The Last Moon

Chapter 15: Vale Festival Part 2

Halea finally got home, and now in bed reminiscing the activities earlier. She thinks of the time when Rahul brought her the flowers the backstage just to make sure he would be the one to bring her home and how she holds the flowers in her hands and the emotion enveloping her, she just can't get enough of it. It still makes her giggles at the thoughtful remarks. Then when she receives his SMS telling her he just arrived and as his promise, he sends her a note telling her he arrived home safe. After a few SMS exchange, they finally decided to rest since they will all meet again the next day. The whole thing keeps repeating in her mind and she enjoys every moment of them.

Ah, what’s happening to me, I just can't get enough of him. I like how he takes care of me; I like his thoughtfulness and how he looks at me. Those were her thoughts.

Afterwards, she found herself giggling and running, "Miyari bring it back," she said and she keeps on looking for her, and she giggles she knows that Miyari hid her mask and is teasing her to find both the mask and Miyari.

"When I find you, I'll tickle you till you surrender," Halea said laughing while she runs along the banks of the lake. 

And she heard a Miyari, "find me Halea if you don't find me, you'll have to pretend to be me for a day imagine your day without your Mask," Miyari giggles

"Miyari, that's not fair,"

"Why do have to hide that beautiful face?" Miyari giggle and run. Halea caught a glimpse of Miyari running opposite the lake so she followed.

"I will be able to find you," she was running when something falls from the tree, she immediately runs towards the direction from where he heard the fall. And in urgency, she tripped over a big tree root and fall into the lap of a man.

"Ouch, I didn't know Goddess can also fall from the sky," he said laughing. She stopped and looked into his eyes, her face is so close to his face that her face turns red. she immediately stands-up and apologies to him. He also stands-up and asked her, "What does a beautiful lady doing in the woods alone?" he asked her.

I was with my sister and she ran in this direction so I followed, I'm sorry for falling on you. I thought it was my sister," Halea explain

"No worries I am just kidding," he said showing his pearly white teeth and dimples, "By the way I am Rahul," he introduced himself to her.

"I am, and she placed her right hand on her chest she remembers she is not wearing any masks. "My name is Miyari," it was nice meeting you.

"Do you want me to help you find your Sister?

"No need, I should be able to find her. Thank you for your help, Rahul,"

"Alright Miyari, I hope you find your sister soon," he said

Halea started walking towards the direction where she saw Miyari passed by. She then looked back and Rahul is no longer there so she ran once again. The breeze was passing by her face and now she is in a different scene, she saw the young man again this time talking to the real Miyari, and she tried to touch her face and realised that her mask is on her face now.

Miyari can easily attract beings, her bubbly and cheering personality pulls these creatures. So, no wonder the young man is now interested in her. So, she walks towards them and Miyari introduced her to Rahul. And she just smiles and nods her head. She doesn't normally talk. She can see the fondness of Miyari to Rahul as well as Rahul to Miyari. 

And then it happened again, in a blink of an eye there she stood moving with her Kampilan striking the beast in its heart and land next to it. The dragon, sways and its head landed on her and there she saw its eyes, that big green orb looking at her and her mask breaks showing her face. It must have broken during the fight. She heard the beast say "Halea, it was you," while a tear falls from its eye and draw its last breath.

The sound of its breath still lingers in her being, she felt that pain in her heart. There was that warm breath on her face which confuses her. And then she opened her eyes and the sight of Aspin in her face is what wakes her up. Aspin then kissed her; he might have been trying to wake her up from her dream.

That's when she realized it’s the town festival and the awarding for the biggest catch is at 9 am, she needs to prepare. After the awarding, they will have to ride the boat for Rahul's birthday. She and her family have been invited. She was asked to bring in a swimsuit as they will go swimming on the island which is about an hour ride. He Mom has prepared everything for her since she was busy with the float parade during the last few days. 

"Oh Aspin, thank you for waking me up I still have an hour to prepare for everything before Rahul would come to pick me up," she said talking to Aspin while she pulls her towel and head to the shower.

