Chapter Text
The princess walked down her usual path, offering the townspeople a kind smile as she waved at them. “We should head back now, princess.” A soft voice implored behind her: her knight, tasked to guide her.
She sighed as she faced the knight, “You said you’d take me somewhere special this time.”
The knight spoke, head bowed down, “I’m sorry, princess. Maybe next time.”
A frown settled onto the Princess’ lips. The certain turn of events has poured a rain cloud on her mood. “You shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up then.” She hissed as she walked past the knight and onto the path to the castle.
A hand shot up to her wrist, clunky due to the knight's equipment but gentle, still. “Wait, princess.”
The princess stopped, letting the knight walk closer. Hush fell upon them for a second as the princess waited expectantly, though her patience had run thin as the knight just continued to stare at her. “Look, I know we aren’t exactly friends and being stuck with me isn’t exactly fun for you but I was kinda hoping you were starting to open up to me.”
The knight’s face, though hidden, was painted shocked. A response was coming but was cut off as the princess continued, “I was kinda hoping you wanted me to see past your walls too.”
She quickly wiped a tear off her cheek. “Princess, I do. I do more than you know.” The knight muttered, stepping closer to the princess and holding her best she could with the armor in the way.
“Then let me know! ‘Cause I’m done trying to read you… I’m tired, Jo. Please, just tell me.” The princess murmured, voice cracking as she started tearing up.
The knight seemingly hesitates.
The princess, again growing impatient, didn’t wait for a response, “Nevermind, just take me bac-” She was cut off as the knight took off her head gear and kissed her on the top of her head.
The princess, stunned, held the knight's forearm as it held the side of her head. The kiss lasted for a moment before the knight stepped back. “I’m sorry that fear has consumed me. But here I’ll tell you. Here, now, I’ll be honest. Princess… I’m in lov-”
“Ay tokwang princess!” Jhaya jumped as she felt someone poke her side.
Rubbing the side that was said to be poked, she faced the culprit. “Ate Mai naman eh! Alam mong malakas kiliti ko dyan!”
Maica laughed, feeling accomplished in her little mission. “Eh pano kasi, kanina pa kita tinatanong kung bilhin ko ba tong fries mug na to, wala kang kibo. Ganyan ba kaganda yang binabasa mo ha? Tungkol san ba ‘yan?” The older girl asked, trying to take a peek into the book Jhaya had been so immersed in just a moment ago.
Jhaya didn’t let her though, shutting the book instantly as if its contents were sacred. “Wala, usual lang, knight and princess, ganon.”
She settled the book into her arms, planning on continuing to read the story later on.
“Bakit ba kasi kailangan mo pa ng consultant sa mga ganito, ‘di ba pwedeng ‘pag gusto mo bilhin mo ganon?” Jhaya said, averting the topic away from the contents of the book.
Maica chuckled at her statement, “Syempre, as a self aware queen, alam kong hoarder ako no! Kaya ang job mo ngayon ay pigilan akong bilhin ang ‘di ko naman mapapakinabangan, okay?”
“Okay beh.” Jhaya rolled her eyes at her, affectionately, as Maica continued her rant about cute things she probably will still end up buying even if the younger tells her not to.
Maica had dragged her to a garage sale someone was having in the neighbourhood. Deeming it important to consume second hand items and claiming it to be a ‘super duper extra ridiculous gold mine for cute niche stuff!’. Jhaya was doubtful but she did find a few things to her interest, much like the book she was holding.
“Pero parang cute talaga ‘tong french fries na mug na ‘to, bagay to sa banyo ko!” Maica beamed as she convinced herself she needed it.
Jhaya gives her an incredulous look, “Teh naman, ‘di man lang sa kusina sa banyo pa talaga?”
Maica pouts at her, though stance still steady and head still held high, she reasoned: “Exactly! Iisipin mo if may makikita kang ganito sa kusina dapat diba? Pero no! Sa cr. Para may surprise factor, ganon!”
“Pang baliw talaga logic mo, teh” Jhaya chuckled seeing Maica smile triumphantly. She watched as Maica took the mug into her custody and walked off to claim another item.
