A MAN'S SORROW CUTS DEEPER

You can't hide from the truth...

The light of the sun's rays glittered along the edge of the water... Can sat on the pier in silence and for the first time in over a year was able to hear the sounds of where his Fate had brought him. Or rather, brought him back. Closing his eyes, he recalled the endless days he hoped and wished he would be able to hear beyond his frail and pounding heart.

And.. then, his heart skipped a beat. The port and pier sounds, the wind in the sails, children laughing in the distance, men and women bickering about their daily routines, birds chirping, dogs barking, and then the sound of his hair carelessly blowing in the wind. He took a deep breath, and opened his eyes. Though she was not there anymore, he saw Sanem. How crazy it seemed? He'd spent the last year running away from all that was Sanem, and he was foolish enough to think he succeeded. He was sure that she no longer occupied his every thought, his every heartbeat, each word on his lips... he was almost certain of it. She'd never part from his heart, that he was sure of and chose not to fight a lost battle. But he convinced himself that he's healed enough to begin and end each day with thoughts other than of the only woman that mattered to him...

All of it changed the very moment he saw her again...

She sat there, calm and lost at once. In the same very spot he sat in his nightmare of a dream when he found the little bottles with the notes that bore his initial. 'C'. Was he wistfull in hoping she was the one who threw them there? He dared not to think that way. Yet each cell in his body screamed back at him already knowing she did. Was it not her precious handwriting? Had he not memorized the way her hand glided along the pages of the notebook he read until his heart bleeded? Did he not know by heart now how perfectly whimsical Sanem's 'C' looked on paper, always guided by her love for him?

Was he not the one who revealed his innermost childhood secret of his sacred spot and introduced her to the Ministry of Wishes and Fishes? Was it not her voice in his heart telling him what he already knew? That single thought brought a gentle smile on his face. Could it be true that she still loved him? That original note she wrote with his initial was a turning point for him, his Fate's omen that helped him realize he stood a chance with Sanem. That she may actually have cared for him, HIM, not the Albatross she thought she belonged with...

He crossed to the spot he found the bottles. The water was clear in the morning sun that shone at the spot. He saw more bottles, and what struck him was that although some bottles looked new, some seemed to lay in the sandy and rocky bottom for months... He dared not to take out any more. He already knew what was in them, and chose not to interfere in Sanem's plea to the fishes.

Can sighed heavily, overcome woth the burden of his emotions. Sanem asked why he'd come when she saw him. She was scared to see him there. Not only surprised, but scared, though he did not know why. This was her place. Her safe haven she needed as much as he did. He was as sure of it as he was sure of his breath in his lungs. That, too, brought him a hard to understand level of longing, even though he knew they could never be together again. Could she ever wish to speak with him? Was she alone? He chose not to linger on that matter. One step at a time. And all in due course...

Little did he realize that at the same time Sanem tried her best to breathe and survive the storm of emotions battering her soul. First and foremost, just to survive. And she looked hopeless. Helplessly hopeless. She was sure in her heart that Can came to her. That she did see him. That he called out her name. That they touched. That he wasn't just a mirage or a figure she created in her desperation to see him again one day. And she knew that Ceycey saw right through her when she passed him as he stood there with Muzo.

Moments ago she pleated with the stars for it to only have been a bad dream. Now she begged the sky for it to be true. She walked down the path toward her home, and came face to face with... Aziz Divit. Can's father. The man who warmed her heart the day he accepted her as his employee and invited her to the Agency's 40 Years Celebratory Gala. She often wondered how different her life would have turned out if Aziz Bey would not have extended his invitation to her that day. That day, when all of their lives changed.

Now she wasn't a no-name to Aziz, not anymore. Not by the least. She was now the rightful owner of Fikri Harika. If only by its name. But, even in that, Sanem was more to Aziz than she could ever understand. She had saved the agency. She helped Emre mend his ways with justice and the just. And Aziz knew, with complete certainty, that Sanem could help Can find himself again. And he knew so, because he recognized her pure heart.

As for Sanem, she closed her eyes and trusted that the bottles she had thrown down into the water were accepted by the fishes and sea creatures. She knew they had been, because Can was back, and now, so was Aziz Bey. She opened her eyes and let out a sigh. If Aziz Divit himself was back, and he stood before her along with the woman that meant so much to Sanem, the loving and unmistakenly enigmatic Aunt Remide, that could only mean one thing. Can was back. Really back. And she wished she would somehow find a way to make him stay. Even if only for another day longer...

And then, she recalled Can's words from a few years ago. Was it not Can who pointed out that the fish themselves needed a date on the notes? A completion date of sort? So maybe if seeing him was a dream, it was one she so desperately wished for? Yet somehow, her skin still burned from his ever so light touch. The purest of touches she'd ever felt from him. A glimpse of hope and concern. A delicate caress, an innocent expression of love. Could it still be love? Could he still have feelings for her? After all of this time? After a journey so full of regret and sorrow?

The light in her eyes, ignited by the simplest gesture from Can brought back Sanem's old feelings. Both of love and of loss. And of hope. That eternal hope that always lived at the very bottom of her heart. Maybe they just could stand a chance someday after all? What if she did not give up? What if she could make him stay? What if she could make him umderstand that she never stopped loving him? True love, after all, was never lost. What if... their love needed to mature and evolve into more than just what hid underneath the surface? What if they were meant to rise from the ashes together?

Yet if they were to ever meet again, she would have to come face to face with the truth that her heart was not the same. Not as strong. Ever so fragile. But maybe, someday, thanks to Can's love, they could mend both of their hearts together as one...