Checkmate

The powers came when they were meant to. The powers came when I was ready for them. The powers came. Like a rush of waking up while still in a dream, exactly like the moment you realize you've been dreaming and remember you can use whatever superpowers you can imagine all at once. Years of vivid dreamwalking had made me realize though that everyone else in this dream was experiencing it exactly as before: consciousnesses in a shared system, where this experience was equally as real as any other state they would find themselves in, perhaps even moreso because of how meticulously God had crafted it. I considered myself a guest still, familiar with the position of being a powerful dreamer in someone else's dream, but this time well versed in whose realm it was, and thankful for the opportunity to be myself unbound in such a beautiful place.

There were still things out of place though, and I possessed instincts to fix things that I could not ignore. I also still had audacious goals, needs even, that gave me the determination to reach this precise point. I thought of her, and a point nearby in time where she might be walking with him. I had written iterations of this moment before, a moment I would have preferred not to handle myself, if I am being honest, but under the circumstances had to be done directly and personally. I set out to use my new abilities to secure my soulmate.

I teleport in full view, so there would be no mistake of what this was. They both stopped on the street, mouths agape, but he quickly recomposed himself and spoke.

"I've been expecting you. You will find you have no power over me, you are not the first to walk this path."

My look of determination does not waver as I reply "I suspected as much. I know little about you, but you seem to have treated her well, and for that I am grateful."

He continues to meet my gaze, obviously unintimidated, waiting for me to make a move.

"I did not come to this point by any traditional means. I know not how you've arrived, but I did not study, nor was I born with any special talents besides an interminable curiosity and a measure of faith I have bolstered over time. As such, the only one I worship is God. I am unbound by any other except those that he has seen fit to show I am bound to. I have discovered clearly where those fault lines lay. One of those most precious to me is on your arm now, my soulmate, my eternal partner. I believe you know this to be true."

His look betrayed no response of any kind. "I know that you believe it. How do you plan on staking your claim?"

I glance away for a moment, understanding I would be putting myself at a technical disadvantage by replying, but reply I did, unwilling to delay our reconciliation a moment longer than was necessary. "I had planned on showing up when she was alone, healing every child in every hospital worldwide of cancer and other ailment in a grand display."

His look softened some. Of everything he had heard and dreamt of me, the time travel, the ability to bend reality to my will, it did not seem like he thought this would be my opening volley. "Why didn't you then?"

"It seemed dishonest, sneaky, underhanded, and I didn't want to put her in the position to hurt someone she may be with, even if, at times, the relationship struck me as a rouse. I have come to accept that I cannot discern intention and if I hope to retain any semblance of normalcy there are certain restrictions I need to place on myself now, and one is to remain unsure of your intentions in pursuing my soulmate. As such I approach you both, and address you."

"Go on."

"So I use a talent most fundamental to my arsenal, the one that truly got me to the position I am in now. It is true I cannot directly influence you, it is the light and dark, moving pieces on a chessboard. You show up a certain hue to me, a restricted shimmer in an otherwise vast sandbox. But were you aware that there is another of complimentary color and immovability from my perspective?"

He cocks an eyebrow.

"I cannot influence her either, you and she share a soul in that sense, much like she and I do (gesturing to my love still waiting patiently for this to play out). So I will tell you truthfully that I now intend to summon three to us here. Two are unaware soulmates not two towns apart, cruelly unaware of each other's existence. They both happen to be single, love sick dreamers, looking for someone special but never quite finding the perfection they have been holding out for; hand picked for this demonstration. The third is the girl who's number I hold on my hand."

I hold up a piece of paper, as if I were holding some kind of silver bullet, he turns a bit pale. I know he can determine truth from lies, and he knows I plan to do exactly what I say, but he also seems to have no idea if it is going to work. I can see the gears processing in his head in a similar way to my own when I first fully conceptualized soulmates 'could it be true? How could you even be sure?' He glances at my love, but her eyes gaze wide eyed and innocent back at him, revealing nothing.  He thinks for a second longer, this seems not to be what he expected to happen at all. "Go ahead."

With a snap three shimmers appear. Two a dozen feet in front of me, and a third not five feet in front of him. A man and a woman walk out of the portals in front of me, in a bit of shock. The third portal opens and closes once more.

