WINTER'S SWEET EMBRACE

"W-Wait a–holy boobs–No, stop it, V. Focus... Just hold on a second! Please stop flying for a second and explain what is going on!"

"Oh." The angelic woman’s eyes wide with the realisation and she immediately halted mid-air.

She pulled him away from her chest and held him by his upper arms so she could get a good look at his face.

"V-Vinny...?" Her radiant smile began to slightly waver, and then it vanished completely. She noticed his red puffy eyes and the dried tear tracks still stained on his cheeks.

"Oh, my baby... What’s wrong? Why are you crying?"

"Crying? Oh, crap!" Vincent immediately wiped his face and jerked his chin away from her. "I wasn’t crying. It’s just... the wind from you flying around."

Fresh tears welled up in her own blue eyes as her lips trembled with sorrow. She flew back down to the Way Guide and cupped his face with her warm hands so that she could get a good look at him.

"Please don’t lie to me, Vinny. A mother knows her child’s heart. Tell me what happened. Who hurt my precious baby boy?"

’Hey, Mom. The reason I was crying was because Dad just shot me in the face. Yeah, no way I’m saying that.’

"He was crying because his father shot him in the face," the old man said calmly and as a matter of fact.

"Wha–! Mr. Way Guide!!! Wait uhm.. M-Mom? Haha, it wasn’t anything like that!"

Vincent braced himself for the woman to burst into hysterical tears. Instead, a very strange thing happened.

The sorrow vanished from the woman’s face. She didn’t look horrified. Rather, she looked exasperated. While rubbing her thumbs gently over Vincent’s cheeks, she let out a soft laugh.

"Oh, Vinny. Your Dada didn’t kill you."

’D-Dada?!’

Stunned beyond functionality, Vincent let the words settle in his mind. The memory of the cold metal barrel pressed between his eyes was still vividly burned into his brain.

"... Huh? He... he didn’t kill me?"

"Of course not, silly. He might have made the whole thing look incredibly dramatic, but he would never hurt you. Honestly, that man has always had a terrible sense of humor. The only thing he did was transport you here, to the Divine Realm."

"The Divine Realm?"

"Yes!"

Vincent took a deep breath.

He looked around carefully, taking in the environment with a critical eye. The floor, made of shifting golden clouds. The old man in flowing robes. The impossibly huge golden gates. And, finally, the breathtaking, angelic appearance of the woman standing right in front of him, complete with literal wings.

"... Look, I may be dumb, but I’m not an idiot. Everything that I’m seeing proves that this is Heaven, and I am definitely dead."

"Haha. You have been making quite a few references to that particular establishment, young man. But no, this is not Heaven. It is, as Her Grace said, this is the Divine Realm."

"But if there’s a gate and–"

"Just wing it for now, kid," the old man cut him off. "It will all make sense later... sorta. Just accept the scenery, yeah?"

"... Haaaa. Fine. Okay. Whatever. I’m ’winging’ it."

He then turned his attention back to the beautiful blue-haired woman who had been staring at him with an adoring smile the entire time, completely captivated by his every movement.

*Ahem* "So... if you’re my mom... what’s your name?"

The woman’s smile faltered slightly. "Did your Dada never tell you my name?"

"According to him... I never asked."

Instantly, the atmosphere changed. The woman’s sweet, doting expression twisted into a terrifyingly angry smile and her blue eyes lost all light.

"Oh. Is that what he said? Hehehe~ Looks like I am going to have to give that man a very, very harsh scolding the next time he shows his face here."

As the words left her mouth, the golden skies around them suddenly began to churn. The light died, replaced by ominous purple and black clouds that crackled with silent lightning.

"Psst! Kid!" The Way Guide whispered loudly as he leaned over toward Vincent from the side. "Quickly! Call her ’Mama’!"

"E-Excuse me?!"

"Just do it! Call her ’Mama’ right now!"

"Grrrr... Fine! Fine, I’ll do it, okay?!" Vincent swallowed his pride, looked at the terrifyingly angry angelic woman and spoke.

"M-M.. Ma.." ’C’mon V! Just do it!’ "... M-Mama?"

"Ah...!" The woman slammed both of her hands over her mouth.

Instantly, the dark clouds vanished, and the golden sky snapped back into place as if someone had flicked a light switch.

"Y-You... You called me... EEEEEE!!!" Unable to control herself she let out a deafening squeal and lunged forward to hold Vincent into another tight embrace. Once again, she covered his entire face in a barrage of loud smooches. "You called me Mama! My baby boy called me Mama!"

By the time she finally pulled back, Vincent was completely disheveled. His hair was sticking up in every direction, his jacket was pulled half-off his shoulders, and his face was flushed red from the embarrassment.

"Hehehe~ My name is Maribelle. But you must call me Mama!"

