Listen, Alian,
Do you remember the first day we met?
It was a morning covered in snow. The storm from the night before had passed, and with the first rays of light, the sun began to shine again. As the car wound its way up the mountain, I couldn't take my eyes off the world outside the window. It was the first time I had ever seen snow.
When my parents got out of the car, heading towards the only building standing against the white expanse, they told me not to wander too far.
Without a second thought, I stepped into the valley, gliding beneath the snow-covered fir trees, my face turned upwards. I kept turning around, trying to etch every detail in my memory.
Everything was new to me. I only stopped when I lost my balance. I think you would have laughed if you'd seen me. I slid down the slope and started rolling, until I landed, sprawled in the cold, hard snow.
The silence was everywhere. I was about to cry when a sound reached me.
And that's when I saw you. You had your back to me, your sword moving through the air with such precise and fluid movements. You were only a child, maybe a little older than me, yet while I shivered, you seemed untouched by the cold, your short sleeves offering no protection.
I stood still, captivated by the rhythm of your gestures, as if enchanted by them. I watched you from behind a bush, but you noticed me immediately. You turned and looked at me.
They say that when you meet your soulmate, time stands still. I don't know what happened in that instant, but in your blue eyes, I felt as if I could see the whole history of our lives.
I didn't know your name, I didn't know who you were, yet deep inside, I knew that our meeting had been written in the stars.
"Hey, kid, what are you doing here? Didn't anyone tell you the forest is dangerous?"
I tried to speak, but a sneeze cut off my words. I was trembling, and the pain from my fall made it impossible to rise.
"Come on, I'll take you home."
You crouched down to my level.
"Hop on."
"What about your sword?" I asked, noticing you had left it in the snow to lift me up.
"I'll get it later," you answered with a hint of impatience. "No one with any sense would come out here in this weather. Except you, it seems."
I remember it as if it were yesterday. The stillness of that part of the forest, your sharp words, and your rough manner, so different from your gentle gestures. It was just like you.
You moved through the snow as though you were dancing with the earth, every step light, every movement graceful.
"Do you at least have a name?"
"Lily," I whispered, almost too quietly.
"I'm Alian."
The snow began to fall again. Wrapped in the cold embrace of the forest, we climbed the mountain in silence. With each step, I pressed closer to your back. The warmth of your body surrounded me, making me feel safe, as though I were finally home.
It was on that snowy morning, at the age of seven, that fate brought us together again, and so began the story of our new life in your home, which from that moment on would also be mine.