"Enough questions for now, okay, go to your grandpa James, it's time to have dinner," Nadine told her grandchildren. After the kids had gone to their grandfather, Nadine knelt beside her mother. "I hope the kids didn't bother you that much, Mama."
Cecilia replied, her voice rasped and weathered, "Nonsense, sweetheart, they're my grandchildren, they will never be a bother." She assured her daughter. "I feel...a bit sleepy. Why don't you feed the kids and come wake me after a bit, okay?" Nadine took her mother's hands and she placed a tender kiss on her forehead, before going back to help her husband feed the children.
Cecilia's eyelids flickered, and she slowly shut her eyes. Then suddenly she heard a very familiar sound, a sound she had not heard for a very long time. She opened her eyes and stood up from her wheelchair. She looked from where the sound was coming from, but all she could see was a thick fog that was starting to form. She looked up and saw that the sun was setting, and it was almost twilight. Then she realized something, she was able to stand, something she couldn't do on her own for a couple of years. She was wearing the same pink dress with violet trimmings that she wore when she first sang at the gold bar.
She looked at her wheelchair and saw her mortal body, eyes closed as if she were just sleeping. She looked at herself, and her youthful visage had returned; it was like she was twenty-seven again. She knew what had just happened, and with teary eyes, she glanced at her family.
She approached Nadine first, "My sweet child, I am so proud of you, everything you did in your life was for this moment, you are now the matriarch of this family, keep me and your father proud."
Shen turned to her son-in-law, "Thank you for coming into my child's life and loving her more than I could."
She approached her three grandchildren and spouses, who were chatting on the side. "My sweet Julian, keep supporting your parents and be the pillar of this family." She then turned to Marga, "My sweet baby girl, always be the light that guides this family." Finally, she glanced at Abby, who they said inherited her smile, rocking her newborn baby in her arms. "Never stop smiling, my little darling, and make other people smile as well. Be the bond that holds this family together". She then kissed her great-grandchildren one by one and patted her grandchildren's spouses, even though they could not see her.
She stepped towards the edge of the dock, looked to her left and her right, placed her hands over her waist, and clicked her tongue. "How am I going to get to Kaginhawaan now?"
Then she heard the familiar sound once again, and she turned her head towards the thick fog. Her hands flew to her mouth as she saw the bow of the Twilight emerge from it. "My ship… It's my ship!" she excitedly said, as she watched the majestic liner dock right where she stood. The gangway lowered itself as if it were inviting her to climb aboard.
Cecilia did not walk up the gangway…she ran to the gold deck. When she got aboard the ship, it was just as she remembered it: the polished wooden floors, the shimmering silver rails, the gold trims, and the jade accents.
The first place she went to was her old room. She turned the knob and opened the door. It was just as she left it; her hands glided over the soft silk sheets and pillows. She opened the drawer and found her old pink shirt with the waving teddy bear. "So, this is where I left you." She said with a smile.
Next, she ran towards the gold bar, the place where she sang every night. She climbed the stage and held the microphone, standing at the center. She noticed it was the same one that she used.
She glanced at the archway where Chris usually leaned on as he watched her sing. It was then that she realized that all the seats facing her were empty. There were no passengers and no crew. She got out of the bar and looked around her; there was no one there. She looked up at the bridge and quickly made her way to where the captain stayed and commanded the ship.
When she entered the bridge, the first thing she saw was his chair in the middle of the bridge. She imagined him sitting there, checking all the monitors on his panel and issuing an order. She imagined Chief Bustamante handing the captain a clipboard. She remembered how Martinez swayed as if he was dancing while at the helm, and how Chief Murillo would always barge in to pester him about something. A soft yet sad smile escaped her lips.
She got out of the bridge and went to deck zero. At first, she hesitated to enter, but when she felt that nothing was guarding the once forbidden deck, she entered the place where the book of life and death was housed. When she saw the open tome, she began to remember how the captain sacrificed his life so that she could live and have a family.
She walked closer to the book and saw the final entry written on its pages: 'Cecilia Amparo Bermudez-Flores'. A smile formed on her lips. "He gave me his name," she thought quietly. She heard the flickering of pages and watched as the book closed itself.
Then she remembered something, a place she had not visited yet, the observation deck. Her heart raced and jumped inside her chest. She was hoping that he would be there. Time felt like it stopped as she ran to the place where they first opened up to each other. Her dress trailed after her as if it too were as eager as she.
At the last step, she stopped and so did her heart, for there, leaning on the rails, watching their family was he. Wearing his signature black captain's uniform, polished shoes, and a cap, tucked under his right arm. Her heart skipped a beat, just like it did the first time she saw him. The patriarch of her family, the person she had waited sixty-five years to see again. "C-captain?" she stuttered her words, calling to the man in the captain's uniform.
"You did well, you raised Nadine to be an exceptional woman, just like yourself." Cecilia's hands flew to her lips as her heart pounded wildly in her chest. She recognized his voice.
Tears began to stream from her face; her years of longing for him were finally over. "You raised our daughter magnificently on your own. Look at her now, she raised a fine family." The man looked over his shoulder, and he finally turned around, a longing smile on his face. "Hello, Pink." Cecilia ran towards the man she loved, the only man she ever loved.
Cecilia broke into tears the moment she felt his arms around her and her arms around him. "I missed you, I missed you so much!" She said between her sobs and tears. Their lips meet again after years of being away from each other.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry it took me so long to get back to you!" Chris told her in a remorseful voice.
Cecilia just shook her head; she did not believe that he had left him. "No, don't say that you left me, I felt that you were with me every step of the way. Every time I felt like I would stumble and fall, you were there to catch me. Every time our daughter was in trouble, you were there to guide her back on the right track. You were there, you were always there for all of us."
Chris chuckled while tears streamed down his face; it was the first time Cecilia saw him cry. "Actually, I was the one who pushed Nadine to take the shortcut so she would catch that boy cheating on her."
The two of them chuckled sweetly at Chris's joke. Cecilia kissed him on the lips once more. "So, is it just the two of us? Where are the others?"
Chris nodded and hugged her tightly. "They all moved on…This will be the final journey of the Twilight, and the two of us ar its last passengers." As soon as their lips touched once more, the Twilight's foghorn rang for the last time, and it glided over the waters of Kasanaan for its final voyage.
Chris gave Cecilia another kiss, and then he told her what she felt for her, "I love you."
Cecilia heard those three words that she had waited for a long time. "I love you." She answered.
The two of them held each other and watched the setting sun over the horizon as the twilight sailed, taking them to their eternal happiness.
THE END