A MAN'S SORROW CUTS DEEPER

Healing through pain...

Can chose to surrender to what he knew best. He ran. Away from people. Away from his place. Away from the memories... His boat carried him through the unforseen lands. Through the unchartered waters. Yet as the Albatross guided him in his thoughts, the boat's compass pulled him to back to Istanbul.

He saw the land. Debated whether to pull away or drop anchor... In a dream that came to him a while ago he saw a shaddow of a bird on the sand, then a bird standing proud with peace in his eyes.. And the feeling of hope that this was his home drifted beyond his dream, and he awoke with peace in his heart. His luck brought him back here, for here he should be destined to stay. Whether he knew it yet or not. He set his feet on the pier and took in a deep breath. An all familiar pain struck his veins. Istanbul offered him refuge but this was the land where Sanem left his side. The crush of the empty space next to him was too unbearable. Each breath offered more pain. He closed his eyes... The sound of Istanbul and his childhood home long forgotten, he wished with all of his might that he would again discover an inch of land on this earth where he would feel whole. And where he could feel that he would run no more.

His strength and discipline willed him to stay. He dropped anchor, and Aunt Remide's motherly heart found him there. He did not intend to stay. He sis not intend to be found either. But no one ever said 'NO' to the enigmatic Mrs. Remide. Not even Can. And especially not now, when she advised him of hos father's grave illness. But his Aunt did something else. A tiny gesture of proportions not even she could have foreseen. She gifted Can a present. Wrapped up for now as she knew he would not have accepted it otherwise. She knew he would come to need it. And she knew the destined Albatross in him would reach for it at the moment his scorned heart would have needed it the most.

Never one to reveal all of her cards, Aunt Remide guided Can's boat to a land that would come to mean everything to Can, yet would frighten him at first. More than he would ever let it show. And definitely more than he would be willing to admit to wven himself.

Unbeknownst to him, Can dropped the anchor of his lonely boat by the pier belonging to the piece of land Sanem had come to call home now. She needed refuge now as much as he did. She suffered as much as he did. And she yearned for a moment in time where she would again feel whole - as much as he did.

The year that kept them apart did more than they realized. More than they would understand at first. It made them heal - though not completely. It made them forget them the sorrows - though not completely because they chose to keep the pain inside because it meant that they mattered to someone at one point in their lives. They proved to themselves they could survive through that very last day they saw each other for the very last day - though that was just an illusion because their hearts knew better.

They would never let go of their love. They would never allow their hearts to break free of the love that made them whole and broke their souls to pieces. Why? Because their souls were those of soulmates. Apart, they were two halves of a whole. Two equal parts of one soul. Two birds both yearning to fly away yet yearning for one nest to call theie own. The same nest, as Fate would have it.

Can felt relieved to sew his father. To see his dear friends Ceycey, Deren, and even Muzo himself. Seeing them after so long soother his restlessness, if only for a moment. It also made him realize that he may, after all, have mattered to someone in this great lonely world. He smiled, embraced them, and... froze, for Muzo spoke a moment too soon, and advised Can that he stood on Sanem's land. Sanem's ground. Sanem's save haven.

He had no time to lose. No way to stay. No other choice than to leave. He looked at his father, and Aunt Remide as well. He needed to go. For his own sake. For the sake of whatever was left of his broken heart. He turned and left. He fled. And stopped the moment he made it back to the pier. Not because he changed his mind. Not because he lost his courage to leave. But because he would need to find courage to walk up to his boat. Not just to his boat. But to his 'once-beloved' Sanem...