"Dia? What are you doing here?" Anbu asks, shocked. His daughter, who was supposed to be in Delhi, was now sitting on his couch and scrolling through her phone.

"Appa, I know you were at the beach, but couldn't you have come home sooner? All the food is cold now," Dia whines, completely ignoring his question. Grabbing a bouquet of roses near her, she comes toward him and kneels down on her knee. Extending the bouquet towards him, she smiles wildly and declares, "Happy Valentine's Day Appa! I love you!"

Anbu stood frozen in front of her. Thirty years ago, exactly on this day, her mother was kneeling just like this before him. Tears once again flood his eyes as that beautiful but painful memory comes back to him.

"Amma was right when she said you look adorable when you cry, but can you take this bouquet first? My knees are killing me!" Dia exaggerates. Laughing through the tears, Anbu takes the bouquet from her and brings his daughter into a warm hug. But he quickly recalls her words and pulls back.

"Wait, you said the food got cold? Why haven't you eaten yet? It's almost 11 pm and you still haven't had dinner? You are going to be a doctor. You should know how important it is to have your meals on time," Anabu scolds her.

Dia simply rolls her eyes and heads to the kitchen to reheat the food. "Really?" She asks, glancing at her dad from the corner of her eyes. "Appa, tell me. What time did you have dinner?"

Anbu looks away guiltily as he tries to come up with an excuse. Dia smiles sarcastically at him and says, "Giving advice and scolding me isn't important. First, follow it. Ok?"

The father slightly nods and heads toward the kitchen and admires his daughter. Many have said that she looks exactly like him. That may be true, but she was her mother's daughter in everything else.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to come today? I would've received you from the train station," Anbu asks.

"How could I tell you? This was a surprise for you."

"Surprise? When did you even plan this?"

"I didn't plan this. Amma did."

"P-p-p- Priya? When- When did this happen?" Anbu stutters as he straightens him stunned. Unconsciously he searches around, even though he knew it was impossible for his wife to appear before him.

Dia looks softly at her dad, understanding the confusion in his heart. Sitting him down on the couch, she takes his hand and reveals a flashback of how this surprise was planned by the two important women in his life.

Her heart was pounding loudly as she stared at the door, scared to go inside. All she wanted to do at that moment was crawl into her bed and cry her heart out. If God had asked her what she wanted, Dia would've asked to travel 20 years back and freeze that time so that she could enjoy those beautiful moments for all eternity. But things are only beautiful when it's temporary, isn't it?

Knowing that she will never get this moment again in her life, Dia wills herself to step inside, where her mom lay on the bed, connected to multiple machines. It was truly heartbreaking to see the strong energetic woman become so weak that she could barely lift herself up. Hurrying towards Priya, Dia softly holds her down, letting her know there was no need to get up.

"Amma," Dia whispers in a broken voice. No matter how many times she had purposely pulled fights with her mother, this was still her mother. The woman she loved above everything.

"It's ok," Priya whispers back. Her voice was weak and tired. "Too bad I can't see you become a doctor. We could've saved a lot in medical bills," she jokes.

"I'm so sorry Amma," Dia cries out. "Maybe if I was a doctor, I could've saved you."

"Dia, as a doctor, you should know something. No matter how we try, we cannot overwrite fate. In your career, I'm confident you will help a lot of people. You have my brains and your dad's compassion. That makes you really intelligent. You will save a lot of patients. But there will be times when you can't save someone. Never let that break you, ok? Besides, I'm tired from fighting this cancer. I don't have much energy to fight anymore"

"But... I'll miss you... I'm not ready to let you go yet!" Dia admits sorrowfully as she holds onto her mom's hand.

"So you do love me!" Priya teases her.

"Amma!" Dia whines.

"Dia, I'm not going to go anywhere. In fact, I will make sure to do my best to annoy you even from up there. But in case you do miss me, keep this ring," Priya says, as she slips out her ring and puts it on Dia's finger.

"Amma? This is-"

"This is the ring your grandparents gave me when I came of age. I wore it all these years in memory of them. It's now yours. Be careful with it, all of my good vibes are on it!"

