#What is love?

 “Hey, girl… what does love truly mean?

Until now, I still cannot grasp it.
So tell me… could you share just a little piece of what love feels like?”

                                                                  

I let a soft smile form on my lips.

“Love… I didn’t understand it either, Ana.

Not until the day I felt it for myself—

the day I realized love doesn’t always arrive with logic,

or reasons,

or explanations.

Sometimes… it simply chooses you.

Do you want to hear my story?”

Ana shifted closer, her eyes bright with anticipation,

as if she already knew the story would touch her heart.

“It was a long time ago…

not long after I had finally been discharged from the hospital.

My mother kept fussing over me,

telling me to rest, to stay home, to take care of myself.

But that day… my heart had already decided.

I needed to go.

Even though my body was still weak,

even though the fever lingered on my skin,

even though every beat of my pulse echoed painfully in my head

I still went.

I rode my motorbike slowly,

the wind brushing my face as if whispering strength into me,

while the bustling afternoon moved around me in a blur.

There was only one place I wanted to be:

the field.

When I arrived, I almost broke into a run

my legs trembling,

my breath uneven,

but my heart pushing me forward,

as if every step carried its name.

And Ana… God was so, so gracious to me.

Because right there, in the center of the field,

I saw him...

The boy I had missed with a longing too gentle to speak aloud..

the same boy I first met when I joined the Olympics

the one whose presence had quietly stayed with me ever since.        

                                                                                                                                                                    

He walked past the ceremonial stage,

wearing his complete Paskibra uniform,

his face glistening with sweat,

yet his eyes held a fire so alive, so beautiful,

that it made the entire world fade around him.

For a moment, time stopped

or maybe it was just my heart,

forgetting how to beat.

But the magic didn’t last long.

My head grew heavy, the world spun,

and I sank to the ground, unable to stand any longer.

Yet… even then,

even in that dizzy, fragile state,

there wasn’t a single piece of regret in me.

Because in those few seconds

just a glimpse,

just a breath,

just the sight of him existing under the afternoon sun

I felt something I had never felt before.

A tenderness so deep it stayed with me.

A memory so soft it refuses to fade.

A moment so beautiful

that I carry it like a small, glowing light in my heart.

And Ana…

that is what love felt like to me.

Not perfect.

Not grand.

Just real.

Just sincere.

Just… him.”