Ruby felt air enter her lungs. This was weird. She was supposed to be dead. Yet there she was, gasping for air greedily.
"Ruby?" a familiar voice called out. She knew the voice pretty well.
"Kanan-chan?" Ruby finally opened her eyes. Instead of her bathroom, she was now in an unfamiliar location with a tall white ceiling and walls of white marble.
"Why are you here?" Kanan asked, a hint of concern in her voice.
"Why is Ruby… where?" Ruby looked at the source of Kanan's voice to see that her nasty cuts are gone. Moreover, her usual clothes are gone too. Instead, Kanan was wearing a frilly white dress that went below her knees. Leather sandals on Kanan's feet looked a lot like those ancient Romans wore. Moreover, a crown of white flowers adorned her head. "Kanan-chan, you look gorgeous," Ruby said.
"I could say the same about you," Kanan said, and Ruby looked herself over. Indeed, she wore a similar dress and those same leather sandals. But most curiously, her forearm cut was gone as well.
"So where are we exactly, Kanan-chan? Is this… heaven?"
"I guess it's rather like a line for heaven," Kanan replied. "Looks like we have to wait here until we are called."
"Called where?" Ruby asked. And as she did…
"Kurosawa Ruby!"
…a strong female voice rocked the marble halls. Ruby turned her head to where the voice came from. It looked like a bright hall with a big table in the middle.
"I guess it's time for me to go," she said, then turned to face Kanan. The smaller girl hugged Kanan. "Good luck, Kanan-chan."
"Good luck to you too, Ruby," Kanan said, planting a small kiss on top of Ruby's head. The small redhead then pulled off and went to the big hall where she was called.
Entering the hall, she saw another four long hallways spanning from it as far as eye can see, all of the made of the same white marble with a lot of angel statues between the beds where people were lying or sitting on. Ruby walked up to the table.
"Kurosawa Ruby?" the winged woman sitting at the table asked, looking up from her big ledger to meet Ruby's gaze.
"Y-yeah?"
"Go on in. You're expected." The woman definitely looked like she doesn't like wasting time.
"Say, what's…" Ruby started, but the woman interrupted her.
"You'll have all your question answered. Just step through the door." All there's left to do for Ruby is to nod in acknowledgement and walk up to the tall double door, which opened up for Ruby, engulfing her in calming white light.
When the light subsided, Ruby found herself in a green field. She looked around. Quite a distance to her left there was a thick green forest. Ocean waves rolled up on a white sand beach to her right. Looking straight up, she saw a lonesome figure waving her. Ruby started walking towards the figure, and the farther away from the door she went, the closer to the figure she got, the calmer and happier she felt.
Coming close, Ruby was finally able to fully grasp the figure's features. The brunette woman was a spitting image of her own mother, her braid of waist-length hair was thrown over her right shoulder. She was dressed in frilly white dress, the hems and cuffs were sewn of blue lace, an assortment of small blue and white flowers adorning the hem just above the woman's chest. Big bright blue bow was tied beneath her chest, and the white lace parted to her sides, the clear white of the dress tied with thin blue ribbons, revealing a pale purplish-pink matter that ended just beneath her knees. See-through cloth went down from there, reaching all the way to gently touch the grass. The angel's feet were encased in a pair of shoes made of glass. Pretty gold diadem set atop the woman's head, a shape of crown with a shiny diamond adding to the image, her ears were covered by white fuzzy earmuffs, three white pieces of glass in form of a feather rimmed with gold spouting from the muffs. But what stood out the most were her wings. Small fins of pure gold encased her marginal and primary coverts, with the marginal part of gold fins further covered by big blue flowers. Pure white feathers made up the rest of the wings. Overall, Ruby was captivated by the beauty and purity of an angelic woman standing in front of her.
"Hello, Ruby," the woman said.
"Mom? How are you…"
"I'm afraid you're mistaken," the angel was quick to clear the confusion. "You see, here, where we stand, everything is based on your image of paradise. And we adopt the image of the most important person in each life. It's almost always mothers, with a few exceptions, of course."
