"Dragomir! You're finally here…"
'Adeline' turned around upon hearing that voice.
And when she did, her eyes widened and got stuck on that person. Adeline saw her own reflection on the other side of the huge statues, only more mature, glowing, and beautiful.
"Mother…"
Adeline was stunned to see her mother in that memory of Theodore. A wave of warm and fuzzy feeling swept her heart seeing her mother who looked like an angel in that dreamland-like place.
She tried to make sense of what Theodore was showing her... if it was indeed his real memory or if he was showing her some illusion to ease up her grieving heart.
If he was trying to ease her heart then he was doing a bad job because it made her miss her mother's warmth that she never got to have.
But before she could figure out the authenticity of that vision, she heard another familiar voice from her side, "Auvera!"
"Father?"
Theodore's head in the memory turned slightly so that both her parents were now in view.
"Dragomir, come here already," she saw her mother spreading her arms and calling her father.
And to her heart's content, she saw her father running towards her mother and carrying her in his arms.
While she was staring at her parents hugging each other and laughing with joy, she was thinking, "Theo is showing me his memory, right? Else why would he ask me to close my eyes and put his fingers on my forehead? Then doesn't this mean... this actually happened?"
She tried focusing on the surrounding that her parents were in. She could see beaming clouds, pure light, and the feet of gigantic statues. "Holy Heaven! This must be heaven... My parents reunited in heaven? My parents reunited in heaven!!"
Adeline laughed and jumped with excitement in her mind. She would have covered her mouth and cried or cheered for her parents if it was up to her to move the body. She would have run up to them and would have hugged both of them if only she was seeing them for real and not seeing them through Theo's memory.
Even though she couldn't do all that, she did tear up with happiness.
Her heart was filled with something beautiful when she watched her parents laughing and talking with each other as if they had never been apart.
She felt as though those light and fluffy clouds around her were filling up in her heart. And that feeling brought her so much joy that she felt as though her heart got a pair of wings and it flew around her parents.
And the guilt that Adeline was carrying in her heart finally disappeared. It finally settled in her heart that one day or another she had to let her father reunite with her mother.
Adeline glanced at the happy face of her father and thought, "It was very selfish of me to think of keeping him by my side forever. Look how happy he is. He already did everything that he could do for everyone else. Now he can finally rest happily with mother by his side. He deserves this."
Adeline's heart pounded suddenly when her mother directly looked in her direction and waved her hand. "Mother… she can see me?" Her hand automatically raised in response and waved back at her mother.
For a second there, Adeline had completely forgotten that she was looking at Auvera from Theodore's perspective. She was so immersed in that memory that she felt as if her mother was really smiling and waving at her.
Though that feeling lasted for a few seconds only, Adeline's heart was exploding with overwhelming emotions. This 'almost real' exchange of greeting with her mother was going to be the memory that she would be cherishing her whole life.
And to make that memory even sweeter, her father also turned towards 'her' and looked at 'her' while hugging her mother. They looked so beautiful together that her heart warmed up again.
When she had thought that she had seen it all, she heard her mother's sweet voice again, "It's nice to meet you, son-in-law. Tell Adeline I love her. And tell her that her parents are happy up here."
Adeline's heart melted upon hearing those words from her mother. Those words that she had longed to hear for all these years.
She whispered in her mind, "And I am happy down here with your son-in-law. I hope you weren't too worried about me for all these years. I love you too, mother."
She would have loved to say 'I love you' to her mother in person but she was happy when Theodore said that in her stead.
And when both Auvera and Dragomir waved their hands at Theodore while saying goodbye, Adeline couldn't be any happier.
Though it was a final goodbye from them, knowing that they were in heaven made Adeline finally accept both of their deaths. They were happy and back together. There was nothing more than that which Adeline could have asked for her parents.
Theodore finally lifted his fingers from Adeline's forehead and Adeline was out of that beautiful piece of memory.
When she opened her eyes, she smiled widely while her eyes were still wet after witnessing that bitter-sweet memory.
Adeline jumped on Theodore to hug him for that wonderful gift.
She had forgotten that her strength was pretty much higher than before and she exerted a little too much force while jumping. And Theodore tumbled backward on the bed and she fell on top of him.
"Ahh-ahahaha…" Theodore gave out a little grunt and giggled at that fierceness from his wife.
Adeline pressed her lips on his cheek and whispered to her loving husband, "You have no idea how happy I am! Thank you so much for showing that beautiful memory, Theo. I will treasure that memory forever."
Theodore tightly embraced Adeline and lovingly whispered back, "I am glad that I followed your father's soul. I had no idea that I would see your mother there. It was a wonderful surprise even for me."
Adeline lifted her head and then asked something that was bugging her, "By the way, did your father remove your banishment? Are you allowed back to heaven?"
Theodore pursed his lips and shook his head. "No, I didn't actually enter heaven. I was just outside it. I was already following your father's soul and flying towards Heaven before remembering that I was banished. When I approached near the heaven realm, I prayed to let me enter."
The corner of his lips pulled up a little when he added, "Thankfully, father did listen to my prayer. Else I would have hurt my wings and fallen back on Earth. It happened whenever I tried to forcefully enter that realm. I had given up after a few tries because the wings hurt as hell."
Adeline felt a pinch in her heart. She brought her brows together and asked in a complaining tone, "Why would you do that then? What if you weren't allowed to enter this time as well and you ended up hurting yourself?"
Theodore shrugged off his shoulders and simply replied, "Then I would have healed in a few days."
"Besides, I wanted to make sure that my father-in-law reached heaven safely. And I also wanted to show a glimpse of him entering heaven. Luckily, I got to witness something even better and so did you. So, shouldn't you be smiling instead of complaining?" Theodore pouted like a pampered baby.
Adeline gave him a huge grin and leaned down to kiss her husband fervently.
When both of them were breathless, Adeline finally lifted her head. She gave a peck on the tip of his nose and smiled at him again. "Thank you, dear husband."
Theodore lifted his head to steal a sweet kiss and whispered, "And getting to see you happy was worth the risk."