Current year, Apr. 16
8:21 am

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Hokano asked. He was apprehensive. He knew this was a very dangerous expedition. “You don’t know what could happen. These waters are very unpredictable. Maybe we should postpone this trip. I hear Venice is beautiful this time of year.” But he knew he was just wasting his breath. She wasn’t thinking about anything else except this expedition for the last few months. Venice could just freeze over and she wouldn’t bat an eyelash. He knew she made up her mind and nothing he?ll say could change it. What a stubborn creature!

“I’ll be alright. I have everything I need right here,” Sayuri gestured toward the little submarine-well, not actually a submarine but she liked calling it that, attached to the side of Hokano’s boat.

She squinted her eyes against the early morning sun with its rays glinting in the cool blueness of the sky. The soft breeze blew coolly against her face making her hair dance wildly. She inhaled the heady smell of the sea with delight, looking at the seagulls who kept swooping down above the waters in hopes to find their breakfast. The soft lapping of the waves against the side of the boat was reassuring.

The Atlantic Ocean never looked so beautiful! It possessed a certain calmness that one couldn’t help but wonder what kind of being created such perfection. It made emotions jumble from one to another, barely making time for you to distinguish each one. There were two emotions that stood out, though. Melancholy and delight. Delight and melancholy. It made you feel ecstatic and sad at the same time. Ecstatic because the picturesque scenery was not something you see everyday and your eyes couldn’t get enough of drinking in its splendor. Sad because most people go about their daily lives oblivious to this magnificence. Some of us are fortunate enough to experience it. Others aren’t that lucky.

“This is just going to be another dive,” she continued. “It’s not like I’ve never done this before. Besides, I didn’t become a marine archeologist to twiddle my thumbs!”

If that was supposed to reassure him, it didn’t. “But we’re just a few miles from the Bermuda Triangle! I can’t help feeling a bit uneasy.”

“Oh, come now. You don’t believe in those crazy stories, do you? I’m not the first person to come here.” She flashed him a grin. “You’ve been watching too many horror movies.”

He ignored that teasing comment. “But what became of the people who even thought of coming near here? They vanished!” He paced back and forth. “Can’t you at least pretend to be worried? Really! We’re in the disaster capital in the world and you’re worried about twiddling your thumbs!” Putting on his most serious voice, he said, “Besides, I promised your parents I?d look after you and I don’t even want to think about what your father might do to me if I don’t.”

Sayuri rolled her eyes. Here he goes again! Acting the guardian bit. Just because she’s younger doesn’t mean she’s incapable. Men! Why do they always have to be so overbearing? Maybe that’s what 6 years of friendship can bring.

He always had this overprotective habit that can only be called smothering’though she wouldn’t dare say so to his face!. He’s the only friend I have. Still, it was sickening at times. Maybe some people will call it sweet but, unfortunately for Hokano, she wasn’t one of those people.

“I agree to your insistence for independence,” he continued, deliberately ignoring her reaction, “but don’t you think you’re getting a bit ahead of yourself? It doesn’t have to be today. That ship isn’t going anywhere. It’s already under the sea for goodness sake! What’s the hurry?”

“I’m always in a hurry,” she pointed. “I was reading at two, submitted my first thesis at ten and graduated from college at age eighteen. What did you expect?”

It was during those years of research that she found evidences linking a French ship named Merle to the Holy Grail. It was a trading ship, primarily used for trading silk and other necessities to foreign countries as far as Japan. It was a harmless ship, if you count trading stolen antiquities to long-time clienteles harmless. The captain was not exactly friendly, and on some accounts, very disturbed. He must have been if he planned to smuggle The Grail out of France. The Universe must have had enough of him since on the said voyage, from Paris to America, it never reached its destination. Some said that it took a shortcut to America by passing through the Bermuda Triangle and that’s where the ship met his fate. Some said the greedy captain double-crossed the buyers and sold it to someone who had a higher bid on the artifact. Most people believed the former, though since no plausible explanation of its disappearance could be found and honestly, no one wanted to know. It sank because it was arrogant enough to sail through the Bermuda Triangle and that was that.

