Jin Liwei returned to standing behind his wife and watched her prepare herself to play the grand piano that she owned as Evelina Vetrova. It must feel so surreal to play this particular piano after a long, long time—a literal lifetime, in fact.
Now that she had become Iris Long and his wife, he was determined to overwrite all the bad, tragic memories that she had playing this piano and replace them with good memories of them together with their whole family. He hoped that she would be able to heal completely from all her past life's trauma and finally move on with her new life with him and their children.
Her past life with Evelina Vetrova was her roots and her new life as Iris Long was her branches. Both lives were a part of her identity and why he loved her so much.
It wasn't sustainable for her to continue avoiding matters from her past life. The trauma would only fester and erode her inner peace. Once this happened, it would surely affect their relationship and eventually their family.
As her husband and the father of their children, he had the responsibility to ensure that his wife and their whole family were all healthy physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
"Liwei," he heard his wife's soft, lovely voice.
"Yes, love? What is it?" He bent down and kissed the top of her head.
"I…I'm going to play the piece…that I played that night…when I died. Will you listen?"
He felt his chest tighten but still agreed. "Of course, baby. Don't be afraid. I'll be right here."
She nodded and took a few deep breaths. Her two hands floated above the piano keys but didn't move for what felt like a long time. It was actually only less than a minute but her tense nervousness radiated to Jin Liwei and throughout the entire room, making one second feel many times longer than it was.
"You can do it, love," he encouraged her.
Her hands shook but soon became stable. Then they descended on the piano keys and her fingers started flowing like fish on water.
The familiar tune of Beethoven's "Für Elise" filled the entire room and surrounded the couple.
Jin Liwei closed his eyes. He had heard this famous piano piece so many times before. He had even played it during piano lessons as a youth.
"Für Elise" was indeed a masterpiece but also had become a cliché go-to piece for many novice pianists. Playing it would impress regular people but many other musicians actually found the piece rather generic.
This time, however, the piece sounded different than usual. So much different that he realized he got goosebumps just by listening to it.
His wife made the piece haunting, almost eerie. In addition to what she told him just now about the night of her death, he could imagine her playing "Für Elise" as hell broke loose all around her.
Bloodshed surrounded her and yet she was at peace while playing the piano even as the enemies gunned her down to death.
Jin Liwei's breath caught in his throat at the imagined scene playing in his mind. He was sure that the real event must be more gory than what he visualized but it was enough to upset him. His eyes flashed with pain at what his wife went through. It felt like his heart was being stabbed at the thought of her death.
With "Für Elise" playing, he felt even more emotional than usual. Even the playful parts of the piece felt like they were ripping his heart to shreds.
The piece was short and soon it ended.
Silence descended.
Jin Liwei found it hard to breathe. His wife…why did his wife had to go through such tragedy in her past life?
"I was able to play it until the end this time," Iris whispered.
He didn't reply. He was unable to reply. His throat felt choked by his emotions.
She looked up at him and smiled. It was a sad smile…but also a relieved smile. The dark shadows of her past life's tragic death remained with her.
But for the first time since she had been reborn as Iris Long, she felt a sense of lightness, as if she had been able to break one of the many chains shackling her to her past life. There were still many chains remaining but this was already a good start.
She held Jin Liwei's hand on her shoulder and caressed the grand piano with her other hand.
"I died before I could finish playing it last time."
"Evelina." Jin Liwei's voice was hoarse.
"I'm glad, Liwei. I'm so glad that I can play it until the end. It feels…right. Like my rebirth is finally complete."
He bent down and hugged her from behind tightly. His emotions were so overwhelming that he almost crushed her in his embrace but she didn't complain. She, too, was overcome with emotions just like him. His crushing embrace was not a source of pain but of love and comfort instead.
She reached behind her and pulled his head for a kiss.
The kiss was hard and desperate.
When it was over, Iris leaned on him and closed her eyes.
"Thank you, Liwei. Thank you for getting my piano back for me. Because of you, I can now…start moving forward. I don't know how long it will take me but…I will do my best for you, for me, for us, for our children and our whole family."
Jin Liwei pulled her up from the stool and turned her around so that they were now facing each other. He brushed a lock of her long, silky hair away from her face.
"No, my love. Thank YOU for finally being willing to face the demons from your past life so that you can start healing. See? I'm right, aren't I? You're brave. It's very easy to ignore what you don't like and keep shoving it under the rug. But now, you're ready. Don't worry. You're not going to face everything alone. I'll be right here with you no matter what happens."
Iris framed his face with her hands. "Liwei, I already said this before but I'll say it again.. You always know what to say to make me feel better."
