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"Hey, don't blame me," Kaito said, raising his hands defensively. "She was asking about a movie plot Ura and I were talking about, that's all it was!"

"Besides," Shiro said impatiently, "Miyuki is right, it is a cliché, which means that it's quite simply an overdone plot theme. Would it really happen? I doubt it."

He cut himself off suddenly, seeing a very strange look on Earendil's face. "What is it?" he asked cautiously.

Earendil was looking half-stunned, half-thoughtful. "Be careful what you wish for," he murmured, mostly to himself. He looked at Miyuki. "Do you remember when Iorlas asked if she could come with us, and she said she has a twin sister that might or might not come along? You said you wanted to meet her, and Iorlas said 'be careful what you wish for'. Do you remember?"

"Questions?" Kaito asked, blinking slowly at Lin.

Earendil frowned. "Why didn't she warn us?" he suggested. "For one."

Lin he was sure would have more questions, she always did have more questions than most others.

Earendil nodded. He remembered. The poor girl had been terrified out of her wits ... and he could see now how the man had made the mistake, thinking that Iorlas was her sister. After all, he and Lin and Miyuki had been traveling with her for a week, and had spent time with her before that, and even they hadn't been able to tell the difference between the two women.

"All I can think of is that she must love her sister dearly," he said slowly. "Beyond that ... I have no idea. I know if I had a sibling who was doing that, I sure wouldn't let it keep going. Iorlas is lucky, it's a miracle she hasn't lost a hand yet because of it."

That was the penalty for theft, after all.

"Nor do I," Earendil agreed solemnly. "So Shiro - you said she went off towards the ... where did you say they were going?"

Shiro pointed up the street. "Somewhere this way, at least that's the direction they were headed when we last saw them. But that was a while ago, and it's a small town, they could be on the other side of town by this time."

"It might be easier just to wait at the inn," Kaito spoke up. "You won't walk your legs off, and you know for sure that she's going to end up there sooner or later. I think we were expecting everyone back in an hour or so anyways, meeting up for dinner, just like we did in Tavari."

Earendil shook his head. "With this on my mind, I wouldn't enjoy anything else," he replied.

He held up Andarien, who had finished his cinnamon roll by that time. The boy had cinnamon, sugar and frosting all over his face, from ear to ear, on his nose, chin, and everything; and his hands were just as bad.

"Besides, this little guy needs to be cleaned up so that we don't make a mess in any other shops," he said, trying to sound lighthearted.

Earendil smiled despite himself and started leading them back towards the inn. "I think it would be a good idea," he agreed. "Andarien especially needs one, but none of us have had a bath since we left Tavari, and that was a week ago. There's bound to be a few baths at the inn, if not a bath house somewhere."

He waved to the nekos, who continued on their exploration in the opposite direction of the young family.

"Then why don't you bathe with Miyuki, and I can bathe with Andarien, and we'll meet up afterwards?" Earendil suggested.

It would pass the time and they would all be clean. He knew that Miyuki was well able to bathe on her own, but as much as he would like to bathe with Lin, he was sure that there wouldn't be a bath big enough for three people - especially with Lin's wings.