The night had not yet loosened its hold. Crickets whispered. The lamp between us hissed softly, its flame small but steady.
I turned towards Anurak. My heart was filled with questions I could no longer silence. When I finally spoke, my voice trembled with something between fear and wonder.
"Phi... how long have you known? About... before? About us?"
For a while, he didn't answer.
He just stared at his hands — those same hands that held mine in another life — now resting quietly in his lap.
Then he exhaled, slow and heavy.
"When I was little," he said, "I used to see things. Faces I'd never seen. Places I'd never been. Sometimes I'd wake up crying without knowing why. Mama thought they were nightmares."
He let out a small, broken laugh.
"But they weren't nightmares, Kael. They were memories."
My breath caught in my chest.
"When I turned 12," he went on, his eyes shining in the lamplight, "everything came back. Like someone unlocked a door inside me. The library... the books... the sound of your laughter in that old garden... all of it."
His voice softened, unsteady.
"After that, I stopped being just Anurak. I was Rungsak too — living inside someone else's name."
I could only listen. Breathing suddenly felt like a task.
He pushed up his sleeves and showed me a thin, pale scar on his arm.
"I was born with marks I never understood," he said quietly.
"One here... and another above my heart. Mama said they looked like something pressed too deep from another time."
Without thinking, my hand moved to my stomach.
"I... I have one too," I whispered. "A mark... right here."
I lifted my shirt just enough for the lamplight to catch it — right where Chaiyan's blade once struck.
Anurak's breath faltered. He lifted his hand and touched the mark gently, as though it still hurt me. His eyes teared up... the world seemed to hold still.
"I never thought it meant anything," I said softly.
His voice dropped, coming out as a whisper.
"I didn't know what to do back then. I didn't know if you still existed... or if I'd been punished to live remembering what you forgot."
He looked away, tears streaming down his face.
"For years, I searched in every face. I used to think, maybe you were somewhere far away — happy, free. So I decided, if fate was kind enough to give you peace, I wouldn't take it away. I'd just... carry the memory alone."
My eyes filled. "But you saw me that day... by the river."
Anurak smiled faintly, tears sliding down his cheeks.
"Yes," he whispered, "and it felt like I'd been waiting a thousand lifetimes for you to look at me. You were standing with a krathong in your hands — the light from it made you look eternal — and it felt like the world finally exhaled."
I swallowed hard, voice breaking.
"And still you didn't say anything... when there were so many chances."
"I tried not to," he admitted. "You looked so alive... I thought, maybe this time you're safe. Maybe I should let you live without my shadows."
"But you didn't," I said.
He shook his head, smiling through the tears.
"No... because when you looked at me, I saw a longing... and when I saw you smile... I knew. You may have forgotten, but your soul hadn't. And one day, when you came to know about everything, you would return. I was waiting, Kael... for you to remember and make a decision."
Without thinking twice, I hugged him tight — no hesitation — my fingers brushing his cheeks as my thumb wiped a tear shining like moonlight.
"I think," I whispered, "even if I forgot everything, my soul would still find you."
I gently kissed his eyes. He leaned into my touch, closing his own.
And he said, "I would have waited... as long as it takes."