After the commotion with the abandoned dolls had ended, Maple suddenly felt something strange.
A faint sense that, once upon a time, she'd had a doll like that beside her too.
Maple shared the thought with Muffin, like a worry off her chest. Muffin said nothing. He couldn't.
The town festival was just around the corner.
Between developing new menu items and running the shop, Maple knew she was overdoing it, but she didn't stop.
Then, in the storeroom, she found an old picture diary. Her hand froze on one page. A little bear doll, drawn in wobbly lines. To Maple, it looked just like Muffin.
Maybe... I knew all along that I'd meet you in the future!
Muffin closed his eyes without a word.
In the end, Maple collapsed. Muffin remembered the comfort food her parents used to make whenever they were sick, and stepped carefully into the kitchen.
Half asleep, Maple felt as if her parents had come back. When she opened her eyes, Muffin was there.
The moment she took a single spoonful, something shifted. The bear in the diary and the Muffin in front of her began to overlap.
The days she'd eaten alone, the doll she'd sat across from and talked to, and the promise she'd made back then.
Someday I'll make something really delicious, and let you eat it for real!
Maple looked slowly at Muffin.
Instead of speaking, Muffin shyly nodded and rested his head against hers. From that small gesture, Maple knew for sure.
Why don't we make that thing we used to eat together back then?
And so, the work of recovering forgotten memories began, quietly, just like that.
