“do you think we’re together in every universe?”
rafayel raises an eyebrow at your question.
“like… you think our past lives are aligned in some way? that we’ve interacted in each lifetime before this?”
then you go silent, thinking about the answer to your own questions.
while rafayel is also silent, he thinks back to the sea, to a missing bride. he briefly wonders if your memories contain the same images as his. he lets himself hope so.
“anything’s possible, no?” he plays along, “who do you think we were to each other in our past lives?”
“must’ve been a lot. we’ve had many lives together… at least i think…” his eyes search yours for something more, do you really remember? alas, nothing found. you continue, “something scandalous would’ve been fun, no?”
“totally agreed. so a college professor and student.”
you laugh. “and you’d be the professor, you perv.”
“or two heirs of rival kingdoms.”
“two fish… who live in neighboring corals”
“...or in some kid’s fish tank.”
“that sounds like a short life.”
“but it was really romantic, you see. we were in different displays, all the way across the pet store. and then, finally, brought together into the same tank.”
“hm. i approve, cutie. our fishie selves died of starvation very much in love.”
how content the both of you were now. how utterly smitten you had to be with one another, to spend a slow morning thinking of all the past lives you could have spent together.
your conversation may have ended there, but the idea stays in your minds far into the night.
you take turns interrupting silences, coming up with new past lives. lifetimes spent as cavemen, the first humans on earth—those spent as citizens of an ancient civilization, being the last of their kind. you consider arguments you may have had, your breakups, if you’ve been married, have you raised a child together?
“but, what if this is all a past life? and we go into the next not even remembering this one. does that make this all… meaningless?”
you ask him in the darkness of the bedroom. the whisper travels across one pillow to another.
rafayel knows more about that than you think. for now, he’ll keep it to himself.
“even if it ends up forgotten, the present doesn’t have to be meaningless. i believe there’s something out there that’ll bring us back together once again. after so many lives, we can’t let our streak end here. wouldn’t you agree, my love?”
“yeah. we’ll find each other in the next one. i hope it’s good.”
from underneath the blanket, rafayel’s hand comes between you, with only his pinky raised.
“what’s this for?” you find yourself interlocking your finger with his anyway.
“this is me, vowing to never let my soul forget yours. to find you in our next life, no matter how long it takes to do so.”
each word flows from him so earnestly, you almost believe that something like it is possible. for a moment, all of your theorized past lives become your reality.
"…and i vow to always let you into my life when you do, and to love you as i have many times before."
rafayel releases your hand. "then it's settled. you can't get rid of me, cutie, even if you wanted to."
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