A smile creeped across Gregor's face as the air became cooler and dry. He let out a sigh to finally be out of the hot New York summer air. It was dark but he could see. His sisters weren't with him this time so he didn't bring light. "This is where I belong" he thought.
No Gregor never moved to Virginia. His Dad somehow convinced his Mom that it would be better to stay. With his Grandma being sick and all they weren't moving any time soon anyways. At first his Mom was very scared. The only time they left the house was to go to school and even then either his Mom or Mrs. Cormaci walked with them. He felt like a prisoner. Slowly they were allowed to go out but not to the Park or laundry room. Gregor and Lizzie still wanted to go back really badly though. Gregor's Dad and Mrs. Cormaci started talking to their Mom about letting them visit Underland. It took months. Months of Gregor waiting and hoping she would say yes but finally she did.
He didn't seem that long ago for Gregor. He stilled remembered the feeling of going back down after months of being in Overland. It was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He could finally breathe again. His Mom insisted on coming with them. Gregor didn't care as long as he went. Boots and Lizzie came too. They went down the Laundry Room grate. When they got down they walked toward the city. Scouts saw them and took them to Regalia. Word of them coming must have reached Luxa. When they landed, she was running up to meet them and didn't stop until she was in Gregor's arms. He held on to her and said "I missed you". She smiled and said "Me too. I thought I would never see you again". Gregor saw his Mom give him a dirty look; she didn't know about him and Luxa. He didn't care.
Luxa lead them into the castle to the dinning hall where everyone was eating lunch. Vikus stood and greeted them. He was still weak but getting better. Lizzie ran to Ripred and gave him the cookies she brought. Gregor and his family stayed for hours catching up. Of course before it got too late, Gregor's Mom made them all go back home. Gregor promised the Underlanders that he would return, and sooner this time. It was two weeks before Gregor's Mom took them back down. Gregor wanted to go down more often. His Mom worked and couldn't take them and his Dad was still too weak. Finally Gregor's Mom told he that he could go down by himself but there were rules. He had to get all his school work done first, he had to always tell his Dad, Mom or Mrs. Cormaci when he was going and he had to be home before dark. The last rule was the hardest because there was no sun in Underland. Because of that Gregor's Dad got him a watch with an alarm on it.
This was 3 years ago. From then on Gregor visited when ever he could. School made this hard. The year he started visiting was the year he started high school and his Mom did not accept anything lower than a B. Gregor knew if his grades went below that his visits to Underland would stop. Also his Dad thought it would be good to continue his old hobbies. That meant running on the track team after school and playing in his school band. Even if he was a normal teenager he would have had a busy life. He had fun doing these activities but they keep him away from Underland. He also had a feeling that his parents told him to do these thing because they were afraid they would lose him to Underland. They wanted to give him something more than just family to tie him to Overland.
Still with the busy life Gregor made time to visit Underland. He had tons of fun with his friends down there. They became his second family. Luxa and Gregor grew very close. They even went on "dates". Gregor learned all about Underland. Because it was a time of peace they could travel all over without fear of being attacked. Luxa took Gregor to The Front, Queenshead, and Crystal beach. They made plans to map the Uncharted Lands when they were older. They both knew this wouldn't happen. Luxa, being Queen and all, would never be allowed to do something so dangerous. Though that never stopped her before.
Gregor showed Luxa Overland too. One day, with permission from his Mom, he took her up at night to show her the stars. Hazard came too because he wanted to see where his Mom was from. They didn't go too far. They just sat on a bench in the park. Everything was fascinating to them. The grass, the lights, the trees, the sounds, the smells, the bench. Before the sun came up he took them back down. They both thought Overland was amazing and begged him to take them back. Over time Gregor took Luxa back up a handful of time, but Lizzie took Hazard up daily. Sometimes they even go up during the day and go to the movies. Hazard tells Luxa about all the thing he does up there and she gets jealous, but she knows her place is in Underland.
Today was a special day. It was Luxa's birthday. She was turning sixteen. Gregor couldn't figure out what to get her. He could always just get her something from Overland that they didn't have in Underland, but he didn't feel that it would mean much to her. He wanted to get her something special. He asked her many times what she wanted. She'd say she had all she needed, but at that moment Gregor could see she didn't. She'd look in his eyes and he would see something was missing. What she wanted was her family. All she really had left was Vikus, Hazard and Howard. Vikus was getting weak and they knew he didn't have much time left, Hazard seemed to be spending more time in Overland than Underland now a days. and Howard was living at The Front. That left Gregor as the closes person she had and he was always so busy in Overland. What Luxa wanted was him. For him to move down and become part of her family. And that is exactly what he planned to give her