Chapter 15: Forgiveness Lies Within

Mei's POV

I was back at the astral realm but neither my mom nor my maternal relatives are with me.

"Mom? Mom!" I called out as I looked around, trying to find her.

After running around, I heard sobbing coming from somewhere.

I followed the sound to see who was crying and where it was coming from. When I looked, I saw a teenage girl on her knees, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed. She had long red hair like mine, glasses, and a nice blue outfit on; she was very pretty. But why was she crying?

"Are you okay? We have to-" I started but then the girl looked up at us with tears in her eyes, and I recognized her. This was Mom's past self! Somehow, she had turned back into when she was a teenager.

"Mom?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault," Mom sobbed.

"What happened?" I questioned as I kneeled down next to her.

"I-I hurt her," she responded through tears.

"Who?" I asked again.

"My mum!" Mom cried, "I got so angry and I-I lost control! I'm just so sick of being perfect! I'm never gonna be good enough for her. Or anyone!"

That's when I realized that Mom was just like me when she was my age. Grandma was strict and pressured her to be perfect until Mom cracked. She must've gotten that trait from her. I felt so sorry for her! I stroked a bit of her hair behind her ear as she continued to cry. She looked up at me sadly.

"I know it feels that way," I told her as I put my hand on Mom's shoulder to comfort her, "Like, all the time. But... it isn't true."

I stood up and Mom took my hand. The two of us walked through the forest, with me guiding her to Sun Yee. Mysteriously, the more we walked, Mom grew up until she was back to her current age. Although, the tears in her eyes didn't disappear and she still seemed upset. Eventually, the three of us reached the clearing of the forest where the rest of our relatives were, bickering about when we would arrive. Just like us, they all had bright red hair. When they noticed us, all of the aunts started commanding us over the top of each other's voices.

"Ladies," Grandma said, silencing them.

Mom saw her and just looked down to the floor. But then unexpectedly, Grandma Wu gave her a massive hug.

"I'm sorry," Mom apologized.

"Shh!" Grandma Wu hushed, "You don't have to apologize. I'm your mother."

It became clear to me that Grandma had already forgiven Mom all these years ago.

She then looked down at me.

"May Sun Yee guide you two and keep you safe," she wished while giving me a warm smile, "One at a time, ladies. And quickly."

All of my relatives lined up at the portal.

"So that's it? Mei-Mei's keeping the panda?" Auntie Chen asked.

"It's her life, now move," Helen instructed.

All of the relatives walked through the portal as their panda spirits left behind them. Hesitating a bit at first, Grandma Wu walked through as well. Once they were all through, me and Mom stepped forward, hand-in-hand, and I gestured for her to go through.

"Go ahead, it's okay," I smiled.

After taking a deep breath, Mom walked through to the side, her panda spirit leaving her. It looked at me with remorseful eyes before ventured into the forest

"No, Mei-Mei, please, just come with me," she instructed from the other side in the portal. I just shook my head 'no' in response.

"I'm changing, Mom," I explained, "I'm finally figuring out who I am. But... I'm scared it'll take us away from you."

"Me too," Mom sighed, "I see you, Mei-Mei. You try to make everyone happy but are so hard on yourselves. And if I taught you that... I'm sorry. So, don't hold back. For anyone."

I smiled as Mom put her hands on the portal wall. I put our hand on hers.

"The farther you go, the prouder I'll be," she told us as the portal faded and she disappeared.

Once Mom was gone, I glanced up at the now fully white moon, knowing that I would officially keep my red panda spirit forever now that I have accepted it as a part of me. When I turned around, I saw Sun Yee giving me a warm smile.

"I'm not gonna regret this, am I?" I questioned, worried that she would be unhappy. Sun Yee grinned and floated towards me, both of us poofing into red pandas. Sun Yee scooped me into her arms as the two of us floated to the sky and faced the moon. The two of us touched each other's noses and, after that, it was all over.