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"This is true," Earendil smiled. "We at least owe a visit to my great-grandparents on my grandmother's side. I haven't been to see them since before our first journey."

Rigel and Soronúmë loved to see their descendants, but they were understanding about the fact that as royalty, they led busy lives.

"And then of course there's the Northland and the Westland and the human Southland, none of which we've visited yet," he added. "And there was talk, as I recall, of another sailing trip to see if we could find any other lands or people ..."

He chuckled. "You do realize, we could well spend the next hundred years traveling and not see everything we want to? At this rate we're going to be traveling the rest of our lives."

"That's true," Earendil agreed. "Very true. And as long as we're together, does it matter where we are?" He stroked her hair gently. "As long as I can be with you, will will be happy," he murmured softly, his gaze tender.

Earendil's smile widened, and he nodded. "And Miyuki," he murmured softly. "Yes ... our little girl."

He closed his eyes and held Lin close to him. "You know," he murmured, "I think I'm just about ready for a nap. You'll wake me when Haldia comes back, won't you?"

Or perhaps she would join him in sleep. Who knew? He was just so tired all of a sudden, now that they were sitting down and relaxing. It had been a long day for all of them ...

Almost before Lin had finished speaking, Earendil was asleep, one arm still around her protectively.

It was almost an hour more before Haldia and Miyuki returned. They landed a short distance away and walked back to the hut, where all was still and quiet, despite the activity around them.

Haldia smiled when she saw that Earendil, at least, was asleep, and she leaned down and murmured in Miyuki's ear, "We should let him sleep until the food is ready." She put a finger to her lips and nodded towards the fire pit in front of her hut, motioning for Miyuki to head towards it.

Still, Earendil was fast asleep even with the noise around them, and Miyuki's footsteps went unheeded by him.

Haldia joined Miyuki quickly, and set her bag down next to the pit. "There is some wood just behind my hut," she murmured to the child. "I must get some. Take the fruit from my bag that we just found and peel it. There is a knife in there as well for the fruit that does not peel easily. Put the peels on this rock here," she pointed at a small rock next to the fire pit, then pointed at a slightly larger one, "and the peeled fruit goes on here."

She waited for Miyuki to nod, then turned and went to collect the wood she would need.

It was not long before Haldia was back with an armload of wood, and she set about making a fire right away. Very soon, she had a small blaze going, and then she turned to help Miyuki with the peeling. Since the child was working on the easily peeled fruit, like the oranges and bananas, she picked up the knife and started peeling the others - the mangoes and so on.

As soon as that was finished, she chopped up the mushrooms and put them on a rock in the middle of the fire to start to cook them. She added a few herbs and drizzled lemon juice over the whole thing, and then she pulled out the leaves that she and Miyuki had picked.

By the time she was finished, she had a large salad of greens and mixed fruits with a mushroom glaze over it.

"Time to wake everyone," she told Miyuki with a grin. "Can you do that?"

Earendil yelped as he was startled awake, and he just about grabbed for Miyuki's neck out of instinct - stopping himself just in time.

"By the Valar, Miyuki," he sweated, staring at her. "Don't do that!"

On the bright side, he was wide awake - and hyper aware now.

Earendil let out his breath slowly, then put his arms around Miyuki and hugged her gently.

"It isn't that you did something wrong," he murmured softly, his heart still racing, "it's just the way you woke us up ... you scared me. I didn't know if I was under attack or if someone was trying to hurt me or something, and I almost attacked you instead."

He stroked her back and held her close. "Just ... be more careful, is all," he murmured. "That's all."