She was in a crowded room, not unlike the court of Intramuros or one of Arthur's fancy-shmancy gardens. She couldn't find a face she knew, she couldn't find a face at all. For some odd reason, she couldn't focus on anyone's face long enough for her to be able to pinpoint their features. The crowd around her seemed like a haze, an illusion, nonetheless Maria was feeling every bit anxious at the fact that she was mingling with such high society. Why was she here, she wondered. Who were these people, why did they seem to be noticing her every move if not blatantly looking at her? An irrational fear crept in; she shouldn't be there.

"Oh! Hey" said a smiling young blond in a smart suit as he caught a glimpse of her, he was the first and the only one whose face she can see. In a heartbeat, Maria found herself running with the blond, the man's hand holding onto hers as tightly as it could without hurting her. Looking down at the his hand, Maria could see the cloth beyond it, the dress she was wearing; it was in a shade of a pastel pink, she could see beautiful embroidered sampaguitas on the left side of the bell-shaped skirt, the fabric for the top was fixed in such a way that it looked like pink leaves were slowly surrounding her, and she could faintly feel the red ribbon tied around her waist and the bow it created behind her.

Ah, they were running away from the court, Maria noticed as she felt the crowd of people slowly fading into the background. She stopped and pulled at the man's hand. "Why are we running?" she asked him. The blond faced her and shot her a quizzical look, he tilted his head sideways, "We're not running," he said then laughed boisterously. "We're just going to the real party."

It was Maria's turn to be quizzical. "Alfred, what are you talking about?" There, his name was Alfred. Maria wondered how she could have possibly known that.

"This, this." He said rather playfully as he pointed to a large curtain hanging from somewhere she couldn't see – where did that come from? – he pulled the curtain away and what she saw left her dumbstruck. It was a battlefield and the fight was still furiously raging. The bodies of fallen men scattered the grounds and in such postures that Maria couldn't help imagine the gruesome way in which they died. Tears quickly sprung from her eyes and she violently looked away, willing the memory to just go and disappear.

A hand gently held her chin and forced her to look back at the fighting, "No, Maria, you have to look." Her hot tears were staining the man's hand and she couldn't pry her eyes away from the scene again. On one side of the battle, she could see men dressed in the clothes of her country, wearing dark green army uniforms and wielding guns, their trusted bolos were on their waists. On the other, she could see nothing but a flurry of swords, long and thin and slightly curved – the swords were known as katanas, the weapon of choice of their Japanese invaders.

She saw her countrymen fall and each time she was saddened. She saw the enemy fall and, while she should rejoice at the fact that they were decreasing in number, she was saddened for them as well. They stood there for what seemed an infinity; seeing an endless number of men and an endless number of fallen bodies. Without realizing, her tears had stopped flowing and the man's hand was no longer on her chin but holding her hand again. She looked at him, her eyes still bloodshot from crying, and was surprised to see him out of his dark suit and in a brown leather bomber jacket. His was empathetic. He noticed her movement and met her gaze, smiling weakly as he saw her.

"This is your present, Maria, and a ghost of your past as well." She didn't want it; she wanted nothing to do with all that sorrow. She couldn't possible live out her forever watching her man die one by one.

"… I promise you this won't be your future though." He continued, smiling widely and taking both her hands in his before forgetting himself and allowing him to hug her. The warmth of the act made the back of her eyes wet but she shed no more tears. She didn't respond either, why was this man so intent on lifting her spirits?

"You have to be brave, for me, babe." But how? Just a few moments of the battlefield had paralyzed her on the spot with fear. What did she have to be brave for, anyway? This man couldn't possibly be asking her to play a part in this. Was he out of his mind?

"At least until I come back." The numbness in her face faded away and she managed a look of complete surprise. Come back? Why would he need to come back? Didn't she pointedly tell Alfred never to show his face again? Was he attempting to return to her (once) peaceful islands and cause havoc again? She should slap him, she really should slap him for having the gall to disobey her; but Maria found neither the strength to release herself from his embrace nor the initial anger she felt for him. Alfred noticed the change of expression and laughed.

"I made a promise to you, didn't I?" Maria felt her heart shatter and consciousness took hold of her. The dream faded and she could see nothing but the familiar walls of her room in the growing light of morning. She felt something warm on her cheeks and knew immediately that she's been crying – again. How many times had that dream come to her subconscious mind and make her heart replace her anger at Alfred for hope that he'd make good on his promise?

"Senorita Maria, I beg your pardon…" a husky male voice said from behind her door, the same voice that had waked her, she presumed. It was one of the men with news of the guerrilla resistance. She stood and made ready to answer the door.

-

The man was going on and on about the success of the resistance and Maria knows it was of utmost importance but in the early morning, she just couldn't will herself to pay attention. She'd study the details later, she promised herself. While daydreaming about the things she'll do for the day, Maria was brought back to attention by the man's words. "- they're back. Senor Osmena came to meet them at Leyte." Maria stopped walking and stared at him, stunned because she had the tingling feeling of hope burning from deep within her. Could it be…?

"W-who's back? Who did Osmena meet with?" she said, not wanting to allow herself to feel this ridiculous feeling of hope. The man smirked at her, blatantly teasing her – for a moment, she wanted to punch his smug-looking face in – and said "You'll find out. They'll make their way to Luzon eventually."

She really wanted to punch his smug face in now.

-

"Y-you…" Maria was speechless to say the least. For one thing, she had just learned that without her knowledge the Filipino members of the resistance were sending him information. For another, when the man earlier said that they'll make their way to Luzon eventually, she hadn't hoped it would be this soon. Granted, months have passed since she acquired the knowledge, but she was still wasn't prepared.

The blond man in front of her was looking bashfully at the ceiling and putting his index fingers together as they sat across from each other. How was she supposed to react in such a situation?

"Didn't I tell you never to show your face again?" she snapped bitterly, she wasn't as angry but she was still slightly irritated at him for what he did. But hasn't he just helped her drive away the Japanese?

He looked at her, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. "And didn't I tell you I'll return?"

Maria felt her eye twitch. He really did get on her nerves sometimes. Nothing changed about him, not a single feature. As for Maria, her hair was longer now, not nearly as long as before he left but long nonetheless. She glared at him. "I didn't want you to!"
"Oh, I know you do. Besides, I wanted to."

"The gall of you! To think you had the audacity to return to my islands without official permission from me! Not only that but you used my men to gain intelligence on the enemy without me even knowing! And why do my men have to answer to y-" Maria stopped as she felt soft lips on hers and was stunned to see incredibly blue eyes staring at her chocolate brown ones at such proximity. He pulled away slightly and smiled at her, she was paralyzed; both confused about what just happened and confused on how she should react.

"You were so busy yapping on that I thought you might not notice it." He whispered. He looked at her, the grin on his face showed just how amused he was at how he can render her speechless. "If you don't react soon, I'm going to do it again."
She pushed him away from her and stood up, turning her back on him. He was quick to follow though and was at her side in a heartbeat. He held her hand, she shrugged him off. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, she steered away from his reach. He nudged her playfully, she shoved him away with disgust on her face. Alfred sighed, realizing what must be done. "Oy, Maria. Don't tell me I have to court you the hard way." he whined. She turned away from him… then ran with as much speed as her legs will give her. "Guess so then." Alfred grumbled as he followed.


A/N: Ahhhhhh, finally, the last chapter! This took me a bloody while because I didn't know how I was going to go through with it. Should I make it sad? Lovey-dovey? Funny? Choices, choices. Anyway, I hope you liked this fanfic.