AMACon 3: Oikos - Home

Fugue - Chapter Two

It was already afternoon when they finally arrived at their destination. It looked a lot better in person, Maine thought, despite the faded color of the walls and the small cobwebs that have formed on the window arches. She spent some time marveling at it. This could be really a beautiful house and it was sad to know that this house holds a painful memory for someone who created it with utmost love.

She turned to Alden who was just standing beside her. He too was staring at it, drinking in each detail of the house, immersing himself in nostalgia. Maine wondered what was probably running inside his mind right now or what was he feeling right at this moment, now that he was face-to-face with something that had a big impact in his past.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine." He answered and she was shocked when he reached out for her hand, and let his fingers slip in between hers before holding it tight. She stared at their hands interlocked with each other. Why do they seem to fit perfectly?

Why does it feel so strangely comfortable and... familiar?

"Let's go." Alden pulled Maine and together they entered the gate and walked inside the house as it starts to rain outside.

Silence filled the room except for the soft melodious pitter-patter of the rain outside and the sound of their even breathing as they lay next to each other on the couch, enclosed in each other's warmth. Caged in the comfort of his arms, she buried her head to his chest, close to where she could hear his heart beating against his chest. He is alive. He is real. His prince charming exists and he is right beside her... and she could not have been more thankful for God to lead him to her. This is indeed home.

"I love you..." she muttered sweetly. He smiled to her tenderly before planting a kiss on her temple.

"I love you as much," he replied. "Shall we dance?"

"But we just finished arranging the furniture," she whined, finishing it with a pout which made the other chuckle. "At saka wala namang music," she added.

"Meron. Let us dance to the rhythm of the rain, and to this," he held her hand and placed it on top of his heart, "to the tune of our hearts."

He stood up and led her to the center of the living room. She draped her hands around his neck while he wrapped his arms around her waist. He closed the gap between them, their foreheads touching each other, as they swayed to the sweet harmony of music that only the two of them can hear.

Maine froze in the spot and the hand that was held by Alden slipped and fell limply to her side. A tear rolled down her cheek as she stood there in disbelief of the scene that just flashed in her mind.

"I am that girl..."

She looked beside her but Alden was no longer there. "Alden, where –"

Out of the blue, a piano was playing. Maine followed the sound and she did not find it difficult to locate it. Her feet seemed to know its way around the house. It did not take long for her to find her way to the music room.

There she found Alden sitting in front of a white baby grand piano, playing and singing that song.

I will never let you fall

I'll stand up with you forever

I'll be there for you through it all

Even if saving you sends me to heaven

Everything faded into background as another memory came across her mind.

All eyes were on him as he began to play the piano on stage but the moment he uttered the first words of a song that he solely dedicated for her, his focus was only on her. Like she was the only person in the room.