Welcome to Gaia! ::

Foenix looked down at the letter in her hand. "Looks like this is the place. Handa?" She looked back over her shoulder, and sighed. Nehanda was currently holding Oleo up, hands firmly on his waist, so that he could pick several bright red berries from an over-hanging branch. "Handa, would you get over here? And don't let him eat those. I don't recognize them, and he'll spoil his appetite."

Nehanda obligingly lowered the little boy to the ground, stopping mid-way to whisper in his ear, "She didn't used to be this strict. You must be a real brat to make her worry so much."

Oleo, knowing by now that Nehanda was always joking when she had that particular grin on her face, giggled. "Silly Fweenix." As soon as his feet touched the dirt, he reached up to grab her hand. "Goin' ta see Bwanche. Like Bwanche."

Nehanda nodded. "This'll be fun. And Blanche is a child now, too, so we'll all be able to play some games."

Once the two straggling members of her little group had rejoined her, Foenix knocked on Emi's door.

Foenix smiled easily and gave an amused little wave rather then extending a hand to shake. "That's right. I'm really sorry to drop be unannounced like this, but we needed to pick up a few things from Oleo's house for him, and I thought it would be a nice opportunity to actually meet you."

The auburn-tressed woman reached back and placed a hand on Nehanda's shoulder. "This is Nehanda."

Nehanda smiled at Emi. "Hi there. It's nice to finally meet you both. Foenix always read your letters outloud when I was a kid." Tilting her head, she peered around teasingly at Blanche. "Blanche, I'm Nehanda. We haven't met yet, but I'm an Aerandir, just like you. And I brought a friend of yours to play."

Hooking an arm around Oleo's neck, she pulled the little boy forward. "Do you remember Oleo? I guess you might not recognize each other . . ."

Oleo smiled widely as he nodded. "I 'member. Hi, Blanche! Like your wibbons. Dey're neato."

Foenix shrugged. "Oleo's staying with us for a bit. I didn't mean to descend upon you with a horde. I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience."

"That would be really fabulous." Foenix took a step inside, leaving enough room between herself and Blanche that the little girl would -hopefully- not feel too nervous and overwhelmed by the strange woman's presense. Foenix's fingers itched to run themselves through Blanche's soft white hair, but she restrained herself.

She looked around the room. "You have a lovely house."

Nehanda looked up from Oleo and Blanche. "A drink would be really nice, Emi. Thanks." She then returned her attention to Blanche and nodded encouragingly. She could certainly remember how difficult it had been to learn how to speak! "That's right, Blanche. Your ribbons really are very neat!" She elongated the word, emphasizing the consonants and vowels. "And I like your earrings. Did a friend give you your feather?" Her eyes sought out and realized that the ribbons she had just complimented were the very same ones she had dropped off for Blanche's transformation. How . . . cool.

Oleo danced a bit in place, eager to explore and play. Blanche was a little taller then he was, and he sort of wanted to play with that fluffy tail of hers . . . but he sensed that it might make the girl nervous right now. "Fweenix an Handa is teetsin' me to talk, too. It's kinda hard, but ya learn fast! I like talkin'. You like to play games?"

Nehanda bit her lip to keep from laughing. Oleo certainly did like to talk!

Foenix gave a happy sigh. "It's really so amazing," she murmured to Emi. She knew that the girl would understand exactly what she was talking about. "I haven't been witness to much magic in my life, but Nehanda makes me believe in anything."

"Tea would be just fine for all of us." Foenix ran a finger over the throws. They were soft, and the colors wre quite eye-catching. Emi's next words made her laugh softly. "Oh, gads, you have no idea. And Blanche is a spell-weaver, right? At least Nehanda is an Herbalist. No magic there, aside from her instinctive knowledge of plants and herbs and their uses. That reminds me," she looked back over her shoulder to watch the three. "Doesn't Blanche get hot? She's based upon creatures which live at arctic temperatures, right? I was wondering how you managed to deal with something like that around here." she laughed again. "I also think of questions I should have asked after I send a letter off to you."

Nehanda let Blanche pull her into the living room, and settled down on the rug. She was very curious, but didn't want to overwhelm Blanche when the little girl wasn't yet able to talk clearly. Instead, she continued in Oleo's last topic. "Oleo told me that you like to play games. Do you know how to play hide-and-seek? He and I have been playing that game a lot at my house." It seemed like a good one that didn't require too much speach.

Oleo nodded, shaggy bangs falling over his eyes. "We's done that a bunch. Or dere are odder games . . ." He trailed off, and scrunched his little face up as he tried to think of some. "We could go cwimb twees, or just pway outside. Fweenix is always sendin' me outside to pway." he looked over his shoulder at the woman. "Or we can stay inside if you wike."

Foenix smiled. Blanche used to sleep in a fridge? "That sounds like a lot of work." Worth it, of course. Any amount of work was worth it to keep her own girl happy, and Foenix was sure Emi would agree.

