Letting Go

Fifty-four

"Lahat ng bagay, may pagtatapos..."

Huminga ako ng malalim.

"Lahat ng play, may denoument..."

Kinakabahan akong nakatingin sakanila, hindi ko alam ano ang susunod na gagawin ko.

"At lahat ng story, may epilogue."

Dara smiled at me a bit. Tinignan ko silang lahat, habang seryoso akong nagbabasa ng papel na hawak ko.

"Haharapin mo ang dulo, kahit anong mangyari. Pwedeng may mauna, o pwedeng may mahuli. But just one day, you might be surprised... That you already have to face the end."

I remember a while ago, I was walking in the aisle.

"Romeo and Juliet...

Maybe their love story ended in a way they never expected it. Maybe, their love story didn't have the chance to prove itself. Their love story happened till their death, it happened to be with them till the end. It was with them till their last breath.

Love has different angles... And on each angle stands a different person. But behind every angle, is a story untold."

Dara smiled, alam kong pinipigilan nya ang mga luha nya. Gusto ko mang pigilan, all I can do is to smile to ease the tension. Ramdam ko ang saya, habang halos lahat sila, hawak ang kanya-kanyang tissue. Tinignan ko ang sarili ko, hawak ang kamay nya. Nasa gitna kaming dalawa. I am wearing my long elegant white dress.

"I maybe crying right now, because of pain... But maybe someone's in pain because I'm crying. The difference between two sides."

Nakita ko nalang na lahat sila, humahagulgol na. Everything starts to change. Pakiramdam ko sobrang pagod na 'ko.

"The same with what happened with Romeo and Juliet. The two braced people killed their pain with love. But, on the other hand, maybe Shakespeare didn't do it that way. We may not know, but maybe Shakespeare killed their love with pain. The truth is, the answer to a question will be different the way you look at it. The way you are doing it."

Pinagpatuloy ko ang pagbabasa ko. Pero hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit ganito. Everything went different. Parang unti-unting nababago ang lugar, and all I knew was that we're on our Camelot. Napunta ulit kami doon, and I smiled as I looked around. Memories started hitting me.

Pero bakit unti-unti syang lumalayo? Bakit lumalayo sya sa'kin?

And what I'm feeling right now starts to change.

"We may be the thousandth immitators of Romeo and Juliet. We had their love story twisted. We, are joint by one aching free-way... And till death do us part." I smiled at him. He nodded weakly. The sunrise starts.

"The poison Romeo drank wasn't really a poison. It is a precipitation of time, saying the end has come. It is the end line. And he chose it. But we are different, Chill... We have our choice with us."

Choosing life over death.

"We chose life... But we have our author to end every chapter. To end our story..."

Nagsimula silang yumuko, nakikita ko ang pag-iyak nila.

"Back when we were still on elementary, some students knew me as elementary's feature writer of the Journalism club," I laughed a little. "And I have written so many poems, and of course, stories and if there is one story I wouldn't want to end, it is ours. Our story. But this time, the pen's not mine. I make actions through fate, but not breath in life."

He's moving aback. Farther and farther.

"It is our choice to choose light over darkness, breath over death, actions within our fate... And it is someone's choice to start a once upon a time within someone's happy ending."

He smiled.

"Some may find ours, tragic. But life used taught me that every tick of a clock happens to be a happy ending."

He went closer, riding his wheelchair. He put a force on the ground and keep his feet standing.

"I love you, and you will always be here." I pointed my heart, while I smile widely with tears flowing on my cheeks.

"You will be a legend. Our story will be... People may not prove it true, but it will remain with us forever. I'll see it clearly in my mind till the last blink of my eye, It will leave a mark and will remain unforgotten in my heart till my last breath. Our story, will always be with us. And the characters of this story will be, and will always be... Legends."

He kissed me on my temple before he closed his eyes.

"A-Autumn?"

"Dara?"

"Nananaginip ka."