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<12/01/2017 - 23:00 | Link Street (Park), Marietta, GA, USA>

In another silent night of our arctic wonderland, the two of us dominated this sacred territory of the community park, as I sat gently rocking against the swing set. There's a reason I love coming here to the park with Lumina in tow; it's always so private so late at night. Nobody else dares to come here after dark, which are the peak hours I can normally hang out with Lumina. I would let my montrum inducing music replace the ambience around us, letting my thoughts melt into the background of a new romantic environment. Lumina and I have the park all to ourselves again, our own private space where so many memories will be born.

"How did I know you would pick this spot for our date?" Lumina knew the answer already, though I gave her what she wanted, the chance to hear my voice in her ears again and again, as she does for me.

"I love being out here with you, doing anything with you, my love." I'm always walking around the neighborhood day and night, but it's also nice and relaxing to come out here and get a chance to sit, staring up at the starry sky like before. Amidst the freezing cold of 29oN, my coat did its best to trap my warmth inside, though I was fully undeterred from spending the entire night out here. As expected, all of Lumina dominated every thought process I could generate, reminding me why today is such a beautiful day. "Happy anniversary Lumina. I know I said it before, but it just feels so nice to say it again."

"I know," she agreed. "We've been married for six years now."

"And it will be like that for a very long time. If I become an Altiri one day, you and I will literally hold a new record for longest married couple." Let's ignore the fact that Altiri live for thousands of years without aging much.

"I love you Reed." She said it with such soft and alluring dialect, the same phrase that would open me up no matter how many times it's used, the same phrase that saved me.

"I love you too Lumina." I couldn't find any way to put into words how I felt in this moment, how overwhelmingly happy and serene I was to hang out with her in this way. After all this time, I've only continued to love Lumina more than ever before. How we feel for each other now is so strongly connected, that through our telepathy, this incredible sensation is shared between us as well. I once stated that telepathy is an intimate communication standard, but that was a severe understatement knowing what I know now.

"I just want to stay here with you, feeling that gentle sway of the swing set, relaxing as you are now."

I was moving slightly to the right and left on the swing seat, shifting ever so slightly to simulate the sensation back onto Lumina, as if she and I were both holding each other in our arms, rocking each other to sleep. "I want to feel everything you feel Lumina. I want to know what it's like to be inside you, to think the same way you think, to experience the world through your body instead of my own."

With a mild chuckle, Lumina stated the obvious for us both. "Silly. You already know what's on my mind, don't you?"

"Of course I do." It's not a hard guess. Lumina is madly in love with me too, as much as I am to her. We both mean the world to each other, each our own top priority.

If Lumina or I were the sleeping type, this gentle lullaby would have put either one of us to a soft and serene sleep under the stars. I want to stay like this forever, right here in this moment. I got my wish for fifteen amazing seconds of silent bliss. The overwhelming love and happiness I felt pouring into me from Lumina was more than I could ever ask for as an anniversary present. Spending time together is the purest gift either of us could exchange.

"Whoa! Are you doing that?" Lumina's sudden warning startled me, but it didn't stop what was happening between us.

Given a strong enough connection, I can easily see through Lumina's eyes and into her world as if it were merged into my own, while all emotional exchange becomes much stronger. At first, I thought that's what had happened, since I was no longer seeing the park when my eyes opened. In half a second later, I realized how different this was by comparison.

"What is this? Am I really here?" Despite what I thought possible before, a new miracle presented itself before us both. I glanced all around the space here, and down to my arms and hands, seeing Lumina's room through Lumina's body. It was more than just sight though. I could feel all of my connected senses sharpen and adapt to her size and structure.

"No way! Am I actually..." Lumina was confused too, exactly as much as I was.

But as soon as I realized what was going on, I found the situation to be the coolest trick in the world. "This is you Lumina. I'm in your body right now." I wasn't too sure if she and I had actually swapped bodies with each other, but whatever I was feeling associated with this sudden sensory shift was something I didn't want to let go of. This feels more amazing than any sensation I've ever experienced before!

"And I'm in yours, at the park... Incredible!"

So she thinks it's amazing too? This isn't a normal sensory shift. At maximum, I can normally see Lumina's world at 90% opacity over my normal sensory input, but right now, the opacity is at 100%! "Lumina."

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"Reed." Both of us spoke our names at exactly the same time, and when she steered left in the seat to anchor her movement, I did the same on instinct. It wasn't that we had swapped bodies or were controlling each other; we were experiencing the exact same thought patterns, emotions, and sensations all at exactly the same moment at the same intensity.

Then, only four seconds later, we switched back to our own worlds, only for the phenomena to phase us between our own bodies again, going back in forth in a looped cycle a few more times. The fact became clear that whatever this was, it wasn't easy to maintain for more than a few seconds at a time.

"This is amazing Lumina! What do you think is going on?"

"I don't really know... Could this possibly be that impossible phenomena I heard about?"

"What phenomena? Do share with the class now."

"I can't be sure, but this might be mental synch."

"Mental synch?" I should have known there was an extra psychic power lying around somewhere.

