Falling in love can make something strange happen.

Out of all the people in the world, somehow, one person becomes different.

Why this person?

Why am I drawn to them so deeply?

Why did we meet at that exact moment in our lives?

And why, even after we’ve gone our separate ways, can I still not completely forget them?

When it comes to love, we encounter these kinds of “why” questions again and again.

Whenever I think about the connection between two people, I find myself thinking about time.

We tend to judge relationships by what is happening right now.

Are we talking?

Are we seeing each other?

Does this person love me?

Are we still together?

And when someone is no longer beside us, it can feel as though the relationship itself has ended.

But has it?

Is a connection between two people really defined only by the present moment?

There is the time before two people meet.

The moment they finally meet.

The time they spend together.

The moments when they misunderstand each other.

The time they spend apart.

And then, there is the future that neither of them has seen yet.

When I think of love not as a single moment, but as the entire timeline two people have shared—and the timelines that may still lie ahead—I begin to see something very different.

Just because two people separate doesn’t mean every moment they shared disappears.

And just because a relationship ends doesn’t erase the fact that they once found each other.

Sometimes, meeting someone changes the direction of your entire life.

Even if the relationship itself comes to an end, the future that was created because you met that person may continue to unfold.

And this is where love becomes especially mysterious to me.

There are people we haven’t seen in years, yet somehow, we still can’t completely forget them.

We no longer talk.

We are living completely different lives.

They may no longer have any place in our present reality, and yet, suddenly, something brings them back to mind.

Their voice.

Their expression.

The way they moved.

The moments we shared.

Even the person we were when we were with them.

Somehow, time doesn’t completely erase it.

Maybe it’s simply lingering feelings.

Maybe it’s because certain memories leave a deeper imprint than others.

But what if time isn’t as linear as we experience it?

What if the future contains countless possibilities that we simply haven’t reached yet?

Then perhaps there is a possibility that two timelines, separated today, could cross again somewhere in the future.

I don’t want to simply call that “destiny.”

In fact, I think the connection between two people is far too complicated to be explained by one word.

Our choices.

Their choices.

Chance.

Timing.

Circumstances.

And an entire future that neither person can see yet.

All of these things overlap in ways we may never fully understand.

And somehow, a relationship is born from that intersection.

That is why love is filled with so many “what ifs.”

What if we had never met that day?

What if I had chosen different words?

What if we had met a little earlier?

What if we had met a little later?

What if we had met at a completely different point in our lives?

When I think about it that way, maybe love isn’t only about two people falling for each other.

Maybe it is also about two timelines finding each other.

That is why I see the idea of a “soulmate” a little differently, too.

Maybe a soulmate isn’t necessarily the person who stays beside you for the rest of your life.

Maybe it can be the person who changes the direction of your life.

The person who changes the way you see the world.

The person who teaches you how deeply you are capable of loving.

The person who forces you to look more honestly at yourself.

And sometimes, the person who remains somewhere inside your story long after you have gone your separate ways.

Maybe that person can be a soulmate, too.

And if time really is more complicated than we imagine, perhaps two timelines that are not connected today can cross again somewhere in the future.

Of course, there is no scientific way to prove that.

So I’m not saying this as a fact.

It is simply one way I choose to think about love.

Because I believe there is more to a relationship than what we can see in the present moment.

There is also time.

And the connection between two people may exist not only in the present, but across everything that came before—and everything that has yet to happen.

So just because two people are apart right now doesn’t necessarily mean that everything between them has ceased to exist.

But that doesn’t mean we should sit around waiting for someone to come back, either.

What matters is continuing to live your own life.

Keep moving toward your own future.

And if there is still someone who remains quietly in your heart, you don’t have to force yourself to erase them.

Maybe their story in your life didn’t simply end.

Maybe it exists on a different timeline than the one you are living right now.

And maybe, somewhere along the road, those timelines will cross again.

This year, as Obon approaches in Japan, I find myself thinking about something else.

Traditionally, around August 13, the boundary between this world and the world beyond is believed to become a little thinner.

The past feels a little closer.

People remember those who are no longer here.

And somehow, that idea feels strangely similar to love.

There are invisible boundaries between people, too.

Distance.

Time.

Circumstances.

Timing.

And the completely separate lives we are living.

Yet somehow, there are people who cross those boundaries and find us.

And there are people who, even after we separate, never completely disappear from our hearts.

Maybe that is what a connection really is.

The moment when two timelines cross, even if only for a little while.

That is why, when I think about love, I don’t want to focus only on what is happening right now.

I want to ask myself something deeper:

How did my timeline change because I met this person?

Love isn’t simply about two people standing beside each other.

Sometimes, it is about two lives crossing paths.

Even for a moment.

And because of that encounter, the direction of the future changes.

Maybe that is the real mystery of love.

Perhaps every time we meet someone we truly love, we are opening a door to a future we have never seen before.

A future that, until that moment, didn’t exist for us.

And maybe somewhere beyond what we can see—

beyond distance,

beyond timing,

beyond the present moment—

there are still timelines waiting to cross.

Maybe love is not only about finding someone in this moment.

Maybe it is about discovering which parts of our lives were meant to intersect—and what becomes possible after they do.

心晴れるまで

土屋梨沙