Chapter 26.1: I do not want to wake from the sweetness of this dream

Of all nights, tonight Ivy longed for a companion in her solitary. She sighed at the thought of heading back to the room sleeping in the dark or sleeping another night with Nick and Nancy around.

In the midst of being lost in her own thoughts, she thought she was hallucinating hearing footsteps from afar as she ignored what she heard. However, as the footsteps grew closer, she turned her head and saw that one person who had been on her mind for the whole week, walking towards her. She pinched herself on her left cheeks thinking she was dreaming at first.

When she realised she wasn't, she could tell Jason was rushing his steps towards her which made him wobble a little midway. She knew he must have drank too much. Another round of thunder rumbled as she turned her attention back to the sky briefly only to be pulled by Jason towards the car he parked nearby the main entrance of the ballroom earlier as the sky began its' heavy downpour.

She quickly hopped into the car before him who was panting heavily. She was right about Jason drinking too much as she watched him fighting to stay sober but she knew he was a good drinker. Hence, it didn't bother her much until his breathing grew faster and heavier as he took off his coat.

"Jason… You're alright?" Ivy took the coat from him as he held on to his pounding head. His body was so hot that Ivy panicked that his body could overheat. She helped him to loosen his tie and decided to run back to the hotel to request for towels and perhaps some water and food knowing he didn't eat much during his emcees jobs. 

He grabbed on to her arm to prevent her from leaving when she wanted to open the car door. "Stay…" He mumbled in a raspy voice.

"It's alright…  I will be back quickly… I will get you some stuff… Rest here alright?" Ivy comforted as she patted his arm and touched his cheeks. When he tried to open his eyes and see her, she had already dashed through the car's opened door.

Ivy rushed to the reception and made her request for the things she needed. As she watched the rain grow heavier, she remembered to add on blankets and an umbrella. When she had everything on hand after telling them her room number as verification, she ran back to the car and quickly poured the big bottle of mineral water over the tower to put it over Jason's burning head who was lying down.

He stirred a little, noticing she was back as he held her arm as though for comfort.

"Are you able to sit up and drink some water or you're too dizzy?" Ivy whispered gently as he tried to sit up but instead he opened the car's door quickly and vomited on the road.

Ivy sheltered him from the rain with the umbrella she got from the reception counter earlier. When he was done, Ivy quickly closed the car's door and patted his back while he lay back on the seat as she handed him some tissues.

"How much did you drink? You aren't a bad drinker…" She was half complaining while she wiped away the rain stains.

"It was… a strong cocktail… They… made me drink it in one shot…" He said slowly as Ivy handed him some water. Ivy continued to wipe his body with the wet towel which was on his head as Jason held his hand half way bringing her to a pause. They looked into each other's eyes before Ivy quickly removed her hand to fetch the hot drink she brought along. 

"Better now?" Ivy asked as she handed him a warm cup of drink.

"What's this?" He asked as he sat feeling uncomfortable. "Hot chocolate… I have a sandwich I managed to grab on the way here…" Ivy explained watching him calming down from his body heat as he removed his shoes.

"Drink it… you will feel better… Take a bite too. You had too little during dinner, that's why it's easy to get so high… You should know better than this…" Ivy nagged as Jason sipped the hot chocolate but couldn't help but grin as he watched the rain by the window panel and secretly thanked them for pouring down on the right time.

Ivy placed the blanket over his lap but instead he left the hot chocolate on the cup holder by the car's door and pulled her into his embrace. Only then he noticed she was drenched from running under the rain earlier.

"Why didn't you dry yourself first?" He scolded as he took another blanket to wrap around her and some tissues to wipe her dry. She stopped him halfway and pushed the sandwich on his hand to his mouth forcing him to take a bite.

"Eat first…" She instructed as he obediently took a bite and she held up his hand to hold the sandwich for himself while she continued to dry herself.

She couldn't help but to sneeze a few times as Jason quickly wrapped the blanket around her. "You're catching a cold already…" He pinched her nose.

"I will be fine… You're alright now?" She raised her hand and felt his forehead wasn't burning as before anymore as he nodded while finishing up the sandwich and his hot chocolate.

Feeling relief as she smiled at ease, she turned to the left side of the passenger's door and enjoyed the sight of the rain.

"You should rest awhile. The rain won't stop anytime soon…" She mumbled as Jason was already slowly drifting to sleep at the sight of her enjoying the rain.

While he was subconsciously asleep, he unintentionally mumbled what he was thinking. "Ivy, I promise I will find your father for you…"

At first Ivy thought he was talking in his sleep but when she registered what he just said, her eyes widened in shock.

"You're helping me to find my father? Why? It's going to be so tough to find him…" She whined only to be ignored as Jason had fallen into a deep sleep and fell on to her lap.

