CHAPTER 12: UNRAVELING THE PAST

The sun had dipped below the horizon, and the café had grown quieter, the buzz of conversation slowly fading into the background. The world around Aira and Ravi had shrunk into a small, intimate space—just the two of them, surrounded by the soft hum of the city.

The air between them had shifted, no longer filled with nervous tension but something deeper, more knowing. They sat side by side, their words less guarded, more genuine, as if the walls they'd both built had started to crumble.

Ravi, leaning forward with his hands wrapped around his coffee cup, looked at Aira. "Can I ask you something?"

Aira glanced at him, her heart skipping a beat. "Of course."

"Why did you draw me? That sketch... it felt like you knew me, even before we met."

She paused, surprised by how easily he cut to the core of it. She had never fully understood why she had been drawn to sketch him the way she had. It had started as a vague feeling, an urge she couldn't explain. But now, it seemed to carry so much more weight than just a random drawing.

"I don't know," she said softly, her eyes drifting down to her coffee cup. "I just felt like I had to. Like I was seeing something I'd known before, even though I didn't understand what it meant."

She looked up at him then, her eyes searching his face for understanding. "It wasn't just the photo. It was something more… something about the way you looked in the picture. I couldn't explain it, but I felt like I had to draw you. Like I had already met you in some way."

Ravi's gaze softened, a quiet understanding passing between them. "I've felt that too, in my own way," he said, his voice low. "Like there's something about you, something familiar, even though we've never met before. It's like… I don't know, like we've crossed paths in another life or something."

Aira's chest tightened with the weight of his words. She had never voiced her thoughts about the strange connection she felt, but hearing him express it so openly made everything feel more real.

"I've wondered about that," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I've always believed there were no coincidences, that everything happens for a reason. But this… this feels like more than chance."

Ravi nodded slowly, his eyes thoughtful. "It feels like there's something we're meant to discover together. But we're just starting to figure it out."

Aira smiled faintly. "I think so too."

The conversation drifted between them, a soft flow of words and silences, until Aira asked something that had been on her mind for a while.

"What about you? Have you ever felt something like this before?"

Ravi sat back, his gaze shifting to the window, where the city lights sparkled like a constellation. He looked distant for a moment, as if weighing something inside himself. "I've had dreams, weird dreams," he began, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "Dreams that felt too real, like I was living someone else's life. And in those dreams… I'd see you. Or at least, someone who looked like you. But it wasn't just that. It was the feeling. The feeling that we knew each other. That we were connected in some way."

Aira leaned forward, her heart pounding. "You saw me? In your dreams?"

Ravi turned his gaze back to her, his expression soft. "It wasn't always clear, but yeah. And after seeing your sketch… after hearing your voice in the messages… I realized it wasn't just a coincidence. There's something here, something deeper."

The silence that followed felt heavy, but in the most comforting way. It was as though they had both opened a door to something they had been holding inside for a long time.

Aira's voice was gentle when she spoke again. "Do you think we're meant to be together?"

Ravi took a deep breath, his eyes locked on hers. "I don't know what the future holds, but I do know that right now, I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. With you."

Aira's heart fluttered, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she didn't feel lost. She felt found.