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Ingo did not think he was a jealous man.
It made no logical sense when he considered how he acted during his period in Hisui, but he was unsure of anything that came before that. Yet, that time spent with you was different from the circumstance he found himself in currently. There, it was just the two of you, closely bonded by your similar situation. The man had known from you that you both previously shared a relationship, and it was your intention to continue it if he was okay with that. He had been.
Everything seemed fine in Hisui. Ingo felt he had been nothing but a dutiful lover. He spent his spare time with you and even had you come along with him on his duties when he worried he had been lacking. His home in the mountains were shared with you, and often times he found himself eagerly making you dinner. Affection was free flowing between you both. There was little difference from most couples of the time.
Then, why did he catch the person who was supposedly his twin brother kissing you and clinging to you desperately?
He snapped, naturally, tugging you away from him and glaring at the now confused man. You even shot him a strange look. Ingo felt mortified. Perhaps you had simply confused them. Maybe in your past time with him, he had never introduced you to his twin.
“Brother?” Emmet asked confused, “Are you okay? That was verrrry out of character.”
“Emmet,” the name still felt odd for him to say, “You do know it is considered cruel to do such things with someone else's lover, yes?” You grew flustered, while Emmet broke into laughter. Ingo felt even more mocked. It clearly distressed you! His frustration grew. You suddenly pushed yourself away from to walk over to Emmet. The twin's arm went around your shoulder easily.
“Mmm, I could say the same thing to you, Ingoooo,” Emmet held out the last syllable of his name, “You don't remember still? That's verrrrry sad….” Emmet turned to you with a distraught expression. You hugged him back and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Ingo felt even more distressed by all of this. But, he was aware that you were okay with it now, no matter how much that disturbed him.
“I do not understand what you're expecting me to recall,” he replied stiffly, standing tall. Emmet's face shifted into a frown. You knew it would be best if you were the one to explain and not him.
“I was in a relationship with both of you before,” you told the amnesic man, “You and Emmet has both agreed to it, finding it suitable for your lifestyles and something you could do easily.” Emmet nodded and gazed at his twin distantly. It had been difficult for them both. Ingo was unsure as to how he felt about how affectionate the younger twin was, especially when he knew nothing of him personally. Emmet just wanted him to remember.
“That seems… odd,” Ingo recalled some wealthier men in Kantonian culture taking concubines alongside their wives, but that did not seem necessarily comparable to your situation. “How could I agree to such a thing?” he asked with a sigh.
“We have shared everything in our life, brother,” Emmet retaliated his point, “Up to you vanished, we had never been apart for longer than a week.” Ingo felt surprised by the statement. Were they that close? It felt strange to think someone he apparently had such a strong bond with had completely evaded so much of his thoughts. Though, he supposed he did recall Emmet partially, but their identical faces caused him confusion.
“…. That me is someone unknown to me,” he could see the pain growing in his brother's face, “You must understand how strange this seems to me.” You nodded at his words while Emmet fought back tears. Whatever had caused his amnesia was something powerful and hard for doctors to pinpoint. It was obvious that he would like to remember, but simply could not. Even when he finally felt the urge to try to return to work, he was stuck as a Depot Agent again due to everything being flushed from his mind (and his insistence he needed to earn back his position).
Emmet clung to you more and turned away from his brother, no longer able to even face him. It was clear tensions were arising with them. You rubbed his back gently while giving an apologetic look to Ingo. Internally, plans to discuss this with him were made in your head as you led Emmet away from him.
~
Ingo would admit it hurt to see Emmet like that, something distant from his conscious awareness stirring awake and forcing shame into his senses. It was strange that his first thought was “I've been a bad older brother” rather than his normal failure to respectful. You could only give him a glance as you led Emmet away from him. He sat down and looked through photo albums that he had apparently made himself. It was full of many pictures of him and his brother in their youth to their adulthood.
The closeness between him and his brother was apparent in the pictures. These lost memories of youth ingrained in images left him oddly sorrowful. Pictures of birthdays spent side by side, often leaning onto each other. Moments of youth where he apparently took to wearing solely black clothing and heavy eyeliner, while his brother clung to something like what he wore now. His heart felt strange staring at these past versions of himself. Emmet had not lied, it was obvious they truly shared nearly everything amongst themselves.
The modern photos showed them at occasions with you, both clearly having some intimate contact. Emmet rarely went without clinging to you, while Ingo sneaked quick pecks and hand-holds when he believed he could. The images felt tender and sweet. One even of both brothers kissing your cheeks, clearly taken by a third party.
