“Augustine”.

He had heard his name in so many accents, so many languages, so many countries and nations around the world through centuries, all with various tones and motives behind them, yet it was always that one tone that he loved the most.

It was never the same person, yet somehow it was always the same soul.

It was always them.

The same phrase had been ringing through his head for the last seventy years.  The phrases would always change since the last time he saw them, and the time it would take between phrases would differ; once it would be just a simple 20 years, others close to a century.  It was always a hint, a glimmer that showed him the life where he would find them again.  

This time it was a simple “I wish for peace”.

They had said that right after dying in Augustine’s hands, shot in the heart by an enemy soldier’s gun.

The phrases would always remain similar; they would contain something all humans instinctively desired and yet would harbor such vagueness.  It was as if something was trying to test his patience.

Augustine had searched cities and nations, and sought the wisdom of hundreds of textbooks and articles, trying to find where true peace was.  He researched various scientific papers to find various definitions of peace, he went through every single online article for the “ten most peaceful places in the world”, and yet had found nothing.  He was beginning to lose his patience.

He had always attempted to keep up to date with the news about the ongoing world; it was a crucial part of his daily routine.  He felt as though it was his duty to be an active part of history so that he could share the stories with them in the future.  At this point following so many centuries of life, they were the only part of his life that mattered. 

He particularly enjoyed sitting in cafes to do so.  Not only was it comforting to watch the news outside his lonely house, but it also gave him a bit of sanity to hear other individuals speaking in the background.  No matter how much time passed, there would continue to be people gossiping, chattering about the little things in their lives, their minuscule problems, never truly realizing how much importance lay behind them in the grand scheme of things.  It gave him a sense of glee, seeing the world continue to remain the same in such minute ways.  

He had been sitting at a small cafe in New Hampshire for approximately 24 minutes, eavesdropping on two teenage high school students gossiping about a peer they did not seem to like.

“God, I never want to see him again!  I should go to one of those secluded islands in the ocean, the ones that have no contact with the outside world, maybe then I never have to see his stupid face again”.

Augustine froze for a second.  A secluded world, no war, no colonizing, no genocide, no prejudice, no technology, no corruption- peace.  It was perfect.

He spent the next week researching a particular island off of the Bay of Bengal, populated by a small tribe, secluded from the world.  He booked tickets to the coast of Chennai, India, took a boat to the edge of the Bay of Bengal, and began diving.  The Indian government kept constant control of the borders in order to prevent outsiders, yet Augustine doubted that they would be able to find him swimming 30 meters into the ocean.  

He could not necessarily breathe underwater- he was still human- but he had found that he could hold his breath for a particularly long amount of time.  The longest record for him had been about 19,822 minutes, or about about two weeks.  It wasn’t particularly easy, it felt incredibly uncomfortable after about a week, but the worst that could happen was him passing out before being able to come and swim back up.  That was unless he was eaten by something, in which case he would have to wait at least a week to become a normal human body again.

All of this didn’t matter to him.  All that mattered was them.

The trip did not take too much out of him.  Getting stung by the swarm of jellyfish and the hordes of water snakes was certainly irritating, but he had been through many wars, diseases, and genocides- this was nothing.  

He planned to show the island that he had come in peace.  He bought different metals that he had acquired on his travels as an offering, as well as new plant seeds for them to grow agriculture.

When arriving, he could tell the tribe already knew of his arrival.  He closed his eyes to hear low chattering, filling the air with a sense of anxiety and calculation.  They were planning their move.

He decided to simply walk to the villagers in a straightforward fashion.  They could not kill him, he had nothing to worry about.

Augustine bowed his head and raised his hands far above his hands as proof of his surrender.  They stared at him with their weapons drawn, before speaking.  He could not understand their language, but he was not worried.  He was very quick at learning new languages.  There had been virtually no research on the language they spoke, but he had learned entire dialects in mere days- this would be simple.  

He carefully pulled out the metal and seed pouches from his pockets, before placing them on the ground.  

Two soldiers carefully took the items and analyzed them, before giving them to the person who appeared to be the leader based on the cloth that covered his head.

The leader seemed to be an old man, perhaps in his seventies or eighties.  Despite his age, he seemed to be well-built and taken care of.  His shoulders and arms were muscular and large, and his hair continued to be dark despite the wrinkles covering his face and body.  His palms, holding a large sharpened spear, appeared worn down from usage, and his feet were covered with blisters and sores.

Despite the obvious amount of responsibility on his shoulders, his eyes displayed happiness.  There was a sense of joy that he received from what he did and protected- he had a duty that he was eager to fight for.  There was peace.

Augustine looked at the old man with tears in his eyes, smiling from ear to ear.  “Oh look how you have grown, my beloved.  You have done so much and fought for so long.  You have found peace.  I have waited so long to see you again, my dear.”

The man stared at him, continuing to aim his spear at him before speaking loudly.

Augustine sighed.  He had been through this situation so many times, and yet it never seemed to hurt less.

“I wish for peace”, Augustine called out loudly.  

The man softened his grip slightly as his eyes flashed.  The other soldiers stared at him confusedly, before he waved his hand at them, demanding them to put down their weapons.

He called out something, before walking up to Augustine in a cautious manner.

Augustine’s mouth quivered as he held the man’s hand carefully.

“My love, my love, you have returned to me, I have found you!  I think of you so much, I have searched forever, I have missed you oh so much…”

The man stared at him in confusion, yet found his eyes watering.  He looked down and wiped them in disbelief, before looking back up at Augustine, softening.  

“You do not understand what is happening, who I am, why you feel like this-” Augustine began.  “Yet, you have felt this before.  You have felt this millions of times and I have been here every time my love. I will always be here.  You will understand soon.”

…

It had been ten years since Augustine had been accepted into the tribe.  It had taken him about two days to learn the language, and eight months to become fully accepted and trusted by every single member of the tribe.

As Augustine started a fire for the tribe leader, he heard a call from near the island center.

“Augustine, you must come at once!  The leader is calling for you.”

Augustine quickly ran to their hut, finding the leader laying on the ground, smiling.

“My love,” Augustine began, “What is wrong?”

The leader looked at Augustine tearfully.

“Augustine…why did you take so long to come to me?  I waited so long for you, and now….”

Augustine recognized that tone.  He had heard it so many times before, but it always only meant one specific thing.

“Please my love”, Augustine started.  “I am not ready yet, give me more time”.

“You have given me so much joy, I only wish the same for you.  Why do you spend your entire life searching for me?  Surely with your longevity, you must have so much to explore, why me?  Why go through so much torment?  Why, my Augustine?”

Augustine laughed painfully.

“There is no competition.  I have seen every inch of this earth, I have grown weary and tired of it, and yet I would scour it a billion years longer if I could spend it all with you.”

The leader looked down, coughing painfully.

“Well, Augustine, will you ask me the question then?  The question that you always ask me?  I am afraid that it is time.”

Augustine held the leader close to him.  “Please, I do not want to ask, I want more time with you, please my lo-”

“Ask.”

Augustine tried to ignore the large lump in his throat as he kissed the leader’s hand.  

“My beloved, what do you wish for?”

The leader looked at Augustine tearfully, before closing his eyes and smiling.

“I wish for nothing more than your love.”

Augustine felt the leader’s body drop as he cried emotionally into his arms.