Welcome to Gaia! ::

Beren smiled warmly and nodded his head. "Yes, I would appreciate that very much," he admitted. He turned to Adan and smiled at him. "Thank you very much for your guidance here. I hope to run into you again."

Adan grinned. "Well I live over in the valley but I come here every day, so we'll probably see each other a lot," he told the man. "But I have to go home for lunch now. See you aroun!" And he waved and ran off back into the trees.

Beren turned and smiled at Kara again. "If you would be so kind as to lead the way," he murmured.

Beren stepped inside and scraped his boots on the mat, despite the fact that they weren't very dirty at all, and moved aside so that Kara could lead the way again.

"It's every bit as grand as I remember," he smiled down at her as she joined him.

Arwen appeared suddenly from the playroom doorway, her long black hair loose behind her, her dark eyes wide with curiosity.

Arwen smiled and nodded, stepping all the way out into the hallway. "She's upstairs working on some sewing while Arahad's sleeping," she offered cheerfully. "Wait here, I'll go get her!"

And she darted past them and ran up the stairs, taking them three at a time in her haste.

Beren watched her for a moment, then turned back to Kara and smiled. "Excitable girl, isn't she?" he murmured. "She seems sweet."

Beren chuckled softly. "Well, energy is always good," he smiled. "Lethargy is no fun at all, and it gets nothing accomplished. My parents may not have had the chance to teach me very much, but what they taught me, they taught me well."

He ran his fingers along the hilt of his sword, still looking up the stairs and smiling softly.

Beren chuckled softly. "Of course ... forgive me. My name is Beren ... it was perhaps twelve years ago that I was here. I think you left the day I arrived, perhaps the day after."

Suddenly the sound of footsteps came from the stairs, and Arwen appeared at the top of the stairs once more, coming swiftly back down.

"She's coming," she grinned at Kara and Beren. "She'll be down in just a second, she just wanted me to come down first so that I wouldn't wake up Arahad."

Sure enough, a moment later Haradhel appeared at the top of the stairs, stepping down carefully, far different from the boundess energy of her daughter.

"Welcome back," she smiled as she came down the last few steps. "How you've grown ..."

Beren flushed and bowed his head to her, smiling sheepishly. "Thank you, my lady," he murmured softly. "I hope that I am not intruding ... but I was wondering if I might find employment here ... I want to help save children from the same fate I almost endured."

Haradhel smiled. "Well, come and sit and have something to eat with us," she invited him, nodding towards the dining room and holding out one arm to sweep all of them in that direction. "Elrohir should be in soon and then we can talk ... though really it's Ulrich who makes the final decision, and he won't be back until next week."

Beren smiled and moved as indicated, and Haradhel and Arwen followed after him.

Before they were even all sitting, though, the front door of the house opened and a deep voice called out, "I'm back!"

A moment later, Elrohir walked into the dining room, brushing off his shirt and looking somewhat preoccupied. "Well, Ahren's off with Brego again, he says he'll be back by dinner, so-"

He broke off suddenly, gawking at their new guest.

But what Elrohir did was not what Kara - or anyone else in the room - would have expected. His eyes only grew wider and his jaw opened and closed soundlessly several times, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end.

Finally, he managed to gasp out, "Ada?"

Beren blinked at him. "Excuse me?"