Dakota continued to stare out over the harbor, well into the night. Sig and the rest of the crew had arrived back hours ago but she still refused to move. Yes, she was not longer mad but in stead, she was in the I'm-not-upset-I-just-don't-wanna-move phase. Every time some one would offer to feed her, she would politely decline and continue to stare. Finally, Sig became sick of not being able to sit in his captain's chair. He stomped up the wheelhouse stairs, "God damn it, Dakota! Are you ever going to move your ass or am I gonna have to move it for you!"

She lifted her head off of her knees and looked at him, "How long have I been sitting here?"

"Edgar says since this afternoon."

"What time is it?"

Sig glanced at his watch, "About eleven thirty. Can I have my chair back?"

Dakota smiled and nodded. As she stood up, she saw some one walking toward the boat. She leaned out of the window to get a better look at who it was. Her eyes widened when she realized who it was. "What the hell is he doing here?" She pulled her head back in and spun to face Sig. "Did you call him?"

Sig walked over to the window to see the man step over the rail and land on the deck. "No," he said as he leaned back inside, "I haven't talked to him in years."

She glanced back out of the window and then raced down the stairs. She dodged her way through the crew and out on to deck. When she stopped and looked out by the sorting table, she saw Edgar talking to the man. Slowly, she walked over and joined the two men. Edgar put his arm around her shoulders but she couldn't tear her eyes from the other man's face.

The man looked down at her and smiled, "Hey, termite."

Dakota shook Edgar's arm off and took a step toward the man. Her mind memorized and recognized everything about the man's face from his shaggy blonde hair and beard to how he carried himself. She took a step toward him and then threw herself into his arms. There was so much she wanted to tell this man but all she could do was cry and hold on to him as if he may leave again.

The man hugged her back and half heartedly laughed, "It's good to see you too."

She looked up at him, "You don't know how much I've missed you, dad."

The man crumbled and tears rolled down his cheeks, "I've missed you too, Kota. I wish I could have said goodbye but I couldn't. You don't know how bad that killed me every single day."

Dakota buried her face into her father's chest, "It doesn't matter. You're here now so that's all that matters."

Edgar cleared his throat, "Sorry to break up the family reunion, Ryan, but it's cold as balls out here. Do you guys want to go back inside?"

Ryan let go of his daughter and smiled, "Yeah. You guys got any coffee?"

"Man," Edgar laughed, "you were gone for a while. This is a crab boat. You know we always have coffee."

Ryan laughed and motioned for his daughter to go inside first. When the group walked into the galley, a heavy silence fell over every one. Ryan smiled, "Hey, guys."

Matt stood up and walked up to Dakota's father. They stood toe to toe for a while and then finally, Matt offered his hand to him. Ryan smiled and shook it and looked at the rest of the crew who smiled back.

Nick walked over and clapped Ryan on the back, "You gonna stick around this time? At least for your daughter's sake?"

Ryan looked down at Dakota and nodded, "Yeah. She couldn't get rid of me even if she wanted to."

Dakota hugged him, "Good. Because you're stuck now."

Sig walked down the wheelhouse stairs and found every one standing around, talking to Ryan and Dakota. He walked over and shook Ryan's hand, "It's good to see you made it back up, man. How are ya?"

"I'm hanging in there," Ryan sighed.

As Sig and Ryan caught up, Jake walked over to Dakota, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she beamed.

"Where did your dad go for so long? I kinda got part of the story from Edgar but he doesn't like to talk about it."

Dakota's smile faltered and she looked over at the group of men, "Let's go upstairs and I'll tell you. It's not a very happy story, Jake."