Welcome to Gaia! ::

"It must have been very bright," Alassëa mused, "if you still can't see by this time."

"I was thinking for a bit that maybe I would never see again," Amalirahc grumbled.

"If it happens again, it's quite possible," Alassëa replied. "Bright lights like that damage your eyesight, and even now, if you did not have the opportunity to have your eyes healed, your eyesight would not be the same again. That is why I have to heal all of you, even if you think that your eyes are fine."

River had no arguments against that. Sure, she could see again, but she would be the first to admit that things weren't nearly as clear as they had used to be.

"Hey, what about the guard that was out there with us?" Amalirahc remembered suddenly. "He needs his eyes healed, too!"

"We will find him after we have all been looked after," Lady Kirahn said firmly. "I will not leave you children alone."

"It shouldn't be difficult," Lady Kirahn assured Miyuki. "I am the Captain after all, if he's not as his post, we'll check the house of healing, and if he's not there then we'll simply ask."

"How is that, Miyuki?" Alassëa asked, lowering her hand so that the girl could open her eyes.

"You're welcome," Alassëa smiled at her. "Now ... where is Amalirahc?"

"I'm here, right beside Miyuki," Amalirahc spoke up, not moving from his spot. He didn't want to hit anyone, after all.

That didn't bother Alassëa though, she simply stood up, moved around Miyuki, and sat down next to Amalirahc, feeling the bed first to make sure that she wouldn't sit on anyone.

"That reminds me, Alassëa," River spoke up again, "we were wondering ... you're already teaching Miyuki the staff, but can you teach all of us how to get around if we can't see anything? If Ioreth does this to us again, we don't want to be stuck in one place ..."

Alassëa was silent for a moment as she began to heal Amalirahc's eyes, her own expression very thoughtful.

"I ... would like to very much," she said hesitantly, "but ..."

River held her breath apprehensively. She was afraid that there would be some reason for Alassëa to refuse their request, some reason she would have to say no.

"No, that's not it," Alassëa said quickly, realizing that she'd made it sound like the children were incompetent. "I'm sure you would all be able to pick it up quickly enough ... it's just ... it's difficult to learn when you're constantly traveling, and ... it takes a very long time ... and ..."

Understanding dawned on River's face. "And you don't know how long you're going to be with us," she finished for her.

Alassëa nodded sadly. "I want so much to meet my father again ... I don't know if I will be able to, but I want to ... and from there ... I don't know if I will want to stay with him or continue with all of you."

"But we would love for you to stay with us!" Amalirahc protested.

"Aethos especially," River added. "I think he likes you a lot."

Alassëa was silent at that. She'd had many people telling her the same thing, and she wouldn't argue it - she knew that Aethos did pay her more attention than anyone else, and that he was indeed very attentive to her. And to be honest, she would admit that she liked him too. But she couldn't say what her future held. She hadn't seen her father since she had been very young, even many years before she had been kidnapped. She had no idea if he was even still alive, or if he was, if she would be able to find him. If she never found him back, of course there would be nothing to prevent her from continuing on the journey with the others. And if she did find him, she had no idea what she would do. What would he be like? She barely remembered him. Would she be welcome to stay with him? Would she want to? In the end, would she stay? She had no idea.

"How are your eyes?" she asked Amalirahc, lowering her hand again.

Amalirahc blinked and nodded. "Good. I'm all better. Thanks."

Alassëa nodded again. "River?"

River budged Amalirahc out of the way and took his spot for her own turn to be healed. "You know what I think, Alassëa?" she asked, putting the blind woman's hand to her eyes. "I think that even if you do end up staying with your father, when we find him, you're such a good teacher that you'll still be able to help us."

Alassëa smiled faintly. "Well, thank you for your confidence, anyways."

Alassëa smiled. "Then we can begin whenever you would like," she told the children. She paused a moment. "River?"

"My eyes are fine now," River told her. "Now you have to take care of Lady Kirahn. Ioreth got her too when she was coming to save us."

She hopped off the bed to make room for the knight, and very soon Alassëa was working on healing her.

"People get priority," Amalirahc told the cat flatly.

As much as Miyuki was his best friend in the whole world, he didn't always have patience to deal with Senka, especially since she refused to give any reason for being rude to him other than because he was a boy.