Jhaya followed loosely behind, also checking out a few stuff here and there. She was already there, might as well right? ‘Baka makahanap pa ‘ko ng rare finds tulad ng book na ‘to’ She reasoned with herself.
“Ayun beh ang cute din oh!” She turned to Maica as she picked up a small cat lady figurine off the table. “Immediately promoted to as a desk item sa’kin.” Maica grinned, admiring the artifact.
Jhaya nodded, though her eyes remained at the place from where Maica had picked it up from. Beside its former place was a fairly average sized teddy bear. What had caught Jhaya’s attention though was the fact that it was pink. With a rainbow on its tummy.
‘Pride month teddy’ She joked to herself, picking it up and admiring how perfectly it fit in both her hands.
“Ganyan ba mga bet mo, Jha?” Her ate had asked, happy that Jhaya seems to be finding stuff for herself too.
“Ah hindi, ang unique lang kasi, pink na pink oh.” Jhaya uttered, her eyes not leaving the pink bear, seemingly stuck onto them.
Maica shrugged, “Jha, if you want it, buy it.” Parting words before she once again continued her journey to another table.
Jhaya stared at Maica’s back as she was left behind, looking back at the item in her hand thinking if she did want this strange pink bear.
‘Wala namang masama kung bibilhin ko ‘to’
She bore into the bear’s eyes for a second before settling it into her arms, along with the book, and caught up to where Maica was now looking at a picture frame filled with planets and stars.
✶·⊰₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊⊱·✶·⊰₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊⊱·✶·⊰₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊⊱·✶·⊰₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊⊱·✶·⊰₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊⊱·✶
The door closed shut, Jhaya was finally back home. She quickly took her shoes off, set them aside and made her way to her bedroom, dropping off the things she had bought. She placed the book on her bedside table, planning on reading it before bed tonight, and beside it was the pink bear. Jhaya stared at it for a moment before picking it up again and setting it down on her bed.
“Masyadong kang cute para sa mesa lang umupo.” She spoke softly while still fussing over the bear and making sure it’s in a comfortable position.
She turned away from the bed before she could overthink if talking to a teddy bear made her childish. She made a quick grab for new clothes and started heading to the shower.
‘Jusko gusto ko na humiga’
8 songs and one encore later, she headed out of the shower and started on blow drying her hair before finally moving on to her skin care routine. She pampered herself with her numerous products, gently tapping a cream there, rubbing ointment here. This, honestly, was Jhaya’s most favorite and most hated part of the day. She loved taking care of herself but sometimes she really wished she could just plop down on her bed immediately and snooze appropriately.
As she finished up, she took a moment to admire herself in the mirror. ‘Hirap talaga maging maganda sa mundong ‘to’
She felt refreshed, ready to take on dreamland in her comfy bed. Before she could put things back to where they belonged though, a faint rustle caught her attention. Jhaya ignored it and continued to finish cleaning up when she heard it again. This time she froze.
Jhaya thinks she may have gone crazy but the more she listened the more she realized it wasn’t just in her head. Slowly she came out of her bathroom and into the bedroom, scanning the room slowly and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, soon her gaze dropped to her bed.
“Oh, tagal mo sa loob ah, tumae ka ba?”
Jhaya blinked. “AAAHHHHHHHH”
“Ano ba!?” The girl asked, startled by the scream.
“Ikaw ano ba!”
“Bakit ka sumisigaw??”
‘Tangina, minumulto ba ‘ko?’
There on her bed was a girl wearing white pajamas with pink stars on it and pink hair tied neatly into space buns. With the way she was tucked into the bed she was clearly comfortable and feeling at home. But this was Jhaya’s room, and last time she checked she was living alone.
“Sino ka!? Anong ginagawa mo sa kwarto ko!?” Jhaya screamed, startling the girl on her bed.
“Beh ang ingay ah, gabing gabi na oh.” Said the pink haired girl, staring at her seriously as she reprimanded her.
Jhaya stood confused, “Bakit ka nandito??” She looked around the room once more just to make sure she wasn’t magically teleported into the wrong place. “Kwarto ko naman ‘to diba…” She asked, more to herself than anything.
