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Celebor chuckled softly. "Perhaps it's wrong of me," he grinned ruefully, "but I'm actually hoping that she'll set him straight somehow. I've tried everything I can think of, but nothing's worked. He's been like this since the moment he was born."

He shook his head slowly. "It's been a challenge ... and it's part of the reason why I never took them all home. I'm just hoping ... new world, new start, right?"

Aras looked up at Miyu, her eyes growing wide with hope. "Will you? Please?" she begged. "I didn't even get to say goodbye or anything!"

She wanted him to know she was all right, that she hadn't wanted to leave ... and that she still would be with him, had the choice been hers.

Celebor nodded. "We were quite isolated. Idhril would visit from time to time with her mate and daughter, but other than that ..." He shook his head. "There was no one. The world is nearly vacant now."

He paused for a moment. "Come with us to Ulani and Urich's?" he suggested. I would love to talk more with you, but we really need to put our things down ..."

Sure they had a spelled bag, but still. They needed to settle in and get start getting used to the place - especially Niyana and the children.

Aras hugged Miyu again, this time gratefully. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed. "His name is Rhea, he lives up in the mountains, and his Mommy is a little bit little and her name is Armus, and his daddy is really tall like that-"

She broke off, looking at Aragost perhaps for the first time since they had arrived. "Like ... him," she said, her tone bewildered now. "But ... a bit different ..."

Rhea smiled brightly at Cindy. "I would love to!" she exclaimed. "This is exciting! We're going to have other people nearby!"

It was going to be strange, having so many more people suddenly in the valley, but it was going to be so much fun!

"Come on, this way," she giggled, leading the group towards her grandparents' house.

Aras hugged Miyu again, misinterpreting her fear, and not realizing that she had met the man before - and not on good terms.

"It's okay," she assured her, "Corrah's really nice ... 'cept when Ruran makes him really mad, then he gets pretty violent, but only to Ruran. But he's really nice, he was our trainer til -"

She broke off and started blinking back tears again, lowering her eyes to the ground once more. "Til Daddy made us come here," she finished in a whisper.

Aras walked with Miyu, clinging to her dress and wiping her eyes with the back of one hand. "But it still won't be the same," she sniffled. "Because Rhea isn't here ..."

Ruran rolled his eyes. "Shut up about the stupid wolf already," he growled. "He's the whole reason Dad dragged us out here, anyways. Because you weren't even training - you were spending all your time with the stupid mutt."

Niyana looked very much as if she wanted to say something to her son, but there was something that was holding her back ...

Celebor put one arm around his wife's shoulder comfortingly.

"I'm just hoping Ulani and Ulrich won't throw him out," he sighed softly to Cindy, "as much as I know he would deserve it."

Celebor smiled faintly at Cindy. "Well, whatever it is, I'll be grateful for it," he said softly. "He needs all the correction he can get. He won't listen to Niyana, and with me ... it's a fine line. Sometimes I can get him to listen, sometimes I can't."

"I just hope he'll at least respect Ulani more than he does me," Niyana said quietly. "She's an elf, right? She'll have more luck than I do."

Aras sniffled at Miyu again, ignoring her brother now. "But I want Rhea," she mumbled. "It's not the same!"

Rhea looked at Aras worriedly. She knew the girl wasn't talking about her, and she had a feeling she understood what the girl was getting at ... of course, she was cheating a little bit, too.

"Grandmother and Grandfather are very good teachers," she said softly, "and perhaps once your training is complete, and you're all grown up, you'll be able to return yourself to where you came from, and see your friend again ..."

Celebor frowned. "I know, Cindy. And as terrible as it is of me to think this, I'm hoping that Ulani does react badly. If nothing else, he needs to learn that he can't do or say whatever he wants, that it will cause him trouble. That there are consequences to his actions. These are things that he has to learn ... and I'm afraid that the hard way is the only way that it will happen."

Aras nodded at Miyu, still clinging to her dress tightly.

As they reached Ulani and Ulrich's house, Rhea slipped past everyone and opened the door, heading into the house and calling out for her grandparents.

Celebor held Niyana close and smiled. "That's the idea," he said softly.

Aras nodded at Miyu and wiped at her eyes again. "But Daddy says that the time here is different than back home, I bet they're all grown up now," she mumbled. "They probably don't play anymore."

They were interrupted by the arrival of Ulani and Ulrich together - and as anyone could have predicted, Ulani squealed with delight when she saw Celebor and his family.

"I can't believe you're all here!" she exclaimed, hugging first Celebor, and then Niyana. "We thought for sure that we would never see you! Celebor went off and disappeared for such a long time, and everyone said you had all settled into your new home so nicely ..."

Ruran was looking around curiously, but at Ulani's display of what he considered 'female ridiculousness', he snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Maybe we would have been better off there, after all," he snarled, folding his hands across his chest.

"Ruran," Celebor frowned deeply. "Behave."

Ulani smiled widely, though her eyes were still on Ruran. "Well, our home is always open," she said warmly, "and you're more than welcome to stay with us."

Ulrich nodded his agreement. "We'll do everything we can to help you out," he vowed.

Ruran snorted. "Yeah, and they'll need all the help they can get," he muttered under his breath.

Without hesitating, Ulani leaned forward and slapped the boy across the face, leaving a red hand-shaped mark on his cheek. "You are being welcomed into our home," she said crisply, "and I don't know who you think you are, but while you are in our home you will treat everyone here with respect - especially your parents."

Ruran's eyes flashed with anger. "Why should I?" he retorted furiously. "I have a useless mother, a weak father - what sort of respect do they deserve?"

Celebor reached down and picked up his son by the back of his shirt, holding him high off the ground, ignoring Niyana's pleas to leave him be.

"We have put up with a lot from you," he said coldly, his green eyes flashing with fury, "because there seems to be little that we can do with you. But if you dare to speak against your mother again-"

"What?" Ruran spat, not at all intimidated. "What'll you do? Send me off to be by myself? Ship me off to yet another trainer?"