"Uncle Dani!"

We both turned in surprise and saw a little girl race across the room. She jumped up into Dani's arms and gave him a big kiss. I was glad that Dani looked as shocked as I was. The little girl was adorable. She had deep blue hair and skin a bit lighter than Dani's. Bright blue waves swirled in her eyes, and she beamed at Dani.

"This is a surprise," Dani laughed.

"We got here early, and she wanted to see her favorite uncle before he flew home." The speaker was lounging in a chair. He looked almost exactly like Dani.

"I'm not flying home," Dani said in confusion.

"I meant him." Dani's double aimed a thumb at Charlie. Even his smirk was the same.

Dani laughed, set the girl down, and crossed the room to the guy who must have been his brother. They hugged and spoke quietly in Greek for a moment. Then Dani gestured to me.

"This is Jen. Jen, this is my brother, Pike."

"Nice to meet you," I said. I held out my hand for him to shake, but to my surprise Pike hugged me instead.

"The pleasure is mine. I know what you did, and I can never thank you enough for saving my baby brother."

"It really wasn't—" I froze and stared at him. "Your baby brother?" I looked back and forth between them. They could have passed for twins if they wanted to. I knew we didn't age, but I still hadn't gotten used to it. Dani was eighty, and this guy referred to him as his baby brother?

Dani grinned. "Pike's got a couple of decades on me." He looked down; the little girl had wrapped herself around his leg. "And this is my niece, Catalina." He glanced at her again and added, "She wants to be a barnacle when she grows up."

"No, I don't," she giggled. Then, she squealed with delight. Mariana had just come in. Catalina threw herself into Mariana's arms.

"Hey there," Mariana said in surprise.

"Ma's not here, is she?" Dani asked. He peered nervously into the living room.

"I told her you were disembarking about five hours after you really are," Pike said. "Figured we'd go get dinner or something, first. Will you be able to join us, Charlie?"

Charlie shook his head. "I'm afraid my flight leaves pretty soon."

"Fin-rot. You're the only one I wanted to see."

The door opened again, and TS came in. "Whoa, it's busy in here. How are you, Pike?"

"Doing good." They shook hands. "Got time for dinner?"

TS shook his head. "I'm meeting my brothers after I get off. We're going to road-trip back home. It's gonna be grand, but we're on a tight schedule. So, we want to leave as soon as possible. Rugby's already started, and the coach won't let me miss too many practices."

At that moment, an announcement came on. Charlie's Sea was allowed to disembark.

"I'm afraid I have to kick you all out," Charlie said. He gave everyone a hug and got a lick from TS. Then, he gave Dani a big hug. "Be safe, don't do anything I wouldn't."

"You mean like staying underwater for a few days?" Dani asked with a grin. "Call me when you land. I'll see you in a week. And send the family my love."

"Will do." They kissed, and then Charlie threw his arms around me. "I'm really going to miss you, Jen," he said, giving me a tight squeeze. "There's too much to even say. But, keep in touch. Have a safe flight and all that."

"I will."

Pike gave me another hug, and he and his daughter jumped off of the ship. The rest of us left Charlie's room and went up to Deck Seven for the last time. It wasn't long until it was TS’s turn to go. He hugged, and licked, Dani and Mariana. I was a little envious that they were all going to see each other again in a few days. Then, TS picked me completely up off of the ground and licked both of my cheeks.

"I'm going to miss you so, so, so much!" He set me down and looked at me with sad, puppy eyes. "You have to drop me a line now and again, alright?"

"I will. And I'll miss you, too."

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He gave me another hug. "One more thing," he whispered in my ear. "Tom doesn't kiss just anyone. Remember that."

I was too stunned to even reply. Then, with a final wave, TS headed down the stairs to the gangway. And then, it was our turn. Dani, Mariana, and I all got off the ship together. We reclaimed our bags and stood together in silence. I used the fact Mariana needed help with all of her luggage as an excuse to stay with them. But, I knew I'd have to go to the airport soon.

"You shipping your bags, Jen?" Dani asked.

I looked over at the long line of people waiting to mail their suitcases. We all returned with a lot more than we had left with. "I don't think so." I had a new bag, stuffed with souvenirs, but it wasn't terribly heavy. "But I'll stick around if you are."

"Not with them," Dani laughed. "Come on."

Mariana and I followed him. We walked along a row of kiosks filled with knick-knacks and soon came to a fairly barren one. There was a guy sitting on a stool. I instantly knew he was a magic; his hair was pure-white, and his eyes were moving like an elemental's. I realized with a start that he was the same kind of elemental as the one with Nathaniel.

