We

When we unwrapped the bundle, we found an old relic with a bright orange gem set in it.

Alone... it whispered. Not aloud. In our minds. We both jumped.

"What?"

"You heard it, too?"

"Yes."

They could come again. Something could happen. You could lose the other.

It wasn't wrong. We exchanged a look. We were two. We were plural. But we were also separate. There wasn't any way around that.

"I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to be alone again."

It knew. It knew we were afraid. We were always afraid. Afraid of being alone.

But did we have to be?

You don't have to be separate, the voice continued. You don't have to be afraid.

"How?"

"It's impossible."

"...What if it wasn't?"

"What?"

"Would you want to?"

The question hung in the air. We stared at each other.

"...Yes. I'm sick of being alone."

A glow. We don't remember what happened next.

When it faded, we weren't holding the relic. But we could feel the other's thoughts.

It took longer to realize we were the same.

We were one.