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Jasta smiled at Miyuki. "I like you best as you, too," she agreed. "I've never seen anyone like you before, but I think you look more like you when you look like that than when you look like an elf."

They kept munching on snacks until everyone was good and full, and then they all helped to pack away the leftovers into the basket, and Jess and River folded the blanket (after shaking the crumbs out of it) before putting it into the basket as well.

"Are you going to play more?" Amalirahc asked Jess eagerly.

Jess shook his head. "No, I need to take Jasta home. She needs some rest so she can help Mama with dinner."

"Do you need help carrying anything?" Halmir asked kindly. It was quite a large basket after all, and they did also have a ball to take with them.

Jess smiled at Halmir. "Thanks, but we'll be fine. We managed fine on the way here, and the basket was much heavier then."

Thanks to Amalirahc, there wasn't much left at all.

"Absolutely!" Jess replied enthusiastically.

Jasta giggled. "Probably not me, though," she added. "I might come again in two or three days."

"Well, don't forget to ask about coming to the palace for dinner," River grinned. "Whenever you can, okay?"

"I promise," Jess grinned, his cheeks flushing slightly.

They bid their friends goodbye, then turned and headed towards the town to go home.

River turned to the other three boys. "Are you going to keep playing?" she asked them.

Liam shook his head. "Jess has the best ball. It's not much fun to play without his ball. We'll probably head home, too."

Owen and Liam kind of looked at each other before shrugged and turning away, but Phelan gave them a slight smile before waving and going off to join his friends.

Amalirahc grinned as he joined Miyuki and River. "That was good of them to play with us today," he said brightly. "Wasn't it?"

"Yeah," River agreed, a bit more soberly than her younger friend. "They still kind of avoided us more than they could have."

Amalirahc grinned. "They'll get used to you eventually. They took a whole season to get used to me!"

"We certainly don't," Halmir spoke up, gathering the children together. "We have to continue at least by the end of next week, if we're going to be through the Northland by the end of summer. We could probably spare one week more, but that would be all. We don't want to be caught up there when the weather starts to change."

River looked unhappy at that thought. "This is the best place we've been," she said quietly. "I don't want to think about leaving yet."

Halmir smiled. "That's right, the other elven nations are quite nice as well, and, I must add, far more accepting of people who are different. But we will enjoy the rest of our stay here as well. On that note, which shops did we want to visit before heading back?"

"I don't know," River said honestly. "Maybe the tannery? I want to get some bracers for Papa, he says that his are wearing thin."

"This way, then," Halmir grinned, ushering the children up the street.

As they walked, Amalirahc sidled up to River. "Hey, are you going to get something for your mama, too?" he asked her. "Or your sisters?"

River eyed him. "If I can. Why?"

Amalirahc looked at the ground. "Well, I want to get something for my mama, too, because she's not feeling good today ... but I don't know what to get her."

River's look softened, and she put one arm around Amalirahc's shoulders. "Maybe we'll see something," she offered, trying to be helpful.

"There's going to be one slight change, then," Halmir put in. "The candy shop is closest, so we'll head there first - the tannery next, and after that we'll see what time it is."

"Okay!" Amalirahc beamed. The thought of visiting the candy store always cheered him up, even if he did like fresh baked bread and buns better.