Sabaidee all The time has come. This is the final episode of "To Paris with Love". I can't help but feeling very emotional that pha-ek and nang-ek finally have to say Good Bye to us. This is the Good Bye statement from Keo and Laddavanh, in their own word: "We would like to thank you for your interest in our love story. Our story represents many truth and philosophy of love. Love is one aspect within the context of life - feelings, actions, physical and mental desire, morality, responsibilities, societal rules, traditions, expectations, pain, pleasure and so on. It's time for us to say Good bye now. We hope you will always remember us - Keo and Laddavanh - and to allow us to remain in your heart forever. Good bye...". (Xaykeo and Laddavanh) I (the author) am literally crying hot tears while writing this line. But before I used up the whole box of tissue, and before I forget, allow me to personally thank the following people: Kongkeo: I would never have had an inspiration to post "To Paris with Love" to SJD and painstakingly translate this story into English. Your initiative and desire to promote Lao literature gave me encouragement to take risk and post this story. Thank You. Thip: Both your humurous and serious comments make lots of sense. They help me to reflect and evaluate my own thinking towards love and my writing about love. Your question "is this based on a true story, Phayvanh?" confirmed that my story writing is not that bad ... if it could trick the mind of a great writer like yourself, it must be not too bad. Have I given the answer to your question whether it was a true story? Phouthone: You have been the only person who has not said anything negative about the story. Your ability to see the positive side of the story, my writing style and my translation style indicate clearly that you are an efficient counsellor. Your clients are lucky. Many thanks. TheDeon: My beloved young brother, you have been swimming along the waves of feelings of Keo and Laddavanh. Your daring and honest comments make me sweat. Yet, your comments are very valuable and are no-nonsense. I admire you for being so thoughtful and courageous. Don't be discouraged, I may write a story and make you a pha-ek, why not? You are already a pha-ek in my heart for being so daring. Hope you have learned something from the story. Khob Jai lai lai derrr... Douang2: Thank you for your feedback ... which is very valid, I must admit. I also would like to thank you for reminding me politely "You didn't seem to post your story lately" when I became a bit slack in posting the story. Thanks again. Guy: You are a very fair critic. Apparently, you could relate to Keo very well. If this story is transformed into a movie. I will definitely book you to star as pha-ek (Keo). Keep wearing Khakhi trousers, brown belt and white shirt - you can't fail! Pom: Your words of encouragement and your comment from a woman's point of view help boost up my confidence as a writer and as a person. Hope to hear from you again when your busy schedule is over. Alisak: Without your technical advice I wouldn't have been able to finish the posting without crashing the system. You are a genius! Many many thanks. And to all readers who spent their valuable time reading the story. I have now officially fulfilled my duty. Kongkeo will take over and will start posting his novel ... very soon. Please welcome Kongkeo! Hak phaeng took took kon (Euay) Pauline To Paris with Love (Part 5) (Final episode) Out of sight, out of mind. Huh! That's men! At the coffee shop of Wat Tai Airport, Vientiane . Keo and Laddavanh were having coffee while Keo was waiting for the flight to Bangkok which would then link him to another flight to Paris. The waves of sadness clearly appeared in their eyes, Keo held Laddavanh's hand and gently squeezed it. Laddavanh, the mighty philosopher, who would usually be very talkative and would always have answers or solutions for Keo no matter what he asked, to the point that Keo was hardly able to keep up with her; today became hopeless and was not able to talk at all. Worse still, she became a crybaby . the tears were about to drop from those eyes, so Keo used a soft tissue to gently wipe those tears off. The more he wiped the more tears rolled down; as if that was not messy enough, her nose also started to run; so Keo decided to hand the whole tissue pack to her. Seeing those tears, Keo felt most painful, the love, missing feeling and concerns overwhelmed him. If he only could, he would . he surely would take her with him, but again she wouldn't be to come. In reality, it's just impossible, each person had their home to go back to, work and heaps of responsibilities were also waiting for them. "Vanh, please don't cry, I feel very vulnerable . I can't cope . let me see! Oh! Dear me, look at you, you look so messy. Stop crying, otherwise you will no longer look pretty". Keo tried to make it sound like a joke but that didn't help, her tears were falling down even more. The final announcement warned the passengers to board the plane. So Keo walked to the other side of the table to Laddavanh whose cheeks were still showered by tears and helped her get