Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was Adonai who opened the door, wearing his usual robes but without the cloak. It was beyond warm enough not to need it - Shael had already begun telling him to dress lighter so that he wouldn't overheat. The Spring was a warm one, and promised a hot Summer to come.

"Lin," he grinned, holding the door wide. "Welcome back. What brings you here?"

Adonai smiled warmly. "Well, that's very thoughtful of both of you," he said happily. "Thank you very much. Rhea is out back with Cindy at the moment, they're practicing channeling her magic using her staff, and Shael is with them, watching them. Come on, we can go see them together."

He stepped outside and closed the door behind himself, then offered his arm to Lin as if he were going to escort her. "Shall we?" he grinned with a wink.

"That was a long time ago," Adonai mused as they headed around the house. "Before Adanedhel was born, as I recall." He chuckled softly. "And now here he is, about to begin a family of his own. How time flies ... and yet it was only one year ago for you, you say? That is interesting ..."

Adanedhel was already twenty two years old, nearly twenty three ... that made for quite the time difference between the worlds, indeed.

Adonai laughed. "I hadn't thought of that, actually," he grinned down at Lin. "Of course ... by our passage of time, you did grow just like we do. So no, it hadn't occurred to me to think that strange with the time difference."

They arrived finally at the back of the house, where Cindy and Rhea were busy with a lesson. Rhea was sitting in the grass, her staff in her lap, her eyes closed - a picture of meditation. Nearby, Shael sat on a wooden swing that hung from a tree, rocking slowly back and forth and watching the lesson intently.

Sensing other peoples' magic had always been something that she could do, though she had not realized it for a long time, and had not been able to make sense out of what she had been feeling. But now, with Cindy's help, she was able to sort out what magics she was sensing around her, and thus able to guess, more or less, who it was who was near.

Though Shael had been outside with them only a short while, she had sensed her presence immediately. Now, nearly an hour later, she was sensing more magic approaching ... but it was a little confusing.

"It feels like Papa," she murmured to Cindy, her brow furrowing in confusion, "but for some reason ... I feel ... butterflies."

Not in the sense that she felt nervous, for that meaning did not exist in their world, but she kept seeing butterflies fluttering in her mind, or rather, fluttering in the shadow of a person ... but she didn't know anyone with butterfly magic.

Adonai chuckled at Lin's response to her sister. "Well, the butterflies won't be around for another few weeks at least," he assured her, "so no need to panic quite yet."

Rhea opened her eyes and blinked at Cindy. So there had been another person! She was wondering, since she hadn't sensed that magic before. She looked over to see Lin standing with her father, and she waved cheerfully.

"Hi, Lin!" she called out, climbing to her feet. "Look what Aragost brought me!"

She held her staff in her arms, already more easily than she had held it when she had first received it. Ulani mostly worked with her in the mornings before the sun was even up, so that it wouldn't be too warm for her, and also so that it wouldn't run into her lessons with Cindy and her mother, and so that she would still have her evenings free.

"Gifts?" Rhea asked, dropping her staff and hurrying over to Lin. "What kind of gifts?"

She wanted to root through Lin's bag, but she knew that that would be rude, so she stayed a few paces away and clasped her hands to battle the temptation.

Shael laughed and rose from her swing. "Rhea, have patience," she smiled. "The gifts might not even be for you, anyways."

Rhea pouted. "But my birthday is next week!"