first time I saw him. He was a
puppy who looked like he was three weeks old at that point, but of course I do
not know for sure. But then I came back three weeks later he was just stumbling
around all dusty. He was starving and trying to beat out the camels for street
scraps. There were a lot of camels on the set. He was eating camel droppings out
of a cardboard box on the side of the road, when I saw him. He was just, like,
tiny, and there were so many dogs astray."
He was silent, his arm around Sidi, who was sitting next to him at the couch and
listening. After a while he continued:
"Well, I rescued him. I just picked him up and I said: 'All right, let's get him
cleaned up and see what happens.', and then I was in love and ended up wanting
him for ever. At that time he was kind of aloof, but he's a good dog, and very
playful. I got him a doggy passport, so that he doesn't need to go through
quarantine and can accompany me wherever I go. Sidi was even out in the
Caribbean when we were filming >Pirates<. I can't imagine my life without him
anymore, we are now inseparable. He is such a good boy."
He paused, then smiled and said:
"Watch this."
Orlando told Sidi to jump off the couch, to lay down and roll over. The black
Labrador-cross did it immediately at his command. Ai laughed and said:
"Wow!"
"I'm trying to teach him a few little tricks. He's my mate." Orlando explained.
"I see", the young woman said, still laughing. "I love dogs, too."
"I know a lot of dogs", Orlando said. "Dogs are cool. They listen to you, you
can teach them tricks and they are faithful."
"You are right", Ai agreed, watching Sidi who was sitting next to his master
again.
Orlando nodded, leaned back and suddenly fell asleep, after some minutes of
silence, where nobody of them knew what else to say.
'Must have been a hard day for him...', the young woman thought and watched him,
breathing deep. 
Then she had a sudden idea and took paper and pencil from the table where she
had left it when the actor had come. The black Labrador-cross jumped off the
couch and tried to play with Ai at the beginning, but seeing that she had
something else to do, he finally laid himself down at the carpet between the
couch and the table.

***

When the young actor finally woke up, he found himself covered with a blanked.
It was already getting dark outside and just a little lamp in the corner of the
living room was switched on. Orlando looked around. There were no signs of Ai
and none of his dog either. The house was completely silent. Slowly he got up
and started to think. He wasn't sure how long he had been sleeping, but it must
have been some hours. He took a glance on the table, where he could see a slip
of paper and some pencils as well as an eraser beneath it. He took the paper and
looked at it for a while. It was a little but very good sketch of his face,
which must have been drawn when he had slept. Orlando was still looking at it
when he heard some noises at the door, the sound of a key and then the squeak of
the front door. Finally his dog ran inside and jumped at him. 
"Hey Sidi, not so fast!"
He laughed, looked at the big black dog and patted him. At this moment Ai who
had closed the front door before, entered the room.
"Oh, you finally got up?" she asked, smiling and not expecting an answer.
"Yeah, somehow", the young man said. Then he pointed at the sketch and wanted to
know: 
"Did you draw that?"
The young woman looked at the table and answered:
"Yes I did. It was boring, so I just took pencil and paper... But then your dog
went crazy, I guess he needed a walk, so I went for a walk with him... I am
sorry. Maybe I should've told you..."
"It's quite good!!" Orlando still admired the picture, not going into her
absence. 
"Thank you", Ai said, taking off her jacket. "I just felt like drawing
something... I didn't even know that it would be so good..."
"It really is." the actor confirmed, not being able to break away from the
sketch.
"You can keep it", the young woman said smiling.
Before Orlando could say anything, she put the dog leash of Sidi, as well as the
keys of the house into his hands, and left for the bathroom.

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