Perhaps in another life

Parallel Mortalities

** ✿* ✿ * ✿**
"Don't wish for what could have been when what could have been would destroy."
—Before We See The Light Of Dawn (Currently Unpublished)
** ✿* ✿ * ✿**

          Kai smiled upon the sight of his wife and daughter. There had been a day when he could never have imagined a life like this between them, but despite her past, he knew who she truly was.

          Their marriage had not been forced or used for power. He knew the real Selene, and she was a goddess. The people of the Eastern Commonwealth had believed that she was power hungry enough to wipe out anyone who deemed a threat to her throne. They believed that she had killed her aunt and toyed with her step cousins mind until one day her brain failed her. They said that she was somehow responsible for the plague that had swept over the lands of earth and that she was a bloodthirsty dictator, but Kai knew she wasn't.

          There was once a time when even Kai had believed she was manipulating him, but he felt so comfortable around her now. He could talk with her all day and feel nothing but complete awe and love towards her. She was the first light that had touched his soul in all the years of darkness. She was a woman of peace and love, and no one could prove him wrong.

Kai let the door close behind him as a very energetic toddler squealed at his sight.

"Daddy!" Amaris exclaimed, bounding with joy. She was the 2nd beacon of light in his life. His heart was always filled with pride when he saw their daughter, and she looked more and more like Selene each day.

          "Mara!" Kai exclaimed back with the same enthusiasm as his daughter. Kai scooped up the girl and cradled her in his arms as he pulled her into a hug. An overwhelming feeling of love consumed his heart each day he spent with the two whom he loved the most.

          After the toddler squirmed her way out of his embrace, he turned breathlessly to his amazing wife.

Taking Selene's hand, Kai pulled her close. "Good morning, love," he whispered into her ear before leading her into a kiss.

"Good morning," Selene smiled, allowing her beauty to fill the room around them. "I hope you slept well."

Kai blushed, for she was the only light in the universe at this moment. "I always sleep well knowing that you and Amaris are with me."

Selene looked into his eyes, allowing Kai to get caught up in the moment and stare back into hers. They will filled with mischief and intelligence. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like to see the world through her eyes. Having a soul as selfless and cunning as hers, everything she sees must be so beautiful.

After a moment of warm silence, Selene leaned in closer towards him. He could feel the warmth of her breath against his neck and smell the fragrance of her shampoo. She cradled his face closer to her own as she whispered with a voice so pure.

"Let's do something tonight" she breathed, "just you and I."

** ✿* ✿ * ✿**

At midnight they walked, hands entwined as they wandered amidst the palace gardens. It was always nice being with her. Without Selene being near him, he always seemed to feel an overwhelming feeling of paranoia and despair, as if he were trying to cling onto something unknown. The feeling was hopeless, like he was standing at the end, but Selene always brought him back from feeling as if he were just a small pawn to be played by the beings in life who fought their way up with cruel methods.

Kai tried to catch Selene's eye as they crossed the bridge over the koi pond. Under the moon she shone brilliantly, but the silver light did nothing to reconcile itself with her undisclosed divinity. She did not look at him, but it only made him more desperate in fulfilling his need to make her smile.

           It was almost as if a whisper of the wind had found its way to tell him that all was peaceful, like he was crossing a bridge to nowhere. But as he was getting lost in thoughts, he was brought back to reality. Selene was staring at him, her dark eyes sparkling and a smile most serene.

          And then she kissed him, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck.

          Kai wrapped an arm around her waist in return and deepened the kiss. Like a dance, their souls met in the moment. Never in his wildest dreams would he let her go. He would cherish her until his very last breath. It was the least he could do to prove his love and show her that he felt towards her the same way she felt towards him.

           Kai broke the kiss and swept her hair behind her ears, "I love you, Selene." Caressing her face, they kissed once again. After the kiss ended, they stood silently embracing each other before Selene sternly whispered the faintest of words.

           "You will."

           Kai almost laughed. She was not one to joke, but there was a first time for everything. Opening his eyes to gaze upon her face, he was washed over with a wave of confusion, and then realization. His smile faltered as the face that he saw everyday was no longer kind and graceful, but rather the face that looked up at him was filled with hatred and disdain. So many questions grasped his mind as the feeling of love and happiness left his body, but all that escaped his lips was a bewildered, "Huh?"

          Selene's smile was cruel and cold. "Oh, Emperor Kaito. I was your fate. A fate worse than war. I am your ultimate undoing, and you played my game well."

            Kai felt a piercing cold and sharp against the back of his neck, and the last words he heard before the world spun from red to black were, "Perhaps in another life, it could have been different."

** ✿* ✿ * ✿**