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"Poor little guy," Shiro murmured softly. A thoughtful look crossed his face, and he tilted his head slightly. "You know," he murmured, "he's still very young ... still at the age where learning another language is fairly simple ... perhaps it would be best if I were to teach him the ancient tongue, that way he could speak with Kelirahc and at least get to know him a little."

It might help, who knew? And after all, he was going to teach Leyenda as well.

"That is true," Shiro murmured. He watched as Roydon arrived at the shelter and knelt down, and when he stood up he had Celeb in his arms. Shiro was amazed. As a neko, he also had above average night vision, but he hadn't been able to see Celeb at all!

Kelirahc smiled warmly when he saw that Roydon had found Celeb. Roydon turned and headed back towards them, his expression relieved.

"Thank you, Kelirahc," he said when he got back to them, his thanks warm and genuine. He bowed his head respectfully. "Thank you very much."

Rhea leaned past Kelirahc to take a look at the little boy. It seemed he might not have been sulking after all ... he was fast asleep!

"I think it's bed time for all of us," Shiro murmured. "We're going to have a busy day tomorrow." He repeated it in the ancient tongue, and Kelirahc nodded and replied. Shiro smiled. "This is the time he is usually awake, but he will go back to sleep and change his sleeping patterns to match ours," he told the others. "At least, he will try."

Roydon shifted Celeb to one arm, and with his other arm he motioned towards the shelter. "Go ahead, Kelirahc," he smiled faintly. He didn't say anything else, but from his expression and his actions it was clear what he was thinking: the man was making an effort already to change to match their customs, and as he was Leyenda's husband, whether Roydon liked it or not, he might as well start treating him like family.

Morning came early, and to Leyenda it felt a bit earlier than usual. She felt a bit squished, too ... she opened her eyes and found that she was indeed being squished, in a manner of speaking. Kelirahc on one side, his arms around her, and Celeb on her other side, sleeping up against her back.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up carefully. Without her support, Celeb rolled onto his back, right beside Kelirahc, and Kelirahc woke immediately and looked up at her. She smiled at him and put one finger to her lips, then motioned towards the door of the shelter. They could talk outside - she didn't want to wake anyone else.

Kelirahc nodded and took her hand, and together they made their way as quietly as possible towards the door of the shelter.

Celeb's rest had been disturbed when Leyenda got up, and now he stretched out his arms and legs, accidentally bumping against his parents. That woke them up, and from there it just kept going like dominoes - and in a matter of minutes, everyone was awake.

Celeb sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking around. He tensed when he realized that Leyenda was gone, and he scrambled to his feet to look for her. He tripped over someone's leg as he ran, and fell flat on his face at Lin's feet. He looked up at her, his face bright red.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Celeb took Lin's hand and pulled himself to his feet, then dusted off his pants. "Stupid guy," he muttered, "keeping her all to himself."

He looked up at Lin, frowning angrily. "Why is Leyenda with him all the time now?" he complained. "I don't get to be with her anymore!"

Celeb swallowed and looked down at the ground. "I want my sister," he mumbled. He wrapped his arms around Lin's waist and hugged her tightly. "First she went away for days and days and now she's ignoring me!"

He looked up at her, his eyes welling with tears. "Besides!" he protested. "Mama and Papa are married and they still talk with everyone else and spend time with me!"

Celeb sniffled and kept right on hugging Lin. He wanted his sister to himself, the way it had always been until Brian had made her go away ...

"But I can't talk to him," he sniffled. "He's scary ..."

He was young, and he had not witnessed the differences in the world like the rest of his family had. To him, elves had dark hair and light skin, not the other way around.

Celeb looked up at Lin. "What do you know about him?" he asked, taking her hand and leading her towards outside, following after everyone else. He didn't care that Kelirahc and his sister would be out there. Leyenda didn't pay attention to him anymore anyways, and Kelirahc couldn't understand him - if he even stopped to think about it. He was a little boy, and little boys didn't wait for answers to their questions.