Aarohi sat in the corner of the bed, hugging her knees tightly to her chest.
Her breathing was shallow, shaky, as if her lungs had forgotten how to work.
Her eyes were unfocused, staring at something that wasn't in the room.
Arin knelt in front of her, his hands hovering near her face, scared to touch her, scared to break her, scared she would vanish into a memory.
"Aarohi… what are you feeling right now?" he whispered.
Aarohi's lips trembled.
"It's… not sadness.
Not longing.
Not pain."
Her voice cracked.
"It's fear."
Arin froze.
"Fear of what?"
Aarohi buried her face into her knees.
"The first time Aara thought she might lose Riaan."
Arin's chest tightened painfully.
"Aarohi, stop—please stop remembering him—"
But her mind was already slipping.
Everything around her blurred like watercolor being washed away.
And the past surrounded her.
---
PAST LIFE
It was raining that evening.
Not heavily — just a gentle drizzle that made the air cold enough for Aara's fingers to tremble.
She stood under the shed near the school gate, waiting for Riaan.
He always came.
He always walked her home.
He always found her.
But today—
He didn't.
Minutes passed.
Then more.
Her heart sank slowly, like a stone sinking into water.
Aara hugged her arms around herself.
"Maybe he's late," she whispered.
But a voice behind her made her stiffen.
A boy from school.
Someone who liked teasing her.
"Waiting for your boyfriend?" he asked mockingly.
Aara stepped back, shaking her head.
"He's not—"
"Oh right," he sneered. "He probably ditched you for someone better."
Aara's throat tightened painfully.
Her teeth clenched.
"He wouldn't do that."
The boy scoffed.
"He's popular. You're… you."
Aara swallowed hard, her eyes stinging.
"He's not like that."
The boy shrugged and walked away, laughing.
Aara stood still, trying not to cry.
Trying not to believe the worst.
Trying not to be the lonely girl she always had been.
And then—
The rain grew heavier.
She whispered into the cold air:
"Riaan… where are you?"
Her chest hurt.
Not because he was late.
Because she suddenly imagined him leaving.
Choosing someone else.
Forgetting her.
The thought terrified her.
Her hands shook.
Her breath grew shallow.
Not jealousy…
Not anger…
Fear.
Because for the first time, she feared losing someone.
She whispered again, her voice trembling:
"Why am I so scared of losing him…?"
That's when she understood.
Not fully.
Not consciously.
But deeply.
Her heart had begun to love him.
Not gently…
but helplessly.
She pressed a hand to her chest, her heartbeat racing.
"Please… don't leave me," she whispered into the rain.
And just when her tears were about to fall—
A familiar voice ran through the sound of rain.
"Aara!"
She turned.
Riaan was sprinting toward her, drenched, breathless, panicked.
"Aara—thank God—"
He reached her, placing both hands on her shoulders.
"I'm so sorry! I got held up, I didn't want to scare you—are you okay? Why are you shaking? Aara, look at me—"
But Aara didn't let him finish.
She stepped forward and hugged him.
Tightly.
Desperately.
Riaan froze, stunned.
Her forehead rested on his chest.
Her arms wrapped around his waist.
Her voice was barely a whisper:
"I thought you weren't coming."
Riaan slowly wrapped his arms around her.
"Aara… I would never leave you."
Aara's eyes burnt.
He held her closer, whispering into her hair:
"I'd run through every storm for you."
Her heart broke open.
Not from pain—
From truth.
She loved him.
She didn't say it.
He didn't say it.
But the rain saw it.
The wind felt it.
Their bodies knew it.
Her fear made her realize her heart belonged to him long before she admitted it.
---
PRESENT
Aarohi gasped back into her room, her hand flying to her chest as if trying to calm a heartbeat that wasn't hers.
Arin grabbed her face gently.
"Aarohi! Aarohi, breathe—please breathe—"
Aarohi shook with silent tears.
"I felt it…" she whispered.
"Felt what?" Arin asked, terrified.
Aarohi pressed her forehead against his shoulder, crying.
"The fear she had…
The fear of losing him.
The moment she understood her heart wasn't hers anymore."
Arin's eyes closed tightly, pain ripping through him.
"Aarohi… you're drowning in emotions that aren't yours."
Aarohi sobbed harder.
"I don't want to feel them!
But my heart reacts before my mind does.
It remembers the fear… the longing… the love."
Arin hugged her tightly.
"You belong to this life," he whispered fiercely.
"To me.
Not to a memory."
Aarohi clung to him desperately.
"I'm trying… I'm trying to stay."
But then—
A cold breeze brushed the back of her neck.
Soft.
Gentle.
Too familiar.
Arin didn't feel it.
But Aarohi stiffened.
Her breath hitched.
And a voice whispered right behind her ear:
"You feared losing me once, Aara…
I've been lost ever since."
Aarohi trembled violently.
Arin held her closer.
But she knew:
Riaan wasn't fading.
He was remembering.
He was returning.
And with each memory, he came closer.
The past wasn't haunting her.
It was claiming her.
---