Marauder's Daughter (Eventual Tom Riddle X OC)

Chapter 80: Epilogue - Death

~ 40 years after Wedding. ~

~ Abigail age 60, Tom age 66 ~

Tom and I have now had 40 wonderful years of marriage. During this time, we have grown so much within our careers, ourselves, and within our marriage. We are happy, we are content, we live a good life. 

But recently, Tom has been sick, and we don't know what caused it, and nothing we are doing is healing it. We've been to many healers, even travelling to Japan to speak to the healers I got to know there. I had a lead healer there who had helped me after a curse at a shrine injured me pretty bad, and this healer managed to save my leg before it was amputated, so she earned my trust and my respect.

Tom and I spoke honestly with that healer, Ms. Yakushi, and she did a lot of research with us. We were honest about Tom's soul and how he was resurrected, we felt that was a root cause of the illness. Yakushi was an expert in experimental medicine, and she helped us go through all our combined notes on souls. Until finally, we came upon a grave conclusion on what Tom's illness is.

"I'm afraid I don't have good news." Yakushi says in Japanese to us one day. We've been travelling to see her nearly weekly for the last 6 months to get help for Tom, and he's only been steadily getting weaker and sicker over the last year.

"What is it?" I ask tentatively, holding my husband's hand.

"Well, when you resurrected his soul into the body, it had a price to pay. More than just the price of sacrifice, and more than the price of remorse." Yakushi says humbly to us, me translating for Tom as she's speaking since she doesn't speak much English. "When a soul is healed, it's life is cut. Since Tom has only half a soul, he too has only half a life. While the average witch or wizard can easily live to about 135, Tom will only get half of that. And since he's already 66 now, he is likely reaching his limit. I'm so sorry, you two."

"No." I hold a hand to my mouth to suppress my sob.

"I'm also afraid... that's not all." She continues sadly, looking at Tom with pity and regret. "Since your soul was made into a horcrux in the first place, it will not pass on to the afterlife. It will be stuck in limbo."

"No, the remorse was supposed to counter that." I deny immediately. "It was meant to undo that curse. He's endured the remorse his whole life, he's been a good man since he's been reborn, he can't go to limbo!" I shout out in English, not accepting her words.

"Darling," Tom says, but cuts himself off with a wheezing cough. "Be calm, my love. Whatever penance I must pay, I will pay it. I was allowed to live 40 wonderful years with you, I will forever be thankful of that."

"You can't ask me to live through losing you and knowing you're damning your soul to limbo forever. I won't accept this." I bite out bitterly to him. "I have lost too many people, I can't lose you. You don't deserve this." I sob out, my voice thick with emotion.

"There..." Yakushi says nervously, looking at my panicked face. "There is one thing you can do. A way to allow his soul to pass on. It won't stop his death, but it could save his soul."

"What is it?" Tom asks quietly, holding my hand as I'm crying, barely being able to translate right now.

"An act of true love." She replies quietly in English, looking at me before continuing in her language. "A selfless act of love. A sacrifice."

"I... would die?" I ask quietly. Tom understands enough Japanese that he knows what I said, and immediately tried to protest through his broken coughs.