Chapter 6

The sun burned high in the sapphire, cloudless sky mirroring the crystal waters below of Athens, Greece. Sakiko sat at a small rounded table barely big enough to sit the two wrought iron chairs pushed tightly up to it. Wiping her mouth she placed the fabric napkin on the empty plate before taking a sip of her drink. From the height of her private patio she looked over some of the shops below and the ocean that seemed nearly close enough to touch. Pushing her plate and drink away she casually opened a book resting on the table when a knock on the door drew her attention. Closing the book shut, she strolled through the beautiful stained glass doors leading from the patio and into her bedroom, before opening the door to see her Grandfather. He bowed graciously as he handed her a small bundle of flowers.

"These are beautiful. Thank you" Sakiko said with excitement as she embraced her Grandfather in a tight hug.

He smiled happily from the gleam of merriment in his granddaughter's eyes. Even though Sakiko seemed to thoroughly enjoy Africa she was still processing everything that happened, as well as things she recently learned. In all honesty he was worried she would mope around the hotel room the entire trip, but it was quite the opposite. Sakiko was determined to see all that she could see of Africa and it's rich culture. It was an open arms type of culture for the most part and Sakiko was loved by everyone she met but Hamato Aiko continued to worry. He was extremely proud of the strength she tended to exuberate yet could not recollect witnessing one tear spill from her round cheeks. At first he suspected she was ignoring it all, all the grief, anger, guilt, pain but now he was not so sure. She would have days where she was less than her overly cheerful self and although he hated seeing his granddaughter upset he was selfishly thankful for the rest. Hamato Aiko greatly valued her sense of adventure that mirrored his own but the fact of the matter was that he was no longer in the prime of his youth. Hamato Aiko traveled the globe and met the most intriguing of people however the constant moving was being to make him weary.

Sakiko always made sure to take one thing of significance from her trip intent on beginning a collection. So far she managed to collect some Kente cloth that was given to her as a gift from a Prime Minister in Africa, as well as a few pieces of jewelry and a Henna tattoo from India. She was uncertain what her souvenire would be from Greece but she had another week to find something.

Sakiko turned away from her Grandfather to place the flowers in a vase with water and set it on her nightstand. The bouquet was mostly white with three flowers of three different colors towards the center.

"Roku would love these" Sakiko said with a melancholy smile.

"Yes but he would have valued your love for them more" Hamato Aiko said stepping into her room.

"How is Mishty?" Sakiko asked trying to distract herself from the wonderful memories that now pained her from their constant reminder of loss.

"Wonderful. She misses you. I do not believe she is confident you saw enough of India" Hamato Aiko chuckled.

"I know. She wouldn't be happy until I saw every corner, no stone unturned" Sakiko smiled thinking of the energetic older woman that was taken with her Grandfather.

"She called but because of the time difference you were long asleep" Hamato apologized.

"That's ok. I know the call was more for you than me" Sakiko said with a wink and covering a giggle as her Grandfather blushed.

"Well it will be time for dinner soon. Where do you wish to go?"

"Let's just see where the evening takes us?" Sakiko smiled reaching onto her bed to grab her purse.

Hamato soon explained that he wanted to visit an old friend who was vacationing in Greece during the same time and Sakiko did not mind. It seemed that Grandfather knew important people in every corner of the globe. It was fascinating.

It was late into the evening and the sun had disappeared by the time Sakiko and Hamato Aiko left his friend's vacation home, where they were invited to dinner. Greece was buzzing with night life and the daughter of their host, Anastacia, who happened to be the same age suggested they go have fun. A flutter of concern floated through Hamato Aiko's chest of his granddaughter in a foreign country alone but his old friend and daughter assured the two young women would be alright.

Anastacia squeeled with excitement as she nearly dragged Sakiko to her room. Anastacia held no ill thoughts of Sakiko borrowing her clothes in fact she encouraged it as she played dress up using Sakiko as her doll. Once an outfit was settled upon the two left to be chauffered by one of the drivers. Soon they pulled up to a fancy looking club and Sakiko's brows knitted together in disapproval. She was not the nightclub type but she sucked it up for Anastacia who was bouncing in her seat with excitement.

"Come on!" Anastacia cheered pushing open the door before the Chauffer could reach the handle.

"Thank you" Sakiko called politely over her shoulder. The driver smiled and gave a slight nod of his head before the outside disappeared into neon colors and pulsating music.

Sakiko sat out a few dances sipping on an alcoholic drink and watching Anastacia float around the dance floor moving from one partner to the next. She couldn't help but smirk and shake her head while finishing her drink until Anastacia stumbled over to the table panting slightly.

"Having fun?" Sakiko smiled.

