I love the Professor Layton series and the last couple of scenes in Professor Layton and the Lost Future made me cry a lot. I seem to be getting more sensitive of late... Anyway, this is my first Layton story so I hope you like it.

Memories

He could still feel the warm sensation of her body pressed up against his, he could still hear his own heartbeat pounding inside his ears and he could still feel the soft tingle of her lips pressed against his. He wanted that loving moment to last forever.

However, he knew that it was not to be and he felt her hand slip away from his own and that one last word from her seemed to echo around the alley. "Goodbye..."

Hershel Layton watched his first true and indeed, only love walk away from him and turn a corner so that he wouldn't have to witness her sudden demise from the time that he lived in. Hershel almost felt her being catapulted back to the time that she had left; she was going back ten years and would go back inside the time machine that had only half-worked. What would she be thinking as she stood there in the last second that she had left to her life, knowing that she would certainly die? Would she even have time to think? Before the terrible explosion happened, before the deaths of so many others, before her sudden demise...

Hershel barely realised that he was shaking from head to toe; he only knew that Claire had been truly taken away from him, breaking his heart inside. She had told him to stay strong but how was that even possible when he was reliving her death all over again? He wasn't entirely sure whether he had managed to fully move on from it the first time round, especially as he had been unable to find out the complete truth. And now it had hit him all over again with the force of a lightning bolt. It felt all the more painful as he was with her for the last moments of her life and he saw how resolute she looked when she turned away from him, knowing that she could not escape her fate.

Hershel cast his eyes downwards not knowing where to look and felt a rush of wind as his apprentice Luke dashed past him, wanting to know whether she was truly gone.

The words that came from Luke seemed harsh, too final, and not mournful enough for the memory of Claire. It was the final blow that it took for Hershel to realise that Claire would not be coming back and as a rational man, he did not believe that she would be visiting him soon in ghost-form either. He didn't know whether he would be able to cope with that thought for although they would be able to see each other, they would not be able to touch and neither, of course, would be able to move on if they clung to the past, trying to retrieve their lost future...

According to decorum, a gentleman must never make a scene in public but Hershel cared nothing for that at this moment. He felt the hot tears running down his cheeks before he could even stop them. He turned away from Luke, not wanting his own emotions to affect the boy and stared upwards into the black sky. He held his hat against his chest, the symbol of the time that they had spent together and a sign of the gentleman that Claire had always believed him to be. He let the cold snow fall on his head and shivered slightly as he felt the cold drawing in.

If the situation wasn't so saddening, Luke would have been very shocked at seeing the actual removal of the Professor's hat. It just wasn't the done thing; the hat was his most prized and treasured possession in the world. It was still in immaculate condition after all this time and Luke simply couldn't imagine his mentor not wearing it. But know he knew the importance behind it and felt incredibly touched. He then realised that perhaps now was a good time to leave the Professor alone for a while.

"Professor?" asked Luke in a quiet voice. "I'm... I'm going to wait in the park with Flora for Inspector Chelmey's return. Is... Is that OK?"

Professor Layton nodded and said in an even quieter voice, fearing that if he spoke any louder, he would break down in front of him. "Yes, my boy. Please give my thanks to the Inspector for helping us with all this..."

Luke had never seen the Professor so dejected, so upset... and so vulnerable. He ran off as quickly as he could, desperate to leave his mentor alone at this difficult time. He looked back just once and saw that Layton had sunk to his knees; his hat lay in front of him and his body heaving with the effort of his heavy breathing and eventually came the wracking sobs.

Hershel could no longer hold his emotions in. Once he was certain that Luke had vanished from sight, he let the tears run freely and wildly. His jacket was soon soaked with the tears that splashed down his front and he could not keep the raw woefulness from his voice. He kept rocking back and forth whilst whispering her name to himself over and over again, thinking that it would make it better whereas in reality, the memory of just her name made him all the more upset.

He was also extremely angry; something entirely unexpected in a man like Professor Layton, the epitome of cool, calm and collected. But it would have done him no good bottling up that rage. He was angry with having Claire taken away from him a second time, he was angry with Dimitri Allen for taking part in the construction of the time machine but he was most angry with the ex-scientist Bill Hawks for also taking part in building the time machine. That alone was bad enough as it had lead to the death of Claire but he knew that the time machine was not ready for testing and let he let the trial go ahead for the sake of money. And he let Claire test it for him so that he was safe and she would encounter her fate, a fate that she had no idea of before. At least Dimitri tried to save her...

