Thank You the turtle brought Dragon Little and the small, wooden lifeboat to rest beside Bonny’s Revenge. 

Dragon Little began to cry. 

She jumped from the lifeboat to Thank You’s shell, then hugged him. 

“It was so much fun that you came back, Thank You. So much fun!” 

Thank You didn’t answer. 

“But you can’t come back again. You can’t ever come back. Do you understand?” 

Thank You looked at her. 

“I’ll tell you why,” she said. “Because Red said… if you ever get into an adventure and you die… you’ll never come back…” She hugged him tightly and cried. “I don’t want you to die and never come back! Okay?” 

Thank You nodded. 

“You promise?” 

Thank You nodded again.

There were tears in his eyes, tears in Dragon Little’s eyes, and tears in my eyes. 

This was my fault. Well, it was actually the fault of who Dragon Little was, of what she was to the Dream, of what she meant to the Dream. But I was the one who had to tell her. 

And she remembered. 

And she was right. 

It was better for her to never see Thank You again. 

Dragon Little climbed aboard the ship - leaving the lifting of the lifeboat back to Bonny’s Revenge for Dragon Father to do when he returned. 

Dragon Little waved at Thank You one last time from the deck. Thank You nodded one last time and sank into the ocean, swimming away. 

Dragon Little went to her cabin and cried herself to sleep. 

—Told by The Red Dragon