Claire watched as the stegoceratopses filtered out of the valley in a massive herd. She had changed back to her dinosaur form in an attempt to win back their trust, but they refused to approach her. All she could do was watch them from her perch on the mountain beside Cloud's cave. She perked up when she saw the old stegoceratops climbing up to meet her. Of all the dinosaurs in the valley, Cloud was the only one Claire could still talk to. She slid down the cliff with Owen clinging to her frill and skidded to a stop in front of the ancient albino.

"What did they s-"

"They're still afraid of you."

Claire's face fell.

"Did you tell them that I'm not dangerous?"

"Yes, but they think you're lying."

Claire bit her lip.

"I wouldn't lie . . . I mean . . ."

Cloud sighed.

"I don't think you can win back their trust. They are evacuating the valley permanently."

Claire closed her eyes.

"That won't be necessary. I'll just leave . . ."

Cloud shook her head.

"It wouldn't make a difference. Now that you know where we live, no one feels safe."

Claire felt her stomach twist.

"Where will you go?"

"Only time will tell. The best thing you can do now is give us a head start. The tribe will be nervous if you follow too closely."

Claire took a shaky breath.

"Isn't there a way I can convince them to trust me again?"

"I doubt it. Rock called you a traitor, and Sandy . . . Well, I don't think you want to hear what Sandy said."

Claire's eyes were starting to sting.

"And what about Flow-"

Claire realized that she had no reason to keep herself from changing, yet she couldn't bring herself to go through with it. She shut her eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

"Will she at least let me say goodbye?"

Cloud paused.

"I don't know. I asked her, but she refused to speak. She just shook her head. You could try . . ."

Claire swallowed the lump in her throat.

"It sounds like she hates me."

Cloud looked away.

"I'm sorry."

Owen, who had been uncharacteristically silent during their exchange, leaned forward slightly.

"Does she feel the same way about me?"

Cloud sighed.

"She didn't say so specifically . . ."

Owen jumped off of Claire's head.

"I'm going to talk to her."

Claire placed her foot on his tail, pinning him in place.

"Owen, we've caused her enough grief."

He looked up at her with wet eyes.

"No! No, I can't leave her! She needs me!"

Claire shook her head.

"She'd be better off without us."

Owen looked at Claire, then at Cloud, then at the stegoceratopses below. He was trembling unsteadily, and it was clear that he wouldn't be able to suppress his tears for much longer. Using what little courage he had left, he gulped and steadied his voice.

"Tell Flower that I love her, and if she ever decides to come back, I'll . . . I'll be waiting."

He wheeled around and scampered into the cave. Claire watched him leave, then turned back to Cloud.

"Can you take care of her? She needs a guardian."

Cloud nodded.

"I will protect her."

"Good. If . . . If you think she'll ever . . . I mean . . ."

Cloud nodded.

"I know. Is there anything else you want to say to her?"

Claire took a deep breath.

"She's the most wonderful child I've ever known. I would have been lucky to . . . to . . ."

She wiped away her tears.

"I know after all of this, she'll think that I must have hated her. I never did. I just didn't want to believe that I could love someone who was so different from me. But we weren't all that different. If anything, she's more human than I ever was . . ."

Claire shook her head.

"I don't know if she'll understand any of this . . ."

Cloud put her hand on Claire's.

"What should I tell her?"

Claire looked down at the herd. She saw Flower trailing near the end of the group, her head held low. As she watched the poor child straying from her peers, Claire knew exactly what she wanted to say.

"Tell her that she will always be loved, even if she doesn't realize it. Tell her that she has a lot to be proud of. Tell her . . . that no matter how many people try to convince her that she's an animal, she will always be a princess."

Cloud nodded.

"I will tell her."

She turned around slowly.

"Goodbye, Claire. I'm sorry things didn't work out differently."

She stepped down the rocky slope with tired legs. Claire turned to leave, but Cloud paused once more.

"Don't let this experience change how you feel about yourself. I told you that you were special, and I still believe it with all of my heart. Goodbye, Claire. I hope you can see your own worth, someday."

The old stegoceratops climbed down the mountain as the first rain began to fall. There was a crack of lightning, and a vicious wind began to brew. Claire watched the last of the stegoceratopses clear the valley. She could see Cloud meeting up with Flower by the exit. Although she was too far to see what was going on, Claire knew that the child wouldn't believe a word she said.

The old albino nudged Flower forward gently. Then, the two of them disappeared into the tunnel that led outside.

There came a point when Claire wasn't sure how much of the water running down her face was rain and how much was tears.

***TSJWFEW***

By the time the sun came out, Claire had already retreated to her cave. Barry drove back and forth outside, not wanting to interfere with her gloom. He stopped pacing when he saw Owen crawling through the field slowly. He sped over and bent down on his front wheels.

"Hey, Owen. Are you okay?"

Owen turned his head to conceal the redness around his eyes.

"No, Barry, I am not okay. I've lost everything that matters to me, and I can't see things getting any better from here on out."

Barry gave a small shrug.

"You know what I always say: tomorrow is-"

"Another day? Yeah, well maybe it's an even worse day than before."

Owen sat down on a small stone and ran his claws through his fur, sighing deeply.

"Do you remember what it was like, out on the sea?"

Barry tilted his hood to one side.

"What do you mean?"

"The calm. The quiet. That was a loneliness I could tolerate. At least it was painless."

Barry hummed.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean."

