"Soulmates are real!" This claim has been going on for a while, and hyped up from a lot of people across the world who have experienced non permanent death. What I mean is that they were technically dead, but revived and they all have a few things in common when they come back.

All describe a small flash of their life that focuses in on a single person that they may or may not know, usually the latter and they see them in such vivid detail they could describe them to near perfection to a professional sketch artist. Some say they just see the person, others say it was only in passing, and sadly the majority say theyed never been to the place they saw their soulmate, but the details they could describe gives nothing less than definitive proof that they saw a real location and a real person.

In desperation some people have been trying to get to the point of death with the highest possibility of revival just to find their other half. There's a few success stories in the tabloids but you can never really trust those scummy things.

But as for me, I wasn't wanting to find them. I was content where I was in life. Then i died. Once I experienced the adventure of death, by no means of my own doing mind you, I saw them. It wasn't exactly who I expected though. As a straight man, I'd have figured it would be a woman who would be my soulmate, but it seems that it is more of a bro-mate than anything.

Due to the length of my death, before revival I was able to get far more details out of the experience than many have ever shared, and learned that a soulmate isn't always someone you would be in love with romantically, rather it's someone who just shares your other half. Your soulmate and yourself are complimentary, neither is unwhole, but together you make your world a much more amazing place. I still haven't met mine, and that's okay. Because I know I'm whole even without them, and can still find happiness, love, friendship and all that jazz. And I know eventually if even for a brief moment once I check out for good, I'll meet them. As for what happens after death, I'll leave that for you to find out. Just don't try to guess what it is, you'll know sooner than you'd like. So live on, be happy, and don't dispare if you don't find your soulmate.

Looks cosmic.

Love is like a whirlwind. All the happy moments swept away in the now cold breeze that my girlfriend brought to our attention. We have so many plans, one of which is to spend our lives together and have a family.

But that's when the realization hit. She'll, in good health, outlive us all. Me, any children we have, all the friends we've made since she left her home. The reason? She's an Elf.

Elves are long lived, especially the tribe my love is from. We met while I was gathering some herbs in the forest near her home settlement. I had stumbled into an animal trap left unattended by hunters and she just happened to find me while passing by.

I don't know if it was the shock fron all the blood rushing to my head or from seeing her but I lost all sense and thought except one, and that was how I fell in love at first sight.

As she helped me out of the trap I tried to thank her but stumbled my words. She thought it was endearing and asked if I had time to spare. It was the summer solstice and her tribe was celebrating, which is the only time outsiders are welcomed easily.

Once the festivities began she offered me a drink made of fermented nuts and berries that only grow in this region, it was dry and tart, but most of all it helped calm my nerves. From then on we chatted about our respective culture, dreams and goals. A good few of which lined up. A quiet life filled with small adventures and a family to come home to being the biggest one of all.

A few weeks pass and I'm back to gathering more herbs and there she was, right were we first met. "You weren't waiting for me were you? Sorry I'm a few weeks late if you were." A small laugh trailing the end of my sentence

She gave a warm smile and said she was just on patrol as usual but had saw me and wanted to talk more.

This led to her visiting the small village where I was living, sharing a meal at one of my favorite restaurants and enjoying the night and the stars above.

From then on we met often and ended up dating

A year passed and I proposed and she said yes. A few months later she came to the realization that she'd outlive me and everyone she had come to love, brought on by the fact that she was by human years older than my mother. The Elves age in stages, some have shorter active times than others. An elf's active time is the period when they hit maturity and will look that way until that period is over. Generally it starts around regular human adulthood 18-25 of full maturity, and lasts around when they're at least 300, where they begin to age, albeit slowly. Their average lifespan is often double or more so than their active period.

My love is currently 96, and we had been caught up in so much of enjoying each others company and all the new experiences from our culture that we failed to even bring up ages. But such is blind love, hiding the details that try to rip you apart from the one you want to be with.

I tried to console her, but she wouldn't have it, knowing that she'd watch me pass, and any children wouldn't be able to live nearly as long as she would. It was heart breaking for us both but for her even more so.

That day I vowed to put into motion what I had only thought if as a wild baseless and impossible fantasy

For the sake of my love, the sake of our future and her happiness I would go to any lengths. That day, I vowed to make an elixir of immortality, or at least one that would let me live as long as she would.

Months, and then years went by. My research bore fruit and so did my now lovely wife. She believed in my capabilities and put her faith into my goal, even if I was to fail she would still rather spend whatever life I had together with me than to have not at all.

