Welcome to Gaia! ::

"No, Gyre!"

Rip, tear, chomp, chew...

"Gyre, blinky as it may be, you cannot eat that Christmas light!"

The bird girl blinked up at her guardian. I can't eat it? Well then, what's the point? Spitting out the plastic light, Gyre returned to "supervising" her caretaker in the decoration of the Christmas tree. What Chirstmas was, she did not know, but it involved having a tree in the house, which she very much approved of. Why make it all blinky, though? It was nice enough as-is.

Lucius, of course, came to help. His visions seemed to have subsided, though that wasn't really her problem. Brother he may be, but she couldn't read minds to try and help. She would just be in the way. Lucius took to pushing the cardboard boxes of garland around with his head. He seemed to enjoy it. He'd tumble into the box every so often, popping out looking like a sparkly hooker on a corner.

The bird children laughed. Christmas was okay, as far as they were concerned. Watching Lu almost kill herself on a ladder was worth a good laugh, too. And they were told they'd be getting gifts. Lucius thought that was a wonderful idea. Gyre wasn't sure if she'd get anything she'd like.

After Lu and Patience finished setting up the tree, Neruo floated up the top to place a giant golden star at the apex of the branches. Very nice. Neruo helped to rearrange the ornaments near the top, so Lu didn't have to get the ladder out again. He helped to hand out tiny cups of milk to the children, and read them a Christmas story from an old family book.

The clock striking ten, Lu could not find the children. Searching high and low, she finally found them - sleeping beneath the Christmas tree. Too precious to awaken, she merely took a picture instead.

It took the orange Feien much longer than he had anticipated to reach Rhia's house. He had gotten some direction from the shop itself. He figured he'd be there an hour ago, but he underestimated his growths effect on his speed. There was no change. Shrugging midair, he finally happened upon the house. It would be wonderful to see Ava again. He wondered what she'd been up to since they last spoke.

Floating up to the window, he stuck his head in. Without being too rude, he called out, "Knock knock! Ava? Are you available?"

Smiling to himself, he decided to sit on the windowsill, just outside of the house itself. He wondered about her reaction to seeing his growth. If he sat down, did he seem much taller?


Ava was sitting in the living room with Rhia, going through a few vacation brochures and seeming to be more than a little bored. But she didn't want to be rude or get Rhia mad, so she helped her bond as best she could at choosing the location they would be spending Christmas. The earth feien found it slightly amusing that Rhia and Azy still hadn't agreed on a place to go when they were leaving in only five days, but she figured this is how it was between them with a lot of things.

And as long as Gwydion wasn't going to be there, she didn't really care where they ended up.

Rhia's large ears flicked back and forth, the earrings jingling against one another and she raised her hand; absently jabbing her thumb towards the kitchen. "Someone is calling for you, Mushroom, you better go see who."

Ava blinked a few times and frowned as she stood, taking to the air and flying towards the kitchen. She hadn't heard anyone, but then again, her bond's hearing was extremely good. As she entered the kitchen, she looked around and then veered towards the window when she didn't see anyone. Landing on the small sill just inside, she poked her head out and looked around; cowlick bobbing.

"Neruo?" She queried when she spotted a bright orange feien sitting just outside. Her face instantly lit up in a smile and she slipped outside, starting over to him before halting mid stride. Her eyes narrowed before widening and she stood stock still, realizing that it was her friend, only not as she remembered him...


"Ava! Wonderful to see you again!" he said, arms wide and inviting. He stood up, his full eight inches of height towering over her. Oops. Bad idea. He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed, and knelt in front of her. He felt so...cumbersome.

"Ava, would you mind if I hugged you? I hope I didn't scare you. I grew the other day. Instantly. I'm still getting used to it. What do you think?"

He wanted to wait to hug her. Instead, he watched her, half-hoping she approved. Whether or not she did, he was stuck this way. Not that he minded too much. The height was nice, despite still bumping into things. Everything got easier as the days went on. He tried to hide the tiny burlap bag he carried with him. Inside it was a surprise present, but she seemed too shocked at the moment. Best to wait.