up. They walked together towards the gate, Laddavanh felt so weak she could hardly walk, the hand that was held on tightly to Keo's hand was cold and perspired. Before Keo entered the passengers' departure room, he turned round to pull Laddavanh towards him and hugged her tightly to his chest. The soft crying sound of the person he loved so dearly was killing him; hot tears cropped up his eyes and would roll down if he didn't suppress them. He used both hands to hold up Laddavanh's face, Keo sealed his kiss very precisely on her forehead, he then moved his lips to kiss her lips with the utmost gentleness. His last whisper was: "Sweetheart . Listen to me . This is my definition of love . I simply love you and will love you for the rest of my life . I promise one day we will meet again. I will miss you every second . Please keep this thing always close to you in order to remind you that my heart will always be near you . always . au revoir!" He had already walked out through the gate, Laddavanh held the necklace he gave her tightly in her palm, a miniature "Tour Eiffel" pendant was attached to it. Laddavanh rushed to the tower . there he was . stepping up the stairs into the plane. Laddavanh waved goodbye; he turned to look at her and gave a few waves back before disappearing inside the plane. And that was it . that was the end for Laddavanh. Her heart was dragged away from her body. flying away with the plane that was just taken off to the wide sky. "Good bye Keo . I hope we will meet again". In Australia. Sydney at night. at Darling Harbour, the sky was jet black and clear, a constellation of stars shone brightly underneath it... Leaning at a pole, Laddavanh's eyes were projected at the "Opera House" and the "Harbour Bridge" which link the two gulf shores, with her mind far away. The tourists who walked around the town at nighttime couldn't stop praising Sydney for its beauty. Laddavanh was very proud to be living in a prettiest city in the world. One would never get tired looking at Sydney . to the point one can say "the more I see you, the more I love you .". Oh! If only that person could be here by her side tonight, how much more meaningful Sydney would become! Laddavanh touched the tiny "Tour Eiffel" pendant . while her heart missed its owner very much . so very much . She wondered where he would be right now? Would he miss her? Or would he fall in the category of an old saying as "out of sight out mind"? . He wouldn't, would he? Laddavanh had warned herself myriad times with this self-discipline "Do not fall in love" . Because love caused pain. Laddavanh just discovered another truth about love that "the real pain does not occur when you are rejected because the other person does not love you . the real pain occurs when both parties love and long for each other but are not able to see or to be close to each other . THAT is the ultimate pain". And this time, Laddavanh just had to admit that her heart disobeyed her command badly, to be precise, this time was the worst ever because her whole heart was already given to him . what is left sitting here, was only her body. She started to be confused, it's not totally correct to say that she's in pain because by just thinking of him . she felt a pleasure. Although being far apart, she somehow felt that he was close, so close she knew he was right there in her own heart. Every time Laddavanh closed her eyes, she could visualise that smile and those eyes which showed love and reflected the extreme needs . She could even feel his kisses which were lingering around her cheeks, her lips and everywhere he sealed his kisses . the way a bee would sip the sweet honey dew from the flowers. What should she call this feeling - "pain" or "pleasure"? She could not provide a correct answer whether it's pain or pleasure. The only thing she knew was that she was longing for him every minute of her time. This atmosphere reminded Laddavanh of an old French song which was famous when she was a young girl. But its meaning became so relevant to her feelings right now: Si tu savais combien je t'aime [If you only knew how much I love you] Tu comprendrais que deja [You would have already understood] Sans toi, tous les jours sont blemes [Without you, everyday is miserable] Sans toi, il n'est plus de joie [Without you, there was no more joy] Tans de desirs me font rever [Somuch desire makes me dream] Et ton sourire me laisse esperer [And your smile gives me hope] It s'uffisait que tu sois mienne [It would suffice only if you became mine] Quel bonheur en mon coeur . quoi qu'il advienne [How much my heart would fill with pleasure . only if this became true] One by one, the stars started to disappear from the night sky of Sydney. People also started to disappear. Well! They would be going home to get some rest. There were only a few couples who remained, sitting side by side, drowned in happiness at the side of Darling Harbour. Laddavanh took the necklace out through her head, sealed her kiss gently at the "Tour Eiffel" pendant while sending her heart to its owner - who would be somewhere in Paris - and whispered in her heart: "To Paris . with Love". (Fin) P Phoumindr Sydney 26 May 2000