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"And knowing him, he'll come up with something," Earendil grinned. He was confident in his son. He knew Andarien was bright, and Ruel was, if nothing else, a man of his word. If he promised to find a way to get Galanna here, then he would do it.

Still, Earendil couldn't help but try and remember if anyone had mentioned to him yet that Galanna was a human.

Earendil glanced at Lin, distracted from his thoughts by her question.

"Hm? Oh ... just ... wondering," he replied in a murmur. "I can't recall whether anyone has mentioned to Father the fact that Galanna is human. He's given his word that he'll do what he can to help her get here, and I know he would never take back his word, especially to Aranxia, but ..."

At the same time, if he did it begrudgingly, it would only cause more hurt all around, wouldn't it?

To be fair, he hadn't really spoken with his father in a very long time, and he could see that there had been at least some change in him since the last time they'd really spoken. Perhaps there was hope.

Earendil smiled at Lin, hoping that it was a reassuring smile, and then the continued on with the others in their tour of the house.

The remainder of the week was spent in completing preparations for Aranxia and Aennan to begin their new life together in their new home. Furniture was moved in, paintings hung on walls, curtains and rugs installed, and the contents of Aennan's house and Aranxia's former bedchamber were brought in and set up. Finally, on the day before the wedding, Lykor showed up in the middle of the afternoon with a special gift from Galanna: a hand-stitched quilt for Aennan and Aranxia's new bed.

Of course, there were also preparations to be made for the wedding celebration itself. Regan, Tinuviel and Luthien took care of decorating the house with flowers, while Ruel, Aranel and Andarien focused on creating a means of transportation for Galanna so that she could leave her house.

And then the day of the wedding arrived. It was a beautiful day: warm but not hot, with a cool breeze and only a few fluffy clouds drifting lazily across the sky.

Rather than waiting for his parents to come and collect him, Andarien had gone to the senator's house to meet up with them there. By the time the sun was up, he was already there, and Lara had invited him in for breakfast, which was where he was sitting when his family came down in the morning.

"Good morning," Earendil chuckled softly at Miyuki's cheery greeting. It was always nice to see her to energetic early in the morning. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

He reached out to give her a morning hug, and as he did so, Eon darted past them up the stairs, heading towards Miyuki's bedroom.

Earendil grinned. "Looks like Andarien must be here already."

"Yes I am!" came a voice from downstairs, the direction of the kitchen.

"Hi, Mi! Hi, Nana! Hi, Ada!" Andarien greeted his family cheerfully. He was sitting at the dining room table with a plate full of food before him - battered fish and chips (the healthy kind of course, not like Gaia's greasy stuff) - and he had not waited for the others to come downstairs, but was already enjoying it.

"Hey Mi, did Eon go upstairs or something?" he asked Miyuki suddenly. "We heard doors and then he ran off again ..."

"Seriously?" Andarien's eyes grew bright. "That's so cool! I kinda wondered, what with how Eon was acting, but I haven't seen Ai in a long time so I didn't know."

Earendil and Lin joined them at the table, and from the kitchen, Lara greeted them all with a cheerful "Good morning" and then asked them, "Everyone want breakfast today?"

Andarien grinned. "Getting fat around the middle?" he asked Miyuki. He hadn't seen Ai in a while, and he couldn't imagine in - the Espeon was so thin usually.

Lara immediately set about preparing some plates of food for the three of them, and while she was doing so, Kyrie came in from outside, twirling a slim knife around her fingers. She was humming softly to herself, and she greeted everyone with a cheerful "Good morning" as she made her way through the dining area to the kitchen, where she sheathed the blade at her waist before pouring herself a glass of water from a pitcher on the counter.

"Getting twitchy?" Lara asked her, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

Kyrie grinned. "If winter weren't coming, I'd head out," she nodded. She looked over at Lin and Earendil. "Unless you all don't mind winter travel," she added, lifting her glass and taking a sip.

Kyrie just shrugged. "If you want to see all of the countries, you're not going to have any choice but to travel in the winter eventually," she said simply. "I leave it to you. I just don't tend to stay in one place for long without getting antsy, that's all. I know I'd thought that I'd like to stay here a full year when I came, but I think I'm ready to move on if you are."

"Well, it's not up to just us, either," Earendil replied with a smile. "We have quite the group to talk to about it. I think I can safely say though that we haven't yet gotten the supplies you said we would need, especially clothing for cold weather."

"I wouldn't put it off too long," Kyrie cautioned them. "Fur-lined clothes take time to make, longer then regular clothes."

Andarien smiled ruefully. "Well, just wait. I bet once she gives birth she'll be back to normal. Doesn't everyone get back to normal afterwards?"

After all, most of the women he knew had given birth at one time or another, and they weren't acting like Ai. So it just stood to reason, to him, that Ai would go back to being herself after her baby was born.