The smile that had only a moment ago lit her features and caused her emerald eyes to twinkle was now gone, replaced by a look of utter confusion and perhaps a slight hint of horror. When her friend stood, her eyes - already huge within her face - widened further and she took a tiny step backwards. His words seemed to do little for her other than cause her eyes to shrink down to fit the rest of features.

He was still Neruo, still her friend, he had just grown up. He was still the same, no matter how tall he got or how old he became...

"You... you're tall," She managed after a moment, her voice betraying nothing. "Congratulations on growing up."

She didn't really know what else to say to him... what was there to say? She swallowed hard and hesitantly stepped up to him, raising her arms slightly to allow him to hug her. She didn't exactly feel comfortable in hugging someone so much bigger than her, but he was her friend, why was it so hard for her to remember that?


Neruo hugged her gently, feeling a pang of guilt in his chest. Why was she so afraid? He didn�t remember doing anything to harm her. He would never do that to anyone, regardless.

"Ava, I... Did I scare you? Are you alright?" he asked, worried. This was the first negative reaction he had gotten on his growth thus far. Perhaps growing up wasn't such a good thing after all?

He was determined to make her feel better. Reaching back behind him and into the sack, he pulled out a panda plush toy for her. He hoped she'd like it, but he wasn't sure about her tastes.

"I brought this for you." he said, handing it to her carefully.




"No, no, I'm alright. Only it's... I was just surprised to see you grown up, that's all." She gave him a small, uncertain smile as he drew back and extracted something from the pouch he had. Her crisp eyes watched as he took the small, plush object and handed it to her.

She smiled softly as she ran her hand over the bear's stomach, for a moment the shock of seeing Neruo grown had passing. She looked back up at him and her smile faltered somewhat, but not completely. She should have expected this, of course, everyone grew up eventually. But still...

"Thank you, I like it very much." She blinked a few times and held it to her chest, happier over the fact that he had thought of her than of the actual gift she had just received. "I got something for you as well, wait here and I'll go get it."

She turned and ducked back into the house, only to emerge a few moments later with a small box wrapped in white tissue paper; a bright orange bow resting on top. She smiled and handed it to him, much more at ease than she initially had been. "Here. I know it's early, but I won't be here in a few days. Merry Christmas, Neruo."




"Oh...my....thank you, Ava! It's wonderful!" he said as he threw the necklace around his neck. It sparkled with a radiance that was never seen in his household. He hadn't much thought of jewelry, but he was very pleased with it. Ava was a very thoughtful girl.

"I'm glad you like it. I was worried when you looked...scared. I didn't mean to frighten you at all. You know that, yes?" Ava was like a sister to him. Any thought of her being hurt in any way made him feel guilty. He wanted to spoil her rotten, until she was beaming with happiness again.

Letting the subject drop from his mind, he sat down again. "Tell me," he asked, "what have you been up to? I haven't seen you in so long. How's the artistry?"


Ava smiled again, glad that he liked his gift. She hadn't been too sure if her friends would like the gifts she got them - necklaces didn't seem to be a very "manly" thing. But Shalafi had liked his, and Neruo liked his as well, which made her grateful that she had picked out a good gift for each of them.

"I haven't really had time to draw anything lately," She commented, deciding to leave the 'how are you' query he made alone for now. That's all she needed, to blurt out something stupid about Gwydion and get others worried. She had already done that with Talon, and almost did the same thing with Shalafi, that was partly the reason she had left so suddenly, she had wanted to tell the ice feien. Just like she wanted to tell Neruo too, anyone really.

Preferring to stand at the moment, her ears drooped slightly, but she didn't say anything about it. Even sitting he was as tall as she was, if not more so. Size shouldn't really make a whole lot of difference, but for some reason it did. At least to her.

"How have you been? Good, I hope?"


Neruo tilted his head. "Have you been busy?" he asked. Well, obviously, since she hadn't the time to draw. But, what had she been up to? They had only met once or twice, but he considered her a good friend, just as he did many Feien he'd met.