"Shipping?" he asked.

Dani slung the first of Mariana's bags onto the counter. "Please." He added his, as well, and the guy handed him a sheet of paper.

"Fill that out, please." He looked at me. "Shipping, too?"

"Sure." I filled out my own form and handed it back to him. I decided to go ahead and ship both of my bags. I could wait a few days for my clothes and souvenirs. We left our bags with him and walked away.

"What was he?" I asked.

"Air elemental," Dani said. Then, he sighed. "And I'm afraid this is goodbye. I've got to go track down my brother."

"I need to get to the airport anyway," I said.

He and Mariana went with me until I found a cab. Mariana gave me a big hug.

"It's been great. Mostly," she laughed. "Email me whenever you like. And just as a heads-up, these idiots want you to write letters."

Dani chuckled. "Hey now, I just go with the flow. You're more than welcome to email me, too."

"Okay," I laughed.

Dani hugged me. "Thanks. For everything. You're something, you know that? Out of everyone on the ship, I'm glad you're the one who ended up a magic." He grinned, but I could see a serious splash of gray in his eyes. "Not sure if we'd be here if you hadn't." Then, he ruffled my hair one last time. "I'll see you around, Jen."

And then, I was alone. I almost couldn't believe it as I walked through the airport and boarded my plane. I was going home. The voyage was over.

I had a book to read on the plane, but I couldn't concentrate on it. I really was happy to be going home. But at the same time, I was sorry the trip was over. I wouldn't have minded a few more ports. All of the traveling and non-magical things I had seen had been fantastic. Saying goodbye to everyone, magic and non-magic, alike, had been hard. The fact that I was saying goodbye to the only other magics I knew made it even harder.

I noticed something in the final days of the voyage: magic had shaped every aspect of their lives. After everything that happened with Nathaniel, I knew that I had changed. I was a lot different from the person I had been when the voyage started. Yet, I was still pretty much the same. All of the things that the others liked and disliked, and even their personalities were affected by the fact they were magics. They referenced things from before I was born, and I was frequently reminded of just how old they were. I figured that I'd start doing that eventually, but being magics changed them in more ways than just giving them outdated reference points.

In addition to giving him perfect pitch, being a water elemental gave Dani an incredible memory. Charlie listed off all one hundred Latin plant names that were on our final, and Dani memorized it in one go. He said he didn't actually memorize the words he was saying, but the tone and cadence. He claimed he'd forget it in a few weeks if he stopped reciting it, but he was able to flawlessly repeat it every time Charlie and I wanted to study.

I learned that Charlie had taken up blacksmithing as a hobby when he was a kid. It had been hard enough to accept that his great-great-great-grandfather, who had been one of the first blacksmiths in America, personally taught him. Then, as Charlie talked, I realized that he held the metal with his bare hands and didn't need a forge to heat it.

TS liked to go hunting with his family. It hadn't taken me long to figure out that he literally meant hunting. As in turning into a wolf and stalking and chasing deer. He was always absently gnawing on something, too. I never owned a dog, but I had been around enough of them that I sometimes couldn't believe that people didn't realize TS was a werewolf. He had a lot of, usually amusing, dog-like habits.

Even Thomas was affected. I learned that he didn't like cold drinks because the temperature was so different from blood. He frequently chuckled at overheard conversations or commented on scents. None of the others ever acted surprised by his heightened senses; they just took them for granted. So did Thomas.

Mariana wasn't nearly as bad with the references I didn't get, but I was sure her personality would have been different if she weren't a mermaid. I still had never seen her in anything but a skirt. I noticed she never bothered to dry her hair after a shower, even though it always soaked the back of her shirt. She seemed to share Dani's penchant for going barefoot whenever possible, and I wondered if that was because they spent so much time in the water. We were watching a horror movie one night, and Mariana commented that she thought scenes with something lurking in the dark were the scariest, because she couldn't imagine opening her eyes at night and not being able to see.

I wondered how long it would be before I was changed, too. I had already started taking my own night vision for granted. What other spells would I master and use frequently? What other traits and habits would I pick up just because I was a witch? And when? I was already in the habit of keeping my wand in my purse. I kept my eyes open for other magics the entire time I was in the airport and on the plane. I was almost positive that I saw a wood elemental in the airport after my plane landed, but it was too crowded to get a good look.

And then, I was in a cab. The streets became increasingly familiar, and my thoughts started to turn from magic to the fact I was finally home. It was almost surreal climbing the steps to the porch. I took my final step to the door. Then, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, I took out my key and unlocked the door. I smiled to myself as I did, wondering if someday I'd just flick my wand instead.