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Miriha watched with a tender heart as Jenny faded from her view, back to her body and the waiting arms of her true love. From across the garden she heard the sobs of the one she had been expecting.
She found her in a heap in an alcove surrounded by blossoming trees. She had resumed her Sam persona, and Miriha felt that this would be the form she chose from now on. Tall and a bit lanky with a cap of auburn curls, she lay on the grass shaking and shivering as if from intense cold.
Miriha knew that this would pass, but for now, she was where she needed to be as she transitioned to the next stage in her progression. She went to her and knelt beside her, laying one hand on her back that shook with sobs. This was a good thing. Crying often released negative energy and cleared the way for eventual joy.
Sam looked up at her, her face streaked with tears.
“Who are you? Where am I?” It was a plea, as if from a small child lost in an unfamiliar place.
“I am Miriha and you are in my garden.”
“But I died! I intended to die! I want to forget forever!”
“Yes, you died. But death is such a subjective thing. In the mortal stage of our existence, we can only see it from one side. But the end of life from the standpoint of mortality is an illusion and you are not finished, Sam.”
“How do you know my name? And I do want to be finished! I do! I don’t want to remember all of the terrible things I did. The whole idea was to finish Gall and pay for my life choices. How could anyone ever forgive me for any of this? There is no future for me but the torture of knowing what I have done and cannot take back.”
“Ah, Sam, I know it is all hard to take in, but the pain will pass. You have much to learn and I have been chosen to be your guide and mentor as you move on. Your final act was that of ultimate repentance, and because of you, the Alliance has bettered their chances to rid the multiverse of evil. For now, come with me. We will walk in the garden and chat for a bit. Then I have something to show you that will make you feel somewhat better.”
So, they walked, Sam asking her questions and Miriha answering those she could. As they did so, a growing warmth and peace began to surround them both.
In Miriha’s garden time passed differently than in other places in the multiverse, sometimes running faster and sometimes slower as need required.
As they talked, understanding began to dawn in Sam’s eyes. Miriha could see the pain beginning to recede. Miriha explained to her that, although her intentions had not been benign, that much of what she had done had strengthened Jenny and taught her many valuable lessons. It didn’t lessen the wrongness of her actions, but that in the scope of what was happening, her actions had been expected.
She would yet have to come to terms with much of what she had chosen to do, but Miriha had explained that such repentance was not only possible but encouraged. She had been born into an environment that had taught her incorrect principles, but in the end her desires had been for redemption and that was one desire that was always honored.
Miriha explained to her that she still had a long road ahead of her, but if she chose to, she could change the trajectory of her path and arrive in a much better place as a much better person.
Sam did not argue. She asked respectful questions, and Miriha knew she was being genuine. No one could successfully lie to her or to themselves in this place.
Finally, she led Sam to the little stone bench by the crystal pool.
“Time has passed in the existence you knew before you came here. More time than you can understand until you have mastered the concept that time isn’t what you’ve been taught by previous experience. I want to show you something that may bring you peace.”
She gestured for Sam to sit beside her.
“You will be seeing this through another’s eyes. You will not be able to hear their thoughts, but you will hear and see everything they hear and see. This experience is crucial to your healing.”
Sam simply nodded and turned to look into the pool.
She was in Jenny’s backyard, arranging some flowers beside a trellis covered in blossoms. Beyond the trellis was a grassy space in front of a small dais. Behind her was the patio and as she turned she noted the black cat dabbling his paw in the koi pond with his two new kitty friends. She smiled and walked through the French doors, past the dining room and down the hall to Jenny’s bedroom.
Jenny stood before a long mirror as her older sister fussed with the arrangement of the short train behind a simple but elegant wedding gown.
“I believe I have never seen you look so beautiful!” and, hearing the familiar voice, Sam recognized that the person she was “riding along with” was Jenny’s mom. She had met her many times in the past and had found herself guiltily wishing that she had been her own mom.
As she stood just behind Jenny’s shoulder looking at her daughter in the mirror, Sam saw that she had aged somewhat since the last time Sam had visited with Jenny during their college days.