He nodded, more to himself than anyone else. "I've been good. Getting used to my height. Reading more, mostly. Still haven't learned anything new, but I don't mind much anymore. As long as I can help people, it doesn't matter to me what powers I have and don't have." That was what he concluded. Perhaps sometime he'd invite her over to spend time with him? He'd like her to meet his family.

His gray eyes watched her, a bit worried. "Are you alright? You look...sad."


Ava's wings twitched a bit and she pursed her lips together, but she managed a small smile, "I feel the same way, I guess, all I want is for everyone I know to be happy."

Her crisp eyes flicked over to him for a moment before she looked out into the forest that surrounded them. Trees weren't all that interesting to her, of course, she had spent her entire life (which at the moment was very short) amongst them.

She was just avoiding eye contact.

"I guess I've just been helping too hard, maybe. Rhia and Azy are taking me, Kenshi and Rhia's Faemice on a trip somewhere, and I guess I feel bad that I can�t help a whole lot." Even to her own ears that sounded slightly fake. She wasn't a good liar, simply because she hated lying, but she didn't want anyone to worry about her. Everything was fine now, she hadn't been seriously hurt and Talon had healed her. If she got hurt again she could just go see him and everything would be fine. It was probably wrong of her to always run to her father when she needed something, but some things she couldn't handle on her own.

Gwydion was one of them.

"Are you going to celebrate Christmas at your home?" She said softly, again trying to steer the focal point of the conversation away from herself.


Neruo sighed. As non-observant as he was, he could tell she was hiding something from him. For now, he'd indulge her.

"Yes, we'll be celebrating Christmas. We've got the tree set up, and we've all been doing our own Christmas shopping..."

Now, this is what bugged him. He thought of himself as open, friendly, and easy to turn to. But perhaps others did not feel the same way. Lu, his Bond, hated talking about anything relating to herself, save for things that made her happy. Perhaps Ava was the same way. But he disliked the practice, mostly because it was more self-destructive than anything else.

Sighing again, he gently took her chin with his index finger and thumb. He wanted to speak to her directly, about whatever it was that bothered her. His face projected a look of please speak to me. He hoped that would work. He was worried about her.

"Ava, tell me what's bothering you. I just want to help."


For a long moment Ava was silent, and though her face was turned towards him her gaze still refused to meet his. Her hands curled into fists at her side, and she suddenly wished she hadn�t left the stuffed panda sitting on the counter in the kitchen. She wanted something to hug, to hold and snuggle close to, as childish as that sounded.

And that's when it hit her.

Her emerald eyes widened slightly as she gazed at something unseen on the sill below them, and her wings gave away the small tremor that passed through her body. She was a child. Of course she had always known this, but that was what was now different between her and the orange feien at her side. Perhaps it wasn't such a big change for him, but it certainly was for her. He was like a superior to her now, not an equal. Still a friend, but in a different way than he had been when they were both kids...

She could tell him, she knew that now. Just like she told Talon, and just like she hadn't told Shalafi. Children didn't need to be burdened with other children's problems, they should be able to live happily, without having to worry about their friends. And though adults should have those same privileges, it was different somehow, they could accept others problems and understand when they couldn't help.

"Rhia has allowed a young man to stay with us," She said, her voice at first almost inaudible, but as she talked it gained strength. "His name is Gwydion, and I didn't really like him from the beginning. Maybe he knew that and that's why he's so mean to me, I'm not sure. He's a vampire, and even Azy says that he shouldn't be hanging around, but Rhia won't listen. She says he's special or something like that, she says he needs someone to teach him things. Rhia is normally home before it gets dark, because she knows he doesn't like me and is mean, but one time when she and Azy were out they stayed out past dark and woke up. It was awhile ago, I don't remember when exactly, sometime last month. But he said that he was going to tear my wings off, and he actually started to... but I got away and I went straight to Dad's house. I was bleeding a lot and I got scraped a few times on my way over there, but I finally got there and he healed me. I didn't tell anyone about it because I knew everything was okay and I didn't want to worry people because it was pointless for them to worry because I was fine and nothing happened to me."

