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"It's ill !" Nalini wailed and pointed at the leaf with the yellow spots. Lena sighed and sat down beside the flowerpot. Did they water it too much ? Too much fertilizer ? "It smells nicey." Jessila added and poked it slightly, which made the plant shiver.

"I don't think it's ill though. It doesn't seem sad." The mother added and simply stared at the green-yellow surface. What was going on ? She needed to save it...but how ?

9th April 2005

"A baby !" Two young girls screamed and were close to grabbing the young new body as Lena catched their hands. "No way !" The mother announced and sighed heavily. She seemed to attract children born out of strange things. Somehow it wasn't even much of a shock anymore. It was just...natural ? Oh no never.

The young toddler seemed very beautiful and quiet and Nalini and Jessila just stared in awe. "It's our new sister. We can play with her, we can show ours pets to her." Jessila announced and smiled broadly. The dwarf just nodded in agreement and picked the small one up. The leaf had vanished completely. Strange enough...was Kat's leaf growing into something like this as well ? A baby ? Where did they come from ?

"What's her name, mama ?" Jessila asked and jumped down on the couch accompanied by her sister. Out of sudden the beautiful blonde baby opened her golden eyes and smiled shily. "Tyyne." Lena said and nodded.

Lenta slipped up to Lena's front door, a large box resting in her arms. Giant holes had been poked in the top, one corner was completely ripped off, and the ribbon around it looked like it had been chewed. Lenta looked rather proud of her wrapping job, though; mayhaps she didn't know it had been sabatoged by the gift itself. Placing the box on the doorstep, Lenta gave the top of the box a fond pat, then stuck a small note to the top and dashed off. Oh boy oh boy, wait'll Lena saw the neato gift she had gotten for her and her little Eden!

And hopefully, it wouldn't try to chew a hole through any of Lena's electrical appliances like it did for Lenta... She was still wondering how she would replace that toaster. Or, er, half-toaster. Whatev.




The note read...

Date : 11th April 2005



Wee, we got presents. We that's me and Tyyne actually. She received a plushie from Kat and a cute pet from Lenta. That's great, but Ty is still a very quiet one. She's totally different from all the other babies I have experienced so far. My blonde girl seems to prefer to listen and watch. She lightened up a little when she met Shouko the other day and so I'll take her with me, when we meet the new leaf owners.

Yes, finally we decided. It was a tough decision, but we found a way both of us were content with the decision. I wonder what kind of children will grow out of these beautiful plants.

Well, Nalini and Jessila are still trying to animate Tyyne to talk, but she isn't fond of being disturbed so much. She's just sucking on her new plush and stares at her older sisters with her beautiful golden eyes.

I wonder if she'll ever talk

~Lena

13th April 2005
Participants : Lena, Tyyne, Kat + Shouko ( Artifical Anonymity ), Dulcea + Teagan ( as a leaf )

Dulcea stood off to the side in the main room, Teagan balanced on her shoulder. She was staring down at the row of pictures, fingering the frames absently, her mind drifting to what Teagan would be like when he was older. Would he be smart? Kind? She knew it mostly depended on how he was raised, but still, she was curious.

Walking inside the house with Shouko in hand, Kat immediately noticed Ul standing in front of the showcase.
"Hey, Ul!"

Tyyne was sucking her thumb as Lena carried her into the building. "Hey !" She announced gladly as she saw Ul and Kat, still embarrassed about herself dashing off. "I'm sorry about last time. Nobu, my dear Nobu, ran away and I'm still occupied with finding him. I don't have much time today as well." She sighed and put Tyyne on the floor near the couch.

"Hello Lena. Naw, it's alright. Any leads?" Kat smiled, looking slightly worried while putting Shouko next to Tyyne.

"Not at all. He jumped out of his window..." Lena sighed and frowned slightly. "How's your leaf, Ul ?"

Tyyne looked at Shouko and waved. She hadn't talked yet and Lena was already worried about this, seeing that Shouko seemed to be more active. But the blonde girl just wasn't interested in doing so. Friends would understand her anyway.

