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"Yue ..."

Earendil was too deep in thought to notice that Lin was also blushing, and while he was thinking, his face turned back to its regular colour.

"I ... for some reason I see white when I hear his name, but I can't think of a face to put with it ..."

"Ah, okay," Earendil nodded. "Yes. I remember him now. I saw him at Aunt Elnara's wedding ... barely."

He and Lin had been having too much fun on their own for him to pay too much attention to the rest of her family. Probably not a good idea now that he was thinking about it. Still.

"Or if I could even remember all of their names," Earendil chuckled softly. He grinned at Lin. "It's fun, remembering back to things we used to do. All those so-called training sessions in the labyrinth, getting you to find me ... finding out the flowers I made for you to give you light were letting you cheat ..."

Earendil chuckled. "True."

His eyes strayed to the flower in her hair. He was probably reading too much into it, but it made him feel good that she still wore it, rather than keeping it put away somewhere like the others.

Just at that moment, Ulani entered the living room, carrying the modified dress and pants that Miyuki had tried on earlier.

"Here they are, Lin," she murmured. "They should be in the right places ... I hope. Shall we change Miyuki again right away?"

Ulani smiled. "Let's take her to Shael's old room then," she murmured. "This way."

After all, young as Miyuki was, it wouldn't be proper to change her clothes in the presence of men who were not relatives to her.

They quickly changed Miyuki, and sure enough once her tails were through the hole in the pants they were impossible to pull down. Hopefully though the doll would keep distracting her and she wouldn't notice them too much.

Then it was back to the living room with the others.

The following day, Ulani brought to the ranch an armload of clothes for Miyuki, all of which had been altered to fit her. She even brought over a little pair of booties with fuzzy insides to keep her warm during the winter months, and a sleeved cloak so that she could play outside.

And not too soon. By the end of the week, the promise of snow was in the air, and within a week after that the snow began to arrive.

One morning when Earendil was out for a walk before breakfast, it started. Soft, gentle flakes began to fall from the sky, filling the world with an almost unearthly calm. He smiled. He could already feel that it was different from the snow on Amon Darthir: it was wetter, and the moment it touched his skin it disappeared into a spot of wetness, though it stayed on the ground.