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• Luna •

As Luna placed flower seeds in her garden, she chatted with Liberty on her phone about her Memorial Day plans. It had been two days since she had last spoken to Amir. She was still shaken and shocked to know their connection ran deeper than being tethered. He was the one who tried to resuscitate her daughter's father six years prior, and neither of them had remembered that moment until now.

Their lost memory resurfaced a painful reminder that was like a book with chapters, the deep and horrible kind.

She didn't feel like talking much about any wedding plans Chase had spoken to her sister about. But Liberty and Vikram were excited to travel from Houston to New Orleans. The sisters hadn't seen one another since the holidays.

"I don't know what we will do, but I will let you know by Friday."

"Okay. You better," Liberty said. "What are you doing right now?"

"I'm in my garden. Planting flowers."

Putting her on speaker, Luna laid her phone down on a brick.

"How's Sarah?"

"She's good. She misses her auntie Lib," Luna said, digging a small hole. "How's the family business?"

"It's thriving over here. Mom should've stayed."

"I know, but she wanted to go back to London. When was the last time you talked to her?"

Liberty had always kept in touch with their mother more than Luna because she took after their mother's English heritage and adopted her accent, while Luna took after their father's American sound.

"Just the other day. She told me Chase called her to arrange a flight to come to for Memorial Day. You know we can't convince her to visit America. Everywhere reminds her of Dad."

"True."

Luna continued shuffling dirt around a tiny flower pot, thinking about her parents. Since their separation, her mother didn't want to have anything to do with Luna's dad, Lawrence, and the States reminded her of him. But she couldn't blame her. Her dad began dating his receptionist right after he moved back to California and treated her mother like she didn't exist. Her mother didn't deserve that.

While throwing a few seeds into the soil, Luna glanced over and noticed Amir on her left side. He had on a white jogging suit and gave her a small smile.

"Just make sure you inform me what you want to do. I'll try to convince Mom to come to Louisiana. All right, Lu?"

"Lu?"

She disliked having her four-letter name shortened. Her parents named her after a lunar eclipse and she enjoyed being called by her full name.

"Luna. Sorry," Liberty corrected herself.

"I'll let you know. I have to finish this, so I can have a quick bath."

"A bath sounds calming right now."

"It's humid out here, but that's how it is in May," Luna commented and watched Amir pretend to fan himself as he stepped into a boiler room.

'Very funny,' she whispered as he busted out laughing.

"What was that?" Liberty inquired, catching her sister's subtle remark.

"Oh. Nothing, sis. I've got to go. I'll text you later."

"Okay. Bye."

Pressing the end button on her phone, Luna shifted her gaze over to Amir, who rose and ran his eyes up and down her body.

"You are a filthy girl."

"That's what happens when I'm messing with dirt," she replied, keeping her eyes on his.

"Well, they say, 'You can't build nothing from the ground up unless you get a little dirty,' so I've heard."

"Just like anything in life, we have to search for the best soil to nurture it, to water it, and to take care of it. And we have to have patience with it, to watch it grow into a beautiful life."

"Sometimes, we have to be delicate with the things we care about."

When Amir spoke his words, she didn't dare look away. With his words, she felt safe because they weren't just words. He'd always been there for her, through the good times and bad. He knew all her faults, of which there were plenty, and he was there to listen, to be a shoulder to cry on, to soothe her anxiety.

In return, she wanted to keep him safe with her words and deeds. She wanted to defend him, listen, and be a friend to him. She won't always have the answers he seeks, and he won't always have the answers she desires, but he will never be alone with his problems because they had each other; two tethered souls who were always meant to be connected.

"Are you alone?" he asked as the sun shined brightly on top of his dark hair, a few strands shimmering under the sparkling light.

"For now. Chase left for work thirty minutes ago, and Sarah is playing with her friend down the street."

"Well, I know you said you wanted a bath, but would you like to go for a stroll? There's something I want to talk to you about."

She nodded and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. After settling her things down and quickly rinsing her hands under the faucet, she walked gradually toward the open pathway into the forest, then connected to where he was.

Amir stood on a long sidewalk beside a large river with a beautiful city miles away in the distance. Temples and immaculate rooftops toward them, creating a euphoric presence. It was evening there, and the sun beamed an orange color near a tall building.

"Where are you?"

"I am in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. It isn't far from my home. I had a meeting and just finished with work."

"Oh. How did it go?"

He stopped in the middle of their walk and let out a tiny laugh. "You want to talk about work?"

"Why not? It's important to you."

"There is something I should tell you."

"What do you need to tell me?"

"There was something I found out shortly after we'd met, and I should've spoken to you about it by now."

"Well, it can't be that bad."

