''As long as my eyes can appreciate the galaxies in your eyes, I will know that I will always be home.''
Once upon a time, a pale, blue-eyed boy by the sea, his small hands held Cybele's trembling hands. Her curls flew in her face and her clear as honey eyes were red.
— I'm going to marry you. — she asked, humming and splashing the water.
The boy looked at her sideways and let go of her hands, his body wet from the warm sea water shivering with cold, he wrapped his arms around himself and continued to stare at her. As the waves hit their little bodies, Apollo frowned in fear.
The wind continued to play with the girl's hair making it wet on her face, as she dove into the crystal clear water, she dove down and looked back at the boy standing in the water.
— Why do you say such things? We're only six years old, Cybele! — The boy replied with his jaw quivering with cold.
— Because my Barbie needs a father, my mother said that to have a father you have to get married! - She winked. - So, we're getting married.
He shook his head looking at her, his fingers, wrinkled from a full day in the water, nodded. He continued to shiver with water on his legs only, he was afraid to dive, but he wouldn't tell anyone.
— Don't you want to dive? — She stood in front of him, with her curls in her face, and her little window showing.
— I'm afraid, and every time my brother teaches me, he lets go of my hand. — He shouted with his head down, and closed his eyes as he felt the sun beating down on him.
The girl took his hand in her own and looked up at him with a friendly smile, revealing even more the little window in his front teeth.
— Come, I'll teach you.
He held out his water-soaked hand slowly, interlacing his fingers tightly in hers. Already holding hands, he swallowed dryly and looked around. The water was low, crystal clear, and you could see his feet under the water.
— Promise not to let go? — He looked at her and rubbed his eyes, the fear of diving made his heart race.
— I promise! - She shouted in his ear.
In Greece. The most beautiful village on the island of Santorini, home to the little blue-domed churches that provide the backdrop for the most poetic sunsets in the universe, is called Oia. One of the most magical, yet not so quiet corners of the island of Santorini, Greece
Owner of an absurdly crystalline sea where there are some taverns serving fresh fish, good wine, and a very friendly village.
It was there that it all began, a childhood friendship between Apollo and Cybele, who were inseparable. Cibele's grandmother owned a restaurant and Apolo's parents owned a laundry that helped out in hotels.
Apollo had blond hair, a small heart-shaped mole on his forearm, and his eyes were wide, and Cibele used to say that he had the eyes of a jabuticaba, a Brazilian fruit.
Cibele had peculiar tastes, she liked the burnt part of the cake and sometimes she even burnt it on purpose just so she could eat the part that nobody wanted. Her favorite book was Jane Austen's Persuasion, she liked to read period books and imagine what it was like to wear those big, flowing dresses.
His big dream was to be a fashion designer, to work in fashion, literacy. He dreamed of being a teacher, teaching what he loved most - chemistry. According to Apollo science ruled the universe, and he liked to talk about it whenever he could.
And Cibele was a good listener, she fulfilled this role perfectly without trying hard, just by just hearing his thick voice echoing in her ears, and his eyes sparkled from talking about something he loved. Things were different with Cybele.
Did she like chemistry? Not really. But she loved seeing how much he did. And not as if he didn't listen, he listened to her every night on the roof of her house. It didn't take long for them to be sure. They were both each other's sunshine, safe haven.
Cybele never chose to love him, it was natural since it had always been him. And even if she had to choose, she would surely choose him, life after life she would choose him, to be with him. And that was something she was always sure of.
But, could everything change?
Cibele came from a simple family on the island of Santorini, her grandmother owned the most visited restaurant on the island full of tourists.
Her grandmother Agnes was married to Rafael, her grandfather, who died in the youth of her granddaughters, Julia and Tereza.
Julia worked on a ship when she was younger, she had a dream of being an actress, she traveled hidden from her mother when she was 17, and came back two years later pregnant with Atena her first daughter, it didn't take long and after 2 years she had Cibele, her father rejected the girl. And 5 years later she would have Alexia the youngest.
Tereza always yoked sister, had only one daughter Iris. She was married until her husband died in a serious ship accident when the girls were 15 years old. Or at least that's what she believed.
Cybele grew up surrounded by love, despite the almost daily confusions and fights between her mother and her aunt, her aunt and her grandmother, her grandmother and her mother.
And whenever the fights got ugly she ran to her grandfather's side, he was a well of calm, and she loved to talk to him.
Growing up, watching the tourists on the island, she fell in love with the variety of clothes, and adding her passion for drawing, specifically for clothes in all colors and brightness, she dreamed of being a fashion designer. Over the years she matured this idea, and with everyone's support, she enrolled in the most renowned school in Milan, Italy. The fashion capital of Europe and the world.
And, incredibly, her cousin Iris and she both ended up passing. And they went to school together there, the course lasting 4 years, going back and forth.
The couple, in love, tried a long-distance relationship, but now the unexpected happened, and Cibele had asked Apolo for some time, which he accepted. The young man was an oceanographer and Biologist with a degree in Oceanography and Biology, the science that studies the oceans.
She asked for time to understand each other, was their love strong enough to withstand time? Cybele felt no one ever hurt each other. The problem was that she was feeling different, in that phase when you realize you are growing up, she felt she needed to be alone for a while, to find out who she really was.
She had dated her whole life, since she was fifteen, she never had a time to be alone, and discover herself as a person. And this began to weigh heavily, she couldn't give herself to that relationship, it's hard to love someone when it's hard to love yourself. They spent six months apart.
And this helped her to focus on the big show contract she had closed with a small but important brand, there were several stylists competing for the position, including her cousin whom she considered her best friend.
But, Cibele didn't expect that on the night of Iris' show, all the pieces, literally all the pieces were the same as Cibele's, she couldn't believe it, they fought and although she accused her cousin of plagiarism, no one believed her and Cibele felt alone in the great Italy, the person she trusted the most there, had betrayed her.
She walked slowly, and feeling nauseous, ran straight to her apartment to go home, all she wanted was some pampering from her grandmother, her mother's Greek rice, and great conversations with her grandfather and brothers, she wanted her family, it had been more than months without seeing them.
The longing squeezes her chest, while she packs her bags, she looks at her desk and sees the envelope, envelope that she swore she wouldn't open, but in her purse if she had the courage...
So she packed her bags and bought the first train ticket home.