The moment Fati heard Jaguar's thunderous shout and the approaching rush of his footsteps, she took a fearful step backward recoiling away from the box she had been crouching right behind, instinctively putting distance between them as a shield.
With that sudden movement, Jaguar's blind fixation on the box shattered, his gaze drawn instantly toward the figure standing there. Suddenly, his motion froze entirely, his senses paralyzed as if utterly unable to process what his eyes were beholding!
He turned to stone, frozen in place while his mind frantically scoured his memory in stunned silence conjuring in seconds every speech and rehearsed word he had memorized by heart over three full years, alongside the mountain of excuses he had carefully structured for this long-awaited day of reckoning. Yet, his tongue failed him completely!
He remained motionless, staring at her as if his legs could no longer bear his weight. He was entirely incapable of comprehending that Fati was truly standing before him in the flesh, wondering in his bewildered soul: Was this reality, or simply another new ruse and endless tactic orchestrated by his grandfather?!
As for Fati, fragments of potential conversations collided frantically inside her mind like waves crashing against a cliff. Should she initiate with a cold "hello"? Ask casually how he had been and what the years had done to him? Allow her old anger to consume her, shouting and releasing the pent-up tension of years? Or simply turn her back, walking inside while ignoring his presence altogether? Or perhaps... apologize for all the coldness and bitter misunderstanding?!
She, too, remained frozen in place, gazing deep into his sunken eyes, having lacked sufficient time to structure her shattered thoughts. Yet, in the end, her heart settled its resolve she decided to apologize!
Yes... deep within, she realized she owed him an apology. She had never granted him a single chance to speak or be heard, had never looked back even once to see his bleeding heart, and had failed to consider his feelings or trust his love that inner child buried within Jaguar, raised in dryness and never knowing how to love or translate the warmth of affection!
Fati suddenly realized she was still crouching near the ground while Jaguar hadn't stepped a single inch closer. She wondered in her silent soul whether he was paralyzed by the sheer shock, or simply at a loss for words!
She stood up slowly, smoothing the folds of her skirt with trembling fingers. Raising her green eyes to meet his lost, wandering gaze, she spoke in a soft voice brimming with warmth and quiet plea:
- Jaguar... I...
Yet she could barely complete her sentence or reach the threshold of apology before Jaguar surged forward in a swift, blinding blur as though her rising from the ground and the sound of her tender voice had instantly dragged him back to Earth, her tone flipping the switch to revive his paralyzed soul!
In the blink of an eye, with a wild, instinctive impulse, he extended one hand to seize her wrist, pulling her forcefully and longingly toward him, while his other hand wrapped securely around the back of her head with desperate tenderness... plunging her warm body into his chest like a drowning lover seeking refuge on the first shore after a flood of endless years!
Fati couldn't process where she was in that suspended moment; one of her hands remained frozen in mid-air from sheer shock, her face pressed against the firm muscles of his chest while her eyes gazed upward in stunned wonder, tracing the sharp features so dangerously close. Thus, everything around them ground to a absolute halt!
A wave of bashful shyness coured through Fati's veins at the presence of her grandfather and Butler standing nearby, her voice trembling softly:
- Jaguar...
He cut her off swiftly, his raspy voice brimming with a desperate plea to keep her quiet:
- Be quiet
She attempted to shift or step back, but he tightened his embrace even further, whispering in a muffled, breath-stealing tone:
- And don't you dare move
Yet she attempted to utter a sound or murmur a bashful protest, only for him to cut her off in a muffled voice trembling with the agony of longing, burying his face deeper into the strands of her hair:
- Be quiet... be quiet, Fati, and do not ruin this moment for me, for I have missed you to the point of undoing
Thus, she relented and fell utterly silent, remaining anchored between his arms and within the warmth of his embrace. In that breathless moment, she truly processed the depth of his consuming longing. Had it not been for all that transpired and all she had been forced to believe they would have never parted, and he would have never been deprived of her presence for all those years!
The instant the thought of little Leo crossed her mind, her senses froze in sudden anxiety, her heart pounding with dread. She realized he had to know the truth now! Fears flooded her mind: How would he react?! Would he harshly rebuke her? Or strip her child away as punishment, forcing her to reap what her hands had sown?! She needed to offer a deeply sincere apology to earn his forgiveness, yet she knew not how to begin while he encircled her with such desperate adoration and need!
Therefore... she slowly and gently raised her hand, resting it against his back with a tender, hesitant touch. That simple gesture acted as a spark of encouragement that melted his remaining restraint. He instantly shifted his hands to her waist, pulling her deeper into his embrace as though silently pleading through the language of touch:
"Hold me tighter... and never let me wake from this dream!"
Jaguar remained in that position for what felt like an eternity, encircling her with protective fervor; he possessed not the slightest desire to step back or part from her flowing warmth. Words, sentences, and even individual letters had entirely evaporated from his mind, making the mere task of structuring a single thought an impossible feat!
Thus... he chose to remain standing there, fused together as one, haunted by a deep-seated fear of her fleeing once again. He truly dreaded that the moment he relaxed his grip or eased his hold, Fati would vanish like a phantom as though he were submerged in a beautiful dream from which he feared a sudden, agonizing awakening!
His heart pounded wildly against his ribs with a audible rhythm, yet the overwhelming peace and solace washing over him as she rested within his arms equaled the entire world and everything in it!
A short distance away, the grandfather and Butler stood in total, quiet reverence; as if gently waiting for these two lovers to awaken from the euphoria of their embrace, entirely frozen and unable to make a single move, terrified of shattering the sanctity of a moment three long years in the making!
Fati heard the frantic, trembling thuds of his heart, sensing the fragility of his ribs beneath her touch. Jaguar had grown so weak during the long years of her absence his once formidable body now so slender and frail that he almost mirrored little Leo's own tiny frame!
At that moment, Fati realized the time had finally come to unveil the secret she had kept, to show him the precious child she had deprived him of for all those years. Yet little Leo himself granted her no time to introduce him to his father; a tender, high-pitched voice cleaved through the silence:
- Ma... ma
The second that voice reached Jaguar's ears, he froze entirely in her arms, his posture stiffening in utter disbelief as though unable to comprehend that any sound in the universe could compel his hands to ease their desperate hold on her! And just as he attempted to tighten his grip around Fati's body once more, the call repeated:
- Ma... ma
This time... the voice echoed crystal clear!
Jaguar slowly pulled back from Fati, shifting his stunned gaze toward his grandfather... only to behold a little boy perched casually on the old man's lap. The child extended his tiny hands innocently toward Jaguar, smiling with a slightly open mouth and a tiny droplet poised at his lips, repeating his sweet, endearing call:
- Ma... ma
Did you like it?
And what do you think Jaguar's reaction will be?
How about you write the ending yourselves and share your suggestions with me?
We'll stop here. I want to thank all my readers; it is thanks to your support that I completed this novel and reached the end.