Aarohi didn't move for a long time after hearing the whisper.
She was in Arin's arms, but her soul was somewhere else —
half in this life,
half in a life she barely remembered,
half in a memory that refused to fade.
Her tears wouldn't stop.
Not from fear.
From recognition.
Arin tightened his hold around her as if trying to shield her from the world itself.
"Aarohi… look at me," he pleaded softly.
"You're okay. You're here. You're safe."
Aarohi shook her head slowly.
"I don't feel here…"
Arin swallowed.
"What do you feel?"
Aarohi looked at the floor.
"Between."
Arin frowned. "Between what?"
She whispered:
"Between two deaths."
Arin's breath caught.
She continued in a trembling voice:
"I lived once. I died once. And now… everything is mixing together. I don't know which version of me is remembering him."
Arin grabbed her face gently.
"You are AAROH I. My sister. In THIS life. Nothing else matters."
Aarohi looked into his eyes.
Her voice softened painfully.
"That's the problem… because someone else remembers AARA."
Arin didn't know what to say.
Because he felt it too.
A presence in the room.
A shadow in the corner.
A cold air following Aarohi.
A whisper slipping through the walls.
And now…
A NAME.
Riaan.
---
Later that evening, when the house was quiet, Aarohi sat on her bed, knees pulled to her chest, staring out the window.
The sky had turned dark again —
not with rain,
but with the kind of gray that felt like the world was holding its breath.
Arin sat on the floor beside her, refusing to leave.
Aarohi rested her forehead on the glass.
She whispered:
"I'm scared the next memory will destroy me."
Arin looked up sharply.
"Aarohi—"
"But I can feel it coming," she continued softly.
"With every heartbeat. With every breath. With every whisper of his name."
Arin placed his hand on her knee.
"You're not facing it alone."
But Aarohi's gaze stayed on the window.
Her voice was barely a breath:
"What if I should've been alone?"
Arin's chest tightened painfully.
"Aarohi, don't say that—"
But she cut him off.
"What if he waited for me in death… and now that I'm here… he doesn't know how to let go?"
Arin's throat burned with jealousy and helplessness.
He whispered:
"Aarohi… you can't let the past take your whole heart."
Aarohi finally looked at him.
"I'm not letting it. It's taking itself."
Arin couldn't breathe for a moment.
He whispered:
"Tell me what you're remembering."
Aarohi hesitated.
Then closed her eyes.
And whispered:
"I remember the bracelet on his wrist."
Arin nodded slowly.
"And?"
Her voice trembled.
"I remember… his hand holding mine."
Arin shut his eyes, pain twisting inside him.
"And… I remember something else."
Aarohi's fingers curled into the blanket tightly.
"I remember… his warmth."
Arin's breath caught.
Aarohi opened her eyes slowly.
"And for the first time…"
She placed her trembling hand over her heart.
"…I remember how it felt to lose it."
Arin felt his chest crack.
"Aarohi… don't do this to yourself—"
Aarohi pressed her forehead to the window again.
Her voice cracked:
"I think… I think I loved him."
Arin froze.
His heart dropped.
His breath stopped.
The room fell silent.
Aarohi didn't look back at him.
She didn't see the pain that washed over his face.
The heartbreak in his eyes.
The jealousy that tore him apart.
The helplessness that crushed him.
She only whispered to the window:
"But I don't remember why."
Arin swallowed painfully.
His voice broke:
"Aarohi… stop…"
But Aarohi's tears slipped down her cheeks.
"I'm so tired, Arin… I'm tired of running from a boy I can't remember but my soul can't forget."
Arin cupped her face gently.
"Aarohi… please stay in THIS life. With us. With me."
Aarohi's voice cracked.
"I'm trying."
She closed her eyes.
And that was when it happened.
The room vanished.
The window vanished.
The present vanished.
In an instant—
She was pulled into a memory.
A clear one.
For the first time.
---
Rain.
Heavy.
Relentless.
Lights from passing cars blurred through the storm.
Aara was standing under a broken streetlight, hair soaked, clothes dripping, chest heaving.
And in front of her—
a boy.
Tall.
Drenched.
Breathing hard.
Face cut from impact.
Eyes full of fear and something deeper.
His bracelet — black thread, silver bead — glistened with rain.
He staggered toward her.
"Aara—!"
His voice cracked.
"Stay with me—please—don't close your eyes—"
He grabbed her arms.
His touch was warm despite the cold.
Aara sobbed.
"It hurts—"
"I know," he whispered, voice breaking.
"But I'm here. I'm not leaving you."
Her vision blurred.
She felt herself slipping.
He cupped her face.
"Aara… look at me. LOOK at me."
Aara blinked slowly.
His face…
still blurry…
but the shape was there.
The outline.
The eyes.
The desperation.
"Don't go," he whispered.
"You promised—"
Aara's knees buckled.
He caught her.
Fell with her.
Held her.
Rain poured over both of them.
He whispered again—
But this time Aarohi heard it clearly.
"I love you."
Aarohi snapped back into the present like someone ripping her soul out of a dream.
She gasped violently, clutching her chest.
Arin grabbed her immediately.
"Aarohi?! What did you see?!"
Aarohi looked at him through blurry eyes, shaking uncontrollably.
Her lips parted.
Her voice broke.
"I saw him."
Arin froze.
Aarohi sobbed.
"He told me… he loved me."
Arin's entire world shattered.
Aarohi buried her face in her hands.
"I think… I think I loved him too."
Arin felt his heart break.
Silent.
Sharp.
Final.
He whispered:
"Aarohi… please… don't choose a dead boy."
Aarohi whispered back:
"I'm not choosing him…
My past already did."
And in the darkest corner of the room…
a soft voice whispered:
"You remember."
---