After Mayor Goodway's speech and the period of silence over Skye's requested song, most of the crowd had dispersed. There were still a lot of people and dogs left over, but the majority of them had gone their separate ways. Though a few had remained behind to gawk at the new statue or talk to Ryder and the pups. Not that the boy was intending to stay at the wake for very long. Refreshments had been provided by the Porters, and Jake had offered to get Ryder a cup of juice, an offer which he had been quick to accept.

Just in front of the statue, Ryder was sat down on a bench, occasionally taking sips of his juice. His expression could best be described as neutral, but above all, Ryder looked drained. As if the final step in closing the book on the group's tragedy had taken all of it out of him. He was flanked on either side by Mayor Goodway and Jake, with Chase sat in Ryder's lap, and Carlos, Katie, Mayor Humdinger and the remaining pups all looking on as the group sat in silence.

"How are you feeling, Ryder?" Mayor Goodway asked gently.

Ryder waited to take another sip before answering her. "Tired…" he sighed. "...a little sad, but… mostly just… tired."

"Big surprise there." Jake replied. "You've been through a whole lot, dude. Ah, what am I saying? All of us have."

"But it's not over, right?" Ryder asked.

"I don't think it will be for a long time, Ryder." Katie replied quietly. "Maybe we'll be able to close the book on this whole thing with this funeral, but that doesn't mean you'll get over what happened just like that. But then, we're not expecting you to."

"She's right." Carlos added. "We'll always be ready to help you through this. You know that, right?"

"Heh… I sure do, now..." Ryder chuckled with a small smile.

"You've got a good group of friends here, Ryder." Mayor Humdinger said. "You help them all the time, so why not let them help you for a change?"

"Didn't think I'd ever say this, Mayor Humdinger… But you're right." Ryder replied quietly.

"You could always join us, you know?" Chase offered. "You don't have to be a troublemaker all the time."

Chase's offer caused Humdinger to stop in his tracks. For a few seconds, he bore the same expression, before he briefly twisted it into a thoughtful scowl and then let it drop into an upset frown. An expression which made the Paw Patrol feel sorry for him, a fact that deeply rattled all of them.

"That… would be great, Chase, but… I'm still Mayor of Foggy Bottom. And… my job comes first. I've loved this time of getting along with you all, but… it can't last. Once the day is out, I'll be going back home. And once that happens, it'll be back to me stirring up trouble in Adventure Bay and you'll all be back to stopping me like you always do."

"So things go back to normal, basically." Skye surmised.

"Exactly." Humdinger replied. "But I think after today, I'll be happy to have you all foiling my plans again. And since I'm so generous, I'll give you all a five minute head start next time I stir things up. How about it?"

Ryder smirked. "Can't say no to that..."

A little ways away from the gentle laughter, however, stood Marshall. He hadn't even taken notice of the group's conversation, and was instead transfixed by the gigantic statue of him and the rest of the Paw Patrol all as happy and as confident as could be. He knew that as the town's defenders, they all meant a lot to Adventure Bay, but not quite to this extreme. Marshall only blinked when his eyes began to dry out. The whole thing felt surreal, but far from unwelcome. Marshall's stupor was only broken when he felt something furry brush against his side.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Skye asked, sitting down next to Marshall.

"...I-I mean… Rubble said something about a statue, but… I never thought it'd be… something like this..." Marshall whispered in awe.

"Heh, what were you expecting, an action figure?" Skye asked with a dry smirk, causing Marshall to giggle and playfully push her over.

"Was this… meant to just be me? Like, was this a memorial for me or something?" Marshall asked quietly, looking away from the grinning cockapoo and back at the statue.

"Sure was..." Skye replied, pulling herself back up. "Ryder and everyone else only got added after I talked to Mayor Goodway."

"(I… really mean that much to Adventure Bay…?)" Marshall thought, dumbfounded. He still couldn't quite get over the fact that the town was willing to recognise any of them with a massive statue, least of all him.

"Oh yeah, I never got to see what was on the plaque..." Skye realised, looking down at the golden plaque at the base of the statue.

Finding his eye drawn there, Marshall couldn't help but look down and start to read the engraving on the plaque.

PAW PATROL APPRECIATION STATUE

THIS STATUE IS DEVOTED TO THE TIRELESS DEFENDERS OF ADVENTURE BAY. COME RAIN, SNOW OR SHINE, THIS BRAVE TEAM CAN ALWAYS BE COUNTED ON TO SAVE THE DAY. MAY WE NEVER FORGET HOW MUCH WE TREASURE NOT JUST THEIR SERVICE, BUT THEIR CONSTANT COMPASSION AND UNFAILING COMPANIONSHIP.

