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Name: My barber - My Gemini Fanfiction (Boku no Gemini Fanfiction) - After story

Author: Ngọc Thúy (Purple Stone)

--

Chapter 5. Lazarus's friend cried

"Good afternoon, Luz." I was greeted as soon as I saw Luz open the second floor's door at John's cafe.

"Good afternoon, Hyde." She raised her voice to greet me.

I could see clearly that her eyes started to shine sparklingly.

"Wow, your new hair is so great... It is an elegant hairstyle." She chirped, "And you wear a blazer today too."

I smiled while hearing her praise. How can she be so happy just for these little things?

Then she sat on the right-side seat of the bench.

"You looked like a prince who has just come back to his own throne." She remarked.

I paused a little bit because I was stunned by her words.

As if Luz suddenly remembered something, she lowered her voice. "Hyde, I am so sorry!"

"For what?" I asked.

"While you were suffering the flu, John told me about it and invited me to come to your house to visit you." She said it in a smaller voice.

"Does that happen? But I did not see you during that time." I said.

"Yeah, when I came, I met your mom. While we were waiting for you to wake up from your sleep, she showed me some little things in your house... And I knew about Jekyll - your passed-away twin brother." She said this while avoiding my eyes.

"So?" I restrained my nervousness and asked calmly.

"I am very sorry that I called you by your lost brother's name the first time we met. At that time, when I realized it, I was so worried that I asked your mother if I could leave your house."

I released a sigh of relief and replied, "It is ok, Luz. You didn't do it intentionally. Don't worry too much about it."

"Thank you!" She said it in a relieved tone.

Then she continued, "Your mother told me that you love your brother so much. Is his death the sorrow that has still clinged on you so far?"

I paused a little bit and nodded my head. I still have not overcome that great loss yet. I still could not continue to live in this world without my brother.

"Hyde, there were people who suffered that loss like you in the Christ Bible. May I tell you Lazarus's story today?" She offered.

"Let's start!" I accepted her offer.

"This story was recorded in the book of John, chapter 11. The time of this story was when Jesus journeyed around Israel to teach about heaven and heal the sickness.

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

[...]

So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill."

[...]

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

[...]

He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

[...]

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

[...]

Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."

[...]

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept."

Then Luz stopped the story and asked me, "What do you think about what I have told you?"

"Lazarus - their brother as well as their friend died already, right? All I could see in it was regret and sadness." I answered, "It seems like Lazarus in this story is my lost brother, and Mary or Martha is me, right?"

"Yeah, you could see clearly that Mary and Martha did still believe that they would meet their dear brother in heaven. This faith is their consolation." Luz nodded and explained.

"I really admire them for their faith. The farewell is just a contemporary farewell, and they will meet each other someday." I answered.

"Hyde, do you think several decades are short or long?" Luz asked me.

I kept silent and shook my head.

"I think it is very long. How can we continue to live without our beloved one? One day is still very long; several decades are over our limit. Maybe at that time, Mary or Martha wanted to die instead of their brother. I really don't know." She said.

Somehow I could understand their feelings, the feelings of Mary and Martha in the past.

"Now I will continue to tell the rest of the story." She raised her voice.

"Doesn't this story end?" I asked in surprise. It was not an ending?

"Of course it doesn't.

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go.""

And Luz continued, "It is the ending. Lazarus lived again."

I was lost for words.

"Through this story, God wants to tell us that we need not suffer sadness or difficulties ourselves. If we open our hearts to share with him, he will console us and do what is beyond our greatest imagination. Because he is God, he can do anything." Luz concluded.

"How about you, Hyde? Will you continue to carry your burden yourselves or rely on Jesus?" Luz asked me with a supportive smile.

I suddenly stood up in confusion and quickly made an excuse: "Excuse me, I want to go to the restroom."

She startled a little bit. "Ok. I will wait."

"Thank you, Luz!" After saying that, I took my leave from the second floor of the cafe.

–

In the restroom, I splashed water on my face to calm myself.

God? Jesus? What happened to me? What is this calling in my heart?

Why did I feel so confused?

Brother, my Hyde, I missed you so much. What should I do?

God, if you are real, may you give me a sign? Something consoles me.

Then suddenly I laughed to myself: How can I become like this? Was I affected so much by that Lazarus's story?

–

To calm myself, I chose a seat on the first floor to rest.

Of course, I understood that this act was not good because Lus was waiting for me upstairs.

There were not any customers at the cafe today, so I was the only one who sat there. It was so quiet. I gently placed my face down on the table and closed my eyes to contemplate.

Time flew.

Then I stood up and went upstairs.

When I opened the door, a breeze blew the window curtains slightly.

Under the beautiful afternoon sunlight, I could see a blond-haired boy who fell asleep while sitting on the right-side seat. His back rested comfortably on the side of the window.

On the left-side seat was a man with a kind face who was caressing the boy's hair gently.

What a peaceful scene it is!

At that time, I could not stop myself from calling "Hyde."

–

"Are you ok, Hyde?" I could see blurrily that Luz waved her hand in front of my face and asked.

"Ah... Did I fall asleep?" I realized that I fell asleep at the table and had a dream. "Then it must be a dream."

"Dream?" She looked at me.

And she asked, "Is that dream very beautiful? You looked so happy."

"Do you think my brother is living happily with God while waiting for me?" I asked her.

"If it is your faith, the answer is yes. The Bible said, 'Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.'" She told me with a comforting smile.

(To be continued)