Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Uh huh!" Rhea nodded happily at Miyu, still twirling around in circles. "I always play outside after lessons, right until dinner time and then after dinner I help Mama clean up! It's lots of fun, I'm really good at climbing trees and I know the flowers and everything!"

Haradhel smiled at Kara as they headed outside after the children.

"It's going to be an interesting month," she chuckled softly.

Rhea giggled. "Sometimes I sit up in the tree and have my wings out," she smiled. "And then I feel quite like a bird. It's a lot of fun, so long as I don't fall, though my wings help it not to hurt so much. Mama doesn't like me doing it, though ... but Papa lets me."

"Only when he knows that I'm busy and won't notice," Shael called out, overhearing the children's conversation.

Haradhel chuckled softly. "She is a child, after all," she murmured.

"Oh, look!" Rhea said suddenly, pointing up into the sky. "Fireball is back!"

A beautiful phoenix was soaring across the sky above them, its fiery feathers almost glowing in the sunlight.

Haradhel looked at the bird thoughtfully. "I wonder if he's brought a letter again," she murmured. "That's usually the only reason he ever shows himself anymore ..."

"He takes letters from anyone who wants to write to us," Haradhel replied softly to Miyu's question. "Don't ask me how, I don't know, but he always knows when someone wants to send us a letter ..."

Rhea giggled. "He's big," she added to Miyu's comment. "When I was littler he was almost as big as me but now he's just half as big as me."

As they watched, the golden bird began to circle slowly downwards towards them.

Haradhel smiled. "It's more than that," she told Kara quietly. "You can ask him any question you like and he'll give you the answer. It's more than just customs ... he knows."

Rhea was still gazing up at the circling phoenix. "I think he's as big as he's going to get," she murmured softly in reply. "He's old ... he's older than Mama and Papa!"

Shael giggled at Rhea. "He was reborn when Aliya was a child," she told Miyu, "though he's been through hundreds of rebirths."

Only a few short moments later, the phoenix landed on Haradhel's shoulder and pecked fondly at her hair.

Rhea looked up at her mother for the answer.

"Sometimes a few centuries," Shael replied, knowing only from the constant mutterings of her husband, "and sometimes up to a millenia. It varies on what happens to them during their lifetime, the availability of food ..."

Haradhel chuckled and moved the bird to her fist, stroking its beautiful head. "You're starting to sound a lot like Adonai," she grinned, taking a note that had been tied to the phoenix's leg.

Rhea skipped over to Haradhel. "Who's it for?" she asked eagerly, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "What's it say?"

Haradhel turned the letter over in her hands. "It's got a royal seal ... and it's addressed to ..."

She blinked in surprise. "Elros?"

Haradhel smiled down at Miyu and knelt so that the girl could see a bit better, throwing the bird into the air so that she would have a bit more space.

"See?" she asked, pointing at the wax seal - the image of a rearing unicorn. "The Eastland. From Pen and Lothiriel."

She straightened once more and looked over at Kara. "It looks like we'll be making one short stop before making lunch," she murmured. "I hope you don't mind ..."

Haradhel smiled. "Then we should get going," she nodded. "Goodbye for now, Shael, Rhea - we will see you tomorrow."

And with a final wave, she headed towards the trees.

"Bye bye!" Rhea said brightly, waving her entire arm enthusiastically. "See you in the morning! I'll be there for my lessons! And I'll be really really good and listen really really hard!"

Shael giggled. "Until tomorrow."