Chapter 1: Ephemeral Words of Love

"Is that you, dear?" A new flower blooms.

Like flowers that bloom into the shadow of the dawn. Connecting beauty, those flowers remind of night in the brilliance of the dawn. Such was the job of "Reliefers", who connected the words of lonely people at the end of their long story called Life. Hearts filled with emotions of dreams, regrets and love, releases all of them and proceeds towards heaven. Reliefers, the AI systems, were often called flowers that bloom in the dawned shadow.

"Yes, it’s me, love" The flower that blooms in the shadow of dawn.

A life of reliefer, an AI, experience sadness and agony in a constant loop which never repeats. They become the trove of tales untold to the world, which they keep dear as they bid farewell to the tellers. Such was this case of two lovers, caught in an accident. The boy has already lost his ability to speak in his deathbed while the girl was desperate to speak her last words with him.

"I am glad that you are okay..." The girl said. Her surroundings beeped at a constant rate, it was the sound of the machines attached to her body, letting her flow in the passage of time for few moments. Her heart stretched towards the boy through the reliefers, as she expressed her soul through her words.

"I am fine... But you..." Translators around the reliefer delivered his silent voice through electric signals filled with cries and sadness in the perfect sync of the voice of her lover.

"Hmm, don't worry about me... It was going to happen one way or the other..." The girl smiled, "I had pretty less time anyways..."

"I will do as you say, dear love...” The boy replied, trying to be as painless as possible.

"I am sorry... That I could not celebrate this birthday together... I am so sorry, Leo... It’s just because I messed up..." Her smile was short lived as tears filled her closed eyes dropping through her cheeks.

"No!" The boy said with a firm voice, though his voice was firm, it still had a wave of sadness in it, "No, Viola! Its not your fault! It was my birthday! I was careless! I am sorry! I really am! So please... Just, Just don't put the blame on yourself, Vioy..."

"I knew you would say that, Leo... But... I really wanted to celebrate your birthday today, and look, how it turned out... We would have gone to that park, that café where we first met and that flower field and that was where... I was going to confess... to you... About the marriage..." The girl's tears dropped uncontrollably, though untold, her heart ached as her mind was a whirlwind of emotions and thought. As she spoke through her soul, her words were purest in their form, "Leo... I love you, and I wanted us to live the rest of my remaining years together..."

"So did I! I wanted to live together too, Vioy! I truly loved you... I wanted to see you everyday when I wake up, your good morning would have been the perfect start of the day for me! We would eat together, maybe share a few jokes while we are at it, you would wish me to take care, and I would do the same... I wanted... to... marry you... too..." The words were too heavy to be spoken out of the boy’s heart as it was delivered through the reliefer. Despite being unable to move, he experienced the sheer emotions flowing in her words, all with the help of AI. His heart carried a heavy burden as his eyes filled with tears.

"I am so glad to hear that... I truly am!" The girl's emotions were let out like a wild beast, she cried, her voice reached as high as it could as each tear from her eyes expressed relief and a bit of agony, "Leo... There are a lot of things I wanted to do together with you! Going to the orphanage and showing my caretaker from past that I finally had someone I love, I wanted to go to the amusement park which we could not go due to my heart problem, I wanted to see our... children... I wanted you in my life Leo... I would live only till 30 yet you accepted me regardless that… I feared to lose you, I feared the fact that I would have to leave you and this world one day... I wanted to live longer..."

The boy’s heart could no longer hold still as he expressed truest emotions from the words of reliefer, "I am... I too was so happy I really was! These last 2 years we were together, I had a great time... They were the best time in my life... Vioy... I love you... I just can’t... afford to... lose you..."

The girl wiped her tears, as the silence healed the open wounds of both hearts, "Leo, it was the same for me... I had the best time of my life, I forgot all my pain when I was with you, when we went to the café, where you confessed to me, it made me really happy... I had never imagined that I would experience love in this short life of mine... You truly changed my life Leo, and I can’t thank you enough for that..."

The boy was out of words, as his eyes expressed all the sadness he felt through his tears. As the silence delivered the unsaid words, her heart urged to talk more, but the beeps from the machines reached the highest point, making it clear that it was the end, the end of their Story.

"Leo, I... Love you... Happy Birthday Leo, I wish we could have celebrated my 24th birthday too, but I must go now... I was happy, truly happy Leo ever since I met you, you gave me the best life I could ever receive... Please don’t forget me..." Her words slowly dimmed as the beeps got louder, "Until... we meet... again..."

Her presence slowly faded as her hand and face was tilted towards the boy who rested in a bed beside her. The silence carried this tale of two lovers transcending the time, and storing it in the trove of the reliefers. A single and simple hope emerged from any ear which listened to this tale, "May they both meet again in the heavens..."