His funeral was the most solemn service I ever attended. Maybe its because I couldn't hear anyone talk. I was lost in my own deep remorse.

It was his day.

I cried, remembering everything that we went through. We may just be best friends, but he was also the first person to ever hold my heart.

I felt a hand on my shoulder - it was Eric's mother.

"Honey," she said. "be strong. Eric is now with his Father in Heaven. He won't be happy seeing you this way."

I wiped my tears. Yes, she's right. He hates it when my eyes get puffy and red.

"You better rest upstairs. You've been watching his wake for three straight days now."

I nodded. Tita was more than a Tita to me. She was also a mother.

I went upstairs. I was supposed to go to the guest room where I usually stayed overnight, but I stopped when I saw the door to Eric's room. I decided to go inside. I'll take one lasting look at his remembrance.

I opened the door. I saw his room, as neat as ever. The Superman bedsheet just shows how childish he still was. His books were arranged on the shelves.

My gaze turned to the table. His PC was turned off. He was never a computer freak like me. I saw a photo frame of the two of us. I walked slowly towards it, picked it up, and just like a faucet that got turned on, I cried a silent tear.

He's gone now, and he's never coming back.

I looked at his things again and the toy plane that I gave him last Christmas caught my attention.

Silly Eric. If he didn't dream of becoming a pilot, he would still be beside me right now. Alive... Making me happy... Making me smile...

I laughed bitterly when another item caught my eye. It was a jar filled with multi-colored paper cranes. Blue, pink, yellow, green...

I noticed a note attached to the jar.

TO MY SPECIAL SOMEONE.

My heart skipped a bit. Maybe...?

I opened the jar. I picked one pink crane at the top of the pile. I marveled at how intricately he made them. He always had the knacks for arts.

Then, I spotted a blot of ink at the bottom of the crane. It was as if something was written inside the cranes.

I carefully opened the piece that I was holding.

"I love you. Do you hear my heart shouting your name?"

I was stupefied. Those simple three words were what I have been dying to hear from him all my life. I closed my eyes to stop the tears from falling.

When I opened my eyes, I picked another one and checked out what was inside it.

"I love you. Is it enough?

Yes. More than enough for me.

"I love you. Will you entrust your heart to me?"

Yes. It was yours to begin with.

"I love you. Will you love me too?

I've already loved you.

And the flow of tears didn't stop. Why do I have to read these sweet words, and not hear it from him? Why does everything have to happen this way?

I cried and cried, yet I opened the paper cranes one after the other. I wanted to know how he felt. I wanted to know this side of him that he never showed me. I wanted to know how he loves.

I missed him already.

There were a lot of paper cranes inside the jar. 500 passed. 750. 999.

I was down to that one last crane. It was the only crane that was red in color, the reason why I decided to open it last.

I opened the crane, and it bore the name of his special someone.

Alynna Montalban.

I sobbed harder. I am not Alynna Montalban. I am Lyra Suarez.

I am just his best friend.