"It's not a psychic power," Lumina corrected. "Mental Synchronization refers to something that happens when two peoples' minds synchronize together in every way possible. I thought it was just a rumor."

"Our minds synchronized?" I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Of all the people it could happen to, Lumina and I know each other inside and out. It's starting to make sense to me already, thanks to how my background thoughts work when they error check everything going on inside my own head.

"Yes. You and I must have been in such deep synchronization, that when combined with the telepathy, it didn't make much of a difference which body we were in."

"Whatever it was felt more amazing than anything else I've felt before." Based on her description, it's as if our own two souls had a moment to get close enough to merge or something. "Can we make it happen again?"

"I don't know. I'm trying, but I don't know if that will ever happen again."

"Hm..." I held my jaw wondering if my new hunch on the rumor was correct, given what I was able to think back to.

"What are you thinking?"

"I have a theory about how this mental synch might function. I would like to try it again."

"You already figured it out? You can't be that smart."

"Give me some credit Lumina. I'm pretty sure it's like you said. It only happened because in that moment, we were thinking exactly the same thoughts, or perhaps the same thought patterns simultaneously, while also experiencing the very same emotions and physical sensations at the same intensity levels."

"The same intensity levels?"

"I know. That would be incredibly rare, especially for me, since I have so many thoughts at once it usually distracts me from trying that... But I want to try it again."

"Okay, have any idea how?"

"Just think back to what we were thinking about before." I resumed the slightly swaying of the swing as it carried me, repeating the pattern which worked before. "Remember it's our anniversary. Remember how happy we are to be here together, how amazing it feels just to be connected with you." I let my voice fill with that dreamy tone I was used to sharing, allowing myself to get lost in the moment too.

Lumina didn't even argue. She sat concentrating like I was, soon to relax when she realized how easy it was to feel so loved and valued. Before long, we started thinking only of each other; what bubbled up in our hearts resonated in such powerful echo. Without much time at all, it happened again, just like before. "We're synchronized again." Lumina was amazed to see my suggestion bear such fruit.

As was I. I tried not to move around too much, instead keeping that calm and consistent gentle sway from the swing, even though I could no longer see it using Lumina's eyes. It felt like Lumina was the one doing the rocking now, as if she were the one controlling things from my human body, while the results cascaded via telepathy into her body, the one I currently inhabited. More amazing to my new surroundings of the huge cockpit room, I could feel the cold yet soft surface structure of Lumina's bed against my legs, and so clearly see the breath of air that escaped my mouth, I mean Lumina's mouth. "How is this even possible?"

Before Lumina could give any answer, the cycle ended once more, bringing us both back into our own bodies, but the amazing rush from it didn't fade too easily. "I wish I knew. This is way more amazing than normal telepathy."

"I think I understand why it works, just not how. Plus, synchronizing our thoughts exactly isn't something people can commonly do."

"Just goes to show how connected we truly are, how much we really love each other."

"Don't gloat... Okay, you can gloat a little." I knew why this made her happy aside from the amazement we just had. If I'm right, and we can mentally synch when our thoughts and emotions become perfectly reflected onto each other, well, I mean, what other couple do we know who could satisfy those qualifications? It could only happen to those in perfect synch, those who've known each other forever, and those who love each other more than the universe itself.

"This is so incredible Reed! And you say we can do it when we synchronize our emotions?"

"I'm only guessing right now, going on how exactly this works or what triggers it. I think our emotions have to be the same in intensity as well as our thought patterns at the same time. That would make it very difficult to invoke whenever."

"But it feels really good."

She's not wrong there. The moment got me thinking back, trying to compare this sensation to anything else. Even long after the mental synch stopped again, that bliss I felt was still with us now. "We'll just have to keep practicing at it then. Lumina? I would like to try mental synch again, as much as possible wherever possible. However, even I can tell it will require a strong connection to begin with, so it will have to be cold like this as well."

"Well, we have all night to ourselves... If you want to practice feeling what it's like to be me, to know how I think and feel, now's your chance."

She's right. Not ten minutes ago did I wish for the ability to live a few moments inside of Lumina's own body and perspective, and by some miracle, it was already happening. I guess my bad luck doesn't dominate every single day of the week. "That's something I can get behind. What better way to celebrate our anniversary than to practice being inside each other?"

"Okay, you don't have to make it sound sexual."

"Ha! Where's the fun in that?" I've felt so much more comfortable with Lumina lately, comfortable enough to say anything. I don't think she'll get easily embarrassed by the topic, but at least I can gauge if I've polished my arsenal of euphemisms while she's been away.

"I see this is fun for you."

I swiftly reminded her, "Every moment I spend with you is fun for me. You're right. We got all night to try this again and again. Let's sharpen this new bond between us, shall we?"

Practice is what we did next. I shouldn't have to explain how much more intimate this was than ordinary telepathy. As Lumina and I engaged mental synch again and again, even if it only lasted for a few seconds in intervals, it was the strongest bond I've ever felt with her of all time. I could be so sure of everything in this state. I could also be sure of our better days ahead of us.