Is this goodbye?

Blinking, I looked at her, my mouth agape. No sound left my lips as I watched her. I didn't know how to react to the revelation because it seemed like my brain wasn't working perfectly.

She placed her right palm on my cheek. Looking into my eyes, she smiled. “I know it will take you a long time to come to terms with this, but you need to know that I'm not lying. I'm indeed your mother or a fragment of her soul.”

She looked so sad that I didn't realize what I was doing until I had my palms on her cheeks.

Smiling, she placed hers over mine. “I stayed alive all these years, waiting, hoping to see my daughter before I finally meet my ancestors. You don't know how much I had waited for this day to finally hold you and tell you who I am.”

“You are my mum?” My voice was barely a whisper. I was still trying to wrap my head around everything she said, to tell myself I wasn't imagining it. The low bulb in the room cast a glow around, highlighting the sharp features of her face.

At that momen