He stayed with him and asked him to go back. But even his presence will not change the flow of destiny—it only made matters way much harder for him to accept. Tirad Pass remained inevitable to happen no matter what. Him being there will not let the bullet curve another direction at all.
* * *
Julian was worried since day one. But he was way much more worried right now as his hands closed around his own rifle, aiming at the approaching Americans, and pulling the trigger to keep them alive. Despite being next to his brother and their cousin, and just on Goyo's other side was Vicente... he couldn't help but shudder at the growing fear that was closing around his heart.
Last night, he remembered telling Goyo while the latter was writing an entry on his journal, "Goyong, pwede bang bumalik ka ng Cervantes bukas?"
Goyo frowned at him, stopped and watched him as if he was waiting for him to say that he was joking. Vicente, like the other soldiers, was already fast asleep, and Joven, who've been sitting just two meters close to Goyo around the fire and had been busy writing down entries on his own journal, remained oblivious with what the two of them were whispering about. He replied back, "Anong sinasabi mo, Kuya?"
"Kailangan ka ni Señor Presidente. Paano kapag may mangyari sa iyo?" He gulped in the words to be able to say them.
"Sinasabi mo ba na tumakas ako para sa buhay ko? Na iwan ko ang sinumulan ko rito, Kuya?"
The depression on Julian's face started to be evident as well as the strain on his voice. "Goyong, alam mo na hindi ko kayang makita kang—"
Goyo placed his hand on his, stopping him. "Alam ko, Kuya. Kaya... wala ka dapat ipangamba. Magiging maayos lang ang lahat."
"Goyong..." He looked down on their hands, sensing that the shake on his brother's hands were no longer present. An assurance to him that he was calm and sure, as well as a tight squeeze that was filled with countless unsaid words.
And here they were, fighting side-by-side as they always did. But the lingering notion and fear had been set on a higher bar.
When Goyo moved away for a second, raising a hand of halt, he immediately closed a hand around Goyo's wrist and asked, "Saan ka pupunta?"
"Titignan ko kung kamusta ang iba. Pati ang pagkilos ng mga Amerikano," Goyo answered, already moving as he turned away. He ordered to Vicente, "Bantayan mo ang trintserang ito."
Julian was reluctant to be away from Goyo. He felt something stirring in the wind that made him not want to be far from him. He was instantly following after his younger brother, along with Goyo's lieutenant, the Spanish Carrasco, and another soldier. And for some reasons, Goyo didn't say anything but ordered the remaining troops to continue their fire when the Americans started firing again.
Protektahan mo siya, Julian remembered their parents' reminder to him since Kakarong de Sili. Protektahan niyo ang isa't isa. Wala sa inyo ni Goyong ang dapat mamatay sa giyera na ito.
His hands closed tightly around his rifle another time just as Goyo handed his own rifle to the direction of his lieutenant. The four of them drew nearer to where they kept their last horses—that of the General's and his aidé-de-camp's. And the three of them watched with great curiosity and worry as Goyo made his way close to the edge to see the trenches for himself.
Julian remembered every single moment that he watched his younger brother stood in front of him. Though he was a little jealous of Goyo being the general while he was older and just a colonel; he was still proud of his little brother. After all, he had witnessed first hand how he achieved such deeds, and he was worth of it all. And it was a little unheard of—the older one following the younger one.
Now, he was standing behind his brother as the latter carried on the sight, thinking of a way—a strategy—that will either save or kill them all.
Goyo turned to them with renewed conviction, saying, "Tapusin na natin ito."
Suddenly, they heard the gunshot from behind and above them, causing them to crouch low. And only with just a blink as a separator of events, it turned Julian's world upside down.
Goyo walked closer. Julian blinked. Goyo fell.
Bleeding. A horrible mess of his cheek. New khaki uniform stained red.
"Heneral!" The two shouted, as he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Goyong!"
Another sizzle of a bullet stopped the lieutenant and soldier, but Julian didn't. He threw his rifle and ran as if to catch his brother, but the latter had already dropped to the ground.
"Koronel!" The two called out, intent on pulling him to safety, but another round of bullet pushed them away from where he was, already dragging Goyo's body from where it landed and to the tall grasses that would be enough to serve as cover.
"Goyong..." he mumbled, voice hitching with a sob through gritted teeth. His eyes were blurred with tears. His breathing erratic. His hands shaking with blood, cradling his brother's broken body close to him. "Goyong..."
Putangina. Putangina. Putangina! He cursed himself all over again.
He froze at the moment he felt Goyo's bloody hand shyly touching his cheek; the latter's eyes dropping as he mumbled, "K-Kuya..."
The hand dropped. The eyes closed. The mess remained for him to see. And that was it.
Despite the sound of the concluding battle, all he could hear was a requiem. The color of his world, from the arc of a rainbow, immediately turning gray.
He was older than him. He was supposed to be the one who've died. And yet...
Julian later learned the unsaid words from that squeeze that Goyo had gave him that night before the events at Tirad through his little brother's journal and a two-sentence letter addressed to him.
The simple words that would hunt him forever.
Maraming salamat sa pagiging laging nasa tabi ko, it said. Ngayon naman, hayaan mong samahan kita sa diwa at alaalang aking iniwan, Kuya.
* * *
A/N: Follow me on twitter @23meraki for more updates. ;)
A/N: See "DEAD RECKONING", a Goyo x Reader story.
#GoyoAngBatangHeneralStories || #ProjectAguilaStories || #GoyoAngstStories
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Bayani Unmasked: A HENERAL LUNA & GOYO: Ang Batang Heneral One-shot collection
Historical FictionThis is a new series of unrelated (perhaps some will be related in the future) one-shots. I receive requests in my PM inbox and reviews, and I write little one-shots/drabbles based off of those requests. Who knows what requests will show up in my in...
