"Huh? What's our son got to do with this?" Leo was still confused.
Tiana thought for a moment and said, "Jin… He's a lot like me in the past. Calm, silent, unsociable, and observant. I kept feeling that there's something amazing about him, like he's living in a different world than us."
Leo confusedly asked, "I get what you mean. Of course, he's our son so he's amazing but–"
"I know what you're trying to say. Yes, like me, he was born with no energy core and circuits. I also can't quite put my finger in it. Let's just say that it's my mother's intuition." Tiana said as she smiled mysteriously.
The couple talked for hours straight until Tiana began to breathe weaker and weaker as time passed by.
Creak~
Startled, both of them turned towards the door and saw their son standing, looking at them silently with tears running down his cheeks.
"Mom, I'll miss you." Jin said as he slowly walked towards them.
He changed the way he called his parents and changed the way he acted. All because he knew that he wouldn't be able to act like this towards them in the future.
Jin cried harder as she looked at his mother's aura that was almost engulfed by the black particles.
The husband and wife stared wide-eyed at their son.
Tiana hugged Jin softly and asked, "How did you know, son?"
"I can see it, Mom." Jin hugged his mother tighter as he replied.
Both Leo and Tiana were confused.
"See what, son?" It was Leo who asked this time.
"The mana in the surroundings. As well as how your aura is being corroded by black energy…" Jin started crying softly as he hugged his mother.
On the other hand, Leo and Tiana were flabbergasted at their son's words.
Tiana giggled as she caressed her son's head, "I was mistaken. You're more outstanding than I thought."
She looked at her husband proudly, as if to say "I told you so". Leo feigned a defeated expression, earning him a laugh from his wife.
"Mom, awe you weally weaving."
The three of them were startled as they saw Tanya rushing towards them while crying hard.
Seeing them crying, Leo couldn't take it anymore and also cried.
The whole family cried hard as they did their last…
"Gwoup hug!!!"
Tanya shouted as she cried.
* * *
After a long while, Tiana stopped breathing.
She left with a happy smile on her face while in her family's embrace
Her husband and children couldn't stop crying until a few hours later.
* * *
The next day…
Leo left early in order to manage everything regarding his wife's funeral.
Jin and Tanya were sitting silently beside each other in the living room.
Grooo~
Jin turned to look at his little sister.
Tanya, whose eyes were still puffy due to crying, was holding her tummy as she looked at her brother.
Jin laughed softly and got up, "I'll cook something for you."
"Bwother, you know how to cook?" Tanya asked curiously.
"Of course, unlike you, who's always playing outside, I'm helping with house chores." Jin replied with a mocking expression.
Tanya pouted in anger.
Jin pinched his little sister's cheeks before getting to work.
He got bread, potatoes, milk and some vegetables.
Jin looked at the available ingredients before deciding on a dish.
He placed a pot on the stove and heated up a certain amount of oil in it before chopping onions and mincing garlic to add in it.
The aroma of garlic and onion permeated in Tanya's nose which made her gulp her saliva subconsciously.
She watched her brother cook as if he was familiar with it already. In fact, it looked like her brother was someone who had several years in cooking.
Jin followed the recipe in his mind strictly and after about 30 minutes, he was done.
He cooked a simple potato stew with milk. Then he removed the pot from the stove.
Looking at his little sister who's already salivating, Jin laughed and said, "Stop drooling and just wait a minute, I still need to cook something."
Hearing her brother's teasing, Tanya pouted and said, "I'm not hungwy anyway!"
Grooo~
The siblings silently stared at each other.
Tanya's face heated up as Jin giggled and got back to work. He sliced the loaf of bread in equal slices, neither thick nor thin, and grabbed a pan.
He turned the stove on again and added butter after heating the pan a bit.
Jin was able to make simple toasted bread in just a few minutes.
Wiping his hands with a towel, he said, "Alright, I'm finished now. Let's eat!"
Tanya smiled brightly and nodded.
As she dipped the toasted bread in the stew and took a bite on it, she suddenly fell silent.
Jin noticed this and asked worriedly, "What's wrong? Is it too salty?"
"Mm-mhm." Tanya shook her head. She swallowed the bread and spoke, "It's pewfect, Bwother. It's just wike Mom's!"
Jin looked at his sister who's crying while smiling brightly as she ate.
He then smiled and ate with his sister.
When Leo returned home that night, he was flabbergasted at the meal that his son cooked.
* * *
One year later…
Leo, Jin and Tanya were inside the praying room in their house.
There was still the sculpture of a beautiful woman and the sun behind her back.
However, one could also see an urn beside the sculpture.
It was Tiana's ashes. Leo said to Jin and Tanya that their mother had requested for her corpse to be cremated when she died.
Therefore, he did what she requested of him.
Jin and Tanya were just happy to at least have their mother in the house with them.
As for ghosts, they even wished that she would visit them.
The three of them knelt in front of the statue and prayed with their heads lowered, wishing that Tiana was in a happy place.
Although it had been a year since her departure, the three still felt as if it was yesterday.