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"Because my people sleep during the day," Kelirahc answered distractedly, his eyes scanning the ship for Leyenda's return, "and are awake and active during the night."

Leyenda returned just then, and with Kelirahc's help was on the dragon's back in just a moment. "We're clear. They want us back by nightfall so that they don't have to worry about us."

"Odd time, considering that is the time when most of my people will just be waking," Kelirahc mused. "But that is of little importance now."

He spoke to the dragon, and in a moment they were up in the air and on their way.

While the dragon wasn't as fast as the rocs of Amon Darthir, it still did not take long for them to reach the clearing filled with grass huts. They did not land there: they passed over to the clearing where the oranges grew in such abundance, and it was there that Kelirahc directed them to the ground.

The plants were lush as ever, the fruit abundant, and once they were on the ground, Amalirahc could only look around in awe.

"It's so ... nice!" he exclaimed.

Earendil chuckled as he slid down, then held his arms up to help Miyuki and Lin down. "It is quite a beautiful island," he agreed.

Once everyone was down, Kelirahc unsummoned his dragon and collected his family together.

"Celeb," he said firmly as the young man tried to run ahead of them, "it would not do to wake everyone in the middle of the day. Keep yourself calm and quiet. If you cannot do that, then you may wait here while we find Haldia."

Celeb muttered under his breath, his face growing slightly red; but then he took a deep breath and nodded. "Right. Got it."

Earendil put one hand on Miyuki's shoulder and looked down at her seriously. "That means you, too," he said softly. "They will probably all be asleep, so we will have to be quiet, at least for now."

Earendil chuckled and reached up to pluck an orange from the fruit-laden tree. He rolled it in his hands to loosen the peel, then handed it down to her. "Here you are."

"Come," Kelirahc smiled warmly at everyone. "We can-"

He cut himself off as there was suddenly a rustle in the jungle south of them. They all looked in the direction of the noise, and Earendil tensed instinctively. He knew this was a safe island, but that didn't stop his instincts.

Kelirahc motioned for Miyuki to hush. He had never had any trouble on the island, had never heard of anything truly dangerous; but on the other hand, he had been gone for a decade, and things could have changed.

The rustling continued until at last, a woman came into view. Skin blacker than Kelirahc's, hair just as white ... she had a silver necklace around her neck, with a pendant of a roc on it.

When she saw the group, she stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide with surprise. "How ..."

"Haldia!" Celeb cried gleefully, darting forward. He grabbed her in an enormous bear hug and swung her around. She laughed and hugged him back. "You are here! All of you!"

The others had all relaxed by now, and Earendil chuckled down at Miyuki, putting one hand on her head. "It's Haldia," he grinned. He knew her grasp of the Ancient Tongue was not yet very good - after all, she had been learning only for a few weeks - and he wanted to put her at ease.

Haldia laughed and let go of Celeb, and ran to Lin and hugged her next.

"It is so good to see all of you!" she exclaimed. She gave Earendil a quick hug, and then Kelirahc and Leyenda, and then she looked down at the children. "And you two ... you have grown so much, both of you!"

Amalirahc didn't quite know what to do. On the one hand, he was excited to meet Haldia again, the person who was his father's best friend and about whom he had heard so many stories ... but on the other hand, she was a stranger to him, and a little overexcited for him.

"Um ... hi?" he murmured shyly, red tingeing the tips of his gray ears.

Haldia giggled and knelt in front of the two children. "Hello," she replied warmly in the Common Tongue. "Is ... long time I ... see."

She put an arm around each of them and hugged them both together.

Amalirahc giggled at her. "You talk funny in this language."

Kelirahc chuckled softly. "She has always had trouble learning it," he told his son, "and it has been a few years since she has had any practice."

Haldia blushed as she rose to her feet again. "I can still understand it, yes, but my speaking skills have left me - what few I had to begin with."

"Thank you," Haldia smiled warmly. "It is good to see all of you. You really have no idea. How have you all been?"

"No, I have a question first," Kelirahc interrupted. "What are you doing, awake at this time of day?"

Haldia opened her mouth to answer, then shut it again and laughed sheepishly. "Well, it was ... difficult to adjust again once I became used to being awake during the light."

Kelirahc knew his friend well, perhaps better than anyone, and he could see that there was more to it. The tone of her voice, the look in her eyes ...

"And?" he pressed.

Haldia gripped the pendant around her neck tightly. "You should know."

Kelirahc burst out laughing. "You have a multitude of admirers! I always wondered if they would dare show their faces once I was no longer around!"