The brunette gripped her hair, ‘Nababaliw na ba ‘ko?’
‘Dahil siguro ‘to sa damong dinaan ko kanina ‘di kasi ako nag tabi tabi po!’
‘Baka may nagkulam sa’kin’
‘Gaga hindi, nagkaka-hallucinations na siguro ako’
‘Ito na ba side effects ng pagpupuyat ‘ko huhu matutulog na ‘ko ng maaga talaga’
“Oo kwarto mo ‘to, ‘wag mo na bunutin buhok mo, baka makalbo ka dyan.” The girl spoke, interrupting her train of thought.
Jhaya stared at the woman, trying to make sense of anything. “Tatayo ka lang ba dyan o matutulog na tayo.” The girl suddenly blurted out, patting the space beside her.
“TAYO??” Jhaya screamed suddenly, scandalized at the thought. “Bata pa ‘ko hoy! ‘Di mo ‘ko mapagsasamantalahan!”
“Seryoso ka ba?” The girl looked at her with a deadpan expression like it was Jhaya who was overreacting in this situation.
“Teka! Teka, sino ka ba kasi?” Jhaya asked, calming down a bit as she stared down at the girl. She realized she should ask one question at a time if she wanted answers.
“Stella.” She provided.
“Ano ‘yon?” Jhaya asked, wanting to make sure she heard it right.
“Ako si Stella.” She repeated, looking bored now at the redundancy of it.
“Oh, eh anong ginagawa mo sa kwarto ko?” Came Jhaya’s next question.
The pink haired girl furrowed her brows at her. “Again ha, seryoso ka ba?”
“Mukha ba ‘kong nagbibiro?” Jhaya said back, furrowing her brows as well. It was her space being invaded here but with the way Stella was acting made it feel like the other way around.
“Ikaw nag-uwi sa’kin.” Stella stated as if it was a fact.
Jhaya’s eyes widened as she spoke up, “Hoy, kung set up ‘to, ‘di mo ‘ko mauuto, wala akong inuwi ‘no!” She had never brought anyone home before (at least romantically), especially not for the kind of activity she thought Stella had implied earlier.
“Seriously? Inuwi mo nga ako.” The conversation just drove Stella’s eyebrows more into each other, frustrated at the fact that Jhaya was refusing the truth.
“Wala akong naaalalang ganyan.” The brunette said, standing by what she knows.
“You bought me, remember?” Stella uttered, raising her brows. Maybe recounting the events would help jog Jhaya’s memories.
“Ha??” Jhaya crossed her arms. She shook her head, gesturing no, leading Stella to provide more information.
“You picked me up?”
“...”
“You carried me?”
“...”
“You even told me I was cute?” Jhaya’s eyes widened.
“Ako? Sinabi ko ‘yon?” Jhaya pointed at herself. Don’t get her wrong, in any other circumstance, she probably would say that. Looking at the girl in front of her she was, in fact, cute. Especially with that pink hair. It’s just that Jhaya doesn’t recall anything of the sort.
Stella continued to stare at her like she had grown two heads. “Yeah, remember? You set me down on the table sabi mo masyado akong cute para don kaya nilipat mo ko sa bed?” She said, matter of factly, leaving no room for argument. “Grabe, parang kaka-sabi mo pa lang limot mo na agad.”
“Hindi.” Jhaya unconsciously blurted out.
“Hindi?” Stella asked, offended.
“Hindi,” She fought, “Teddy bear ang sinabihan ko non, teddy bear ang binili ko, teddy bear ang inuwi ko.” Jhaya mumbled, rambling now as she tried to piece things together.
“Yeah? Duh, what are you trying to say?” Said Stella as Jhaya continued to stare at her, confused and suspicious all at once.
“Asan ung teddy bear ko? Baka dinaganan mo dyan kawawa naman!” The younger one suddenly moved to look behind Stella. As the girl moved forward Jhaya found not even a shadow of a bear behind her. Stella then realized why they couldn’t understand each other: the human is yet to learn one crucial fact she already knows.
Slowly, Jhaya lifted her gaze up to look at Stella. The girl, already looking at her, smiled, “It’s me.”