I've been thinking lately. About soulmates, I mean, it's kind of weird, right? That's a weird thing to think about. It's an especially weird thing to think about while you're sitting in a hospital as halfway visitor halfway detainee. I'm not sure if I'm under arrest. I'm not sure if I care, either. Lara is very sick.

Even if she survives, she might spend the rest of her life in prison. Maybe we could find a nice one together, if we're lucky they'll make us cellmates. Just like university. I don't think she'd do well in prison. I saw things in her on that island. Things that terrified me.

But she's so sick that she might never see a cell. And I'm sitting here beside her bed, wearing my tidy little GPS anklet, and wondering about soulmates. Do they exist? I've never been a romantic. I've never even been spiritual. It's funny what nearly being possessed by an ancient weather goddess will do to make you rethink things.

Souls exist. I have a soul. Himiko had a soul, too, and maybe she's in here with me, just a little bit. I wonder whether she ever had a soulmate. Someone who would do anything for her, climb a mountain for her, fight monsters for her, die for her.

I tighten my grip on Lara's hand, and I try to imagine what Himiko's soulmate might have looked like. I picture him as tall, for a man in ancient Japan, anyway. High cheekbones, wide-spaced teeth, and a sharp jaw with a square chin. Maybe he could have been one of her storm guard? It's oddly easy to see. It scares me a little, but I've always had a very vivid imagination. I'm just being paranoid.

I push away the thought, I don't want to think about what it must have been like for her to outlive her soulmate. I stroke Lara's knuckles with my thumb, and I hope I never find out.