RYDER, CHASE, MARSHALL, SKYE, ROCKY, RUBBLE, ZUMA

ON A ROLL UNTIL THE BITTER END

"Whoa..." Marshall muttered.

"You said it..." Skye added. "It… really makes you think, actually."

"Yeah, I never really think about how much we all mean to Adventure Bay, sometimes..." Marshall whispered.

"You must mean a lot to the town if you get such a huge statue!"

The two pups froze at the unfamiliar, high-pitched voice behind them. Turning to see what the source of the noise was, their vision soon filled with the figure of a pup and a human approaching them. The pup was a small, brown dachschund with golden eyes. Atop his head was a rag with red and white stripes, and dark clothing adorned his person. The human to his right looked as if he had stepped out of a pirate movie, with red hair, a pirate hat and a light-brown coat.

"Sid? Arrby?" Skye said, caught off-guard.

"Arr, surprised to see us, lass?" Sid greeted with uncharacteristic warmth.

"You bet we are!" Marshall answered for her.

"Sorry we're late, guys. The winds weren't exactly good for getting here in a hurry." Arrby explained.

"Well, late or not, it's still good that you guys made it." Skye assured.

"Shame we missed the funeral, though." Sid admitted sadly.

"Hey, the fact you guys came out in the first place is enough of a surprise!" Marshall replied.

"Arr, we not allowed to pay our respects?" Sid asked.

"Huh, no! No! Th-That's not what I meant!" Marshall stammered.

"It's OK, Marshall. We know." Arrby reassured.

Sid winked at the dalmatian, before turning his attention to the statue, contemplating it for a long while.

"Real piece o' work, ain't she?" Sid asked earnestly.

"You can say that again." Marshall replied.

"But it makes sense, don't it? I know how much ya mean to this town, ya know. And if when I borrowed yer Sea Patroller be anythin' to go by..."

"('Borrowed'. Yeah. Sure.)" Skye thought flatly.

"...then I'm not surprised. Not many landlubbers can say they outsmarted Sid Swashbuckle the Pirate!"

Not really knowing how to respond, Marshall simply giggled politely.

"You're right, Captain Boss Mr. Sid, sir!" Arrby replied before looking at Marshall. "We didn't really like it when you kicked us off the Sea Patroller, but you and the Paw Patrol are the only people to outsmart us in a long time!"

"When we got the news that ye'd gone to Davy Jones' Locker… Well, we didn't know where to put ourselves…" Sid added sombrely. "Pups like yerself are one in a million, Marshall. Losin' ya… well, it's like droppin' a treasure chest overboard."

"Wait. How did you find out in the first place?" Marshall asked.

"We've got a TV on our ship." Arrby replied. "And Adventure Beach was so quiet… It just wasn't right..."

"What a surprise..." Skye sighed. "...I don't think anyone was in the mood for going to the beach after that..."

"After ya had the guts to take us on, it'd be a waste to lose ya before we could beat ya." Sid said. "The Paw Patrol are OUR enemies! WE'RE supposed to beat ya! Not some angry river in the middle o' the forest!"

"What we're trying to say is: We respect you too much to lose you, Marshall. And heck, losing any of the Paw Patrol would just make the whole thing feel… empty." Arrby added sadly.

"Well, either way, thank you both so much for coming. It really means a lot to us." Skye replied gratefully.

"I'm really glad I could see you two." Marshall added, smiling warmly at the pair. "It would've been more disappointing if we didn't get to see you, actually."

"Aye, lad. And we're both glad ya ain't kicked it just yet." Sid replied gently, before his expression suddenly changed from a content smile to a covetous grin. "So now that we have that out of the way, we'll be takin' this here statue! I need, need, NEED it!"

"Huh?!" Marshall barked, his face shifting to an indignant glare.

"Wha-?!" Skye shouted, getting the same look.

Sid suddenly calmed down, with his grin changing to a more sheepish, bashful one. One that spread to Arrby. "Hey! Ya can't blame a buccaneer fer tryin'!"

It hadn't taken the pups and Ryder long to notice the two latecomers. Despite Chase's initial reservations, he quickly came around and got to talking with Sid and Arrby, along with Ryder doing the same for a little while. But the chatting didn't last long before Mayor Goodway noticed Ryder looking more uncomfortable and tired by the minute.