These memories that had become inaccessible to him were obviously happy, peaceful ones. His heart felt stormy as he considered more and more of them. So lost was he in these pictures that he failed to hear footsteps approaching him. Emmet pointed to a certain picture of them in matching costumes with a small smile on his lips. “I was verrrry upset that day because a girl called us weird for liking trains so much,” his voice was soft, “You told her off for being mean and reassured me that liking trains was okay. I was hiding behind you because I was hurt.” Ingo felt strange as the phantom feeling of a small hand grasping his arm and soft hiccups echoed in somewhere far away.
“... Doesn't this seem a bit unhealthy to you,” Ingo replied while looking at the pictures, “I can't imagine we did a lot of self-discovery if we based so much of ourselves off each other.” Emmet shook his head.
“We viewed ourselves as two halves of a whole,” he pouted, “We had our own individual tastes, of course! But we just expected to always stick together.” Ingo recalled the strange feelings of emptiness that had swirled with him in Hisui even with you at his side. A certain loneliness that felt strangely instinctual. It was part of the reason he chose to believe you, outside the obvious connection he felt toward you.
“You spent time alone without me,” the older twin tried to approach the topic delicately, “Did you not feel anything in that independence?”
“I hated it,” Emmet sat down beside him, “I was lonely. I lost my lover alongside my brother. How could I like that? All I had was my pokemon and work.” Ingo averted his gaze from him with a sigh. He supposed that would make sense. Would he have been able to cope so well with his memories? Even without them, the threads of their bond still entered his mind. It all felt so complicated for him to consider. Ingo gazed at the book again.
Workers around the station said he was much more muted than he had been before. His voice was loud as ever, but his personality and life seemingly vanished. Older depot agents reminisced about how everyone used to fear being called into an office for a scolding by Ingo, even Emmet himself. It felt further from him. He was not in any position to scold anyone. A lot of people were stunned by how distant they seemed, too. He and Emmet were always full of banter and conversation before everything.
Even with you, people like Elesa commented on how similar yet different he acted. A remark made while filing her nails about how he used to almost be a housewife at times for you made him wonder. Though, many commented about his unexpected boldness. He easily found himself clinging onto you in public or openly commenting on misbehaviour with little thought. Before, that simply was not something that he would have done.
“You must still feel like you don't have your brother, huh?” Ingo said with a heavy feeling of melancholy. The Ingo in the pictures simply felt like they were not him. Emmet wrapped his arm around Ingo's shoulder and gave him a distant smile.
“Sometimes,” he admitted, “This is verrry difficult for me. I know you are him, but you do not treat me as he did all the time… Our partner feels the same, too, but they still love you. I do, too.” Ingo gave him a small smile. Your feelings were not something he had been unaware of. Even in Hisui, comments would come from you about how different he was at times. He returned the embrace Emmet had given him.
~
You sat nervously across from Ingo at the table, wondering just how to explain the fact that he and Emmet easily fell into an agreement about sharing you. It probably would not be fun for him to learn that your relationship was first with Emmet, but he encouraged you to date Ingo, too, when learning about your feelings from his brother. The situation had been odd at first. Emmet had explained, however, that he worried Ingo would never find a partner on his own and that he did not mind. Ingo had agreed with a certain nervousness at first, but quickly fell into normalcy.
The twins agreed to allow the other certain days with you for dates or times in which they both would like to go out with you. Emmet even scrawled about whose bed you were sleeping in, wanting to claim every night, to Ingo's annoyance. It was a fun and oddly easy relationship since the two were so used to working with one another. Though, Emmet did like to mock gag if he caught you being too mushy with his brother, while Ingo would demand you take any proclivities to the bedroom should he catch you both anywhere but there.
“… I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner,” you looked at your drink deeply, focussing on the ripples in of the fluid, “I thought, well, you would get your memories back as soon as we got back…” Ingo nodded. He took a sip of the coffee, something had found himself quickly fond of after returning to Unova.
“I suppose it would have been something nearly impossible to explain,” he agreed, “I know you tried to tell me as little as possible about here as to not worry me, too.” You averted your eyes again. When you finally grew worried that you might never be able to bring Ingo and yourself back to the present, you told him all about everything you could remember. His shock about it was minute, more of a distant sorrow. Nothing about it was something that he could recall, after all. Still, learning about the life you were forced from and how many people cared for you was not fun.