Ava blinked a few times, sucking in a deep lungful of air. She had been rambling and her words had run together, but it felt kind of good to let someone else know what she had been through. The tip of her tongue poked out at the corner of her mouth and she was surprised when she tasted salt. Reaching up with one hand, she brushed her fingers across her cheek and realized that she had started to cry. She looked back over to Neruo with a slightly bewildered look on her face, her teary eyes wide. Her lower lip trembled slightly and she shook her head, her voice turning slightly hoarse as a few more tears fell, "I'm... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to start crying..."

Suddenly, he felt like a parent. Or, at least, an older brother. Patting her head and drawing her into another hug, he attempted to soothe her. He was glad that she had opened up to him. She looked as if she was relieved, which was his primary concern at first. Now, though, he felt obligated to ensure her safety, however that was to be done. He smoothed her hair and wiped away her tears with his fingers.

Poor thing. She seemed to feel the need to be strong, yet carefree. She already was very strong, but maybe she didn't see that. Wrapping a wing around her, he smiled.

"It's okay, Ava. I am worried, though, about this Gwydion guy. I hear garlic works, but Rhia should be taking better care of you."

Turning his head to look down at her, he said, "It's good to hear that your father helped you, too. It's not weak to turn to others, especially family, for help." Again, he felt like an older brother. But it was a good feeling. He liked it. "I want you to know that you are always welcome to come to me, if you need me."

Mature as he tried to be, he too was susceptible to the whims of childhood. He wasn't embarrassed about it, either. Wanting nothing more than to cheer her up, he chuckled. "Would you like to play a game? Something to take your mind off of things?"


Ava literally clung to Neruo for a moment, extremely grateful for contact from someone her size. It was really rare that she got to talk to another feien, and she found she felt the safest and the happiest when she was with her own. At least she was hysterical, like she had been with Talon. Or close anyway. She sniffled softly and blinked a few times as he wiped her tears away, her body stiffening slightly as he spoke.

"It's not Rhia's fault, she does the best she can." The smaller feien said, always quick to jump to her bond's defense, even if perhaps Rhia could do a better job. "She tries, but it's hard for her. She's been through a lot and she's been around a long, long time. She can't always be there for my problems when she has so many of her own. And I know I'm always welcome at your house, thank you for that, and I'm sorry I haven't visited." She let go of him and sat down at his side, finally content to be about half his height. Reaching up and gently toying with her spike of hair, she turned her bright eyes up to his and drew her brows together in a light frown.

"A game? What kind of game?" The tears in her eyes were now gone, and her face glowed with curiosity. She had never played a game before, of any kind actually, and though she was rather mature for her age, she couldn't help but run countless images through her head about what sort of game the heat feien had in mind.


Smiling, he was very glad she felt better. It was good for him as well to be around other Feien. He felt more at home, even though he was taller than most of them. To him, though, it was the psyche that mattered, not the body.

"You're very strong, Ava." he said quietly. "I'm glad."

At the mention of a game, his heart warmed when her eyes lit up. A wonderful response. Well, now he had to think of something she may like. Hide and seek, perhaps? He was slow as a snail, so maybe that wasn't best. Oh! Lu had played some sort of game involving a net. What was it called again?

"Ava, do you have a small, slightly soft ball? We could play this game my Bond has played before. I believe it was called 'volleyball'. We'd need something of a net for it... That's about the only thing I could think of, unless you have video games around here. Lu has a great deal of them."


Ava's nose crinkled up slightly and her brows drew together at the game he had suggested. What on Gaia was a volleyball?

"Well," She said after a moment, getting up and absently brushing off her rear, "Rhia doesn't have any video games that I know of. She does have a little handheld thing, a Gameboy I think, but she gave it to Kenshi because he seems to love it. There might be a ball in the house, but I'm not sure if there are any our size. And Rhia has some... umm, cheese cloth I think it's called. That could be used as a net I guess."

She frowned at him, a very grave look on her face as her wings fidgeted and she said, "What's volleyball? I've never heard of that game before."

In reality, she didn't really care what game they played, she just wanted to play. Playing was something she had done the bare minimum of in her life, and that depressed her somewhat. She had always heard that playing was something children did a lot of, and here she was - four days short of being three months old - and she had played not a single game in her entire life.