"Ryder… You don't look well." Mayor Goodway said concernedly. "Do you think you're ready to go home?"

Ryder stopped and looked over his pups, who all seemed to be giving him worried looks. In truth, the mayor had seen straight through him. Ryder wanted nothing more than to go back home and rest after the emotional firestorm that he and his pups had been through in the past week. Ryder sighed, like he had grown so accustomed to over the past few days.

"I sure am..." Ryder replied. "I don't wanna seem rude or anything, but right now, all I wanna do is just go home, put my pajamas on and spend some alone time with my pups… Maybe eat something totally disgusting for dinner, too..."

The last sentence elicited laughter from the entire group, which felt surprisingly refreshing, given the circumstances.

"I think that sounds like a great idea, I dunno about all of you." Chase replied, looking back at the other pups.

"Hey, me too." Skye seconded.

"Me three." Marshall added.

"Ditto." Zuma said.

"Heck yeah." Rubble echoed.

"About time, too..." Rocky sighed.

"But, err..." Ryder faltered. "Why don't you pups head on back to the Lookout without me? I've er… got one more little chore before we finish this whole thing up."

"Huh? You've got more to do?" Mayor Humdinger chimed in quizzically.

"What'd that be, matey?" Sid asked.

Ryder smirked. "It's a secret." The boy cast his gaze over to Katie. "Katie? You wanna come with? I think I'm gonna need a hand."

"Huh? Really?" Katie blurted, before collecting herself. "E-Er, yeah! Sure thing, Ryder! I'll be right with you!"

A period of silence ensued before Chase spoke up. "Be careful, Ryder, sir?"

Ryder smiled. "There's nothing to worry about, Chase! I've got Katie! Now get your tails back to the Lookout, OK?"

"Yes, Ryder..." the pups replied uncertainly.

The pups watched as Ryder made for his ATV, which surprisingly took a little searching for in amongst all of the cars that had parked around City Hall. And they watched as Ryder and Katie clambered aboard and took off for parts unknown.

"Well… guess we'd better be getting back..." Skye began awkwardly.

"You guys are SURE you'll be OK?" Everest asked.

"If you guys ever need anything, then call us right away, got it? We'll help out however we can. All of us." Tracker added reassuringly.

"Thanks, Tracker..." Chase sighed happily. "We sure will."

"Come see us anytime." Marshall added. "If you ever wanna talk, we're always gonna be here."

"That's real cool of you, Marshall." Jake replied.

"We will, don't worry about that." Carlos added.

"And we'll see you around Adventure Beach?" Arrby asked with a wink.

"You know it." Zuma replied, winking back at the dachschund.

After another period of silence, the pups slowly made for their own vehicles. They were slightly out of place in amongst the cars, but this mattered little as the pups revved up their engines and slowly began to pull away.

"Bye, pups!" Mayor Goodway shouted, followed by similar farewells from everyone around her, accompanied by waving.

"See ya later, guys!" Marshall shouted back, which in itself was followed up by farewells from the rest of the pups before they all pulled away and over the horizon, returning to the comforts of home.

And as they made for home, the clouds began to break apart, allowing the sun to shine down on Adventure Bay again.

The trip back to the Lookout was conducted in absolute silence. Not for any tension in the air, but for lack of anything to say and general fatigue. The pups hadn't said it, but in reality, all six were as tired as their beloved owner. In their minds, they had all earned a nice, long rest after the emotional riptide they had all been through. When the Lookout finally came into view, the pups parked their vehicles in silence and quietly dragged themselves into the Lookout's main room.

"So… now what?" Rocky asked, dropping onto a cushion along with everyone else.

"I… guess we wait for Ryder?" Chase replied uncertainly. "I-I dunno, Rocky, I'm really not in thinking shape right now..."

"I don't think any of us are, dude..." Zuma sighed heavily.

"Should we just… watch some more TV while we wait?" Rubble suggested.

"I could go for that." Marshall quietly agreed.

"Who's got the remote?" Skye asked.

And so the pups watched TV in silence and felt the minutes slip away. They had all been watching the same cartoons for the past few days, with none of them feeling like playing or getting any exercise. None of them possessed any of the mental fortitude to do anything more than get engrossed in their TV. No-one even felt like complaining when some of Skye's favourite shows came on.

