Pandora had a fitful sleep and woke up almost as tired as she had been before climbing into bed. She had had an interesting dream that night. Even though Pandora was fully awake now, she took her time getting out of bed. She didn't feel like talking to anyone.

She slowly made her way towards the closest bathroom and spent a good long time just soaking in the tub. She felt weighed down with something, and knew exactly what it was. The reason she didn't want to see anyone was because she didn't want to say goodbye.

As she was floating in the water, she thought about the dream she'd had. A man lay dying, his hand in that of a young girl's. When he spoke to her, he referred to her as "Judith," however, Pandora knew the girl was Luxa. It took a bit of time to connect it with a dream she'd had before: the one with the toddler on the beach. The man was the same one in both dreams, and she finally realized who the little girl was. She was Luxa. In her newest dream, they were in the jungle and sitting in a puddle of blood that seemed to be coming from the dying man. He spoke of Hazard and told Luxa to let him be "anything but a warrior." He must have been Hazard's dad, which made him Luxa's uncle.

After thinking about the dream, Pandora dried herself off and put on a fresh Underland outfit before heading to the High Hall, where she usually had breakfast with Vikus and Hazard. Hazard was nowhere to be seen, but Vikus was just leaving. By the gentle look Vikus gave her, she knew Luxa had already discussed with him that Pandora was leaving.

"I suggest you spend your time wisely today," he said as he passed. Pandora just nodded and sat alone at the long table, knowing at some point, she would be led out of the Palace and towards home. A servant presented her with a plate, but she only managed to nibble on a piece of bread.

It took her a while to get up and leave the table, and at first she was so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't thought about where to go. Clearing her muddled mind for a moment, she decided to go to the only place she wanted to be: with Howard.

Her connection with Howard was much stronger than with any other person Pandora had ever met. She sat in the chair that was next to his bed, enjoying watching him sleep. He looked significantly better. The doctors didn't need to amputate his leg and he showed no signs of infection. His stitches were healing nicely, and he looked much stronger. He was able to walk around his room, although under heavy supervision.

Sooner than she realized, Howard woke up. She was dreading having a conversation with him. It would be easy to tell Ripred or Aurora she was leaving, but it would be most difficult to say goodbye to Howard.

"Thank you for watching over me," he said, laying on his side to look over at her. "If it wasn't for you I..."

"No don't say that," Pandora said. "I don't know how you made it that far all alone." By the look on Howard's face, Pandora judged that he didn't want to talk about it.

"I am glad you are here," he said.

Pandora have him a pained smile. "It hasn't been easy just to sit around and wait. Waiting for the others to get back to Regalia safely after Nike made it back. Waiting for you to get back, too. I knew you were going to make it, but I wasn't expecting for it to be the way... the way I found you. And then I kept waiting for you to get better. I got so frustrated with just sitting around feeling as if I wasn't being any help that I did something that I thought would change everything."

Howard have her an inquisitive look so she kept talking. "I had a vision that a servant was going to poison Luxa. I had a plan to stop her, but... it doesn't seem to have done any good."

"But you did save Luxa, didn't you?" Howard asked quickly.

"Yes, yes! Of course, I did! She's fine. Now that I think about it, I never received a thank you."

"Aside from that," Howard said confusedly, "I don't understand why you say it hasn't been beneficial." He pushed himself up to a sitting position, his back propped up against the pillow.

Pandora was silent for a moment, unable to figure out how to continue her story. If she talked about the run in with the judges and the potential trial, she would ultimately have to break the news to Howard that Luxa was going to send her back to the Overland. She decided she might as well tell him while they were still on the dismal subject. It was now or never. "They tried to have me stand trial."

"Trial? For saving the queens life?"

