Elfangor could still hear that laughter throughout his mind when he came to. Looking around, he was surprised to find that he recognized the place where he now stood. He knew this place in his bones, it was his family's scoop.

Home? Is this- Am I home?

He did some exploring, and the farther he went, the more he believed that he was home. Then, he saw something that reassured him all over again. It was his Garibah, one of the oldest trees in the forest that surrounded his scoop. An ancient therant tree called Hala Fala.

I really made it. I'm home, Elfangor mumbled, still in a mild state of shock.

Shaking himself, Elfangor walked over to touch Hala Fala's smooth bark. He could feel the mind of the tree comforting him with its simple presence, calming his racing thoughts until he could think clearly.

I'm home, Elfangor whispered again, and somehow telling Hala Fala made it that much more real.

He had been holding off his reaction until now, but now his composure collapsed. Leaning his head against the trunk of the tree, Elfangor began to cry softly in the only way any Andalite could. He poured out all of his horrible experiences to the tree, all the bad decisions that he'd made and the many failures that were his alone.

He could feel the tree responding, and some of the overwhelming despair began to lighten, falling away like so many dead leaves. It could never forgive him for what he had done, of course, but it heard his words. And just to be heard was a luxury Elfangor hadn't had lately.

Finally, Elfangor stopped sobbing, feeling better than he had since this entire miserable day had begun. Had it only been a day since he had exited Zero-space with the humans Loren and Chapman? He checked his internal clock and found that it was.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Elfangor tried to figure out his next course of action. He knew that he had utilized the Time Matrix to travel through space, but had he also traveled through time? It was possible, since Hala Fala had been living for seven thousand years.

But, if that was so, then when in that span of time had he arrived? He could clearly recall the mental battle with Visser Thirty-two, so he must have won, he must have turned the Time Matrix to his own use. But, had Loren and the Visser arrived here as well?

They must have, and he had to find them. Loren came first though, since she could aid him locating the Visser.

***

Visser Thirty-two himself awoke in much the same situation, but in a very different place. The familiar landscape of his native planet surrounded him and as he took it all in, he heard a very familiar voice.

"So, this is where your kind comes from. It certainly explains a lot, I'll admit that much," sneered the voice.

It was not coming from directly behind him, that voice, for the owner of the voice would have probably found that too simple for his taste. Twisting his left stalk-eye, he saw the one creature he knew would be there. And indeed there he was, lounging in one of the kanth plants no less.

His loose black clothing and ebony boots were just as Visser Thirty-two remembered them. The smug, utterly condescending smirk was firmly in place, and the burning red eyes regarded him with a lazy defiance. Almost daring him to say something.

It was a challenge he readily accepted.

You came back? Visser Thirty-two asked, still not quite believing his eyes.

"Not for you," the other shot back.

Even though he had turned so that he was now staring into the eyes of this apparition from his past, he could no more convince himself that the other was real then he could shake the feeling of wrongness about this place. It was as if he had not come home at all. But how could that be true?

He had felt Elfangor's mind faltering as the extremely low temperature slowly killed his body. It was then that the remembered Loren, the human who had been trying to hold him back. She had tried to keep him off balance, to stop him from using the Time Matrix for his own ends.

But she had failed, had she not? The Visser watched as the black-clad form of his old host turned and strode away, fading into invisibility before he had taken even two steps.

Wait!

Why should I? the other scoffed, not seeming particularly interested in an answer.

And Visser Thirty-two was not sure he would even have an answer. Alloran had been silent throughout the entire exchange, but now offered his unwanted opinion.

That was the human we saw when you made contact with the Time Matrix.

He is not a human, you stupid slave. He is a Navari. And if he were to hear you calling him that, he would have killed both of us, Visser Thirty-two hissed.

He gave the impression that he hated you even more than I did. Until now, I would have thought that was impossible, Alloran sneered.

Shut up!

Alloran fell silent, but there was an air of smug satisfaction about him even then. Visser Thirty-two hated that, but he had other more pressing matters to attend to. Such as finding out if this was in reality his homeworld, or if this was all just an illusion created somehow by the Time Matrix.

The Visser didn't know if the Matrix was capable of such things, he had thought that it was only meant to transport someone from one spacetime location to another. But he suspected that it had never been used by more than one person at a single time, and had also never been forced to deal with contradictory instructions.

Visser Thirty-two decided to explore, since it was clear he was not going to find any answers by mere speculation. Choosing a direction, the same that his former host had set off in, the Visser followed the shallow footsteps left in the dust. All the time wondering what he would find.