Gravity Of A Forgotten Promise

The cosmos was alive that night with streams of silver dust stretching across the void in elegant sweeping arcs. Far beyond the well known star routes a lonely research vessel named Arion drifted through the silent black. Its metallic frame gleamed with the reflected glow of distant nebulae and the hum of its core vibrated like the heartbeat of a sleeping giant.

Inside the vessel a xenobiologist named Serin Vale sat alone in the observation chamber. She was slender with dark hair tied in a loose knot and eyes that held the quiet sorrow of someone who had lived too long with unanswered questions. Her fingers hovered above transparent consoles projecting floating images of cellular structures from an unknown species. But Serin was not truly focused. She had not been for years.

Every time she looked at the stars she thought of him.

Rian Caelum.

Her best friend. Her rival. Her once almost lover. And the man who vanished in a quantum distortion while saving her life seven years earlier.

The memory haunted her like the echo of a promise he never had the chance to finish.

Do not forget me Serin he had said as the distortion swallowed him whole.

She never did. She could not.

Her ship AI Astra blinked softly onto the curved holo display. Serin there is an anomaly approaching. Energy signature unknown. Velocity decreasing.

Serin straightened. Show me.

A blur of blue light streaked past the observation window then stopped abruptly outside the vessel as if caught by invisible strings. The glow condensed shaping itself into a humanoid silhouette. Serin gasped and stumbled backward heart hammering wildly.

Impossible she whispered.

The figure solidified slowly. A man. Tall. Strong. With familiar broad shoulders and hair that once shone like copper under sunlight. His form flickered as if reality could barely hold him in place.

The figure drifted gently through the hull as if the metal were air and materialized in front of her. His eyes were dark as midnight yet filled with a warmth she remembered far too well.

Serin he whispered.

She could not breathe.

Rian.

The name escaped her lips like a lost prayer.

He took one step toward her then stopped as though the act cost him great effort. His form trembled with faint waves of distortion. I have been searching for you. I followed your voice through the fold.

Serin touched her trembling hands to her mouth. You disappeared. You died. I saw the distortion swallow you.

I did not die he said softly. But I did not live either. I was caught in a time fracture. Every moment repeated. Every memory fractured. Only one thing stayed whole.

You.

Tears filled her eyes. She stepped closer but hesitated inches away from him. Can I touch you. Are you real.

He lifted his shaking hand. Real enough. Not yet whole.

Slowly she placed her palm against his. A spark of warmth shot through her skin. His form flickered but stabilized as though responding to her presence.

Serin broke into shaky sobs. Rian you came back.

He smiled gently. I promised I would.

They stood there for a long moment letting the truth settle between them like fragile stardust that could blow away at the slightest breath.

But the moment shattered when Rian collapsed forward. Serin caught him her knees crashing to the floor under his weight or what little of it existed. His body flickered violently as if phasing between two worlds.

Rian stay with me. Do not fade.

He gripped her hand. I need an anchor. Something to bind me to this reality. Without it the fracture will pull me back in.

Serin swallowed hard wiping her tears with the back of her sleeve. Then I will anchor you. I do not care what it costs.

He looked at her with eyes that held seven years of longing. Serin you always cared too much.

She held his face between her shaking hands. You are the one thing I never stopped caring about.

A faint glow radiated from him spreading across her hands like soft sunrise warmth. He leaned into her touch.

I missed you he whispered.

I missed you too.

For a moment the universe felt achingly still.

But then the entire vessel shook violently with a deep rumble. Astra appeared with blaring red lights.

Warning. A temporal rift is forming outside the hull. Energy readings rising at exponential rates. Source appears to be linked to the returning anomaly.

Rian tried to stand but fell again. The rift is pulling me back. It senses that I have broken free. It wants to correct the fracture.

Serin pulled him up fiercely. I will not let it take you.

He held her wrist weakly. If we ignore it both the rift and the ship will collapse. The distortion will spread.

Then we will fix it she said with trembling determination. You and me. Together.

