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A steady drizzle of rain fell against a shared umbrella, rolling down the sides and dripping onto the grass in a loop. It was dark, distant stars twinkled in the abyssal sky like little lights of hope in a wasteland of night. Azul sat next to him, his own little light of hope, watching the scenery around them.
“Jamil..” He tried to start, breaking their comfortable silence. Jamil turned towards him, his gaze singling that he was listening. Azul paused for a moment, taking in his lover for a quick second before returning to his thoughts.
“Do you think we’re soulmates in every universe?” Azul asked, looking down in slight embarrassment. He didn’t know why he felt the need to ask so suddenly, but the thought had occurred to him and he couldn’t let it go.
“Considering the fact that all universes are alternatives, I’m not sure..” Jamil answered in a slight whisper, causing Azul to look up. Jamil seemed to be thinking, his face appearing calm but his eyes calculating possibly thousands of ideas and thoughts.
After a few moments of silence, Jamil placed his hand on top of Azul’s. Azul, having gone back to looking at the sky, turned to face him once more.
“I hope we are Azul, I really do.”
-
The sun shone onto a bright open field, highlighting each blade of grass. Despite its setting, the sun continued to shine onto the grass, knowing that until he rose again the grass would only feel artificial light- or if it was full enough the light of the moon.
The sun did not doubt the moon's light, he actually thought it was better than his own- even though it was merely a reflection of his shine. He just knew the grass favored the sun, and that they would be sad without him. This is why the sun pitied the moon, for the moon seemed lonely.
He never considered that the moon liked to be alone.
As the moon began to rise into the sky, the sun tried to catch his eye. He couldn’t though, as the moment he thought he saw the moon, he had officially set. The moon noticed the sun, but he did not care. Maybe the reason the sun never caught his eye, was because the moon was looking away.
—
Deep within the sea, far below where any sun has touched, bioluminescence lit up a cave. Outside of the cave was currents two strong for two creatures to stand, so they both hid within the cave waiting for the currents to dissipate.
The octopus, being comfortable in small spaces, was fine with this. He had nowhere to be except his own cave, so this wasn’t any different than usual.
The sea snake however, was a free roaming species who felt trapped in such a cave. He wanted out, he wanted to swim without restriction, he wanted freedom.
Thus, the octopus, feeling comfortable, tried to make conversation. The sea snake, feeling trapped, snapped at the octopus in annoyance. The octopus, now determined to become friends with such a fiesty creature-- and determined to not feel as bored- continued talking despite the sea snake's harsh reactions.
The sea snake after a while had had enough, so despite the danger he swam into the current and let it take him away from the octopus. The octopus was heartbroken, not just for the sea snake leaving, but also for the fact that he may not make it.
The two never met again, yet only one was able to wonder of the other's fate.
—-
Two lonely flowers rested near each other, moving only with the wind. They laid within a deep, untouched forest, full of other trees and plants. They were the only two flowers though, so they only had each other.
One was bitter. He didn’t like being in such an obvious spotlight. As one of the only spots of non-green color he stood out, and as much as he used to want to, he now hated his fate. The bitter flower just wanted to run, but his roots were in the ground and he could never move.
The other was glad to be such a wonder in their evergreen forest, but he couldn’t help but sometimes feel stressed with so many eyes on him. He loved the attention, but sometimes just wanted some time to himself. The stressed flower wanted to stay put, but just wanted some shade to hide away in sometimes. His roots were in the ground though, so he could never move to and from the shadows.
Despite the flower’s different feelings, they had the same dream: to be able to move. After they realized they shared this ideation, the two began to bond.
It was a long process, but eventually they were happy as long as they were together. The two flowers laid next to each other in peace, and even though they never got to move, they were content.
——
A dark room, lit by a dull blue shine. Any sign of a unique person living within was gone, there was only a bed, a closet, and a boy sitting within. Tears fell down the boy's face as he sat curled up on his bed. His boxes of stuff sat outside the room, waiting to be carried away. The boy couldn’t leave yet though, because that would mean leaving someone behind.
A knock on the door alerted Azul, causing him to lift his head. The door opened.
“Azul..” Jamil whispered, coming in and closing the door behind him. If he cared about how dark the room was, he didn’t say anything. Jamil merely walked over to the bed and sat down beside Azul.
Azul fell into his lover's arms, hugging him as tight as he could.
“Why must you go back?”
“I have to.”
“But why? Why can’t you just stay with me?”
“I can’t. I can’t leave my family behind.”
“We can bring them back too!”
“No we can’t.”
“Why can’t you just try and stay?!”
“Because I’m trapped Azul!” Jamil yelled, looking down at Azul as tears fell down his eyes. “I’m trapped and I can’t leave and you know that, I don’t want to leave you but there’s nothing I can do!”
Azul loosened his grip, pulling one of his arms away and up to wipe Jamil’s tears. He was crying too of course, but he didn’t care about his own tears as much as he cared to wipe away his lover’s.
They sat in silence, crying into each other's arms. Neither wanted to see the other go, yet both knew they could not stay in each other’s arms forever. So, they soaked up the time they had left together. Even when it was time to go, neither wanted to let go.
They had to though.
So as Jamil pulled away from their final hug, he said one last thing before walking into the mirror.
“I hope we’re soulmates in another universe.”
And they were.
The sun eventually got a look at the book during an eclipse, and although they rarely saw each other after that, they always tried to catch each other’s eyes whilst setting.
The octopus always remembered the sea snake, and although they never met again, the sea snake lived on in the octopus’ heart.
The two flowers laid next to each other until they both wilted, in which their last petals floated into the wind together, twirling and dancing within the breeze for the rest of eternity.
And maybe in one universe, Azul and Jamil could stay together. As humans, in their regular old wonderland. Maybe they didn’t have to let go.
——-
“Why couldn’t they stay together Mommy?” A young child asked, lying cuddled up in their bed. Rain dripped down the window in a steady motion, two raindrops in particular seemed to be racing. Dark clouds covered the night sky, only a couple stars bright enough to shine through the blanket of dark grey.
“No one knows, it was never really clarified in the book why one of them had to go. Maybe it was so the reader could imagine why.” The mother responded, closing the book and putting it back on the small shelf in the child’s room.
“Why couldn’t the author just keep them together if they’re not even gonna bother telling us why they can’t!” The child huffed, crossing their arms in a pout.
“I don’t know, maybe they had a lover who couldn’t stay either..” The mother answered, hugging her child good night.
“I hope there’s a sequel and I get to find out! Or or!! Maybe they can get back together!” The child explained excitedly, causing the mother to smile.
“Maybe that’s what you can think about as you fall asleep tonight,” She said with a chuckle, causing the child’s eyes to glow with that realization. “Good night, Yuu. Sleep well.”
As the mother closed the door, two ravens flew outside the window and through the night. The stars twinkled, the raindrops raced, and somewhere in another universe, two boys had a conversation under a similar night sky.