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Chapter 134 ~ A Dream?

“...Karen?”

“Mom...!”

Tears quickly streamed down her cheeks as Karen leaped towards her mother, wrapping her arms around her waist. 

Cries and sobbing filled the hospital room as Karen hugged her mother tightly for the first time in years.

Streams of apologies accompanied her sobs as she buried her face to her mother’s stomach, like a child clinging onto her mother in tears.

“Mom… I’m sorry… I’m sorry for treating you so badly… Even though I know how hard it must’ve been… I’m so sorry…”

“Karen…”

Karen’s mother lifted up her arms, about to wrap her arms around her. But she froze midway…

“Ah… Is this… A dream… Am I… Hallucinating again…?”

A sense of disappointment, apprehension, and sadness filled her heart. 

If she were to hold her… Would she realize that it was all a hallucination…? Would her arms go through her daughter…? Or would she disappear and wake her up from this dream…?

She was afraid… She was genuinely afraid of waking up from this dream. 

It felt so real… So vivid… She could even feel her dear daughter’s warmth. It was the realest dream she had ever had… Even Refrain couldn’t give her such vivid dreams.

What if she woke up from such a wonderful dream and returned to her painful reality…? 

Her heart raced in fear… Her breath became heavy and labored. 

She didn’t want to return to reality now… She did not want to part with her daughter.

But in the end, she gave in. She… She had missed her daughter too much to not hold her in her arms.

If it was a dream… At least give her a fraction of a second to feel her daughter’s warmth in her hand. 

If she could… it would give her the energy and will to live on a little longer and watch over her. 

Slowly, and shakingly, she wrapped her arms around her daughter, pulling her into her embrace. 

And with a heavy sigh, relief filled her heart when she could feel her warmth and not wake up from this wonderful dream. 

“Ahh… It feels so real…” 

Truly… What a wonderful and incredible dream.

It felt… even more realistic than how she fantasized hugging her grown up daughter would be.

The last time she had embraced her… It was when she was still just a little thing. And since then, she had been imagining how it would feel like to hug her daughter in her arms when she had grown up as she watched her from afar. 

She had grown into such a beautiful, young woman. A strong, independent woman she couldn’t be more proud of. 

It was an unfamiliar sensation. But… It felt right. 

Finally… even if this was a dream… She could embrace her dear daughter in her arms. 

For so many years… She had only been able to watch her from afar. Praying she would lead a happy, plentiful life. Praying she would find a man who would love her dearly. Praying she would live a life unlike hers. 

As long as she could watch her precious little daughter live in happiness, she was content. Even if she had to depend on a drug like Refrain to keep her sanity for just a bit longer. It was all worth it. 

All she hoped for… was that her body and mind would hold on at least until she could see her daughter walk down the aisle with an amazing man who loved her and treasured her even half as much as she does. And perhaps… even lived to see her grandchild. 

She wouldn’t dare hope for something more like walking her down the aisle as her mother or holding her grandchild. After all, the pain and disappointment of even hoping for such an impossible dream would most likely push her over the edge.

But now… Even if it was a dream, her daughter was here… In her embrace. 

Her arms, which she thought could only be useful to make sure her daughter could live in a clean room comfortably, were now embracing her, just like how she used to. 

Tears slowly fell down the corner of her eyes… And it continued flowing down into a never ending stream.

At this moment… For the first time in years, Akane Kozuki burst into tears before her daughter. 

“Aahh… Thank you…”

Her trembling lips curled into a smile as she leaned down and rested her face on Karen’s head, kissing it and rubbing her head, just like how she used to every night to help her sleep. 

The scent of her hair, of her dear daughter, entered her nose, and the nostalgia brought her into tears even more. 

It was really Karen. Her dear daughter.

“Thank you… Thank you for showing me this dream… Thank you…”

The tears she had only shed when she was alone in the small, dark, servant chamber within the Stadfeld mansion at night… 

All the pain and sadness she had endured ever since her son’s death, her separation from her husband, and the living hell she suffered under Mrs. Stadfeld. All just to be by her daughter’s side… 

Everything simply burst through the damn she had built painstakingly in her heart to protect herself from the harshness of reality. 

For the first time in so long, Akane Kozuki could finally hold her dear daughter tightly, using every ounce of strength she could muster from within her feeble arms to hold onto her dearly, as if it was the last time she could hold her. 

“God… Please… Just a little more… Just give me a bit more time… I know I need to wake up early to start doing the laundry… But please… God… Just a little more… Please… Don’t let me wake up from this dream…”

“Mom… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…!”

Karen hugged her mother tightly before pushing herself away from her mother’s embrace and held her shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes, and shook her awake.

“This is not a dream, mom…! I’m here…! I’m sorry…! I’m sorry for ignoring you…! I’m sorry for all the cruel things I’ve done to you… I… I love you… Mom…”

“Eh…? Karen…?”

Akane froze in shock as her eyes now finally focused on the crying figure of her daughter before her.

Her hands slowly lifted up towards Karen’s face, trembling. And when she cupped her face, Karen placed her hand on top of hers and leaned on her mother’s hands.

