Lizzie couldn't believe that they were leaving for good. She had finally overcome her fear of the Underland, and now she even had friends here. The truth of that knowledge burned inside her, and she found herself crying out her grief for losing something special that she had only just discovered; a place where she was accepted as an equal and her "Code-Breaking" was respected.
Through her tears, she watched everyone saying goodbye. Her mom was talking awkwardly to some Underlanders Lizzie didn't know, and her dad was shaking hands with Gregor's friend Mareth and the doctor Howard, who had come to see them off at the docks. Boots hugged Hazard and then ran over to Temp. She placed many kisses on shell, and the cockroach quivered happily.
"Bye, Temp!" Boots said between kisses. "See you soon!"

This only made Lizzie sob even more, since she knew that this was not true.

She watched Ripred and Gregor conversing in low voices away from the rest of the crowd; Gregor went pale, his face stony and drawn. She caught the occasional hiss of things like "Watch yourself" and "Rager" and then finally, "-you high, Overlander." Gregor nodded grimly, muttered something in return, and turned towards the bats.
Ripred locked eyes with her, and his face softened. He padded over to her, and she ran and buried her face in his furry belly.

"There, now don't cry; it's all right."

"No it's not!" Lizzie's voice was muffled by his thick coat.

"We have to go back to New York and pre-pre-tend like none of this happened. I'll never see you again! Boots will n-n-never see Temp! Gregor has a lot of friends here-and he has L-L-Luxa! And you...you'll be all a-a-alone again!"

Ripred nudged her onto his back with his nose.

"Lizzie, as an extremely self-absorbed creature, I have a world of trouble trying to understand how you can feel so horribly for so many people at once."

She knew he was trying to make her laugh, but she couldn't formulate a response.

He sighed. "Well, they appreciate you for it all the same. Can I tell you a secret?"

Lizzie sniffed shakily and looked up at him. "O-o-of course."

"I don't think this is the last time you'll see me."

Lizzie felt so surprised that she stopped crying all at once.

"You see" Ripred continued quickly, "Your parents are afraid of the Underland; afraid of how it changed their family. They feel the best thing they can do is flee. But I can assure you, my dear, that when you run from things that you're afraid of...they chase you."

Lizzie felt alarm shooting through her. "You don't mean to say-?"

"No. There are no more prophecies."

"Then why-?"

"You'd be surprised the way the natural rhythm of things can throw the same group of people into the same places, at the right times. It's actually rather annoying. I find that I can't escape even the most unpleasant of my acquaintances."

"Oh." Lizzie allowed a few remaining tears to trickle down her cheeks, but she smiled broadly. She still felt a little sad, but Ripred, as always, made her feel better.

"And you know-" Ripred pointed a paw and looked over towards the bats where Gregor was kicking at the ground, waiting for the rest of the family, "That thick-skulled brother of yours is sure that the best thing for your family is to let his parents run away with all of you. He may even have convinced himself of that, even if he doesn't like it. I doubt he'll settle for pretending this part of his life never happened."

Gregor saw them looking at him. He gestured at Lizzie to join him on Aurora.

"Goodbye, Ripred. I hope we meet again."

"I don't doubt it, dear." Ripred nudged her towards the bats, where the rest of her family and Luxa were waiting. "Now go. And tell that lovely Mrs. Cormaci of yours that she can feel free to dump her casseroles down the air vent in the laundry room any time she would like."

And they flew over the Waterway to the stairs beneath Central Park. There were a few more painful goodbyes, and then they returned to the Overland.

Lizzie stood slightly away from the stone slab; she was nestled next to her mother, who held Boots's hand. She watched her dad heaving the rock over the entrance closed with the crowbar. Gregor was standing behind him, staring down in the hole with sad eyes at Luxa, who held his gaze solemnly. Lizzie's heart went out to her older brother; she knew that he, even more than she would have reason to miss the Underland.

But Ripred said that it isn't over; that we'll all find each other again. Lizzie thought to herself. She trusted Ripred, but couldn't help wonder whether he was just saying that so that she'd have the strength to leave the new and strange world forever.

Interlude

In the months following that mid-October day that they returned to New York City, Gregor was surprised how easily he was able to adjust back to the pace of the Overland. He went back to school, even though it took a bit of time to catch up on his work (he needed a lot of help from his Dad). He told all the right lies to answer Larry and Angelina's questions, and partook in enough forced conversation to keep them from worrying...too much. He went back to work at Mrs. Cormaci's, doing her errands and chores, earning meals for himself and money for his family. He took care of his sisters. He visited his Grandma at the nursing home (she had eventually moved from the hospital to a place with full-time care, so Virginia was out for now) He did his homework. He made sure he avoided any and all confrontation, knowing how sharp his fighting skills were. He worked as hard as he had the energy for; hard enough so that he didn't have time to stop and think. Consequently, he gave up activities like track and band. He doubted as to whether he could even remember how to play the saxophone at this point, and he felt that, after finding out what it truly felt like to run for his life, he'd never do it for pleasure again.

The family at first mentioned the Underland rarely. Then, as Boots grew, their mother forbade it. She hoped that Boots, at least, would be able to forget. And she did for the most part, as her life began to expand out of the limited world of a toddler. One time, however, she laughed as she told Gregor about a 'silly' dream she had about people flying around on bats. Gregor laughed with her, but on the inside all he felt was despairing confusion. Part of him wished it really had been a dream, and part of him thought that that was stupid.