This is it guys, it's the end. Give me one last burst of reviews, for old times sakes, eh? Haha.

Enjoy

I woke up to the Captain shaking my slightly. "Breakfast." Was all he said.

"No. Later." I said grumpily and flipped over, covering myself with blankets.

"No. Now" He laughed. "The four of us have to talk about something."

"Edison?" I asked and sat up, scared that they expected me to get rid of him.

"No, about where we're going. I've already made up my mind about Edison." I looked at him and waited for an answer. "He's staying."

"Yay!" I got out of bed and picked Edison up off of the chaise lounge where he was asleep. "You get to stay." I said and buried my face in his fur. He looked confused and sleepy, but perked up in a few seconds.

"Nothing like a little bit of good news to wake you up." He said, laughing inwardly at me.

Still holding my puppy, I followed him to his office. Leo and Jason were already there. "Good morning." They chorused.

I nodded in reply and sat down at one of the chairs set up around a table with Edison on my lap. What was sitting around the table was hardly what I'd call a breakfast, but the bread we had was enough for me.

"Alright, so we've gotten a couple of job offers." My father stated. "The highest paying of which would be a cargo trip to Brazil."

The other men shook their head no and I said, "Yick, no. There's bugs there."

"There's bugs everywhere, Mary." Leo said with a chuckle.

"Well they're bigger there."

"Well either way we've decided against it." The Captain said. "The job Leo and I liked best was to Italy." I smiled. Italy and India were my two favorite countries. "It's for a wealthy family, the Monfradi's, and their staff. They're going to visit family for the summer and want exclusive transportation."

"But where are they going to stay?" I asked, thinking of the cramped rooms for the crew and immigrant. The ship wasn't designed for extreme comfort and luxury.

"We have a few extra rooms for cargo that they said they'd live in. They have furniture for them, too." Leo said.

"Alright, does anyone object to that?" The Captain asked and we all nodded 'no.' "That settles it. I'll let them know. We're leaving in 2 days. That gives them time to set up and time for us to get some crew members.

"Two days?" I asked. It seemed awfully soon.

"Yes. I already have a few applications." I remembered how important the Captain thought it was to have a responsible and able crew. "Since the family's staff is coming we won't need certain jobs like cooks. The first interviews for the positions are starting in about an hour for anyone who cares to sit through them."

As we ate Jason and I debated on whether the family would be snobby or not. I said they might not be, but he was convinced they rude. "Not everyone with money is bad you know." I said.

"Not everyone with money is nice either." He retorted.

The Captain stood up awhile later and said, "Alright, clear out unless your staying for the interviews."

All of us ended up staying, but Leo said Edison had to go into my room. I dropped him off and gave him all the leftovers from breakfast. Closing the door behind me, I heard him run into it and whine. I felt a pang of guilt in my stomach. "Oh don't do that." I pleaded to him even though he couldn't hear me. Even if he could he wouldn't understand.

After four interviews me and Jason got bored and decided to go take Edison out for a walk. As soon as we put his leash on him and opened the door he took off running. For his small size he was stronger than I'd expected and he pulled me forward.

As he darted up the narrow stairway, I collided with a tall boy with his hat pulled low over his eyes and hiding his face. "I'm sorry." I said, pulling on the leash and not allowing the dog to go any further.

The boy just nodded ans walked past towards my father's office, probably to interview for some job. I recognized the shirt he was wearing as one of Skittery's. For a brief moment I felt sad and angry but mostly hopeful that maybe it was him. "No." I thought to myself, sternly. "There's plenty of green shirts like that. That's not him." I stared after him until Jason tapped my back and asked what was wrong. I lied and said nothing. Edison couldn't wait another second to start running again, so I let him pull me, only this time keeping him at a brisk walk.

That day and the next went by slowly and I spent almost all of my time in my room to stay out of the crew's way. I wasn't helpful at this point and became what Leo called me as a joke, "More of a liability than an asset."

The day came when we were finally going to leave and I realized that I didn't want to. I wanted to find Skittery and make everything alright. I wanted to stay with the newsies, but I wanted to be with my father and adopted family. Most of all I just wanted to know what I wanted, because I was confused and scared. Leaving didn't seem right, not without making everything alright between me and the boy I wanted to believe I loved.

I felt numb as I was introduced to the Monfradi's and some of there staff in the morning. There was a mother, a father, two daughters and three sons who's names I didn't bother to store in my memory. All I could think about was Skittery.

The crew came to the docks, some with families and some by themselves. As I hung over the ledge I noticed a group of familiar faces hugging one person in the group. Some of the girls looked like they were crying and I heard the distinct voice of a certain Mr. Racetrack Higgins call out "Three to one he wins her heart back. Ow!" I could only assume he'd been hit by Slight. I started to feel tears well up in my eyes, and for the first time since I found out that my father was going to be alright they were happy tears. It really had been him at the interview yesterday. He was going to be part of the crew!

I heard another recognizable voice, that of Jack Kelly, say "Go get her." and saw Skittery separate from the group and walk towards the ship. I ran down the ramp and met him halfway up it. He only looked at me like he could see through me. "Navy, I'm so sorry. I don't deserve it, but will you forgive me."

I only nodded my head and let him kiss me. His arms wrapped around my waist and lifted me off the ground. Once we separated I looked at him and said, "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"Naw, you're gonna have to work harder if you want to get rid of me, because I love you and I'm never lettin' you leave." I laughed and hugged him.

I'd like to say we sailed off into the sunset, but that doesn't seem like the right ending. In fact I'd wouldn't call it an ending at all. Call me cliché, but it was like a whole new beginning. We still had laughter, adventures, and problems, but most of all we had each other and that always seemed to be more than enough for us.

I hope the ending wasn't to cheesy and predictable. (Even though I'm sure some of you guys knew it was coming.)

Wow, thank you so much you guys who reviewed it and even more so to the girls who submitted the amazing female newsie characters. I never would have wrote this without you. Your praise and critiques were all the drive that kept me writing.

Honestly, this has been so fun for me towrite and whether you think it's good or not I'm proud of it.

Expect more from me soon. I'm going on another vacation tomorrow but I'll be back in a week with a whole new story. Keep an eye out for it. ;o)

Keep it real and keep on writing everybody.

Much lurve and thanks,

Orange Socks and Polka Dots