“We should not let the sense of ownership ruin a relationship since ownership arises from the concept of separation, mixed with fear. Did you know that?” Koharu asked me.

“Not really. How is it related to separation and fear?” I asked.

“It’s not that you didn’t know, it’s more likely you have never really thought about it. When we think about the word love, from a positive perspective – from the point of view of love – you’d think of giving and sharing the joy, or the feeling of contentment in seeing the happiness of the people who we love. On the other hand, when we approach love with negativity or fear, this will turn into jealousy, protectiveness, or possessiveness.”

“I love you, Tim … with all my heart. This love is pure and so precious that I cannot hold it to myself alone. It’s the love that doesn’t only exist to satisfy myself. Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy.”

“This is the real definition of love,” she emphasised.

“It’s the first time I hear of such a definition of love,” I said to her softly.

“On my planet here, love is collective because we don’t hold anything to ourselves. Therefore, nobody is left behind or alone. During my lessons on love, my teacher told me that in your world, there are people who were so lonely that they committed suicide. The root cause of this is the need to possess, to keep the ones they love only to themselves. They became upset when their desires were not fulfilled.”

“It’s not all about generosity, but more a matter of attitude,” she stressed.

“On your planet Gaia, there are two unusual and conflicting attitudes. While you believe that love is all about keeping something solely to oneself, inside you crave for freedom and for unlimited experiences. How can you want both at the same time if these two aspects are totally in contrast? Those who have such an attitude about love in your world are, therefore, always doomed to experience disappointment.”

“The desire to possess things is the concept of separation, because you crave to keep things for yourself and not share with others. At the same time, everyone shares the same thoughts. So there’s no need to be surprised, or to seek pity from others, as ultimately, this will only lead to isolation and loneliness,” she added.

“I understand a bit more now but I still feel this is morally wrong. It’s hard to accept knowing that my loved one is with others,” I said.

“I think the expression ‘morally wrong’ is only an excuse for those people who want to keep things only  for themselves. Even if you see this as morally wrong, you would still do it anyway because it’s in your nature.”

“Then, what exactly is right or wrong?” I asked.

“To answer that, we should look at the consequences of that action,” she answered.

“If what you call ‘right’ creates so many problems, how can we call it ‘right’? Here on Tuengra, we never had any problems, no heart-breakers, no suicides from an unfulfilled love, no fights from jealousy,” she answered.

“Please don’t worry, Tim, you’ll never get hurt by loving me,” Koharu whispered gently, her arms still wrapped around me, her lips almost touching mine.

“To be honest, even after only a few hours of meeting you, I can feel your love for me. And my heart tells me that I also love you with all my heart,” I replied, giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

“If the people on your planet, who do not understand the soul language, would see how we do things here, they would definitely think that we can sleep around with anyone, even if we have only met them for a few hours,” she said.

“What does the soul language have to do with this?” I asked.

“Actually, I shouldn’t say soul language. It should be called ‘cosmic language’, more than a universal language that can convey better an understanding of the truth.”

“As my father had told you, he has been preparing to meet you one year in advance, and I was also looking forward to your coming as well. I already knew your whole background, who you are, who you used to be, and your past relationships with me. Since we already knew all the stories, there is no need for us to pretend to build a new relationship. We can continue where we left off, right away. Everyone on Tuengra knows his or her own background very well. Only you on Gaia have to start everything all over again every time you meet one another,” Koharu explained.

“Let’s look at the lives of the people on your planet. Let’s say one life span is equivalent to one day of school. On the first day that you meet your friends, you would introduce yourself, sit together in class, have lunch together, play at the playground together, then you would go home separately in the evening. That is the equivalent to one lifetime. On the second day, or the second lifetime, you meet your friends again, reintroduced yourself, learn how to play together, then go home again. On the third day, the whole process is repeated all over again. Don’t you think that’s funny?” she asked.

“You compare our one entire lifetime to only a day?” I said.

“Yes, every time you are born and then pass away,” Koharu replied.

“Who on Earth can remember their past lives?” I answered.

“Exactly. Only the people on your planet can’t, but this doesn’t apply to the people here and everywhere else. Actually, it’s not that you and your people could not remember their past lives, but you were restricted by the limited ability to access the information. Your five senses can only serve to process the things that are right in front of you.”

“Can you tell me who we were in the past?” I asked.

“Of course. About 500 years ago, in the lifetime that we shared, we were only lovers, not a couple because we had different statuses. I was the daughter of a king, and you were one of the servants in the palace. So we had to meet secretly to talk and be intimate whenever we got the chance. We made a wish to be reborn again as husband and wife. However, we only shared a brief time together, as a war had broken out in our kingdom. The enemy invaded the country and destroyed everything, and everyone had to flee for their lives. I was taken on a boat by my people to escape to another kingdom in the north, where I was then married off to one of the people there. But you were killed in that war.

“I lived my life to the end of my time there. After that, I was reincarnated into another life without you, during which I had the chance to evolve my spiritual advancement until I could be born on this world Tuengra,” she explained.

“In this case, the fact that we met here was because of our previous intention to be together again as husband and wife?” I asked.

“Yes, but not only that. The fact that a certain someone had already wished for you to come here is another reason. And there are many others but that is quite a complicated story. This is only one piece of the jigsaw puzzle of the whole picture, in which we are just a small part of the story,” Koharu replied.

“I’m glad to see you again … my love,” she looked up and kissed me.

Even though I still could not distinguish between the bond that I had with her from the past and the lust I felt from my physical body, I knew she was the one who would be my love forever.

“I love you, too,” was all I could say, for I could not find the right words to express my feelings.

“Five hundred years ago, you and I were secret lovers. Today, we can express our love openly and be free in each other’s arms. I will treat every single moment with you as the most precious of all,” she said.

“Me too, I’ll nurture our love as best as I can,” I replied.

“Thank you,” Koharu said, with a loving look.

I no longer felt like a stranger to her. I shared this sentiment of our long-awaited reunion with her, where I could now truly call her my wife. Our feelings for each other could not have been any more closer than at that moment. Feeling the warmth of Koharu’s body against mine in the chilled air lulled me into the sweetest slumber, and we embraced each other throughout the whole night under the warm blanket.