“It’s you…? Is this… real…?”

This warmth… This sensation of her daughter’s smooth skin on her rough, calloused hands. 

This was… real?

“Yes! I’m really here…! Mom… I’m here… I’m home… And I will never… leave your side… ever again…”

Karen wrapped her arms around her mother once more and held her tightly. And slowly, Akane began wrapping her arms around her daughter as well. 

“Ah… Karen…”

The fear of this bliss being a dream and waking up to the harsh reality had not disappeared completely. 

After all… This was simply too good to be true. 

However… if this was real… Thens she wouldn’t want to miss this chance. 

Akane held her dear daughter tightly, even more tightly now, and said the words she had been yearning to tell her. 

“Ahh… My dear daughter… I’ve missed you… So much… You’ve grown up so well… You’re so beautiful… I’m so proud of you…”

If this was reality… Then the heavens must’ve finally rewarded her for enduring all the hell she had to suffer all these years. 

“I’m sorry for not being able to be a good mother to you… I did my best, Karen… But all I can do… Was watch over you from afar… I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so much… I love you, Karen…”

“Mom… I’ve missed you too…! I love you too, mom…!”

She will not let her go ever again… Not now after she had finally had her in her embrace once again.

This time… They will not let anyone separate them from each other ever again.

Yuuji watched silently with a smile gracing his lips as the mother and daughter, who had been separated for years by the death of a loved one and circumstances, finally reunited in each other’s arms. 

And silently, using his gravity magic to create a vacuum of space around him to block all sounds he’d make, Yuuji slowly made his way out of the hospital room and gave his beloved and her mother the privacy they deserved. 

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

Yuuji waited in the lobby of the hospital, attracting interested gazes, longing looks, and charmed stares as usual. 

It had been an hour since he left Karen and her mother to their own privacy. Meanwhile, he had been working on “Ai”, his Artificial intelligence program which was essentially the dream AI program that could only exist in fiction. 

An AI with the emotional intelligence and expression infinitely close to a real human, yet with the intelligence and capabilities surpassing that of any existing advanced technology.

It was a technology that shouldn't have existed in worlds such as his, Lelouch, or any members of the group chat. And he was only able to accomplish this thanks to his Programming Proficiency, his MCGX Supercomputer, and the blueprint for the super advanced AI he bought from the Group Chat Shop. 

He was very excited to finally complete it and meet “Ai” for the first time. But just as he was typing away on his keyboard, his phone rang. 

“Hello.”

[“*Sniff* Yuuji… Where are you…?”]

The sound of sniffing and the clogged voice of Karen resounded from the other side of the phone.

“I’m in the lobby. I thought to give you and your mom privacy for a bit.”

[“I see… Thank you… Uhm… Can you come here…? We still need to talk about that.”]

“Of course. I’ll be right there.”

[“Uhn…”]

Yuuji closed his phone, put the supercomputer back into his <Inventory>>, and made his way back to the hospital room Karen’s mother was in. 

Upon arriving, Yuuji knocked on the door and announced his arrival. 

“Karen, it’s me.”

“U-Uhn! C-Come in.”

“Please excuse me.”

Yuuji opened the door and entered. 

Just like before, a beautiful woman sat on the hospital bed before him. But this time, Karen was also there with her as they held each other’s hand tightly. 

Her eyes no longer held the dullness of a dead fish’s eyes. They were shimmering brightly, full of life, hope, and happiness. Tear marks streamed down the side of her face, but she looked much more vibrant than before. 

She looked like a completely different person. And the sight brought a smile to Yuuji’s face. 

Upon seeing him, Akane froze with her eyes wide open and her jaws slackened. 

Like someone who had just witnessed a breathtaking view of nature or seeing something for the first time she never knew she loved, Akane looked at the most handsome man she had ever seen in her entire life in disbelief. 

“K-K-Karen… I-I-is this… really him…? Is he the one you’re talking about…?”

Akane whispered to her daughter’s ears in disbelief. And when Karen nodded her head shyly with a huge blush on her cheeks, Akane became even more surprised.

While Karen was telling her about Yuuji and how they became a couple, she was imagining a nice half-Japanese boy with slightly above average appearance who transferred into Ashford academy. 

Judging by how this “Yuuji” got along with everyone, even the Britannian students, and was very popular, Akane thought he might even have quite the stunning looks in addition to his strong character and moral principles. 

But this… This is beyond her wildest imagination…!

How…?! Wait no… Perhaps… This was to be expected…! Her daughter was so beautiful on the outside and inside that even a young man with such a level of appearance fell in love with her!!!

Upon seeing Karen’s adorable gesture, Yuuji’s lips curled into a dazzling smile, charming the mature lady and mother of two who sat on the hospital bed with her daughter’s hands still held in hers. 

Then with an elegant and respectful bow, Yuuji introduced himself to his future mother-in-law. 

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Ms. Kozuki. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tsubakihara Yuuji, and I have the pleasure to date you dear daughter, Karen. I’m pleased to see you have recovered.”

“...”