Until a few minutes later, when they were all snapped out of their respective trances with two words from a familiar voice.

"I'm home!"

Immediately, the pups sprang up from their cushions and ran up to greet their owner.

"Ryder! Hey!" Marshall shouted happily.

"Welcome home, Ryder, sir!" Chase added.

"Ha ha, take it easy, pups! I was only gone for half an hour!" Ryder laughed at how enthusiastic his pups were.

"Well, we were worried!" Skye replied. "I mean, you seemed so sad and tired and you left to go somewhere and you didn't say what it was and, err, what, what… what in the world is in those boxes?"

After the pups had finally stopped excitedly crowding Ryder, they had finally noticed that he was holding a pair of present boxes. Both of which were fairly standard in terms of appearance, being a pair of white boxes wrapped in red ribbons. One box was a large cube shape, and the other was a longer, more-rectangular one that was slightly shallower.

"I can't just tell you what's in a present!" Ryder mock-scolded. "Would you want me to tell you what was in your birthday presents?"

"Huh? No!" Rubble replied.

"Well, there you have it." Ryder moved over to a nearby table and placed the two boxes down, followed by his ever-eager pups. "But one of these..." Ryder removed the cube-shaped box from the pile with a flourish. "...is for Marshall."

"Me?" Marshall replied on instinct, surprised at Ryder lowering the box towards him.

"You." Ryder replied, failing to keep the giddy smile off his face. "You've been such a brave pup all through this whole thing. And I think you deserve a little 'welcome back' present after all you've been through."

Marshall only stared at the box for a while.

"But… I… I don't deserve-"

"Ah!" Ryder interrupted. "Yes you do. You spent three days totally alone, not knowing if you'd ever see us again, living off of grass and leaves and who-knows-what else with only a little water. You didn't even know if you were going to survive being out there. Plus, I feel like I haven't been taking care of you. So before you tell me you don't deserve a present, just think about all that. And if nothing else, at least let me spoil my pups a little after I spent so long away from you."

Marshall's mouth hung open for a second. He took a breath in to protest further, only to let it leak from his lungs without a retort.

"I… I-I don't know what to say..." Marshall whispered.

"Why don't you figure that out after you've opened it?" Ryder asked.

"C'mon, the suspense is killing me!" Chase teased with a grin.

Chase spoke for the pair of them at that point. Slowly, Marshall moved a trembling paw towards the waiting box and gingerly pushed the lid off of it. As it fell to the floor, the first thing Marshall caught sight of was a red helmet along with a large pair of grey ears. Curiosity got the better of the dalmatian as he gently look the strange object in his mouth. As he lifted it out, he noticed that it was incredibly soft to the touch and obviously rather large.

When Marshall finally set it down on the ground, he stepped back to take a good look at the gift. The "Wow"s and "Ooh"s from the other pups were a fairly good sign, but once Marshall finally got a look, he couldn't suppress a loud gasp that made him cough.

Looking back at Marshall was a plushie of a grey wolf with a beady black pair of eyes. Except this one was unique. This one was clad in a red firefighter's vest and helmet like his. The wolf plushie bore a happy smile with a slight overbite, exposing a couple of white incisors. As confident as could be.

"Katie told me you got rid of your teddy, since it was used in your memorial and all." Ryder explained. "So since that teddy's only gonna remind you of bad times, why not get a new one that'll remind you of the good times? A new teddy for our favourite fire pup." Ryder beamed. "Marshall. Say hello to Chief Wolfy!"

Marshall only stared at the toy in amazement for a few seconds longer, his jaw apparently too heavy to pick up from the floor. Eventually, he slowly reached out towards the toy with a paw, touching it and feeling how soft it was as it depressed under the pressure of his touch and slowly sprang back into place. Seemingly to test it further, Marshall pressed down on it more firmly. And shortly afterwards, Marshall broke into a huge, ecstatic grin and leapt at the toy, landing on his belly and grabbing it up in a tight hug, squeezing it with joy as he curled up on the floor.

"Aww..." the pups cooed.

"You like him, Marshall?" Ryder asked gently.

"I love him..." Marshall whispered joyfully. "Thank you so much, Ryder. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you..."

Ryder beamed again and stroked Marshall's spotted fur. He giggled slightly as Marshall looked likely to fall into a deep sleep then and there.

"What's an owner for, Marshall?" Ryder whispered before standing up and looking at his pups again. "Anyway, what's in THIS box-"

Ryder found himself cut off by a knock at the Lookout door. Looking through the glass was someone in a mailman's uniform with a letter in his hand.

