Mai opened her eyes and looked all around her. She was in a strange yet pleasant place, apparently in the sky.
"Where am I?" she exclaimed.
At that moment, an aqua-haired woman with white, feathery wings appeared before her.
"Heaven," answered the woman, who was an angel.
"Heaven?" Mai repeated questioningly. "But..."
All of a sudden, everything came back to Mai. She and Andy had gone out on the town, celebrating their engagement. But while they were out a mysterious stranger wielding a sword tried to kill Andy. Mai bravely jumped between Andy and the assailant and took the blade to her own abdomen. This wound had since disappeared, Mai now noticed, but when she looked behind her, she saw that she had no wings.
"Am I dead?" Mai asked.
"Yes and no," replied the angel.
"What do you mean?"
"Mai, let me tell you that I, too, died for my beloved. However, I had spent most of my life involved in criminal activity. Still, within me I harbored a good heart; that alone spared me from eternal damnation. And from here, I can see that the one I died for has moved on. I am but a very faint memory to him now. And when his time comes, we will not be reunited, as he is destined to spend all of eternity with the one he marries. She is more of a kindred spirit to him than me."
Tears rolled down Mai's cheeks. "That's so sad."
"I know," said the angel. "Yet as much as I loved him, I realize that it wasn't meant to be. Nor was it meant that I should live long. I never thought about things like marriage and family the way you did, and I spent a lot of time feeling guilty. You, Mai, were the total opposite of me in that respect, and though it took him long enough to admit his true feelings, the man you gave your life for is the one you are destined to spend eternity with."
"Nobody would survive a blade to their stomach. But the fact that you took it for the sake of your beloved, well, that was just the very last of your numerous acts of love and loyalty. Therefore, you have been offered a second chance."
"I don't understand," said Mai.
"Mai, you have not been dead very long," replied the angel. "You can return to Earth and reunite your body and spirit, and return here when it is truly your time, which will not be for many, many years. That is why you lack wings as I have."
"But how will I..."
"I shall take you. Now, come and take my hand."
Mai obeyed, and the angel spread her wings and flew down to Earth with Mai. Unseen, they flew into the hospital, where they found a teary-eyed Andy embracing Mai's body.
"We must part here," said the angel. "Go, your love is waiting."
"But what about my fatal wound?" said Mai.
"Just believe," was all the angel said.
All of a sudden, Mai's body was surrounded by a white glow. This startled Andy, enough that he stopped crying and took a few steps back. When the light vanished, Mai slowly opened her eyes. Then she sat up, and looked under her sheet. She smiled when she discovered that her wound had completely healed, apparently by the hands of the angel, who had since flown back to Heaven. Mai then looked at Andy, who only stared in disbelief.
"What, no 'hello'?" said Mai, laughing. "You'll never change, Andy!"
"Mai," said Andy. "You're alive! But how?"
"Never mind that, you wouldn't understand," said Mai. "Nobody would. But what's it matter? We're back together now!"
Andy started crying again, this time from happiness. He slowly made his way over to his beloved. He then embraced her again, and kissed her lips.
Neither Andy nor Mai was aware that they were being watched. The angel who had helped Mai was looking down on the two lovers. She was smiling, yet couldn't help lamenting her own fate. All of a sudden, she heard a voice.
"Lily," said the voice, "you have done well. For this, you shall recieve a great reward."
"What would that be?" asked Lily.
"A happier life than the one you had before," was the answer. "You are to be reborn."
Lily began to shed her own tears of joy. "Thank you," she said.