- Parvana is thrilled to have Father home, even though he looks a wreck.
- The men found him outside of the prison apparently—Father had been released, but couldn't get around—so the men brought him home. Parvana thanks them.
- She just wants to lie down and cling to Father, but Mrs. Weera tells her to give him some space.
- It takes a few days before he feels better, but when Father finally sits up he notices Parvana's appearance and says she is his daughter and his son.
- Poor Father is in bad shape still, though, and it looks like he was beaten pretty badly.
- Parvana keeps working while Mrs. Weera nurses Father back to health; sometimes she reads him his books.
- One day Parvana comes home and hears Father and Homa speaking English back and forth.
- Father asks, "Did you bring us home another educated woman today?" (15.13).
- Parvana says nope, just onions—and with that, laughter has finally returned to the home. Finally.
- Father is home, and this is great, but Parvana wants the rest of her family to come home too.
- Feeling hopeful, Parvana goes back to work so they can buy Father medicine; it feels good to be working to get her family back.
- Shauzia says she also has a goal: to get the heck out of Afghanistan. Her grandfather is trying to find her a husband.
- Parvana asks Shauzia how her mother will live without her, but Shauzia says this is her only chance for her to live a happy life. True that.
- A few days later, a member of the women's group visits Mrs. Weera and brings news from Mazar—most people have left the city and are living in refugee camps.
- Father makes plans to find Mother and the rest of the family.
- No one knows why the Taliban released Father, but as Father points out, they never knew why they even took him in the first place, so their reasoning doesn't really matter.
- Mrs. Weera has her own plans: she and Homa will go to Pakistan, and maybe start a school.
- Parvana asks her to take Shauzia with them, but Mrs. Weera thinks Shauzia should stay with her family.
- Some time after, Parvana is back at the marketplace and is happy to realize that the Window Woman is still alive when she is smacked on the head with another present, this time a camel made from beads. (For the record, if you want to drop presents on our heads, we really like chocolate.)
- Parvana wants to say good-bye to her friend, so she plants flowers in the spot where she usually sits.
- An older man comes to help her even though others say the flowers will never grow without fertile soil and protection.
- Not so, explains the man—sure they are wilted now, but with time the roots will support the plants. A metaphor perhaps?
- Parvana waves good-bye to the Window Woman, and she is pretty sure she sees her wave back.
- It's time to hit the road with Father now, to try to find the rest of their family, and when Parvana asks whether she should travel as a boy or a girl, Father says it doesn't matter because she is his "little Malali" (15.63).
- Mrs. Weera wants to show them one more thing before they leave: Mother's magazine.
- She tells Parvana to tell Mother she did a great job, that she has told the world about Afghanistan's problems.
- Right before they leave, Shauzia appears—she is leaving as well with a group of nomads heading to Pakistan.
- The two friends don't say good-bye—instead they say "until next time" (15.76)—and they plan to meet again twenty years from now, on the first day of spring in front of the Eiffel Tower.
- Parvana can't imagine what will happen in the next twenty years.
- She thinks of her family and not knowing where they are and her uncertain future, but finds "herself looking forward to it" (15.79) anyway.
- In the back of truck next to Father, Parvana enjoys a dried apricot that Shauzia gave to her as she watches Mount Parvana, covered in snow and "sparkling in the sun" (15.80).