Nonetheless, she was still so touched by his deed that she didn't stop herself from kissing his forehead before wiping away her happy tears and sharing with him her blanket.

"Come. Try touching it... I don't think the heat from the ember hurts you, Ivy. So you could really join in with me on the ember dance! It would be pretty since this feather crown fits you…" Phoenix was persuading Ivy as she hesitated. 

"Are you sure?" She hesitated as she squatted while a few puppies surrounded her. She could feel the ember's heat touching her palm but they weren't hot as she drew closer and held them. They glow even brighter as though her palm was heating them up. Her beautiful dandy wings spread out which mesmerised Phoenix who instantly led her up into the sky. Her wings naturally led her as she took the first step to dance the ember dance steps with Phoenix

All of her dogs and grandma were dazzled by the amazing pretty glowing sky above them. Phoenix led her in the dance as they both flew and twirled, resonating the fire of love which had sparkled within them. Another thing Ivy had inherited other than Lentils' healing powers was the strength of love between Lentil and Phoenix which had enabled the ember dance to be such a success.

Although Phoenix knew in time to come he could be assassinated for his deed of protecting his twin sister who now has traces of his wife from another life whom he wanted to spend all of his lifetime with, he didn't bothered and wanted only the best for Ivy as he had vowed to change her destiny in this life.

Instead of her sacrificing for him in every life, for once, he wanted to switch places with her and let her enjoy all the goodness he always had even if it meant he and his wife had to cease to exist.

Ivy was extremely thrilled to be able to fly with wings and fulfill their ember dance ritual which commemorates her bond combination with Phoenix as one. At the end of the dance, all her dogs and puppies were howling as grandma beamed in happiness.

It was the first time Jason ever saw Ivy sleep with a smile spread over her face as he held her in his arms watching the glowing sun rise in the car. The thought of telling her about her family lingered as he decided after this week he will fix a meeting with her father and reveal to him her identity. As he pulled the blanket wrapping her, he felt her body was burning and knew she must have caught a cold.

He felt a vibration from his phone as he checked and was glad that Nick told him he could use the room. He carried Ivy out from the car wrapped in a blanket up to their room. She stirred a little but she couldn't open her eyes as she held tightly onto Jason's chest.

"Where are we going?" She mumbled in the lift. 

"To the room… Feeling weak?" Jason asked as she nodded and whimpered. "Don't worry, you caught a cold. I will take care of you. There's no one in the room now…" Jason explained as she tried to open her eyes but could only see his blurry face.

"Put me down? I will walk by myself…" Ivy mumbled faintly but Jason ignored her as he rushed into the hotel room and put her down in bed. He rummaged through his bag for his emergency medication and made her swallow the fever tablets before putting a wet towel over her head.

She was too drowsy to retaliate with him as she whimpered. A part of him was worried as it was his first time seeing her so sick. He nearly wanted to send her to the hospital only to be halted by a phone call from Sandra.

"Hello Sandra?" He answered.

"Oh, Jason? Where is Ivy?" Sandra asked awkwardly.

"She is resting… She had a cold… Anything urgent?" Jason asked.

"Oh no! Is she alright now? Make sure you make her eat… She rarely falls sick but when she does, it can last a few days and it's bad. She will lose all her energy and sleep the whole day. You need to ensure she doesn't skip her meals and make her take her medicine…" Sandra explained.

"I will… Anything else to take note of?" Jason asked.

"Hmmm… She whimpered a lot because she dislikes feeling weak.. she had been like this since a little girl…" Sandra said as Jason smiled, touching Ivy's cheeks.

"Alright, I know what to do… Is everything alright at your end?" Jason asked, reminding Sandra of the reason she called.

"Oh yes, I was wanting to check what time your flight so that we know when you will come to pick Lucky? He is a little sad… Maybe he is missing both of you…" Sandra explained as Jason thought of getting Marcel over instead.

"Don't worry… I will get my assistant, Marcel, to pick him up. We would be reaching by dinner time but I would like to keep her at my place tonight so that it's easier to take care of her…" Jason said.

"Oh yes please do… Don't let her go to college tomorrow either. She usually takes two to three days to recover… Alright then, we will wait for Marcel to pick up Lucky. She will need him more than us." Sandra giggled as Jason smiled.

"Thank you Sandra… I will get Marcel to call you up and make arrangements." Jason said as Sandra said goodbye and hung up.

Jason sat by the bedside watching Ivy asleep. True enough, she had been whimpering a lot as she tossed holding on to his arm. He patted her with his right arm to comfort her.

"Ivy…What should I do about this feeling? Would you rather be by my side or have your family?" He asked in his heart as he touched her cheeks which were burning from her fever.