"Err, pups? Anyone order anything?" Ryder asked half-jokingly.

When no-one replied, Ryder grew slightly apprehensive. "(Who the heck sends snail mail to the Lookout?)" he thought. Slowly, Ryder walked over to the door as the other pups watched on, Marshall having turned around and opened his eyes, but not letting go of Chief Wolfy.

"Hello. May I help you?" Ryder asked.

"I've got a letter here for the Paw Patrol." the mailman explained, holding out the envelope. "Special delivery."

"Is there a return address on it?"

"There is, but lemme tell you: whoever sent this, it comes from waaaaaay out."

The questions only piled up for the group. Thanking the mailman, Ryder retreated back towards his pups, letter in hand.

"What's that, Ryder? Fan mail?" Skye asked.

"Not a clue. We have a PO box for that, remember?" Ryder replied.

Rocky cringed. "Oh, gosh… That's probably bursting… I didn't check that since the end of last month… Rubble, I might need a paw with that..."

"Reading, or moving?" Rubble asked with a knowing expression of unamused apprehension. One that was shared by Rocky.

"Yes."

"Well, one thing at a time, dudes." Zuma cut in. "Mowe impowtant, who the heck's the lettew fwom?"

"Guess we're gonna find out." Ryder replied.

Working his finger through the envelope, taking care not to damage the section containing the return address, the piece of paper within was revealed. Ignoring what looked like a drawing on the rear side of it, Ryder scanned over the writing in the letter, only to emit a strangled gasp a couple of seconds later. Amazingly, he didn't drop the letter.

"Whoa, Wyder?!" Zuma shouted.

"Ryder, what's wrong?!" Marshall added.

"Wh-What is it?!" Rubble said worriedly.

Ryder looked like he had seen a ghost. All of the colour had swiftly drained away from his face as he stared at the letter with bulging eyes.

"I-I… I… I..." Ryder stammered, before looking down at Marshall. "Y-You… You, er…" Ryder continued to stammer, before exhaling the air left in his lungs, words apparently failing him. The boy kneeled down in front of his pup, laying the paper down in front of him.

"...you've gotta see this." Ryder concluded.

Confused, Marshall scanned his eyes over the letter, only to emit a loud choking noise, adopting a similar bug-eyed expression to Ryder.

"Marshall! What's wrong?!" Chase cried.

"Wh-Who's it from?!" Skye added frantically.

"Is it bad?!" Rocky chimed in.

Marshall was silent for a second. "Th-This… This letter, it's… i-it's… it's from my dad..."

Now it was everyone else's turn to let out a loud gasp.

"Ash?!" Chase shouted in shock.

"Yeah!" Marshall replied.

"B-But didn't you say that you haven't seen him since you were a teeny puppy?!" Skye asked.

"Yeah! He went with a family of farmers to live in the countryside! I only stayed because Ryder adopted me before they came to pick us up!" Marshall reminded. "But how is he sending me a letter now?! And why ONLY now?!"

"W-Was he a bad dog, Marshall?" Rubble asked fretfully.

"NO WAY!" Marshall screamed, before seeing Rubble flinch back from his sudden yell. Poor Rubble had unknowingly struck a sore spot for the speckled pup.

"Sorry..." Marshall whimpered, cringing.

"Marshall's dad was one of the kindest dogs I've ever met." Ryder explained gently, taking over for Marshall. "Well, aside from all of you pups. Marshall loved him so much, and Ash loved him back. And it was BECAUSE Ash loved him so much that he let Marshall stay with us. His son's happiness was everything to him..."

"Oh, yeah, now I remember..." Rubble admitted sadly. "I'm so sorry, Marshall… Its been months since I heard the story…"

"It's fine, Rubble… You just forgot, is all." Marshall whispered.

"And didn't you say that Ash lost everything not long after you were born?" Rocky asked, looking sympathetically at the dalmatian.

"Mm-hm..." Marshall replied quietly, his eyes starting to moisten. "The old firehouse… Our old owners… M-My mom..."

"Youw dad must've been one heck of a tough dog, Mawshall." Zuma said consolingly. "You said he was happy and nice and funny all the way to the end. I don't know how he managed it aftew all that."

"He really was..." Marshall sighed, sniffling. "B-But how did he get the news? Does Hello Adventure Bay really go that far out?"

