Sebastian's company wanted him to start as soon as possible, but he negotiated for another three weeks. They'd have more than enough time to pack and get everything in order. He and Penny would have preferred to say their goodbyes to the villagers privately, but their friends decided to treat the Luau that Summer as a going away party.

Mayor Lewis caught wind of the notion, and decided to make a little speech. Before the Governor arrived, of course. The Governor was a very important man, and there was no need to bother him with these sorts of things.

"...In conclusion, I'd like to say how proud I am, on a personal level, of both Sebastian and Penny, for striking out into the world, with eyes full of ambition, and hearts full of determination. And remember, you always have a home here in Pelican Town, no matter—"

Mayor Lewis froze mid-sentence. His jaw dropped. So did everyone else's. The Governor was walking across the bridge to the beach, and on his arm was a beautiful blonde woman. She wore dark sunglasses and a chic black sheath dress adorned by a string of pearls.

"Did you miss me?" Haley asked, taking the sunglasses off and giving a flirty wave.

"Ah, Mayor Lewis!" the Governor said jovially. "Allow me to introduce my new wife. I believe you're acquainted?"

Emily gasped and nearly collapsed into Dr. Harvey's arms. Mayor Lewis sputtered incoherently.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Alex kicked the sand and stormed off to town, leaving everyone else gawking in stunned silence.

"Hohoho!" the Governor laughed. "My Haley said you'd all be quite surprised! What fun!"

"Heh heh..." Mayor Lewis tried to laugh along. "Well, let's not just stand around here. Get that music going. Eat, drink, be merry!"

Slowly, the population of Pelican Town did as their mayor requested and got the party started. Emily went over to Haley to have a hushed conversation, and Sebastian thought he overheard Haley say, "What? You knew I wanted to marry rich."

"I guess things really are changing," Abby said as their group of friends made their way to the food tables.

"For the better?" Penny asked.

Abigail smiled. "Yes, I definitely think so." She threw her arms around Penny and Sebastian. Her voice trembled. "Aw, you guys, I'm gonna miss you so much."

"Alright, alright, We'll miss you too." Sebastian said, peeling her arms off. "But we've got a lot of Luau to sit through; you can cry at the end."

"Cry later, eat now!" Sam said.

They filled their plates and doled out bowls of the potluck soup. Mayor Lewis served particularly generous servings to the Governor and Haley, who definitely enjoyed the VIP treatment.

Sebastian tried the broth. It was rich and flavorful and perfectly seasoned. And then...there was something bitter. An astringent note at the end that he didn't expect. And the aftertaste only got worse. Penny held her hand over her mouth, and Sebastian was struck by the sudden desire to vomit.

"This is vile!" shouted the Governor. "I'm going to be sick!"

Haley spat her soup in the sand. All around them, the villagers of Pelican Town were having similar reactions with varying degrees of violent disgust.

"Who did this?" Mayor Lewis shouted. "Sam? Sebastian?"

"Don't look at me!" Sam shouted.

Abigail caught Sebastian's eye, and she smiled wickedly. She moved deliberately into the center of the crowd.

"Mua ha ha ha!" Abigail shouted. "You all forgot, didn't you? You said I couldn't do it. You said I would be caught! But you were wrong! Mua! Ha! Ha!"

And that was the last time the Governor and his beautiful wife ever came to Pelican Town. The only person who wasn't ill that night was Alex, although he was occupied with a sickness of a different variety.

Feeling much better the next day, Sebastian and Penny left as planned for Zuzu City. Mayor Lewis lent them his truck, and it wasn't long before they were moved in and settled in their new apartment.

For Sebastian, adjusting to an office after working remotely for so long was not an easy transition. He'd always worked alone, but now he even had a small team of developers working under him. Although work was rewarding and his coworkers were smart and friendly, it could be quite draining. But coming home to Penny was the best feeling in the world.

Penny took courses to earn her teaching certificate, and in the meantime worked as a student teacher at an elementary school. She loved working with the kids, but the environment of a full class of students was a very different experience from tutoring just Jas and Vincent. Instead, what she loved most of all was volunteering at the school's library. There, she could help students one-on-one to find things they were interested in. So, once Penny had completed her teaching certificate, she worked on a degree in library science.

Zuzu City was not easy for her to get used to, either. Going on dates in the city every now and then was very different from actually living in the city. But their cozy apartment was an oasis. Penny and Sebastian each knew well how to comfort the other when they needed it. They each learned when the other needed rest, and when they needed company.

Not long after Penny and Sebastian's move to Zuzu City, Maru and Sam followed. Although, they didn't move together in the way Penny and Sebastian had. They were still dating, but they had separate goals they wanted to pursue. Maru came first to get a Phd in biomedical engineering. Sam came soon after to follow his dream of being a musician. He eventually got work teaching music at Penny's elementary school, but he didn't give up on the dream.

Then not long after that, Sebastian received a letter from Abigail. Apparently, she and Elliott had eloped and were traveling the world in search of geological wonders. Abby's degree had been in geology, after all. Not that anyone ever really asked about it. From that point on, they spent half their time traveling and the other half living in Elliott's cabin on the beach. Elliott found his artistic inspiration in their adventures, and published a series of travel books. They sold pretty well, well enough at least that they could afford to hire Robin to renovate the beach cabin.