Neruo was a bit embarrassed. He'd have to remember everything properly. Even if he didn't get all the rules right, he was sure they�d have a wonderful time. Taking up the burlap bag, he folded it to demonstrate.

"Volleyball," he explained, hoping memory served, "involves volleying, or hitting, a ball over a net. I've seen my Bond do it a few times. She says she isn't good, but she did say that there were different ways to hit it over the net."

Taking his hands into the fist and turning his arms over to the tender side, he showed her how one hit worked. "You hit the ball with the backs of your arms. The softer side. It looks like it hurts to me, but I suppose any sort of hit that gets the ball over the net is fine. I'm not really a stickler for rules."

He patted her on the head. "Any soft ball will work. And just for fun, we�ll hit it however we please. And no points, if that's alright with you. It would just be for fun."


Ava smiled; a wide beaming grin that spread across her face and made her bright eyes sparkle. Though she had only genuinely smiled this way once or twice before, no one could say that it didn't suit the tiny feien.

"I'll go see if I can find a ball, and get the net." She took to the air; being faster in flight than she was on foot - though only marginally so. She slipped into the kitchen and blinked a few times before dipping towards a drawer and struggling to open it. Being rather strong, she managed it open it enough to where she could squeeze in, locate the cheesecloth and then get back out again without being stuck. It was a rather large square, but they could fold it up if need be. Now for a ball...

Ava hovered in the air a moment, the white fabric bundled in her arms and hanging down past her feet, and tried to think of something that could be used in a game of feien volleyball. Something soft and small. Wracking her brain, she couldn't think of anything and felt slightly disappointed. She was about to head back out and tell Neruo when she noted a box sitting on the far counter. Her earlier grin came back and she flew over to it, landing on one of the flaps and setting the cloth down. She reached in, rummaged around a bit, and then pulled out part of a strand of silvery colored balls. The balls on the garland weren't very soft, but they weren't rock hard either and were a good size to hit back and forth over a net, so they would probably work. She wasn't sure what color volleyballs were, but she didn't think it mattered in this case. She tugged and strained for a second, but was finally able to snap the string and pull one of them free. Rhia wouldn't mind.

She hoped...

Wrapping the ball in the cloth so she wouldn't drop it, Ava picked up the bundle and once more took flight, heading towards the opposite end of the kitchen and squeezing out the open window to rejoin her friend on the sill. She held up the cheesecloth and the ball wrapped within it and gave him a serious look, "This was all I could find, it might not be what you were thinking of though."


Clapping, Neruo commended the tiny Feien's efforts. "Excellent. I couldn't have done better myself. And don't worry about getting everything perfect. A volleyball is much larger than the both of us combined."

Neruo took the cheesecloth from Ava, patting her on the head. Floating as slowly in the air as a snail crawls across the ground, he wrapped the cheesecloth about two candlesticks set up on the table nearby. This would serve as a net.

And the ball would be perfect as well. "Not too heavy or solid at all. Well done, Ava."

Taking his place on the furthest side of the net, he called to her. "Would you like to serve, I mean, hit first, or would you like me to?"


Ava followed Neruo to the table on the porch and landed silently onto the ground, watching as he set up the cheesecloth between the two candlesticks. It was probably fairly mundane to most, but Ava had never seen something like this before and for a moment she wasn't sure what exactly it was he was doing.

She was about to comment on this when he positioned himself on the opposite side of the net and called to her. Blinking a few times, she realized (basically) how the game was played and at first felt that maybe this game wasn't the best her friend could have chosen to play.

"You start." She called to him, hoping it wasn't as hard as she thought it looked. She was pretty slow though, so she didn't really see how she would be able to play a game like this. Though Neruo said he was slow as well, so maybe it wasn't that hard?


Neruo nodded, waiting for her to get ready. He knew he was slower than any other Feien, so it wouldn't take effort on her part at all to beat him. Bu that didn't bother him in the least bit.

Raising the garland ball a ways above his head, he volleyed it with only enough force to send it gently sailing over the net. Not too high, either. This was to be fun, not challenging. He knew she would do well.

