Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

From his post at the stern rail of the John Howland, Manjiro watched as Goemon grew smaller and smaller, shrinking to just a spot of color and then disappearing altogether into the island. At last, even the island itself disappeared.

Once, back in Japan, Manjiro had watched a boy flying a kite. The string snapped and the kite soared off into the blue sky and out across the ocean. The boy cried to see his kite disappear, but Manjiro had felt his imagination soar. What might that kite have seen, if it had eyes? What might it have heard if it had ears? Oh, to be a kite, cut loose from its string, Manjiro had thought.