The Time It Takes To Fall

Star Crossed Lovers

Thailand, 1740 A.D.

"My love," Pimchan grinned, her eyes sparkling under the light of the setting sun. Her long brown hair was down and appeared almost red under the glow, and the blue silk of her Chut Thai seemed more purple than its sky shade.

"Good evening, my dearest one," Kai hummed, his heart melting at the sight of the greatest love of his entire life. Never in his life had he loved another person as much as he loved this girl— even if this wasn't the life in which he had originally met her. This was the first reincarnation that he had reached in time, and not had to watch die.

In some ways, Kai had suspected that it would take all of his attempts to finally get his happy ending with Selene, especially after how hard it had been proven to find her. With three previous reincarnations, Kai had found her in two of them— and one of them had been only moments before her death. The other he had not been clever enough to manage, and had been thrown into jail by a bunch of scary Australian nuns.

But this time around had been so... easy. Kai had found Pimchan when she was sixteen, and her immigrant parents had loved him immediately. Pimchan of course was still Selene, and she was wary of him at first, but not for long. It was only a matter of a few months before they were betrothed to be married on Pimchan's eighteenth birthday.

Now only hours remained from the time that they were to be married; Kai could still hardly believe that he had succeeded. His curse would be broken so soon— he and Selene would be together, despite the baker's dozen of decades between their original meeting.

"I have longed to see your face for all the hours since I last beheld it," Pimchan gently ran her fingers against Kai's cheek, her touch as light as the kiss of snowfall. "But soon I shall not long for you so dearly against all the hours of the day and night. For within a day's time we shall be joined until the end of our days."

"Perhaps then you shall long for the days in which I am not with you more often than I am," Kai teased, looking around before taking her hand in his own and bringing it up to his lips, the sleeves of his traditional Suea Phraratchathan falling down his arms.

"I cannot imagine such a time when an emotion of that caliber could ever overcome me— for I am so woefully enamored by you," Pimchan came closer to him, the sweet smell of her breath reaching Kai as her face drew near to his. "I swear on my life, for I would not need one without you in it."

"Please, swear not upon the thing that is dearest to me; I could not stand for you to break your promise, and for me to lose you for all time. I could not bear such a thing ever-" Kai broke off, catching himself before he said more.

Pimchan drew yet closer to him, her face a scandalous few inches from his own. "Speak your final words in which you always seem to forget," Pimchan scrunched her face up as she said this, as if trying to stare into Kai's soul for answers as to his mysterious persona.

She had always been so curious about him and his origin. He spoke differently than she was used to, though he adapted to the country's customs more quickly than he had in Australia or England.

"Worry not, my dear," Kai muttered, his mouth dry. "I forget no such things, but simply ramble into eternity." He pulled back, still clasping Pimchan's hands.

"You think I know not when you speak such lies," Pimchan smirked at him, intertwining her fingers with Kai's own. "But I know your soul, Kai. I know it quite well."

"And I am well acquainted with yours," Kai replied, squeezing the hands of his love.

"Love," Pimchan asked, her voice tinted with something that Kai hardly recognized. It was a drastic change— as if something horrible had come to pass. "What marks lay upon your arms? Wha-what-"