When I was younger, I always thought that love was a feeling.
Something that we felt when we saw someone pretty, someone we spent lots of time together (like a BFF) or even someone that talked to us with nice words.
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Oh how naïve and innocent I was.
But with the passing of time, me growing up, of me observing everything and everyone around me, I started to notice different things.
First, it was that not a lot of people that I saw in my everyday life, who had a romantic partner, looked happy. I was actually worried, because this were people that I cared for, and I thought that they weren't going to stay together any longer.
I was surprised however, when the next time I saw them, they were all lovey-dovey and all that stuff.
The last time I saw them I was really positive that they were going to go different paths for real!
But, it appeared that I was wrong.
How I was wrong?
Well, it was my lack of knowledge.
So, with my interest piqued, I started researching, trying to find a meaning to all of this!
Obviously, my first trip, was to the romantic movies!
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Man, those things are dumb!
I couldn't even believe it! It didn't even made sense!
They saw one or two times! And they were all in love and stuff?!
Like hell that is so easy! What if the protagonist was a little fat dude, that saw a girl that was little and fat too, and they just saw each other, and never speak, because of disgust! My young mind couldn't make much sense so I left the first movie that I saw aside, and started on the next one.
Maybe this could help me some more.
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OH COME ON!
That just doesn't make any sense! Who could fell in love in just 30 days! And then claim to be in love and send 365 letters to a woman that he just met in the summer?! And then never speak to her again for years, and when they see each other, they are all like "I never forgot you" "You were always the one that I loved!"
Man, that's just dumb!
Or the one where he fights 7(?) dudes just to get together with ONE woman! Not two, or three, God! Even four! BUT NO! He needs to fight 7(?) kids in order to get ONE girlfriend!
COME ON!
That's just dumb too!
'Sigh'…
Maybe movies are dumb.
Maybe some comics could help.
They say that a good lecture could teach a lot to someone.
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Man… I have… No words…
Don't get me wrong, X-Ray & Vav, are like, Super Awesome, with capital letters, but I don't buy that Vav fell in love with a news reporter with just a look!
Come on Vav! You are my hero! Make some sense!
'Sigh'… Maybe I could learn something from a book more mature.
Mmmm… I wonder if the book that girl told me about, will serve in any way…
How was it called ?
Oh right, Ninjas of Love.
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'Sigh'… This, this is just disappointing…
It doesn't even make sense!
Who could claim to be in love with someone when there is no background of the two of them in any way! They just met for the first time for Gods sake!
Just, I don't get why Sashimi just felt in love with Wasabi without any history between the two of them!
Maybe if it was a friendship like Sushi and Wasabi, that they had been together for so long and been friends with each other, you could expect for them to make the next step of friendship.
But no! Damn Kamameshi and Ramen they say a couple of nice words and sweet lies to Sashimi, and now she is head over heels over Wasabi! It just doesn't make any sense!
'GAAAAAH!'
I just know that after finishing the whole 3 books, (Yes, they were 3, and let me tell you, its just bad writing all together! I could even recommend a better book to Blake about two ducks in the wild and it would be even more tasty in romance than this… this… I don't even find words that are bad anymore…
'Sigh'… Dammit Blake, your taste in literature is just Bad! With capital B!
You know what?
I just give up. For now.
I just don't get any logical response with this.
Maybe if a stop thinking about it I will change my views.
Yeah, let's just sleep, that's something I really need.
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Well, it has been years since I started my research. There were times when I took some time off and just rest, that I could find some kind of peace.
Obviously, it was still nagging me to no end.
There was just such a HUGE gap between real life love, and dumb sitcom and crap literature, that not even God could make that jump!
Maybe, if I stop thinking about this, I could pay more attention to the teacher.
'Sigh'… It's going to be rough.
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It was Friday today, and today, I came to the realization of something.
Maybe Professor Ozpin is one of the most wise and clever man I had ever had the pleasure to meet.
Who would have thought that such a… flamboyant, yeah, lets use that word, professor could be so wise.
Mmm, maybe that was why he is the only one with 7 PhD's and no wife.
That's actually strange. He seems to be the kind of man to get the 'suave' type of attitude.