’Not "can". "Must", she says.’

Vincent fixed his jacket and tried to regain some semblance of dignity as he looked at her suspiciously. "Before any of that... How can I actually know you’re my mo–"

"Mama."

"..."

"Mama."

"M-Mama. How can I actually know you’re my... Mama?"

*Gasp* "You don’t believe your own mama? Oh, the cruelty... *sob*"

"Wait, wait! Don’t cry! I’m sorry! I’m just trying to be logical!"

"There is a very simple way to settle this," The Way Guide gestured toward the open gate behind him. "All you have to do is step through the gates."

The moment the old man said those words, Maribelle flinched. "B-But... What if it doesn’t work?"

"The boy is eighteen now, Your Grace. If what "Her Majesty" predicted all those years ago is true, then he should be able to pass through now without any issue."

Maribelle bit her lip, her wings drooping slightly. "I’m just scared... I’m so scared he’ll be rejected again. Like when he was a child. I can’t bear to see him get hurt."

"You must trust Her Majesty. And you must trust your son."

Maribelle took a deep breath and slowly nodded. She then turned and walked through the threshold of the golden gates. Once she was a few feet inside, she gracefully dropped to her knees on the cloud floor and opened her arms wide toward him.

"Come, Vinny," she called out with an encouraging smile on her face, though her eyes were filled with nervous tension. "Come to Mama."

"Please stop treating me like a literal baby. This is weird."

"Vincent," The Way Guide called out gravely. "This is a monumental moment for her. I understand that you do not know what she has been through, but please. Please, play along and walk through the gate."

Vincent looked from the serious old man back to the beautiful, blue-haired woman who was looking at him with an expression of hope mixed with terror. She looked like her entire universe depended on his next few steps.

"Alright... alright, fine. I’ll walk through the gate. No need to make a fuss."

Right as he stepped forward, preparing to just walk across the threshold, the old man quickly stopped him.

"Hold on, there are specific instructions you must adhere to. You must stretch your arms out toward her and call her ’Mama’ as you waddle your way toward her."

"No."

"Yes... You must."

"WHY?! Are you insane? How can I do something so embarrassing?! I’m eighteen!"

"You have to," the old man insisted. "It is an ancient tradition for first timers passing the gates. If you don’t do it, you won’t be able to pass."

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard in my entire life!"

"Vinny?" Maribelle called out from inside the gates, stretching her arms out another inch. "Please, baby... come to me."

Vincent looked at her, then down at his own sneakers. He swallowed his pride and buried his ego six feet under the clouds. "Alright... alright!"

Slowly, he raised his arms and stretched them out toward her like a toddler taking his first steps.

"M-Mama..."

Maribelle’s eyes lit up. "Yes! Yes, I’m right here, baby! Come to Mama!"

Vincent took another big step forward. His face was completely red as he forced the word out again, louder this time. "Mama."

He was right at the threshold now.

"Just a little closer, Vinny! You can do it! Please... Mama believes in you so much!"

Vincent took a deep breath, closed his eyes tightly, and took the final, decisive step right through the center of the golden gate. As his foot crossed the line, he yelled out the word one last time: "Mama!"

The moment his foot touched the floor on the other side, something changed.

An electric shock of raw power slammed into Vincent’s chest. It didn’t hurt, but it was an overwhelming, explosive surge of energy that coursed through his veins like a current.

Suddenly, his brown hair began to glow. The color shifted from a dull brown to an ethereal sky-blue. His green eyes flashed and turned into a colour that resembled his hair. But the most shocking part was when–

RIP!

A pair of massive white feathered wings erupted directly from his shoulder blades and tore through the back of his winter jacket. The explosive weight and of the wings completely knocked him off balance.

"Whoa! What the–?!"

Before he could fall forward, the newly sprouted wings flapped uncontrollably.

WHOOSH.

The sheer force launched Vincent straight up into the air like a rocket. He shot toward the golden sky, spinning wildly out of control and flailing his arms as he screamed in absolute panic.

"HELP! HOW DO I STOP THIS THING?!"

Down on the ground, Maribelle looked up at the flying mess of her son. Her face became so overwhelmed with joy; it was almost holy.

Tears of happiness streamed down her cheeks. Unable to believe what she was seeing, she turned her head to look at The Way Guide. The old man simply smiled, giving her a respectful nod of confirmation.

Maribelle didn’t waste another microsecond. With a powerful beat of her own wings, she shot into the sky and easily intercepted the spinning Vincent mid-air. She wrapped her own wings around his new ones to stabilise them both in the golden air.

"You did it..." she sobbed happily into his blue hair, holding him closer than she ever had before. "You did it, Vinny. My baby boy finally went through the gates. You’re home... you’re finally home."