Welcome to Gaia! ::

Earendil smiled and gave Lin a one-armed hug before he moved silently into the room and headed towards the closet in one corner of the room. He opened the door and pulled out some extra blankets, one for each of the children. He used the first one to cover Miyuki, then tucked the other around Andarien. After planting a soft kiss on each of their foreheads, he returned to the hallway.

"Advantages of knowing where things are located," he grinned at Lin.

And so the two retired for the night.

The next morning, after breakfast, the family of four headed into the city to visit Earendil's old friends.

"Can we look at the shops, too?" Andarien asked as he trotted alongside his parents, holding Earendil's hand so that he wouldn't wander off.

"Perhaps if we have time," Earendil replied, "though we have a number of people to visit. We probably won't even get all of our visiting in today." He smiled at Andarien. "Don't worry, we'll be in the city long enough to see the whole city."

"Who are we going to see?" Andarien asked curiously. He used his free hand to adjust the dark goggles over his eyes. They hadn't been sure if he would need them, but they had figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

"I'd also like to see Haldir," Earendil added slowly, "though if you'd like I could go in first alone and see if he's there, and alone."

He knew that Lin did not like Halaleel - he didn't either - but he knew Lin was worried about how Halaleel would react in front of the children. He strongly suspected everything would be fine, considering that if she showed disrespect to a member of the royal family she could be arrested, but he wanted Lin to feel comfortable about it.

"He's going to have to be introduced to the idea eventually," Earendil pointed out. "And if he's already noticed it on my father, then there's no point in hiding it from him any more. We can't hide the world from him, or him from the world."

The sooner Andarien learned how to deal with people like that, the better - or so Earendil thought.

Earendil smiled. "Then perhaps we should start with Aranhil, then see Haldir, and then see my great-grandparents," he suggested. "That way, worse come to worse, we still end our visits for today on a good note."

Andarien was looking up at his parents as they walked, listening carefully to what they said.

The jeweler's shop had not changed other than its wares since the last time Lin and Earendil had been there. Of course, as items were sold, more were made, and since this was not Gaia, each piece was different and so the stock was always changing.

"Hey, that's pretty!" Andarien exclaimed, letting go of Lin's hand and pressing his nose against a display case to look more closely.

"Prince Earendil!" Aranhil's voice rang out, cheerful. "Welcome home!"

Earendil chuckled and squeezed Lin's shoulder before he headed over to the counter to talk with the jeweler. "Thank you," he said warmly. "How have you been?"

"No complaints," Aranhil grinned. "And I can see the two of you are doing well. Family's grown, eh?"

Andarien was about to reply to Lin when Aranhil called out, and now he looked up at Lin. "Do you know him?" he asked her curiously.