Treasure Planet: The Real Treasure

Chapter 26

Opening night was finally here! It took me a little longer than I expected to get ready, so I told Mrs. Hawkins to cut the ribbon without me. She looked amazing. She wore a fancy blue dress and her hair was curled and pulled into a high ponytail. She had worked so hard designing and building the new five story BenBow Inn, and it looked fantastic. This new place was going to bring in so many new customers. And there was enough money left over after the build for Mrs. Hawkins to hire some more help, so she wouldn't have to handle all the extra work alone. Jim and I would of course help when we weren't in school. When we were away, B.E.N. would be there to help. He functioned much better now that he had his memory back. We were confident he wouldn't be breaking too many plates or causing too much havoc.

I could hear music downstairs as I was putting the last finishing touches on my makeup. I stepped back to look in my full length mirror and almost didn't recognize myself. I wore a dark blue dress that showed off my figure nicely. The top was tight and had a low cut straight neckline with spaghetti-strap sleeves, and after the hips the skirt fell straight down all the way to my feet. It was covered in swirling sparkles, making it look like the night sky twinkling with stars. My hair was curled into large ringlets that cascaded down my back. Small rhinestones formed crescent moon shaped earrings that could be seen dangling behind my curls. I wore silver heels, but my dress covered them, so you couldn't really see them unless I was walking; then they peeked out a little. I had on purple eye-shadow with different layers of colors, starting with dark on the eyelid and getting lighter as it moved towards my eyebrows. I also had on black eyeliner, mascara, and gentle pink lipstick.

As I beheld myself in the mirror, I realized something was missing. My neck looked rather bare. Though I had gone shopping in the past few months, I hadn't really looked at jewelry that much. The only thing I had really found was the crescent moon earrings. Everything else just hadn't seemed necessary, or wasn't really my style. Still, I felt incomplete. But I didn't dwell on it for long.

I heard everything go silent downstairs, but then everyone started cheering and the music sparked up again. I figured Jim must have arrived. I walked down the hall and peered downstairs. Sure enough, I saw Jim dancing with his mother. I also saw Delbert and Amelia dancing together; surprisingly, Delbert had some pretty good moves. I noticed Morph watching their kids in a corner. B.E.N. popped out of the kitchen, carrying many plates with slices of cake and passing them around to the guests before joining everyone on the dance floor.

I approached the top of the winding staircase and all eyes turned towards me. I smiled and blushed a bit, but I only had eyes for one person. His eyes had widened and his mouth was hanging open. My smile widened and I started down the stairs. As I made my way towards Jim, people moved out of my way, and some of them even bowed as I walked by. When I finally made my way across the room to Jim, he had collected himself. He looked me up and down, smiling lovingly. He looked amazing. Over the past couple of months, his hair had grown out, but he hadn't done anything to it. This morning, it had been long and bordering on unruly, but now it looked totally different. Now, his hair was cut so that his rat tail was gone, it wasn't half-shaved, and his bangs were shorter and no longer obscured his beautiful eyes. He wore a cream suit that resembled a cadet's uniform. I figured it must be his school uniform. If I didn't know Jim as well as I did, I might not have recognized him.

He bowed to me. I smiled and curtsied back. Then he took my hand and we started twirling around the room. We danced to the lively music until I was sure I would collapse from sheer exhaustion. When I told Jim I needed a break, he led me to a chair and got me a drink of water. We talked and laughed and watched everyone else dance for a while. When I had recovered, Jim pulled me to my feet and led me to a balcony outside.

"What are we doing?" I asked, a little curious. Don't get me wrong, getting some fresh air was nice, but I knew Jim well enough by now to know he must have had a reason for bringing me out there.

He looked at me and smiled before answering.

"You look beautiful tonight," he said, running his fingers down my arm. That lightest of touches still sent electric shivers down my spine.

"Thank you. But you're kind of avoiding my question," I said, giving him a knowing smile.

"Can't I look at the stars with my girlfriend?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess you can," I acknowledged as I leaned on the balcony railing.

Jim leaned down next to me and gazed at me while I looked at the stars. I pretended not to notice and closed my eyes, enjoying the breeze push my hair back.

When I opened my eyes, I almost jumped back in surprise. But then I smiled.

