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Aranxia took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. She was trembling, though she was trying her very best not to show it. It helped that Aennan was right there with her: she could draw on his strength. If she had been alone, she was certain she would not be able to do this.

"I wanted to talk to the four of you - ask the four of you - because you are my closest family here," she said softly. "My parents' siblings. Those who ... well ... essentially you are my guardians here, and the authority over me."

Daeron nodded slowly, though he was wondering what she was getting at. He didn't have a clue, personally.

Aranxia swallowed hard and looked up at the four of them, each one individually in their turn. "I love Aennan," she said, even more softly than she had been speaking so far, "and he loves me. We wish ... more than anything, we wish to be married. Tradition and propriety dictate that he ask my parents for permission to ask me, but ... it's going to be a long time before we will even have the chance to see them. We don't even know how long. At the very soonest, it will still be more than a year, and that is if we leave for home when you leave for your trip, and if we make no stops between here and there, which I can't imagine happening."

Daeron and Iorlas exchanged a glance, and Earendil looked at the two young elves thoughtfully. He wasn't sure he personally knew enough about Aennan to say anything. Sure, they had shared a few meals, and he had seen how inseparable he and Aranxia were, but was that enough to really tell?

"You do realize that your grandfather might threaten to disinherit you," Daeron pointed out, arching one eyebrow.

Aranxia giggled, feeling that some of the tension had alleviated with her uncle's comment. "I know. I don't think he would, but I know that once, he would have. But even if that were the case, it doesn't matter. It's not his place to say anything at all." She took another deep breath. "My concern is ... do you think that my parents would allow this? Allow us to be married before they have even met Aennan?"

"I know they won't know Aennan at all," Aranxia said softly, patiently, "but even if we wait until they meet, they won't know him at that point, either. Uncle Daeron, Aunt Iorlas, you've spent quite a bit of time with us ... you know Aennan fairly well, yes?"

Daeron and Iorlas exchanged a glance, then nodded. "Yes," Daeron agreed. "And you know it was for the purpose of getting to know him."

"That's my point," Aranxia smiled. "The reason I was allowed to come was because you and Uncle Earendil and Aunt Lin were also here, to be my guardians, and to make the decisions my parents would normally make. You four are the representatives of my parents while we're here."

Earendil had another worry, though, one that to him didn't mean much, and he knew it didn't mean much to Daeron either, but for Aranxia - as princess, rather than prince - it would be more important.

"Aranxia," he said quietly, "you also need to remember your position ... you are a direct heir to the throne, your actions-"

"Don't be a hypocrite, Uncle Earendil," Aranxia interrupted him with a frown. "That's not a fair argument and you know it. Half the heirs in our family gave up their titles, and I gladly do the same. Royalty has nothing to do with it. Look at the both of you - and Leyenda, and Celeb. If being royal mattered to any of you, none of you would be married right now."

As far as she was concerned, Earendil was the pot calling the kettle black.

Daeron ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, it certainly would be keeping with current family traditions," he had to admit.

"When it comes down to it," Aranxia went on quietly when no one else spoke, "being a princess makes no difference as to whether or not I should marry him. Regan is before me in line anyways, and Mother before her, and Regan's children would come before me, too. That's not the point. I love Aennan, and that's all that matters. Uncle Daeron, Aunt Iorlas, you two have especially been watching over us. Have you seen anything at all that would indicate that he is someone I should not marry?"

Both Daeron and Iorlas shook their heads. "No."

"Do you believe that he loves me?"

"Yes," Iorlas said softly.

Aranxia looked around at all of them again. "Do you believe that I love him?"

Again Daeron and Iorlas nodded, and Earendil nodded along with them. Since the first time they'd met Aennan, he had never seen Aranxia without him, and he had recognized the way that the two of them had looked at each other.

"So aside from the fact that Mother and Father do not yet know him," Aranxia went on, "do you believe that they would have objections to our marriage?"

For the first time since coming outside with her aunts and uncles, Aranxia allowed herself to feel some real hope.

"Uncle Earendil?" she asked softly.

Earendil thought and thought and thought, but for the life of him, he could think of no reason aside from Tinuviel and Aranel's ignorance of the situation that could possibly prevent them from getting married.

