Chapter Text
Harry Styles was a star.
No, not that kind of star. Harry was a literal, actual star. He had spent eons watching the universe unfold and bearing witness to the changes that came as the matter and space expanded around him. It was glorious, humbling, and beautiful: it was somehow all so meticulous and mysterious while also managing to be complete chaos at the same time.
The best part of all of it though was that Harry had been with his soulmate star from the moment he came into existence. There was not a time that Harry had been in the sky when Louis wasn’t also there, numbering the worlds and acting as a partner to Harry’s memories in every way. They knew they were destined to move forward one day when their soulstar bond was formally forged, and they planned accordingly.
Most was fun and fancy, silly suggestions they would throw out there for when it was their turn to create their own worlds. After all, they had the vastness of eternity to wait out until it was their turn to test the strength of their bond. They never once doubted each other, though. They knew with a surety that comes from witnessing the entirety of history around them that they would not fail.
The details were always a bit fuzzy, due to the nature of testing the soulstars. Soulstars weren’t rare by any means, but the way each soulstar pairing was tested was unique to them.
There was always a general pattern followed, though. The first would go down, thus initiating the separation and the trial for them. The second would wait until they were called, and when they were called they could join their soulmate to complete their challenge and officially forge their eternal bond, ensuring that they would never be separated from that point forward.
Harry and Louis had planned for this for actual ages. They had speculated where Louis would be sent down, what their specific quest might be, and how long it might take for Louis to be able to call for Harry. No matter the length of time for Louis, they had known that time would pass differently for Harry, and therefore even with the separation being felt keenly, it would likely feel like mere moments before the pull would be present.
Louis would then guide Harry in his transition to his new body using all the tips and tricks that Louis had been able to learn, and the dream team would complete their quest with ease from there. After all, nothing had ever been too much of a challenge for them when they were working together. That was part of being a soulstar pairing. They were literally meant to complete each other and work in their best capacity when they were together.
They had finally gotten word that Louis would be going to earth, and as soon as their days were numbered before Louis went down, the excitement filled the space between them. It was finally time for them to prove their metal before being able to move on to the rest of their lives that they had been waiting millions of years for.
Except things had not gone to plan. Louis went below, living as a human on Earth, and Harry waited as he was meant to do. He could see Louis, but time passed differently on Earth than it did for Harry in the sky. There was only so much he could see, and it was always so focused on Louis that he could not understand what was happening.
He had heard the tales told of other soulstars who could hear their mates through their entire trial, but for the first time ever, Harry felt the void of that connection with Louis. He had never felt so empty. So alone. Louis had been his friend and companion since the actual start of time, and the silence that came from having the spot always reserved to his left for Louis’ large presence suddenly without him hit harder than he ever could have imagined. He had thought he’d been prepared, that he had done all he needed to do in order to be ready, but nothing was further from the truth.
Time went on, and Louis grew with Harry bearing witness to him just as he had done with the creation of the worlds around him, yet the call never came for him to join Louis. They had promised each other repeatedly that as soon as Louis was able to, he would call Harry down. After all, that was Harry’s trial as the second. He had to wait to be called. He could not initiate their return to each other. That was the duty of the first.
Louis was struggling below, though. It was very clear from what little Harry could make out, because even if he was unfamiliar with Louis’ current form, he still knew everything about his soulstar. He was well accustomed to Louis’ moods and humor and wit, and as time went on all Harry could see was that Louis was anything but happy.
Harry knew he could make Louis happy, if only he would call for him! Why wasn’t Louis calling? It was past the time that soulstars were generally cognizant of their bonds and Louis should without a doubt have the ability to call Harry to him by now, yet he hadn’t. He had left Harry spinning out and worrying in space, unable to do the one thing that he was specifically made for: helping Louis.
One day, Harry sat in the very permeating and loud silence he had been filled by for so long now, and it finally hit him. He understood.
Louis couldn’t call Harry to him because he had forgotten everything. He knew nothing of his past, of the eons spent in the sky planning the eternities. He had no sense of self, his purpose, anything.
He had even forgotten Harry.