"They thought that by not telling Luxa beforehand about my vision, that I was aiding the people who tried to assassinate her. They wanted to try me for treason." Pandora could feel her eyes get watery. Her voice quavered slightly, and she let in a deep breath to regain her composure. "They decided not to have me stand trial because they concluded that I was crazy." She let out a derisive laugh. "Which was exactly what I was trying to change in the first place. My entire plan blew up in my face." Howard leaned over and held Pandora's hand. He rubbed the back of it with his thumb reassuringly. Pandora looked down at the floor. "And now, because of my decisions, Luxa is making me return to the Overland."

A minute later, when Pandora had looked up, Howard's lips were pressed into a thin line. Pandora couldn't tell what he was thinking, but he didn't voice his thoughts out loud.

"She's doing it to protect me from the Underlanders who still believe I should have been punished. At least she believes me." Pandora remembered what Luxa had said to her about not caring what others thought. "Which I guess is all that matters."

Howard had leaned back in the bed, his eyes closed. He still held her hand, although limply. "I can't leave now," Pandora said. "Not with you like this. I need to stay here and make sure you're alright. And the Underlanders -- even though they hate me -- still need me too. The war's still on. We might have the stingers on our side but..."

"You should go back."

Howard's quiet words surprised Pandora. "I... What?"

"Luxa is right. It is not safe for you here. You should go back." He was looking at her now with watery eyes. He looked in agony, as though his leg was still extremely painful.

Pandora opened her mouth to ask him why he was so open to her leaving him when she remembered a conversation that shouldn't have reached her ears. "If you truly love her, Howard, you will let her go back to the Overland as soon as we reach Regalia," Ripred had said. That night felt so long ago, but Pandora knew Howard had loved her then as well. Pandora gazed down at Howard; although his sallow cheeks and blackened eyes made it harder to see, she could see the same Howard who had taken great care of her when she had fallen off Pan. The man who insisted that she rode on Nike with him for most of the journey. The one who always made sure she was safe. She then realized one thing that she had never said to Howard that was wholeheartedly true. "I love you, Howard."

Tears trickled down his face. "I love you too, Pandora," was his reply.

"If you say I should go, I will." This made Howard's lips curl up slightly into a smile.

"I will miss you deeply."

"I'll miss you too. But you know... I'll be back. I know I'll be back."

"Then I will wait for you to return. I'd wait for forever if I had to."

Pandora gave a small laugh. "Don't worry, it won't be nearly that long."

Someone cleared their throat from the curtain. "Excuse me, Overlander," said a young servant. "Queen Luxa has sent me to help you pack your things.

"I don't have many things to pack."

"Her Highness insists you pack whatever you have need for from the Overland Museum."

"Alright." Reluctantly, Pandora stood and walked to the doorway, letting her hand slide out of Howard's. "I'll be back to say a proper good bye."

Howard just nodded, the pained expression on his face returning.

Pandora followed the young boy down to the Overland Museum. "I can take anything?" She asked, looking at the organized shelves that had once been a mess.

"Yes. We have no use of these objects here. She suggested you take some..." the servant paused for a moment, seeming to have a hard time remembering a word. "some money with you."

"Oh, that's a good idea," Pandora said, grabbing a woman's purse and wallet. She had emptied the contents of every purse, wallet, and bag and sorted it out. A sand pail held all the money she found. Pandora pulled out a handful of bills and estimated how much money she would have earned if she had been working instead of helping the Underlanders. "This should cover tuition and books," she said, "and maybe a little extra if I'm lucky."

She also pulled down a little antique wood carving off one of the shelves, thinking Rose would admire it. Rose! She was finally going to see Rose! A feeling of great excitement and nervousness grew inside of her. On one hand, she wanted to live back in her apartment with her favorite roommate. On the other hand, she was scared to find out if anything bad had happened to Rose. But there was only one way to find out.

Before she walked out, she grabbed her two notebooks. She would only be taking her personal notebook with her. She intended on giving the moleskin journal to Nerissa. She shouldered her bag and walked with the servant back up the stairs. "Would you know where Luxa is now?"

