1971 {Rodrigo Duterte x Leni Robredo}

04 Meet

«A/N: Huge thanks to Ate N for helping me sort out some loose points in the plot. Belated Birthday greeting to another Ate N. And advance 10th Monthsary to Dubredo. #05.01.17 #DubredPaRin»

January 6, 1971

"Imposible...imposible talagang mangyari to..."

Leni woke up the next day to the same scenery. The wooden bed frame and floors still looked very real. She was still stuck in 1971.

Before she slept the previous night she had hoped that all of it was just a bad dream. That she was not in Davao. That she was not living in Duterte's ex-wife's house. That she was not transported back in time.

She pinched herself hard, hoping that she had woken up into another dream, but the searing pain told her she was not dreaming.

She looks at herself in the mirror. She too had become younger.

The thing was that she looked exactly the same as she did back in the days, when she was still in her 20s. In this era she was Maria Leonor Sto. Tomas.

Where could the soul of this previous Maria Leonor be? Was she transported to the present, or in her case it would be the future, right? Could she be living as Vice President Leni? Could she be dead perhaps?

It would be so much better if someone would be able to answer these questions.

"Leonor?"

An intrusion to her train of thoughts made her stop from questioning herself further. She looked at Elizabeth who was now bringing a tray of breakfast for her.

"Leni nalang sana." she told her 'cousin' as she stared blankly out of the open window.

Bakit ko pa ba hiniling na bumalik?

Leni started to regret ever being brought back to life. Maybe she should just have let it be and died. Maybe her demise had been too impossible to be undone and now she was in between the realm of the living and the dead. Maybe she shouldn't have been given a second chance.

Maybe some love stories were meant to end even before pen could land on paper.

"Ah sige...Leni...tamang tama lang pala yung pagdating ko, gising ka na."

Leni's gaze went back to Elizabeth as she placed the tray on the side table, only to notice for the first time since she woke up, a lovely bouquet of flowers. With its presence Leni began to feel slightly better.

"Ang ganda naman ng mga bulaklak." a small smile formed on her lips.

Elizabeth clapped her hands together - this caught her attention and she looked up.

"Ay, oo nga pala! Dumating si Rodrigo dito kanina. Dinala niya yan para sayo. Nasabi ko kasi sa kanya na nagising ka na."

"Rod...rigo..."

Siya nanaman...

She suppresses the wide smile that the mention of his name brought. Even in this era, he was still as sweet as ever. Even time could not make his charm fade away.

Kung hindi pa rin siya nagbabago. Paano kung...magkita uli kami?

Should she meet him? Could he, perhaps, answer all her questions?

She carefully took the flowers from the table and touched the soft petals with her fingers.

"May...itatanong lang sana ako." Leni shyly asks Elizabeth while her attention remained on the flowers.

"Oo ba. Magtanong ka lang."

She pursed her lips, greatly unsure of how she should ask the question. If her answer was a negative then it would be awkward, but then it would be good too. So she asked the question directly anyway.