It was early morning, and the sun was merely peeping from the watery horizon when Sosuke woke. He tumbled from bed, his tall thin frame bending to catch himself before he hit the ground. He paused for a moment, hoping that no one heard the muffled thump of him hitting the floor. After a few seconds, because all was still, he silently pulled himself to his feet and shook his blankets off. He glanced in the mirror as he walked by soundlessly on tanned bare feet, running his fingers through his dark locks once to smooth them and get them all in the right place and out of his face.
Today was a special day, and Sosuke wanted to surprise Ponyo by getting everything set up before she woke. But that would mean that he had to be absolutely silent. Sosuke smiled. This would be the best!
Sosuke gently left the house, shutting the door gently behind him, and hurried down the path to the ocean. He found all the things for the party that he had hidden in the rocks on the tiny beach, marked by a green plastic bucket. A very special green plastic bucket. He dragged out a table and four folded chairs from the tall grasses that grew in abundance near the shore and set them up, just out of the reach of the ocean water that lapped the sand playfully.
Sosuke set everything up diligently and by the time he was done the sun was just clearing the horizon, lighting the world with a warm glow and stretching shadows as far as it could. Satisfied with his efforts, Sosuke quickly raced up the winding path up to the house and slipped back inside.
He checked the clock in passing, smiling when he saw it was only six-thirty. He had been swift and silent. Sosuke struck a pose like a ninja, but in doing so knocked the clock of the table. It made a loud bang as it hit the floor, the back casing popping off and the batteries rolling away like tiny fish swimming swiftly out of the way of a shark. Sosuke ducked down to pick up the clock, and when he straightened again there were three faces peering out of doorways at him.
"Are you alright?" Lisa, Sosuke's mother asked, raising an eyebrow. She knew what was going on, and when Sosuke nodded she and Koichi, Sosuke's father, retreated back around the door frame.
"What are you doing Sosuke?" Ponyo asked, her head cocked to one side, her fiery red curls messy from the way she had been sleeping. She was wearing sleep shorts and an old t-shirt as she always did to bed, and she was looking rather rumpled.
"I'll show you after you get dressed." Sosuke promised. He looked down at himself. He needed to get dressed too. He had worn a shirt to bed so he wouldn't have to take time to find one in the morning, and he was looking just as rumpled as Ponyo. "And me too."
Minutes later, dressed in a yellow t-shirt and shorts, Sosuke was opening to door to go outside and wait for Ponyo. He got a big surprise when she grabbed his shoulders from behind and kissed his ear.
"Hi sunshine." Ponyo said, wrapping her arms around Sosuke's shoulders and burying her face in his neck. When she let go he turned around in the door frame to hug her back. "I want to know what you were doing out on the beach this morning." She demanded, pulling away.
Sosuke looked at her, surprised. How did she know? She looked sweetly innocent in a pale blue sun dress that fell to her knees, but somehow older too. Maybe it was the glimmer of knowledge in her eye. "How-?" He asked, but she cut him off.
"Well, for one thing, you smell like sea spray, and for a second you left footprints." Ponyo said with a mischievous grin, pointing at the trail of faint footprints Sosuke had left in the sandy soil.
"Oh, I thought you were becoming magical again." Sosuke said with a strained little laugh. He knew that if she got her magic back, the transition back into a fish would be not too far behind. The thought of that happening scared Sosuke immensely.
"Stop worrying, silly head, and show me what you were doing on the beach early this morning." Ponyo urged, poking Sosuke's back to get him to move.
"Alright, alright, I'll show you, impatient pants." Sosuke said, starting to walk down the steep slope towards his surprise for Ponyo.
"I'm not wearing pants, I'm wearing a dress!" Ponyo reminded him, prodding his back again teasingly, a grin on her face. She was excited. She knew Sosuke was up to something, and she was about to find out.
"Oh, Sosuke!" Ponyo said, putting a hand to her mouth. "You're so sweet!" She hugged Sosuke again, who grinned.
"Happy birthday Ponyo!" He said, hugging her back.
Sosuke had made all of Ponyo's favorite foods, especially ham, and bought a big cake decorated with an underwater scene. Lisa and Koichi descended from the house a few seconds after, grinning in amazement at the effort their son had put out for Ponyo.
A rollicking little party ensured, and soon Fujimoto and Ponyo's sisters broke the surface to join in. Even Granmammare stopped by to wish her sweet daughter a healthful year of existence before continuing on to visit the site of an oil spill so she could fix it.
Hours later, all the food eaten and gifts opened, the mess was cleaned up and the beach was empty. Well, almost empty. Sosuke and Ponyo were sitting side by side, feet buried in the sand, watching the waves. Ponyo leaned her head on Sosuke's shoulder and sighed quietly. She wished that every day would be like this. But it couldn't, she knew. They had school again the next day, a Monday, and Ponyo had come to dislike school. Too many rules and too much sitting still. Only Sosuke made it better.