Amir shifted his gaze from his hands to hers, their scenes returning to the forest. He then began to explain to her that they would never be able to meet in person, which made his chest hurt to even think about. But she needed to know.

"If this is some kind of joke, Amir, it's not funny."

"Luna, it's not a —"

"I thought you might come meet me and my family in New Orleans one day. Then we'd travel to Islamabad. What do you mean?"

Amir ambled over to a tree stump and sat down. "When paired souls come into contact with each other, they become ill."

"How do you know it would be that dangerous?" Luna asked.

"I've researched about what happens between paired souls and have been working a lot, looking for a solution to all of this."

"A solution?"

"I've been experimenting with ways to find out why pairs aren't supposed to meet physically. I'm in this city for a meeting with an investor whose wife is like us. She wants to meet her partner from Scotland."

"So, they know about you?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. I'm hired to conduct certain projects, and the lab techs in my building test every source they can. We're determined to figure everything we can about our abilities."

"That's great, Amir. I never expected us to meet in person, but I hoped we would. Not now, but one day."

"Oh, Luna. After all we've shared, I now have a personal stake at hand. I will not stop trying to figure out the science behind our DNA. I can promise you that."

When she noticed he'd closed his eyes shortly after the wind brushed against his face, she asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"I wasn't thinking of anything. A memory of when I was younger popped into my mind of me playing tag in a forest. I was around six. It's silly. I'm such a sap."

"No, you're not. You're human, and we have emotions."

"Thank you, Luna." Amir placed his hand over his stomach and began rubbing it. "What did you eat? My stomach feels full of some kind of dessert."

Luna laughed. "Wedding cakes. Chase had the notion to take me to a bakery earlier. I must've tasted ten, at least?"

"So that's what I taste. I've never liked cakes, but I must say, I am more of a vanilla guy. It's not that messy after taking a bite."

"You have a point," she said as they continued walking, several people strolling around them. "Can you sense other tethered souls?"

"Only us. Even the children's parents over there aren't one of us."

Luna followed his gaze as he stared at three women who were monitoring their children near the railing.

"How does that work? Do other tethered people shine like a sparkly diamond or something?"

He giggled and narrowed his eyes. "They don't shine per se, but you can sense their aura. It's like having a sensor inside your body, or a built-in GPS guiding you. Some tethered souls live for decades with their powers active, but they'll never achieve the ability to sense others like them."

He stopped for a moment and leaned against the rail. "Our species has different types between us. The Tethered Ones are people who have the gene in their DNA. But they may never connect to the person they are paired for. Their paired partner could have passed away before being born, or they could activate their abilities later in life after the other partner had passed. When two souls who are paired meet telepathically, they become Tethered Souls."

"Our powers don't work at the same pace, then."

"Not really. When Faisal and Cassie connected, he could meet others before her. Our theory is, that he connected to her first."

"What if it were reversed, and she was the one who connected to him? She would have the gift to sense other souls?"

"We don't know what would've happened. She doesn't have that ability."

When a young boy kicked a ball toward them, Amir picked it up and threw it back at him as he caught it in his arms. Luna saw how distracted he was and took off running in the opposite direction, wanting to play a game of tag with him.

"Luna?" Amir said, running toward her forest. "Luna! Come on! Stop hiding!"

She smiled quietly in her spot, but then felt a pair of hands wrap around her shoulders, pulling her against his body. "You found me! No fair!"

"Of course, I did. My GPS sensor went off."

"I wanted to play a game of hide and seek, but I can't with you. You'll cheat."

"Hey!" Amir exclaimed, placing his hand over his chest like he was offended. "I can't help it that I have a special ability. I love sensing your presence. Especially at times you pop over to my bathroom, with me in the shower."

"Huh? I don't do that!"

"Oh, yes, you do. I can sense your presence. Especially when you feel like roaming around my home, with me in another room."

"I didn't even stay in your bathroom for more than a second. Maybe a half a second," Luna said, and Amir laughed. "Your home is like my serenity. Whenever I need somewhere peaceful to go to, I pop by."

"So, in other words, I'm being used?"

"Oh, you're so going to get it," she said, rushing off after him, barely keeping up. "You're more athletic than me!"

"And that's my problem, how?"

"You're so full of it, Mr. Khan."

"What else am I?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I'm going to go. I need a hot shower. My muscles are aching."

"Hmm. The image of you in —"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Amir Khan! I mean it!"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be a good little boy from now on."

Luna turned around, with a scowl across her face. "I'm so looking forward to the next eighty-something years being tethered to you!"

"I know you are. Your aura is glowing. It's shining brighter than a diamond."

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Thank you for reading my story. I appreciate you.