She spun around, lifting her hand to keep the little leaf from falling off, a smile on her face, "I think he's doing alright, though if I keeping spacing it he might blow away" she laughed, stroking him with a fingertip.

Shouko saw Tyyne waving. Her friend had come back! Waving at the blonde, Shouko crawled closer to her friend. "Tyy!"

"You have a point there, Ul. Has he been doing anything weird lately?" Kat laughed.

"He'll be the first boy. I'm excited." Lena added and smiled slightly, looking pretty exhausted though.

Tyyne instead just nodded and smiled in exchange. Shouko know that she wouldn't talk and that was good like this. Today she had brought the small plushie she had gotten from Kat and now she was showing it to the other toddler.

"Me too. Wonder if he'll be hot.." Kat trailed off, winking at Lena.

Knowing her friend probably wouldn't answer, Shouko was content to look at the little plushie Tyyne had brought. It looked like the one Mama had put in a bag, and left outside someone's door.

She thought for a moment, "Not anything odd persay, but he twitches whenever someone new tries to touch him. Maybe he's just a bit skiddish?" The little leaf shivered under her touch, as if proving a point.

"Oh yes, hopefully." Lena laughed and looked at the leaf interested. "Two other women received leaves as well. I'm so excited about this whole project."

Tyyne handed the plushie to her new friend and glanced at the bow for a moment. This time she wouldn't touch this thingy, her mother always took her home when she did so.

She sat down slowly, setting the little leaf down on the ground in front of her. "I suppose he has a reason to be though, he might still think there are poachers." A bit of a worried look settled on her face, wondering what she would do if he did have nightmares about poachers.

Deciding to think about that when the time came, she shoved the thought from her mind, "Two others? I think I might have met one of them."

Looking at Teagan, Kat said "Well, that is slightly odd. Shouko never did that."

Taking the plushie and sniffing it (it smelled like daisies), Shouko mistook her friend's look. Being the helpful young person she was, she was quick to hold out her bow again.

"Tyyne did almost nothing, just wiggle once in a while. And she spread those athmospheres..." Lena added and looked at her baby.

The blonde one instead got worried and felt some pressure. Of course her friend wanted her to help, but she didn't want to go already.

"No." She said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear her.

Lena just blinked and stared.

"Shouko wiggled like there was no tomorrow.."


Shouko didn't know what the look that passed over Tyyne's face meant, but she certainly knew what 'no' meant.
"No want?"

"Atmospheres? What do you mean?" she asked curiously, stroking Teagan gently with back of a knuckle, an action that seemed to calm the little leaf.

In truth, he was still afraid of poachers, it was instinct, and a very strong one at that.

"She talked. Tyyne talked." Lena repeated and stared at the toddlers. What the hell did Shouko do to make her say something ? "Well, you felt a sense of happiness in the air somehow. Sometimes it was fear, which was quite depressing."

Tyyne pointed at the bow and repeated her first word. "No !"

"She.. doesn't normally talk, does she?" Kat was still staring at her daughter and Tyyne, unknowingly repeating Lena's thoughts. What the hell did Shouko do to make the other young Eden talk?

Looking a bit dejected, Shouko looked at Tyyne. "No?"

She nodded a bit, more of her attention focused on the toddler, excited that she had said her first words even though she had only known them for a few days. "That's.. Amazing. I mean, both of the things you said. This whole project."

"Yeah, I'm still amazed. With everything.." She shook her head, "Well, anything you'd like to ask about?"

"Yes, she has never said anything before." Lena gasped and walked over to Tyyne before she could make her point clear. "Oh Tyyne, we need to tell daddy about it. And your sisters and everyone." She hugged the confused blonde baby and smiled at the others. "As I said I need to find Nobu now or otherwise I'll be freaking out."

Lena waved and walked out of the door cheerfully.

Dulcea waved to the two as they left, then turned her attention back to Teagan, her mind mulling over any questions she might have had. "Well.. Hmm.. I was wondering about why he seems to be afraid of most men?"

