Momo Reunites with Cassiopeia and Returns to Nowhere House turns a chance reunion into a perilous journey: Cassiopeia leads Momo toward safety, but the Men in Gray secretly use the pair as guides to the place they have been seeking. The return succeeds because Never Lane bars the pursuers, not because Momo and Cassiopeia know they are being followed. Their arrival at Nowhere House is therefore both a refuge and the end of an unsuspecting procession through hostile territory.

Reunion and the decision to return

Momo is already anxious that the Men in Gray may have found Cassiopeia. She regrets having mentioned the tortoise before, then tries to comfort herself with the thought that Cassiopeia might have returned to Professor Hora. That hope is interrupted when something nudges her bare foot. Looking down, Momo finds Cassiopeia beside her, with the words HERE I AM AGAIN visible on her shell. Momo quickly hides the tortoise under her jacket and looks around for pursuers; the square appears quiet.

Once they have a moment together, Momo whispers an account of what has happened since they last met and asks what they should do. Cassiopeia listens, then spells out a clear instruction: GO TO HORA. Momo objects that the Men in Gray are searching everywhere and that the present spot is the one place where they are not. Cassiopeia’s answer is equally firm: WE’RE GOING ANYWAY. Her insistence changes the reunion from a pause in Momo’s flight into the beginning of a journey.

Momo initially cannot face repeating their earlier arduous trek. She is tired enough to tell Cassiopeia to go alone and send Professor Hora her love. But Cassiopeia’s shell says IT’S NOT FAR. Looking around, Momo recognizes that the shabby neighbourhood may lead toward the District of White Houses, the strange shadows, and, beyond them, Never Lane and Nowhere House. The route might be within reach after all. She agrees to accompany Cassiopeia and offers to carry her; Cassiopeia refuses, explaining that THE WAY’S INSIDE ME. The tortoise sets off on her own, with Momo following slowly, step by step.

The hidden procession

The apparent quiet of the square conceals the danger. Men in Gray have stayed behind to watch Momo and witness her reunion with Cassiopeia. Rather than seize them, they decide that the tortoise is showing them the way unintentionally. They order the search called off and direct the other agents to join them, with strict instructions not to be seen or to obstruct the two unsuspecting guides. The pursuers are to let the pair pass and follow at their leisure.

That decision explains why Momo and Cassiopeia encounter none of their pursuers on the road. The Men in Gray melt away before them, then gather behind them as a silently growing procession. Momo, who is more exhausted than she has ever been, forces herself to keep walking. She watches her feet and Cassiopeia rather than looking around, unaware that the quiet behind them is filling with enemies.

The pursuers adapt to the district’s peculiarities by matching the travellers’ pace. Once the Men in Gray stop trying to overtake the pair, they discover how to make progress there: they go even more slowly, gradually gaining ground. The journey becomes a race in reverse, a go-slow pursuit in which their caution lets them close the distance without alerting Momo. The dreamlike streets lead farther into a dazzling white glow, and the procession winds on until it reaches the corner of Never Lane.

Never Lane and the failed pursuit

Cassiopeia turns into Never Lane, crawling toward Nowhere House. Momo remembers that she made no headway earlier until she turned around and walked backwards, so she does the same. Then she sees the Men in Gray behind them, an advancing wall stretching as far as she can see, rank upon rank filling the width of the street. The reunion has brought her, unknowingly, to the point where the hidden pursuit becomes visible.

The leaders try to enter the lane, but they vanish before Momo’s eyes. First their outstretched hands disappear, then their legs and bodies, and finally their surprised, horrified faces. The Men in Gray behind them witness the same thing. They shrink back as the advancing ranks press forward, and a scuffle breaks out among the pursuers. Momo sees them scowl and shake their fists, but they dare not follow her farther. Never Lane, which Momo and Cassiopeia have reached by following the tortoise’s direction, becomes a boundary the Men in Gray cannot cross in pursuit.

Arrival at Nowhere House

At last Momo reaches Nowhere House. The big bronze door swings open, and she rushes inside, down the corridor lined with statues and through the tiny door at its far end. She crosses the great hall to the small room enclosed by grandfather clocks, throws herself onto the little sofa, and buries her head under a cushion because she no longer wants to see or hear anything. The rapid sequence of doors, corridors, and rooms ends in physical collapse: getting to safety has demanded the last of her strength.

The episode closes the distance between Momo and Professor Hora’s refuge while preserving the danger that surrounds the return. Cassiopeia has found Momo and led her onward; the Men in Gray have followed them without being noticed, only to be stopped at Never Lane. The tortoise’s independent movement is crucial throughout: she chooses the destination, sets the pace, and refuses to be carried, while Momo’s trust allows her to keep going despite exhaustion. Their reunion brings Momo to the threshold of safety, but the concealed pursuit leaves the Men in Gray’s presence pressing against that refuge.