To you in another world

part 00

"I saw her.

"Above the ruins,

"Amidst the dust.

‘She is still there. But I am gone.’

01

I think it would be nice if I could still be carefree like this three years from now. I just moved to this small town today. It is the end of autumn, and the air here is clean and peaceful. A gentle breeze blew, and red maple leaves fell from the trees on either side of the road, slowly drifting to the ground. I wanted to go for a walk, but then the chain of my pendant I had kept for ten years suddenly broke and it fell to the ground. It was a heart-shaped pendant. I had a deep attachment to it, but strangely enough, I couldn't quite remember how I had come to possess it.

I carefully put the pendant in my pocket and went for a walk alone, thoroughly enjoying the pleasant surroundings. I put on my headphones, played some soothing music, and strolled in the cool autumn breeze.

02

I walked to the northernmost part of the town, which was about the end of it. I must say that although the town was not large, it was very cosy and gave me a strange yet familiar feeling of warmth.

Soon I returned home. As I climbed the steps to the door and prepared to open it, I heard a girl’s voice calling my name. I turned to look.

It was a beautiful girl, dressed in all black, with attractive straight black hair. She had a sweet smile, but her eyes betrayed a certain melancholy that was hard to describe. I was somewhat drawn to her appearance and couldn't help but look her up and down.

At that moment, I noticed she was wearing the same pendant as mine—a half-heart shape that could be perfectly paired with mine.

‘I don't think I've seen her before...’ I thought to myself.

Then, she suddenly called out my name.

I was taken aback: ‘Miss... do we know each other...’

This seemed to disappoint her. She withdrew her smile, and her eyes grew even more melancholy. After saying, ‘Sorry to bother you,’ she walked away.

03

After she left, I tried to recall. Was she an old classmate? Or someone I met at a party? But I really had no memory of her at all.

04

‘Who is she?’

This question kept lingering in my mind. I desperately wanted an answer. Though it was possible I had mistaken her for someone else, a strange intuition told me that things weren't that simple.

I put the pendant back on and wore it around my neck.

Driven by a strong obsession, I went out again, though this time I just wandered aimlessly through the streets.

05

A ginkgo tree. Some of the golden leaves still hung on the branches, but most had already fallen to the ground. Autumn was coming to an end. A girl was sitting on the bench under the tree. It was the same girl I had met that morning.

I took off my headphones, gathered my courage, and walked over.

“Um… have we met before?”

The girl smiled enigmatically, like the Mona Lisa, mysterious and hard to read.

“Sit down first. I’ve been waiting for you for a while.”

“Waiting for me? Are you kidding? Why?” I thought to myself.

She spoke again, “I knew you would come.”

I was confused. Who is she, and what does she want?

But I sat down anyway. She gave me an uneasy sense of familiarity.

She tilted her head slightly to the side. I couldn’t see her expression. “I really... waited for you for a long time...”

“What? What do you mean?”

She didn't turn around. ‘I... now want to know... if you're him.’

‘Him? Who is he? But you know my name, right?’

She still didn't turn around or speak. Instead, she pulled out a small box from her elegant bag. It had a fingerprint lock. For some reason, a strong, inexplicable sense of familiarity made me instinctively take the box and press my fingerprint. It was so familiar that it felt strange, but I had never seen this thing before. And using my fingerprint, the box actually opened. What was inside shocked me even more.

06

It was a photo. The girl on the left was her. The boy on the right...

...was me.

For some reason, a name slipped out of my mouth.

She finally turned around, and I saw that she was already in tears.

Her voice trembled. ‘I finally... found you...’

She covered her face and began to cry.

The name I had just spoken seemed to be her name.

07

She composed herself and told me the whole story.

Fifteen years ago, the Federation Star Bureau and the Sevan Legion engaged in a fierce conflict. Ultimately, the Sevan Legion launched an interstellar war in the SE-05X star system. She and I were taken by the Federation Star Bureau and forced to join the first squadron of interstellar fighter jets. We were the pilots who charged to the front lines—the cannon fodder. She was my co-pilot and observer. We were fortunate to survive one extremely dangerous space battle after another. We fell in love with each other because we had entrusted our lives to one another. That necklace was a gift from her.

But one time, the starfighter mothership was hit by a starfish torpedo. In the midst of the crisis, we disregarded our superiors' objections and urgently piloted the starfighter to escape. As a result, the avionics system was affected by the mothership's electrical system and malfunctioned. My cockpit was also hit by debris, and I seemed to lose consciousness.

08

The fighter luckily drifted to Earth's atmosphere. Two escape pods separated.

We were separated. I was found and treated, and began living in Canada with a new identity and memories. As for her, she wasn't seriously injured, but she couldn't locate me. Yet she never gave up searching. She kept searching for the possible crash site of the escape pod. This search lasted ten years.

09

After hearing this story... I was completely confused.

What? Interstellar war? But the strange phenomena that had occurred earlier were equally unexplainable.

Deep in my subconscious, I seemed to have thought of something: ‘Then... you...’

She seemed to have read my mind. She smiled: ‘Actually, I'm here to say goodbye.’

‘What? Why?’

She stopped smiling and looked at the ginkgo leaves on the ground.

I couldn't let it go: ‘If that's really the case, why don't you stay with me? Right now.’

She looked up at the sky and smiled. ‘This story may not be yours.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Forget about me.’

‘Why? Who are you? We seem to know each other, that necklace, that box, that photo—’

Then a strong wind blew, sweeping up the golden ginkgo leaves on the ground. They danced in the air like butterflies, surrounding me. The wind made it hard for me to keep my eyes open. When the wind finally died down, I found myself sitting alone on the bench, unsure of why I was there. What had just happened?

10

The ginkgo leaves blown up by the strong wind slowly fell to the ground. I sat alone on the bench under the tree, staring blankly. I tried to recall what had just happened, but it was like a dizzying dream—no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember.

Then, a photograph fell with the leaves and landed on the bench next to me.

It was a group photo. A photo of a girl and me.

“Who is she?”

There was a message on the back of the photo.

“Thank you... for letting me meet you. Though you are no longer here... but...

...to you in another world.”