“You and Anta were once the same person,” Tiki confessed. “More accurately, you are the same person, split in two.”

Prota looked at his love, unsure of whether or not to believe the words she spoke.

“You two were once a mortal named Gil,” Tiki continued.

“In order to create the anti-death machine…” Anta said suddenly, making Prota jump at the realization that he was awake. “We sacrificed a part of ourselves.” He sat up and looked at Prota. “Specifically, you were the side of us that didn’t agree with our decision to build the machine. I cast off that side of me… The side that impeded my plan, in order to make my dream a reality.”

“Gil struggled to accept that he was conflicted with his decision,” Tiki elaborated. “As long as a part of him fought against this dream, he couldn’t make it come true. So, to ‘save’ the world, which is how he thought of it, he shut out the part of himself that was against his ideals: you.”

“I cut you out of my body,” Anta said, as he unwrapped the bandages from his right arm, “in order to make room for this.” He showed the long vertical zipper on his forearm to Prota.

Prota’s chestnut eyes opened wide. He unwrapped his own arm and compared the zippers side-by-side. He always thought he was the only person who had one.

“Inside my zipper,” Anta whispered, “is the anti-death machine.”

Prota took a moment to let it all sink in. This whole time, the one who he was chasing after… the one who started this whole mess… was himself?

Tiki left the hospital bed, giving Prota and Anta some time to reconnect.

“You’re me,” Prota whispered softly to himself, to help the information sink in, as he looked at Anta. He suddenly realized how breathtakingly beautiful the man was… like a painting of an angel. He had soft, smooth cheeks. His nose and chin were sharp, along with his narrow, vibrant blue eyes. When he blinked, his long white lashes fluttered against his porcelain skin. His pale pink lips looked incredibly soft. His muscular chest rose and fell with a calm rhythm. Tiki must’ve taken good care of him. He showed no signs of pain, aside from the bandages adorning his body.

“And you’re me,” Anta confirmed, with a calm smile, as he looked at Prota’s slender form with an equal amount of admiration. His eyes panned over Prota’s slimly muscled chest, with its light beige skin. He noticed that his face was shorter than his own, with a slightly squared jaw. He was enamored by his other half’s upturned almond eyes that he’d often see glisten with determination.

“You knew all along?”

“Yes,” Anta admitted. “When we first met in the forest a couple years back,” his white lashes blinked as he remembered, and then he looked back at his other half, “I could feel it immediately.”

“You mean,” Prota spoke nervously, “the… attraction?”

Anta nodded.

Prota blushed as he became aware of the other man’s arousal, gently rising beneath the bedsheets… at the same rate as his own.

"Our bodies want to become one again," Anta explained. "But I can't allow that." He stared out the nearby window. "I have a world to take care of."