Claire was experiencing the sensation of butterflies in her stomach. It had been ages since she'd stepped foot on Isla Nublar with the intent to stay longer than five minutes, and for this reason, she felt like a stranger to everyone around her. It was kind of surreal to see just how much had changed since she'd been gone. The island was more diverse, and it wasn't just because of the raptors. Theropods of all shapes and sizes were running around, and some species were unlike anything Claire had ever seen. It was a little frightening, honestly. Charlie and Echo seemed to be having a very different reaction.

"Whoa . . . Look at all the raptors . . ."

"I've never seen so many of us running around. It's almost like we . . . fit in."

They hid behind Claire as a large dinosaur with a frill came lumbering by. He was carrying a bag of maps.

"This is strange," Owen muttered, "I've never seen dinosaurs like this before."

Lily tugged on his sleeve.

"Where's Liam?"

Claire smiled and patted her shoulder.

"We'll find him, sweetie. Be patient."

They passed a garage, where two spinosaurs were sitting next to each other. One of them had his mouth tied shut. The other caught sight of the group and waved.

"No need to worry," he called out, "He'll change his mind. I know, because it's happened before."

Claire gave him an uncertain smile. She had no idea what he was talking about. Before she could think it over, a flock of about thirty young raptors thundered by. They leapt into the trees and started performing gymnastics.

"Okay . . ." Owen hummed, "I didn't see that coming . . ."

They moved down the path until they came across a dragon who was buying chocolate from a snack stand. She was wearing a neck brace. Claire's eyes went wide.

"Elkay!"

"That's my name. Don't wear it out . . . Actually, it's not my real name . . ."

"We thought you were dead!" Claire marveled.

The dragon gave her a sardonic frown.

"You know, people can survive broken necks. The same goes for dragons, only we don't break them in the traditional sense. What, did you really think I'd just let myself die like that? I mean, that would be a terrible idea! Who would allow a respected icon to be insultingly killed off in a display of dominance involving a threat that nobody cares about? That would be the dumbest thing ever."

Claire nodded.

"Alright. Point taken. Have you seen Ellie around?"

Elkay shook her head as quickly as the brace would allow.

"I hardly ever see her anymore. No one does. She spends her time locked up in the Visitors' Center Palace. I only contact her when it's an emergency, because I'm a bad influence."

"Will I be able to meet with her?"

"I imagine so," she replied as she picked her ear idly, "But you'll have to talk to her secretaries or whatever."

Claire nodded.

"Thank you. Get well soon."

"Don't ever make me fight a giant dinosaur again, okay?"

"Okay."

Claire continued down the road. Owen looked around, keeping his hands in his pockets.

"Are we going the right way?"

Claire shrugged.

"I think so, but I can't be one hundred percent sure. I don't recognize most of these buildings. They must be new."

She leapt back as a colorful animal tumbled out of the underbrush. It had flappy arm-wings and a crest. It turned its toothy beak-face towards Claire, and she saw a big, pink tongue hanging out of the corner of its mouth. She smiled.

"Hello, there."

He didn't reply. Claire blinked.

"Do you talk? . . ."

Suddenly, it opened its beak and screamed very loudly. Claire gasped.

"Oh, Jesus!"

A very familiar dinosaur jogged out of the woods and picked up the screaming child.

"I'm so sorry! He ran off and I didn't know where to look for him. You didn't do anything wrong: he screams at everyone-"

When he realized who he was talking to, his jaw dropped.

"Owen? . . . CLAIRE?!"

"Vic!" she beamed.

She gave him a hug. The animal he was holding pecked her on the head.

"Ow . . ."

Vic winced.

"Sorry. Don is special. We have a hard time getting him to understand what's appropriate . . ."

Claire cocked her head.

"Don? . . . Oh, Don! This is your kid, isn't it?"

"One of them," Vic stated proudly, "Monica is at swimming lessons. It's hard to get her to exercise because of her wheels . . ."

He shook his head.

"Why am I talking about myself? How have you been?"

Claire sighed.

"Well, I'm human again."

"Is that . . . bad?"

Claire looked back at Lily.

"I want things to get back to the way they were. I'm going to speak with Ellie."

Vic's eyes went wide.

"Really? Well, if you're serious, you ought to find Vivian."

"Vivian?"

"Mhm. Once you left, she sort of took over your job."

Claire's lip twitched.

"Did she?"