"I am not sure," he said. "Perhaps she is in her royal quarters. Or maybe she is talking with Mareth about the state of the war in the War Room."

Pandora chose to go to the War Room first, and was pleased to find Luxa talking to Mareth. The map on the wall had been repainted.

"Greetings, Pandora," Mareth said.

"Hi, Mareth," Pandora replied. "Is it alright if I talked to Luxa for a few minutes?"

"By all means," he said immediately, looking to Luxa. She frowned, repositioned her sling over her shoulder, and walked out to Pandora.

"A few nights ago, I had a dream but I didn't recognize anyone in it. I wanted to ask you a question."

"Fine," Luxa said with a nod.

"Was your mother's name Judith?"

Luxa's face was unreadable. Her silence, however, gave away her shock. "How did you know?"

"Last night I had a different dream. It helped me figure out the first one. You were there when Hazard's father died. You knew him when you were little. He took you to a beach with crystals on it."

"Yes," she whispered. "Yes, he did."

"You promised him you wouldn't let Hazard become a warrior."

"And I have kept my promise," Luxa affirmed.

"Not to make it sound as though you might break your promise, I have to warn you about this," Pandora said calmly. "This war will be tough for Regalia. The cutters are very different from the gnawers. They are a tougher species. They have no feelings towards the others. They don't care about a plague. And no matter what happens, you must make sure Hazard does not fight them. Even if he is standing on the battlefield, it is important that he doesn't lay a hand on a weapon."

"He is more than a cousin to me. He is my brother. I would never break my promise to my uncle. Hazard will never be a warrior," Luxa said firmly.

Pandora nodded. "I just wanted to remind you of your promise. For the future's sake."

"Do you have any advice to give about the war while you are in the Overland?" Luxa asked. Pandora noticed that a slight tremor of desperation had crept into her voice. It unsettled her. Luxa was truly scared for her people. The cutters had their hearts, or their queen's heart, set on running the city of Regalia into the ground.

Pandora was just about to tell her she had nothing else to say, but then something popped up into her mind. A small picture carved into stone; it had three wavy lines. "Where there's water," Pandora said mystically, "there's a way." Luxa's eyebrows furrowed at her words in confusion, and Pandora didn't really know the meaning of her words herself. Pandora shrugged, said a terse goodbye, and went off to find Nerissa to give her the moleskin journal.

After talking with her friend for a while, Pandora headed back down to the hospital, but Howard was not in his room. When she asked one of the doctors in the hall, they responded he was already on his way to the dock. Howard was able to move himself only a few feet at a time, and by the way the doctors described it, he had many colleagues from the hospital aiding him.

Pandora wasn't aware there was a dock in Regalia. She went up to the High Hall to ask Vikus, and he invited her to walk with him there. Pandora was surprised to find they walked deeper into the Palace instead of exiting. A servant walked up to her in a hall, and Pandora was delighted to be presented with her familiar jeans and white t-shirt. She slung them over her purse to keep her hands free.

"Pan has volunteered to take you home," was the only thing Vikus said to her until they reached the dock. Down deep in the Palace was an opening to a river that Pandora guessed emptied into the Waterway. There were several small boats made of animal skins resting on ropes above the water.

It didn't take long to have everyone assembled on the dock. When Pan alighted, Pandora grinned at him. He seemed to understand why she was grinning and grinned back.

"Thank you, Vikus, for everything," Pandora said, reaching out to give him a hug. She could feel his left hand still holding his cane behind her.

"It is I who should be thanking you. Without you, the Regalians wouldn't have the amount of hope they have now that we have the stingers on our side." Pandora refrained from adding they also wouldn't have a queen at the moment without her.

Vikus stepped back so Pandora could say goodbye to everyone else who stood on the dock. Howard stepped into view, along with several other Underlanders. He leaned heavily on a cane. One person was carrying a chair with them. Once they approached everyone on the dock, the man set down the chair and helped Howard onto it. He must have been a friend of his, because he clapped a hand on his shoulder and smiled before stepping back. Howard wiped his sweaty face on a towel; it must have taken a lot of effort to make it all the way to the dock.