With all these changes and ups and downs, four years passed in the blink of an eye. It was Fall 2, Penny's birthday, and Sebastian had ordered Thai food for a quiet night in.

"Should we watch a movie?" Penny asked when they were done eating. She grabbed one of his black hoodies off a chair and pulled it on over her head. The static electricity made her hair stick up.

"Sure." Sebastian smoothed her hair and plopped onto their small couch, resting his arm over the back of it. She scooched in, cuddling into his arm and tucking her feet up next to her. She picked up the remote.

"Wait, um..." Sebastian took the remote and set it on the side table. "I have something to give you."

"But you already gave me a present."

"This isn't really for your birthday," Sebastian said. He reached his free hand into his pocket and pulled out the gift, concealing it in his palm. Then he raised his hand up and opened his fingers, letting a mermaid pendant fall and dangle from its chain.

Penny gasped. "When...how did you get this?"

"It rained the last time we visited Pelican Town," Sebastian answered.

She held up her hand to gently catch the shimmering pendant. "Sebastian... Do you mean—?" Penny's gaze had been transfixed by the necklace, but now she looked up at him intensely. She looked as astonished as Sebastian was anxious.

He spoke softly. "Will you marry me?"

Penny couldn't seem to find any words. Her chin quivered, and he thought she might cry. But instead she pounced on him, throwing her arms around his neck and pushing him into the seat back.

"Yes! Yes of course I will," she said happily, muffled by his neck. She drew back, then kissed him energetically, taking his face into her hands.

Sebastian laughed between kisses. Penny didn't slow down; she threw one leg over his lap, straddling him and kissing him fervently.

"Wait, wait, wait—" Sebastian said, though it killed him to say it. He pushed gently back on her arms. Penny sat back on his knees, face flushed and beaming.

"Was there something else?" she asked. "I don't think I can handle another gift."
"Let me—" Sebastian reached around Penny's neck to put on the pendant. She touched the glass-like blue shell delicately.

"There's something else I wanted to talk about." He took her hands and held them lightly. She looked at him eagerly.

"It's just," Sebastian said cautiously, "I know you miss Pelican Town."

Penny creased her brow. "I'm really happy here, Sebastian. You know that."

"I'm happy too," he said. "And we could stay, but I think we both miss home. "

She shook her head. "Your job—"

"That's just it, Pen." Sebastian smiled. "I've been talking to my team about transitioning to remote work, and they're all in favor of it. It wouldn't need to be soon, but you're almost done with your degree; so the timing might be perfect. If you want."

A smile began to spread onto Penny's face, but he could see she was being cautious. "And where would we live, do you imagine?" she asked. "With your parents?"

"Oh definitely not." He chuckled. "We've got money saved up, enough to renovate a house or even build one from scratch. And I asked my mom to check out the abandoned house—"

"In Cindersap Forest?" Penny raised her eyebrows.

He nodded. "It's out of the way; we wouldn't need to see everyone all the time, but we'd be able to whenever we wanted."

"You've been busy, planning all this." Penny laughed, fiddling with a piece of his hair by his neck.

"I wasn't trying to make the decision without you," Sebastian said quickly. "But I didn't want to get your hopes up if it wasn't going to work out. But I think it would, if you wanted it to. Do you?"

Penny tilted her head thoughtfully. Sebastian started to get nervous, until he realized she was teasing him.

"I like this vision of the future," she murmured, and kissed him. But then she leaned back again and cleared her throat. "But it's my turn to ask you something. This house in Cindersap Forest..." She colored suddenly. "...might be a good place to start a family."

Sebastian quirked a grin and rested his hands on her legs on either side of him. "Then should we get started?"

Sebastian and Penny moved to their new home at the start of Spring. Robin did her finest work, transforming the abandoned house into an airy cottage with a view of the Gem Sea. It suited them perfectly; it had a small garden, and a large covered front porch where they could watch the sea on sunny days, or watch the rain fall on stormy days. The only strange thing about the house was the many hats they once discovered stuffed in a crawl space...

They were married in the town square. All of their friends came back from their exciting lives for the ceremony, but the most surprising and welcome guest of all was Dr. Harvey and Emily's new baby boy.

Penny worked at the library, allowing Gunther to spend more time expanding the museum's collection. But eventually, she found a new path and published a series of children's books for beginner readers.

And soon, Sebastian and Penny had four children of their own to read them to. They were a lucky bunch of kids, with their quiet, steady, and loving parents. And of course, with their extremely entertaining aunts and uncles. Uncle Sam was a particular favorite, since—at least Sebastian reasoned—Sam was basically a child himself. Aunt Maru always expected the kids to be ready for activities far beyond their age range, and was very disappointed when she couldn't teach chess to their two-year-old. Aunt Abigail and Uncle Elliott were the best gift-givers, bringing them toys and oddities from across the Republic. Jas was thrilled to be allowed to babysit every so often, but four could be a lot to handle, so she usually impressed Vincent into service.

Although Pam had never been the mother Penny deserved, she was a devoted grandmother. She'd be damned if a drop of beer ever passed her lips in the company of those kids. Robin adored her grandchildren as well, but Penny was in a constant battle to keep her power tools far away from the little ones. Demetrius was on Penny's side; somehow he became more protective of Sebastian's kids than he'd been even of Maru.

Love is a funny thing. One day it feels like nothing will ever change, and the next, you're in love. And before you know it, you're happily married to your best friend's best friend.