"We'll just have to find out, pal." Chase replied. "You don't have to read it out if you don't wanna, though."

Marshall seemed to pause for a while to think it over.

"No." Marshall decided. "It's the first thing I've had from my dad since the day he left… I've gotta do this."

"Marshall… Take your time, OK?" Skye soothed.

Taking Skye's advice, Marshall took some slow breaths and gulped as if he were swallowing a golf ball before casting his eyes to the letter and beginning to read aloud.


To my precious son, Marshall.

I desperately hope this letter finds you well. The postal system out here is terrible, but when I heard the news of what was going on in Adventure Bay, I had to try it. Maybe you won't ever see this letter, but regardless, I had to risk it.

News travels far, you know? Don't think I haven't been paying attention to Adventure Bay. I've always listened out whenever you all did something big. I've seen who you've become from afar and let me tell you, I am so proud of you that I can't put it into words (not that I'm actually writing this, I mean writing with your mouth isn't the neatest option).

Wait. Did you just write that? Urgh, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?

But when the news came on TV over here and said that you had kicked the bucket on a rescue… Well, how is a father supposed to take the news that their only child ended up dying before they did? I don't think I took it too differently from anyone else. I didn't know what in the world to do with myself. I can't tell a lie. I cried more than I did when we lost your mother. After you went, I was all alone. All of my family? Dead and gone. I felt so cursed on that day. It felt like I was cursed to see everyone I love die all around me. What does someone do in that kind of case?

But after three days of not eating, barely drinking, never talking, I felt ready to join your mother… until the news arrived. The news arrived that you'd come home after getting lost in the forest. And that you weren't dead after all. And that news? Well, it made me cry even harder. And for longer. And knowing that you're still alive and kicking gives me the strength I need to keep going each day.

No parent should ever have to get the news that their child is going to have their funeral before them. When it finally comes time for our family to cross the Rainbow Bridge, I want to be there with your mother to greet YOU. Not the other way around. I'm an old dog, but you? You have far more left to give this world. And this world has far more left in store for you.

You must have been so scared in those woods with no-one to help you or feed you or anything. But when the going gets tough, the tough bite down, as your mother always said. They charge into the flames where others would run away. They press on even when everything looks set to fall apart around them.

And you did exactly that. And I think I'm more proud of you than ever before. And if you want to keep making me proud, you'll keep doing that. You'll always push on when things look their bleakest. You'll never even think about giving up. You'll always do your best in the face of danger. That's all I ask of you. Whether you do that or not is up to you. But I know you. And I think I know what option you're gonna pick.

And Ryder. On the off-chance that you're gonna read this too, I have something I need to tell you. I think I know how you're feeling about what happened. When you realised that you'd lost someone you cared so deeply about, it feels like a black hole inside you. And I can only imagine how much worse it is for a leader so close to his charges.

I told you before I left that you'd be sorry if anything happened to my boy. And somehow, from what I learned about you before I left, I think you were. But I want you to know that I don't blame you for what happened at all. Details are light, but something tells me that you were completely powerless. I get the feeling that you're the kind of person who would sooner become worm food themselves before you'd let a pup die on your watch.

So all of what I just said to Marshall? That applies to you, too. And if any of the rest of your pups are reading this letter, then it applies to them as well. Please. Don't blame yourselves over what happened, because it's absolutely not anyone's fault. Instead, all I want you to do is to remember that a miracle happened, and to always be grateful for it. And for you to be there for your pups every day, knowing that they'd do the same for you. The worst thing that you or anyone could do is take what you have for granted. And I think that what happened has proved that for both of us. You don't really know what you have until its gone.

Marshall. Wherever you are. Whatever you do. Whoever you're with. Always remember that I love you around the world and back. And nothing will ever change that. I pray with all of my heart that we'll see each other again soon.

With all of my love until the end of the world.

Your father,

Ash


Surprised?

Not only do I manage to work in a couple more unexpected characters to this fic before its end, but I manage to bring back the sole OC I've ever written. For those not in the know, Ash debuted in Start Your Engines (a previous fic of mine), and I hope that I've made it clear enough who he is and what he's like that you won't have to go back and read that story to get a grasp on his character.

Anyway, only two proper chapters left, now. The last numbered chapter, and then the epilogue. I want to start giving out thanks now that we're so close to the end, but that'd be a bit premature. I'll be waiting until the Afterword to do that. But all the loose ends are tied. All that remains is the finale.

I hope to see you there. Thanks for listening.