Well, this is it. The final chapter. I hope that you all enjoyed reading it. I have a few thanks to give out:

Thanks to dragonlady222, Deviousdragon, Yizuki, and YamisChibi for reviewing.

Thanks to InkedButterfly, YamisChibi, and Yizuki for favoriting.

Thanks to Panguins-in-American-Oh-my, YamisChibi, Yizuki, and lucidscreamer for alerting.

And thanks to everybody who read. You guys make me feel so special!

Yugi and I navigated our way through the maze of sidewalks and intersections. Some of the streets were becoming familiar to me, but I wouldn't have been able to find my way back to the mall or arcade if my life depended on it.

We walked through the glass doors of a large building, and my breath was immediately stolen away from me. The building was about the size of the Hall of Tomes, but there were infinitely more books here. In the place of the monoliths, shelves stood, and each shelf held maybe seventy books.

And all of these books weren't just copies. These were all individual works by individual people. The Hall of Tomes only has a few dozen books; this one library had tens of thousands.

"So where do you want to start?" Yugi asked. "There are all sorts of books here—kids' books, fantasy, romance novels… Oh! There're also some educational books, if you don't want to read fiction."

Where did I want to start? I had no idea. "Why don't you pick something that you like, Yugi?" I proposed. Yugi grabbed my hand and led me over to the fantasy fiction section. I came to learn that this is Yugi's favorite section. He's not as avid a reader as I, but when he does read he prefers to read stories about gallant heroes, fierce villains, and make-believe creatures. In fact, one of Yugi's favorite books is an old novel that centers around merpeople. It was written before the humans discovered our kind, when they considered us to be nothing more than mythological. Many of the details are wrong, of course.

Yugi sorted through the books on a certain shelf and cheered as he found the one he wanted. "Come on, let's check this out," Yugi said. Yugi didn't mean that we were going to examine the book, although we were, in a way. He meant that we were going to let the library know that we were borrowing the book and we would return it shortly.

We headed home. When we got to Yugi's bedroom, Yugi took out another paper and pencil and sat on the floor with his legs twisted. At first I though that Yugi's sitting position would be painful, but he didn't show any signs of discomfort. So I mimicked him, crossing my legs this way and that as I sat, and I peered down at the book on the ground.

"All right," Yugi said. "This book is called The Fellowship of the Ring. It's one of my favorites." I tried to translate the words Yugi had spoken to the characters on the cover of the book, but I couldn't see the correlation. "Let's start with the first word."

Now, the written English language is far too intricate for me to relate here. But humans have managed to make something complicated again. Instead of having a reasonable alphabet like ours, where each character stands for a simple syllable, English has broken the syllables into letters, which have different combinations and different pronunciations, and everything becomes very difficult. By the time we were going to eat lunch, I had learned how to decipher the first two words, "The" and "Fellowship". I didn't feel like we I had made much progress—we hadn't even opened the book yet—but Yugi assured me that I had learned much more than he had expected.

"How long did it take you to learn how to read?" I asked.

Yugi shrugged. "A few years, I think. I don't really remember it. I was just a little kid when I learned." Great, I thought. I wasn't planning on staying on the surface for so long. I would have to learn in months what took human children years.

But still, learning how to read and write in English would make composing my book much easier. It would take much less time to write on paper, and I would be able to organize my thoughts in written format instead of working in my head only. If I devoted myself to learning how to read and write English, I thought, it would be a valuable way of spending my time.

Yugi put his book on his desk and sat down sighing in his chair. "I don't even know what I should show you," he said. "You've learned a lot since you came here… but it is enough to write a book about?"

"You don't need to put so much pressure on yourself. You've already helped me more than I could ever ask," I said reassuringly. Yugi smiled and blushed slightly. "I will focus on learning written English. I'm sure that I'll learn plenty of other things along the way."

I admit that I didn't know where to turn either. Humans have invented a number of new customs and contraptions, but really, their lives are no different then ours. They get up in the morning, kiss the ones they love, eat, work, play, and go to sleep again, just like we do. And I knew that I really wanted the moral of my book to be just that—in our hearts and in our lives, humans and merpeople are just the same.

But if that was true, then I didn't really need to learn much more, did I? All I needed to do was stay long enough to learn how to read and create my first draft. After that, I could return to my home. I had all the information I needed, as far as I was aware. I determined to leave the surface soon, but I didn't say anything to Yugi. I had learned my lesson from last time.

Over the next few weeks, little changed. Yugi and I got up in the morning, got cleaned and dressed, and ate breakfast. Then we studied a little English out of The Fellowship of the Ring or we helped Grandpa in the shop, and we watched TV or visited Yugi's friends in the afternoon.

Yugi and I grew very close. I learned that his parents had died together when their car and another car collided on the street. Yugi had been sent to live with his grandfather as an orphan, and Grandpa had taught him everything about owning a store and about playing games. As far as Yugi has told me (which isn't much—he's very modest), he's some sort of international celebrity because he's the greatest Duel Monsters player in the world.

The days began to grow a little cooler, and the trees turned the color of sunset. We were passing from summer to fall, a time of year when the days are shorter and colder and darker. I could feel that, like summer, my time here was ending. I had learned all that Yugi could teach me about how to read and write, and I had started to compose my first few chapters. Yugi was getting ready to go back to school, where he would spend most of the day without me.

