The Love That Could Have Been

9

"Dawn."

I heard a soft voice from behind me calling my name.

Where am I?

All I can see are shades of blue and white. The last thing I remember doing was riding a taxicab to fetch my best friend Emily at the airport. She just got back from her trip to Australia.

"Dawn," the voice behind me repeated. I turned around to see who it was. And there stood a guy with a pair of sky-blue eyes. His lips were curved into a smile, exuding kindness and warmth.

"It's me, Sky," he said, pulling me into an embrace. "Your cousin."

Sky? My cousin?

Emily said back then that she didn't know any relatives of mine. My parents died in a car accident when I was 15 and ever since, I have lived with her and her Mom. I know that it was burdensome but I don't have anyone left and it was Emily who insisted too. Luckily, my parents and her mom used to be good friends before they died, she was so nice to accept me although I would still feel like a burden sometimes.

"We are sorry," he said. "My Ma was afraid to approach you because of her memories with your father."

My dad used to tell me that he really did have a sister but he said he cut all contact and connections with her when she eloped with a guy he didn't like for her. Since then, he no longer knows what happened to his sister's life. If she succeeded in life. Or in having kids and building a family of her own.

As time passed, he eventually felt regretful. One time, he said that if ever he'd be given the chance to meet her again and talk to her, he'd want to apologize for his mistakes and ask for her forgiveness. Unfortunately, that time didn't come already because of his demise during the car accident.

"Where are we?" I asked. "And what are we doing here?"

"You don't remember what happened?" he replied.

I thought to myself what happened before I found myself in this place? And that's when everything dawned on me.

The taxicab. The collision. The accident.

I covered my mouth in shock and scanned the surroundings once more. Shades of blue and white. I am in the sky. With Sky. " Does this mean that we're dead?"

"Not for long," he smiled slyly. "We still have unfinished business. Plus, you survived the accident. You're such a tough girl, y'know? Not like me."

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"Just trust me, sweet," he said, grabbing something out of his pocket and showing it to me. "We'll both bring out the best in each other."

I looked at the thing in the palm of his hand. It was a moon bracelet. A bracelet with its silver links crafted to resemble the phases of the moon. It looks very similar to that of my dad's bracelet that I've been keeping in my drawer. I don't really wear it since I'm afraid I might lose it.

I lifted my head to look at Sky once more. There was a warm smile plastered on his face. He stretched out his hand to me as if waiting for me to hold it. "I will bring you home, Dawn."

And I did. I held Sky's hand, trapping the bracelet between our palms.

"Let's bring out the best in each other," I smiled. I saw our hands light up when our fingers intertwined.

And right there and then, I felt Sky and I became one and the same.

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