He could hear the violent movements of the sea, shaken materials against wind, the beginning of an adventure. His father smiled at him, his eyes childish and filled with mystery. The boy cried, somewhat scared, attaching himself to the adult next to him. A loving hand disheveled his hair, reassuring him.
"We will survive this storm and the next one. Can you see our home behind the angry waves of the sea?", the man asked.
Little Tatsuma stopped shaking and focused. He looked through one of the windows of the ship, with the support of his father, and witnessed what seemed to be an endless kingdom of water. It was stupid to think home could be over there. It was a miracle how the ship made of wood kept them safe.
"Visualize. You need to visualize home. If you don't see it now, we won't get there."
He tried hard and forced his eyes to see. He saw dancing waves clashing against each other, flashes of light above them interpreting strong music, whirls formed thanks to the impulse of air currents; nothing useful. He desired to see more and tried to reach home. His chest was filled with air and his heart merry at the thought of going there. Suddenly, a light appears. In the middle of two waves' embrace, in that tiny space, something flashes. There are drums beating faster inside his tiny body at that marvelous sight.
Home was more beautiful than ever before…
"Papa, it's over there! I can see home!", the little kid announced.
"I see it too, Tatsuma. I'm glad you wished for it with all your heart! Now we are safe," the man embraced his son and then looked at him, "home is valuable to us now because we have been in the middle of the sea for so long. Value is something relative to every person; remember this well. What is valuable for you right now, might not be so in the future and vice versa. A merchant needs to be optimistic and find what's valuable."
Being honest, the kid didn't understand those words very well. But he was the happiest when the Sun appeared again after what seemed an eternity of cloudy sky and raining. He laughed while he was surrounded with flowers, and when his family had his favorite food for lunch. Life was an adventure, like his father said. A journey filled with laughter and trembling.
As he grew up, the candles in his birthday cake became more exciting to blow. He was fresh air, a flower that blossomed pouring a colorful river of ideas mixed with curiosity. As he accompanied his father on his business travels, the world around him was more familiar while leaving him with a lot of questions. He wanted to learn about the true meaning of work, about the marvelous functionality of the transport they used, about the ingenuous minds creating all those artefacts his father offered at foreign lands.
His favorite part about his father's job as a merchant was how people would end up happy and smiling thanks to his father's products. Even if at first Tatsuma felt like his father was offering his clients objects without any special characteristics, he tried to be cautious and see them through the client's eyes.
Later on, his father would give him little ship models and Tatsuma knew they were special; treasures he received from the man he admired the most.
Many summers later, Tatsuma was a young man with the strength of the Sun. He had learned a lot about value already: the meaning behind his father's company, now that the man was no longer there; the irresistible taste of his favorite food, now that he spent so much time outside of home; the responsibility of being a merchant, now that he had made many clients smile thanks to his products.
He also learned about needs. Needs changed depending on many details. His ship was not the same as the one his father used as a kid, and Japan started using a lot of metals for the development of weapons. The current storms were not only related to the weather, but political as well. Looking up to the sky, the stars that guided his family in the middle of the sea now brought a storm of bloodshed to the Earth.
Tatsuma would smile. In the middle of a crisis, there is always opportunity. He changed the way his business worked and provided weapons and competent technology -as best as he could- to the Joui rebels, eventually becoming one. He did not have strong friendships when he was a child, so knowing the three generals was a new experience. A different kind of adventure. His laughter resonated amongst the darkness and tension of the battlefield; soon he was known as a person with loud voice, opposite to the honorable nicknames his comrades had. He would complain about it, even if his friends could have given anything to have a title as light as that one.
They would not celebrate birthdays or have innocent parties with cake. Tatsuma had indulged in different journeys of the heart and the flesh and women became a delight of his. He enjoyed their scent and sweet words, as well as the safe environment the red districts provided. When the Sun was up he would tear flesh in order to laugh and drown himself in alcohol when the Moon watched over them. His friends would forget around him, his voice contagious and optimistic; thanks to this ability and all the resources his company provided to the samurai, he became an important asset without difficulty.
His value as a merchant was shining through on those days and Tatsuma would look at his friends and find himself lucky in the middle of the violent winds. He would not celebrate each passing year, but every single day he could hear Takasugi's angry voice, or Zura's nagging, or Gintoki's words of encouragement.