"Yup. I can bring you to her, if you want."

Claire smiled.

"That would be great. Thanks, Vic!"

"No problem. Follow me."

He led them down another path. Don peeked over his father's shoulder, staring at Claire with crossed eyes. She smiled at him, and he sneezed.

As they crossed the island, random dinosaurs turned to stare at them. Slowly, they began to follow the procession, hanging behind them like obvious stalkers. Claire ignored it at first, but the crowd grew very, very large in a matter of minutes. It was almost as if they had been waiting for her to return, but that couldn't be the case, could it? How would they even know who she was? More importantly, why should they care?

Finally, Vic brought them to a construction site, where a hybrid hadrosaur was giving workers directions. She noticed the crowd and marched up to them with a furrowed brow.

"What the . . ."

Claire stepped forward.

"Hello, Vivian. I'm here to see Ellie."

"Why?"

Claire picked at her nails.

"Well . . . I want to be a stegoceratops again."

There was a series of murmurs in the crowd behind her. She resisted the urge to turn around.

"I might be able to contact her," Vivian said sharply, "But why have you decided to come back now?"

Claire took a deep breath.

"I want to set things right."

Vivian frowned.

"Really? That's not what you said when you ignored my wedding invitation."

Claire looked down at her shoes.

"I'm sorry, Vivian. There's no excuse for what I did."

"I have a daughter, you know."

Claire did a double-take.

"What? Really?"

"Yes, and before you ask: no, she wasn't adopted, and we don't know how it's possible."

Claire nodded weakly.

"Congratulations."

Vivian turned around.

"I'll ask Ellie if she's in the mood to see you, but somehow, I don't think she'll say 'yes'."

She trotted down the path with her snout in the air. Claire looked around uncertainly.

"Do you want us to wait here?"

"Yeah, unless you feel like leaving again!" Vivian called over her shoulder.

When she was far down the road, Claire turned to the crowd. They were staring at her with curious eyes. Lily, Owen, and the two raptors were looking very uncomfortable.

"What's going on?" Claire muttered, "Why are all of you following us?"

A gallimimus stepped forward.

"Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but my daughter is a huge fan, and it would mean the world to her if you could give me your autograph."

Claire blinked.

"Fan?"

A dilophosaur pushed through the crowd.

"Your stories are inspirational. There's not a day that goes by where I forget the things you've done. I started a bakery because of you."

Claire's mouth was agape.

"I . . . But I haven't done anything."

"You fought a spinosaurus," a coelophysis said.

"You stood up to a giant hound," a compsognathus added.

"You raised a child," a raptor declared, "And that's one of the hardest things in the world."

Claire looked back at Owen and the rest of her family. They gave her encouraging smiles. She laced her fingers together.

"I'm just a woman. I'm not even particularly important. Why are you so interested in me?"

"We've heard your story," a young oviraptor explained, "Even though we never traveled with you, you brought us to wonderful places, shared your experiences, taught us lessons . . ."

Claire batted her eyes.

"Are you talking about that book thing Ellie was making? I thought that ended years ago."

"It did, but we've been waiting for a new story. Do you plan to have more adventures?"

Claire rubbed her arm.

"I . . . I don't know. I kind of just got back from one."

"Was anyone narrating?" a strange-looking dinosaur asked, "Are we going to hear what happened?"

"I don't know," Claire replied, "I never really had a say in this whole thing. It wasn't my choice to be a part of this story."

A small, fluffy dinosaur tugged on her skirt.

"If Ellie chooses to tell us what happened, will you let her?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Claire could see Owen smiling at her. He put his arms around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze.

"Well, I'm not going to stop anyone from hearing our story," he affirmed, "If it's really as important as you say, maybe it's a good thing we were dragged into it. As a matter of fact, I don't think I ever would have ended up married to Claire without divine intervention."

Claire nodded slowly.

"I don't think I've done anything particularly heroic, but if you really want autographs and stuff-"

"Vivian's back!"

A small raptor in the crowd pointed to the beige dinosaur, who was even scowlier than before. She marched up to Claire and snorted.

"You're lucky Ellie isn't busy right now. She'll see you, but only you. Your friends can wait in Raptor Valley. I'm sure they'll get a kick out of meeting Owen."

Claire bit her lip. Owen smiled and gave her a nod of encouragement.

"Go ahead, Claire."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Alright, Vivian. I'm ready."