Hershel wondered whether he would have been able to rescue her in time had he known what was going to happen. But that seemed to be an impossible task to consider. What could he have done? He would have died too. But at least, thought Hershel in his traumatised state. I would have been with her...

He then shook his head; Claire wouldn't have wanted that. She wanted him to live his life to the full and it was the least he could do.

Did he remember their plans for the future? He did. Then a small memory struck him once again as it had done earlier. They were in their most favourite restaurant at the time...

Hershel Layton could not help stare into Claire's eyes as entranced as he was. She loved the pocket watch that he just gave her much to his delight and everything seemed perfect.

"Lucky for me," she said playfully, "Every puzzle has an answer! Isn't that what you always say?"

Both of them laughed at that although unbeknownst to Claire, Hershel was getting more nervous as time passed. He had something very important to ask her.

"I've been thinking," he said slowly.

"Go, on," she said smiling.

"If I were to get the teaching job then we..." Hershel wasn't sure how to pose the next sentence despite having rehearsed it in his mind several times.

"Hmm?"

He tried to speak several times but nothing was coming out. He was becoming very embarrassed with himself as he tried to maintain his composure.

"I'm listening, Hershel."

She was looking at him with interest. Hershel felt his face burning up as he began to blush. "Oh, um, I'll tell you later."

"Come on, now! Tell me more about these plans of yours!" Hershel sighed inwardly, maybe next time he would pluck up the courage to tell Claire how much he loved her. The ring stayed nestled inside his pockets.

"Oh, it was nothing. Now let's eat before our food gets cold."

"Hey, you can't just change the subject like that!" she smiled as she spoke. Hershel grinned sheepishly. Ah, well, there was plenty of time to try again...

Hershel opened his eyes and the regret that he felt; that he couldn't tell Claire that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her physically hurt him. If he did manage to propose on that night, would the next few days have gone differently? They could have been planning things and then she wouldn't have had the time to be in the lab on that fateful day. They might have even had children...

Hershel fully collapsed to the ground, weeping openly.

Sometimes, you just had to let it go...

Luke saw Flora waiting for him at by the river Thames and ran up to her. She gave him a small sad smile before returning to stare at the dark waters.

"The Professor's going to be a while isn't he?" she asked quietly.

Luke hesitated before answering. "Yes," he said finally. "I've never seen him like this. It's understandable of course, but it's unnerving all the same."

"Yes, I agree." She sighed. "Poor Professor, I wonder whether he'll find anyone like her again."

"I honestly don't know, Flora but I don't suppose so. He really loved her."

At that moment, Inspector Chelmey returned closely followed by Constable Barton who was munching on a celebratory donut for having apprehended his first criminal. Well, the criminal had gone voluntarily and he was with several other officers anyway but that was beside the point.

"Right then, Clive has now been taken into custody and I'm fair glad to say that he went quietly. Don't know what I'd have done otherwise but Layton did a very good job there in bringing the lad to his senses, oh yes he did, I admit it. Speaking of which, where is he?" asked the Inspector.

Luke and Flora shuffled on the spot they stood on before telling Chelmey that he wasn't going to be with them for a while. He nodded, sympathetic and understanding.

Aye, poor man. I don't think I could cope if my Amelia suddenly kicked the bucket. But at least we've got many happy memories together and that's what counts, eh? Still, I'm sure Layton will pick himself up again and look into the future. He's good at that isn't he? But we can't stay here too long; who knows what other criminals are lurking about tonight, at least one of them has gotten away mentioning no names. And it's getting a lot colder. Let's give him ten minutes. And Barton, get those crumbs out of your moustache before I pull them out along with it!"

"Yes, sir, sorry sir!" said Barton, ever the professional.

One hour later, they found Professor Layton curled up on the ground shivering like a leaf although apparently asleep, his hat sitting askew on his head. Inspector Chelmey shook his head, as surprised as Luke and Flora were. They managed to load him up in the car without waking him and Chelmey instructed Barton to drive them back to Layton's place of residence. As concerned as they were for the Professor, Luke and Flora promptly fell asleep too without even noticing how tired they were, their heads rested against each other's as the car bumped and jolted its way down the road.

Professor Layton wearily glanced over at the children and saw that they were comfortable enough. Chelmey saw that he was awake but did not question him; he knew when silence was truly golden.

They eventually arrived back at Layton's apartment and he thanked the Inspector again for helping them so much at this due hour. Layton guided the children to their beds and flopped into his own, still not wanting to believe the events of the day. But as he placed his hat on the stand by his bed, he realised that life could continue after death and Claire had wished for him to be strong and he would do so for her sake.

After all, didn't a gentleman respect the wishes of a lady?