And now that it was within her grasp she wasn’t about to let it slip away. Never! That was what she had worked all her life to achieve and she’s not going to turn away from it. Not even for Hokano.

“But you will be there for three whole days! Is finding the Holy Grail really that worth it?” he demanded. He was getting desperate. What would it take for her to change her mind?

He watched as she stood up and approached him. She looked at him seriously, as if considering his suggestion. His pulse raced. He felt hope surge through him. She’s going to change her mind! The thought lifted his spirits. He was about to say something when Sayuri reached up and pinched?pinched!?his nose. The girl thought he was being silly!

“Three days at most,” she corrected. “I wouldn’t stay there longer than necessary. I ?d come back as soon as I find it.” If I find it. She didn’t want to think about that one. I won’t fail. I’ve never failed in my entire life and I’m not about to start now. I have to be optimistic. I have to be.

She turned to Hokano and saw the concern in his eyes. She had to convince him somehow. Even if I can’t convince myself’stop that!?I’ve said I’m going to be optimistic and that’s what I’m going to do. She continued her lecture, “Don’t you get it? If we prove that the Holy Grail did sink here along with that ship we?d be doing the world a big favor. Just think of all the lost history we could uncover!” she looked at him, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Still, she saw that Hokano was unmoved. She had to let him see reason. She let out a deep breath. That’s it. She didn’t want to do this but he gave her no choice. She turned to her last resort.

She looked at him with all the disappointment she could muster and said, “I’ve been waiting for something like this all my life. This is what all my hard work all those years was for. It’s been my dream.” She had to make this work. “Would you dare deny me my dream?” The look she gave him dared him to say no.

That’s right. Lay a guilt trip on me why don’t you? He grimaced. You know very well that I wouldn’t be able to say no to you. Ever. He sighed. Half of him wanted to protect her and half wanted to let her be herself.

Looking out for her has already become second nature to him. He has been her protector ever since the day in the school cafeteria when he saw the kids taunt her. A slip of a girl with dark pigtails looking at the bullies with defiant dark eyes, daring them to do their worst. He didn’t even know he had that protective nature until he saw her there. As if she was calling to him to rescue her, despite her fearless attitude. He was suddenly glad that he was taller than most kids since he wasn’t sure if he could have defeated those bullies.

It wasn’t her fault. She was so smart that other people found it threatening. She had no friends because they thought that she was weird just because she liked reading books on history and the metaphysical sciences instead of fashion magazines and romantic novels.

And she is seldom excited about something. So how can he deny her this? I can’t. “I suppose there isn’t the remotest possibility that you’d change your mind?” he asked in a last ditch attempt. She shook her head. He sighed. He knew he was going to regret this. “Alright,” he said at last. “But promise me you?ll be back in three days.”

It worked! It actually worked! Sayuri jumped up impulsively and hugged him. He trusted her and she would never let him down. She smiled as she looked at him. I’ll make you proud. “I promise,” she whispered. With that said, she jumped into the little sub.

“Take care of yourself!” Hokano shouted.

“I will.” She closed the top cover of the vehicle and started to submerge.

Hokano continued to stare at the submarine till it was swallowed under the deep blue waters. She’s going to be alright. She’s going to be alright. She can take care of herself. He was still feeling apprehensive. Some of his doubts were dispelled by Sayuri’s argument. She can be convincing if she wanted to. Maybe she should have become a lawyer instead. She certainly is sly enough for it. He chuckled. The pun did seem to liven his mood.

He went to the command station of his ship and stared at the tracking screen which fixed the sub’s position. He had argued with Sayuri about the idea of attaching a tracking device to the sub. She ranted about him not trusting her. He ranted about her worrying him needlessly to a frazzle. She ranted about her independence. But when he issued an ultimatum of going with the tracker or not at all, Hokano won?one of those rare cases.

He looked at the blinking screen for a time. I have to let her be herself. I can’t protect her from the world forever. He rebelled against that decision but he knew he had to let her go. He knew it was the right thing to do. But that didn’t make it any easier.

Author’s Notes:
Yes, I’ve chosen Japanese names for my characters. Oh. Thanks for my niece Sayuri for giving a name for my character.

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