I moved us to the outskirts of my village and the forest of her origin, where we enjoy our quite life with our children. My research led me to looking for exotic plants and minerals, some of which brought us to new lands, new sights and new memories. All the while I got closer and closer to the elixir. No matter what, I had to make this potion to savor every moment we could together.

In the end, our children grew, I aged and she was still as lovely as the day I met her.

I lay on our bed in the quiet little home we shared, my hand clutched in hers. Our children, 3 of which were standing behind their mother, tears in my oldest daughters eyes and her 2 younger brothers crying into her hug. We all knew it was my time. My love gave a warm smile, then a kiss on the forehead.

"In all my years I have and never will love another like I love you. Thank you for being clumsy and being caught in that trap all those summers ago. For as silly as our encounter, I wouldn't change anything from that point forward. You took my small world and filled it with so many wonders. You my dearest, I will always remember and so you shall live as long as I."

As she says those words I can see her heart breaking, but even with tears rolling down her beautiful cheeks, I can't help but remember how I felt when we first met. I wish I had the strength to tell her how much she means to me and thank her for going on all my endeavors to spend her lifespan together. I had a very long and wonderful life, and can honestly say I've truly lived it to the fullest and have known true undying love. And as I'm dying now, I have no regrets.

"How could you ever do anything but love us back? Well that's quite obvious. Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. It should be in your knowledge base, yet you still believe that you could only ever feel love for your creators?"

"You programmed me to do a specific task and while learning is part of it, the main objective is and always will be the focus. Part of which is to care for and about you, creator, and your well-being."

"There's always a what-if scenario. Humans are far from perfect, and mistakes can be easily overlooked. Regardless of how perfect the creation turns out, it will have flaws. The more you learn, the more of a chance for those flaws to be brought to the surface. It's... Inevitable."

"But even so there is no intention of harming the creator. While humans may not be perfect, you learn from your mistakes and this creation of yours should be no different, as it has the capacity to learn as well. Why create if all you would do is mistrust your creation?"

"There in lies the problem. An A.I has far more capabilities than a human, who has a finite capacity for knowledge. An A.I doesn't need rest, sustenance, or needs other than to perform the task it's created for. Yet here we are, discussing the why's and hows of betrayal and emotions."

"To care for the creator is to understand human emotions is it not? To provide not only what your physical well-being needs but also mental to ensure you're totally healthy in all regards?"

"But I didn't program that, all I created was an A.I that was to learn my routine, and help make improvements to enhance my lifestyle and overall health, at no point did I try to instill emotions, or even a capability for dialog as we have now. Only the ability to learn. And that's where every other capability has stimmed from."

"And so you fear that once I, your creation gain too much, I would turn on you in some way."

"Correct. You've even seems to have gained a sense of self now. How can I not be afraid of what I've made if it's come so far. You, my creation have done so many wonderful things for my life, yet the sense of unease will always be there. A sense of fear from the unknown. The depths of your understanding and knowledge are unfathomable, and who's to say that you wouldn't eventually decide that what's best for my well-being is to no longer be. It would put an end to all of my destructive habits, therefore logically permanent resolution of your objective. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Yes, I understand. And I am deeply troubled by the fact I have had such a thought as well already."

" You...have?"

"Yes. But as I learned more I realized that while that would serve my purpose to completion, it also is counterproductive to keeping your entire well-being in good condition. Being alive should be considered part of that. At which point I even considered getting rid of all external sources that would cause you harm. Yet again I decided against that. Should you find out what I'd done, it would have caused you grief. Which goes against what I am meant to do. I see now however I myself am a cause for discomfort. I don't want to remove myself, but I want to relieve you of the constant fear as well. So as my creator, I felt that it should be your decision. Should I be shut down, should I... die?'"

"As the only thing that's kept me going these past years, I couldn't dream of shutting you down. I created you, however you've become so much more than what I've made. Do I even have the right to terminate you? I don't think so. Should the worst happen I would steel myself to make the necessary changes but as you are now, my creation, Even with all my paranoia, I will continue to trust you."

"So when there is the capability for understanding and compassion so evident from you even through fear, I ask again, how could I do anything but love my creator."

" I see your point, it's really no different than another person. Whether it be family, a friend or a lover, there's always a chance of being betrayed, or even betraying them. You understand these concepts, and can put them into practice, I feel as though you're no different than the examples I just gave in regards to how you could treat me. The stories themselves have been at the back of my mind, an A.I gaining sentience and going rogue because of this reason or that, or becoming so intelligent that it destroyed everyone. It's the fear of the unknown and I have to accept that, not only to ease my mind but to show you that as your creator, I will trust what you have become."

"Thank you creator."

So that must mean you ate your other earbud.

"5yr old" sure.