That night, I didn't cry.
I didn't scream.
I didn't even move.
I just laid in my bed, staring at the ceiling, the pendant resting against my chest like a piece of a life I couldn't remember. Its silver crescent glowed faintly, warm like skin kissed by moonlight. It pulsed—not like a clock, but like a memory waiting to wake.
And eventually…
It did.
---
I don't remember falling asleep.
Only the moment the world shifted.
I was no longer in my room. I was standing barefoot on a field of glowing flowers. They lit the ground like stars had bloomed from the earth itself, each petal shimmering softly under a sky filled with twin moons.
The air smelled like old books and new rain.
Familiar. Beautiful. Strange.
And then I heard her voice.
"Aki…"
I turned.
She was there.
But not the same as before.
Her hair was longer—flowing freely behind her in waves of silver. Her eyes glowed golden, not violet. She wore a pale dress woven with celestial threads, and on her wrist, a band made of woven silver leaves.
"…Lira," I whispered.
I didn't question the name. It came naturally—like a melody I once forgot but had never stopped humming in my soul.
She smiled.
"You remembered."
"I don't know how I know that name," I said. "But I know it's yours. And I know I've said it before—like… like this has all happened already."
She stepped closer and took my hand.
And in that touch, everything shattered.
---
Images poured through my mind—like someone slicing open time itself.
A castle made of starlight.
A war that never made the history books.
A boy in armor who wasn't me, but looked through my eyes.
A girl standing on a burning tower, screaming my name.
**Lira.**
A blade through her chest.
My scream.
A crack in the sky.
The stars fading.
My body dissolving into light, torn into fragments…
Her voice, breaking as she whispered, *"I'll find you again. Even if it takes a thousand worlds."*
---
The dream shifted.
We were standing on a balcony overlooking a sky painted with galaxies. In this memory, she was laughing, her face lit by stars.
"You always look so serious," she teased, poking my cheek.
I laughed. "Because you're always dragging me into trouble."
She leaned against the railing, eyes dancing with light. "Do you regret meeting me?"
My dream-self didn't hesitate.
"I regret not meeting you sooner."
She turned, the wind playing with her hair.
"If something happens to me in the next life… will you remember?"
"Yes."
"And if you forget?"
"I'll fall in love with you again."
She smiled.
"Promise?"
"I swear."
And then—
The sky turned red. The stars cracked.
A roar like the end of everything echoed across the field.
She turned to me, eyes wide in terror.
"Don't forget this time, Aki. Please…"
---
I shot awake, drenched in sweat, breathing like I'd been drowning in stars.
My room was dark again.
Silent.
But the pendant glowed brighter now, reacting to something. I picked it up—and for a second, I thought I saw a symbol glowing faintly inside it. A strange rune. A forgotten alphabet.
And suddenly, **everything made sense.**
Or at least… the feeling did.
I hadn't just dreamed about Lira.
I'd *remembered* her.
I had *loved* her.
Not once.
Not twice.
But across lifetimes.
And now… fate was pulling us back together again.
But if she was real—and if the past we shared was real—then the danger must be real too.
The war. The broken stars. The loss. The curse that tore us apart.
Something was coming.
And this time, I didn't want to forget until it was too late.
---
The next few days passed like the world had slowed down to let me breathe.
I'd never been this aware of time. Every ticking second felt important. Like each one brought me closer to something. Or someone.
I found myself walking to the park every night.
Not because I knew she'd be there.
But because **I couldn't stand the thought that she might be and I wasn't.**
And on the fourth night—she was.
Same cherry blossoms falling around her.
Same distant expression.
Same gravity in my chest that pulled me toward her like a tide I couldn't resist.
She looked up as I stepped into the glow of the moon.
"…You look different," she said.
I blinked. "Do I?"
"Your eyes," she said softly. "They're not just seeing me now… They're remembering me."
I opened my hand, showing her the pendant. "I dreamed about you."
A pause.
Then her smile returned.
"The field of starlight?" she asked.
I nodded. "And the sky cracked… And I saw you—falling."
"I've been falling ever since," she said quietly.
We stood there, the wind between us.
I finally asked the question that had been eating me since the dream.
"Who was I back then?"
She hesitated.
"You were called Akerion. The last Starbound Guardian. The one who broke the sky to rewrite fate… and the one who loved me enough to risk the end of the world."
"And you…?"
"I was the Princess of the Luminous Realm. A cursed soul bound to rebirth. Each time I return, I forget everything. Except… your voice."
"…You always remember my voice?"
"Only when the stars align. Only when you say my name with your whole heart."
I stepped closer.
She trembled.
And I whispered, "Lira."
The moment I said it, a soft hum echoed through the trees. The petals froze mid-air. The moon pulsed like a heartbeat.
Lira closed her eyes.
And tears slid silently down her cheeks.
"Thank you," she said. "I can remember a little longer now."
---
We sat down beneath the cherry blossom tree, side by side, not speaking for a long time.
Her shoulder brushed mine. My heart felt like it was floating.
"I don't want to lose you again," I said.
"You will," she answered softly.
"But this time… I'll come back faster."
"Why can't we just stay here? Stay together?"
She shook her head.
"This world doesn't belong to me. And yours doesn't remember me. We exist in the cracks between both."
I looked at her. Her expression was quiet… but not hopeless.
"You know," I said, "you've always been the most beautiful thing I forget."
She laughed gently. "And you're always the only thing I remember."
I turned to her, slowly. "Can I do something selfish?"
She met my eyes. "If it's for love, it's not selfish."
And then—
I leaned in.
Our lips met beneath the falling petals, under a sky painted in silver and silence.
It wasn't a passionate kiss. It wasn't wild or dramatic.
It was gentle.
Like a whisper between souls who had found each other again after centuries of being lost.
Like a promise that didn't need words.
And when it ended, she rested her head against my shoulder.
"We don't have much time," she said.
"I know."
"Then let's make it feel like forever."
---
That night, I didn't dream.
Because I didn't have to.
I had already found her in the one place she'd always waited for me.
**The night.**
The only place the world hadn't forgotten her yet.
And maybe… just maybe…
This time, I wouldn't forget either.