"Dear Kimmie,
Have safely arrived at the Texas waypoint, apparently just ahead of Hurricane Rita. Will be evacuating tomorrow. They may need a mission specialist here in the aftermath of Rita as well as Katrina. Apparently I will remain in Texas through the end of the year, although a scouting mission to New Orleans has been mentioned. It is very warm and beautiful here, hard to believe there is severe weather on the way. The thermometer reads 100 degrees, and for once my armature is warmed through and through.
A modest number of Twinns here at the waypoint. No other Beatrizes, no Bernettas. No Cookies, either, and so many apply to the Continuum. During my brief visit with the others, I did notice a number of Audreys, two Madisons, a Michelle, a Berkeley, and the only dark-skinned Twinn other than Nick and myself is an Emma named Ayanna, whom I've heard is a mystic-type from Jamaica. The Berkeley, a Hawaiian named Princess Kiana, is the next darkest. There were several other faces I couldn't identify before being returned to my travel pod for the evacuation.
Tell Timmy there are four Twinn cats, and four ordinary felines here, and tell Carlisle there is a sea monster called Mr. Ness. A black leather-clad Audrey with what has to be 00 skin has a tarantula and a snake as well.
Hope all is well at the Continuum with you, Rory, Meko, and the others, and that my absence is not causing too much disruption.
Sincerely,
Harmony

Annette, who was planting bulbs near the playhouse, was the first one to see Harmony when she got off the bus. Annette dropped her bulbs and trowel and ran to greet her friend. "Harmony! It's so good to see you! Welcome back!"

"Thanks," said Harmony, hugging Annette. "It is good to be back."
"Are you here just for a visit or will you be staying?" asked Annette who had missed out on the reading of Harmony's letter.
"Staying," Harmony replied. "It didn't exactly work out down south and I got the opportunity to come back, so I did. I was really homesick when I was down there."
"Well, we really missed you and want you back," said Annette. "Rory will be so relieved. She is all bogged down in paperwork. We have a Cookie who is transferring to South Africa and somehow Rory lost her credentials. Meko has a Lois head that won't separate from the neck connector to get onto a new body. Virginia finally got her new body and is anxious to have her naming ceremony before the frost sets in or she needs to donate it to another Twinn." Annette waved at the flat of bulbs. "And just look at all the bulbs I have to plant."

Harmony laughed. "It makes me feel good to know that I was missed," she said. "It will be fun getting everything sorted out again. Thanks, Annette. Come on, let's go find the others."
The girls all ran out to greet Harmony and hastily got together a little reception with the lace tablecloth and the best china. They even opened a new bag of Hershey bars for the occasion. Eventually most of them had to return to their various tasks and, finally, only a few of Harmony's closest friends remained, enjoying the chance to talk with her again.
"And I had the worst time because I couldn't find the wig file. It just disappeared," Rory was saying, waving the hand that wasn't clutching the chocolate.
"Did you look under H for hair?" Harmony asked.
"Gee, I would have gotten to that eventually, I was working my way upwards from W," said Rory. "See, that is why we need you back, Harmony."

"I missed you as much as you missed me," Harmony admitted. "I learned a lot while I was away but I am glad to be back. I hope you didn't give away my bed."
"We've been using it for transitional care patients," Meko explained, "and the most recent one was an Emma who headed off to New York this morning. So it will be available."
"Rory and I will go put clean sheets on for you," offered Leah.
"Sheets? are they filed under L for Linen, S for sheets, or B for bedding?" Rory asked innocently.
"None of the above Rory, they are just stacked in the linen cupboard.
"I'll make sure there are no dust balls under the bed," said Carlisle.
"And I will supervise," laughed Carin. "C'mon, Meko, you can help fluff the pillow. I know you learned that in your medical training."
Laughing, the girls headed off, leaving Harmony alone with Kimmie.

"OK Kimmie, isn't this the part where you say "I told you so!"?"
"Technically this is the part where I ask you what have you learnt from your sojourn."
"Hmm, what did I learn? Apart from "there's no place like home, you will miss your friends when you are away from them, and there are always those who are worse off than you are.""
"That bad huh?"
"Worse. I got there and was just overwhelmed by what I saw and experienced. It was beyond everything I had been trained to do. The people and the Twinns I met were wonderful, but they just seemed to cope better without me trying to play mission specialist. It takes a special kind of strength to be able to go through what they have gone through and I realised that I was better off here where I can help others to understand the situation and make sure that if it ever happens to us that we will be prepared."
"That is very true, and I am glad that you were at least able to come back and tell us about what you experienced."
"I can also tell you one thing Kimmie, I can't wait to get out of this dress and into my jeans and back to work again."
Kimmie laughed, "it's great to have you back Harmony, things will be much smoother once again. You do know how I hate disorganisation."
"Did Rory mess up that badly?"
"Actually no, she did a great job, although she did do it differently from how you did things. Jackie also did a great job and I am going to recommend her that she be taken on as a permanent member of the Continuum".
"Then why the disorganisation?"
"Don't tell anybody, but I was so busy missing you that I messed things up on a number of occasions. I am so glad you are back!"
"And I am glad to be back Kimmie, very very glad.