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Legends tell of two lovers, who find each other time and time again. Throughout history, their love remains pure. Naib and Eli always meet, despite the odds. They aren’t allowed to remember each other after they’re reincarnated. But they do. No matter how long it takes, they will always remember.
Their first incarnation they were Naib Subedar the holy prince and his loyal guard Eli Clark. The two were deeply in love. Yet not all fairytales have happy endings.
Eli had deep gashes all over his body.. Yet he regretted nothing. He vowed to protect Naib until his final breath. His ears were ringing. Blood flowed out of him in rivers, and Naib was screaming. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks and fell onto Eli. Eli reached a hand from where he was laying on Naibs lap and cupped the prince’s cheek. Was this the end for him? No. He couldn’t accept that. He couldn’t leave Naib yet. Not like this.
“Naib…” Eli wiped away his tears. “I will find you again. In our next lives.” Eli’s hand fell back down to his side.
“We’ll be married. I’ll love you to my final breath.” Naib was saying something but Eli couldn’t hear him. Arms tightened around him. Eli smiled as the sun set behind Naib.
Their second incarnation was in a small village. Eli was from a farming family, and Naib was a baker. They fell in love and got married. They enjoyed the simple life of farming. They weren’t well off compared to their last life, but that never mattered to them.
One evening, after a long day Eli laid in Naib’s lap, Naib playing with his hair. The sun was setting. The couple sat there, relaxing on the soft grass. Naib leaned down and planted a kiss on the crown of Eli’s head.
“You found me,” Naib whispered. They were together again. Just like Eli promised. The two men cried happily in each others arms under a blanket of stars.
That winter, a terrible famine struck the village and the two starving men died in each other arms.
Their third incarnation was perhaps the worst one. They lived at a manor, forced to play a horrible death game. They spent months together in that god forsaken place, finding comfort in one another. One day, they played their final match. Eli leaned up against a crumbling wall, Naib leaning on his shoulder. The white snow was stained with their blood. They were going to die, Eli knew this. Yet strangely enough he wasn’t afraid. Naib grabbed his hand, trembling in pain as he did so.
“Have we met before?” Naib’s hoarse whisper interrupted their labored breathing.
“Yes.” Eli replied instantly.. A sob escaped Naib, and Eli felt tears running down his cheeks as well. He raised Naib’s hand to his blood stained lips and gave a final kiss before interlocking their fingers, “I’ll see you soon, my love.”
Their fourth incarnation they were sailors.
To Eli, the ocean was beautiful and vast. He loved to look out at the horizon while on the water. Naib couldn’t help but think that the blues in Eli’s eyes were much more worth looking at. They were so carefree during this life.
It was the night before their next voyage and they were in a bar together. The music played on as Naib dragged Eli to the floor, and danced with him. Eli resisted, he couldn’t dance. Naib didn’t care. Eli tripped over his own feet, but that just made it better. The lights illuminated the couple, and the lively energy of the bar was comforting. The two were laughing and twirling excessively before the music transitioned to something slower. Almost as if it were muscle memory, the two fell into a slow waltz, fit for royalty.
Two weeks later, a report found its way to the public declaring that the storm that had passed through local waters had capsized a ship at sea. Her crewmates were never found.
Their fifth incarnation had them as detectives. Naib and Eli were something of rivals. Rivals who kisses and cuddled and also were dating.
Eli held Naib in his arms. It was their day off, they could sleep in as much as they wanted. Their daily lives were usually so busy, it felt nice to slow down and simply hold each other. The sunlight seeped in through the blinds, and directly into Naib’s face. His face scrunched up, and Eli laughed. Naib grumbled and buried his face into the crook of Eli’s neck. Eli simply laughed and wrapped an arm around the other man.
“I’m hungry.” Naib groaned.
“There’s plenty of food this time,” Eli kissed the top of Naib’s head.
. Later that year, Naib succumbed to illness, and Eli disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
Their sixth incarnation, they met a lot sooner. They were classmates.
They barely knew each other. Eli had never really spoken to Naib, and Naib wasn’t exactly jumping at the opportunity to make new friends. But they had been paired together for a final history project before the winter break, they had to report on a significant event that the Royal Navy had been involved in and how it contributed to the development of the Royal Navy’s development and resources. They had chosen a merchant ship that had sunk shortly after departing. The efforts to find the crew and ship had resulted in the Navy expanding their search and rescue division.
However, the two found themselves oddly drawn into a story of two bar hopping sailors on the ship. They had often exchanged letters while the other was at a different port. The letters had miraculously been preserved, however the identities of the sailors remain unknown. It took some convincing, but Naib let Eli put in a segment about the two sailors into their presentation. It was a little off topic, sure, but it was interesting. When they were presenting to the class, they got to the part about the two sailors. Eli read off a letter to the class.
“Unfortunately, the most beautiful blue is what killed them.” Eli shook his head. Suddenly, Naib jumped in.
“There were much better blues than the ocean.”
A newspaper dated April 27th 2000 reads: “Two dead, three injured in tragic car accident.”
Their seventh incarnation was much more peaceful. They met when they were young, and married shortly after. They had kids, and lived in peace for all their days. They’ve long since retired now, and spend every day in each other's company. Age has settled into their bones, their lives are much more quiet compared to their youth.
Eli comes to the kitchen table with a bowl of soup beside a sleepy Naib.
“Come eat,” Eli pushes the bowl towards Naib. “You’ve always been sickly, winter is approaching too after all.” He warns. Naib relents and swallows down some soup. Eli smiles. When Naib is done, they head off to bed together. They’re found a day later in each other’s embrace. They never stopped smiling.
Even when the universe pulls them apart, they find each other over and over again. Nothing can ever keep them from each other for long. Not even death.