"I still want to scratch his eyes out." Sara hissed when she saw Marcus waiting for Sofia on a table not too far away from the bar.

"Save your energy for me."

"I could also take a knife and cut his…"

"Shush! Rhys, do me a favor and take good care of her."

"Why don't you do that yourself, my Golden Treasure?"

"Because she has a date, a dinner date with a famous Time Square poster guy." Sara eyes practically ribbed Marcus apart.

"He invited me for dinner before Sara made the decision she wants to be with me. So I'll have dinner with him and she for dessert. Make sure my dessert is here when I'm back." Sofia grinned, bent over and kissed Sara shortly. "Don't run away I'll have an eye on you."

"I've two on your and Mister Universe."

"On him and me or just on me?"

"One more sentence and I won't let you go at all."

"I'll be all yours after dinner."

"If he lets you go."

"He will. Otherwise you can scratch and cut and whatever else you want."

"I want you, only you."

"Aww." Sofia hugged Sara. "You're so cute. Rhys, make sure she'll be here, she's my brown treasure."

"Okay Golden Treasure." Rhys smirked. "Go and have your dinner, don't let the Beauty be alone too long."

"Never." One last look in the eyes of her girlfriend, a sigh and Sofia left the bar to meet Marcus.

Rhys put his head on his hand and observed Sara whose eyes seemed to glue on Sofia. Not for a second she let her out of her sight, watched her hugging Marcus and how they sat down for dinner. "She doesn't even see him."

"If he won't get his hand off her arm right away I'll throw something hard and heavy on his head."

"Beauty, he can look as much as he wants she doesn't even notice him. Her eyes wander the whole time to you."

"I can feel them, aren't they lovely blue?"

"Like the ocean. Beauty? Beauty? Sara!"

"Huh? Sorry." Sara was lost in the thought of Sofia's eyes.

"What happened to you? I mean that my Golden Treasure had more than a soft spot for you was obvious, she said so. You on the other hand tried to ignore the fact that the two of you are made for each other. I don't complain but what made you change your mind?"

"She. You know when we were in Vegas and gave her myself as a birthday present. The best opportunity for her to get whatever she wanted. You know what she did? Nothing. She snuggled into my arms and that's it. She never tried to use my offer for her own advantage."

"Of course not. And you were too shy that you left the first step to her?"

"Yes." Sara felt how she blushed.

"Until today."

"What makes you think I did something and not Sofia? Maybe she was sick and tired of waiting for me."

"No, I know her better. She wanted to leave it all up to you. You kissed her today."

"Yes. Even I didn't believe me anymore that she's nothing more than a good friend. And after I told myself for a few days that there's nothing bad nor wrong with giving in, showing my feelings I took the chance and kissed her when she was back home. The timing was perfect, she was mad because Willy and me want some of the corals prohibited for divers. I kissed her anger away."

"Smart woman. You got yourself a treasure. Now you don't need your room anymore. Did you ever use it?"

"Yes I did and I plan to use it in future too."

"She won't like that. Or do you plan to get her into your room?"

"Maybe. Can I go there and kick his ass? He undresses her with his eyes."

"Can you blame him?"

"I can and will kill him if he gets his hands on her."

"Oh Beauty, she will do that herself. You can relax. Even when they were a couple she never looked at him the way she looks at you. I'm sure you were on her mind all the time."

"She told me once he was only a stopgap."

"I don't doubt that. When I met her the first time it was obvious she missed something. She was never interested in a relationship with anybody, it seemed to me like she left her heart with somebody else, somebody who didn't know about her feelings. The way she looked at you when she saw you here at the bar it was more than obvious you're the one. I can't read her mind but I bet you're in her heart for a long, long time."

"Why?" Sara couldn't imagine that Sofia had been interested in her before. Why should she? They weren't even friends. There was no reason for the blonde to like or even have a crush on her. That didn't make sense.

"Only a feeling."

"Usually your feelings are right."

"I'm good, I know."

"Smug like the blonde."

"After the kiss and the look you gave her you shouldn't call her smug anymore."

"Why do I have to lie now?"

"No, you could be nice."

"I am – and honest. I won't lie."

"Talking about the truth, want to hear a true story?"

"Will it be a voodoo story?"

"No, you don't believe in voodoo. A story about a pirate boat."

"Pirates?" Sara sighed. "At least they existed. Past tense. Please remember that when you tell me your story."

