Chapter 21: World Cup

JULIAN

I know teleportation—or time traveling, whatever it is—is a total pain in the ass, especially with all the errors.

But seriously? I come back to the present and I'm already in the middle of the match? What the actual heck...

To my dearest ancestors, thank you pa rin, okay? But I really think it's time we demolish that damn clock tower. It's been nothing but trouble. After all your experiments, it barely even works right.

Nagtagal din ako sa past. I stayed with Noelle, not even caring kung makakabalik pa ako. Pero nagulat din ako na nakabalik pa rin ako. At pagbalik ko, nasa kalagitnaan na agad ako ng laro.

It was already time for the World Cup match...

And I did it.

So there I was. No warm-up. No pep talk. Not even a sip of water. Just—boom—back in my cleats, the crowd screaming like banshees, the scoreboard flashing, and the ball rolling straight toward me.

What a welcome.

My head was still spinning from the time jump. I could barely tell if the other players were real or just echoes from the past. But muscle memory kicked in before my brain could. I sprinted, intercepted, passed, pivoted.

The world blurred around me. I wasn't thinking. I was just doing.

For a second, I thought—was time really on my side? Or was it just trying to mess with me?

"Julian!" a voice shouted from the bench. Coach.

Parang hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala sa nakikita ko. My lips parted slightly, eyes locked on him. Hindi ko rin maiwasang matigilan. Dahil... nandito si Coach? Nakabalik na ako sa present, 'di ba? But he's here... and he didn't die.

I couldn't hold back my emotions. Napangiti ako kahit may luha na namumuo sa mga mata ko—bago ako muling bumalik sa paglalaro.

"Focus!" he barked, his voice slicing through the noise. "We need one goal. Just one!"

I nodded, determined.

Right. One goal.

I looked up. The clock was ticking—last three minutes. We were down by one. The World Cup on the line, the stadium holding its breath.

I thought of Noelle. I thought of the past. Her hand in mine. Her smile. Her "see you again" kahit pareho kaming di sigurado kung totoo nga 'yon.

And then, something clicked.

The pass came from midfield—perfect timing, perfect angle. The defender rushed me, but I saw the gap. It was now or never.

Bang.

Foot met ball. Everything slowed.

And when it hit the net, top corner—unstoppable—I swear the entire universe paused with me.

Then, the explosion. Cheers. Chants. Fireworks.

I did it.

I freaking did it.

The whistle blew.

Tapos na. One-all. Pero dahil sa aggregate score, panalo pa rin kami.

I dropped to my knees right there on the field. My lungs burned, my heart pounded, but all I could hear was the roar of the crowd—and the silence in my head finally breaking.

I looked around, trying to make sense of everything. Teammates were hugging, jumping, crying. Flags were waving. People were chanting my name.

"Julian! Julian! Julian!"

Parang panaginip.

The crowd was electric.

Confetti rained from the sky like shooting stars, blurring the lights above the stadium. Flags waved furiously from every direction, fans screaming, crying, dancing. My teammates tackled me in celebration—shouts of "we did it!" and "we're champions!" ringing in my ears, but sounding distant somehow.

Parang hindi ko pa rin nararamdaman nang buo ang nangyari. It felt unreal, like I was still caught between timelines, between realities.

And then—just as I turned toward the bleachers—doon ko siya nakita.

Si Noelle.

There she was—standing, smiling, clapping her hands for my success. Her hair catching the wind, her eyes shining beneath the stadium lights. Then her eyes locked with mine, and it felt like time bent just for this one moment.

The noise around me faded, as if the world had turned down its volume just so I could feel this.

At first, I thought I was hallucinating. Baka side effect lang ng time travel, or maybe I was just that exhausted. Delirious, hopeful. But no—she didn't disappear. She didn't blur or vanish.

It was her.

Alive.

Right there.

I stood frozen for a heartbeat—then my knees gave in again. This time, not from exhaustion... but from relief. From overwhelming disbelief.

Tears streamed down my face, unstoppable. Wala na akong pakialam kung sino ang makakita. Wala akong pakialam kung may cameras pa sa mukha ko. Because this wasn't just about winning a championship. This was something far deeper. Far more personal.

All that time I spent wondering if she'd fade away with the past...
All that fear that choosing to come back meant losing her forever...

And yet—somehow—she was here.

I looked at her again, just to be sure. She hadn't moved. Still smiling. Still clapping. Her eyes still locked on mine.

Kasama ko siya rito sa laro.
And she's part of this success.

We're both here now, in the present.

She's alive... and she's here with me.

And just like that, the World Cup wasn't the only thing I had won that day.

It was everything. The title. The future. Her.

People ran past me—officials, staff, photographers—but I stayed where I was, soaking it all in. The cheers, the tears, the triumph, and that one face in the crowd that mattered more than any trophy ever could.

My heart, which had been torn between timelines, finally felt whole again.

The celebration roared around me—teammates lifting the trophy, fireworks bursting above, the anthem blaring through the speakers. Cameras flashed, people cheered my name, and yet... everything else faded.

My eyes never left her.

And slowly, almost unsure at first, I started walking.

Every step felt surreal, like moving through water, like I was afraid she'd vanish if I blinked. I didn't rush. I couldn't. Parang bawat hakbang may kasamang tanong—totoo ba 'to? And what happens next?

But she didn't move either. She just stood there, her smile softening, her eyes never leaving mine.

The field around me blurred—the flashing lights, the confetti, the sounds of victory. Lahat unti-unting naging background sa moment na 'to. It was just me... and her.

I felt the grass beneath my cleats, still damp with dew and sweat and glory.

And then we were only a few feet apart.

She didn't say a word. Neither did I.

But we didn't need to—not yet.