The arrival of Yuna had surprised hem all but they had taken it in their stride. Kaede was smiling like a little kid since the night before. The six of them had all spent the night curled up with the one they loved and cared for. Setsuna and Konoka had gone out to the boat early to get things ready. They finished getting everything set and sat on the boat talking while they waited. Setsuna was talking about what to do after they went back home.

"I don't know how everything is going to be once we get out of high school. We're married and we should be thinking about what the future has in store." Setsuna said. "I mean, There's things like a place to live to think about, whether or not we will need to have jobs. I'm just a bit concerned about how we'll be living ten years from now. I know we'll still be together and always will be but I want you to be happy, that's all."

Konoka smiled and gave her a kiss. "I know you do. That's why I love you so much. You're always ten steps ahead of where we are now. I know this probably won't ease your mind too much but I can say this much to try." She paused for a second and then continued, "As long as I am with you I will always be happy. I can't think of anything more I could possibly want. Well, there is one thing." She lowered her voice to a whisper as she leaned toward Setsuna, "You, naked on a bed, begging me to do everything to you."

Setsuna smiled at Konoka's ability to turn a serious conversation into a sexual one. She kissed Konoka with passion and said, "Your wish is my command, princess."

The two of them wanted to go at it right then and there but the sight of Kaede and Yuna walking up to the boat curbed their desire for each other temporarily. Yuna smiled and waved with her one free hand. The two of them were carrying packs of gear that had been packed early that morning. For the most part the packs simply contained a change of clothes and towels. Kaede was happier than Setsuna had seen her in quite some time. Maybe this vacation would end in just the right way for everyone who had turned up at the end of it all. Still, now and again the words of Fate still came back to mind reminding them that things could only ever be close to perfect if they tried to make it that way.

Kotaro and Chizuru were the last to show up. They carried with them food and drinks for lunch later that day. Kotaro was already in his swim trunks and as soon as he set his portion of the food down jumped off the pier into the water. He broke the surface after being underwater for a bit. "Water's going to be perfect today, what with it shaping up to be hotter than yesterday." He hauled himself back up onto the pier and continued, "So it's Setsuna, Kaede and myself diving to the wreck right? The rest of you are staying closer to the ship if not on it."

Setsuna nodded and said, "Right. We'll try and bring up everything we can in one day. When I told the shop owner ten times the amount we brought her yesterday I wasn't really joking. There's probably way more than that. It would take us a lot longer than we have left here, seeing as we all are headed back to Mahora tomorrow morning. I'm gonna hate not being able to spend a day like this, just doing something interesting but Negi will want us back. I think he has some plan to find his dad in the magical world. So we'll get what we can today and we'll have to come back to this place as soon as we get a chance to finish the job."

Everyone nodded in assent. They all found a place to sit on the boat as Kotaro untied it from the pier and Kaede led it out to where the wreck was. The trip out was short and they were soon near where they all recalled the wreck being. Setsuna, Kaede and Kotaro all grabbed the bags they would be putting their gold and silver into . Setsuna spoke to everyone that was staying with the boat, "If one of us doesn't come up with the others, well don't worry. It will just mean one of us was farther inside the ship or are getting more gold. Either way don't worry if someone is a little late getting back to the surface. Kaede, Kotaro, we should come back up to drop stuff off regularly. Well, that's the plan for that. Konoka, Chizuru, Yuna, you guys can swim around the boat if it gets too hot but don't follow us out to the wreck. Don't forget, we'll all be coming up for lunch around noon. I've got Konoka's watch so I don't lose track of time. Alright, let's get going. Time to go treasure hunting again."

The group cheered and Kotaro jumped in, followed by Kaede and Setsuna. The girls on the boat were wishing them good luck as they dived toward the wrecked ship. The bright sun made seeing underwater easy and they swam toward the ship at an even pace. Fish, sharks and the turtle they had seen there before were all swimming in and out of the ship as Setsuna, Kotaro and Kaede got closer. They each signaled which part of the ship the other was going to be in before splitting up. Setsuna was going to go back to the captain's cabin. She swam toward it and found the floor still littered with gold and silver coins. She got as many as her two bags could hold. She found that the weight of the bags were robbing her of neutral buoyancy and dragging her down. She focused her ki to swim back to the surface and saw Kotaro and Kaede also on their way up. She could see that both of them were having as much of a hard time as she was.