He found himself loving the stars more and more, observing them when he would get depressed. He loved to think maybe his parents were up there, searching for him. Squinting his eyes, maybe if he visualized a marvelous world -one without blood, hunger or tears- he would be able to find it someday. The Amanto had fallen from the kingdom of the lights and new questions preoccupied his curious mind. How many worlds, products, needs, possibilities were over there?
One day, he secretly wished upon a falling star that he and his friends could fly high enough to reach it so they would not sacrifice themselves anymore.
In business, there are variables you can control and there are other variables you cannot control. One fateful day, Sakamoto Tatsuma lost his hand and his apparent value as a warrior. The world became black, thanks to the fears drowning his consciousness. He was not as good as the other generals in the middle of the battlefield and now the distance was even bigger.
He was tired: the weapons he was providing were not powerful enough to fight against the creatures arriving from around the stars. The change of the world as he knew it was inevitable. But in every crisis, there's opportunity. He visualized far away into the future. With the Amanto coming to the Earth, there was no reason for earthlings to remain in their planet isolated. He would have to expand his business if he wanted to fight.
Finding a mission that only he and nobody else was able to achieve, he decided to embark in the biggest adventure of his life and follow his new dream.
After being sick of his stomach countless times, Tatsuma finally arrived at a pirate ship. In the most important transaction of his life as an adult, he bought all the slaves from them, just by heart. He would find value not only in inanimate objects, but in people as well; the precious jewels he could not laugh without. Officially funding the Kaientai, Sakamoto could finally start his dream of creating a unified cosmos through fair business.
He became rich both in money and in friendships, making people happy around him. Would his father be proud of him? The stars that guided him when he was younger became more interesting outside his blue planet, now appearing in all directions. Not only stars, but planets also became references for traveling.
He would look at the wound on his hand and keep staring in silence, not really knowing if it had been a blessing or a curse. But when Mutsu scolded him because he was not paying attention, or when grandma would prepare some delicious food for him, the doubts inside his mind disappeared.
Being able to see his former comrades again and have the pleasure to fight alongside them, Tatsuma thought maybe they were a configuration of stars that lived far away from each other, but had a gravitational pull towards each other that they would not get rid of for the rest of their lives. Even if Takasugi became an extremist, Tatsuma had faith in the strength of their friendship. With Gintoki and Katsura he had no problems. Those three were the same no good brats from Shouka Sonjuku, after all.
And he was still the same kid from Tosa looking at the never-ending universe with wonder and excitement, after all. The only difference is that his ships were more impressive.
In the Kaientai, laughter and celebrations were never lacking. In particular, the crew loved making big parties for Mutsu and their captain's birthdays. He blew the candles with enthusiasm, looking towards the future and surrounded by a bigger and different kind of family. He would even receive birthday cards from his previous clients in other planets. His business had become one not ruled by geographical limitations.
The red of the Sun reminded him of the changing leaves before the coming of the beautiful snow.
Using an intelligent material to support the weight of his body, Sakamoto Tatsuma walks on the big inventory ship to check that everything is in order. Hair white as cotton, trembling legs, marked topography over his face. The only thing remaining from the Tatsuma of fifty years ago is the youthful expressivity of his blue eyes.
In the winter of his life, Tatsuma sometimes gets sleepy without meaning to, and sometimes forgets about some transaction details, so he has to let Mutsu write in an electronic device all the specifications. He shouldn't eat too many desserts, but he does it anyway. He is not supposed to make a lot of efforts, but he laughs from the bottom of his heart anyway.
The Kaientai gives him cake and they just do not bother with a lot of candles, only using one big candle instead. Tatsuma sits in front of the cake and blows the candle for the sake of the future. The people working with him are different that the people that started his crew, but they all live under the same principles of "value" and "opportunity".
Tatsuma forgets some details, but not the precious ones. He falls sleep and dreams about the ocean, the storms and the beach in Tosa; the alcohol, the laughter of his comrades and the stars; grandma and other precious jewels that surrounded him along his life.
Sakamoto remembers them, celebrates another year of success and laughs, laughs, laughs.