I heard miss Fall has the hots for the old man. Lucky man.
Wait, I left topic…
Where was I ?
Oh right. The reason why Ozpin is so wise.
Today, in philosophy class, Ozpin asked us.
"Is love a feeling? Or is it a choice?"
I was in part tired, and in part curious about the love part.
It just had been too many years trying to find the answer for the love that all the grown ups had, and the crazy ways it worked.
Besides, I'm still a teenager, just like the rest of my class, so we went for the most easiest answer.
A feeling.
He smiled and shook his head 'no'. The next words he said made think something new.
"I won't tell you how to live your love life. But I will tell you this. If you cling to that belief, of love as just a feeling, then my children… you will never have a lasting relationship in the near or far future."
"But professor, how are you sure about this?" Asked a girl at the front of the classroom.
"Well, why do I need to tell you the answer, when I can give you the chance to discover it yourself" 'Lazy' "Instead, I will leave you with a new assignment." 'That's just cruel. More homework' "I want for all of you, to find a dozen audlts wherever you want and ask them about their marriages, if they were married at all. Ask them why it failed or why it keeps lasting. And I hope for all of you to get a new perspective in love" He made a pause for all of us to write it down.
"That is all for today, run along."
He said and we were all taking our things making our way to the last class of the day.
I don't know why, but his assignment, makes me think that this will be the answer I've been looking for.
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It was Friday again. A whole week had gone by and I was in a state of complete euphoria and calmness.
I don't know how that works, but its possible.
My whole week went by with daily interviews to any married man or woman I met outside, in the park, at the mall, at the movies 'How rude of them for shushing me.', at a coffee shop, at anywhere I could find adults.
In total, I interviewed, 33 people. My hunger for the knowledge kept me with constant energy.
I finally had an answer.
I asked to all of the 33 people if love was a choice or a feeling.
They all said it was a choice.
It was a conscious commitment.
At first, they told that attraction was a big deal in the first part of the relationship. Without attraction there is no lovey-dovey stuff.
The next thing they told, still lingers in my mind.
It was something you choose to make work every day with a person who has chosen the same things. They all said that at one point in their marriage, the "feeling of love" had vanished or faded and they weren't happy. They said feelings are always changing and you cannot build something that will last on such a shaky foundation.
The married ones said that when things were bad, they chose to open the communication, chose to identify what broke and how to fix it, and chose to recreate something worth falling in love with.
The divorced ones said they chose to walk away.
Ever since last Friday, since that assignment, I never looked at relationships the same way.
I understood why arranged marriages were successful. I discovered the difference in 'feelings' and 'commitments'.
I've never gone for the person who makes my heart flutter or my head spin. I've chosen the people who were never committed to choosing me, dedicated to finding something to adore even on the ugliest days.
I no longer fear the day someone who swore I was their universe, can no longer see the stars in my eyes, as long as they still choose to look until they find them again.
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Fin
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"Nora, what are you doing with your notes in my floor?" Asked a confused Ren, to a humming Nora.
Nora was currently sprawled all over Ren's dorm floor humming with a happy smile, and revising her notes of Ozpin's class.
"Mmm.. Nothing Renny…" A happy sigh left her mouth. "I just… got my answer after all this years." She said with closed eyes and still humming happily.
"Is that so?" Asked an amused Ren, with an almost invisible smile of his own at seeing her friend acting all relaxed. A sight to behold.
"Yeah, actually, it was Ozpin the one that made me open my eyes for something completely new." She said sitting up and walking to be in front of a still amused Ren.
"Mmm… What did you discovered?" He asked looking directly down at Nora. Her wild, yet caring turquoise eyes, looking directly at his own, patient and wise pink eyes.
"That…" A palm to his chest. "I can choose…" A hand to his cheek. "To make…" Little feet getting on its tippy toes. "My love work in the best way, with the help of the one that cares deeply for me, just as I care deeply for him." Just a little more height and she could actually be under his nose.
"Nora"
"Yes Ren?"
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"Boop"
A giggle.
An intake of breath.
"I love you too Ren."
The sound of a kiss.
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FIN