Waving to Lena and Tyyne, Kat turned to Ul.
"Well, I have to leave now too. It was nice seeing you and Teagan again. I can't wait till he grows!" Kat squealed, looking for all the world as an over-enthused schoolgirl. Waving cheerfully, she took Shouko by the hand and left.

She nodded, standing up carefully, Teagan balanced once again on her shoulder as she wandered toward the gardens, but first pulled a small mp3 player out of her pocket, tucking one of the earphones into her ear and letting the other hang down so Teagan could listen to the soft flute that was flowing through the air.

"Come on, Alexander! You might not know it, but MAN it's cold out here!"

A small leaf suddenly zoomed into view, then plopped itself down on the girl who had previously spoken's head. She smiled immediately, and looked down at the basket she was carrying. She had folded the blanket which covered it's contents just right so that what it contained could be seen, even if only slightly. A note sat on top of the blanket, too. It read:

Letter

Dear Tyyne and Lena,
We were strolling through the minishops today, and Alexander saw to it by poking me persistantly that I buy this little plushie for the two of you! My head is still throbbing, but you know, it's all good. cool Hope you enjoy!

~ <3 White Feather and Alexander

Upon unravelling the blanket further, a clear image of the plushie would be found:



"Let's go!" Feather set the basket down at Lena's doorstep, and without another word, dissapeared down the road and out of sight.

Date : 21th April 2005



I feel guilty for neglecting this journal for a few days, but a lot of busy things happened. I'm still very worried and occupied with Nobu vanishing and I simply can't get everything in line right now. At least Tyyne's a very quiet toddler and easy to please.

Nalini and Jessila try to show her how to walk now and she's really putting effort in it. She manages to get hold of the couch and walk along it while pulling the cloth hardly. We're all proud, but she still doesn't talk. Not a single word. It worries me a lot and I hope it will get better if she meets more of her kind.

Oh yes, I've heard that Raven and Kajika appeared as well, just like Teagan did a few days ago. Wonderful, huh ? There's also a new leaf which is able to fly. I tell you this project is worth it.

After all we got two wonderful presents. First of all another plushie which looks all doggy-like. Tyyne uses it as a pillow and loves to twist it's ears. And yesterday a little someone arrived sent by Kat. It's a pretty kitty indeed and his name is cheesecake. Tyyne is so much in love with him and she pets him all day. He seems to like her too, although he's reacting grumpy when other people come closer. Well, what can I do about it ?

I even once witnessed that she talked to him. Ty seems to call him Cass though...at least that's what I understood...

We'll see what's coming about


~Lena

27th April 2005

Participants : Lena + Tyyne, Dulcea + Teagan, Kat + Shouko, DiYanni and Madeline ( as leaf ), Feather + Alexander, Bird + Raven

Hearing a voice calling from the other side of the door, DiYanni tried the doorknob and found that it was unlocked. She peered shyly into the Eden Project building and saw Lena and a young toddler.

"Oh!" DiYanni exclaimed, recognizing Lena as the woman she had briefly encountered when she had arrived yesterday. "Hello. My name is DiYanni Templeton. Are you an employee of Eden Project?"

Lena smiled as she recognised the woman. "Nice to meet you. My name is Lena Caraway. Well, without exaggerating too much...I founded the project. This is my daughter Tyyne, she was the first leaf we knew of."

The young woman got up to shake the hand of the newcomer. "How's your leaf ?"

As Lena approached her, DiYanni took a faltering step away, a little taken aback that the very founder of the Eden Project was before her! However, she recovered, realizing that she was being rude. She reached for Lena's hand, taking it in a weak handshake.

"Ms. Caraway! So then...you are the one responsible for Madeline, yes?" DiYanni asked, again reaching for the leaf that she kept closely in her coat pocket. She held it out to Lena, as if the other woman had never seen it. "This Eden...do you recognize it? Can you tell me anything about it?"

Lena put one of her hands below her chin to reveal some kind of thoughtful pose. "Madeline...what a beautiful name." She muttered and looked at the leaf intensively. "Yes, we sent it to you because we regarded you as a responsible person. This little one was found in the backyard. It had been catched by a spider's web." The woman reported and nodded to support her words.