"All you have to do is hit it back and forth. If you become bored, I'm sure we could think of something else."


Though Neruo's words calmed her somewhat, the sight of a shiny ball roughly the size of her head flying at her didn't do anything to help settle her nerves. A small squeak issued from her and her emerald eyes widened as she hurried over to where the ball finished its arch and started to drop. Folding her hands like Neruo had done earlier, she cringed slightly and smacked the ball as it reached about shoulder level and watched it sail back into the air.

...And in the opposite direction of the net.

Having never hit a ball like that before, she had swung her arms up too high and caused it to fly over her head and drop out of sight over the edge of the table. She whirled around and stood still for a moment, blinking at where she had lost sight of the silver orb, as if staring hard enough would make it come back to her.

"Umm..." She turned back to her friend and felt her cheeks flush slightly, a nervous laugh rising from her chest. "Sorry about that... I should probably go find the ball, huh?"


Neruo smiled, chuckling. She really was a sweet little thing. "Don't worry about hitting it in the wrong direction. I've done that too, and I accidentally knocked over a few things in the process. At least we're outside, where we can't break anything."

Floating up to the top of the net, he looked down over the table. Not far enough. He couldn't see the ball. Shrugging, he offered to go get the ball himself.

"It's okay, Ava. I can go down there, if you like."

She was quicker than he, but still. He felt like being extra nice to her today.


Ava smiled and shook her head, "No, it's alright. I was the one that hit it, so I should go get it."

She turned away from him and spread her wings, hopping off the table and slowly floating down to the porch floorboards in search of the ball. Upon landing, she didn't see the ball right away and walked under the table to look around for it. She cringed slightly as she noted a spider web underneath the table and set her eyes to the floor again, looking for the silver decoration they had been using in their game. Or had tried to use.

"I don't see-- oh wait, I've got it!" She hurried over to one of the table legs and scooped up the ball, flapping her wings and soaring up to the table top once more. As she landed she held the ball out in front of her, "Should I try to hit it first this time or would you like to?"


Floating back down to his original position, he contemplated. "How's about you try again. And don't worry about hitting it too hard. I can always go after it myself. I don't mind at all."

Smiling, he took the stance that he had always seen his Bond use when playing this game. He felt a little ackward, if not dorky, but at least it served a comedic purpose.

"Say, Ava, did you say you were going somewhere soon?" he asked, absentmindedly.


Ava reached up and gently tugged on her ear, a trait she had unconsciously picked up from Rhia, and took a couple steps back from the net. She made sure she was in about the same position Neruo had been in when he served, and rolled the ball in her small hands a moment before getting ready to serve it.

"Yes, my bond and her mate are taking me and the others on a vacation. I thought we were leaving on the 20th, but we might not leave until after Christmas now." She paused a moment to toss the ball a little ways into the air before hitting it over the net, perhaps too high and too far, but at least it was in the right direction this time. "I don't know if I'll like going though, because there probably won't be any other feien there. But I don't want to stay with Gwydion..."


It was a little high, even for him, but he thought it would be amusing to try and reach it standing on his toes. Barely grazing it with his fingertips, it rolled onto his other open palm. More of less pushing it back over the net, it sailed slowly through the air. He tried to remember how to 'bump' the ball. His Bond showed him that once.

"If you don't think you'll like it, and you don't want to stay here, why not stay with me? Lu wouldn't mind at all. You're polite and well-behaved. She'd love you."


Ava took a few steps to the left and positioned herself under the ball, her brows drawing together in concentration. At the net this time, make it go at the net. She lifted both hands in front of her face and placed on one top of the other, closing her eyes and gently bouncing the ball back over the net. It sailed over the net perfectly, though the opposite end from which Neruo stood. At least it was on his side, whether making a beeline at him or not.

"I don't know if Rhia would like that, I would, but I think she wants me to come with."


Well, the ball was sailing the other direction. Although he was one of the slowest Feien one earth, he had a height advantage. Stretching out his arm, he barely nicked the ball. It took a few tries and a little bit of comedic flailing, but the ball did get back over the net. Smiling, he decided to stand in the middle of his side of the field instead.

