Chapter 10: Silver Reef

Nemo…

Nemo stood underneath the silvery beam of light and just stared at the waves above him. They were rolling more quietly than usual, and somehow Nemo knew that meant his dad was there listening to him. “…Dad…?” he spoke up quietly, “…I-I can’t do this anymore… I-I did everything you told me to, but…b-but it’s just so hard to do it by myself…” The young clownfish sniffled and hung his head. “…I-I’ll never get us to Silver Reef…”

At that point, the beam of light he was standing under faded, and Nemo felt a small, rushing current go past him. He gasped as he saw it rushing away with some invisible force. “Dad…? Dad!!” He panicked and chased after it as fast as his tail could take him. “Don’t go, Daddy!! Wait!!”

The current just kept on going and led Nemo through a small tunnel. Nemo raced through, desperate to keep up. When he finally came to the other side, he pulled to a quick stop right at the peak of a giant hill. The current drifted out into the water in front of him and suddenly faded off into nothing. Then, the golden beam Nemo had seen before poured back through the water and shone onto him. Little by little, the beam began to broaden out towards the vastness in front of Nemo. The young clownfish looked out and gasped quietly as the light slowly unveiled a sight he had never seen anything like – a gorgeous, lush coral reef that had to stretch for miles lay before him. The reef was teeming with all variety of life, and brightly colored coral of all kinds and bountiful plots of lush kelp and seaweed adorned the majestic valley cradling the glorious paradise – Silver Reef.

Nemo could only gawk with his mouth gaping open at the breathtaking, glorious sight. But when he was too excited to hold it in anymore, he swerved around and yelled through the tunnel as loudly as he could. “Tad, Pearl, Squirt, Sheldon, hurry!!” he called.

Hearing his yell, his four friends came racing through the tunnel quickly and they all raced to the edge of the hill with Nemo. All of them skidded to a stop and gasped at the sight.

“Whoa…” Tad’s jaw dropped.

“You found it!!” Pearl smiled.

The five friends all looked over the reef excitedly. “We did it!!!” Nemo shouted, triggering all five of them to go diving down the hill towards the valley, cheering and laughing.

Silver Reef was all they had dreamed it would be – a land of green, of leaves, and life. There were flourishing coral beds, green forests of kelp, enough coral blossoms to feast on forever, and grazing upon them…their families.

Pearl saw her family almost immediately and bolted for them as fast as she could. “Daddy!!” she shouted. “MOM!!” She took a pounce at her parents and Jodi caught her and cuddled her close with happiness. Ted and all of Pearl’s siblings raced over to them.

“DAD!!” Squirt came bolting for his father.

“SQUIRT, DUDE, YOU’RE BACK!!” Crush smiled big as Squirt sprung at him and landed on his head, hugging him tightly. The big turtle laughed and curled an embracing flipper over his son. They were soon joined by Squirt’s mother, Keona, and all 23 of his older brothers and sisters. Squirt looked up at his mom and smiled, and the two of them nuzzled.

Sheldon went flying towards his parents and leaped on his dad in a big hug. Bob smiled and curled his head around his son in an embrace. Leila, Sheldon’s mom, came racing over to them and Sheldon bolted over to her. “Mama!!”

Leila gave a deep sigh of relief and snuggled him close.

“Mom!!” Tad bolted for his family. “DAD!!”

Phil and his family spun around at the sound of his yelling. All of Tad’s sisters gasped happily and raced towards him. “Tad!!” they cheered.

Tad tackle-hugged Tara and clung to her tightly. She smiled and hugged her son closely. Phil swam up to them. “Tad!!” he smiled, and Tad turned towards him with a big grin and pounced on him in a hug.

Nemo finally found his family too. He found Dory, Gill, and all his friends from the tank – the people he was familiar with, and who loved him. He closed his eyes happily as Dory embraced him. They pulled back and smiled at each other, and Nemo then turned and darted to Gill, gripping him in a hug. Gill chuckled and decided he could hug back a bit.

After greeting his new caretakers, Nemo smiled and raced over to the top of a small hill. He looked up at the waves above.

And Nemo found Dory and all of his friends, at last. And looking up at the waves, he knew Marlin was there, and he felt a sense of security in knowing he was under watch of those eyes – the same loving eyes he had looked into on the day of his birth.

Nemo smiled as he watched the waves. He could almost remember that first day of his life, and the immediate trust in his father that came to him at the first touch. He reflected on everything that had happened the past few days – receiving his first coral blossom from his dad, discovering the cricket fish haven with Tad, and the quiet, heartrending night that had followed when he remembered Marlin curled around him lovingly and encouraging him with his final words. Nemo remembered swimming with Pearl and playing with the surface of the water, and he remembered Tad letting go of his pride long enough to come and bed down with his friends under Squirt’s flipper.

“Hey, Nemo!” Tad broke his thoughts and called to him from down the hill. “Last one to the bluff is a sea snail!!”

Nemo smiled and darted after his friend. They raced up to the top of a bluff, and were soon joined by Pearl, Sheldon, and Squirt. The five friends all grouped together and looked out onto the vast lushness of Silver Reef.

And they all grew up together in the reef – Generation upon generation, each passing on to the next the tale of their ancestors’ journey to the reef…long ago.

The End!!