HER FAMILIAR SCENT

Special Chapter

500 YEARS AGO
 
ROZZEN P.O.V 
 
Hundreds of years have passed since that day. Everything has changed except me.
 
I look around; Ilog ng Pasagjan has changed too. It's more clear and beautiful. It's now been a tourist spot after a long year.
 
Many people have been visited here, which is why we need to evacuate and live in another place.
 
Humans and vampires were both equal this time. Vampires can live normally, like humans do.
 
It's changed a lot, hasn't it?
 
We should've celebrated now that we won't hide anymore whenever the sun rises.
 
Everything changed, and in a good way.
 
I sniff the air.
 
It is still a breath of fresh air. Even though many people have stayed here, it is still the same.
 
I stood up, and I looked at the suit that I wore.
 
It's been 500 years since I became the CEO of my own company in Manila. It has been successful over the past few years.
 
I smiled widely before turning around.
 
I don't want to leave this place yet, but I have to. I still have a lot of meetings to attend.
 
As I leave the place, I feel like something's missing. I always feel that whenever I go home to Manila and leave the falls of Pasagjan.
 
And I know the reason behind it.
 
I blew out a deep sigh when I felt a tear in my eyes. It's been 500 years, yet here I am, still hoping she will come back.
 
But it's been 500 years—half a thousand.
 
Why am I still hoping for something I know will never happen?
 
but.. I can't help it.
 
I can't help but hold on. I can't help but wait for her again.
 
I took a deep breath again before I went back to Manila.
 
As the years go by, the hope that she will someday come back into my arms again dwindles.
 
As the years go by, I feel like there's no hope, even though I hold on. She didn't promise that she would come back, and is there any reason for her to come back?
 
Everyday. Every freaking day, she didn't leave my mind. like if, even though she's not living at this time, she's still living in my mind.
 
She's the only reason I survive every day. She's the only reason I still want to live.
 
Even though there's a small chance of her coming back. I'm still holding it. I will grab it.
 
"Dude. Are you okay?" Kiro snapped, bringing me back to reality.
 
I didn't even know that I didn't pay attention in our meeting.
 
I leaned my back on my chair as I roamed my eyes.
 
"Yeah, I'm fine." My cold voice came back.
 
My no-expression face that sometimes they misunderstood came back too. My rudeness and anger issues, which sometimes I can't hold on to, came back too.
 
Since the day that I lost her, everything that I lost and thought would never return has all come back.
 
I narrowed my eyes as I saw them all looking at me. Some of them are confused, while others are worried.
 
I rolled my eyes. "Continue," I ordered.
 
Then the meeting goes on.
 
After that, I go to my office.
 
My tired body just jumped on the coach.
 
I heard my door open, but I didn't look at it since I knew that it was Kiro, my friend.
 
"Napapanaginipan mo pa rin ba siya?" Even though he didn't mention her name, I still know kung sinong tinutukoy niya.
 
I blew out a breath before slowly nodding my head.
 
I can't deny the fact that she's still in my dreams, and I wish it wasn't just my dream.
 
It feels like reality, though. It didn't feel like a dream, but somehow it ended in something that I didn't expect.
 
Her, laying on the ground. Naliligo sa sariling dugo at walang kabuhay-buhay.
 
Doon ko siya naabutan. And How I wish that I didn't leave her that day.
 
Because if I stay, She should've been still alive.
 
A tear escaped my eyes.
 
"Dude.." 
 
I forced myself to smile, but I didn't wipe away my tears. I let it drip down to my cheek.
 
"Fuck it. I miss her so much," I confessed while looking at the ceilings. "Han pasado 500 aos y todava estoy jodidamente aqu. Hice todo lo que dijo mi psiquiatra, ¡pero ni siquiera me afecta! ¡Maldita mierda!" I shouted angrily. . . Ella todavía me persigue. Joder, pero cómo desearía que no terminara. Porque khiro..." I pauses and wipes my tears. "That's the only way I can see her again."
 
Translation: "It's been 500 years yet I'm still fucking in here. I did whatever my psychiatrist said, but they don't even affect me! Fucking shit! She still hunts me. Fuck, but how I wish she didn't end it. Because khiro.."
 
I felt his eyes on me. I know he's still worried and feels sorry for me, but He doesn't know what to do anymore.
 
That day, When I told him that she was gone, He cried with me; he says that he was sorry that he didn't help me.
 
