Two souls were adrift.

Nothing surrounded them. Nothing above. Nothing below.

They saw nothing. They felt nothing.

They saw nothing, because they had no eyes to see. They felt nothing, because they had no bodies to feel.

And yet they could feel each other. That was all they knew. There was nothing but the other.

Two souls were tied deeply.

They floated through nothing.

And as they had no eyes to see, they could not know of the light of a distant break in the darkness. A golden light came from what looked like the branch of a tree. Its trunk was so distant it could not be seen. Even if the two souls had eyes to see.

The two souls clung so tightly; they appeared as one. As if a lone star bathed in a sea of nothing.

They floated away from the distant branch suffused with light. It’s light, unseen, unfelt, grew dim and distant. It faded away to nothing and the two souls drifted on into depths unknown.

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Time meant nothing here. A moment could be a few seconds. It could be a thousand years. Time might have ceased. They could have been outside of Time.

They would never know. They could never know.

And yet something did.

“Here you are.”

A woman’s voice spoke into the void.

A voice that sounded both old and young.

A voice that sounded both mature and naive.

A voice that sounded both forlorn and hopeful.

A voice that the two souls could not hear.

They heard nothing, because they had no ears to hear.

The souls drifted into the embrace of someone they could not feel. From one moment to the next, from floating along to being held, they knew nothing.

“I have been waiting for you both.” The voice spoke to them, expecting no response. The woman, a silhouette of vague colors in the darkness, held the two souls in her arms. “I’m sorry that you had to suffer at the end. I’m sorry.”

The sadness in the woman’s voice sounded genuine.

“A lifetime is arduous, and you deserve to rest. And yet, there is something I would ask of you.” Of course, there was no response, and the woman didn’t seem to expect one as she continued. “The two of you have something that very few manage to achieve. No matter how many lifetimes they live, to find another and tie yourselves so closely together, to be bound even after death... that is a rare thing indeed.”

Silence filled the infinite space. The two souls floated in the woman’s warm embrace.

“Perhaps...” The woman finally spoke again thoughtfully. “Perhaps you can show me something.”

She pondered in more silence.

“You might be able to help me. Your bond might be strong enough...” The woman muttered in the void. “It... may even be a worthwhile second chance.”

That last sentence was said with an audible smile.

“It may be another ordeal, but in the long run I imagine you both will find fulfillment in it. And I may learn something valuable from it, too. You will be my experiment. Do not worry though. I would not leave you with nothing.”

With those final words, the woman held the two souls tighter and drifted away, further into the dark expanse. A bright spot made of two threads of light, held by translucent wisps of color flew off across the great void. Like a comet, they flew. No other light accompanied them for an indefinite amount of time.

Until another branch of golden light drifted into existence from out of the void. Golden light, closer to a bronze color than the first branch was.

The woman carried the souls through the void and towards the light. The branch grew larger and larger until its light suffused everything and held back the darkness.

Everything went white.

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The rushing sound of wind accompanied by wisps of white and grey replaced the void. Fluffy clouds now filled the expanse. Like the wind, the woman carried the two souls through the clouds. Like the wind, she carried them past droplets of water and rumblings of thunder, into a grey mass that gave the promise of storms.

The light darkened for a time, before the grey was once more replaced with white, and through the white they burst through. Sunlight shone down, almost blindingly through breaks in the clouds. Rain fell here and there refracting the light, casting the glow of a rainbow.

And below all the workings of the heavens, lay the earth with all its greens and browns as far as the eye could see. The trees, the hills, the fields and even the patchwork farms lay across the land as a blanket would. Rivers fed the great lakes from the distant mountains and the glittering of the ocean could be seen at the edge of the world.

Like the wind, the woman, her transparent appearance making her difficult to see, brought them low. They glided through the sky upon wings of faint shifting color. They swooped lower and flew onward for a time.

The land below gradually grew closer. Far below, a city could be seen. Large within its walls, and sprawling settlements beyond. Roads carved their way across the land, cutting through farms and towns.

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A bird of prey, specifically a peregrine falcon, flew close to the woman and her two charges. Almost as if it knew that there was something there. Something that the human eye couldn’t see.

The falcon accompanied the ghostly woman. The large bird seemed to fly unerringly with the unseen three. Or the woman chose to fly alongside the large bird. Regardless, the party of four now flew together over the land. Over fields and farms, they flew, gliding lower and lower as they went.

They seemed to be following one particular road. It was a winding road, curving round a number of hills. The road led up towards a small mountain range in the distance. Between here and there were large fields full of sheep and cows. Dense trees populated much of the area all the way up until the mountain's base. A chain of rivers and streams carried ice melt from the mountains, cutting through the woods.

It was here that the peregrine falcon dipped down sharply, circling the town nestled between the base of the mountains and the woods. The woman followed suit. Or the woman picked this location and the bird followed suit.

They gently circled above and watched the townsfolk go about their business. A shepherd was watching a flock of sheep. A couple fishermen were throwing lines into the nearby river. A man was leading a horse drawn cart down a road to the center of town. Children and a dog were playing in an open field. A few women were gathered by another part of the river, collecting water.

The sound of metal hitting metal could also be heard, alongside the chopping of wood. The falcon saw a bearded man working a forge at one end of the town and another man cutting his way through a pile of firewood.

In another part of the town the falcon zeroed in on a man hanging some meat on a hook. The bird's interest seemed to stay on the carcass for a time before tearing its eyes away. Nearby, on a roof a man was wielding a hammer, fixing a loose tile.

