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Amalirahc was astonished. He hadn't even touched her! But still he felt guilty somehow. He looked up at his father, who simply stared back. He had never seen Miyuki cry before ... ever.

Amalirahc dropped the blocks and stepped closer to Miyuki.

"Ki?" he said, holding his arms wide. He looked at his father for a moment, then looked back at Miyuki and tried to hug her.

Amalirahc flinched at the shout, and, thinking she had said something akin to "don't", he stopped trying to hug her and instead ran back to Kelirahc, holding his hands up to him to be picked up.

Kelirahc set his son on his knee and held him close. This was indeed a strange situation.

"Would you like me to go out and see if I can find them?" he offered to Lin over Miyuki's wails.

By this time, Leyenda headed into the playroom to see what had happened, fearing that perhaps Amalirahc had extracted some sort of revenge for earlier. But when she saw that Kelirahc was comforting Amalirahc, she was at a loss.

"What ..."

Kelirahc held Amalirahc out to her, rising from his chair. "I'm going to find Haldia and Earendil," he told her briefly. "I will return shortly."

He kissed her forehead and ran for the door, leaving her behind and looking very confused. She turned to Lin, looking very lost.

"Oh, I think he and Haldia went for a walk," Leyenda said without thinking. "Something about the first snowfall, and it being particularly pretty ..."

She giggled suddenly. "Of course, you already knew that. That's why Kelirahc is going to find them for you."

"Ah, well," Leyenda smiled, sitting in Kelirahc's chair. "You know, it's probably good for her. After all, if you're going to be going back home, she's going to have to get used to life without him, since I'm fairly certain he can't go with you."

Though everything she was saying was true, she was watching Lin for her reaction. Why? Because it was interested, the reaction she'd gotten simply by mentioning that Earendil and Haldia had gone for a walk together. Was it jealousy that she saw on Lin's face?

Leyenda watched Lin thoughtfully. Sometimes Lin's expressions were clear as day, and sometimes her thoughts were just plain hidden ... and she couldn't help but be curious.

"Lin," she said softly, slowly, "do you-"

But before she could say anything else, the front door opened and Earendil ran into the room, breathless.

Earendil shed his cloak, letting it fall to the floor, and held his hands out to Miyuki, taking her from Lin. His expression was one of anxiety and confusion. What had happened?

"Is she all right?" he asked, not quite realizing that her first attempt at speech was his own name. "What happened?"