Welcome to Gaia! ::

"River especially," Earendil murmured with a smile. "Though to be honest, I think it was more meeting Jess than aging that's making her settle down. I wouldn't be surprised if she's married within two years."

Yes, she and Jess were young, and Jess was younger than River; but that meant nothing, considering the fact that they were elves.

Earendil had to admit, he didn't know anyone who had known as early as Jess and River exactly whom they were going to marry. But he couldn't help but wonder if Miyuki was settling down simply because River was. The two girls had barely known each other at the beginning of the trip, but they had become fast friends, even to the partial exclusion of Amalirahc, who was still as young at heart as his age.

After supper, the tables were cleaned up and put away, and the yard was prepared for the guests to sleep. They took up a lot of room: so much, in fact, that some of them had to set up their tents in the yards of some of the plantation hands.

Over the course of the next few days, the children explored the plantation thoroughly, and Andarien seemed to disappear whenever he could, reappearing only at supper time in Sylvar's company. Amalirahc and Ivy, being both very young, entertained themselves in the way that only small children could, letting their imaginations lead them everywhere.

Earendil enjoyed relaxing with Lin in a non-formal setting, quite a change from their past several stops. It was nice to just be themselves, following their own schedule for the most part, not having to tell people where they were going or what they were doing. And he knew that Lin was enjoying her time getting to know her grandfather as well.

Sitting in the shade of a tree had never been so enjoyable to Earendil. Relief from the heat made it very welcome, and the fact that he could relax with Lin just made it perfect. They had no worries on their mind, they were in no rush, and they didn't have to worry about the children.

Fading was nearly over already, and winter would soon begin; but there was still another season after winter before they could really begin their trip north, so there was no rush to finish their visit here on the Plantation and head to Tor Karad. It was very pleasant all around.

Now, relaxing like this, holding Lin in his arms and running his fingers through her hair, he felt the world was perfect. He could tell that Lin was relaxed too, for once not worrying about their children - though she seemed to be watching Miyuki and Daemon.

He smiled down at her. "Penny for your thoughts?" he asked her, echoing the question that she so often asked him.

Earendil chuckled and looked over at Miyuki. "You've got that right," he grinned. "I've never studied magic, other than to test my own limits. And the way Andarien talks about mechanical things ... even when we first got him the blocks and he was playing with them, he was the one correcting me on the proper placement of the blocks."

He shook his head incredulously. "The very picture of intelligence," he murmured. "Except in languages. Hard to believe it's the same boy."

"I admit, I've never learned anything about what you call science," Earendil admitted. "I'm still not entirely sure what it refers to."

He was well aware that their worlds were different, and he wasn't sure he would ever get used to the things that Lin was always bringing up. He found it fascinating though - he loved to learn new things, and she was constantly giving him the opportunity.

"It kind of makes me wonder though if we might have a fight on our hands when it comes time to leave here," he added, thinking of Andarien's attachment to Sylvar. "And when Daemon returns to Gaia, we'll probably only be able to comfort Miyuki with the knowledge that she'll see him again when it's our turn to go."

"That would be a good idea," Earendil agreed. "Or Luk, even. Luk knows quite a bit of the things that Andarien's interested in, he says that what with all the half-bloods in Caras Galadhon they've needed all kinds of inventions to make life easier."

He smiled ruefully. "Pity no one who can talk to Andarien about the mechanical workings of my ninako's palace is able to speak Common Elvish. Father does, though, and perhaps Andarien will be interested in Father's forges."

Earendil suddenly looked very thoughtful, even distracted. "I hope Father behaves all right," he said anxiously. "He's so unpredictable ... and the last time I saw him, we had an argument. He was still under the impression that I would never ask you to marry me, even though we had already sort of talked about it ..."

He sighed. "He knew I was going to. I'm still anxious about how he's going to act. I don't want Miyuki and Andarien to get a bad impression of him."

So far, he had no idea what Miyuki thought of Ruel. Of course, so far, Ruel had never been introduced as her grandfather.

Earendil laughed aloud. "Mother is going to be positively giddy," he grinned. "Two more grandchildren - and yes, she knew Miyuki already, but not Andarien, so that's going to be a great surprise - plus, Daeron has fallen in love ... and if I'm not mistaken, Iorlas truly is taking that talk to heart, and is allowing herself to fall very much in love with him as well."

He chuckled again. "However Father reacts, Mother will make them more welcome than they've ever been before. I just hope she doesn't spoil them too much."