What does love mean to a firefly?

"Alright, all packed up." Voice of my dad woke me up. He was really looking forward to my trip to the village. That's not typical of him.
"Fine, fine. I am getting up!"
"I prepared you a breakfast, also I packed some snacks if you feel hungry on your way there."
"It's like 20 to 30 minutes drive..."
"Well yeah, if you drive fast, which you won't do, right?" Dad said worriedly.
"I'll be fine. Besides, Persi is coming with me."
"Is he now?" Dad asked rhetorically. 
"I sense a tiny bit of sarcasm in your voice, and I don't like it." I teased him a bit, because he is always straight forward and not so much of a jokester. He just didn't respond. It seemed like he is a bit offended. My dad doesn't wear glasses often, but that day he wore them almost like he is making a statement. Something of a "I am more mature than you" type of thing.

"Well, I am leaving."  I left the flat and got into the car. "Time to call Persi." In that moment my phone rang.
"Dude, where are you? Are we going?" Persi asked with so much boredom in his voice.
"Listen, you don't need to go. I asked you for help, besides, we can talk on our way there about her."
"I know, I know. When are you picking me up?"
"What do you mean 'picking you up'? You literally live in a building down the road."
"He-he. Kidding. Coming right now. I see your car."

We drove for like 10 minutes before we started talking about our main topic.
"I am glad you didn't mention her to my dad."
"Nah dude, no way I would do something like that to you."
"Thanks man. Means a lot to me." 
"Hey." He sounded like he is about to say something serious. "Do you even like her, Hans?"
"You already know my opinion of her. I need her to find my mom. Nothing less, nothing more."

"I still don't understand why date her then. You can just ask a friend for a favour, right?"
"I will put some music on, ok?"
"You are dodging a question... That's so out of character for you." He pointed out that I am usually the one who asks others hard questions.
"Ok. I need to get close to her family. Her dad used to work with my mom in the hospital. It would seem like I am actively working on finding my mom, which I don't want to. This feels more natural. Like a big coincidence." I paused. I felt awful. "Besides, It's nothing serious. She knows that."
"It's ok man, you don't need to justify yourself to me. I only asked you if you like her." Persi looked serious. My 'girlfriend' Lana is Persi's childhood friend. I get it he is worried about her. He doesn't want me to hurt her, but also, he wants me to find where my mom is. It's not easy for him, being a middleman. Persi was the one suggesting that I meet her and get some answers from her or her dad, and that's what I did. He just wasn't expecting me to ask her out 3 days ago. She didn't seem that much interested in me, but when Persi said "Hey, why not? He is a nice guy, maybe he is the one you were looking for?", she answered positively, and we went on a date. 

"Do I even like her? Pff... Well, I liked her enough to go on a date." I thought. I could not say those words out loud. 
"What does even 'like' mean?" I asked out of nowhere. I felt anxious. I don't ask questions that I don't know an answer to even slightly. This was a rare occasion where I was genuinely curious about his opinion. Just to be clear I enjoy asking questions and respect people's answers to them, it's just that this particular topic is unfamiliar to me.
"What does 'like' mean?" He repeated the question and seemed confused. "Well, I would say that you enjoy her company, or you feel certain way when you are near her."
"I feel like that is too vague."
"You are right. I think that feeling like that is different from person to person, but the universal thing is that when someone asks you 'Why do you live?' the answer is that person's name." He looked so mature when he said that. I couldn't resist to make fun of him.
"That sounds more like 'love' to me." I giggled.
"Aren't those like the same thing?" And just like that he was back to his usual self, laughing and singing along to the music.

We were nearly there, and I started recognizing houses. 
"Yup, the store is right around the corner. Would you buy us some stuff for lunch. I will go and start cleaning." 
"It's a bit windy, would you wait for me with the car?" He asked so naively.
"Don't be a baby. Store is not that far from the house. You just go up hill from here."
"Fine, fine. Go on."

The village looked exactly like before. Same houses, same people, even the same clouds.
"Maybe I should visit the temple while I am here." I drove past familiar faces. It's funny how I know people, and people know me, yet we don't say hi to each other. It just feels awkward. The village is famous for its crickets. They are so loud during the summer. I remember when I was young, mom brought me to some carnival and there were a lot of fireflies around. I thought those were the bugs making all that noise.
"Mom look! Noisy bugs!"
"No dear. Those are fireflies. The noisy bugs are not that cool." She smiled like a dork. She was beautiful. Long brown hair, a pointy nose, still in her lab coat, for some odd reason. "Do you know why we call them fireflies? During the war, a lot of bombs destroyed buildings and caused huge fires. Fireflies look like burning ash falling from the sky."
I still don't know if that is the real reason, but in that moment, I could picture exactly what she was talking about.
"Fireflies disappear when they sense that there is no love anymore." Like that makes sense. "What did she mean by that?"

The temple looked magnificent as always. Bright red pillars looked like they were just placed there, brand new.
"Someone was looking after this place. I am glad." I sighed with relief.
"Naturally, this temple is our pride possession." A voice could be heard from the entrance.
"Granny Gina! Is it really you?" I asked with excitement.
"Do I know you?" She asked with her gentle old voice.
"Oh, right. I haven't been here in a long time. It's me Hans! Estia's son!"