LOVEBIRDS

Summary: Noah and Allie vignettes. "Didn't you know? Lovebirds don't just mate for life, they're also mates for lifetimes. Plural. That means you're stuck with me, Mister." With every great love comes a great love story. Somewhere, somehow, someway, in every incarnation, they always seem to manage to find their way back to one another.

PROLOGUE: Déjà Senti

"I will wait,

I am waiting,

and I will love you

with all the love I possess

until this body is ash

and I begin my search

for you again."

- Tyler Knott Gregson

She was that rare breed of woman that had a knack for dispensing the precise words and actions that would invariably leave an indelible impression on you for years to come. It was as though she had the ability to engrave her thoughts in your mind, her hopes in your heart. All it took was one look, one smile, one conversation, and the memory of her etches itself onto an empty space in your heart as though it had always belonged there.

The archives of my long-term memory are filled with such gems that include the summer we first met and the time she had insisted we go to the beach together as a couple. She was a creature in her element as she ran and splashed and played in youthful exuberance. The entire time, my gaze remained transfixed on this young woman who lived life so vividly and moved through it so gracefully, filling it with laughter and color and motion. It was one of the first privileged glimpses I had gotten into Allie's world of wonder and meaning. And I gotta tell ya, I haven't quite been the same ever since.

What sticks out about that particular day is she asked me a simple enough question that would keep me up many a night afterwards, while I pondered over its significance.

I notice an eager glint in her eyes as they meet mine, "Do you think in another life I could've been a bird?"

"What do you mean?"

Enthusiasm colors her voice, "Like reincarnation!"

I tilt my head thoughtfully, "I don't know."

"I think I could," her silky voice gives birth to several bird caws to prove her point. She playfully spins around splashing water, "Say I'm a bird!"

"No," I shake my head, as she builds momentum. "Don't do it," I say weakly to no avail; she begins to flap her outstretched arms in reply.

"Say I'm a bird!" she persists.

"Stop it," my voice wavers as I struggle to contain the increasing urge to laugh out loud in amusement at her antics. I try again with an attempt at a serious tone, "Stop it now."

She's not having it. Leaning down, she positions herself like a predator ready to pounce, "Say I'm a bird!" Her arms and limbs start thrashing with a quick ferocity, ready to leap into action.

"You're not," I continue to protest to deaf ears. My spidey sense starts to tingle, alerting me of her incoming missile attack.

Flashing me a Cheshire cat grin, she lets out a battle cry, "RAWWWR!" before launching up and crashing the full force of her body weight against mine. I open my arms wide enough just in time to catch the little cannonball as she gracefully lands into my waiting embrace.

Instinctively, our bodies recalibrate to one another reducing the space between us. My grip tightens around her frame as I protectively pull her in closer. Her arms encircle my neck and her legs wrap themselves snugly around my waist. She lowers her face until it rests disarmingly close to mine until I can detect the slight hint of mint on her breath.

She coos to me sweetly, "Say it." Just like that, in the face of her charm, all resistance melts away.

Affection laces my voice as I cave in to her demands, "You're a bird." Pleased, she flashes me her dimpled smile before leaning in to kiss me tenderly. After a few seconds, she breaks away from the kiss and refocuses on my eyes. Steadily she holds my gaze as she whispers her next command, "Now say you're a bird too." My eyes lock onto hers and my gaze softens automatically. Damn, she's beautiful.

For a moment, nothing else exists in my world. The background noise that is the world is completely nulled and negated from my senses. The only sensory data that is registering in my brain right now is hers. For a moment, she is all I see, hear, feel, taste and touch. As far as I've known, Allie is the only stimulus capable of igniting all of my physical senses at once, as well as sparking a fire in my heart that burns fiercely enough to awaken my soul from its slumber.

The next instant, I can't shake the feeling of déjà vu, or more appropriately déjà senti. And suddenly I feel as though she's always been the trigger to those strangely pleasant, almost supernatural-like "feels" that continue to course through my body like an electric current. My mind feels as though I've experienced this before, even though my memory has no record of anything that would justify that claim. The physical sensation dissipates giving way to a very specific type of nostalgia, that can only be compared to an ineffable longing for a childhood home that you can't quite say you miss because you don't fully remember it.

I don't have enough evidence to qualify a belief in reincarnation just yet.

But I do know one thing-I believe in us. I believe in our love.

And that's all I need in this life, or any other for that matter.

With a wide boyish grin, I promise her, "If you're a bird, I'm a bird."

We pull in closer as our lips lock in their own embrace. The warmth from the contact lingers on afterward, keeping me warm on the inside. Kinda like a memory.

That night as I try to fall asleep, my mind keeps revisiting our earlier topic of reincarnation.

Purely for the sake of argument, I consider the possibility.

What if this is not the first time I've ever felt this way nor will it be the last time either? What if moments of intense clarity, like the one I experienced earlier, have occurred, are occurring, and will re-occur in another time, another place, another life?

What if the connection shared between us never really ends but constantly assumes a new form and re-invents itself in each incarnation? Though the time, place, and our individual circumstances vary, the objective forever remains the same-to find each other and re-establish the connection to our soul's mate thereby ending our search until it begins anew in the next life. Each new beginning finds us separated for a purpose. It is only through this initial separation that our individual souls can learn and grow on its quest to search for its mate. What if then, the primary goal is actually growing into the person you know you are capable of being? Then your soul mate acts as both incentive and catalyst for this much desired transformation. Your soul mate functions as the how and the why.

How?

Simple: because the best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds.

I feel that this flame-the fire that has set my heart ablaze-comes with its own GPS navigation system, conveniently embedded with a set of encrypted coordinates that knows precisely how to guide me back to her. As we journey through life, things like mistakes, setbacks, a few wrong turns here and detours there are inevitable. Just like a true GPS navigation system though, the heart never forgets its ultimate destination and has the ability to re-route itself accordingly to get back on track, given that you are able to do your part as well. If you allow this internal compass to serve as your guide, relevant information will appear at the appropriate time to redirect you towards where you want to be. The choice and responsibility is still yours on how you'd like to proceed though.

Maybe the reason why Allie feels like home is because in one way, that's exactly what she is. Spiritually, she's my starting point, my journey, and my destination.

Whoa.

My head reels at the implications of all the insights that have manifested of their own accord. I get a brief visit from another case of déjà vu and I just know I didn't acquire these insights in the course of one night. No, this knowledge is something I have always possessed within me but am just now beginning to unearth.

In awe at the phenomenon, I wonder about the capacity and content of my soul's memory archives. If Allie is anywhere near as memorable in other incarnations as she is in this one, I'm willing to bet that there is a treasure trove of gems somewhere in the recesses of this mind that are just waiting to be uncovered and savored.

But surely, that is a tale for another time and another place.

Author's Note: First fanfic attempt in 7 years. I adore these characters oh so much and I hope I'll be able to do their love story justice. With the way the story is organized, I'll get a lot of creative freedom in the situations and obstacles they must go through and different ways a person can fall in love with the same person over and over again. Hopefully this will help guard against writer's block so I can release chapters consistently. Thanks for reading! Any constructive criticism, edits, suggestions or comments are all greatly appreciated! :)