Welcome to Gaia! ::

Leilani and Aric stared at Lin once more, and Earendil just chuckled and shook his head at them.

"Don't ask," he grinned. "You'll only get a headache, and it won't make any sense."

To him it was old news, but he knew how it would be to most people - especially those to whom it was brand new.

"Gaia?" Leilani just had to ask.

Earendil smiled. "The world they came from."

Leilani nodded, her expression thoughtful as they headed forward. The weather was a bit warmer than the day before, but it was a bit windy. Despite the snowfall of the night before, most of it had melted and there was very little on the ground at all.

It was nearly an hour before they reached the valley. True to Earendil's promise, the valley had changed even since the last time Lin and Miyuki had visited. Ulani and Ulrich had built a new house - much the same as their old one, but a bit closer to Adonai and Shael's house. Their old house was gone, and there was a bare patch in the ground where it had used to be. There was also an addition on Adonai and Shael's house: after Vergil had grown, he had needed more space, and so Adonai, Ulrich and Adwin had built an apartment for him and Cindy. They had their own space, but were still connected to the main house.

Ruran's laboratory had been rebuilt - in a space far away from any of the houses. The charred remains of the old lab had been long since taken down, used as firewood, and there was a bare patch there as well.

"This way," Earendil nodded, heading towards Ulrich and Ulani's new home.

"We're going to see Ulani and Ulrich," Earendil smiled down at her. "You probably don't remember them, you were just a baby the last time you saw them."

"We're going to go see Celebor first," Shiro spoke up, grabbing Kaito by the arm. They changed direction, heading for their brother's house instead.

"See you," Earendil grinned as the two headed off.

As Shiro and Kaito ran off, Leilani turned to her husband and passed their son over to him.

"Here," she murmured, "I think it's best if you take him for now."

Aric chuckled and nodded, holding Remiel close and making sure that he was warmly wrapped. "Agreed."

It was only a moment before the door was opened by Ulrich, who was looking back over his shoulder and in the middle of a sentence.

"...thought you said that you weren't going to-"

He stopped dead when he looked to see who was at the door and spotted Leilani and her family, and his jaw dropped, his eyes growing wide. He simply gaped at the three of them, completely and utterly shocked.

"Ulrich?" Ulani's voice drifted out from further inside the house. "Ulrich, what-"

She appeared just behind him, and she stopped short when she also spotted the new arrivals. But rather than being too shocked to move, she let out a squeal and charged forward, tackling Leilani and giving her a bear hug worthy of a real bear. "You're back!" she shrieked ecstatically. "How - when?!"

Leilani laughed and hugged Ulani back. "Last night, we stayed at the ranch last night. But you!" She gestured around them. "What is all this?"

Ulani and Leilani were talking together in such excited tones that it was hard to understand exactly what they were saying - like two of the best friends in the world who hadn't seen each other in forever (which was exactly the case) and seemed to be ignoring everyone else (which they pretty much were).

By the time Miyuki tapped Ulrich's leg, he was beginning to recover, but his face was pale. He looked down at her and blinked. "Uh ... yes, yes I'm fine ..."

Aric chuckled and stepped forward. "That's more like the Ulrich I know." He hugged Ulrich with his free arm. "Yes, we're back. Now let us come inside, it's cold out here."

Both men chuckled, and Ulrich stepped aside. "Of course. Come in, everyone, come in."

Earendil smiled at Lin and Miyuki and ushered them gently towards the door.

The house was designed pretty much like their last house, though it was bigger. The living room had much more furniture in it - it seemed almost as if the two had planned this place with family reunions in mind.

Earendil motioned for Lin to take a seat. "So Ulrich, are you terribly surprised?"

Ulrich laughed. "Surprised doesn't begin to cover it. By the Valar, I never thought I'd see them again." He laughed again and nodded for Aric to sit down. "And I see you've got another one."

Aric grinned. "Remiel. Less than a year old. One of the reasons we decided to return."

"We're glad you did," Ulrich grinned. "And I see you've met Lin and Miyuki ... we owe our lives to Lin's parents."

Aric turned to Lin and arched one eyebrow curiously. "Well now, that's something you failed to mention," he told her pointedly.