CHAPTER TWO: MEMORIES

The next morning, as the first light of dawn stretched across the sky, Maria lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. The quiet clucking of the hen outside signaled the beginning of the day, but her mind was far from the ordinary tasks that awaited her. Her thoughts had been consumed by a dream—a dream that wasn't just a dream. It had been haunting her for days, creeping into her waking thoughts like a shadow she couldn't shake.

She turned her head to look at Ethan, still sound asleep beside her. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, his face peaceful and untroubled. Maria watched him for a long moment, wondering how she could possibly explain what she had been feeling. How could she tell him about a dream so vivid that it felt like a memory? Would he think she was going crazy?

After hesitating for a moment, she gently tapped his face. Ethan didn't stir. She tried again, a little firmer, but he remained lost in his slumber. Maria sighed and got out of bed, deciding to head downstairs and prepare breakfast. Maybe when he woke up, she could find the right words.

The smell of bacon and eggs filled the house as Maria busied herself in the kitchen. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at the table, her mind still turning over the dream in vivid detail. It had felt so real—too real. She wasn't sure if it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but deep down, she knew there was something more to it.

Four hours passed, and Maria was finishing up some chores when she finally heard the creak of footsteps coming from upstairs. Ethan, looking groggy and a little disoriented, stumbled into the kitchen. His eyes were distant, and he seemed lost in thought, as though he had woken up in a different world.

Maria raised an eyebrow at him, both amused and annoyed. "Well, took you long enough. If you'd stayed asleep for another hour, I would've called the ambulance to take you straight to the cemetery."

Ethan didn't respond. He stood there, staring off into space, as if he hadn't heard a word she said.

"Hey, did you hear me?" Maria asked, her tone softening with concern.

When he still didn't respond, she walked up to him and gave him a light slap on the cheek. Ethan blinked and shook his head, snapping out of whatever daze he had been in. He looked at her, his eyes wide with confusion.

"Sorry... what did you say?" he mumbled, his voice distant.

Maria's amusement quickly turned to worry. "Ethan, are you okay? You've been acting weird ever since you woke up."

Ethan rubbed his face, his expression clouded. "I don't know. I had this dream... or at least, I think it was a dream. It felt so real, though. I can't stop thinking about it."

Maria's heart skipped a beat. She set down the dishcloth she had been holding and sat down at the kitchen table, motioning for Ethan to join her. "What kind of dream?" she asked, her voice steady, though her pulse quickened.

Ethan sat down slowly, his brow furrowed in thought. "It was during the war—World War II. I was a soldier, but I wasn't on our side. I was fighting for the Axis, in Germany. The whole thing felt so vivid, like I was really there."

Maria's eyes widened, a chill running down her spine. She swallowed hard, her voice barely above a whisper as she asked, "Germany? Ethan, I had the same dream."

Ethan's head snapped toward her, his face a mix of shock and disbelief. "What do you mean, the same dream?"

"I mean I was there too," Maria said, her words coming out in a rush. "But I was fighting for the Allies. I was part of the French Resistance. I remember everything—how we were trying to sabotage the Axis forces, how we were outnumbered but still fighting. And then... I saw you."

Ethan's face paled as he leaned forward, his voice low. "I was stationed near the Eastern Front. We were preparing for a major offensive, but there was this moment—just a brief moment—where I saw someone across the river, someone in the shadows. I couldn't see their face clearly, but I felt... something."

Maria nodded, her heart pounding in her chest. "That was me. I was part of a team trying to blow up a bridge. I saw you too, just for a second. But I didn't know it was you until now."

The two of them sat in stunned silence, the realization slowly settling in. The kitchen, once filled with the warmth of breakfast and morning light, now seemed darker, more suffocating. The air between them was thick with unspoken questions, the weight of their shared dream—or memory—pressing down on them.

Ethan finally broke the silence, his voice strained. "This can't just be a coincidence, can it? How could we both have the same dream, with the same details, from a time we weren't even alive?"

Maria shook her head, her voice trembling. "I don't think it's just a dream. It felt too real. It felt like a memory, like we're somehow remembering something from another life."

Ethan rubbed his hands over his face, trying to process everything. "But how? How could we be connected to people from World War II? And why are we only remembering this now?"

"I don't know," Maria admitted, her eyes searching his face for answers she knew he didn't have. "But what I do know is that in the dream, we were enemies. You were fighting for Germany, and I was fighting against you. But there was something pulling us together, even though we were on opposite sides."

Ethan looked at her, his brow furrowed in thought. "It felt like that for me too. Like I was supposed to find you, even though we were fighting against each other."

Maria's heart raced as the pieces started to come together in her mind. "Maybe that's why we found each other in this life. Maybe we were always meant to be together, but something kept us apart back then. Maybe that's why these dreams are coming to us now—because there's something unfinished between us."

Ethan sat back in his chair, staring at the table as if it held the answers. "So what do we do? How do we figure out what's really happening?"

Maria took a deep breath, steadying herself. "We talk about it. We keep going over the details, everything we can remember. Maybe there's something in the dreams we haven't noticed yet, something that can help us understand why this is happening."

Ethan nodded, though he still looked overwhelmed. "Okay, let's start at the beginning. You were in France, right? What was it like?"

Maria closed her eyes, letting the images from the dream come rushing back. "It was 1944. The war had been raging for years, and France was under occupation. I was part of a resistance cell in the south, coordinating sabotage missions. It was dangerous, but we believed in what we were doing. We had to fight back."

Ethan listened quietly as Maria continued. "We had heard about an Axis supply route being used to send reinforcements to the front lines. Our mission was to destroy the bridge they were using, to slow down their advance. We moved under the cover of night, setting explosives along the bridge. But then..."

She paused, her voice trailing off as the memory played out in her mind.

"I saw you," she said finally. "You were on the other side of the river, with a small unit of German soldiers. I don't know how I knew it was you, but I did. And for a second, I thought we were going to shoot each other. But neither of us moved. It was like something stopped us."

Ethan's face tightened as he remembered the same moment. "I felt it too. I had my rifle in hand, but I couldn't pull the trigger. I just stood there, staring, and then... it was over. We moved on, and I didn't see you again."

Maria leaned forward, her voice barely a whisper. "What if that's why we're remembering this now? What if we were supposed to meet back then, but the war kept us apart?"

Ethan looked at her, his eyes filled with uncertainty and something else—hope. "You think this is fate? That we were meant to be together, even across lifetimes?"

Maria reached out and took his hand. "I don't know what I believe, but I do know this: whatever happened back then, it brought us together now. And maybe that's all that matters."

They sat there in the quiet kitchen, their hands entwined, the memories of their past lives swirling around them like a ghostly presence. Neither of them knew what the future held or how to make sense of the dreams that connected them to a time of war and strife. But they did know one thing—they had found each other, across time and distance, and that was enough.

For now, at least.