1971 {Rodrigo Duterte x Leni Robredo}

03 Live

«A/N: I am always grateful for your feedbacks. Releasing an early update because I might not be able to do so tomorrow.»

Leni!

She heard his voice moments before she lost consciousness. Although she feared death, the thought of risking her life for him made it easier for her to accept her fate.

She was dying.

Her body felt numb. Her strength kept draining away. A comforting sensation wrapped around her body preparing her to sleep for all eternity.

Ito na ba yun? Ganito ba ang pakiramdam 'pag malapit nang mamatay?

Hindi naman siguro nila ako mamimiss diba?

Mama...

The sound of her child's weeping voice stirs something inside her.

Ang mga...anak ko...

Don't worry mama, ako na ang bahala sa mga kapatid ko.

Magiging okay lang ba talaga kayo, Aika?

You'll be back mama. Maghihintay kami.

Little by little she began to remember all those people who would surely be affected by her demise. Her children. Her constituents.

Him.

Please Leni...please...please come back to me.

She heard his voice.

Thoughts of him flooded through her mind. The wrinkle in his eyes whenever he laughed and that lopsided grin that had become so endearing to her. His unnerving gaze whenever she caught him staring at her as if wanting to read the thoughts on her mind. The touch of his hand on her arm every time they talked and how she wished his hand would just hold her own instead. The urge to wrap her arms around him whenever he was only a few inches away. The regret of never being able to tell him how she felt.

Mamimiss niya kaya ako?

And that look on his face as he slowly realized that she was dying. As if his world had ended and his heart broke into a million pieces, trying his best to hold on to her dying body. As if his touch would ever bring her back to life. As if with his human strength, he could pull her out of oblivion. As if he too regretted not telling her something.

Masasabi ko pa kaya sa kanya?

And how she laughed inside in misery because they never had a chance to say how much they loved each other and now they have run out of chances.

Does death have to be this miserable?

Ayoko pa...ayoko mawala ng ganito.

She knew that what she wanted was something impossible, but in her dying moments it was the only thing that she deeply desired. She wanted to...

Ayoko pang mamatay!

...live again.

And like a stone being tossed off a cliff she started to fall, slowly at first and the faster and faster until she broke off the surface of unconsciousness.

January 5

Her eyes opened.

"Leonor! Salamat sa Diyos at nagising ka na rin!" She heard an unfamiliar voice say.

Buhay...pa ako?

Her head started to ache and her body felt sore. The comfort she was enveloped with just moments ago had been replaced with extreme physical agony. Breathing for the first time since then had become such a chore.