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Earendil smiled at Miyuki and sat next to her obediently. He shouldn't spoil her, but it warmed his heart to know that even after growing so much, she still wanted him with her.

"Probably," Haldia agreed with Lin, "but I have to say that all he has accomplished is to make me more annoyed with him than anything."

She put out the fire and flipped the fish one last time to finish it off. "And," she added, "I have a feeling he is only going to get worse now."

Haldia smiled faintly at Lin. "Not because of all of you. Because of one of you."

She glanced at Celeb meaningfully, then looked back at Lin. "Apparently he saw all those years ago what I did not realize until today. He feels threatened, I could see it in his eyes."

Earendil looked down at Miyuki. "Well ... I don't know about bugging, really," he murmured, "but he really likes Haldia and he wants to spend his time with her. More than she wants him to, I think."

Haldia smiled at Lin. "Thank you."

Celeb meanwhile was grinning, knowing that Cald was feeling threatened by him. It wasn't that he was gloating or anything: he was just glad he wasn't the only one who was feeling left behind.

"Lin, could you collect leaves that we can use as plates?" Haldia asked her. "You may want to rinse them in the river first."

She poked at the fish. The fire was out, but she was making sure that they were cooling properly so that they could be eaten.

Earendil pursed his lips thoughtfully as he looked down at Miyuki. "Well ... I don't think it would be fair for me to answer that," he replied finally. "I can't say what Haldia is thinking, or how she feels. Just like sometimes you get annoyed with Amalirahc, but that doesn't mean you don't like him, right?"

Earendil chuckled and hugged Miyuki with one arm. "You try hard, Miyuki," he murmured, "and you don't mean to sound annoyed. That's the important part. And I'm sure he doesn't take it personally."

In other words, she did talk to him like that once in a while, even if she didn't mean to or want to. But she was a child - what could he expect?

"Thank you," Haldia smiled at Lin. She used her knife to distribute the fish on the leaves evenly (or mostly, she left two of them with a little less for the children). "All right, all set," she grinned. "Just to hand them out now ..."

She took half of them and started to hand them out to everyone.

Amalirahc, raised far from the courts Earendil had always called home, dug into his food the moment it was in his hands.

"Hot," he muttered, licking his fingers. He took a nibble of it and grinned. "But good!"

Haldia smiled and sat down between everyone else. "I hope you all like it," she murmured, slightly flustered. "I have never cooked for anyone before ..."

The others agreed, and Kelirahc added with a grin, "It is almost a shame that you cannot cook for others without it being taken as something more than a meal."

"So why is it all right in a situation like this?" Leyenda asked curiously. "I mean, sure, you and I are married, and Lin and Earendil are as good as, and Miyuki and Amalirahc are just children, but ..."

She trailed off and looked over at Celeb. His face was flushed, and he was staring intently at his food as he ate it.

Haldia smiled. "Let us call it a peace offering, and leave it at that," she murmured.

By the time they finished eating, it was beginning to grow dark.

"We should head back to the beach," Kelirahc said, looking up at the sky. "Arwen and Roydon will be expecting us."

"May I come with you?" Haldia asked hopefully. "I would like very much to see everyone again, it has been a long time and I did enjoy my time with all of them ..."

Earendil grinned. "We would love to have you."