In that instant, with absolutely no warning, I see her.

And then, I see him.

He’s there, close enough to touch if it weren’t for the windowpanes, on a train running parallel to this one. He’s looking straight at me, and his eyes are wide with surprise, like mine. Then I realize what the wish I’ve carried for so long really is.

She’s there, just a few feet away. I don’t even know her name, but I know it’s her. Our trains are pulling away from each other. Then another train passes between us, and I lose sight of her.

But I finally know what I’m wishing for.

I wanted to stay with her, just a little longer.

I want to be with him, just a little more.

The train stops, and I dash through the streets. I’m looking for her. I’m already positive she’s looking for me, too.

We’ve met before. Or, no, that could be my imagination. It might be just an assumption, something like a dream. It might be a delusion, like past lives. Even so, I—we—wanted to stay together a little longer. We want to be together, just a little more.

As I run along the sloping road, I wonder, Why am I running? Why am I searching? I probably know the answer. I don’t remember it, but everything in my body knows. I turn at a narrow alley, and the road drops off. Stairs. I walk over to them, look down… and there he is.

Fighting back the urge to run, I climb the stairs slowly. A wind that smells like flowers lifts my suit jacket and fills it out into a bell. She’s standing at the top of the stairs, but I can’t look at her directly. I only watch her out of the corner of my eye. She’s descending the stairs. The click of her shoes drifts softly into the spring air. My heart is leaping in my rib cage.

As we approach each other, we keep our eyes downcast. He doesn’t say anything. I can’t say anything, either. Then, still without speaking, we pass each other. In that moment, I feel a tense, squeezing pain all over, as though something inside me has taken hold of my heart. This is wrong, I think fiercely. We can’t possibly be strangers. It goes against something as basic as the mechanics of the universe, or the laws of life. And so…

And so I turn around. She turns, too, with the exact same speed. She’s standing on the stairs, the streets of Tokyo behind her, her eyes wide and round. I realize her long hair is tied back with a cord the color of the evening sun. My whole body trembles slightly.

I finally found him. We finally met. Just as I think I’ll probably burst into tears unless I do something, I realize I’m already crying. Seeing this, he smiles. Even as I cry, I smile, too. The spring air carries with it all sorts of apprehension and anticipation, and I draw a deep breath.