Love You Forever #Wattys2016

Chapter 17: New but Old

Allison took Elle for an early flight bound to the Philippines the next day. As she drove around the neighborhood, they passed by Kerr's home. Elle looked away as tears began to form in her eyes. She knew she will always be hunted by Kerr's memory but she is deadset in recovering what she lost in the process of loving him... herself.

Elle wiped away her tears and uttered silently, '' Goodbye Kerr. Thank you for the memories.''

In the months that followed, Elle's decision to visit her Dad in the Philippines proved to be beneficial in healing her physically and emotionally. She got all the time on her hands to reflect about everything that took place in her life including the accident, losing Kerr, and the direction she took to find herself once more. Her presence in Allaine's life has also somewhat healed her father who had been in reclusion since her Mom succumbed to cancer. Even her parents' decision not to let her  attend her Mom's funeral is more tolerable now. Her Mom was right... she only remembers her being healthy and not the havoc that she went through with chemotherapy.

The island of Masibis Bay has captured not only her heart but also her mind. It opened her eyes to the beauty of life once more! Every afternoon, she lazily hangs out on the beach with her caregiver. She sits on the sand, waits till the sun sets, and appreciates the beauty that is Masibis Bay.

She realizes the parallelism between her life and the waves that comes back and forth, without question. The strength of the waves brings to the surface everything that's buried deep in the water, only to be taken away again by the waves back to where they should be. In no time at all, the water is quiet  once again.

Just like her life...turbulent and quiet, immense and limitless, rough and peaceful. 

This place has slowly transformed her back to her old self. No longer wounded but still scarred, Elle is  in awe of what time can do to a wounded heart and body. She fully  knows that in a few months, she will be  ready to continue where she left off. In fact, she has started to paint once again, one of the few things that she stopped doing for a while.

On the other side of the world, someone has slowly taken control of his life and changed for the better. But it was not an  easy path for him. The first few months proved to be very difficult for this young man. He was riddled with guilt for what he did to that young girl who loved him with all her heart... and longed for that love that slipped away from him. Eventually, he learned to live with his aches and pains by focusing on his program. He still feels lonely  when he sees something that triggers his memories about this special girl that he hurt tremendously in the past. But his heart remains owned by this person even if meeting her again is so remote right now. He remains hopeful though... yes, someday. He will be ready for her when that time comes... and that keeps him going despite the sadness he feels whenever he passes by her home, or reads her love notes, or watches the hot air balloons lift up in the sky...because they all reminded him of that special girl he promised his love and heart... forever.

Writer's message:

Please don't feel sorry for Elle and Kerr. They needed this separation to better themselves. Don't we all want a happy ending ? :D Therefore, this is just halfway of their lovestory.

Please continue reading  I Will Always Love You as the new chapters are published.