Chapter 488: It’s just the first step
I opened my eyes to a familiar darkness.
This time, I did not forget about it. Instead, I felt a strong sense of nostalgia. Ah, it had been a long time since I visited this place. Without even needing to concentrate, I took an invisible path toward a pulsing cocoon at the end of the road. There, as if waiting for me, was the soul of my child.
I hastened my step and held the cocoon. The center was pulsing even harder than before, like a heart beating. It glowed in subtle iridescent light, just like the core I had made earlier.
"Shwa?" I stroked the cocoon, which looked like the bulb of a flower. Faintly, I could see blue and green lines running through the surface, like blood vessels.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear any answer; just the pulsing cocoon that told me my child was still there.
Ah, could it be that Shwa could no longer talk to me now that a physical body had formed inside the bulb?
As I thought it, the pulse was beating a tad bit harder, as if giving me an affirmation.
"Alright," I hugged the cocoon closer and rubbed my cheek on its surface. "Is this your way of seeing me for the last time before you are born?"
Another hard pulse, along with a soft vibration. I knew this vibration--of course, I would recognize my child no matter what.
"Okay, good child," I caressed the cocoon and cradled it for a bit in my embrace.
After I woke up from this dream, I wouldn’t be able to hold Shwa until the flower was fully bloomed and our child emerged from it. And even then, the soul’s memory would regress and it would take even more to be able to hear that soft ’papa’ again. In that case, I would use as much time as I could to enjoy the warmth and the soft beating of this cocoon.