Welcome to Gaia! ::

"They're the nicest people in the entire Four Lands," Elnara smiled warmly. The ran her thumb over the back of his hand. "I'm afraid," she murmured, her smile fading, "that my family is ... quite the opposite, for the most part. My brother Gion is the only one who's like Ulani and Ulrich, the rest ..."

She trailed off and sighed.

Elnara's warm smile returned, and she squeezed his hand again. "Yes," she murmured. "Thank you. I wouldn't even be able to think about going back without you there to help me."

In her arms, Idhril stirred. She raised her head and blinked sleepily up at Lore and Elnara. A moment later, she smiled.

Ulani entered the livingroom just then, a tiny blond-fuzzed baby against one shoulder.

"Manage to get rid of the rain?" she asked in a light tone, taking a seat on the couch across from Lore and Elnara. "Although I have to admit, that's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen!"

"Whatever these threads are, they move, or at least the ones they used to cause rain, so they can't reach," Lore replied softly, "We'll try again, but I'm sorry in case there's a chance the dock needs to be replaced. I'm sure it will stop evenually, since the energy has to come from somewhere..." but he didn't really understand where it was coming from.

His eyes travelled to the little bundle that Ulani carried. He smiled softly at it, a little baby. Lore had seen plently of babies, some young mothers would bring a baby with them, but it had been a long time since he had seen an elven baby.

"Oh... uhm..." Lore looked a bit nervous, "If you're sure..."

No one had trusted him with a baby, well that wasn't true. Enough of the older mothers... grandmothers he knew, whom he had known since they were littel girls would trust him with their babies, but these were humans, angels... maybe even the occasional naga. Not... another elf, but, he reminded himself, this was a different land, far away from the northern forests. In fact, he knew that Elnara's home was in the south, so.... therefore.... it was only fair to say... that this was not the same.

Idhril stared at Aliya curiously for several long moments, then looked up at Lore. "What's that?" she asked, pointing down at the baby.

Elnara laughed. An odd question, but a good one. After all, Idhril herself was barely half an hour old - and yet she seemed so much older. The Seconds were truly an amazing race.

Elnara grinned down at Idhril. "That's a baby," she murmured, gently tucking Idhril's hand safely away from Aliya. "Her name is Aliya, just like your name is Idhril."

Idhril nodded her understanding and looked up at Ulani. "Who's that?" she asked, pointing again.

Cradling Lore tried to keep his face out of Aliya's reach, though a lock of his hair slipped foward over his shoulder. He had never needed to tie up his hair seeing as all the other children were much older, at least mentally.