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Once Miyuki was on the other side of the room, Fletcher held his hands out to her. "Throw it here, Miyuki," he grinned, knowing full well that when his own children had been young, they would have been punished for throwing a ball inside the house. Still, this was different.

Earendil laughed and ruffled Lin's hair again. "You say that as if I'm supposed to do something about it!" he chuckled. "How am I supposed to help? Your father has returned to your world, I won't see him again for probably a very very long time ..."

Fletcher laughed and crawled forward to grab the ball, then tossed it back towards Miyuki. "Good try," he grinned, "but try again! Harder!"

Earendil's laugh faded into a smile, and he put his hands behind his head to keep from doing what he really wanted to do - put his arm around Lin.

"And of course, once Stirring comes, I'll be heading home again," he murmured softly. He glanced over at Haldia. "Haldia," he called, "I know you were talking about going home again ... are you still planning on going?"

Haldia hadn't been paying attention to either of them, but rather watching Miyuki and Fletcher, and now she blinked at Earendil, taken by surprise by his question. For a moment, she looked thoughtful, and then she nodded. "I am not certain if I will stay the winter," she added in a cautioning tone. "It seems a bit ... harsh."

"It is also much colder than I had expected," Haldia admitted, shifting uncomfortably. "Even at Amon Darthir it was not this cold ..."

"Do not worry about it, Haldia," Earendil spoke up again. "No one blames you for wanting to return home again. None of us, I think, could be so far from home all on our own, without any family. We could not ask you to stay, it would be selfish of us."

Fletcher scrambled to his knees and reached up and caught the ball just before it went out of his reach. "Got it," he grinned, sitting down again. He tossed the ball back to Miyuki so that it would land right in front of her feet.

Before anything could be said, however, Amara returned to the living room and announced, "The rooms are ready, if you want to go to bed. Lin, Earendil, I can show you where they are ..."

Earendil nodded and rose to his feet. "I'll be back to keep you company for a while, Haldia," he smiled at her.

Haldia smiled back and shook her head. "It is not necessary. You need to rest, you just go to bed."

Earendil looked hesitant, but he nodded. He couldn't argue with her. If that was what she wanted ... He turned and followed after Amara.

Earendil smiled and took Miyuki's hand, though he wouldn't be able to hold it for long.

Amara led them down the hall, where there were four doorways. The first one was a storage room, filled wall to wall, ceiling to floor, with stacks of wood for their fire over the winter. Across from it were two guest rooms.

"Here, the beds are made, and there are extra blankets in both rooms just in case," Amara told them. "Fletcher and I will be at the end of the hall, and if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call us."

"Hey," Earendil said softly, putting one hand on Miyuki's shoulder. "Be good for your mommy now, okay?" He smiled and brushed Miyuki's hair from her face. "Be good. I'll be here in the morning, don't you worry."

Amara watched them, biting her lip to keep from laughing aloud.

Though Amara and Fletcher also went to bed right away, Earendil, now that he knew where he was to sleep, stayed up for a while with Haldia anyways so that she wouldn't be lonely, and only after a few hours did he also head to bed, leaving Haldia alone to watch over the fire.

When the sun rose, the storm had stopped, and Haldia was still sitting in the same chair, a blanket around her shoulders, watching the fire, deep in thought.

This time however, Earendil didn't seem to want to wake up. Having stayed up half the night, he was too tired to open his eyes, even with Miyuki giggling at him. He had the blanket over his head, his back to the door.

In the living room, Haldia smiled to herself. It really was quite cute, the way Miyuki treated Earendil. She hoped that things would work out for Earendil and Lin, she really did. She knew Miyuki hoped so too, even if the child didn't understand anything of it.