NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters.

Well, I may not have done a very good job with Jumba's little speech, so I'm sorry if it doesn't seem very good.

Chopper had fallen under some rope during the final explosion. He got out from under the rope and looked at Midna, his eyes sparkling. "That ... was ... AWESOME!!!" he said, "You thought so quickly! I mean, I wouldn't have thought to--"

"Oh, shut up, Chopper," Midna said. Chopper's eyes stopped sparkling and his smile disappeared. "No," Midna continued, "YOUR quick thinking, and knowledge of Nuclear Time Bombs, helped."

Chopper went into one of his dancing fits again. "BAKA! Even if you say that, I'm not happy! Kunura! Kunura! Kunura!"

Midna didn't listen. She just went down to the deck, where Hogarth, GIR, and Jumba stood. "Well, Jumba," she said, "I've gotta hand it to you. Your assistant, Hogarth, did a great job with those life-lines."

Jumba smiled, elbowing Hogarth. Hogarth grinned and elbowed the alien doctor back, a little harder. Jumba then pushed his hand on Hogarth's face playfully. Both of them laughed.

"Aw, I'n't that sweet?" GIR said. Yes, it was obvious that Hogarth and Jumba had become good friends.

"Is everyone still here, Mud?" Midna called out. No answer. Where was Mud? "Mud?"

Just then, Randall walked up to the impish captain, seeming very depressed and holding a tri-peaked hat. "Uh, sorry to tell you this, ma'am," Randall said, handing Midna the hat, "but, uh... (sigh) Mud's...not here."

Midna's eyes widened, and she looked down at Mud's former hat in disbelief. "What?"

"His life-line wasn't secured," Randall sighed.

Everyone looked at Hogarth.

"No, No! I checked 'em all!" Hogarth protested, running over to the mast where the life-lines were tied. But Mud's line was gone. Poor Hogarth was very confused. "I-I did, I... I checked them all. They were secure! I swear!"

Now everyone glared at the boy, including Midna. Chopper noticed this, and quickly shouted, "Wait! It's not important who's fault it is! What matters is..." Here Chopper bowed his head sadly. " What matters now is we have to pay our respects to Mud."

He was right. Everyone bowed their heads as Midna spoke.

"Mud was a...a great sailor, and an amazing First Officer. Greater than any of us...could ever be. But he knew the risks, the dangers, of the sea, like all of us. We'll keep working." And she floated up the stairs to her quarters, as everyone else went back to their posts.

Hogarth looked around at the departing crew. Unable to think what to do, he ran off. Jumba and GIR watched him run, then looked over at Randall. The reptilian monster grinned, hinting that he had something to do with Mud's death. The doctor and robot glared at Mr. Boggs.

"I'll talk to you later," Jumba growled.

Later, Hogarth was sitting in the shrouds leading up to the Crow's Nest, trying to tie a knot in a rope and looking really ticked. Jumba walked over to where Hogarth was, followed by GIR as usual. The alien looked up at the boy.

"It wasn't your fault, you know," Jumba said.

Hogarth just sighed and continued what he was doing.

"Well," Jumba continued, trying to cheer Hogarth up, "a great fraction of the crew would be floating in space if you hadn't--"

Hogarth angrily tossed the rope overboard and jumped down onto the deck. "Look, don't you get it?!" He walked up to Jumba to look him in the eyes. "I screwed up!" he continued, "I mean, for two seconds, I thought I could do something right! But-- Agh! Just-- Forget it! Forget it." Hogarth leaned against the mast. He was being hard on himself, and this worried his friends.

Jumba and GIR looked at Hogarth in sympathy. Then, the doctor grabbed his friend's shoulder and turned him to look at him. "Now, you listen to me, Hogarth Hughes. You are a wonderful young human, and you DO have a future, but you must find a path in life and stay on it, no matter what! Nevermind failing! You will still become what you wish to be!"

Jumba then stepped away and sighed, "Myself, I just hope to be there when you have your moment to shine, when everyone is cheering for you, hailing you as a hero. And I will be one of them."

Hogarth was surprised by Jumba's kind words. Jumba was a lot like a father.

Then, something a little unexpected happened. Hogarth leaned into Jumba's stomach and started to sob!

Jumba and GIR were very surprised, though through GIR's eyes, it was a pleasant surprise. Jumba, however, looked around, hoping no one was looking. Nobody. Except for GIR, but he could trust him. The alien doctor put a large hand on his friend's back to comfort him. "Ah, don't worry," he said, "It's all right. It's OK..." Then, he cleared his throat and backed away, straightening himself. "Now," he said, "I had better resume my watch...and you had better get some sleep."

Hogarth walked down to the resting chamber, smiling about what just happened. He was wrong about Jumba being a jerk. He was one of the good ones after all.

Jumba rubbed the back of his head. "I'm getting in too deep, GIR," he lamented, "The next thing you know, they'll say I've gone soft."

GIR hugged his master. "But you ARE soft!" the little robot said sweetly.

Jumba smiled and patted GIR on the head, and they walked away to continue the night-watch.

Suddenly, when they left, a pair of eyes appeared next to the mast. It was Randall, using his camoflouge to eavesdroppe! He slithered down to the sleeping quarters, still invisible to the naked eye, but he chuckled as he went into his hammock.

'Finally, some blackmail!' he thought, grinning as he went to sleep.