Pandora decided to give him a minute to catch his breath. After quick goodbyes to Aurora and Nike, who headed over to where a black bat had just landed on the dock, Pandora stepped sideways to Hazard.

"Goodbye, Hazard," she said as she opened her arms for a hug.

"Goodbye," he said with a small smile. She now realized Hazard was almost as tall as she was.

Next was Luxa. "Every time I wake up," she said to Pandora in a quiet voice. "I tell myself that I am going to die. I am not afraid of death. However, the assassination attempt surprised me." She started to speak slower, as if her mouth was not used to the next few words. "I thank you for saving my life."

Pandora embraced her and tried to think of a response that Luxa would have given in this kind of situation. When she pulled away, she looked Luxa in the eyes and said, "Next time, try to be a bit more vigilant."

Luxa gave her a mischievous grin. "Now you're starting to sound like Ripred."

"The only person who seems to get any advice through to you," Ripred commented as he approached from a nearby stairwell.

"It's tough to say, but I think I'm going to miss you, too," Pandora told him.

"It might be hard to believe, but I've still got a heart," he said with a glint in his eyes.

"I'd believe anything you say," Pandora replied.

"And that's why I like you," he said.

Howard was next in line, still sitting in his chair. Although he appeared stronger earlier that day, he seemed weak now. Pandora approached him slowly.

Suddenly, he sprang up from the chair to meet her. Pandora opened her arms to hug him. Next thing she knew, he had cupped his hand behind her head and leaned in for a kiss.

Their second kiss was much more enjoyable now that they weren't threatened by an army of ants, and although Pandora could feel the eyes of the others watching them, she actually didn't mind being the center of attention. Pandora could have stayed like that forever, but after a few moments, their lips parted.

"I am going to miss you," Howard whispered, still holding her in his arms. '

"I'll miss you too," she whispered back, silently hoping he wouldn't let go.

"Are you going to start taking your medication again once you get back?" he asked.

Pandora thought about his question for a second. "No, I don't think I will."

"It seemed as though you had fits more frequently directly after you stopped taking the medication."

"Yes, and I'm in more control of them now."

"No doubt they're connected to your visions," Nerissa interjected, taking a step forward.

"Yes. And that's why I choose not to suppress them anymore," Pandora said to her.

Howard gave her one final squeeze before letting her hug Nerissa. "You've been a real friend down here," Pandora said to her.

"And you have been one to me as well," she answered with a smile.

"I'll be back," Pandora said.

"I know you will, I've seen it before."

"I have, too. Which reminds me," Pandora moved back over to Luxa. She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a tiny piece of parchment that was folded.

"Here. Open this any time you want to after I'm gone. Don't share what it says." Pandora handed over the paper with a grin; Luxa accepted it with a confused look.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Like Vikus said, I brought hope to the Underlanders. This is just for you. This is your hope." Luxa accepted it without another word.

Mareth came limping up the dock, his crutch making a clicking sound upon it. "Mareth and Andromeda are to escort you to the opening of the Overland," Vikus informed her. "You will need their help to open it."

"Are you ready to go Pandora?" Mareth asked, climbing onto the black bat who had landed not too long ago.

"Yes, I think so," she answered while shouldering her borrowed purse with the money and the wood carving.

Howard moved forward and walked her over to Pan, although Pandora had to hold him up most of the way. His leg wasn't nearly ready to keep him on his feet for much longer.

"Good bye, Pandora," he said before giving her a final peck. "I love you."

"Good bye. I love you, too." Her eyes filled with tears and she looked away until Pan had risen in the air.

"Fly you high,Pandora," came a chorus of voices. It was then that she turned aroundand waved until she couldn't see the dock anymore.