"Exceptions?" Ruby asked.
"You're awfully inquisitive today, aren't you? Yes, sometimes they see their fathers, sometimes grandparents, siblings, spouses, kids even. It's very rarely that they see someone who isn't a close relative." The woman turned around, walking towards a small river flowing some ten meters further.
"You are quite interesting, Ruby," the woman said as she walked. "Who would've thought it would be quiet and meek crybaby Ruby who would go against her conservative parents' vision and not confident strong Dia?"
"You know about that?" Ruby asked, surprised.
"Why of course, darling, we know everything. Cutting your hair was a bold move knowing your parents wanted you to keep it long like your big sister's. But even though they seemed angry, deep inside they were proud of your independence. You know it, don't you?" Ruby merely nodded. "Thought so," the angel said.
Angel approached the river bank, and four rabbits ran to her feet, rubbing against the transparent fabric of her dress hem. She picked up a white rabbit and pet it on its head. Ruby reached out to pet the little furball herself, much to the angelic woman's delight. "From here you have two options," she said. "You are free to join me and a lot of others in Paradise. Or, you can go through Reformation."
"What's Reformation?"
"You go back in a different body. Most people refer to it as reincarnation, but it only works with humans, unlike what Hindus believe."
"So they are wrong in their image of afterlife?"
"This definitely doesn't meet the accepted image of afterlife," the angel mused. "They expect God himself judging them for every little thing they did or even thought, or just being plunged straight to Hell, some even expect nothingness, but we are here. Afterlife exists."
Ruby's face changed as a stray thought went into her head. "What about Kanan-chan?" she asked.
"Ah. Matsuura Kanan. I had a feeling you'll ask about her," the angel said melancholically. "Well, we are pretty sure that her continuous mistreatment of you revoked her right of entry into Garden of the Sun. And I'll have to say she's a fool if she thinks using your drugged out body to pleasure herself and then abusing your fears for her hedonistic pleasures is in any way worthy of joining you in Paradise." She then looked at Ruby, who looked at her with shocked expression. "I beg your pardon."
"So… there is only one way…" Ruby said, saddened.
"For you two to be together?"
"How did you..."
"I know everything, Ruby. Even now, your thoughts aren't a secret from me."
Ruby looked to her left, where a pathway of golden brick now led to a distance, the destination obscured in clouds. She then turned to face her angel, a confident look on her face.
"Then Ruby wants to be reborn," she said.
"Ruby, are you sure? There's no telling if you'll be allowed entry if you be reborn." The angel looked concerned. It's not every day that a lost soul would deny a place in paradise.
"Ruby's sure. Though Kanan-chan may be non-redeemable for you, her final moments did redeem her as much as Ruby's concerned."
Angel bit her lip. "Please wait for a moment," she said. A tall wooden arch door appeared behind her. The door then opened, revealing a wall of bright light. Angel then stepped into the light, and re-emerged from it not even a second later.
"The gods allowed it. You are also allowed to choose who you are born to."
"Really?" Ruby asked, rejoiced, as she jumped up to the angel and grabbed her hands.
"Yes, however you cannot choose your blood relative as a parent. That's the rule here."
"Oh. Okay. Ruby has only one candidate then."
The angel smiled as she heard those words. "With so much love and adoration to her, i doubt it would be anyone other than Koizumi Hanayo. Very well."
"How about Kanan-chan? Will we meet?"
"Of course you will, darling. The earliest you can meet in order to be lovers is 15 years, however. I don't think you would want to be friends after dying to suicide to be with her again, now would you?"
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Ruby smiled ear to ear.
"But we will need for Kanan to accept our terms. I will have to join her angel to extend her an offer."
Another tall arch door appeared right behind the angelic woman. As the door itself opened and revealed a wall of light, the angel gently smiled.
"A new time with her awaits you. You will know when you'll see her. She'll have your eyes."
The angel stepped aside. Ruby walked to the door, then took a deep breath and confidently stepped into the warm comforting light.