Rian looked into her eyes once more and managed a soft smile. Always together.

Serin dragged him to the resonance chamber. Sparks flew as the gravity systems fluctuated from the rifts effects. Panels burst with electric flashes. The ship groaned like it was tearing apart.

She activated the quantum stabilizer a massive ring lined with pulsing luminous circuits. The device hummed with fierce power.

Astra warned her. Running the stabilizer at this intensity may cause irreparable damage to your neural pathways.

Serin did not hesitate. Transfer the output to me.

Rian grabbed her arm. Serin no. Your mind cannot take that. The last time you linked with a raw stabilizer you nearly lost consciousness permanently.

She cupped his cheek. Rian you risked everything for me seven years ago. Let me do the same.

He shook his head. I did not save you for you to die for me.

Then let us save each other she said softly.

The stabilizer ring crackled as she stepped into its center. Rian staggered after her. The device lit up with blinding white light forming a swirling vortex of energy.

Serin shouted over the roaring noise. Rian take my hands.

He reached out and their fingers intertwined. Energy surged violently through both of them.

The rift outside appeared on the main display a spinning wound in the fabric of space sucking in debris and light.

Rian screamed through clenched teeth. The fracture is pulling me. Serin you have to let go.

Never she shouted.

Her vision blurred but she held onto him tightly as the stabilizer pulled their energies into synchronisation. The chamber shook. The vortex flared. Time itself seemed to bend.

Rian gasped I can feel the past breaking. The loops are shattering. Serin your memories I see them all. I see the nights you cried for me. The way you looked at the stars. I see everything.

Serin bit back a sob. Then hold onto those memories. They are yours to keep.

Their combined energy shot from the stabilizer in a beam that collided with the rift. The distortion shrieked like a living creature fighting death.

Rian roared as his form flickered violently. Serin screamed as her neural link overloaded sending searing pain along her spine. Yet neither let go.

The rift pulsed violently then slowly began to contract. The roar softened into a whimper and then a whisper.

And then silence.

The vortex vanished.

The lights dimmed.

Serin collapsed unconscious.

Rian fell beside her his form stabilizing into solid flesh.

Minutes later she opened her eyes to find him kneeling over her with tears streaking down his cheeks. His skin no longer flickered. His body no longer blurred. His presence felt whole complete beautifully alive.

Serin you did it he whispered. You saved me.

She touched his face gently. Are you real. Completely real.

He laughed softly his voice breaking. More real than I have ever been.

He pulled her into his arms burying his face in her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him feeling the warmth of his breath on her neck.

After several long minutes he whispered Serin I saw your memories during the link. I saw the last thing I ever said to you echoing through your mind for years.

Do not forget me.

She held him tighter. I never did.

He kissed her forehead then her temple then her lips. The kiss was deep and desperate filled with years of longing fear hope and love that had survived the fracture of time itself.

When they finally parted Serin smiled gently. Rian what happens now.

He brushed a strand of hair from her face. Now I live. With you. If you will have me.

She leaned into his touch. I had you long before you returned Rian Caelum. My heart never let go.

He pulled her close and whispered Then let us make up for seven lost years.

Astra opened a soft display beside them. Serin the rift has stabilized completely. The ship is safe. However the energy signatures indicate a new path forming beyond your current star route.

Serin frowned. A path to where.

Rian looked at the display his eyes widening. That energy pattern. I recognize it. It is the same signal that guided me back out of the fracture.

Serin looked up at him. Are you saying something is calling us now.

Not something he whispered. Someone.

She held his hand. Should we follow it.

He interlocked his fingers with hers. We faced time itself and survived. So yes Serin I say we follow it.

The vessel turned slowly toward the uncharted path as starlight shimmered across the hull. Serin rested her head on his shoulder while Rian wrapped an arm around her waist.

Two souls reunited by fate and choice sailing into the unknown future together.

The cosmos was wide. The journey endless.

But they had each other.

And that was enough.