THE STORMS WITHIN

A new path...

The bracelet he held in his hands reflected the light of the moon and it looked and felt precious to him. The brown moonstone seemed to have found a perfect companion in the moonlight beaming down on it. Bulut could not help but wonder why he had never mentioned the bracelet to Mihriban. Why he had never mentioned any of his past to her? If he had, would he have found out about his past sooner? If he had, would the events that happened a year or so ago have been prevented? Maybe even Can's and Sanem's accident? Maybe. But how was he supposed to know?

Bulut had grown up in a loving family who loved him very much. But they had kept secret from him the fact that he was adopted. When he turned 25 and his father became ill, Bulut had undergone testing to see if he was a possible match to become a donor for his father's treatment. He was not a match and verifying his mother's results, much to his fear and astonishment, he discovered that her blood was not a match for his either. His father had passed away but Bulut never revealed what had so troubled his heart. But soon after, he did speak with his mother.

Bulut still remembered his mother crying as she came closer to him, then held both of his hands so close to her face that her tears actually fell onto his hands. She did not deny it but admitted to Bulut that he had been adopted. At that moment, the world as he knew it seized to exist. He felt like he was running out of air and could not breathe. He had been raised to inherit the family business, a law firm which specialized in Business Law. Yes, he had been loved but was never given the option to choose a career on his own. Bulut knew the ins and outs of the firm and Business Law but he began to feel the stress and strain of it. But the longer he worked in his father's firm, the less passion he felt for the work.

The moment Bulut learned that he was not his father's biological son, the rebellious spirit he always felt inside of himself screamed out of his soul, begging him to step away. No one in the firm found out he was adopted. They just viewed him as a son who chose to turn his back on his father's firm when it needed him the most. But in his heart, he knew he could not look the staff in the eye and do his job knowing he no longer felt any passion for it. So he had left the firm.

When he found Mihriban, Bulut felt like he had found a refuge. Her kind words eased his restless spirit. Her smile calmed him down and her presence brought him peace. She never asked about his past. She did not push but just offered a helping hand. It was as if she could feel his yearning to belong, his yearning for a safe piece of land to find whatever it was he needed to find. She asked if he wanted to stay on her land and work on it for her in exchange. It was as if Mihriban knew exactly what Bulut needed. Working with his hands instead of his mind freed him of the sorrow he held inside. He calmed down and found himself and his own voice again.

When he met Sanem and Deniz, his circle of close friends grew to include two women who became like sisters to him. Along with Cey Cey and Muzo, they all formed a tight-knit partnership together. But when Bulut met Can, something in Can's eyes pulled at his gut. It was a good feeling but an odd feeling, to say the least. He had heard stories of Can, many stories and most of them were bad. But little by little, he began to see for himself that Can was not a bad man. He was simply misunderstood and mistreated by fate, just like Bulut himself had been.

The day Bulut found out that Can and Sanem had been in an accident, his heart ached in a way he could not describe. Both of his friends were hurt and he did not know how to help them. Sanem was able to return home, but Can remained unconscious and had lost a lot of blood. Without a moment of thought, Bulut went to the hospital to see if he would be able to donate blood for Can. His heart stopped for the second time in his life when he discovered the results. Not only was he a match for Can's blood, he was a 100% perfect match. Bulut could not believe it and knowing the doctor, he begged him for a sample of Can's blood. The doctor denied his request but did agree to run a DNA test for both he and Can since Bulut was donating his blood for Can. Bulut's suspicions were confirmed. Not only was Can his half-brother, it meant Bulut was a Divit too!

How would he be able to deal with this? As well as he could, Bulut held all of his thoughts to himself. He decided he would approach Can, Aziz, Mihriban and Emre when Can was able to leave the hospital and was well enough to handle the news. But fate stepped in and took away Can's memory. Any memory and knowledge of their friendship and the last two years of his life. It was as if Sanem did not exist for Can. It was as if Can never met Bulut and never felt anything of the friendship that was forming between them. Being the man that he was, Bulut simply could not handle that kind of pain straight to the gut. So he had left, leaving people wondering why he was suddenly gone so abruptly.

But now, Bulut was back. He realized that running away from his past was not going to accomplish anything. It was not going to bring him the answers he was searching for. He also realized he just might have left too soon and for no good reason.

Nevertheless, he had needed the time away, to sort out his thoughts and emotions. To build his heart back up from where it had fallen to the ground.
More importantly, Bulut realized that for him, a man who had never found any place to call his own, he had finally found what he had been searching for. His new path brought him back to Istanbul. Back to the city of dreams. Back to the circle of friends he vowed to stay close with and protect.

And hopefully, back to the hearts of his family, if he was lucky enough...