At least as Imber faffs about in the pool, enjoying the next stage of his life taking place all in one go, Ulale is standing at the edge beside his human. She puts a hand on Evan's shoulder, patting him in the same soothing approximation that she's felt so many times in her own, short life.

To think that this is the same human who had been trying to run experiments on his charge from the beginning; Ulale has hopped from one squidge to the next in her efforts to ease the rest of her peers into their adult lives, but to see this kind of dedication and remorse is touching. She's well aware that he's not happy to see Imber change, but then she'd had to let Laedo have space for that very same reason. Whistling, leaning over to look at him, she pats at his face as though she could wipe the dregs of tears left over that Evan had tried to rub away on his own.

Then she trills down at the pool, taking a step back, waiting in expectant silence for Imber to finish absorbing the light that would put him on her level.