3 Cure

Almost all of my paints were dried up, maybe because it's been a year since I last used them. I only had green, red, white, and blue. I had to mix green and red to get yellow.

Then blue and red for purple. For brown, I mixed red, blue, and yellow. Lastly, red and white for pink. Fortunately, it was enough for my canvas, so I painted continuously.

Time didn't matter; I just wanted to finish this piece as soon as I could so I could show it to Galene. I wanted to show her how her effort looks in my eyes. That garden was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

--

After finishing the painting, I felt my heart jump with joy. I finally did it. I finally finished my promise to Galene.

And most importantly, I don't feel any tremors. When all of that settled in my mind, I began to feel the weight on my shoulders lift. Am I finally getting better? Can I paint again? Should I look for inspiration in my dreams?

Thoughts kept flooding into my mind; I was so excited. I paced back and forth in my room as I thought of what I could do to not make those tremors appear again.

My stomach grumbled, which made me stop walking. I laughed and shook my head.

I've been here as soon as I woke up; I didn't have time for breakfast.

I went downstairs and boiled some water for my cup noodles. I looked at the wall clock and saw that it was already 8:27 pm. I've been there for 13 hours??

I ran towards the bathroom and took a quick bath. I put on a black shirt and my grey sweatpants, and then I hurriedly ate my food after. I didn't want my time with Galene to shorten.

After eating, I waited for a few minutes to make sure I didn't get indigestion or 'nightmares' when I slept. I think I did all those things for about an hour.

Finally, I laid down in bed and slept while holding the canvas I painted on, thinking that I might be able to bring it to her like this.

But I was wrong. The moment I entered the tunnel of light, I was already empty handed. My heart dropped. How can I show her? I know that she said that she'd tell me how to do it, but I wanted to surprise her.

"Azi!" She was running towards me and waving her hand in the air.

Her smile was contagious, as it always has been. I smiled back at her.

"Hey," I said when she was already in front of me.

Yesterday, she was wearing a yellow dress. Today it's pink.

"So, how did it go? Did you do it?" She inquired, excitedly.

"Yeah, but-" I looked down at my hands.

"I couldn't do it alone."I was trying to surprise you with it because I finished it in one day, but—"

"Don't worry, I didn't even see your painting yet! Just let that be your surprise." She assured

That's right. I'm overthinking this.

"Okay, now you need to use your imagination."

"What do you mean?"

"Imagine how the place where you put the painting looks. As soon as you do, we can go there!"

I paused. Wait. If I imagined the place where the painting is... W-would she see me hugging the painting in my room??? Fuck, I look insanely stupid when I'm sleeping.

"What's wrong?" She asked worriedly

I could feel my face burning up. How should I tell her?

"W-well, it was in my room. I-I was, um, I-"

She giggled and patted my shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. If you're worried about how you look in your sleep, I won't be able to see it. Your imagination will bring us to the place, AND we're only allowed to see material things."

"You really get me." I stated, amused.

"Like I said, you're easy to read."

We chuckled lightly after that.

"Okay, now I'll imagine my room."

As soon as I started imagining my room, the beautiful hill vanished and was slowly replaced by my room.

"Woah." I uttered

"Cool, right?" she said as she approached my bed.

The painting was on top of my bed, where I was sleeping. She was about to pick up the canvas, but I grabbed her hand.

"Wait!"

She looked at me; it was evident that she was startled, but she tried her best to compose herself.

"What?" she asked.

"I haven't painted in so long, so it'll probably look crappy in your eyes."

She then brushed my hand off hers lightly before smiling at me.

"This is your work. I am confident that this is the best painting to ever exist." She said this while picking up the painting.

She stared at it for a few minutes. I was peeking at her from time to time to see how she'd react, but she didn't have any emotion on her face. I looked down at my hands as I interlocked them out of nervousness.

"S-so?" I asked.

"Aziel." She softly called my name.

I looked up and saw that she was crying. I was just about to say something, but she suddenly ran towards me and hugged me.

It was so tight that I didn't know what to do or feel. She didn't say anything after that. I patted her back while she cried continuously in my arms.

After a few minutes, she let go and wiped her tears.

"I'm sorry for soaking your clothes with my tears. I was just so touched that you saw my garden this way. I was really trying my best to beautify it." She said, returning her gaze to the painting.

"That isn't enough since you cured my hand tremors. I'll paint you anything you want. Is there something that you want?" I answered.

She stayed silent for a while.

"Paint me an amusement park. The theme park near Laestra's street. The one they call Serendipity."

"The theme park with the water fountain in the middle?"

"Yes. The fountain surrounded by red flowers, the stalls of food, the Ferris wheel that lights up at night, the rollercoaster as high as a mountain, the bump cars near the entrance, the souvenir shop, and everything else." She was talking too fast.

It was as if she was relieving all her memories.

"Have you-"

She fixed her gaze on me.Her eyes were sparkling, and I lost my words for a second.

"H-have you ever lived before?"

She stiffened at my question, and her eyes wavered. She looked scared for some reason.

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"You can't ask me that." She said.

"Not yet," she added.

"Why?"

"We need more time."

That response made me wonder what she truly meant. But I couldn't find the strength to pry more, so I just nodded as a response.

She took a deep breath and walked towards me.

"Let's just stay like this for a long time, okay?" She uttered

I nodded once again, afraid that I might say the wrong thing.

"I'll be waiting for you." She said and covered my eyes with her hands

She was probably tiptoeing, since I was quite taller than her.

"It's time to wake up."

She kissed my cheek, and I was woken up by the sound of my alarm.

WHAT HAPPENED?