They all broke the surface and quickly put what they had on board the boat and got up on the deck. Setsuna smiled as they all emptied the bags out into a box they had brought with them. IN just one trip they had easily tripled what they had brought up yesterday. Kotaro and Kaede were catching their breath as Konoka said, "Well that's a good start. Two or three more trips like that and we'll have more than enough for a long time. Take as long of a break as you guys need, that gold looked heavy. I see now why you only wanted the three of you to go. It would have been far too much for the rest of us."

Setsuna was slowly regaining her breath. It was surprising how hard this was on her. Normally she would have no problem with how heavy those bags had been but the fact that she was underwater multiplied the difficulty. As soon as she felt rested she asked, "Kotaro, Kaede, you guys rested enough to go back down for another trip? After that we can come up for lunch and to rest a bit more."

Kotaro and Kaede both nodded and they all set out for the ship again. If it hadn't been as hot as it was the girls back on the boat would have stayed on the boat. As the three went down to the sip Yuna said to Konoka, "It's hot. I'm going for a swim and you're going in with me."

Konoka looked at her i surprise as Yuna jumped off the boat carrying Konoka with her. The water felt nice and cool, so Konoka didn't complain about being forced into swimming. She wished that they could stay here for a bit longer. This place was just so wonderful. She knew though that what Negi needed them for was far more important. She swam back to the boat and got back up on the deck. Yuna was still playfully swimming around in the water. Konoka felt Chizuru put a hand on her shoulder, "You know. This place is different than anywhere I've ever been. I think that when both of us were captured by Fate we learned something. To be with someone you love is far better than where you are with them. Setsuna is very blessed to have you as her wife."

Konoka smiled and said, "Thanks Chizuru. It seems that Fate taught us more than he thought he did. I wonder how much he really believes what we found out. Kotaro once said that Fate simply uses other for his own ends. I don't think he ever really relies on anyone other than himself. Regardless of that though as far as we've seen it looks like the gap between him and Negi hasn't gotten any smaller. I hope Negi is ready to face that fact."

Chizuru simply replied, "Negi is Negi. He knows how much stronger he needs to be in order to fight Fate." She paused as Setsuna, Kaede and Kotaro broke the surface, "Welcome back you guys." She said in a cheerful tone.

The three of them put their filled bags up on the deck and collapsed. Setsuna felt exhausted after hauling up more gold. After she caught her breath for the second time that day she said with a smile, "Lunch going to be ready soon? I'm getting hungry. After lunch I think one more trip should do it. All of us brought up twice what we did the first trip down."

Konoka smiled and she and Chizuru started to make lunch. Yuna finally got out of the water and sat next to a very tired looking Kaede. Kotaro lay sprawled out on the deck, his eyes shut. Setsuna was simply sitting down on the deck. The box they were putting the gold into was already a little more than two thirds full. She smiled as she knew this trip was going to end well. Kotaro suddenly spoke saying, "You know we should just take this tuff right to the bank and sell it there. There was something shifty about that shop keeper that keeps coming back to my mind. It's just a feeling of mistrust more than anything else. It's up to you, Setsuna as to what we do with this gold. I just don't trust that merchant."

Setsuna thought about it for a moment and then said, "We'll see what we would get at the bank for it first. Then if the bank says we won't get much we'll see what the shop keeper says. Like I said though. This next dive is the last one for the trip."

Kotaro grunted his agreement and then Chizuru announced lunch was ready. They all ate ramen that Chizuru had made. It was filling and tasted amazing. Everyone complimented her on her cooking. Setsuna, Kaede and Kotaro all got ready for the last trip down to the ship. Konoka stopped Setsuna before she jumped back into the water. Konoka smiled and gave Setsuna a kiss. "Good luck kiss for the last trip." She said smiling.

Setsuna smiled back and jump off the boat. The three of them had decided that the hold where the majority of the gold was. That was going to be where they all went for the last trip. They all swam as fast as they could without burning themselves out. They finally found themselves down in the hold. They all set about gathering up as much as they could into their bags. Setsuna noticed how much less gold the room had as they set out of the room to head back to the surface. They all had to put everything they had into swimming back up. The gold they carried was weighing them down so much that if they hadn't all been trained in the use of Ki they would have drowned. Once back above the surface they all put their bags of gold and silver up on the deck. As they climbed aboard Setsuna said in an out of breath tone, "Alright, time to head for home you guys."

(Author's note: Well one more chapter to go. Hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter. Enjoy. Next chapter to come as soon as I write it.)

Shinobi of the Onyx Sands.