She sat in one of the chairs, and found it quite comfortable. "Well, I've had a lot of experience with humanoid children, even if Nehanda was pretty different from most of them. Speech lessons were some of the most important, and I started teaching her the alphabet, and how to write. A lot of this is the stuff most children should learn. I'd read to Nehanda every night from the beginning, even when she was in the jars. So she already liked stories. That was good incentive for her to learn how to read.

"And I don't know what Blanche will be like, but we did tend to butt heads over the lessons. Nehanda had her gardens by then, and all she wanted was to be outside, digging in the dirt." Foenix laughed. "Regular baths and sanitation were also big lessons.

Out in the living room, Nehanda leaned back on her heels. She was pretty sure she understood what Blanche wanted, but wanted to see if Oleo could figure it out. He was a pretty smart little boy.

Oleo forwned a bit as he pondered Blanche's near-words. "You wanna play hide'n seek? Do you wanna hide first? I could be the finder person, an you could show Handa where ta hide. She's kinda big."

"Hey, now," Nehanda muttered with a small grin.

Foenix nodded in sympathy. "I can't imagine what it's like. Their entire world view changes within seconds. But take everything slowly and as it comes. I think you'll find that Blanche adapts very quickly after the first day or so to get used to her new body. I've certainly found that the other Aerandir children have done so. If you'd like, I can send over some of the educational books I used for Nehanda. 'See Spot run,' and all that, and some excellent texts for the alphabet and simple maths."

She took a biscuit and nibbled it as she listened to Oleo's giggles with half an ear.

"Gweat! You guys go hide. I's gonna count ta fibty." Putting his fingers in his ears, the little boy shut his eyes tightly and began to count loudly. "One, two, tree, six, seben, ten, four . . ."

Nehand aleaned close to Blanche and whispered, "He's not very good at counting yet, so I don't actaully know how much time we have." Obligingly, she followed Blanche and allowed the girl to usher her into the closet. "Ooo, dear." She ducked back out quickly and fluttered her wings. "I'm afraid I'm a little too large for that. Do you have any other ideas? Maybe I could fit underneath Emi's bed? Foenix's bed has enough room underneath it that I can just barely fit under there . . ."

As the two girls scampered off, Foenix watched them go, then studied Oleo. His loud counting was very out of order, and very amusing. "See? I think Blanche will be fine."

What a great idea! And there was plenty of space in the storage shed. Scooping Blanche up onto her hip, Nehanda pulled the door shut behind them. "Is it okay if I hold you up like this?" she whispered to the pristine white child. "That way I don't have to worry about hitting you with one of my wings."

"I'll send the books over tomorrow," Foenix promised. "As for Nehanda's journey . . ." The woman held up her hands and gave a very French shrug. "Acia and Osero took Nehanda and another of the kids, Pueblo, off with them in a boat one morning. Later that night, and I mean well after midnight, Nehanda comes flying back home, looking like she does now. And they're apparently sworn to secrecy about the entire thing. I have no idea where they went, what they did, what they were told. I don't even know if it was safe or dangerous!"

Her voice had risen over the course of this short diatribe, and she blushed as soon as she realized it. "Sorry. But it's really very frustrating, not being able to know something so important."

"Tirdy-six, tirdy-one, Fibty!" Evidently deciding that he had counted long enough, Oelo popped his eyes open and clambered to his feet. "I's comin' ta get you!" He looked around eagerly, then began to search the room. They weren't under the table . . . Running into the kitchen, he checked under the table there and tried to open a cabinet.

Nehanda pulled one wing back and out of the way so that she could lean against her hip. Just as when she had been a child, her heart beat was quickened and there was the tight, funny feeling of excitement in her chest. "Hide-n-seek has always been one of my favorite games," she whispered to Blanche.Of course, I'd usually climb a tree to hide. But the last time I tried to climb a tree as a teen, I fell out! I almost landed on top of Oleo and Air Song. It took me a while to get used to this bigger body, just like it took a while for me to get used to being a kid."

Foenix chuckled over Oleo as he scrambled under her legs to check the kitchen table once more. "Oleo, that's not very polite."

The little boy scrambled back up. "Sorry," he mumbled, his attention already elsewhere. "Gotta find Bwanche and Handa. Dey're not in de kitsen, and dey're not in da odder room."

"You might try outside," the woman suggested. "Try looking for places where Nehanda could fit."

With a big grin, Oleo spun on his heels and ran for the front door. A moment later, it slammed open and closed, and his voice could be heard as he yelled, "I's gonna find you guys!"

Foenix smiled over at Emi and shrugged. "I figure a little hint doesn't hurt." That said, she returned to the earlier topic of conversation. "Oh, I know that. Acia is a wonderful girl, even if she's so very shy. I'd trust her to take Nehanda almost alywhere. And children do have to grow up and go their own ways. But . . . it's one thing to know it in my head. My heart, on the other hand . . . I'm something of a worry-wort, as the kids are constantly reminding me."