"Tell him to open up. Tell him outside there are a mother and her son coming from battle. The Battle of Crete! So tell him to open the door at once."
The ambassador overheard the conversation, and came and opened the door. A tall, ruggedly handsome man in his late forties, with silver gray hair and a full mustache, he was himself a survivor of the Battle of Crete. Greeting Nikolas and Penelope, he invited them in and offered them coffee. After preparing the necessary papers to renew Nikolas's passport, he came out of his office.
"Your country is proud of you, Nikolas! Very proud indeed!" He shook his hand. "If you need any further help with paperwork to get your back pay, I'll be here."
"Thank you, sir. I'll remember that," said Nikolas. In the background there was Greek music playing, with Vembo, an artist popular in the '40s, singing "Men of Greece, how hard you have fought." It brought back more memories for Nikolas, memories of his old life and who he was, who he had been, and what he had lost.
Mother and son rushed back to St.
George's to thank and say good-bye to Father Agathangelos, who along with the nuns was almost in tears of joy, and to the cemetery guards. Even though she had not slept for over two days, Penelope was holding up well. The driver took them back to the hotel and accepted a dinner invitation from Penelope. They celebrated with a bottle of champagne at the end of the meal, compliments of the Greek ambassador, who paid them a surprise visit at the restaurant.
Eleni was beside herself all evening, kissing Nikolas, hugging him, crying and laughing at the same time. At some point, Nikolas and the ambassador got up and danced a rembetiko, while the spectators threw money on the floor for the dancers to step on.
"The best day of my life!" said the taxi driver joyfully. "The best day!" he repeated and joined in the dancing, trying to catch his breath, with a still-lit cigarette in his mouth. Penelope watched with her eyes shining and wet.
Returning to the hotel, Penelope took her wallet out of her purse to pay the driver, but he refused the money, saying, "The gift you gave me today, Mrs. Theophilos, is priceless."
Back in her room, Penelope could no longer keep her eyes open. She collapsed on her bed. Nikolas slept nearby in Eleni's bed while she moved to a friend's room. Penelope just couldn't stand to have Nikolas apart from her.
* * *
Elder Agatha lay in her lonely cell, unable to sleep, suddenly infused with an inexplicable feeling of excitement and peace at the same time, somehow knowing deep in her soul that her Nikolas was alive and that one day he would return for her, just as he had promised. She could not explain this sudden feeling, but she gave in to it and let it overcome her until she was not asleep, but not awake either, but drifting in some spirit world, where her conviction that she would someday be reunited with her Nikolas was a soothing certainty that she did not question.