"Some of them," Zouichi says. "Not all. And most likely, at least some traces will remain. I'll remember that I've forgotten something. And anyway, I ... wouldn't."

He can't. It was his last memory of her. It was his greatest failure.

"...You can keep mine, if you want." He knows that human memories fade with time, anyway. And he does trust Howard with it; Howard, if anyone, understands what loss feels like. Helplessness. And he doesn't think he could have told Howard any other way, not now and maybe not for a long, long time.