Empty, white space. No scenery.

I sat up and realized that earlier, I had fallen on my face, but it wasn't damaged in the slightest.

In the distance, I could barely hear the crescendo of heavy footsteps. I assumed that they must have belonged to someone out there, so I turned around to see who it was.

"Hello there, Brendan."

I threw my arms around my partner. "Oh, Swampert! Old buddy... you're here!"

He smiled at me warmly, but his voice was serious, "May is here, too. Do you want to see her?"

"May? Where?" I squinted, watching a faint white figure approach us.

The white figure was in front of me, now, and I could see that it was simply a person dressed in an astronaut suit. They extended their hand towards me.

I nodded slowly, separating from Swampert, and took the gloved hand as my brain began to connect the dots.

My heart was beating fast. "Is… is it you?"

The astronaut laughed, intertwining our fingers. Their visor flipped up, and my heart swelled at the sight of…

May…

"Of course. Who else could it be?" she grinned. "You don't know how long I've wanted to see you again."

"I… I don't even know what to say." I rested my head on her shoulder. "There's just so many… thoughts. Where do I even begin...?"

"Take your time." May said. "I'll listen."

I considered telling her everything that I've been through, but I thought that would ruin the mood, so I took a deep breath. "I… missed you."

"Me too."

She was here at last.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" she parted from me slightly, studying my face.

"It's my fault all of this happened. If only I had appreciated you when you were still in my life, and been more honest, we wouldn't be here."

"Then, I guess I'm guilty of doing the same." May shrugged. "But the most important part is that we are here now, and nothing will put us apart anymore."

"About that..." I sighed. "I guess I should've mentioned that the universe is about to reset."

"Wait, the universe is going to reset? What does that mean?"

"You and I aren't going to exist anymore, in the next life. We might be reborn as the same people, but the experiences that defined us will not stay with us. I don't know how long it'll take, but if there's anything else you need to say to me, now's the time."

"Well…" she let go of me. "If these are going to be our last moments, then, could I show you something?"

"What do you want to show me?"

May said nothing as the space around us changed, morphing into a moon-like landscape orbiting the Earth.

She sat on the ground. "As one's soul dwells in the 4th Dimension, their individual space can be recreated to reflect one's memories. I've… often used it to relive parts of my life."

"It looks so realistic… as if we were actually sitting on the Moon."

Swampert sat next to us, simply listening to our conversation, and enjoying the view.

"Yes… this is a recreation of a dream I once had, in which I saw myself on the Moon's surface." the tips of her ears were turning pink. "I've always wanted to share it with you."

"A dream come true, as they say." I chuckled. "That reminds me…" I showed her the photograph I kept in my wallet. "After you… left, I found this in your bag. Why did you take this picture?"

"Oh! I'm sorry! Are you mad about it? I shouldn't have taken it without permission!" she blushed profusely.

"No, not at all! I just thought that it was strange that you'd take a picture of me sleeping, rather than me smiling or something."

"Well, I know it's not a very good photo, but my teenage self thought you looked… cute, so it was sort of a 'spur of the moment' thing." she did her best to look everywhere else except at me. "And you know how you said that photos were mementos? I carried this picture around so I could… remember how I felt… that day. About… you."

"Oh my…" my face heated up. "Are you sure you're May Birch?"

She laughed, "Yeah, it's just that I've had thirty years to think about it. But my soul hasn't aged a bit from when I died, so I think I'm still young at heart."

"Geez…" I pulled my hat over my eyes. "Even in death, I can't be honest with how I feel like you can. It's like... everything I want to say will only hurt you."

I felt her gloved hands touch mine, which were still grabbing onto my hat. "Brendan, look at me." she lifted my hands off. "You can say anything you want to me. No matter how upset I might get, there's no reason why you shouldn't reserve the right to express yourself sincerely."

"But… I can't bring myself to give you empty promises." her face became blurred through my tears. "I can't tell you that I'll cherish you forever, or that I want to spend the rest of my days with you. There's no way… those words can be fulfilled."

"They don't have to be." she said gently. "There's a reason I haven't moved on."

"Why is that?" I sniffled.

"It's never easy to let go of everything you used to hold dear." she wiped away my tears. "But I can do it now. We can move on together, into the next life."

I could have sworn I felt a breeze move between us.

"May…" I held her hand. "You've got me starstruck."

She blushed, "There really is no one else like you, huh, Brendan?" her voice was soft. "That's why I was willing to wait for you for so long."

The scenery changed, this time, to reflect my memory of the night of the Litleonid meteor shower.

But unlike that night, thousands of stars fell from the sky, and the world brightened up around us. She was right here, in my arms again. It was no longer a sad memory.

"I'm glad… that I got to see this with you, Brendan. Thank you." she smiled up at me.

I smiled back. "Let's hope that we can see this again in the next life. Together."

Swampert closed his eyes, "Until we meet again."

And as the last of our old universe crumbled away, we were reborn.