The Lovers of the Midnight Sea

His Fear

December 24, 1883
Casa Dolores, Tondo, Maynila
5:37pm

Blanca greeted Ambrosio with a wide grin, and they talked near a tree.

"Oh god, did you see that?" She asks, but he did not say anything.

"I think my heart is going to jump out of my chest... Oh, I'm sorry I didn't notice you earlier. How long were you standing there?" She talked breathlessly.

"Have you... Already fell for him?"

Blanca took a minute to observe Ambrosio's face. He looked sad, but he had a gentle smile. She placed her hand near her chest and told him,

"I think I do..." a faint pink appeared on her cheeks and broke their eye contact.

Ambrosio handed her the flowers hesitantly and accidentally took the crystal on Blanca's white bracelet.

"Well... Congratulations to you. I hope that we will keep in touch in the future..."

"Of course, I will. After all, you are my greatest friend, and I am grateful that God gave me you." Those words crushed him.

He couldn't bear his emotions, so he clenched his fists and ran away.

"Ambo! Where are you going?" She tried to follow him, but she was stopped by her fiancé.

______________

Ambrosio rushed to the sea, trying to calm down. He was in agony and despaired. He knelt down only to hear the waves crash, the howl of the wind, and the voices in his head.

He thought that drowning on the sea would be better than to feel anything. He marched through the silent waters when the little boy grabbed his hand and pulled him to the shore.

"What are you doing? Can't you remember the reason why you were brought back to the past?" The boy asked him and sighed.

"Heaven granted your prayer to challenge the flow of fate!"

"When Blanca accepted her first love's proposal, you were devastated by the news. So while fishing in the night, you drowned yourself. But you ended up being saved in a far city instead. So you went abroad to forget everything and made a fortune. You made a name in Europe by painting exquisite landscapes and portraits. When you turned old, you came back to this city to find Blanca and Sergio, only to be welcomed by disappointment. You bought their antique house and painted her when she was young." The boy reminded him of his past.

Ambrosio suddenly recalls the memories of that the boy said.

"You are an exception to this era. Unlike them, you can transcend the time of the past. You already failed in your original life, don't let this divine chance be repaid with nothing!" The boy added.

"But I already failed-" Ambrosio was interrupted.

"Then go back! To the time where Blanca still doesn't accept his proposal." The little boy snatched the crystal on Ambrosio's hand, recited a prayer, and tossed it to the sea.