| Fan Fiction |
by Zaire
It was a delicate thing. Hebe’s mother had given it to her as her sixteen-year-old birthday present. At that time, her mother had already fallen gravely ill. When Hebe was younger, she always thought the cramped house was the worst stricture to her freedom. It pained her to see that though her mother had the whole ward to herself, she was bound to the bed by the dreaded disease.
Hebe recalled asking her mother about the present. She was appalled by the fact that her mother had secretly snuck home to get this present. Out of concern, and frustration from having to juggle school, work and family, Hebe yelled at her mother. Looking back, she regretted doing so. After all, that was the last birthday they had together.
The green leaf offered solace to Hebe’s perturbed heart. It reminded her of her mother’s loving hugs and care for her. Besides that, it reminded her of a story her mother had told her, a story of courage and love, a story, Hebe knew, was a personal recount.
“The leaf symbolizes happiness, my girl. I want for you to be happy. A leaf embodies the courage to pursue its freedom, even if it means leaving the safe boughs of the tree. A long time ago, someone gave me the courage to do so. I broke off from the tree of conventions and delved into the freedom to love. I never regretted doing so and I hope you’ll find enough courage to pursue your happiness.” Her mother ended off.
A rapt smile danced on her lips. It felt good having her mother back, at least spiritually. Chun, who had been watching her stealthily, was thrown into conundrum by her innocuous smile. He had anticipated solicitousness as the wedding approached. What he didn’t expect was that it hadn’t been derived from the pressure of introducing his wife but from the fact that he will have Hebe by his side for the next three to four hours. That smile had just made him tad more nervous.
Hebe let her mother fade off to the depths of her memory and glanced to her side. She was stupefied by how high-strung Chun had become. His lips were chafed from dehydration and he was aberrantly acquiescent. Throwing aside her reservations for the guy, Hebe placed her hand reassuringly over his. Chun looked up as Hebe gave him the reassurance that she will not blunder up. That was the last straw; Hebe had expunged the tenacity Chun had over his sanity.
How was he supposed to endure the night? After such a long time closing his doors to Hebe, Chun had found him unable to cope with the overwhelming emotions he once tried to exorcise. Damn, he needed to restore his order and stop behaving like a love struck fool. Treating her nice was hard to get used to; he could only communicate with her in drawls. And that was probably better. Hebe would probably think he caught a kink if he suddenly changed.
The car stopped in front of the mowed yard of the al fresco restaurant. The couple each took in a fortifying breath before stepping into the brewing maelstrom.
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"Courage comes from the knowing that there's something else pulling you together, even though there really isn't any."
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