"Oh my God, oh my God!"
Nikolas dove quickly after it. The pure gold cross shone in the clear water. At three meters deep, he was able to catch it, and came up for breath.
"I am sorry, Anna, I couldn't find it. I am really sorry, Agape."
"Oh no ... no! I am so clumsy! I just hate myself!"
"Actually, Agape, it was just a joke. Here it is." He handed her the cross. Anna pinched Nikolas hard.
"Ouch!"
"Naughty boy!" She remarked, with a heavy British accent.
Regaining her composure, she said:
"I want you to have this. It belonged to my grandmother. She gave it to me before she died. It is the only precious thing I have right now and I want you to have it."
"Thank you Anna, but I already have the most precious thing in the world next to me."
"Well, the second most precious then," she said as she placed the necklace over his head. They both smiled at each other and kissed.
"Thank you, Agape. I will cherish it forever." He paused for a moment. "I will never part with it. When I am old, and ready to die, I shall pass it on to our firstborn child."
Nikolas took off his own chain and cross, and placed it around Anna's neck. He touched her neck gently in a caressing manner and said:
"This is for you, Agape. It has come down through generations of my family, all the way from Byzantium. The story is that it belonged to Kasiani."
It was a solid gold cross in the Byzantine style, with four precious stones imbedded in it: a ruby, an amethyst, a white sapphire, and the fourth he did not know. It was a rare gem that had come from Czarist Russia and had been crafted in Konstantinopolis.
"Nikolas, please don't give this to me. It belongs to your family," she implored him.
Smiling, he looked down at her and said:
"You are my family now. You are my love, my Agape, and I want you to have it." He paused for a moment. "You already have my heart, you have me, and now you have it all."
"Thank you, Niko, you are so sweet," she whispered and gave him a kiss.
The hours passed with Anna and Nikolas making plans for their wedding, right after the war.
"We will go to California, San Francisco! Paris, New York. And we will sail from London, this time alone. Do you remember when we first met, Niko?"