"Qué?" Juliana asked, eyes wide. "The soul of your papá is in the body of my papá?"
Valentina nodded, unsure of what else to say.
Juliana shook her head in amazement. "¡Qué increíble! I can't believe this would happen to both of our fathers. It's a crazy coincidence."
She flopped back into the couch, trying to process what Valentina had told her. After a moment, she noticed that Valentina was sitting forward, her chin in her hand and her brow furrowed.
"¿Qué tal?"
"It's just…" Valentina ran her hand through her hair, peeking at Juliana. "Do you believe in fate?"
"Fate?"
"Ajá. Like you said, it's crazy! But I think there are too many things to be just a coincidence." At Juliana's confused glance, she turned more fully towards her. "Osea, what are the chances that both our papás would be resurrected, let alone that one comes back in the other's body? And then that it would lead you here to Mexico City, where you just so happened to run into me?" She shook her head with a huff. "No, it's too much."
Juliana smiled at her, until the meaning behind her words hit her. "Are you saying we were destined to meet?"
Valentina glanced over at her, suddenly shy. "I think we were."
Juliana cautiously put a hand on her thigh, smoothing circles over the fabric of her pants with her thumb. She gave Valentina a crooked smile. "I feel like we were, too."
A blush spread over Valentina's cheeks as she smiled back.
"Were we destined to fall in love?" Juliana questioned.
"No sé. I like to think I fell in love with you all on my own." Valentina let out a sigh. "Pero la neta, it seemed like the world was trying to keep us apart."
Juliana's face fell. With a grimace, she asked, "Do you think that everything that happened after we met was fated? Everything… I did?"
Valentina stilled, and Juliana cursed herself for even bringing it up. Finally, she took Juliana's hand and folded it between hers, pressing it to her cheek. "Juliana, what you did hurt me, but it didn't change the way I feel about you. I think I just needed some time to figure that out."
Juliana felt a swooping sensation in her chest, like she was falling and rising at the same time. "Val, I'm so sorry for hurting you. But my feelings for you haven't changed either. Te amo."
At Juliana's words, Valentina couldn't hold back a smile, bringing Juliana's hand to her lips. Juliana watched her movements almost hungrily, her eyes trained on Valentina's beautiful lips.
"In the end, it doesn't matter to me what brought us together," Valentina murmured against her fingers. "I'm just glad I met you."
Juliana moved closer. "Yo también. It doesn't matter if it was coincidence or fate or crazy reincarnations," she said teasingly, making Valentina giggle. "All I care about is that we're together now."
Valentina tried to hide a smile in their joined hands, before lowering them to her lap. She brought one hand up to Juliana's neck, gently tugging her closer. They leaned towards each other, their lips dancing just millimeters from each other, their breaths mingling.
"Solo quiero estar juntos," Valentina whispered, before finally closing the distance.
Their mouths moved together, soft and sweet, each of them simply reveling in being close.
"Te adoro," Val sighed, before pulling Juliana back in.