"No," he said at last. "Unless you count the fact that you are going to be depriving your parents and your sister of a very great source of joy in missing your wedding."

Aranxia laughed and waved off his comment. "You know Mother is just like Grandmother. She'll squeal and be excited to meet Aennan, whether we're married or not." Then she smiled. "Besides, they will have the chance to see Regan get married someday. Aennan's family has no one else to look forward to."

She turned to Daeron and chewed her lower lip anxiously again. "Uncle Daeron?"

Daeron sighed and smiled faintly. "I'd be a hypocrite if I told you to wait until you were home again."

Aranxia's eyes lit up brightly, but she kept her emotions in check as she turned to Iorlas. "Aunt Iorlas?"

Iorlas laughed softly. "Well, I'm flattered that you're asking me, but I know your parents about as well as I know Aennan. I can't vouch for what they would say." Her eyes softened and she smiled warmly at her niece. "That being said ... you are an adult, and as you have already pointed out, we are here to watch over you. We have spent the last few months getting to know Aennan, and you are quite right, we have been weighing him. Had we even suspected that there were any reason whatsoever to suspend or end your relationship, we would have done so at once. But there have been no indications that he is anything but what he shows himself to be."

Behind Aranxia, Aennan was blushing hotly, his eyes lowered modestly. But Iorlas was not finished.

"If we were to think of the concerns that I would imagine most parents would have," she went on, "then we can be more objective about the situation. Can he support you financially? You yourself have said that your work with him - those stories that you write and illustrate together - have already been bringing in more money than you had thought possible. Can he provide you with a home? He already has one of his own, so yes. Does he love you? Yes, of that I have no doubt. Will he make you happy?" She smiled widely. "Of that, I have the least doubt of all. And having observed him and heard reports of him, he is every bit the type of person your parents would be honoured to have as a son-in-law."

Then she laughed. "That being said, if you choose to stay here without returning home to see them, at least, they will be absolutely furious."

Aranxia smiled and turned to face Aennan, slipping her arm around his waist, and he grinned back at her and did the same.

"We would like to marry," she said softly, looking back at her aunts and uncles, her eyes sparkling brightly. "Not today, clearly: today is Luk and Lily's special day. Next month, perhaps. Give us a bit of time to prepare."

"We would like to do something like this, too," Aennan added, nodding at the house to indicate the celebrations that were going on. "Smaller, though. Maybe at Lykor and Galanna's house, since Galanna is housebound."

"Thank you," Aranxia murmured. "Support is all we ask for."

"And you shall have it," Iorlas said warmly. She stepped forward and hugged Aranxia. "Truly, we wish you all the happiness in the world."

Aranxia giggled softly and returned the hug. "Thank you. But we should get back inside and rejoin the celebrations. And ... if you all don't mind ... please, don't mention this to anyone yet. Let today be about Luk and Lily."

About a week later, Andarien had a day off work, and rather than doing what he would have liked to do - putter around with some designs or something similar - he found himself looking for his sister. He was rather worried, and hadn't been sleeping well for a few days. After the wedding celebrations for Luk and Lily, he had gone outside to fetch his Pokemon, but only Ponydash had been anywhere to be found. Eon had simply vanished.

He rubbed the beginnings of the beard that was growing on his chin as he walked up the path that led to Lara and Cantor's front porch. He hoped Miyuki would be in. If she wasn't, he would have no idea where to look for her. He was also hoping beyond hope that Eon would be here with Miyuki and Ai ... because he couldn't think where else he might be.

He stepped up onto the porch and knocked solidly on the door.

"Me?" Andarien blinked. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of his Pokemon, and so he made the only connection his mind would allow. "Has Eon been here with you all week, then? Because I haven't seen him since Luk and Lily's wedding and I've been so awfully worried about him ..."

But even as he spoke, he could see in Miyuki's face that she was also troubled, and he let his sentence trail off. No, Eon couldn't be here ... if he were, then Miyuki would not look so worried, too.

His brain worked quickly. "Ai and Eon are both missing, aren't they?" he asked her softly, his heart sinking in his chest.