A new start or just a continuation?

Sitting on the chair that already passed his grandson in age he watched the sun shining outside.
It was a beautiful day in the countryside, yet it made him sigh.
“I will miss this…”
He murmured, trying to get up but failing to do so.
He could feel it.
The end was coming, but he wasn’t extremely sad.
He was afraid, scared and left wanting a bit more, but he was also content.
He was almost 100 years old, which was quite an achievement.
He had 3 sons and 4 daughters, each living a more or less good life, and each of them keeping a close relationship amongst themselves and with him as well.
He was happy.
If he were too choose something he regretted, was that he couldn’t teach his great-great-grandkids how to draw.
He watched the sun shine, and the birds sing.
Slowly, his eyelids became heavier and heavier.
His breathing became slower and slower.
His once great, athletic body now was slumped on the chair, filled with wrinkles.
But his clothes were still immaculate, even though they smelled of paint.
He drifted away, his soul leaving the body and leaving this realm of existence.
Soon, his eyes opened once more.
A blinding light washed over him, before waking up in a room filled with the colors of gold, wood and grass.
He was sitting on a chair once more, very much alike the chair he always used to sit.
In front of him was a smiling woman of indescribable beauty.
She was beaming, just like the sun high up in the sky.
With a smile and a voice like a heavenly chime, she supported her chin on the desk she was sitting at, and spoke.
“So, how is it to come back?”
She asked.
“Back? What do you mean back?”
The man asked.
“Oh, your memory is not back yet. Hmm wait a second.”
She said, getting busy with a tea set.
Soon, a calming fragrance spread in the room.
“Drink this, as it will awaken your memories.”
She said, smiling.
The man nodded, and slowly sipped the tea.
Its taste was strong yet mild.
Lasting but ever so-fleeting.
Just like the memories the woman claimed he had.
Did he believe her?
Not really, but he knew that this was either real or just the last struggle of his unordinary imagination.
But he didn’t need to suspect anything.
All of this was true, and soon he would be aware as well.
The tea washed through his body and spirit, refreshing them both.
He became a youth of barely 20 years old, while his soul shine brighter than the entire room, the woman smiling, while having her eyes closed.
The man saw what he understood to be his former life.
He was a painter in that life as well, but a Saint one.
His seas were filled with rage and unpredictability.
His mountains were unmovable and towering.
One painting of his equaled an entire world or more, and he was renowned all over the multiverse.
He was of a righteous faction, yet closer to the neutral ones.
He mostly obsessed over painting, nature and the secrets of the universe.
He didn’t care about status, and he travelled the myriad realms.
“So…that was my punishment?”
He asked, chuckling wryly.
“Yes. Your sin was heavy yet insignificant at the same time.
Your paintings made the mortals and the divine equal, thus the divine punished you.
But you helped a lot and this was your first true offence, thus your human life was peaceful.”
The woman said.
“It was more of a reward, than a punishment.”
The man chuckled, his aura dimming.
Yet, his presence didn’t weaken, but the opposite, he became unfathomable.
He had a breakthrough.
“Congratulations for the breakthrough, benefactor.
It’s been almost a 100 years for you, but 120 million years for the myriad realms.
I officially welcome you back.”
The woman said, as a golden door appeared to their left.
“Benefactor?”
The man asked, as he stood up.
“I am a mortal, whose fate changed after being painted by you.”
The woman said, smiling.
The man laughed, as he walked into the golden door with great strides, and no worries at all.
The woman chuckled shaking her head, as she already saw a brush appearing in his hands…
“He never changed, not even as a mortal in the closed off zone.”
She murmured, as she closed the golden door, took out a file and waited for her next guest.