Afterwards, she took the clothes which her Mom prepared for her. She looks lovely in those dark green off-shoulder mini layered Sunday dress with floral print. She let her hair down and just clipped the sides and let her natural curls fall. She puts on a little make-up and lipstick and a splash of perfume to complete it.

She had a matching clutched bag and sandals which made her looked like a model. 

"Oh, wow, I really like that dress in you. It feels like you're going to capture a lot of young men today," her Mom teases her. 

"Thank you, where else would I get this beauty?" she said laughing while making a pose

"I know, right," her Mom

And there her father came in the room, "Wow, and who is this angel who fell from the sky?" taking her hand and gave her a turn. "You looked so much like your Mom but more charming," and he kissed her on the cheek and whispered "Of course you got all the charm from me," and they both laugh.

"Oh, I know what you two are whispering about, come let's eat breakfast," her Mom said.

After 15 minutes Halea heard a car honk, she drank her juice and said goodbye to her parents.

"I'll see you guys later at the boat, don't be late," she said

"We won't be late, bye!" her Dad

Rahul was waiting for her in the car. He stands up from leaning when he saw Halea.

"You looked so beautiful," he said

"Why, thank you! You looked so handsome as well," she said laughing 

"It looked like you and Mom talked about today's clothes colour," he just then realized that they are both wearing forest green long sleeves shirt and jeans.

 He opened the car door and she went in he then rushed to sit on the driver's seat. 

"No, we haven't talked. It's purely coincidence," he said as he closed the cars door. Halea then took something from her bag and handed to Rahul.

And when he turns to Halea she said, "Happy birthday! I hope you like it,"

"What is it?" he asked

"Open it,"

He then peels the wrapper and inside was a box and when he opens it there was a black chronograph quartz watch with a leather strap.

"Wow, thank you," he removed from the box and wear it.

"You're welcome," she said 

And he starts the engine and drove to the Bay walk Area near the Plaza. The whole place was dressed in a festive theme with party string banners in different colours and lanterns. The lamp posts were adorned by big banners welcoming the people. Everyone was dressed up and, on the street, and on the beach where the activity is happening.

The fisherman participating in the event was lined up, they were given a day and night to scout Vale's ocean for the biggest catch. The fish needs to be caught within the 24 hours frame only and in the water of Vale. Each boat who participated were recorded and their route was traced. They need to identify which are did they got their catch. The fishes were now on the display for everyone to see and the winning fish shall be cooked and shall be available for sale. There a lot of other food stalls lined up on each side of the road.

The Emcee asked the Mayor how the fish were chosen.

"We have two categories in today's event, the biggest in terms of length and the heaviest in terms of weight," he said, "The winners will receive $500 each while the second places shall win $300 each," everyone was clapping.

The Mayor continued, " Before we started the race yesterday, the participants have already registered and each participant were given a tracker so we can track their movement in the water. We also have a committee who has spread out in the waters to watch the players and they are recording the movement of each fisherman according to their location tracker. This is to ensure that everyone complies with our rules."

"We have judges who were here in the morning to check and witness the measuring of each fish," he said.

"Rahul was one of those judges, he is now on the stage with the other judges," Halea said to herself while clapping and watching in the VIP seat in front. 

"Let me call on one of our judges to announce the winner for the biggest catch, Mr Rahul Taraka, the owner of the Taraka fish farm," Mayor said

"Thank you, everyone, I don't want to keep you all waiting so here it is, the winner for the largest fish caught is, " drum roll, "Mr Tamayo of Boat 36, he got a Bigeye Tuna weighing 17kg with a length of 120 cm. While the heaviest fish caught winner is," drum roll, " Dela Cruz Brothers of Boat 54, they got a Yellowfin Tuna weighing 20.3Kg with a length of 108 cm."

"Congratulations to the winners!" the emcee said

During the photo taking, Rahul took Halea from her seat and included her in the photo taking, He also introduced her to the Mayor and other judges. Halea felt a little shy, but Rahul was there to guide her. 

