"You don't need to worry about her; we will watch over her as long as we are here," Bustamante assured the old man.
"Where is she? Is she not going to see you off?" Murillo wondered why Cecilia was nowhere to be seen now that her grandfather was about to disembark.
Cecilia's grandfather let out a sad smile. "My darling Cee had already cried enough, and I know I couldn't bear to watch her cry a second more." Without another word, the old man stepped on the gangway and disembarked from the ship.
Bustamante and Murillo waved at the old man as he headed to the gates of Kaginhawaan along with the other passengers.
The two chiefs were about to leave and go back to their stations when they saw a pinkish blur run past them. When they turned around, it was Cecilia, running towards her grandfather, ready to set foot on the holy grounds of Kaginhawaan. "Miss Bermudez! NO! You must not leave the ship!" Bustamante and Murillo shouted a warning to her.
With only a step before she sets foot on sacred ground, Time seemed to slow down around Cecilia. Determined to hold her grandfather one last time, she disregarded the warnings. But before her foot could touch the ground, a set of arms embraced her from behind, stopping her from leaving the ship. "No! No! Let me go!" She shouted, she looked back and saw Chris, restraining her, stopping her from leaving the ship. "Let me go, Captain, my Pops, I need to say goodbye to my Pops." With tear-streaked eyes, she glanced back at her grandfather. "Pops, please don't go, don't go, you're all I have left…don't leave me!"
"Cee, I'm sorry, my child, but I need to go now. You'll be fine, I promise you, just stay the way you are and you will do great." The old man then looked at Chris, "Captain, my grandchild, my precious Cecilia…take care of her for me. You have my blessing!"
"I'll take care of her…I promise!" The sincerity of Chris's words was felt by everyone who heard them.
"Let me go! I said LET ME GO!" Tears continued to flow from Cecilia's eyes, pleading with her grandfather not to leave. "Pops…please, stay with me. I can't…I don't know what to do without you here."
"Goodbye, my precious Cee." The old man then stepped into the gates of Kaginhawaan.
Cecilia wailed when her grandfather disappeared within the gates. The sorrow and shock of it all were too much for Cecilia to handle, and her legs buckled. Before she hit the ground, Chris caught her and picked her up. He carried her up the gangway, and everyone moved to give way for the two of them.
Cecilia wrapped her arms around Chris's neck and buried her face in his chest. The captain brought her to the room her grandfather stayed in and laid her on the bed. He sat beside her and tried to comfort her with his presence. "He's gone…he's really gone. I won't see my Pops ever again."
"He is going to be reincarnated soon…and judging by how much he loved and cared for you, he will be fortunate in the next life," Chris explained. He didn't know what to say, for it had been a long time since he had last consoled someone in mourning.
"I didn't even get the chance to pamper him, to buy him things that he lacked, to give him food he had not tasted before. To treat him from those that ail him." Sitting up straight, she turned to the captain, "Who will tie my hair now?"
Chris did not reply. Quietly, he brushed Cecilia's hair, collecting them, turning to the nightstand beside him, he picked the pink hair tie. He then tied her hair in a ponytail. "If it's okay, I'll do it for you," he sincerely offered.
Ceclia did not reply; she stayed like that, in a motionless state, blankly staring at the wall. Chris gently took her head and laid them on his shoulders. For hours, the two of them stayed like that, but during that time, they never let go of each other's hands.
After what felt like an eternity, Cecilia sat up straight and felt the tie with her hands. She giggled a little when she felt the crooked topknot. "You need a couple of lessons," she jested, eliciting a smirk from Chris.
The giggles and smirks soon vanished, giving way to a delicate moment, where the two of them were locked in meaningful stares with one another, and in that moment, all that existed were the two of them.
"Hazel eyes," she said in admiration of Chris's eyes. "I never noticed they were hazel before."
"And I never noticed before that…you have such an expressive and lovely face." He said in reply.
Their faces inched closer to one another. When their foreheads touched, Chris lifted his hands and caressed her face. Slowly, he leaned towards her while he gently guided her towards him.
In that moment that their lips touched, it seemed that the worries and troubles they carried in their hearts vanished, even if it was only for a moment. In that room, in their little world, in their point of view, only the two of them existed.
Outside, Chief Murillo stood, her hands balled into a fist, ready to knock and announce her presence. Yet her voice did not come out; she lowered her hand, turned around, and walked away.