It is always a sad thing to part with someone you care about, even if you know that you'll be able to see them again whenever you please. And I knew that it would be very sad to say goodbye to Yugi and his friends. But I couldn't linger here forever as a nuisance when my task had been completed. I had to tell myself this many nights, because I couldn't seem to will myself to make the break.

One day, at the last possible moment, I was joining my human companions on an excursion in back-to-school shopping. Back-to-school shopping includes picking up new clothes and new writing things and such. Tea had picked up bags of clothing, while Yugi had devoted his funds to office supplies. Joey and Tristan seemed to be saving up all their money for our trip to the food court.

We all ordered our food and sat down at a too-small table to eat. I knew that I needed to tell them then, when they were all together and happy and ready for the new season to start. "Everyone," I said. They all looked up at me. I didn't usually start conversations, so this was unusual. "I have something that I must say."

It was foolish, but I felt that I was severing a tie that could never be repaired. If I returned to my home, would we all grow apart? Would they still invite me to the arcade or ask me to join them on the beach? Would they even remember my name?

"Well, go ahead and say it, man," Tristan chided. I had been silent in my contemplation for quite a long time.

"I…" I didn't want to say it. But really, would my relationship with the gang have improved if I stayed? My purpose here had ended. If I remained here, I would just become an annoyance, leeching from Grandpa and Yugi, interfering with the others and their friendship. They would come to resent me, or worse, hate me. I didn't want to say it, but I needed to. "I need to go back to my true home."

The smiles that had shone so brightly at me turned into dark frowns. Yugi leaned back in his seat and turned his face to his food, but I could still see tears in his eyes. "How… how soon?" Tea asked.

"Tonight." I could hardly believe that the word had come out of my face. I hadn't left myself with much time.

"I guess that ya need ta get back, seein' ya finished ya research an' all," Joey said. He didn't look happy, exactly, but he didn't seem as sad as the others. I think that, for some reason, he could understand what I was going through a little more easily than Yugi, Tristan, or Tea could. "It ain't gonna be easy, sayin' goodbye ta ya, but we were gonna have ta do it eventually."

I watched Yugi as he nodded sadly. He seemed much more depressed than the rest of them, which was understandable. I had lived with Yugi for over a month. When I left, I would be leaving a hole in his home and in his life, a hole he hadn't experienced since he lost his parents. I felt sorry for causing him such pain.

"We'll see you again sometime, won't we?" Tea asked. "You… you might need to do some more research for your book, maybe… or you could come back just to hang out?"

"Of course. I'd love to come see you again," I said sincerely. "This isn't goodbye forever. I'm just going to live at home again. I'll be able to visit whenever I'm available."

"Then… let's make your last day living on the surface the best day yet!" Yugi proposed. I saw him swallow his sorrow and put on a smile for me.

"That sounds like a good idea," I replied softly. We finished our food and then we visited all of the best spots in town. We visited the arcade first, and I set a new high score on the old decrepit Pacman machine. Then we visited the movie theater, where we were able to watch a special form of television. I saw Yugi play Duel Monsters for the very first time, and he defeated Joey mercilessly. But by the time all this was finished, the sun was setting, and it was getting late.

We all drifted down to the beach with expressions of sad dreaminess on our faces. I never forgot that day. We had certainly made it the best day yet, the best day of my entire life. And as we walked down the street, I realized that I had never felt as close to anyone as I did to these four humans.

I crouched down on the sand. "When I first came here," I said, "I knew nothing about this place. I felt excited and afraid, until I met you." I was speaking to everyone, but the words were meant for Yugi especially. I stood and faced them. "I'd like to thank you all for helping me so much. I just hope that I'll be able to repay you one day."

"Just mention us in your book, okay?" Tea said. I remembered Yugi's words from a few weeks ago, and I was grateful that they were all so selflessly generous.

"I… I guess it's time for you to go," Yugi said. His voice was barely more than a whisper. He was on the verge of crying, I could tell, although he was hiding it bravely. "Well, goodbye."

Tea turned away to brush her eyes and hide her tears. Joey and Tristan just nodded. "Goodbye," I replied quietly. I gave them one last fleeting smile, and I turned and walked behind the crag of rock to take off my clothes.

Returning to my home was almost as strange as leaving it. I had been away from the Underwater City for four weeks. I swam back into my home and found that my furniture had been tossed about by the tides and the currents. I visited my friends and found that a great deal had happened when I was absent. I knew that I would get used to this life quickly, but on that first evening my scales seemed almost more foreign as my skin.

I devoted my time to setting up my monolith in the Hall of Tomes and writing my book, but every Saturday I put my legs back on and went to visit my friends on the surface. They were very surprised to see me again so soon, and I believe that they assumed I would be gone longer. They thought that my life in the sea was as busy as my life on dry land—needless to say, they were very wrong.

I've seen the seasons change as time has gone by. I've seen the land covered in snow, a special form of ice. I've seen the days cold and gray. I've see fall and winter and spring and summer, and I've seen my friends grow up. I've seen Yugi grow tall and self-confident. I've seen Tea dance beautifully with hundreds of eyes watching her. I've seen Joey excel in school with Yugi's diligent tutoring, and I've seen Tristan develop a strong romantic relationship with Joey's sister.

Sometimes I think about when I was young and curious, when I thought that visiting the human world was just a dream, when I thought that humans were as different from us as jellyfish. And then I think about how much I've changed since those early days. I've learned that we are all the same, and I hope that you have too.