Stranded (An AlDub Fanfic)

Remember: An Epilogue

Day 25 of AMACon Drabbles for Oikos.

The prompt was just so apt for this story that I decided to do its sequel.

FICTION OK? OK.

Unbeta'ed and not proofread as always.

//

Richard Faulkerson Jr. is now old and gray, alone as well and all by himself. Choosing to stay that way for the longest time. A self-imposed punishment, if you will. He knows he deserves this. After all that he's done.

He is also dying. He knows, that any time now, he can be taken by Death. He sighs as he closes his eyes and tries so hard not to remember. Alas, his memory betrays him and that's exactly what he does.

Remembers.

He remembers her smile. He remembers the way her hair moves in the wind. He remembers the way her eyes would light up when he cracks his lame jokes. He remembers the way she scrunches her nose when she doesn't like something. He remembers her laugh, that asthmatic, joyful laugh of hers. He remembers her beauty, her simplicity, her uniqueness...

He remembers everything there is to remember about her. He smiles, feeling bittersweet.

I shouldn't be thinking of her anymore.

The door to his hospital room slowly opens and he immediately opens his eyes, brows furrowing, thinking questioningly - is it time for his meds? What time is it anyway?

Surely - it isn't a visitor. Because who would visit him? He doesn't have any family, no wife or children, choosing not to marry after she left him on that fateful day at BGC. His father and older brother are already gone. His sister is on the other side of the world and doesn't know about his condition. He doesn't know anyone that would want to visit him.

So who is this?

"Hi," the newcomer quietly said as he entered the room and walked slowly to his bed. The man smiles at him, albeit a little strained. "Mama's right. I look at lot like you."

"Who are you?" he asks, voice hoarse from being unused for a long time, as he stares and tries to comprehend who this man is. "Hindi kita kilala, hijo."

The man continues to smile as he slowly takes a seat on the chair beside his bed. "My name is Sebastian. Sebastian Mendoza Sotto. Although now that I've seen you, mas tama 'ata na Faulkerson ang apelyido ko, kasi yun ang dugong dumadaloy sakin diba?"

He doesn't reply. He continues to stare at this man in front of him, claiming to be a Faulkerson. Come to think of it - he can be. With the way his nose slopes down, his thick, black hair, his thin lips, plus he also has the infamous dimple on his left cheek. But there's something different about him that makes him not completely a Faulkerson.

Must be the eyes. Yes, that must be it. He has the same eyes as... No... It can't be...

"Everybody said while I was growing up that I looked like Mama's old love team partner, this Alden Richards - which must be you. Except for my eyes. I have Mama's eyes."

"Your middle name..."

Sebastian nods. "Mendoza. Yes, my mother is Nicomaine Dei Sotto nee Mendoza. And you - you must be my biological father. At least, that's what this letter from Mama is saying."

He takes out a slightly crumpled sheet of paper from his coat pocket and gives it to him. With trembling fingers, he takes it and slowly opens it, noticing the very familiar scrawl of the love of his life. He takes it all in, reads everything she's written for her son, their son - if what this man is saying is true, all the while with unshed tears in his eyes.

"Maine..." he whispers. "Asan na siya ngayon?"

"She passed away three months ago," Sebastian replies sadly. "Hindi na kinaya ng katawan nya yung cancer. She gave me that letter before she passed, telling me to look for you. And to try and make amends. To not be angry with you because you had your reasons."

"S-si... Si Vico?"

"Naunang nawala si Daddy, two years ago pa."

He nods, wiping the tears that fell from his eyes with shaking hands. "I didn't know..."

"Yun din ang sinabi ni Mama. Hindi nya daw purposely pinaalam sayo nung huli kayong nagkita. Although she gave you the invitation to come visit her so you could have seen for yourself na anak mo nga ako. But you never did visit us."

"I thought kasi na --"

Sebastian simply nods and pats his arm. "It's all right. It's done and over with. It's been 50 years since you last saw each other."

"That long na pala. How did you find me?"

"It wasn't easy. Sa totoo lang talaga, Mama actually asked for you when she was on her deathbed. Noon pa lang nagsimula na akong hanapin ka. But you're a hard man to find," Sebastian chuckles. "I didn't know who you were then and why Mama wanted me to find you. Until this letter that she gave me before she died. At least I'm here now. Kahit na medyo late na ang lahat."

"I didn't want to visit dahil hindi ko kakayanin na makita si Maine with Vico. Even though I pushed her to him. I don't think I can --"

"Mama explained everything to me," Sebastian softly cuts him off, smiling sadly. "I understand naman why you did what you did. Sayang lang though. Sobrang sayang lang ng lahat."

"I'm sorry," Richard cries, his voice guttural. "Everything was my fault. What I did before - it was one of my biggest regrets. And now, knowing na nagka-anak pala kami at eto ka --"

He isn't able to continue anymore as sobs start to wrack his frail body. Here he is, remembering everything again. He remembers all of it again.

He remembers how he treated her. He remembers how he left her. He remembers how  she cried when he told her his reasons. He remembers how she kissed him that one last time. He remembers how she showed him that she had moved on.

He remembers. All of it.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep, defeated breath, a lone tear sliding down his eye onto his pillow.

"I'm sorry," he whispers for the last time before the heart monitor behind him flat lines.