But he did nothing wrong. It's all my fault. I should've stayed with her. I should've known that she was hurt. I should've known that it was her last breath. I could've done something to save her, but I didn't.
 
Those should've never left my mind, and It kills me.
 
I didn't REALIZE that I was here again at Ilog ng Pasagjan until I heard the sound that the falls had made.
 
It's already night. I feel so comfortable and tired.
 
I sat at the rock as I roamed my eyes.
 
"I'm here again.." I forced myself to smile.
"No sé cómo seguir adelante... Durante los ltimos cien aos, siento que todo eso sucedió ayer. Se siente como si todava estuvieras aqu, solo estás esperando el momento adecuado para encontrarte conmigo" Tears quickly swelled my eyes.
 
Translation: "I don't know how to move on. For the past hundreds of years, I feel like all of that has just happened yesterday. It feels like you're still here; you're just waiting for the right time to meet me.". 
 
I didn't mention her name, but my heart aches more.
 
It feels like I'm in hell, and this is my punishment for everything.
 
'But I did not know that she was my punishment too.' 
 
I did not know that she was my punishment. That she came back that time to make me realize everything.
 
Fuck life. Fuck this punishment.
 
Almost 500 years have passed, yet I haven't seen her, felt her, or smelled her.
 
There's no sign that she's alive at this time, yet here I am, hoping that she's breathing the same air that I'm breathing.
 
Fuck love. Fuck this feeling.
 
I want to see her badly. But where? Where can I find her?
 
I tried to end my life so many times that I just gave up trying.
 
I almost bent my knees to Him; I almost prayed to bring her back, yet I felt like He wasn't listening.
 
I am tired.
 
Tired of living this fucking life?
 
Tired of hoping that she'll comeback someday—fuck that someday, when it really is?
 
I didn't realize that I was crying until I saw my tears dripping into the water.
 
"I want to see her." Parang wala na naman ako sa sarili. 
 
Isa lang naman ang gusto ko e. Iyong makitang buhay siyahumihinga sa oras na 'to at masaya.
 
I won't enter her life again like I did before.
 
I won't bother her again. Just please tell me that she's on here.
 
"Ehem." 
 
I immediately wiped my tears away when I heard someone fake coughing behind me.
 
I didn't know that there was someone who would come here at this time. I mean, it's past midnight.
 
I didn't look at her, but I felt her stare.
 
Hmm, I mean, after that accident, I didn't look at other girls. I feel like, when I look into their eyes, I will just remember her.
 
But little did I know that, whether I look into their eyes or not, I still remember her.
 
I smelled the familiar scent of roses. It's been 500 years since I last smelled it.
 
I turned around and looked behind me.
 
There's hope inside of me.
 
There's a hope that maybe that's her.
 
Maybe that girl who faked coughing is her.
 
but my world seemed to collapse when I saw that there was no one behind me.
 
My heart is broken again because of the hope I had built.
 
But there's a part of me that says that she's back. that she's alive.
 
Kakaiba ang tibok ng puso ko matapos kong isipin iyon. Namuo ang hope sa puso ko na hindi ko na napigilang tumayo at habulin ang amoy nun.
 
Thank God I still have the ability to smell something, even though it's far away.
 
Unti unting bumagal ang lakad ko nung makita kung saan patungo ang amoy na iyon.
 
Napatingala ako nung makita ang pamilyar na statue.
 
"E-Estatua humana y vampiro." Gulat kong bulong habang nakatingin sa malaking statue na iyon.
 
Translation: Human and Vampire statues
 
It's been 400 years since I came back here. I stopped going in here since my heart couldn't see this statue that I and she made.
 
"Por qué? ¿Por qué su olor está aqu?" Naguguluhang tanong ko habang nakatitig sa statue.
 
Translation: why? Why is her scent here?
 
I froze when I saw a woman come out from behind the statue.
 
Her blonde hair Her ocean eyes... Her pointed nose and Her red lips Her pale skin
 
She smiles at me, which brings me back to reality.
 
"Who are you?" I asked, even though there's a big part of me that says that's her.
 
She walks toward me. Halos hindi ako nakahinga nung haplusin niya ang pisnge ko.
 
I closed my eyes when I felt something inside me. I felt like I was missing this hand.
 
"Lo siento... lo siento si llego tarde..." Iyon na ang naging senyas para magsi-tulo ang luha ko sa pisnge.
 
I've been waiting for this for 500 years. I've been waiting for her to come back into my arms, and now she's here.
 
Translation: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry If I'm late."
 