“Oh mom! You have to say that. I don’t see much difference.” Jenny’s hair was slightly shorter than she usually wore it, but the frame of honey colored curls suited her face. There was definitely something different about her, something Sam couldn’t quite put her finger on. Not somber, but not as light-hearted as she had been.
“Well, you ARE beautiful, right Sara?”
The sister who Sam had only met once before, grinned. “No, mom, Jenny’s right. You DO have to say that, but she is more than beautiful. She has the proper glow for a bride to be and she looks regal, in my humble opinion, as official big sister and maid of honor.”
“Does George have the groom well in hand? I understand that he and your dad are giving the groom ‘The Talk’.” And she chuckled at this.
“Big brother has him properly cowed, I think, although that one seems like a guy who is not easily intimidated. Besides, I like him. I think Jenny made a good choice.”
Jenny blushed. “Can you two stop talking about me as if I wasn’t here?”
Her mom and sister laughed uproariously.
Jenny twitched the skirt of her gown and turned to face them, “How much longer?”
“Well, considering that you only invited a few, who should be arriving any minute now, we should be able to start in about fifteen minutes.”
Jenny turned back to the mirror. It amused Sam that she was spending so much care on her appearance. The Jenny she knew despised mirrors, only looking into one long enough to check her hair or brush her teeth before running out the door.
The doorbell rang. Jenny’s mom opened the door to see a group of people led by Bob. “Ah Bob! Welcome. Come in! You must introduce me to your friends.”
Bob was dressed in a suit and tie, and the rest were also dressed for a wedding.
“Donna, these are Jenny’s friends from her work. This is Lova, Brendan, Mervin, Xao Ting, Adelle, Dhakira, Juan, Luz, Aliki, Leland, Mustapha, Leonora, Megan and Arvid,” he said, pointing to each as he introduced them.
“It is so nice to meet you all. Please follow me to the backyard. We didn’t have a big enough wedding party to have ushers, so I guess I get the honor.
They all followed her to the folding chairs arranged in a semi-circle around the trellis arch. As they were seated, she turned the wedding prelude music playlist on, and the doorbell rang again. She bustled to the front door. It was the minister here to perform the ceremony.
Donna went to the guest room that doubled as Jenny’s home office. George, Ed, and Burt were all standing there chatting quietly.
“It’s time,” she said. “The minister is here. George and Burt need to go out to take their places by him. Ed, come with me to get your daughter.”
The three men nodded obediently. Sam knew that Donna was the organizer in Jenny’s family, and she could be firm when the situation required it.
Ed put his arm around his wife and the two of them went to Jenny’s room. “Get ready to lead them out as soon as the wedding march begins to play. Jenny, grab your father’s arm. It’s time.”
She then hustled out to sit in the chairs reserved for her and her husband and on her way pushed the button that would play the wedding march. Burt and George were standing on either side of the minister who stood on the dais. Neither looked nervous. Weren’t new grooms supposed to look nervous?
As the march began to play all of the guests stood and turned toward the French doors. First came Sara, then Jenny two paces behind, clutching the arm of her grinning father and looking amazing.
As they arrived where Burt was standing, looking in awe at Jenny, Ed placed Jenny’s hand in Burt’s and retreated to stand beside his wife. The minister gave the signal for them to be seated.
The ceremony was simple, and when the two of them turned to one another to exchange rings, Sam found tears running down her face. As best friend, Sam would have been the one holding Jenny’s bouquet, but it seemed appropriate that the brother and sister who had spent so little time with Jenny when she was little could have this honor.
Then, as the minister pronounced the final words, “I now pronounce you man and wife,” something strange happened. The effect was entrancing. Suddenly the scene zoomed to Jenny’s and Burt’s faces, looking raptly into one another’s eyes. This portrait began to multiply behind them in an infinity mirror effect reproducing over and over again, getting smaller and smaller until it became impossible to see the details, then it was gone and once again she was peering through a cloud of tears into the calm little crystal pool.
“Eternity is more than an illusion of the imagination,” Miriha said, putting her arms around Sam’s shaking shoulders. “There is still much in their future and in yours. Let us begin.”