Halea's POV

After the event, they went to Rahul's Yacht named 'Aman', It was a big luxury boat with an open deck with 6 berths or 3 cabins, the space is big and the furnishing is high quality and can host up 25 people. Some of his friends and family are already there. I saw my Dad with Mr Robert Stark and greeted them and on the top deck, I saw my Mom with Mrs Stark and Veronica who is now holding Rahul. 

I grab a drink and everybody was chatting about different topics, I looked at the ocean. It was peaceful and quiet; a waiter came by and gave me a welcome drink and some canape.  After a few minutes, the captain announces our departure. Everyone settled in and I saw Rahul looking for someone, I believe it was me he's looking for so I just waited for him to see me.

"There you are, what are you doing here?" 

"I'm watching the sea,"

"And how was it?"

"It's so serene and I love the water sparkles under the sunlight,"

"True, I also love it," he said when a guy who looks a little older than him came

"Rahul, Man happy birthday!" he said

"Arnold, my men, how are you?" Rahul said

"I'm good, I was roaming around and greeted your Mom and Dad. I also saw Veronica and the Starks," he said

"Oh, by the way, this is Halea, my friend. She's the daughter of the new Doctor at Vale Community Hospital,"

"Hi, Halea, lovely to meet you. I'm Arnold his cousin. I hope Rahul here has not yet drowned you with his charisma, don't believe in that. He got a monster inside him so don't believe so much in him," he said laughing while he grabbed Rahul's head and messed up his hair.

I haven't seen him this casual, it was nice to see this playful young personality of him. 

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself," I said laughing while I sip on my drink.

"Oh, brave! I like you already," he said

I can see a familiar set of eyes watching us from a distance and it doesn't feel good. Those eyes belong to non-other than Veronica. So, I excuse myself from the boys to give then some time to catch up and went to Veronica.

"Hi, Veronica, Congratulations on last night!" I greeted, "You look awesome with your costume,"

"Thank you Halea, Congratulations as well for your class,"

"Thank you,"

"I can see you have settled in quite well, Why didn't you bring that boy who was with you in the carnival?"

"Oh, who? There were three of them there,"

"The one who gave you the teddy,"

"Ah, Caleb, I don't think it's appropriate to bring someone not invited. Perhaps on another occasion," Why do I get irritated with her questions.

"Well true, but you can just tell Rahul that you'll bring a partner, I don't think he would mind,"

"I'll think of it next time," I said

The waiter came to offer us some aperitif when Veronica tripped him and some drinks got my clothes wet. I was shocked as well as the waiter and there I saw Rahul and Arnold immediately came to see me. With all of the commotion, my Mom came and pulled me.

"Don't worry, I brought you some spare clothes supposedly for swimming," she said, "Rahul can Halea change and the toilet.

"Sure, you can use my cabin there's a shower and the room are private," he said and accompanied us to his cabin.

I went in and shower to remove the smell of the drinks. Good that Mom got my bag, I completely have forgotten about it. After showering I changed into denim short and a yellow summer chiffon short sleeves blouse. I look sexy in the shorts; my long legs are showing.

After changing, I applied some powder and lipstick and pulled my hair up. My mom also gave me a summer hat and shades because it's hot outside. When I went back to the crowd, I can feel everyone's eyes on me. And Rahul came to us.

"Are you feeling okay now?"

"Yes, thank you, Rahul," I said, then he took my hand and anchored it on his arm.

"I will introduce you to some of my friends and family," he said and I wave to my mom,

As he said he introduced me almost everyone, some has mistaken me as his girlfriend and he just smiled. I was the one who kept on saying we're just friends. In the corner of my eyes, I can see Veronica's taint look. As if she wanted to crash me into the palm of her hands.

She moved back and suddenly jumped into the water. To my surprise, I shouted her name and caught everyone's attention. I saw Arnold, Rahul and some men immediately dive into the water. The captain also slowed down the boat. People were panicking and has thrown in a lifebuoy.

 My Mom calmed Mrs Stark and Mr Robert was mad and he keeps on pacing. After a few moments, Arnold came up with Veronica along with Rahul and the other men.