My eyes slowly opened and I stared at her. She's crying too; her eyes swell with tears. And I waited for half a thousand years to wipe them out.
 
"Shh, it's okay. It's okay." Then I wrapped my arms around her body and hugged her so tenderly, as if I didn't want to let her go.
 
I caress her hair as she cries in my arms.
 
I feel like my heart is now calm after so many years of my mind being loud since her death. Ngayon ay huminto na lahat.
 
Ang pananakip ng puso ko, Ang magulo kong utak
 
Lahat tumahimik at nawala nung mayakap ko na siya.
 
AND NUNG kumalma na kami, umupo kami sa grass. We're facing each other, and I can't take my eyes off of her. It feels like a dream, and I don't want to lose her again.
 
I thought no one would talk until she opened her mouth and startedstarted to talk.
 
"I've been waiting for this for 200 years since I was born." She smiles at me. "I was born 250 years ago." My eyes widen.
 
She's 250 years old now. . So that means......
 
"Yeah, I'm a vampire too,," she chuckles beforecontinuing. g. "Since I'm 4 years old.. I always searching for the place that I didn't even know where.. I was a kid yet there's something that I want to go. Nung nagkaisip ako doon na nagsimula lahat. Those flashbacks.. Those heart breaks.. Those tears that I even don't know why it's falling." her eyes swelled with tears."Then there I realize that maybe.. Just maybe it all cost of my past life. Doon na nagsimula lahat, Iyong hanapin ang isang taong never ko pa namang nahanap. Habang lumalaki ako doon na unti-unting nabuo ang mukha ko.. Doon ko na talaga na realize na may tao pala akong iniwan.. Kaya hinanap kita for 100 years. Wala akong ibang ginawa nun kundi ang hanapin ka pero kasi.." she smiled at me but I know it's fake. It isforcefulrceful smile. I know her smile toowell.
 
"Hindi kita nahanap. Ni anino e hindi ko nga makita e. Doon na 'ko muntik-muntikang huminto." She pauses and looks at me with a soft smile. "I tried to live my life like how they live. Pero hindi e, may pumipigil sa'king balewalain ang paghahanap saiyo. May part sa'king nagsasabing ipagpatuloy ko kaya after 50 years. Nagsimula uli akong hanapin ka." She looks away once again like she was thinking about her journey. "Then atlas, nahanap ko na tong lugar na 'to. Iyong ilog na ngayon e falls na tapos ang dami nang tourista na pumupunta. Itong statue na palagi ko nalang napapanaginipan at ikaw." She pauses. Tears scaped from her eyes, which I quickly wiped. I hold her hand to make her feel that I'm here. "For another almost 70 years.. I'm always here para hintayin ka. I'm always here para hintayin kung may lalapit ba sa'kin at sasabihing ang tagal niya nang hinihintay ako pero wala e. Araw araw akong umuuwing umiiyak kasi ang bigat bigat ng dibdib ko. Halos humiling ako na wakasan nalang kasi baka hindi kana nabuhay sa panahong ito."
 
I got goosebumps because of it. I just realized that we're the same. I thought that she wasn't living in the moment. I tried to kill myself, too.
 
Now I realize. That we were both hurt. We were both confused. And we were both burdens.
 
And now she's in my arms. Finally, I know that everything will be okay.
 
I hugged her again. I close my eyes and let myself feel something. It's so soft and calm.
 
I smell her scent, and I am right.
 
I know that I am right now.
 
That this girl is my girl.
 
This girl is the girl for whom I waited for 500 years.
 
This girl is the one for whom I am willing to wait thousands of years just to see, listen to, feel, and smell her.
 
Her blonde hair
 
Her color is ocean eyes.
 
Her pointed nose
 
Her red lips
 
Her pale skin
 
Her chuckles.. 
 
Her voice..
 
Her laughs.. 
 
Her words.. 
 
Her hugs.. 
 
Her kiss.. 
 
And lastly.. 
 
Her familiar scent
 

THE END. 

 
A/N: OMGGG WE DID ITTTTTTT!! NATAPOS KO OMGGGG CAN'T BELIEVE NA NATAPOS KO 'TO HUHUHUHUHU OMGGG!!! SANA NAGUSTUHAN NIYO ANG PLOT TWIST KAHIT MAGULO! LALO NA ANG ENDING HAHAAHHAAHHA THANK YOU SO MUCH SA PAGBABASAAAAA! PAGSAMA SA'KIN UNTIL THE ENDDDDD LOVE LOTS! <3