I planted a soft kiss on Alexandros’ lips. The pain reached my soul as if it was being ripped apart. But I tried to smile because I knew that this was what he wanted.
After ninety-one years, the man I loved will finally be at peace. “I love you, Xandros. I love you so much. It was so hard to let you go. But I will do that because I want you to rest. Rest well, my love. I will take care of our daughter, and I will make sure that she will know how much you love her, too. Every time I’d see the water, every time I see Demi controlling it or commanding it, I would remember you and I would think that you weren’t gone, that you were with us in your own amazing way.
“Every time I would see flowers, I would think of our wedding. And I would remember your love. Every time the first snow of the winter falls, I would think of the day we were in Tokyo and I would remember your beautiful smile, I would remember you wearing winter clothes while patiently waiting for me outside the office. Every time I would see a book, I will remember our story. And every time I’d see our daughter, I’d remember the product of our love. I would remember you in all the things I would see and feel very thankful.”
When Alexandros released my hands, I tried to stop my hands from reaching out to him. Instead, I took a step away from him and caressed the book drawn in my wrist.
The book appeared.
“Go… don’t just remember our love, Ali. Remember to live well. Remember to be happy.”
I nodded. “And remember to rest well, my love.”
I turned my back around him. My eyes watered when I finally opened the book.

(Alexandros)
THE PETALS that were falling from the sky had vanished when Alison disappeared. And then the ancestors showed up along with my… parents. They were crying as they ran to me and gave me their tightest and warmest embrace.
I had almost forgotten their warmth.
This was it. Being together like this again was our own happy ending. In the end, despite our mistakes, we were still able to achieve this kind of ending because there was God. And He was truly merciful.
Even if I was still stunned, I embraced my parents back. I heard sobs everywhere. The Armethians had become murderers. So many bloods had been spilled by the countless deaths that took place. All of us had committed a crime and all of us must pay for it.
Even the ancestors committed a crime for acting and thinking that they were greater than God himself. Now I know the truth. I was chosen because the ancestors wanted me to teach the Armethians about faith. They wanted me to introduce God to everyone.
It took me several years before I finally understood the message that they wanted to portray but what mattered was that I still fulfilled my task.
I glanced at the ancestors. There were tears in their eyes but they looked at peace including the citizens. The Armethians looked at me. They didn’t utter a word but their eyes were thankful.
“I love Alison and Demi so much, Nate,” I whispered to my cousin as I watched him carry his daughter. I saw happiness in his face. It had been a while since I last saw him this happy.
“They know, Alex. They know,” he said.
I nodded. “I can finally rest my mind now, right? I can finally sleep without worrying about tomorrow.”
“Right.” Nathan’s tears fell. “Thank you for everything, Alex. Thank you for not giving up on us until the end.”
I just nodded as the ground began to shake. From where we stood, we saw how the castle and the houses around us collapsed. I embraced my parents and closed my eyes to utter a quick prayer as the earthquake began to get stronger.
At last, we could finally rest.
Thank You, Lord.

(Alison)
Two years later…
“Don’t just remember our love, Ali. Remember to live well. Remember to be happy.”
When I remembered Alexandros’ last words, my smile grew wider. “I will. From this moment on, I promise that I will let the past be the past and the present be the present. I will live again. Thank you for the wonderful memories, Alexandros.”
After typing the word “The End”, I turned off my laptop. Out of all the novels that I had written for the past two years, this one was the only novel I didn’t want to be published. Because I wanted to keep it just for me and most especially, for my daughter.
Because this story was about her father. It held all the memories he and I had. It contained our love and our sacrifice. Once Demi reached a certain age, I would pass this novel to her and let her read it.
This was also the same story which Greta’s editor wanted her to revise. That was when I was still a ghostwriter. But it took me this long to complete it. Because it only took me this long to gather the courage to write my story with Alexandros.
I was too scared to write our story, because a part of me didn’t want to admit that it finally came to an end. For several months, I tried deceiving myself into believing in magic. After all, it was magic that had brought Alexandros to me.
I had hoped that it was also magic that will bring us back together again. That’s why even after coming back to the mortal world, I tried to set an imaginary alarm again. I attempted to snooze it many times hoping that Alexandros would magically show up.
But he was also the one who kept on waking me time and time again to remind me that no good things come from holding on too much.
Writing our story was probably one of the bravest things I had ever done in my life. Because it meant reminiscing not just the most beautiful parts, but also the saddest, and the most painful ones.