"One day I get you to lose this huge sense for reality for a moment." Rhys put another cocktail in front of Sara. "I talked about the wreck you found at the one hour island with my grandmother. She told me the 'Watcher' got its name because it was the watch boat for a bigger one, the 'Keeper'. Both belonged to a group of pirates who were famous for robbing boats of rich people who came to America. Their golden time was short, after only half a year both boats vanished. Not without a treasure of a rich Spanish man who wanted to buy a huge part of California and Mexico. Nobody ever found a body nor the gold that was supposed to be on the boats. It's possible that the 'Keeper' is somewhere near to where you found the wreck of the 'Watcher'. And it's also possible that there's a lot of gold around."

"If there were gold people had started to look for the other boat. It's not like we got the wreck here without anybody noticing."

"If nobody knows about the gold and the other boat they can't look."

"Why does your tribal not look for the boat and the gold? And how do they know the wreck it the 'Watcher'? There was no name on it."

"Sofia described the wreck, I described it to my grandmother and she told me it's the 'Watcher'."

"You shouldn't smoke wheat anymore."

"You should widen your mind, Beauty."

"Not if I need drugs for it."

"Come on, did you never dream to be an adventurer when you were a child?"

"No."

"A heroine?"

"No."

"Have you always been realistic and…"

"Boring?"

"Stuck to reality?"

"Yes."

Rhys sighed. "Okay, I give up."

"You're story is finished?"

"No but I'm not sure if you want to hear the rest."

"Tell me the rest, please." Maybe she could become a person who loved adventures and was a heroine. If his story was good she could give it a try.

"Okay. The 'Keeper' was supposed to come back to San Diego but there was a huge storm, they would call it 'El Niño' nowadays. They never arrived, there were boats sent out to look for them and they all came back with empty hands. Maybe they didn't see the island and sank."

"And now millions of dollars are somewhere on the ground of the ocean."

"You never know until you look and find out."

"Chase a ghost."

"Look for a pirate's treasure."

"I've a Golden Treasure, one is enough." Sara looked at Sofia who was in a conversation with Marcus. When she felt Sara's eyes on her she looked up and smiled.

"She's worth more than any gold." Rhys agreed.

"Yes. And she'd love to find a treasure. So I'll tell her the story and ask her to come with me to find another wreck. Even if we don't find a damn thing she'll enjoy it, she'll love it and that's the most important thing for me. I want her happy."

"For real happiness she needs only you. Everything else is a bonus."

"She deserves a lot of bonus. Do you think you can find somewhere a slice of chocolate cake? Or anything else I can give her as a dessert."

"As far as I remember she wanted you as her dessert. What doesn't mean she wouldn't eat the chocolate off you. Let me have a look what I can find for you. Maybe there's something you can seduce her with." Rhys grinned. He was sure all Sofia wanted was Sara but why not find a topping for Sara?

"Is he still undressing her with his eyes?" Not that she minded like she didn't stab the wooden bar with a toothpick she found.

"Yes and she's still ignoring it. Sara, her thoughts are with you. No matter what he'll do or say you're the one who's on her mind. You have been there for a long time, now her spirit can rest and can let her settle down."

"Her spirit?" That sounded a little bit weird.

Rhys smiled. "Yes. Your spirit and her spirit are together what means both of you can settle down. You're home."

"Voodoo again."

"Don't you feel like home?"

Sara mumbled something. Yes she felt like home but when you lived in a place like this you had no other choice. Magical Beach was the home everybody was looking for. When you arrived here you were where you wanted to be, you were home. That had nothing to do with voodoo.

"It's not voodoo, it's Magical Beach."

"A magic beach, magic is voodoo."

"Isn't voodoo common on the other side of the US? Shouldn't you live closer to Haiti?"

"My great grandfather came there."

"Was he a voodoo priest?"

"No, his father was."

"Like you."

"I know some things about voodoo but I'm not a voodoo priest. He was a real priest."

"So your great-great grandfather made zombies?"

"There's always an amused sound in your voice when you say things like this, Sara. Did you notice this?"

"Sorry but I don't believe in zombies. When people are dead they are dead and don't come back."

"Are you religious?"

"No."

"Okay, let me give you an example for a zombie more people believe in: Jesus Christ. He raised from the death after three days and millions of people believe that while they swear there are and were no zombies."

"I don't believe Jesus Christ existed. And if a person existed with his name and he would tell the same stories today he ended up in a mental hospital."

"Probably. A lot of people who don't think and talk like most people do end up there. We call it schizophrenia the native Americans called them shaman. People use LSD to experience what is real for schizophrenic people when they have positive symptoms."