Unable to handle her emotions any longer, Dia embraces her mother and cries her heart out. Priya softly smiles and pats her daughter's back, trying her best to console her. After a while, Dia remembers the wires that were connected to her mother and pulls back. Wiping her tears, she sees Priya looking conflicted as if she had something to say.

"Amma? What's wrong?"

"It's just your dad..."

"Amma, I'm sorry. I tried, but he said couldn't come."

"I know. Your dad is amazing, but he's still a little soft kid deep inside. He won't be able to see me like this. I'm just worried about your dad. About how he will handle everything after I leave. I'm sure he will put on a brave front in front of you. But when he's alone, he's going to be roaming around like Devdas...

I made a promise to him 30 years ago that I will love him and take care of him for the rest of his life. He kept his promise, but I couldn't. I won't ask you to take that responsibility, but for a few months, can you just be there for him? Call him occasionally when you have time and make sure he's not doing anything dumb. I'll admit he's extremely adorable when he cries, but I'm not cruel enough to make him cry all the time. Can you make sure he doesn't cry too much? Please?"

"Amma, you don't have to ask me. Of course, I will be there for Appa!"

"Always her father's princess," Priya teases before continuing seriously. "I made another promise to him that day as well. I had promised that I will be with him on Valentine's day this year and go to the same beach we had gone to that day."

"Do you want me to accompany him to that beach?"

"No. Let him go alone. That way he will let out all of his anger and sadness without holding himself back. Instead, can you do something else for me that day?"

"Anything Amma!"

"Can you get that bag over there?" Priya asks as she points to the corner of the room, where a small handbag was. Dia hurries over to bring her mother the bag. Once the bag reaches her hands, Priya takes out a worn-out diary from within.

"The night I made that promise, I started this diary. I would write in it every month for the last 30 years, just so I could give it to him this year on Valentine's. But I guess I'm going to break that promise as well. Can you please make sure he gets it on that day?"

"Amma, you don't have to say please. I will do it."

"Thanks..." Priya digs into her handbag and brings out her cell phone. "Also, I was a bit hasty and made all these plans to surprise him. On this phone, you should find everything I ordered and all. Can you just take care of it? You can cancel it if you want as well."

"Don't worry, I will make sure Appa gets surprised. Ok?" Dia says with a soft smile.

"Good," Priya sighs with relief. Looking into her daughter's eyes, she continues, "Don't think I forgot you. There is something for you as well."

"For me?"

Priya smiles through the tears and swallows the lump in her throat. "I had so many plans to annoy you when you received your doctor's coat. I did my best to hang in for a few more months, but I'm just too tired. There are going to be so many wonderful moments in your life. I will still be there to enjoy it, but just not right next to you anymore. So for those moments, I pre-recorded some videos. If you ever want to hear me annoy you again, you can see those." Priya's voice breaks down at the last word.

Grabbing both of Dia's hands, she holds them tightly close to her, as if she was scared to let go. The hands were drenched by Priya's tears, as she kissed the hands fervently, trying to make up for all the moments she will miss. Dia sobs along with her mother, feeling helpless. No matter how good of a medical student she was, she couldn't do anything to keep her mother just a little while longer.

After a while, Priya releases Dia and wipes away the tears. Looking at her daughter, she smiles widely and says, "I think I'm going to go to sleep now. You should leave."

"But Amma-"

"It's time to go Dia."

Unable to say anything else, Dia heads to the door with half a heart. As her hand grips the door handle, Priya calls out "Dia!" Sniffling, Dia looks back to her mother, wearing a beautiful grin that brightened the room.

"I love you!" Priya says happily.

"I love you too, ma!" Dia replies, before rushing out the door with a sob.

As the door bangs shut, Priya slips into a deep peaceful slumber for the very last time.

Curse the writer who wrote the fate of Anbu and Priya.

I actually don't know what to say. I had to get into the scene of this chapter so many times, that it mentally drained me. 

I am curious what everyone feels when reading this story. So please don't be a silent reader, and comment how this story makes you feel? Even if you hate me for killing Priya.

One thing I do want to admit, when I came up with this plot, I didn't think of it with Anbu and Priya as the characters. I was planning on creating a whole new set of characters for this story. However, it somehow made more sense to make this story into a sequel for Anbudan Priya, so I ended up going along with that, no matter how much I hated it. 

Btw, this is not the end. There is still one more chapter to go!