Chapter 12

"Ladies and gentlemen, kindly straighten up your seats and pull your window shades up. Please also put your seatbelts back on as we will be landing in about ten minutes. On behalf of CebuPacificAir, this is captain Fortich, thanking you for flying with us. We hope to see you in one of our future flight. Salamat and welcome to Manila."

Heion opens his eyes and turns to peer at the darkness outside his window. Manila is nothing but a blanket of a thousand yellow and red stars beneath him.

There is no more turbulence, no more panic, and no more flickering lights. Despite a heavy heart, he manages a sigh of relief. This is no longer a dream.

Home. Finally, I am home.

Pero sa hindi malamang kadahilanan ay hindi niya maramdaman ang tahanan na kanyang sinasabi. Is this really my home?

He glances at the seat beside him.

Empty.

Tumingin din siya sa mga upuan sa paligid pati na sa likod pero nakita niyang bilang lamang sa daliri ang mga pasahero. The last flight from Cebu to Manila is as sparse as he remembers.

"MJ?" he motions to the flight  attendant who has just strapped herself in her own seat.

She looks up at him and beams. "You know me, sir?" that confuses him.

"Medyo familiar na rin ako sa mga flight attendant dito since madalas ako magbalik balik." ngumiti si MJ at tumango. "I just want to ask kung nasaan yung babaeng katabi ko?"

She arches an eyebrow, amused. "I'm sorry, sir, pero ikaw lang ang passenger sa row mo."

Huh? Paano nangyari? "Sure ka, Miss?"

"Yes, sir."

Ilang minuto lang ay may lalaki namang flight attendant ang dumaan sa harap niya. Tinawag niya ito at kinausap.

"Excuse me, nakita mo ba yung katabi kong babae kanina?"

"Wala po kayong katabi sa row niyo, Mr. Villaroel. Seat F1 is your usual and I haven't seen any girl na tumabi sa inyo."

Tumango siya at ngumiti sa flight attendant. "Ganun ba? Sige, salamat."

An inexplicable wave of sadness washes over him. He suddenly misses her, his heart aching for what never was and will no longer be.

He runs his hand through his hair, trying valiantly to bring his thoughts to the cold reality of the present, but fails miserably.

How is it even possible to miss someone you never knew?

He slumps back into his chair, exhaling loudly as he tries to forget the last thirty minutes of his life.

I'm here now. This is reality. Everything else had been a dream. All of them. Cass, the bracelet, the kisses, the ring, the pain and the happiness... all figments of his imagination.

He makes a mental note to check with the company doctor as soon as they would land. But if I'm going to go out of my mind, it would be all right as long as she's still in it, he realizes sadly.

The plane lands smoothly despite the rains. He glances at his watch to see that it is still stuck at ten minutes to midnight.

As soon as the cabin door opens, Heion stands up and grabs his bag from the overhead compartment. He strides down the quiet tube, fully determined to go straight home and get some much needed sleep. He would sleep for two days straight, probably filing a vacation leave for the first time this year just to do so.

His soft, warm, dark bed called to him, and he planned not to wake up until everything was back to normal --- that is, if he still knew what normal was.

As soon as he gets to the end of the glass tunnel, he finds himself pausing to scan the faces of the passengers walking past him, hoping to see a brown-haired girl and her smile.

She is nowhere to be found.

My home is gone.