Sara bit her lips. This wasn't a topic she liked. It reminded her too much of her mother.

"We are who we are, everything happens for a reason and you are not responsible for what somebody else did." Rhys' arms pulled Sara in. Again he felt she needed him, needed some comfort and his aura worked straight away.

"My mom is schizophrenic, she killed my dad when I was a child." She didn't intend to say these words they just popped of her mouth.

"It wasn't your fault. Neither the fact that she has the disease nor that she killed him."

"My life had been difficult before it didn't get easier afterwards."

"Your life gave you the possibility to become who you are. You were a scared child, bruised, left alone and you turned yourself into a strong intelligent woman who not only made her life better but also the lives of many other people. You brought peace to them and to yourself. That's a present Sara."

"I'm not sure if I want this present with all its side-effects."

"This present completes you. It's a part of you. I'm sure Sofia loves this part of you too."

"She doesn't know."

"When it's the right time you'll tell her, she'll listen and she'll understand you and will continue to love you. And she looks very worried right now. Why don't you send her a little smile?" He gave her a little space so Sara could turn in his arms. Her eyes found the eyes of her lover and she send her a little smile. Rhys was right, Sofia looked worried and only relaxed a little bit after the smile.

"Come on, we take a little walk."

"Don't you have to…?"

"If free you'll not come I will use force." He grabbed her, lifted her up and carried her to the beach. Instead of fighting his arms and hands, Sara held on. Maybe it was a little bit childish but she felt safe in his arms and it was nice to be carried.

Rhys let her down when he stood with his feet in the shallow water.

"This is far enough, we can't go further away there's somebody who wants to see where you are, how you are."

"And I want to see what she's doing. There's an arrogant model next to her who wants her in his bed."

"You've a voodoo priest by your side, I can put a spell on him and he'll never make a woman happy again."

"You can do that?" Sara cocked her head interested. When she thought about it voodoo wasn't that bad. It could be useful sometimes and offered interesting possibilities.

"We won't put spells on anybody, Sara. We use voodoo for positive things. Like a stone that shows you who is the right one for you."

"You were influencing me, playing me."

"No, the stone showed you who you want. It didn't change your life it gave you a short way to happiness."

"Sofia won't say it was a short way."

"No, for her it was a test of patience and she passed it."

"She passes every test you give her, she's good."

"She's the best. Especially for you. Without voodoo."

"Why aren't you an active voodoo priest? Don't fathers give this to their sons from generation to generation?"

"My great-grandfather left Haiti because he didn't want to have anything to do with voodoo. He was like you, a scientist. He went to America, studied, worked and tried to ignore and forget his past. You can't erase your past of your life. You need to find a space for it in your life, need to come to a point where you're in peace with it. Only then you can have a good and successful present and future.

My great-grandfather died of a heart attack, he wasn't forty. His son, my grandfather, was sure his great-grandfather put a spell on his son for disbelieving. So my grandfather went to Haiti, talked to his grandfather, let him explain voodoo. He wasn't a priest but he believed and found a way to have the past of his family, the voodoo, in his life and go on with the life he started to build in America. He raised my father like this who did the same with me. We all believe in voodoo, it's our religion but we do have an ordinary life like anybody else…as much as you can call this an ordinary life." Rhys laughed. A life on Magical Beach wasn't ordinary, it was special.

"You don't make humans to zombies."

"No."

"Could you?"

"Every skilled medical doctor or chemistry professor can do so. With the right pills you can slow the heartbeat of person down so that doctors will think this person is dead. When the pill doesn't work anymore the person wakes up. If the funeral was organized fast he wakes up six feet under. If he was lucky he wakes up in the morgue before the medical examiner tried to cut him."

"We had at least one case in Vegas when our medical examiner had somebody on his table who wasn't really dead. A few teens took some pills to experience how it is to be a zombie."

"Did they survive?"

"Two died, one survived."

"It's strong, the chances you'll die are higher than that you'll wake up. It's nothing to play with, it's nothing to try. I wish people wouldn't be so careless with their lives."

"I think we take our life for granted and stop looking after it. You feel invincible when you're young, bad things only happen to other people. Unfortunately most times when you realize you are wrong it's too late."

"Be thankful you realized how important Sofia is to you before it was too late."

"I am." Sara turned to look for her girlfriend. She was very happy and thankful that she realized her future wasn't somewhere in a jungle or a crime lab but here with Sofia. If she had known this years ago she could have saved both a lot of waiting and trouble.

But how did they say: better late than never!