"I ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ɪᴛ ᴍɪɢʜᴛ ʙᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ sᴀʏ ɢᴏᴏᴅʙʏᴇ sᴏᴏɴ..."
Twig's feet dangle down from the dock once more, the ocean water just out of reach of his tiny legs. They've soaked up plenty now, and his tan lines were certainly going to last a long, long time. The sun hovered out over the sea, still descending slowly, for now. He was going to miss the sunsets. They were so fast, but so beautiful. No wonder his mom liked to travel so much, and his dad liked exploring new places. There was so much here, so much more he could've done, and now he was going to have to say goodbye.
Salty tears started to mix with the water below him. He was crying. All this time had been so much fun, and now... He couldn't hold back. All the smiling faces and bright new adventures, all the fun he'd had and puzzles he'd had to solve. The wildlife, the scenery, the candies... all of it was going away.
Alone, shaking now, he let it all out. He thought he was older than this, more mature than this, but he couldn't help it. The tears were welling up in his heart and if he didn't let them out, he was sure he'd explode.
Over his sniffling and sobbing, he didn't hear footsteps.
Shark stood over him now, and eventually, the reflection in the water caught Twig's eye.
"S-sorry," he mumbled, breaths still coming in jagged bursts. "I-I-I--"
"Hey," Shark nodded, "it's not a bad thing to cry." The tough guy's little hint of a smile was enough, and Twig smiled back, through another sob and sniffle.
"I'm going to miss all of them. But I think..." Twig considered, kicking his feet nervously. "I think I'll miss you most. I think we're really a good team," he grinned. He wiped the sniffles from his nose, wishing he could just rinse off in the water but trying to reach now would definitely topple him in.
Shark nodded. "You did good, kid."
Twig's goofy grin and a resurgence of tears made it a little hard to respond, but he knew that was a really good thing. Shark had trusted him right from the start, and even with the other passengers helping out too, he never felt quite so accomplished as when he could bring something and see the affirmation in Shark's eyes.
"Do you think I'll see you again?" Twig asked finally, pulling himself together and to his feet as their shadows stretched back over the dock.
"I didn't fix this ship just to send it back to harbor," Shark huffed. "She should be in fine shape for a long time, with my handiwork."
Twig giggled. "Okay. I'll come visit," he promised. Shark nodded.
The two of them stood side by side as the sun slowly plummeted. First, slowly. And then, as it approached the horizon, the magical moment happened. Twig had watched every night. The instant it touched the horizon, it was like a race to the finish. He could count the seconds from that moment until darkness. It sunk into the sea as the cool breeze of the ocean cleared the tears from his cheeks. This was a really, really wonderful place, wasn't it?