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It was late, but there was a small plastic pot filled with soil on Greer's doorstep. A bow of simple gardening twine had been tied around it, and a small green seedling was sprouting in the center of the pot.

The pot was sitting on a note:

Dear Greer -

Thank you for your kindness. I hope the holidays found you well, inasmuch as that is possible here - please forgive the lateness of this gift, but seeds do not sprout on any schedule but their own. This sprout will grow into a zinnia plant with yellow flowers. Simply place the pot in sunlight and water every three days or so.

~ Anjali

Greer blinked and awoke slowly, the buzz of the bees soothing enough to make her want to stay asleep. Bees? Why was she surrounded by bees? Sitting up carefully so as not to arouse the insects' ire, she rubbed her head and looked around. The jungle? Why was she in the jungle? Last she recalled she was tending to her new insect hoard and looking over her drawings. Must have stayed up late and fallen asleep in her clothes.

A thrill of alarm shot through her as she stood, but the entomologist ignored it for now. She'd dozed off in her room with her notebook, and neither of those things were anywhere to be seen. The island was a strange place - best to get to the bottom of things before she panicked.

Things looked wrong. Well, not really. Felt wrong was really the term she was thinking of, she was trying to think like a scientist to keep her feathers from fluffing in worry and dread. Were was Sean? Striding towards the village, Greer suddenly felt how long it had been since she'd seen him. The calm, analytic thoughts were quickly being overridden by avian instincts, and before she could stop herself the woman swung up into the upper branches of a nearby tree to observe the village instead of going into it.

Wrongness, wrongness all around. Even when no one was about, the village was never this still. Too many people filling it up, but now the structures had a stillness that meant there was no one inside them. It was like that first, fairly lonely week here, when nothing moved inside the duplexes except for video cameras, and now perhaps not even those.

The hawk wanted nothing to do with this alien, shiver-making place, but it had taught Greer how to be stubborn and she used it against the beast now. Out of the tree and on the ground, she let the animal show her how to move with caution and keep an eye out for danger. It wanted her to check the cafeteria for food first, but the entomologist made a bee-line for her duplex. She had to check on her pets-

The door was locked. What? No! It was never locked, and she certainly didn't- breathing too fast, she rattled the handle and then pressed her ear to the door. It was pointless since her bugs were generally quiet, but still! If she couldn't get in, she couldn't feed them, and then they'd die fast-

A chirp from her shoulder made her jump and whirl, which really just made her dizzy. Shaking a little from the adreneline in her system, she looked at her shoulder in the dark mirror of her duplex's window, and saw a green blob perched comfortingly on it. Mei mei!

No notebook, no drawing implement, but she did have her utility belt complete with killing jars, net, compass, and a small knife. Good. The jars could be washed out to hold drinking water, and the other things to find her way and get food. Her stomach growled in response to that thought, but Greer ignored it. She needed to find friends first, then they could all see to each other.

Heading back into the jungle, she spared one last look at the village over her shoulder. It looked dead, caught in the stillness just after the last breath. A quick shudder, and she began to search for her friends.

It had taken her a little time to find her way back to her duplex, having wandered away from the camp for so long. She found it open when she swung by the village on a predawn prowl, and saw lights on in the other houses. The hawk saw little point in trying the door, since it surely wouldn't be open. The other lights were just a trick to tempt you into thinking there was civilization to be had-

But the door had opened, and the inside had been warm and clean. Taking a quick moment to check on her pets and finding them well, she had stripped off her clothes and repaired to the shower. Almost a full hour later, pruney and steaming, she wrapped herself in a large towel and curled up in bed. She didn't sleep though. There was too much to think about.

Greer had gotten used to the wild in a way she never would have thought possible. She could kill her own food without remorse, and eating raw meat didn't turn her stomach. She still felt the urge to see every insect she could but didn't need to write it down. She wanted knowledge but not research. She missed reading but the idea of sitting still so long made her restless. And while there was a dull ache in her chest when she thought about Sean, and had no intention of ever assuming him dead, not having him near didn't crush her the way it used to...

She wasn't herself anymore, for good of ill. The scared little entomologist that had come to the island was gone, chased off by bird and circumstance. She'd been on her own for awhile, and she missed people. She wanted her adoptive daughter and sister near. She wanted her friend, her writer, her lover...

Getting up she preened her feathers and brushed her hair, picking up the worn clothes she'd dropped on the floor and tossing them into a hamper. They were pretty much done for. Pulling on pajamas she took out Mei Mei and went to her balcony with a book, spending some qualty time with her pet before she went in search of tea in the cafeteria. She had no idea where she stood with herself anymore, except that she missed her friends and wanted to continue hunting. There was a time so few answers would have bothered her, but right now it was enough.

She was home, but that was just geography. She'd have to work to make it truly hers.

She'd taken another scalding shower that morning, even if her feathers protested. They'd be itchy all day now, but it was worth it. She'd missed feeling clean. Wrapped in a towel she'd seen to her charges and read a book on the balcony. She'd been in clothes so long it was nice to be out of them for a little while.

Hearing what could have been a knock at the door, she stood slowly to go check. One never knew.

"Who is it?"

She smiled to herself, happy to hear a familiar voice. "Come in! Make yourself comfortable... I just need to pull on some clothes."

"Far, far too long." she agreed from the bathroom, pulling on a black lace up shirt Emelyn had made her and some dark brown shorts. She reappeared, lacing up the sides.

"How has the wild treated you?"

"Yes. It does that." It took Sean away. And gave her food.

Finishing with her laces, Greer turned to her friend with as much a smile as her face would allow her. "Are you okay?"