It was one in the morning when my phone rang. I wouldn’t have picked it up kung ibang tao lang ‘yon, but it was him.
Lucien.
“Hello?” I answered groggily, voice still thick with sleep. Calix shifted beside me, but didn’t wake.
The line was quiet for a second. Then—
“I found him,” Lucien whispered. “Si Paul. Buhay siya. Nasa Davao.”
Hindi ako agad nakasagot.
My heart dropped, but not out of panic, out of a strange mix of fear and hope i didn’t know i was still capable of feeling.
“What?” My voice cracked. “Anong sabi mo?”
“I’m sure it’s him,” he said. “He’s going by the name David Tolentino. But Aurora... he looks exactly like Paul. Mas matanda lang. Twenty-six na siya ngayon.”
I slowly sat up.
My body was shivering, even if the room wasn’t cold.
“Wait,” I whispered, eyes staring into the dark. “How did you find him? Bakit ngayon mo lang sinasabi?”
“It’s a long story. I didn’t want to tell you until sigurado ako. But I talked to him. He doesn’t remember anything, not even his real name. Pero Aurora… it’s him.”
Hindi ko alam kung paano ako nakahinga matapos noon.
I just stared ahead, clutching the phone like it could disappear any second.
My throat was dry.
Calix stirred again beside me. “Love? What’s wrong?”
I turned to him slowly, and for the first time in years, I said the name out loud.
“Paul. Buhay siya.”
Three hours later, we were on the first flight to Davao.
Lucien met us at the airport.
May hawak siyang printed photo, Paul’s face, only older. I couldn’t stop staring.
“He’s staying near the docks,” Lucien explained as we walked. “Sa isang maliit na boarding house, malapit sa shipyard. Parang nagtratrabaho siya sa pier. Manual labor.”
He handed me the photo.
My hand trembled as i took it.
“Tignan mo, ‘Aurora,” Lucien said. “Tell me that’s not him.”
I didn’t answer.
Calix stepped in beside me, his hand gently holding mine.
“Kahit anong makita mo, kahit anong marinig mo… I’m here, okay?” he said softly. “You’re not alone anymore.”
I nodded, barely.
My throat was still tight.
I couldn’t breathe properly.
Paul. Paul.
After sixteen years of blaming myself. Of trying to forget. Of believing he died, burned, lost, namatay habang nililigtas ako.
And now this?
The boarding house was a simple two-storey building made of worn cement and rusted metal roofing.
We knocked. A woman answered—matandang ale, probably the caretaker. Lucien spoke.
“Hinahanap po namin si David. David Tolentino. Dito po ba siya nakatira?”
She nodded, eyes narrowing as she sized us up.
“Oo. Si David… tahimik ‘yan. Hindi madaldal, pero mabait. Trabaho-bahay lang. Bakit ninyo siya hinahanap?”
“Kaibigan po siya ng asawa ko,” Calix quickly said, placing a gentle hand on my back.
The old woman studied me. I felt exposed under her gaze, parang binabasa niya ang buong pagkatao ko.
She motioned to the side. “Nasa likod. Nag-aayos ng mga gamit niya. Paalis na siya dapat ngayon.”
I didn’t wait.
Tumakbo ako papunta sa likod, my feet thudding against the ground, my chest pounding so hard akala ko hihimatayin ako sa takot.
And there he was.
Paul.
Standing in front of a makeshift wooden table, fixing some ropes. His back was turned. Mas matangkad na siya, mas maskulado, pero... the slope of his shoulders, the way he turned when he heard me, I knew.
I stopped in my tracks. “Paul?”
He looked at me blankly. “Ate?”
The voice hit me like a knife.
“I—” my lips trembled. “Ako si Aurora…”
Calix appeared beside me.
Lucien stepped forward.
“Paul,” he said gently. “Siya ‘to. Kaibigan mo noon. Naalala mo ba siya?”
The man, David stared.
His face contorted into something unsure. Confused. Sad.
“I don’t remember anything,” he whispered. “Sorry. I really don’t.”