Chapter 10 Epilogue
715 Words
Three months later.
Barcelona, Old Port.
Sunlight turned the sea into a vast silver mirror. The yacht gently swayed in the harbor, and the wind chimes on the mast tinkled crisply.
Emily stood by the dock, holding a glass of sangria in her hand, looking out at the distant sea level. She was a bit tanned, her hair was cut short, and she was wearing a white linen shirt, barefoot on the wooden planks.
Veronica sat on the bench next to her, basking in the sun. Her hair had turned completely white - not dyed, but because of what she had been through in the past three months. But there was a smile on her face, a real, effortless smile that no longer needed to be faked.
"Aren't you going in to see her?" Veronica asked.
"Let her sleep. She was so excited last night that she didn't go to bed until two o'clock."
"Is she doing well at the treatment center?"
"William's team is very professional. Maybe too professional. Anna said they draw blood at eight every morning, do cell reinfusion at nine, and eat Catalan stew at ten. She said she's had more blood drawn in her life than tears shed."
Veronica laughed.
Then she lowered her head and looked at her hands. Those hands had once signed the baby swap agreement, once injected Anna with a sedative, and once raised in surrender under the moonlight. Now they were basking in the sun.
"Has she forgiven you?" Ai Mili asked.
"No," Veronica looked up. "She doesn't hate me either. She said that hate and forgiveness are two sides of the same coin. She doesn't hate me, so she doesn't need to forgive me. I'm just a parenthesis in her life."
Ai Mili holds her mother's hand.
Footsteps came from behind, James's.
"Anna's awake," he said. "She's looking for you."
Ai Mili walked into the cabin.
Anna sat on the bed, wearing a hospital gown—she refused to wear anything other than the gown, saying it was her "uniform" and the evidence of her victory in the battle. Her complexion was much better than three months ago, and there was light in her gray eyes—not the kind of light about to go out, but the normal, living, light that could shine all day long.
"Sister," she said, "I want to eat crepes."
"This is Barcelona. There are no crepes. There is paella."
"Then I'll have paella. After we finish eating, we'll go see the sea. The real sea, not the sea in Cornwall, but the Mediterranean Sea."
"Okay."
Anna reached out her hand, and Emily took it.
They walked out of the cabin and onto the deck.
The sun in Barcelona shines on their hair, one dark, one black. The sea breeze stirs their hems, one white, one blue.
On the distant sea, the setting sun is casting its glow, painting the sky in a gradient of orange, pink, and purple. Seagulls fly by, their shadows falling on the water like a letter without words.
"Sister."
"Yes."
"You know, if we had grown up in a normal family, what would we be like?"
Emily thought for a moment.
"You will go to school, make friends, and go to the beach during summer vacation. You will fall in love, cry your eyes out after your first breakup, and then meet someone who truly loves you. You will find a job you like, maybe a teacher, maybe a painter, maybe - I don't know. You will live as an ordinary person, but you will be happy."
"And you?"
"I'll always be your sister," Emily said. "No matter which world, no matter what kind of life. I'll always be your sister."
Anna leaned on her shoulder.
The setting sun sank into the sea.
"Tomorrow morning, we'll come back to watch the sunrise." Anna said.
"Okay."
"Watch the sunrise every day."
"Okay."
"Till the end of time."
Ai Mili tightened her grip on her shoulder, neither saying "yes" nor "no". Because forever is not a promise, but a decision. And you've already made that decision.
The evening breeze outside the window brings the whistle of the port.
The Mediterranean Sea gradually turns deep blue in the night glow.
Their story doesn't end.
It's just beginning.
- Writer