“… I love Emmet, a lot,” you sighed, “He was who I dated first out of you both…” Ingo would not deny the stinging your words brought to his heart, but simply buried it with another drink of his coffee. “I love you, too, though,” you continued, “I love you both! Argh, this used to be so easy.” You felt frustrated. There was nothing you could do.
“… I accepted it already,” Ingo reached a soft hand for yours, thumb rubbing gently against your knuckle, “Emmet and I spoke about this. We are all struggling with this situation…” You moved to lean on to him, burying your face into his nape. A scar was hidden just under his collar. “You looked so happy in those pictures,” he suddenly spoke, “Was I better a man then?”
“… You weren't that different,” you laughed lightly, “Softer, I'd say. Hisui toughened you up.” Your point was accentuated by you grabbing his arm to feel his muscles that had built up. Ingo could almost give a laugh from that.
“I want to remember, dearest,” Ingo admitted with ease, “… I wonder if Chandelure's hypnosis could do anything?”
“… If a Hypno couldn't, I doubt she could, but she'd definitely be willing to try,” you replied. He sighed and rubbed his cheek against your hair. His hand's warmth became a main focus for you as you pondered what to do. Uxie likely took his memories. It was unknown if there was anything in this world that could restore, excluding Arceus. Would the Alpha Pokemon be willing to lend you its power again? The Azure Flute was still in your possession.
~
To say leaving to Sinnoh was easy would be a lie. Emmet absolutely despised the idea and demanded you stay, terrified you would simply vanish from him again. Even Ingo was unsure about this. Though, you felt certain he was imagining Sinnoh as Hisui once was. You demanded your leave for important reasons, and Emmet relented after Elesa told him it might be a good idea for you all to go on vacation. She had always been a wonderful mediator, and never had you been so thankful for her as you were now.
The next issue was telling Emmet you were climbing a mountain to ask a god for some help with his brother's memory issues. You had managed to distract him, and Ingo for that matter, with the tram in the Great Swamp, but not long enough to climb Mt. Coronet. Your next plan was to have them come with you on the journey. That went well, truthfully. Ingo's knowledge of the highlands still remained fresh, so he easily guided you with only minor issue. Emmet and him fell into conversation about the pokemon of the region. Ingo's face fell when he learnt the Hisuian variant of Sneasel had gone extinct.
You could only let out a relieved breath when you three emerged at Spear Pillar. Emmet stood astounded by the height, while Ingo became on edge. He had to be reminded that Volo was long gone, so there was no concern for him interrupting you three with a surprise attack. You returned to your familiar spot to play the flute and watched as the impossible staircase became visible to you once more.
The twins shouted in confusion as you suddenly ascended them, leaving them behind.
The deity stared at you as you approached, taking to stand on a platform in the sky rather than take you to its dimension. Falling to your knees, you pleaded for Arceus to return Ingo's memories to him. It stood stiffly, observing with unblinking eyes. The judgement felt more intense than your first encounter, likely because you were aware of how pitiful you must have sounded requesting such a small thing from it.
A cry came from it, and you blinked. A light flashed unexpectedly.
Before you knew it, you were sitting on the concrete of Spear Pillar. Emmet bawling behind you into his brother's chest. Your attention went to them as they were in a conversation.
“You remember when you got mad at me for taking your Thomas plush?” Emmet hiccuped while grasping his brother's coat.
“Yes, Emmet, and I still have not forgiven you,” Ingo replied with a certain tone that he had not used in forever, “Just as I haven't forgiven you taking my cake I had been saving at the station to avoid that exact scenario.” Emmet burst into laughter before turning to you.
“H-he remembered!” the twin called out to you, running over to lift you up and spin you around, “Ingo suddenly fell over when you went up that strange staircase!” Your eyes blurred as tears welled in your eyes. A smile was on Ingo's lips as he walked over to you both. His arms came around you two as he sighed.
“... Thank you, my love,” he spoke after Emmet and him had pulled away from you, “I know that was your doing.” You gave a light laugh and leaned into Emmet, who just titled his head at his brother's words.
“Darling!!! You figured out how to get Ingo back his memories?” he gasped, “Oh, thank you!” You were once more squeezed into a tight hug as he peppered kisses on your face.
“... He's still toughened up from Hisui,” you sighed, “I suppose I'll just have to continue to love my buff Depot Agent husband.” Ingo was struck by his words.
“... Emmet, give me back my position.”
“Mmm, earn it!”
“Dearest, I think you should just stay with me, actually.”