The graduation had ended, but the celebration had continued -at least for a time. Things faded away, as they always did. Leanne gave everyone a nearly bone-crushing hug on her way out, but she eventually left. Joan snuck in another kiss from Lee (which Harley and Vell studiously looked away from) before she too left. Kanya, Himiko, and Sarah all said their goodbyes, and gave Botley another pat on the head, before they headed out as well. Lee and Harley stayed as one ferry after another departed -until there was only one ferry left.

Vell stood on the docks with his back to the island, and Lee and Harley stood on the docks with their back to the ferry, and the seemingly infinite expanse of the black ocean.

“Here. First things first,” Lee said. She handed over the bookbag she had borrowed from Vell several days ago. “And now it’s time to come clean that I never actually needed it.”

“Then why-”

“Reach inside, and think of a robot,” Harley said. Vell obeyed the orders without question, and while at first he felt nothing but the interior of an empty bookbag, as he focused on the idea of a robot, he felt cold metal on his hands. He held tight and pulled his hand out of the bag, finding he was now holding a small, multi-limbed drone, similar to Botley, albeit with a different head.

“There you go,” Lee said. “Personal pocket dimension, just like my purse. Enchanted it myself. Should be very useful for you next year.”

“And the robot’s from me,” Harley said. “It’s based on Botley, but it’s not actually that smart. It mostly just cleans. It’ll definitely sweep up all your rune dust, for sure, and hey, a clean dorm means one less thing for you to take care of next year. When you’re in charge.”

“Thanks,” Vell said. He returned the tiny drone to the bookbag and let go, and could feel it vanish into the aether of the pocket dimension. “I- I, uh, I didn’t know what to get you, I’ve just been carving runes all the time, trying to think of what could be useful to you guys, I don’t know what-”

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“Vell.”

Lee grabbed him by the shoulder to cut him off.

“You have already given us more than I could ever ask for.”

“Also you’ve been the guy buying most of our food these past few weeks,” Harley said. It was even his own money, not funding from his parents the way it had been with Lee. “We’re square, dude.”

She attempted to play it cool a second longer, and could not manage it.

“And, also, yeah, what Lee said,” Harley mumbled.

The waves crashed on the shore. And crashed again. The ferry continued to drift on the waves, awaiting final passengers.

“Come on, you saps,” Harley said. “Cut it out. It’s going to be one year.”

She grabbed Vell by the hand and held on to his wrist.

“And we have the internet, and phones, and shit,” Harley continued. “We’ll be able to talk whenever we want. We can-”

Harley stopped herself. Vell was staring down at his wrist, the one Harley was clinging to. She liked to grab on to people when she was talking to them. But starting tomorrow, she wouldn’t be able to do that with Vell. Not anymore.

“It’ll be okay,” Harley said quietly. “It’s just a year.”

Her voice started to fade even as she spoke. She tried to open her mouth again, but could not find the words.

Since no words came, they used none. Lee grabbed them both in a tight hug, tighter than ever before, and held both of her best friends for as long as she could. Until she couldn’t anymore.

Lee wasn’t entirely sure how she ended up on the ferry. Every step away from Vell felt like moving into a haze. She only kept herself anchored by the constant reminder of Harley at her side, next to her every step of the way, and next to her in their seats on the ferry. It did not surprise Lee at all when the dead silence broke into a quiet sob.

What did surprise Lee was that the first quiet sob did not come from her.

Lee looked down at her friend and saw, for the first time ever, a tear rolling down Harley’s cheek. She was fighting it every step of the way, bitterly choking down tears to the best of her ability, but the tears were winning.

“Harley…”

The tears won. Lee leaned down and gave Harley a shoulder to cry on.

Far away, and getting further, with no idea what was happening to his two best friends, Vell Harlan stood alone, wishing he weren’t so terrible at buying gifts.