Rachel stays in Maui for ten days. While there, she has fond remembrances of tales Haleola told her of Maui. After returning to Honolulu, Rachel gets a job as a cashier at a gift shop. After a month at the job a customer notices her crippled hand, and soon thereafter she is fired with no explanation.
After Rachel gets permission to examine the adoption papers for Ruth, she discovers that Ruth was adopted by a Japanese family. Rachel tries to find the Japanese family, but she is unsuccessful. Catherine is able to find a nun who once worked at the adoption home, and the nun has a letter from Ruth's adopted family. The return address is in California. Rachel writes a letter to the address in California.
A couple of weeks later Rachel receives a telephone call from a woman identifying herself as Ruth. Ruth is cold at first and wants to know why Rachel gave her up for adoption. When Rachel tells her that the government forced her because of leprosy, Ruth seems genuinely shocked. She says she must go but promises to call the next day. Rachel waits by the telephone every day, but Ruth does not call again until a week later. Though apprehensive, Ruth agrees to meet Rachel if she goes to California. Rachel buys a ticket on the ship S.S. Lurline.
Ruth meets Rachel at a hotel. The visit is awkward at first, but the two get along and have much to discuss. Ruth tells Rachel of the relocation camps for Japanese people during the war. While in California, Rachel visits Ruth's family.
After returning to Hawaii, Rachel moves to Maui to live with Sarah.