More people were moving back and forth going about their day. The falcon and its invisible companions flew down towards one particular house in a quiet part of town. The house was two stories tall and was made of wood and brick with dark roof tiles. Many of the houses were built like this, but only a few were taller than a single story. In fact, one building, the biggest of them all, was three stories tall and quite wide. However, the falcon chose to alight on the roof of the two-story house.

After its long journey from wherever it came from, and the long journey of its invisible friends, they all came to rest, perched on the eaves of the roof. The bird of prey ruffled its feathers as it stretched out its wings, before it folded them back in, and contented itself with watching the people walking up and down the path in front of the house.

From here, the unseen woman waited. She waited for all of three minutes before the door to the house beneath them opened. A young woman stepped out and closed the door behind her before walking over to her neighbor's house across the street. There was a cheerful pep in her step, and she called out as she knocked on the front door.

“Mieri! Ne dorsi tanten ila jornde!” The young woman yelled in a cheeky tone. She took a step back and clasped her hands behind her back, rocking on her feet in barely contained excitement.

She spoke in a language that the ghostly woman’s passengers would not know, even if they could hear right then. She herself knew that the young woman had said, ‘Mieri! Don’t sleep in all day!’

The young woman got a little impatient and went to knock on the door again. “Mieri–”

The door opened, cutting her off. Another young woman appeared on the other side looking like she had recently gotten out of bed.

“Yanne...” The new young woman said in good natured derision. She smiled tiredly at her friend. “An sempi cotte aurabbe dado.” A simple knock would have been fine.

The first young woman, probably named Yanne, just giggled sheepishly. The other woman, Mieri, shook her head with a smile and opened the door further for her friend.

“Entiré entoni. Iré vasi dan ya carami.” Come in then. I’ll go and get ready.

Yanne walks in and Mieri closes the door.

The peregrine falcon stretched its wings again and hopped into the air, soaring briefly around the side of the house before landing on a windowsill. A nearby bush exploded with a rush of smaller birds taking flight, no doubt trying to get away from the larger bird of prey. The falcon barely gave them a considering glance.

From the windowsill the bird and the spirit woman continued to observe the two young women. Inside was presumably the dining room as a table and chairs could be seen, with a kitchen area beyond it. The woman, Yanne, was moving around in the kitchen area gathering up what looked like bread and other assortments of food. She prepared a small spread of breakfast on the table as the other woman, Mieri, came in some minutes later.

“Of course, just help yourself to our food Yanne.” Mieri chided the other woman with some lighthearted sarcasm.

“I was putting something together for you, you plucked goose.” Yanne smirked at her friend. Said friend walked up, having cleaned her tired face and combed her hair, and took a seat at the table. She looked at the food on the table and picked up a slice of bread and stared at it with hardly any appetite. “Are you feeling alright?” Yanne asked.

“I feel like I need to see Markita again.” Mieri groaned, before taking a small nibble.

“Threw up again?” Yanne asked gently, taking a seat across from her and eating her share.

“Mhm...” Mieri nodded. “How come you don’t have morning sickness yet?”

“Runs in the family.” Yanne shrugged. She spread a little butter on a slice of bread.

“I’m going to turn you into a plucked goose.” Mieri grumbled.

Yanne just giggled at her friend's expense.

Mieri sighed and nibbled some more at her bread. “A part of me wants to be spiteful to Bastien, but he’s been so good. And I did push him for a baby after all.”

“Yeah, taking it out on him wouldn’t seem fair.” Yanne smiled and ate some cheese.

“Maybe I should take it out on you for being annoying so early in the morning.” Mieri grouched as she eyed her friend eating without a problem.

“It’s not early though.” Yanne smirked again as she bit into her bread.

Mieri looked confused and so Yanne explained with a smirk.

“This isn’t breakfast.” She pointed at the food on the table. “It’s lunch.”

She popped another piece of cheese into her mouth.

“Urgh...”

Mieri glanced out the window to gauge for herself... only to notice the falcon perched on her windowsill.

“...Yanne!” She whispered loudly to her friend. Yanne blinked at her sudden change. “Look outside!”

She pointed straight at the bird for her friend. Now, it was Yanne’s turn to be surprised.

“Is that an eagle? A falcon? What’s it doing here?”

Upon being noticed, the large bird decided that now was the time to take its leave. It shot off from its perch and took to the skies once more, leaving behind its onetime companions. The ghostly woman didn’t mind one bit though.

Mieri bolted from her chair and rushed to the window to keep track of it. She flung the window open to lean out for good measure. Yanne followed her to the window. After scanning their surroundings for a few seconds, they gave up searching for it.

“...gone.” Mieri muttered.

“I’ve never seen one up close before...” Yanne whispered in awe.

The two soon-to-be mothers were standing so close to the unseen woman and her unseeing companions. With them standing in front of the mysterious woman, it took only a small movement to float through them and into the room. Passing through them, one moment they were three, the next there was one.

The ghostly woman turned around to regard the young mothers. Though her face could not be seen, she smiled, with hope... A forlorn hope.

‘These are to be your mothers.’ She spoke to herself. ‘They will love you dearly. And when the time is right...’

She paused there.

“Isaac might be jealous.” Yanne was saying. She turned to her friend, with a smile on her face. A smile that faltered when she saw Mieri holding her stomach. “Are you okay?”

She placed a hand on her friend's back and rubbed gently.

“I... I think I’ll go see Markita after all.” She groans out.

“Alright then.”

They closed the window and moved away. Yanne cleared the table again as Mieri stood by the door ready to leave. Yanne absentmindedly rubbed her own stomach, wondering if it was the cheese that got to her. With everything cleared away they both left the house, locking the door behind them.

‘When the time is right, we can begin.’

The woman stared at the door the young women had left through for a moment longer, before finally fading away.