Welcome to Gaia! ::

Elnara smiled. As nice as it would be to have Lore to dinner here, it wouldn't be quite as nice as a nice quiet dinner with just them and her three children - or just the two of them. Still, it was something she would look forward to.

"Then we might as well go back downstairs to the fountain," she nodded. "Because Cindy was right ... if we wait til last to introduce you to Feng, she'll be frightfully miffed ... and beware the annoyance of a teenage mermaid." She laughed softly. Yes ... Feng was quite vindictive when she chose to be.

At least she wouldn't be mailing herself and Ryu anywhere anymore, now that they were teens.

At least ... she hoped not.

Now there was a scary thought.

Elnara nodded. "And she has a twin brother, too, so I'm sure we'll be meeting both of them at the same time. They both live in the fountain ... and half the time, Celebor joins them there to play."

She started leading the way back to the stairs. "I don't know if anyone ever mentioned to you that Celebor learned a spell from the goddesses that allows him to breathe underwater ..."

"He did," Elnara replied with a smile as she started down the stairs. "Feng and Ryu were the first ones he met after he was born, since he came out of his vase in the Seconds World, and he wanted to play in the water with them, but I guess he nearly drowned or something ..."

She shuddered involuntarily at the memory.

"Anyways," she continued, more quietly now, "he went to visit the goddess and asked for the ability to breathe underwater. He can, but not for long, and only if he concentrates ... I still won't let him swim alone."

Elnara nodded and leaned into him, glad for the comfort. "Every time he goes to the Seconds World for a visit, they're the ones he goes with. They always have some sort of adventure ... and he always talks about it for days. She laughed. "I'm amazed he hasn't talked your ear off about any of them yet ... but watch out, if you ask him about it he just might."

"It is," Elnara nodded again. "I know he loves it there. But the best part is, no matter how much fun he has there and how much he loves going there, he always loves coming back home more."

She smiled warmly as they reached the ground floor. "It's nice that I don't have to worry about losing him."

She turned and led the way to the sunroom and the fountain.

Elnara smiled again and squeezed him a bit as she led him towards the fountain.

Celebor was already in the room with Serenity. They had arrived only moments before Elnara and Lore, and they had just arrived at the fountain; but when they heard Lore and Elnara come into the room, they both turned to look at them.

Celebor grinned. "Mommy! I'm gonna show Feng and Ryu to Nako! You gonna show 'em to Lore, too? I bet they'd be happy to meet 'em! But they're not out right here, can I go get 'em and tell 'em there's people here to meet 'em?"

Elnara smiled and nodded. "Take off your shirt and pants first, though", she reminded him.

Lore smiled thinking that this should be an interesting experience. One did not often meet a real mermaid... or man, in the city just because the city was not friendly in terms of layout towards the race.

Serenity's heart skipped a beat, and she gasped as Celebor jumped into the fountain and disappeared.

"You let him do that?" she asked Elnara anxiously, staring into the fountain's depths. "You don't worry about him going in like that?"