"Well, if you have to go, I want you to try and have a good time. Nothing beats a positive attitude, even when you dislike your company."


Ava watched the ball for a moment and then blinked at Neruo. Her mouth twitched for a moment and then she looked slightly chagrined, "I like Rhia and Azy, and Kenshi too. I just wanted to spend my first Christmas at--"

She let out a soft wailing sound and hurried over to where the ball was closing the gap between itself and the ground. Being more than a little clumsy, she stumbled and fell; the ball smacking her in the chest and then was slammed between the small feien's body and the wooden table.

The earth feien rolled over onto her back and lay there a moment, the wind having been knocked out of her; her emerald eyes staring unfocused up at the porch ceiling. She blinked a few times and inhaled deeply, sitting up and shaking her head. Her wings fluttered a bit and she reached over, pulling the undamaged ball to her chest and smiling over to Neruo to show him that she was okay. "...Oops."


Still concerned despite her appearance, Neruo floated over to her. He offered a hand to help her stand up. Glancing over her quickly to make sure she didn't sustain any real injuries, he sighed. He was very glad she was alright.

"Well, it's good to hear that you like your Bond and the others that live in the house." He paused, thinking. "Where did you say you wanted to spend your first Christmas? This'll be my first Christmas as well, so I may need some ideas in case my family wants to go somewhere."

He chuckled, messing with his hair. "My apologies if I'm prying or rambling on."


Ava accepted the hand he offered to her and stood up, absently brushing off her rear after letting go. She kept the ball tucked under one arm, though she was beginning to dislike the inanimate object with a passion.

"I thought it would be nice to spend my first Christmas here, at home," She replied, gently tugging on one of her pointed ears. "That way I could maybe visit my friends afterwards, I don't have very many and I don�t get to see them a whole lot."

The small feien's face saddened for a moment before she shook her head gently and once again smiled up at Neruo, her wings folding in against her back. "Do you want to try playing again?"


Neruo chuckled quietly and placed a gentle hand on her head, messing up her hair. She was like a little sister to him, and he would do anything in his power to protect her. Though, he thought, since she is Talon's daughter, she'd probably be able to protect herself.

"I'll be spending Christmas here, too. You're always welcome at my home, so feel free to drop by, if you wish."

He folded his own wings against his back before replying to her question. "I'll play again, if you wish. Unless you want to do something else."


Ava smiled for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders lightly, her wings rising and falling with the gesture as she rolled the ball slowly between her hands. "I don't care either, we can try something else if you'd like."

Her ears drooped slightly and she glanced back at the open kitchen window, but didn't seem too bothered by whatever it was she was thinking about. "Perhaps I'll drop by after New Years. Rhia is intending on having the vacation last until after then."


He shrugged. He really didn't care either way, but it didn't seem like either of them were about to make a decision.

"After New Years? Oh, yes, humans have parties then, don't they? To celebrate the upcoming year? Maybe we could have a party like that when you get back?"


Ava nodded, "Yes, they celebrate New Years too. Though I think the Japanese celebrate it later on than people do here in the US."

The small feien blinked and looked back towards the open window, a small frown forming on her lips. "I guess maybe I should get back inside now, I was helping Rhia when she heard you call me."

She turned back to Neruo, again a little disheartened at how tall he was compared to her, but she smiled. "I wouldn't want to make her angry."


Neruo smiled, patting her on the head lovingly. "It's alright. I apologize for distracting you from helping your Bond. But I had a great time, Ava. I hope can come visit you sometime in the near future."

With a bow as elegant as he could muster, he took to the air to slowly float back home. Over his shoulder, he waved to her. He truly did have a good time, but now he was curious to see what his Bond would concoct in celebration of the new year.

"Goodbye, Ava! I'll see you again soon!"


Ava smiled and nodded, her wings opening slightly as she watched Neruo fly off, "Goodbye, Neruo, have a good holiday!"

Once he was out of sight she flapped her wings and flew back towards the open window, ball in hand, to help her bond with the last few things that needed to be done before they went on their trip.