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As the investigation team departed, leaving SEES to be beckoned their separate ways next, Minato found himself lingering. Each of his teammates stepped through those silver and red doorways until only he and his counterpart remained, staring at one another from opposite sides of the hall.
“Wait, Minako,” he stammered. “I- I’m glad. Y’know, I’m glad we...”
The word ‘met’ didn’t seem right. They had been a part of each other from birth, and always would be, even when separated once more.
Something about how this place wasn’t a part of their reality, and thus they could not retain memories of it... Margaret’s words and explanations made little sense to him, but he understood that he would never see Minako again, or even remember her.
And so there they stood, eyes barely meeting, with Minato struggling to word his swirling thoughts.
Thoughts stuck in his throat.
I love you, they screamed. You helped me love myself.
Minako was the first to step forward, slow at first, before breaking into a jog, colliding with her other self in the center of of the hall as he ran towards her. They caught each other in trembling arms, sinking to the ground and burying their heads in one another’s shoulders.
“I wish I could say I’ll never forget you,” Minako whispered.
“I know. Me too.” Despite being the same person, Minato found she was slightly better with words than he had ever been, and for that he was grateful.
“You could come with me,” she offered, despite knowing the obvious answer.
“I can’t leave behind my team... and my Aigis. Plus, you’d have to share your Aigis with me.”
Minako laughed weakly.
“Your team would be pretty confused if you brought me home,” he added.
It seemed impossible that somewhere, in another universe, another version of each of his friends existed, knowing Minako instead of him. He wondered if they were any different. If they would like him, too.
A moment passed. Once again, he was trying to phrase the thoughts he couldn’t seem to get out of his head. And once again, Minako seemed to do it for him.
“Do you think... we could meet again?”
The answer was too painful to admit out loud. Not wanting to let go, they stood up slowly before pressing their foreheads together and interlocking their hands.
This way, Minato could feel his other self’s heartbeat.
Perfectly in sync with his.
Their faces lined up almost exactly, their features mirror images of one another’s, apart from Minako’s fiery red hair and eyes contrasting Minato’s deep blue.
Finally, those pounding thoughts formed words.
“You are me and I am you,” he said in one breath. “We will always be together.”
Minako said nothing for a moment, then released her hands, reaching for his neck. He felt the cord of his earphones slip from under his collar, and watched as she swapped his silver pair with her own, almost identical red pair.
“So we can have something to hold onto. Even if we don’t remember, ok?”
He nodded, looping the new cord around his neck and watched as she did the same. These earphones felt heavier, and the plastic looked a touch more worn than his. He hoped when he woke up back in his reality, he would know, somehow. Maybe even just a feeling, some semblance of the past.
Regardless, they would hold onto their tokens, if they could not hold onto each other.
He felt Margaret’s impatient gaze piercing them, and the two broke away, realizing they did not have the luxury of time.
“Minato. Turn around.” Minako’s voice softened as she spoke. “Hold my hand.”
The two stood with their backs to one another, fingers interlaced, each facing the doors that beckoned them.
Even their breathing lined up perfectly, as they could each feel the other’s back. They wanted nothing more than to stay like this, two halves of a whole, forever.
But they were meant to be whole on their own.
They faltered, letting go slowly, and he felt her hands leave his.
“Goodbye, Minako.”
“Goodbye, Minato.”
And so they walked, not daring to look over their shoulders one last time.
Like parallel lines that had defied the very nature of their existence and intersected.
On and on, as though the hall would never end.
Walked eternally in separate directions.