Chapter 15: Until We Meet Again

Christiana awoke with a sense of sacred fulfillment, at peace in her bride's comforting embrace. As dawn's first radiance glowed along the horizon, she ventured once more into the lush gardens, breathing in nature's sweet aroma one final time before her sacred union would be fulfilled.

Wandering among flowers bursting with life, Christiana rejoiced in all the ways God's goodness had been made manifest. Wherever her feet carried her, creatures of the garden bowed in reverence for the love she shared with their Creator. Her soul swelled with gratitude for this idyllic home that had nurtured her spirit through every trial.

Drawing nearer to the sparkling fountain at the garden's heart, Christiana glimpsed souls from afar whose eyes now shone with salvation's dawn. Through her victory, countless lives had been awakened to the light of their Savior's sacrifice and to the abundance that could be known by abandoning life to follow Him.

Word of her sacred bond with Jesus had spread on the breeze, drawing multitudes to rejoice with her in this hallowed place. As she continued her walk, awestruck whispers followed in her wake: "Behold the radiant bride!" Though only in Soulspring a short while longer, the fragrance of her faith would permeate lives for eternity. Amid birds' euphony and blooms bursting with life, Christiana encountered Jesus, the incandescent embodiment of all-consuming love. Falling to her knees before Him, she poured out worship in a sacred tongue known only to their transcendent bond.

Encompassed in His sublime embrace, Christiana's spirit soared upon cascading waves of rapture. Though harbored in this hallowed place only a short while longer, long voracious yearnings for their union will soon fill her entire being. In Jesus' eyes, she glimpsed eternal pastures and halls of joy unspeakable—a glimpse into the bliss that would be hers forever to dwell in the radiance of her bridegroom's face.

He lifted her chin with wound-marked hands, love's fervor saturating his smile and the cadences of his whisper. "My beloved, you are the fairest among women. Come, let us go away to yonder glade, where we may commune in the sanctity none but us shall know, until soul joins fully with soul at long last."

There beneath bowers winding with blossoms, Christiana and her Lord lost themselves in the raptures of sacred exchange. All else fell away, but their beating hearts and hallowed pleasure in simply being near. For a fleeting infinitude, Christiana knew what it was to be fully seen and celebrated simply for being—the glory of divine delight. Hand in hand, they walked among blossoms bursting with life, Jesus' words filling Christiana with renewed assurance. Though trials would remain for souls left to journey awhile in a darkened world, he vowed to return one day and make all things new.

"Weeps not for your sisters, who will yet know tribulation," he soothed, pressing her palm to His breast, where His heart sang with life. "I am with them as I am with you. And when the fullness of time has come, I will descend with a shout and gather my own to dwell in My courts as you soon shall."

Christiana gazed upon her bridegroom's face, flooded with peace at His steadfast promises. Though parting from those she had come to love would grieve her soul, joy in the hope of their reunion surpassed all else. Each word of grace that fell from Jesus' lips fortified her resolve and nourished faith's ripened fruits from the seeds of doubt vanquished long ago.

Soon she would know perfect serenity in His embrace for eternity. But for now, her final moments in Soulspring's hallowed glades uplifted her spirit for partings yet to come as she renewed her trust in the Savior, whose love would never fail or forsake. The last radiance of day painted the cerulean sky aflush with brilliance as Christiana and Jesus made their way to bid farewell. Their sisters had gathered, their eyes brimming with mingled joy and bittersweet partedness.

Christiana embraced each beloved soul, imprinting their faces upon her heart, though their absence must come. To Violet, she whispered reassurances that the Savior's promises would uphold them through any trial. And while their physical union here must end, eternal joy will one day be theirs to revel in together forevermore in their Creator's courts.

Lifting clasped hands toward the colorful horizon, Jesus spoke words of gratitude and blessing over the family He had nurtured here. Though darkness lurked yet in a fallen world, their faithful light would illuminate spirits wherever their feet might roam in the Master's service until He returned to ransom His own.

As the first stars kindled their wicks along the purple-gold palette of dusk, Christiana turned to her sisters one last time. Their faces aglow with the wonder of redemption; she imprinted them upon her soul and breathed her final farewell. When they next met, all tears and partings would be no more—only rapture, forever dwelling in their beloved's radiance without end. Surrounded by the first stars glimmering in violet skies, Jesus embraced His bride, pressing a lingering kiss to her brow. "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter now into the joy of your Lord."

Christiana gazed up at the face of divine delight, drinking in His beauty and exchanging one last adoring smile. As light radiated from within, enveloping her in pure warmth and essence, shadows fell away into the periphery of memory; all that remained were souls entwined in raptures unbounded.

When next Christiana stirred, she awakened and swathed in an ineffable splendor. Rows of luminous figures welcomed her with wordless acclamation as she beheld her bride's form, shining with a glory that outshone the noonday sun. Smiling through tears, Jesus lifted her hand to cover the last fading remnants of His scarlet wounds.

All trials had led to this rapture, all longing fulfilled. Christiana was home at long last in the sanctuary of her Beloved's eternal embrace, needing no sun or moon for radiance evermore. With a kiss of consummation sealing souls in bonds of purest joy, Christiana joined the throngs in praise, resounding through halls where light is life and love is sovereign, reigning through all ages.