"Jim, look!" I said, pointing at the clouds.

He followed my finger and smiled with me. The clouds had formed so that they looked like Silver. He was smiling down at us, and a star even twinkled where his mechanical eye would have been.

"He's looking after us Jim," I said.

"He is. We may not know it, but he's always gonna be there for us, especially when we need him," he replied. We watched as the clouds eventually lost their shape and Silver's form disappeared.

Jim stood up from the railing and faced me. I straightened up and waited to see what he was going to do. He was pulling something out of his pocket. It was a long black box. I gave him a quizzical look, questioning him with my eyes.

"Open it," he said, giving me a smile.

I took the box and slowly opened it. I drew in a sharp breath.

Inside was a locket. It was exactly like my old one, except it was made of silver instead of gold. It was precisely the same size and shape, and in the center of the heart were six indents that formed a star with a tiny diamond in the middle. Even though it was just like my old one, it was somehow more beautiful.

"Jim," I whispered.

"Since you gave your old one to Silver, I thought you might like a new one. I wanted to get one that was exactly the same, but my mom suggested that silver might look better on you than gold. I hope you like it," he said.

"Jim, I love it! It's the most beautiful thing anyone has ever given me!" I replied.

"Take a look inside," he said.

I opened the locket and out popped moving holographic images of me and Jim. There was me clutching Jim on that first solar surfer ride; Jim holding onto me in the shrouds as the wind blew past us during the ship launch; Jim guiding my hand as he showed me how to peel potatoes; Jim and I listening to Silver tell his stories in the galley; Me lying on Jim the night we fell asleep after cleaning all the dishes; Jim, Silver, and I soaring through the tail of the comet and coming out covered in glittering dust; Jim rubbing his thumb over my tear stained cheek and pressing a kiss to my forehead when he thought I was asleep; and finally, Jim and I saying goodbye to Silver just before he soared away in his longboat.

Tears formed in my eyes as I closed the locket.

"I have some more things I'm going to add to it after tonight," he added.

"How does it work? I mean, I'm pretty sure there wasn't a camera filming us during any of these," I asked.

"They're kind of like memory recordings. It's the newest thing out there. A machine basically records your memories or imagination and recreates the images. I imagined these moments as if I was watching them, and the machine recorded them and I had them put in the locket. I'm going to add some new memories to it tonight," he explained.

"Jim, this is truly the most thoughtful and beautiful gift anyone has ever given me. Will you help me put it on?" I asked, holding it out to him.

"Of course," he said, taking it out of the box and moving around behind me. He draped it around my neck and I moved my hair out of the way. His warm hands on my cool skin felt like heaven as he clasped it behind my neck. I let my hair fall back and turned around to face him. He adjusted the necklace before standing back and looking me over.

"Wow, my mom was right. Silver does look amazing on you. It brings out the blue in your eyes," he said.

I blushed and smiled at him.

"Come on, there's one more memory I have to collect to put in that necklace," he said, taking my hand and leading me back inside.

He nodded to the band and they started playing a slow song. He pulled me close and put his arms around my waist. I placed my hands casually around his neck. I looked up into his eyes and lost myself in them as we swayed back and forth. There was quite a crowd of people dancing around us, but they were all absorbed in their partners, like Jim and I were. As the song started to die down, he leaned down and kissed me passionately. I kissed him back and lost myself in his embrace until I heard the song end. I pulled out of the kiss and smiled up at him.

"I'm so glad I met you. You turned my life around and made it wonderful," I whispered.

"You turned my life around too, and I'll always be grateful to you. You were there for me when nobody else was, so now I'm always going to be here for you," he whispered back.

I gazed at all the happy people around me; Delbert and Amelia smiling and playing with their four beautiful children, Mrs. Hawkins chatting up her guests, B.E.N. eliciting laughs from everyone with his funky dance moves, and Morph gorging himself at the dessert table. Everyone was smiling and enjoying themselves. Months ago, before I made that wish, I never would have imagined that I could be surrounded by so much happiness.

Best birthday wish I've ever made.

As I looked back up at Jim's smiling face, I knew nothing in the world could ever ruin what we had together.

As I danced the night away, I looked to my future and thought,

This is the start of a whole new adventure!