Minli and Dragon take flight toward Minli’s village, enjoying the ride and waving to their friends in the Village of Moon Rain as they fly overhead. They also fly over the buffalo boy’s home, and in the air, they pass an orange dragon. This is the first time Dragon has ever seen another dragon, and Dragon makes a point to find her again later. Minli thinks the orange dragon feels familiar—what she doesn’t realize is the dragon is Aunt Jin, the aunt of the goldfish who told Minli “The Story of the Dragon Gate," who finally made it to the gate and has been turned into a dragon. Minli’s anticipation grows as they approach Fruitless Mountain, but when they near her village, Dragon begins to act in a peculiar way. He tells Minli he wishes to stay there, sensing that the mountain may actually be his home. He lets Minli keep the stone ball she removed from his head, and she walks the rest of the way to her village. When she finally arrives at her hut in the middle of the night, her parents are sleeping, and the goldfish tells her not to wake them.