Triple-A stood at the entrance of the gold bar, and beside him was Chris. The two of them watched Cecilia sing, with her grandfather sitting up front. "How is she?" The angel asked
"She hates you; you took her grandfather." Triple-A whipped his head towards Chris. He discreetly chuckled when he saw the angel's reaction.
"Me? Why me?" he then saw the smirk grow on the corner of Chris' lips. "You're a bad man, you know that?"
"She is all alone now. You should take care of her," Triple-A told Chris. "She looks like a strong pillar, but the truth is she is as fragile as sugar glass, and she will need your help to pick up the pieces of her life."
"It has been almost two hundred years since I took over the Twilight. I'll be judged soon. Her grandfather is right, you know, it is better to hurt her now, rather than raise her hopes and let her crash and burn." Chris reminded the angel.
"Everything comes to an end, my friend," Chris scoffed at the angel's remarks, thinking he was rudely reminded that his existence would soon end, after his judgment. "Since when did that stop you?" He tapped Chris on the butt, then he left.
Chris glared at the archangel, who dissipated into thin air. After rubbing his derriere, he focused his attention back on Cecilia, who was singing a sad song at the time. Then he accidentally glanced at the old man who was staring at him with disappointed eyes. All he could do was bow to Cecilia's grandfather.
That night in The King's suite, Cecilia lay her head over his grandfather's chest with her arms around him. The old man gently stroked Cecilia's hair. "Chris seemed to be a good man," he started the conversation.
"He is Pops," She simply replied to his statement.
"You do know that he does not belong with the living, right?" The old man reminded her
Cecilia sat up straight and sadly looked at her grandfather, "What do you mean, Pops?" Though she asked, she was well aware of what he meant.
"Can you see a future with a ghost? Somebody dead?" He tenderly reminded her of Chris's current status.
"Pops, let me stop you there. First of all, he is not dead; he is just displaced in time." She began to explain, "Secondly…I can't think of one right now, so I'll get back to you on the second part." She placed her head on her grandfather's shoulder and hugged him tightly. "Do we have to talk about that right now, Pops? We have little time left before we reach Kaginhawaan."
"I'm just worried about you, Cee, I don't want you to experience another loss, another heartbreak," He explained to her, as he stroked her hair.
"Yes, I experienced heartaches when I lost Mom and Dad, and now you…But I cherished every moment that I had with all of you." She paused for a while to sit straight. "If things won't work between me and him…At least I will still have the memories of the time we spent together."
"Has he told you that he felt the same way about you?" he curiously asked Cecilia, wondering if his precious girl already has a boyfriend of sorts. But Cecilia shook her head. "Are you sure that he has feelings for you?"
"No, I'm not sure, but to be honest, I would rather live with the heartache of rejection than the heartache of wondering." Expressing her reason to her grandfather, though she understands his skepticism.
"I saw how much they cared for you…they might not be of the living, but I can feel they won't let anything bad happen to you," he said with a calm and serene tone. "I can move on without worrying about you, cause I know you are with good company." After hearing her grandfather, she started to sob again.
"Why are you crying, child? Don't your eyes hurt from all the tears you shed?" he worriedly asked her.
"You're going to Kaginhawaan…and I'll never see you again…I'm going to lose my Pops forever." She explained to him, she had tightly embraced the old man, who himself could not help but tear up.
"I know you heard me say this a million times over the years, but allow me to say it one last time." She closed her eyes as she listened to her grandfather's words of wisdom, "Never lose confidence in yourself, always trust your mind over your heart. Give respect but don't expect it back, never hurt anyone, but don't allow yourself to be hurt either. Most importantly, my child…never lose yourself over anything." The old man glances at his granddaughter, who is sobbing on his chest. "Did you hear me, Cee?"
Cecilia nodded, but she still kept her eyes closed and her embrace tighter. "Pops? Tell me again how you and Nana met," she requested in a bid to keep her grandfather talking. She attempted to make the most of their time together.
"Don't you ever get tired of that story?" He chuckled, but deep inside his heart was aching for the granddaughter he would be leaving alone. Cecilia shook her head. "Okay, fine…I'll tell you the story again."
Outside the suite, Chris held the door knocker, but decided to let them be. "I'll be here if you need me," he whispered before turning around and walking away.
Three days later, The Twilight arrived at its destination, the port of Kaginhawaan. Several of the crew members bid Chief Bustamante and Chief Murillo farewell as some of them completed fifty years, while the others had succeeded in helping establish their families financially.
"We thank you for your services aboard the Twilight," Chief Bustamante expressed his sentiments with a smile.
"It us who should thank you for giving us a chance to help our families from beyond the grave." Said one of the disembarking crew members. Chief Murillo noticed that they were turning their head around as if looking for someone.
She immediately stepped in, "You all know how the captain is with goodbyes…But if he were here, he would also express how grateful he is for your services. So, thank you, thank you to all of you on behalf of the captain!"
They all bowed to one another, a sign of their final respects. Bustamante and Murillo leaned on the rails as they watched the six former crewmembers enter the gates of Kaginhawaan. Bustamante turns to Murillo and asks a certain question, "Next to the captain, you are the oldest crewmember. Ever considered disembarking and calling it quits?"
Murillo shot the chief a dubious look. "Speak for yourself! You lost track of your descendants a hundred or so years ago! You don't even know if you still have descendants left in the mortal plane."
"And that is why I'm still here, when I find my descendants and make sure they are doing fine…I'll move on to Kaginhawaan." He glanced back at Murillo. "How about you? What are you waiting for?"
"Me? I want to be sure that somebody I know is well taken care of," She cryptically replied.
Bustamante was puzzled by Murillo's reply, "You lived a hundred and fifty years ago, who from that time could possibly be still alive?"
Murillo scoffed at the remark. "Ching Yuen lived to be two hundred and fifty. Not to mention Methuselah, who reached the ripe old age of nine hundred and sixty-nine. You never know!"
Their conversation was disturbed by an old man who called them from behind, "Chief Bustamante? Chief Murillo?" The two turned around to find Cecilia's grandfather standing behind them. "I would like to thank both of you for helping my Cee during my funeral. But this old soul has one more thing to ask: if you could, please take care of my granddaughter?"