Author's Note: Please kindly forgive Opague for her procrastination to post this. She knows it has been over a month, since her last post. But she promises to get things done faster, because she will be pretty bored at work next week. Anyway, here's the chappie.

I must've drifted in the river of my own sorrow for quite a long time. I seemed to have found peace with the aching in my heart, because the pain seemed rather routine now. Perhaps with some time, I will grow completely immune to heartbreak and the darkness that surrounds me. I've become content to just drifting until the end of time.

Something tugged at my hair. I recognized the kind touch, but couldn't quite identify whose it was. Someone was caressing my hair tenderly. The touch was so gentle, as if the person was afraid they were going to shatter me into a million pieces. I wasn't willing to be disturbed and kept my eyes closed.

"Isabel, dearest, wake and let me see your beautiful eyes," the person whispered.

The voice was eerily familiar. I know this woman. Her face was buried deep inside my memory. I have not been called Isabel in quite some time. No one was ever allowed to call me that but . . .

My eyes flew open, and I was instantly hit with a bright white light. I blinked several times to allow my eyes to grow accustomed to the surrounding light. Once my eyes were able to refocus, I found myself staring at the clear blue sky. It was the blue you rarely ever see in Forks, the blue I've missed so terribly.

I used my arms as levers to pull myself up off the ground. I was laying on a field of healthy green grass. The ground was not damp from recent rainfall; it was comfortably dry. I didn't quite recognize where I was. This was not in Forks. I suddenly noticed that I was wearing a short, white spaghetti-strapped dress that I didn't remember ever putting on.

I looked around me and spotted a woman sitting to my left. Her brown hair extended down to her waist in noticeable waves. She was wearing an identical dress to mine. She sat, unmoving, her hair dancing in the breeze.

"Who are you?" I asked walking cautiously toward her.

She giggled lightly and turned her head in my direction. My breath caught in my throat when I set eyes on her. I didn't believe what I was seeing. I couldn't possibly be seeing my dead mother. She was dead. Yet, here she sat.

"What's the matter? Don't tell me you've forgotten your mother already?" She teased with a smile.

She didn't look a day older than the time I last saw her. Except she had a healthy glow in her cheeks instead of the pale shade of white before she died. She was alive unlike the shell of a human that was left when the disease consumed her. This was truly my mother, from the sound of her voice to the gentle sense of humor.

"Mother," I called.

The word seemed foreign to me. I've gone so very long without her that seeing her now is like the first time I've ever seen her. She smiled at me and got up slowly. She beckoned me closer the way she used to when I needed comforting as a child. I ran over and hugged her tightly. She patted my back lightly and swayed me back and forth.

"Isabel, in your mother's arms, no matter how corrupt the world is, here always is the Garden of Eden," she whispered in my hair.

I remembered that every time I cried as a child, my mother would always whisper this to me. I always believed this was true. Even now when she spoke this, I felt safe again. The warmth and affection, that I took for granted as a child, enveloped me.

"My sweet child, the things you have gone through. Mother has failed you. I'm sorry for leaving such a burden behind," she continued. "I know you must be hurt and tired. I know you wish to give up."

She stopped swaying and began to caress my hair gently. Her words brought tears to my eyes. I did not know how tears were possible, but I was glad for them. I was glad to weep freely.

"Isabel, a girl's tears are very precious. They are medicine for our hearts, so you must never hold them back. I know it hurts, so cry until you run out of tears. But you must never give up your happiness. You can never let those who love you weep because of you. Your father will be very pained to know you have given up on life and on him."

Her tone was still very gentle, but I could hear the subtle scolding in her voice. She was angry at me, because I was running away.

I instantly regretted my decision. I began to see faces of those people who depended on me. The clearest one was Evelyn waiting by the window for her love's return. Her emotions were probably identical to mine, and she had no one to comfort her. I still had Alex to put up with my inconstant state. I dug my face deeper into my mother's shoulder to get the image out of my head.

"Isabel, I know you feel alone and helpless, but there is always someone who will never leave your side. Your father will never abandon you and neither will Alexander. And you must never allow yourself to believe your mother has abandoned you. I will always be next to you to share your moments of happiness and pain. Let those who care about you be your guides."

"Mother, I'm sorry."

I didn't know what else to say. I didn't know if there was still a road underneath my feet for me to keep going. But my mother's words brought my father's pained expression into my head. I knew I was all that he had as a comfort. Seeing his face, vulnerable and devastated, forced me to reevaluate everything. It seemed someone would always be hurt no matter what I chose.

"Shh. There is nothing to be sorry about."

My mother readjusted us so that I was conveniently laying with my head in her lap. She caressed my hair as I cried until I was exhausted. When my eyelids began to feel overwhelmingly heavy, I closed them. I drifted off listening to my mother singing my unusual childhood lullaby.

Whom have I love?

I broke down for a name.
The hand on the piano keys.

The beauty of the fingers.

I must forget.
The ghost of loneliness broke the past into thousands of pieces.
Love is in my heart.

Stay with me awhile longer.

Don't rush to fly.

You're my drop of tear.

How right we are together.
Love is one out of ten thousand chances.
Yet how I wasted love away.
You're my drop of tear.

Like the tears of the Aegean Sea.The future does not matter.
All I need is to remember your beauty, more precious than anything else.
All I need is to love you again.

But this, destiny forbids.

Before unconsciousness completely consumed me, I wanted to say something to my mother. A part of me knew I would not see her once I open my eyes again. Perhaps she is my body's last attempt to force my brain to continue survival. Perhaps this is a hallucination derived from extreme thirst. Either way, I wanted to say something to my mother before I never see her again.

"Mother, even if destiny forbids, father never stopped loving you."

Even if destiny forbids, my heart will never let him go. If my heart doesn't want to let go, then I can't. There is nothing more beautiful than forbidden love.

Author's Note: That song makes me cry every time I hear it. By the way, it is You're My Drop of Tear by Alec Su if anyone would like to know. Sadly, it is in Chinese so most people never bother to give it a chance. Enough of my efforts to pound some culture into my readers, thanks for reading and please leave a review or a question if you have one. Also forgive any grammar mistakes, I am without an editor.