Anastacia had yet to catch her breath so she just nodded yes.

"What are you doing sitting here all night? Come dance" She urged.

The unfamiliar Greek pop slash rock music pumped through the place as people spun and grinded on one another.

"Sure why not?" Sakiko shrugged following her new found friend to the floor.

Immediately two men appeared spinning them into their arms. Sakiko laughed and danced into the night until the light rays of the sun peeked over the horizon. Thankfully the driver was nice enough to drop her off at her hotel. Her grandfather beat her back wth hours to spare and was now sound asleep. Scribbling a note and sliding it under her Grandfather's door Sakiko stumbled back to her room and collapsed on top of the bed letting the world crumble to dream land.

The next morning Sakiko gave a loud growl of annoyance as a constant ringing echoed through her moderate sized suite. The ringing was persistent and working on her nerves. Throwing the covers off of her body roughly she followed the noise to her living room area to find her phone buzzing consistently. Sakiko picked up the phone giving a groggy welcome.

"Hello?"

"Good I caught you! Wasn't last night fantastic? Anyway I hope you haven't eaten already. Oh well even if you have you can keep me company" The cheery voice of Anastacia bubbled from the opposite end of the phone.

Holding the phone away from her face with a glare of confusion she placed the phone back to her ear.

"Um..yeah..breakfast, ok" Sakiko yawned.

"Great I'll see you in the next hour or so?"

"Yeah sounds great" Sakiko responded before a knock on her front door interrupted.

Hanging up she went to check the door.

"Good morning" Hamato Aiko said with a smile. "Did you have fun with Anastacia?"

Sakiko nodded and felt for something to sit down on.

"I left a note" Sakiko yawned.

"Yes I saw it. That was thoughtful of you"

"I'm going to breakfast with Anastacia. If that is ok? I know she won't mind if..."

Hamato raised a hand with a chuckle halting her rambling.

"Go. Have fun. I will be fine" Hamato said placing a kiss to her forehead.

Sakiko glanced down at her phone following directions from Anastacia until she came to a quaint looking restaurant. Anastacia was making small conversation with a waitress until she caught a glimpse of Sakiko entering and abruptly stopped to give an enthusiastic wave. Sakiko wandered over to the table taking a seat across from Anastacia picking up the menu.

It took a few minutes and a cup of coffee for Sakiko to fully awaken and actually respond to their conversation with more than one word answers. However Anastacia did not have any trouble with filling in the gap until she got her energy.

"Isn't Greece beautiful?" Anastacia beamed.

"Yes. Very. I'm going to be sad when I have to leave" Sakiko sighed before placing her order with the waitress.

"Actually, there was another reason I invited you to breakfast. I did want to hang out, don't get me wrong, but well I have something I want to ask you" Anastacia smiled with excitement.

"Ok. What is it?" Sakiko questioned.

"What do you think about New York City?"

"I don't know. I've never been" Sakiko answered neutrally.

"Well, I'm going to be starting at NYU next year studying fashion design and merchandising. Have you thought about college?"

"Yes and no. I mean I know I can't just do nothing with my life forever but I haven't made a decision on college just yet. I don't really know what I want to do with my life?" Sakiko admitted sheepishly.

"Well maybe you should consider going, especially NYU. Many of their programs are the best in the country and New York is fabulous. If you do plan on going we could be like roommates or something, although I completely respect it if you want your own space"

Sakiko half listened to Anastacia's rambling about living together as she began to seriously consider attending college. Maybe it would be a good idea, but there were still a few places she wanted to travel to first. Then again she loved traveling, who wouldn't, but it still did not fill that missing piece inside of herself like she thought it would. Roku was gone and traveling around the globe was not going to bring him back. She lied to her Grandfather when she told him the true reasons behind her travels were to experience what Roku saw and create her own adventures. That was partially true but her main objective lay buried deep underneath reality and reason where she hoped she would see him one day. She pictured some day walking to a random shop or going out for dinner and there he would be and she would run to him like those women out of the movies and everything would turn into slow motion. From then on they would never be seperated and could catch up on their own adventures apart from one another.

Anastacia and Sakiko spent the rest of their day shopping and stopping for icy treats to keep cool. Eventually it was time for Anastacia to leave and she gave Sakiko a tight hug since this would be her last night in Greece. Her and her family would be ending their vacation tomorrow morning when they left to return to the states. Sakiko returned the hug and promised to stay in touch.

"Let me know if you change your mind about NYU" Anastacia called over her shoulder before disappearing into the black luxury car.

Sakiko waved good bye to her and the driver as she watched the black car roll down the narrowed streets. All the thoughts that bounced around in her mind distracted from the excitement of exploring the city so she decided to return to the hotel for some rest and collect her thoughts.