Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"Mother~!"

"My child~!"

Hannah and Liz wept on each other's shoulders for a long time before either decided to check on Alex who had slumped on the bed with a look of relief on his face.

Liz quickly pulled him back up. "Alex, are you alright?"

Alex nodded. "I'm fi—"

"Alex!" Hannah shouted and took her younger cousin into a hug. "Thank you," she cried out. "Thank you so much."

Alex paused for a second before a smile formed on his face and he returned the hug. Tears slowly dripped the side of his face as well. "I'm happy… I'm happy that you're finally healed, sister. I'm happy I didn't fail."

"You didn't," Hannah said, a smile forming on her face. She let go of Alex and wiped her tears before giving a wide smile.

Then, she started looking around the room, at the two people, at herself. She could finally see. She could finally hear. There were so many small smells in the air that she had never noticed. Even her breathing got so much better.

"I'm… really healed," Hannah said as she took a moment to fully take in the information. She sat on the bed, remembering the time from the past, all before she had been injured and poisoned.

She let out a deep sigh of relief and the smile returned on her face. She looked up.

"Where is my Huan?" Hannah asked.

Liz immediately frowned and put on a slightly annoyed look. "Do you still want to see him?" she asked. "Even after all that he put you through?"

"Mother," Hannah spoke. "What are you talking about? I'm not the only one who suffered all these years. Huan has been suffering along with me as well."

"He suffered nothing. You're the one that was poisoned. Nothing happened to him," Liz sharply replied.

"No, but he's been with me at every step. What do you think would've happened to me if he left me after I was injured? He could've done that and he would've been burden free. Instead, he's been helping me all this time."

"You don't know how much he suffered for me, mother. He went around looking for a cure for my problem. Every day he would go out looking for pills to feed me, even when he knew there would be people out looking for him. It was because of him that I survived all this time."

"For 70 years he did that, mother. 70," Hannah finished.

Liz's face turned gloomy and she looked down. "I'm just angry that because of him my daughter had to suffer. He put you in danger, and I won't forgive him for it."

"Then don't, mother," Hannah said. "But please remember that he helped me too. And I love him. Even if you don't care about him, care about your daughter's feelings."

Liz grumbled something under her breath. "Fine!" she finally spoke out loud. "I won't trouble him anymore."

Hannah let out a sigh of relief she had been holding back, before realizing something. "Have you been troubling him?" she asked.

"N-no," Liz said quickly before turning toward Alex who was trying to hide a smile. "What are you looking at? Shouldn't you let the others know about the good news? Your parents and the others will want to hear this."

"Right!" Alex left the room to tell the others the good news.

Within minutes, Liz's room became lively.

Graham, Helen, Ronron, Alex's clone, and Emily gathered in the room, along with a few elders who had come to congratulate everyone.

Helen took Hannah into her embrace and cried as though she had been returned her own daughter. "I'm so happy, Hannah. You're finally healed," she cried out.

"I'm so happy to finally see you, Aunt Helen," Hannah said while she cried as well. "And you too, uncle."

"I'm happy too, my child," Graham said while wiping the few tears that had wet his eyes.

"Sister…" the older Alex said, unable to hide his tears at all. He walked forward and grabbed Hannah's hands, placing his forehead on them.

Hannah slowly smiled. "I didn't believe it at first, but it seems it truly is," she said as she turned toward the real Alex. "You truly do have a clone."

"I'm still me, sister," the clone Alex said.

Hannah took him into an embrace. "Yes, you are."

The older Alex cried for much longer than the others did. He was the only one who had truly lost her as the clone Hannah, the only one he thought existed, had died for him.

So, seeing Hannah come back to life again was almost as momentous as seeing his mother and father again.

Emily was happy too. She had spent her university days living with Hannah, and then later met her more after marrying Alex.

She had been sad to lose Hannah as well, so seeing her alive filled her with tears.

Hannah looked around the room and her eyes fell on Ronron. "Is that you, Ronron?" she asked. She had only known the young girl by touch since her arrival and had been wanting to meet her.

Now, she finally got to see her.

"Aunt Hannah," she called out.

Hannah coughed a little. "A-aunt… right. Um, I don't think I'm going to get used to that anytime soon," she said. "Come here, Ronron."

Ronron walked up to Hannah.

"Ah, what pretty eyes you have," Hannah said. She cupped Ronron's face with her two palms and pulled her close to kiss her on the forehead. "I would've loved to meet you while you were young. You're already a young lady."

Ronron gave a small smile.

Hannah then looked around and frowned a little. "Where is my Huan?" she asked.

Liz sighed. "He's afraid of me," she said and turned toward the door. "You can come in."

Long Huan poked his head in through the door and looked inside finally. He was about to question if he had been called when he saw Hannah standing in the room, all healed.

He walked in instinctively.

"Hannah!" he called out, shocked and surprised.

"Huan!" Hannah called out as well.

The two of them fell into each other's embrace and cried while calling each other's names.

"This is not a dream, is it?" Long Huan asked, looking around.

"It's not," Graham said with a soft smile.

Long Huan clutched onto Hannah even more tightly.

Hannah had to let go of him first as Long Huan did not seem to want to do so at all. It was as if he feared that letting go would revert everything that had happened.

Hannah turned back around toward her family.

"I should have been the one to introduce him to you all first, but it seems that all slipped past me," Hannah said. "Still, this is Long Huan. My husband."

Everyone smiled and nodded.

But Liz did neither. "No, he's not," she said.

Hannah's face fell a little. "Mother, please. You can't—"

Liz put up her hand. "Let me finish," she said. "He's not your husband because you haven't been married yet. The best he is is your fiance."

"If you want to call him your husband, do it after the marriage," Liz said and turned toward Alex. "You will need to prepare for your sister's marriage. Can you do that?"

Alex nodded. "Absolutely."