Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Thank you," Aerin murmured, relieved that nothing would change for her. "And yes ... I think that I can say the same thing."

She looked back at Aurin. "You still haven't said why my father sent you instead of anyone else."

Aurin looked sheepishly at Rhea. "Well ..."

Rhea grinned. "Don't be silly. Of course you can say." She winked at Cindy. "He's my fiance."

Adonai and Shael stared in shock.

Rhea just laughed at the looks on their faces. "Now don't you give him any grief about not talking to you first," she giggled, "he wanted to but I beat him to it."

"Somehow I'm not surprised," Adonai chuckled softly.

Shael shook her head slowly. "You do realize that there are gentler ways of telling people things?" she asked pointedly.

"Now where's the fun in that?" Rhea giggled.

Rhea pursed her lips. "Umm ... nope, I guess not," she grinned. "I wanted to make sure Mama and Papa would be among the first to know. Neko and Nako left already though ..."

She turned to Aurin and took his arm. "Shall we go surprise them, too?" she beamed.

Aurin looked lost for words, not quite sure what to do.

Aurin smiled sheepishly, then turned back to Aerin. "I apologize, your Highness, but it seems I shall have to find you later," he murmured.

Aerin nodded, her green eyes back to being as expressionless as they ever were. "Tomorrow, at the ranch," she told him. "And do not refer to me by my title while we are here."

And without another word, she turned and was gone.

Rhea giggled and squeezed Aurin's arm. "Come on, we have to give Nako and Neko the good news."

Aurin laughed. "Are you going to sleep tonight?"

"Probably not," Rhea grinned. She looked over at Cindy and winked. "Gonna stay up with me?"

"I need to sleep!" Vergil's hand shot up into the air.

"Oh," Rhea murmured suddenly. "I suppose ... that means we don't have an extra room anymore ..."

She turned to Aurin and looked up at him sweetly. "Aurin, dearest, do you think it would be all right if you stayed with my grandparents while we're here?" she asked him, a little anxiously.

Aurin chuckled softly and kissed her on the cheek. "Of course," he smiled back at her. "Sometimes you really can be quite silly, Rhea."

Rhea giggled. "Then we should go see them again."

Rhea giggled. "Are you going to come with us?" she beamed. "Or will we see you back at the house later on?"

After all, once her grandfather started teasing, who knew how long that could go on before Ulani put a stop to it once and for all?

Rhea giggled. "All right. We'll see you at dinner then, how does that sound?"

Shael smiled warmly. "I'll be sure to prepare a feast," she promised. She stepped forward and hugged her daughter tightly. "We missed you, Rhea."

Rhea hugged her back. "I missed you too, Mama." Then she stepped back to Aurin and took his hand. "We'll see you for dinner!" she grinned. "Even if Nako tries to keep us, we'll be sure to come!"

"If we have to," Vergil shrugged.



Aerin arrived back at the ranch just as Lin and the others were heading back inside, and, seeing Caranthir near the barracks, she headed in his direction. This brought her directly past the group of visitors, and she nodded politely to them.

Earendil watched as she headed off to join Caranthir. "I can't help but wish I could listen to the conversation they're about to have," he smiled bemusedly.

"Are you going to talk to either of them tomorrow?" Earendil asked her curiously, following her in.

It was strange how quickly this place could feel like home, despite the fact that it was his first visit - but then, when one considered how many different places he had been in the past six years, and how he had adapted to each of them, perhaps it wasn't so surprising.