Tyyne instead stared at the new woman curiously and pointed at the leaf. "Nice ?"

M...Me? Me specifically?" DiYanni asked in disbelief, pressing one hand to her chest. "...And in a spider's web...? How frightening." She shuddered, thinking of such a ginger little thing being caught in the grips of a frightening creature.

When the girl on the floor made a curious inquiry regarding the leaf in DiYanni's hand, she paused to regard the child. "Oh, you're an adorable one," she said quietly, kneeling to show Tynne the leaf. "Does it remind you of yourself?"

Lena smiled. This woman seemed nice, they had made the right decision. "Yes, actually every child had strange circumstances. One of the leaves was even able to fly." She shrugged and watched Tyyne curiously.

The toddler instead just looked at the leaf and nodded. "Sista ?"

"Sista?" DiYanni repeated after Tynne, slightly puzzled. She turned to Lena, asking, "Ms. Caraway...is it that the children born from these leaves are all related?" Or did Tynne already have some recognition of Madeline...?

"MEMEME! ZOOOM!" A shrill, cheerful cry pierced the otherwise quiet air outside of the headquarters. A furious flapping of small wings could also be heard.

"Tell me, what's going to happen with those plushies of yours break? It's bound to happen soon, with the way you play!"

Feather pushed open the door of the building, Alexander, as before, perched on her shoulders in a piggy-back like fashion. The boy was carrying with him a plushie in each hand, the one in the right being that of an Eoghan plushie made in his image, and in the other the multicolored bird plushie. He was happily shifting his arms around in mid air, making the birds 'fly', so to speak.

"BIRDIE GO ZOOMZOOMZOOOOM!"
Dark circles shown clear under Feather's eyes.

"Hello, everyone.."

"What are you talking about Tyyne ? She's not your sister." Lena said and frowned slightly. What was the daisy baby talking about ? "Actually I'm quite confused myself. We haven't detected any relationships right now. I can only imagine that they somehow met each other in their past life. Before they turned into leaves ?"

Tyyne just shook her head slightly and touched the leaf gently. "Nice."

Bird, clutching a squirming Raven in her arms, flattened her side against the door to open it. She didn't dare take one hand off of the child, as she had been quite a rebel during the day-- two scraped knees and a frizzed feather.

"Jeez... Raven, I've run out of bandages from your walking-atempts. Quit wiggling."

Raven made a sour face to her mother, and payed no heed to the demand.

"Oh. Hi!" Bird greeted, nodding her head as a substitute for a wave. Raven squawked as a finger poked her, wriggling fiercly.

DiYanni felt her mouth slightly agape from what Lena was telling her. Past life? Her mind was instantly buzzing with questions regarding the circumstances of this past life and the identities of the Eden children. However, before she could ask, she was interrupted by the arrival of the two women she had met yesterday.

"Ms. Feather, Ms. Bird, good morning!" DiYanni greeted as she stood.

"Play nice, now, Alexander. Hello, DiYanni! Nice to see you today." Feather set him down gently on the ground, placing a few more plushies beside him, and stumbled over to the couch where she collapsed into it's soft interior instantly.

"Sleep...please..." She groaned, burying her face into a pillow.

Alexander peered around as soon as he had been released from Feather's hands, large amber eyes blinking with excitement. Maybe he could find someone to play birdie zoom with today? Or more? YAY!

He squealed at the thought, kicking his legs, as well. He crawled over to where the rest of his toys lay, and happily began to play with them

"Yes, we don't know much about it yet but..." As Feather and Bird entered Lena smiled broadly. "Hey, I haven't seen both of you in a while and...I never met your adorable toddlers." The young woman was kind of embarrassed that she had to walk off so quickly in the past weeks.

Tyyne instead was just scared by the newcomers and started to crawl towards the couch to hide quickly.

Feather looked up, though slightly reluctant to begin with, and waved at Lena. An imprint of the pillow's design shown on her cheek. She smiled tiredly and gestured toward Alexander, who was now mashing his plushies together and squealing "MUSHYPLUSHIE!"