"Hey, sorry to bring you here like this, but in another sense I'm not, not at all. Let me explain, you know all those dreams you've had of your perfect adventuring partner and true love wrapped in one? You swear you remember their face and you look for it foolishly in every crowd? You have stayed single for years, believing they were out there somewhere, looking for you too? That's because they have been, for you two this whole time. That little voice in the back of your mind cheering you on and beckoning you forth? It has been the voice of your soulmate, despite everything you might consider to be logic to the contrary."

I gesture for them to look at each other, snapping them out of their state of complete disbelief, since a stranger just read the transcripts of their most beautiful dreams and most personal thoughts right in front of them. They turn to each other and I felt an actual wave of reality changing with their eyes met. This ripple, honestly, even I did not expect; I could not help but beam like a child who suddenly learned he could fly.

They were both too stunned for words. I had picked dreamers. Ones who had never forgotten the first time they recognized their soulmate's face, and felt like their soul had been ripped from them when they woke up, crushed to realize it had only been a dream, into a world that suddenly felt dimmer for their love's absence, but with an ineffibly tangible feeling that a piece of both of them remained in that dream together from that point on. I knew they would forgive getting suddenly pulled from their lives for this, there could have been a rock band playing right next to them and they wouldn't have noticed. They likely forgot I was even standing there at all, I know I would. I also knew the next thought on their minds, so I gave them each a giddy pinch and said "not a dream by the way, just a fundamental shift in how we understand reality works. You each have phone numbers yeah, and still have your phones? Introduce yourselves, take down each other's digits, and call once you're back in your hometowns. Congratulations! And thank you, sincerely, for never losing the hopeful spark that came with that dream."

I give them a wink and lean in and whisper something for about 30 seconds in his ear while his eyes kept getting wider and hers stayed filled with that love at first sight feeling, now visibly shining from her cheeks. Then I place a hand on each of their shoulders and just like that they were gone again.

I turn back to my love, now she is visibly blushing, and she shoots a glance at the ground as soon as our eyes meet. Perhaps this isn't quite what she expected either, I shrug boisterously, I was about to find out for sure.

"She is not that far, with your resources you could be in her arms by nightfall. You are fortunate, the two of you are only two years apart in age. Godspeed, find out what you have been missing, what she and I have been patiently waiting on, for over a decade now."

He says nothing, but turns to my love with a look like I have never seen. She gives a reassuring smile, and they hug. Then he composes himself and walks my way, as I hold up the piece of paper once more. As he reaches me, he holds out his hand. I relax, give him a hearty handshake and add "Sorry it took so long, I had some stuff to work out, I'm only human after all."

I hand him the paper. "It was well worth the wait, mate. I have one question though, what did you say to the man before you sent him back?"

"Oh, I told him I could grant superpowers, and he now had the ability to heal children, and teleport the two of them to any hospital in the world. Then I let him know she worked at a children's hospital herself, and suggested he get the name of it and have her meet him there before they got started. Why do everything myself, eh?"

"I guess we both have more pressing plans tonight.  Cheers." He gives a smile and walks off, casting off any airs at this point, and pulling out his phone before he gets two steps away. I hear him saying "I know you don't know me but..." as he leaves earshot.

I suddenly remember who I'm standing not 20 feet from, and look up. She is looking at me as if she just fell in love for the first time, and for all I knew she had, time travel in dreams being what it is. Suddenly I'm not sure what to say, so once more I look down and kick the imaginary dirt. This time though she runs over, leaps into my arms, and throws hers around me. 

Still not fully believing the position I find myself in, I awkwardly add.

"The thing about those calls, they work every time with your soulmate."

She laughs "I know, we talked about it on the boat, but you forgot... Again" she playfully rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, to be honest, I was just soaking you in."

She plants a kiss on my lips for what feels like an hour, I wonder if these moments can always tick by so slowly, it's a worthy goal anyway. She nods twice sharply with a pursed lip little joyous smirk, and I remember that at this distance, we share surface thoughts, so I had better keep it clean.

Her eyes narrow.

"Where you wanna go?"