Welcome to Gaia! ::

Earendil laughed at that. Miyuki was Miyuki, after all, and Lin had been no different when she had been younger. He put one arm around Lin's shoulders and hugged her close.

"Like mother, like daughter," he winked at her. "But come on, we need to get our own cloaks."

Meanwhile, Earendil pulled his own cloak on, and Aric and Leilani joined them at the door. They'd brought their bags down with them, so they didn't need to go back up and get them. Aric was once again holding Remiel - who by now was wide awake and staring openly at the strangers around him. He had golden blond hair just like his parents, but it was short, as was usual for young children.

"You're welcome to take some of the horses," Elrohir offered, following them to the door to see them off.

"Thank you," Leilani smiled, "but we have not ridden in a very long time. I'm afraid we are not longer used to riding."

Remiel stared at Miyuki through wide blue eyes for several moments, and then he raised one finger and pointed (more or less) in her direction.

"Dah!"

Leilani giggled softly and gave him a light squeeze. "That's Miyuki," she told him. "Mi-yu-ki."

"Mm!"

Leilani smiled softly at Miyuki. "Almost a year now. And how old are you?"

As far as she could tell, Miyuki looked like she was nearing adolescence - perhaps a little on the short side, but it was clear that she wasn't elven.

Leilani blinked at Lin, completely lost.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," she said slowly as they headed outside. "She is nine years old, but she counts her age in tails?"

Her understanding of growth spurts was of course the one where a person could grow several inches in a single year - not in a single moment.

Earendil laughed at the look on Leilani's face.

"They're from a different world," he explained to her. "Not a different land in this one, but a completely different world altogether."

Now Leilani and Aric were both staring incredulously at Earendil, Lin and Miyuki.

Shiro and Kaito just grinned at each other.

Earendil chuckled and put one hand on Miyuki's head. "Yes, Miyuki, coming from another world is very new," he smiled at her. "My aunt was the first, and that was by accident; but only in the past hundred years has passing between worlds been heard of, and then only by your and my families."

Of course it would be everyday to her, but to much of the world it was still something amazing and impossible.

"Yes, but it's not possible from this world alone," Earendil replied. "Your world is the one where the magic exists to create portals from one world to the next."

Aric looked at Earendil through narrowed eyes. "But didn't you just say that your aunt was the first to pass through the worlds?" he asked him. "If your aunt is elven, as you are, then would she not have passed through a portal in this world? And if she were the first, then would the magic not have had to originate in this world?"

Earendil opened his mouth to reply, then stopped, staring. He had never thought of that ...