"That's my little guy right there...He may look cute, but he's SUCH a handful at home. Crawling all over the place and getting into everything...I can never take my eyes off of him.."

Raven gave a tremendous lurch, tumbling out of Bird's suddenly lax arms and to the floor, squealing excitedly. She spread her arms out instincitvely, small feathers giving her some leeway from the speed. The child flopped on the ground, a very smug smile on her lips. She blinked when she saw some more strange people.

"... I give. I give, I give, I surrender." Bird sighed, planting a hand on her forehead, exasperated.

"Hullo, DiYanni. Nice to see you again," she smiled. "And.. Ho my goodness! Lena? I haven't seen you in forever! How's it been going?"

She blinked as Feather collapsed on some pillows. After seeing Alexander's energetic form she bit her lip.

"Ms. Feather, how has young Alexander been doing?" DiYanni asked. Watching the toddler hurry over to entertain himself, she added, "Difficult for me to imagine how active these Edens become when the leaves are so..." Her eyes dropped to Madeline, the leaf she still held between her fingers.

"So Ms. Caraway," she said, returning her attention back to the Eden employee, "is there something that will give away what the child inside the leaf is like? Or is it impossible to determine?"

"IHAICHU! I DOWANNA GO! IHAICHU!" came the screams of the furious toddler as he wrestled against his mother's grasp. "LEMIGO! LEMIGO!!!"

Ul battled with the child as she carried him into the building, a little trail of blood running down her arm. He could scream himself hoarse for all she cared, he had needed those shots.

A few steps through the doorway he chomped down on her arm and wriggled out of her grasp, taking off toward the gardens, his face flushed with rage. "IHAICHU!!"

Ul clutched her arm, swearing under her breath as she shut the door, barely noticing the other parents. She held her hand over closed eyes for a moment, trying her hardest not to cry. What was wrong with him lately?

"Oh I've been pretty well, beside a lot of work needs to be done. That's why I can't stay at the project's house for more than an hour or so. Problems with having to many children and trying to cope with their problems..." Lena said and noticed that almost everyone seemed just as exhausted as she was herself. Finally her attention moved bacak to Ms. DiYanni. "Actually it was a bit revealed by their habits. Alexander flew around, Kajika slurped all kind of water and so on. Does your leaf do anything...special ?"

Tyyne instead was completely out of mind and moved below the dusty couch watching the scenery. Caused by the grey stuff she had to sneeze loudly and became even more scared to attract someone's attention. More people ? Where did they come from. "elp, elp !" She called to her plushies.

"It's a...challenge, to say in the least. He's very inquisitive, which I guess is a good thing, but like I said, he just NEVER stops.

"...And don't worry about your leaf growing up to be all weird and hyper, either. Mine just kinda...came that way. He was going little flips and stuff all over the place only a little while after I got him."

"WAVEN! WAVENWAVEN!" Alexander cried as soon as he laid eyes on his blue friend, immediately tossing a plushie over at her.

"PLAYPLAYPLAYNOW! BIRDIE ZOOM!!!"

Bird thought for a moment. "... Raven didn't do anything but shine occassionally. Curious."

Raven squealed delightedly at the sight of Alexander, catching the plushie. Standing ungracefully, Raven tried to run over toward him. She tripped on an untied shoelace, however, and sprawled to the floor in a heap. Giggling, well used to it by now, the girl picked herself up and crawled the rest of the way.

"Awwex! B--biwdee... zoom?" she inquired, tilting her head.

"Get out of the dust, Tyyne." Lena moved towards the couch quickly and pulled the very scared blonde out of her hiding place. "Noooo." The young one exclaimed and started to cry, while tugging her mother's clothes. "No ! Sho ! Tea ! No !" She repeated and Lena just sighed. "I think we should go home. She needs some rest and there's just too much going on here for Ty. I'm so sorry, hopefully we'll see each other soon. If not I need to invite all of you for a cup of tea."

She waved and tried to comfort the crying toddler as she walked out of the shop.