The cheers of her crew were met by cheers from the nearby vessels. As the sun plunged beneath the horizon, the air warmed with their cries. Along the beach, tents had been pitched and fires skipped down the shoreline. As Caledonia surveyed the sight before her, she felt her own hopes rising.

“We’ve got incoming!” Pine called from the bow, voice uncharacteristically light.

A ship peeled away from the cluster and sliced through the water toward the Luminous Wake. On its bow stood a figure as tall as he was broad. Caledonia and Pisces rushed to join Pine on the forward deck, each of them too afraid to vocalize their hopes. But as the ship grew nearer, they didn’t have to wonder anymore. There was no mistaking that mountain of a boy. Or the ship that carried him.

The Blade slowed as it nosed right up to the Luminous Wake. Pine didn’t even wait for it to stop before he raced toward the edge, using a cleat to boost himself up and over the rail and ocean, landing squarely on the deck of the Blade.

Sledge gave a disbelieving shake of his head, but he smiled and let Pine pull him into an uncompromising embrace. They stood like that for a long minute, arms locked around each other and completely still but for the subtle movement of a jaw as each whispered to the other.

When the Blade came to an actual stop, the crew lowered a gangway between the two and Pine pulled Sledge across to the Luminous Wake. Sledge had a gash on his forehead, crusted with blood but healing, and a bruise had purpled on his cheek, but he appeared otherwise uninjured.

Caledonia stepped forward and before she could decide whether or not Sledge would endure a hug from her, he scooped her up in his tree-trunk arms and pulled her close.

“It is very, very good to see you, Captain,” Sledge said into her hair.

Caledonia smiled, or, she tried to. It was hard to tell exactly what her lips did smooshed against the side of a mountain. She answered by squeezing his neck as tightly as she could, then tapped his shin with the tips of her toes to indicate she was ready to be placed on her feet once more.

With a sheepish laugh, Sledge obliged, setting her down on the deck before turning to Pisces and hugging her with a little more care.

For a moment, Caledonia convinced herself that everything was going to be as fine as it could possibly be. They’d suffered an incredible blow, but they would survive it. Together.

Then Sledge’s eyes settled on a point over her shoulder and his joy dimmed.