Owen shook his head.

"Why can I never protect the people I love? As much as I try to keep them safe, something always goes wrong. I've lost my family, Barry. Blue and Charlie and Delta and Echo . . . and now Flower. I'm all alone."

"What about Claire?"

Owen sniffed.

"There's no point in getting close to her. It'll only make it more painful when she leaves me. These past few days, I've been making radical promises. A part of me wanted to believe that we could last forever, that this would finally be the one relationship that sticks. It's all wishful thinking. Nothing lasts forever. Not even love."

Barry shifted into park mode and sat beside Owen. He gave a small smile and bumped his friend with his front wheel.

"You're right. Nothing lasts forever. People grow and change, and sometimes they choose to go down a different path. There's nothing you can do about it, whether you're a man or a mouse."

"Jerboa."

Barry huffed.

"Same thing. My point is, while you're sitting here worrying about change, you're losing time with what you wanted to hold onto in the first place. You may have something one day and lose it the next, but what you'll never have to give up is the memory of what made you happy. You can't stop a river from flowing or a seed from growing. We have no control over life or love."

Owen closed his eyes.

"Then why even bother?"

Barry gave a tender car-smile.

"Because if you don't stick around to watch the seed grow, you'll never see the flower."

Owen frowned.

"What if it's a weed?"

"Then you've wasted your time. But it's worth sitting through a billion weeds if you get to see a single bud."

Owen took a deep breath and stood up.

"I'm going to talk to Claire."

Barry smiled.

"Can I take this to mean that my motivational speech worked?"

Owen smiled.

"Well, it's a matter of principle."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. Screw the weeds. I'm not about to lose my Flower."

***TSJWFEW***

Claire turned her head slightly as Owen entered the cave. He gave her a smile, but it wasn't returned. Instead, she curled her tail around her legs and looked down in shame.

"I heard you talking to Barry. You're free to leave, but I'm not coming."

Owen's face fell.

"C'mon. You have to go. They're counting on you."

"They're counting on what they imagined me to be," Claire said dolefully, "I thought being a stegoceratops was the worst thing in the world, but I guess being a liar is worse."

Owen cocked his head and hopped over to her foot. He sat on her toe, letting his legs dangle down loosely.

"Claire, I'm going to tell you a story."

"Oh goodie," Claire said flatly. Owen ignored her remark and cleared his throat.

"Once upon a time, there was a man named . . . Shmowen. He worked at a place called Shmurassic World with a beautiful woman named Shmlaire."

Claire hummed.

"Wild guess: is this story about us?"

Owen shook his head.

"No, it's about Shmowen and Shmlaire. Pay attention."

He stood up and started illustrating his story with hand gestures.

"One day, when Shmowen was walking down the hall, he bumped into Shmlaire and made her drop all of her papers. She wanted to get away from him, so she ran to the lab as fast as she could. Unfortunately, she has dropped her necklace, which Shmowen later found out was magical. Now, Shmowen wanted to return this necklace to Shmlaire, but he was worried that she might think he was just making excuses to see her again which, to be honest, he kind of was. He was seriously considering just giving the necklace to Shmlaire's assistant when he walked by the girl's washroom and heard someone crying inside. Now, Shmowen was absolutely sure that it was Shmlaire, because he had been told that she was upset about a dud egg. Well, it might have actually been because she was a Shmegoceratops at the time, but whatever. Point is, he returned the necklace and left her a little note. He didn't expect her to keep it, but one day, when he was helping her back into her office after a night of heavy drinking, he saw the note lying on her desk. Shmowen was in a bit of a bad mood, so he threw the note into the trash, but the point is, she kept it. Even after that, he had his doubts. Shmlaire wouldn't give him the time of day, much less go out with him. But then, one afternoon, she came to his bungalow asking him to look over a new attraction. Suffice to say, what followed was chaotic. At one point, Shmlaire saved Shmowen from being mauled by a flying reptile. They kissed, and Shmowen got to thinking. He thought to himself, 'Hey, if this girl is willing to risk her life to save me, maybe she loves me after all'. Then he thought, 'Well, hey. We've only known each other for a little while, but I'm starting to feel something I've never felt before'. And then he thought, 'I could do this for the rest of my life'."

Owen walked forward and put his paw on Claire's horn.

"So, are you coming with me to win back the tribe?"

"No."

Owen's jaw dropped.

"WHAT?!"

"You can go. I'm not coming."

Owen pouted.

"Claire . . ."

"I love you, Owen, but I can't go back. The stegoceratopses see me as a traitor. I kind of am. I don't think they'll ever change their minds."

Owen folded his ears.

"Aren't you gonna try, at least?"

Claire sighed.

"I don't see any reason why I should."

After a beat, Owen pricked his ears and adopted a determined expression. He hopped across the cave and rummaged around for a few seconds. He returned from the shadows with his hands behind his back. Claire gave him a questioning look. Without saying a word, he showed her a very crumpled-up flower. He set it down gently in front of her feet and stepped back. Slowly, she reached forward and pinched the stem between her toes, lifting the blossom up to her face. Owen waited.

With a newfound strength, Claire stood up and shook herself off. She shifted her weight, then reared up on her hind legs and gave a victorious moo. Owen cocked his head.

"What does that mean?"

Claire grinned.

"It means I'm ready to go. Come on!"

She scooped him up and thundered into the sunlight, tearing through the fields as a warm wind began to stir the butterflies from their flowers.