A MAN'S SORROW CUTS DEEPER

The strength of her heart...

Sanem stood behind Can. Her heart pounded. Her eyes filled with tears. Her soul so accustomed to pain felt as if it had been shredded to pieces. She was hopeless. Numb in her knees. Not knowing where to turn to, she turned back and ran home. For she just heard the most hurtful words Can had ever spoken. His heart was void of their love. His memory was gone, that she knew all too well. But she never expected him to speak of the loss of their love in such an emotionless way. It was as if their love was a miscellaneous matter, something easy to dismiss. Something of so little importance to Can that he felt no obligation to admit it to her, face to face. And that hurt the most.

She did not remember how she got home. She ran not looking where her steps took her. Ayhan was gone. So was Deniz. She was left all alone. With no kind soul to turn to. She cried her heart out, in an all too familiar way. Though the tears offered no solace, they helped ease her pain.

She recalled all the times Can told her he loved her. Each sweet embrace. Each stolen kiss, each gaze they had shared. She remembered each night they spent under the stars. Each meal they had shared, each dance in his arms. And as much as those memories brought back joy and the feeling of love, all of that dimmed because of Can's words. The strength of her heart was beginning to sway. Their first kiss seemed surreal. Their love only found in the fairy tales. For she was beginning to realize that the man Can had become was no longer her Can. He was still inside Can, but he was not allowed to come up to the surface. Can's heart was no longer strong enough to fight for their love. His soul was no longer permitted to speak on behalf of their love.

And then, all if a sudden Mihriban came by her house. She needed no words to be spoken to see Sanem's heart had been bruized. Something was not right. Very not right. What Sanem had revealed hurt Mihriban just as much. So Can admitted freely to Aziz that his love for Sanem was gone. If left his heart. Worst of all, he felt no void in his heart. No hurt because of this loss. No pain of what had been and no longer was. She tried to advise Sanem to stay calm and give Can the benefit of a doubt because he still felt shock and aftermath from the accident. But as much as Mihriban wanted to believe her own advice, she knew what Can's words meant. And she knew what it meant for their future. She had come to love Sanem as a daughter. She had come to guard her and defend her the best way she could.

Sanem spoke out of her fear in their future, of fear for their love. How would she fight for both of their hearts, if her heart no longer lay in his heart? How was she to face the fight for their love, if she was the only warrior left on that battlefield? How was she supposed to find the strength to face the future if her Can no longer existed, the old Can she fell in love with?

She missed Can. Her Can. She yearned for him in the days he seemed lost at sea. When she did not know if he was well or not. When she did not known if he was even alive. When she all but convinced herself that he left her and their love behind. But she realized their love never left his heart. It brought him back to her. It reunited them again. And then, the accident happened. What once felt like the greatest triumph of their love, just a mere month ago, now felt like the worst possible curse. For what else could she have called what was happening to them? To have loved and now be told their love meant nothing at all? She could not sit still. She could not watch her life pass her by. She could not accept giving up without a fight.

Can was in for one heck of a ride. She would fight for their love, and if all failed, she would walk away. She would force her steps to lead her away from Can and his heart. Though it would hurt, she would look out for herself first. If Can ran after her, she would know he still loved her, whether the old or the new Can. If Can chose not to come after her, she would leave with her head held high.

Mihriban saw something change in Sanem's eyes. There was a spark. A light she had not seen in over a month. Sanem looked fierce and so sure of herself. She looked bold and ready to fight. Mihriban hoped that what lay before Sanem and Can was stronger than his amnesia. Stronger than their past sorrows. She hope and wished with all of her heart that there was love still waiting for them. Waiting to be found. Waiting to be felt. Waiting to be lived. And she hoped that neither Can nor Sanem were too blind to recognize that love in their hearts...