act16side

Cecelia... I've been thinking about how to explain this to you for a long time.

Feoria, your mama... is here. But she's also not.

I have no way of letting you see your mama again, but at least you'll be able to say goodbye to her here.

Mister Ezell... I don't think I get... what you're saying...

If she's here, but she's also not, does that mean... she went somewhere else?

Where did she go?

Let's head in first.

Before my father passed away, he always hoped there would be nothing but smiles at his funeral. That we'd see no tears. But, I...

If I may, I believe what your esteemed father truly wished was for you not to fall into grief over his passing.

Whether through tears or laughter, if that is your way of sending him off... then I'm sure he will gladly accept your sentiments.

Thank you... Seniora Prioress...

Allow me to accompany you around the flower fields outside.

Mister Ezell, that lady also said that her father 'passed away'...

Yes... People who pass away all come here.

People who are alive come to send them off... And after that, they carry on the wishes of the person who passed away, and continue on with life.

Then what about the people who passed away? What do they do?

Maybe... they're watching us from up high in the sky.

So we won't be able to see them again because they went into the sky?

Cecelia, this is for you.

This is... Mamma's guardian gun?

Yes.

My mama and papa were both executors for the Notarial Hall. I didn't see them much when I was little... and it was my nonno who raised me.

Nonno really loved his gun, and he'd tell me stories about his younger days every time he polished it.

He told me about the battles he fought, his friends, how he met my nonna, and the embarrassing things my papa did as a kid...

When I saw my nonno's gun, I would think back to the stories he told me.

Later, my nonno passed away. I was only a little older than you are now.

An executor from the Notarial Hall came and took away his guardian gun.

Just like how I was supposed to take away your mama's gun.

Ezell slowly crouches down and places Feoria's gun in Cecelia's hand.

She lowers her head and looks at her mother's patron firearm.

Ezell gently holds Cecelia's hand.

Warm drops of water fall onto the embossed floral pattern of the patron firearm's grip, collecting into a little pool in the young girl's palms.

Mister Ezell... Why am I crying...?

I watered the plants in the backyard every week, just like my nonno had taught me. When they blossomed, I was very happy and called for him to come and see.

But it was only when I called for him that I realized he wasn't there anymore.

I would never see my nonno again, or his gun.

Death is the last goodbye you'll ever say to someone.

But, to say goodbye is to overcome death.

For there to be a 'goodbye,' the living must move forward while the dead stay behind.

A 'goodbye' is the longing that the living have for the dead. It is proof that the dead lived.

And that is why we must say goodbye.