Risa leaned against the balcony railing, her gaze lost in the glittering expanse of the city below. The quiet hum of distant traffic was a soft backdrop to the stillness between them. Alice stood beside her, just close enough that their shoulders brushed occasionally, yet neither of them spoke.
The silence was comfortable, a far cry from the heated confrontations of the past.
Finally, Risa broke the quiet, her voice soft but steady. “It’s almost unbelievable, isn’t it? After everything… that we’d end up like this.”
Alice turned her head, locking eyes with her. A hint of amusement played on her lips, but there was a trace of something deeper—regret, maybe. “If anyone had told me a few years ago, I’d have laughed. I thought we’d stay on opposite sides forever.”
They shared a brief chuckle, the sound tinged with the weight of all the years they had spent at odds. Their early encounters had been filled with friction, with each of them standing their ground as the other pushed back. Alice, the bold and ambitious mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, had never been one to shy away from controversy, and Risa, with her sense of justice, had always seen Alice as a puzzle to be solved—or, at least, a case to be closed.
“You know,” Risa continued, “that first council meeting where we faced off, I remember thinking, ‘Who does this woman think she is?’” She laughed, shaking her head. “You were so bold, so sure of yourself, like no one could ever bring you down.”
Alice smirked, a touch of pride in her gaze as she leaned back against the railing. “And you were any different? You walked in like you already had all the answers.”
Risa let out a small, embarrassed laugh. “I had my mission. I thought I’d set things right. And you were just... in my way.”
Alice’s smirk softened, and her gaze shifted downward, her fingers absentmindedly tracing patterns on the cool metal of the railing. “I was in the way, wasn’t I? Funny how it feels like another lifetime now. Back then, I’d have done anything to protect the people I trusted—even if it meant taking on all the suspicions.”
A heavy silence fell between them, the weight of unspoken words hanging in the air. Risa reached out, her hand brushing gently against Alice’s arm, the contact grounding her. Her voice was softer when she spoke. “You never tried to change my mind. You let me believe you were everything I was fighting against.” She shook her head. “I spent so much energy chasing after you, convinced you were guilty of something.”
Alice exhaled deeply, her expression darkening slightly. “You had every reason to. I wasn’t innocent, Risa. I made my choices—took risks, aligned myself with people who probably didn’t deserve it.” She gazed out over the city, her voice almost lost in the breeze. “Looking back, maybe part of me knew you were right.”
The tension in the air deepened, memories of their battles resurfacing—of the accusations, the investigations, the distance that had grown between them. Yet, somehow, neither of them had been able to completely shut the other out.
Risa’s chest tightened as she recalled her own struggle. “I thought bringing you down would be my victory.” Her voice dropped to a murmur. “But the more I tried, the more I found myself questioning things. There was always something... that made me hesitate.”
Alice let out a soft, bittersweet laugh. “That must’ve driven you insane.”
Risa sighed, the memory of those days weighing on her heart. “It did.” She paused, almost as though afraid to continue. Then, she whispered, “And then one day... I realized I wanted to be wrong. The closer I looked, the more I saw a woman who was more than just her title. I was terrified, Alice. I thought I’d lose everything if I didn’t find a way to stop feeling this way.”
Alice listened intently, her gaze softening as Risa spoke. There was something vulnerable in her expression—an openness that Risa hadn’t seen before. When Alice finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Every time you questioned me, I felt exposed, like I was losing control of my own life. But even then, I couldn’t help... admiring you. You forced me to be honest with myself, even when I didn’t want to be.”
Risa looked at Alice, her heart in her throat. “Even if it meant facing me?”
Alice nodded, a small, sad smile curving her lips. “Even then. You were fearless, Risa. You challenged me in ways no one else dared.”
Risa’s heart swelled with a mixture of pride and sorrow. How had they gone from being enemies to... this? To standing here, in the quiet of the night, sharing something neither of them had ever expected.
Alice reached up, her fingers brushing gently against Risa’s cheek, her touch tender. “Do you regret it?” she asked, her voice barely audible. “Regret letting yourself fall for me?”
Risa closed her eyes at the warmth of Alice’s touch, leaning into it. “No.” She opened her eyes, meeting Alice’s gaze. “I regret the fights, the assumptions, the hurt. But falling in love with you? That’s the one thing I could never regret.”
Alice’s eyes softened, her smile deepening as she leaned in to press a gentle kiss to Risa’s forehead. “It’s a crazy story, isn’t it? How we went through all that to get here.”
Risa smiled, resting her head on Alice’s shoulder as they stood together in the cool night air. “Maybe crazy. But it’s ours.”
And in that moment, it was enough. They weren’t rivals, they weren’t politicians—they were simply two people who had survived the battles, both internal and external, and had come out the other side, hand in hand, ready to face whatever came next together.
