Welcome to Gaia! ::

Earendil nodded. "I'll pass her over once we get there then," he murmured. "That way when I give her to you, she'll be more likely to stay asleep."

He could see the river ahead of them, and the wooden dock that went partially out over it. There was a second dock a little further upstream, but it was rotted out and full of holes.



"That's very true," Ulrich murmured thoughtfully. "It happened that once, an elf and a human married here, and it caused so much trouble that an entire group had to leave this land. Serenity and her parents are the last who remain of those people. Even a century ago, a union such as Ulani and I have would have been almost unheard of. Until the war, Light elves married Light elves, and Dark Elves married Dark elves. The fact that there is now an entire nation made up almost entirely of mixed marriages is a miracle. And that's within the same race! Between races ..."

He shook his head slowly. "I know you can't help who you fall in love with," he murmured, "but I just hope Earendil knows what he's getting himself into."

"I'm sure he does," Ulani's voice interrupted them as she joined them once more, drying her hands on a towel. "That's probably one of the reasons why he's keeping quiet about it. Or rather, trying to."

She looked at Donovan, slightly annoyed. "I can't believe you would tease him like that. Both of you," she added, glaring darkly at her husband. "Couldn't you tell that it was torturing him?"

Ulrich smiled sheepishly. "Sorry?"

"Storm and Starr?" Earendil asked curiously, heading towards the dock that was in good shape. "What did they do to it?"

Once they were at the dock, he sat down and made himself comfortable.



"I"m sure he has his reasons for not wanting to say anything," Ulani said softly but firmly. "And I would suggest that if anyone is going to talk to anyone about it, that they talk to him first. And Ulrich, I forbid you to tease him again. He came out here to enjoy himself. Donovan, I can't tell you what to do, but I'm sure Earendil would also very much appreciate if you let him alone as well."

She paused. "Or ... well, since you're Lin's father, at least talk to him or something. He deserves that much at least."

Earendil chuckled, relaxing slightly. "I can see them doing that, too," he grinned. "They do love their magic."

He knelt next to Lin. "Ready?" he asked, holding Miyuki close to her.

Haldia in the meanwhile was wading into the water. Already knee deep, she smiled to herself. It was warm, just like the river on her island ... she liked it.



Ulani smiled at Kara. "That sounds like a good idea. Earendil might not quite be ready to forgive Donovan quite yet."

Ulrich chuckled, and his wife gave him the Evil Eye. "And if he never forgives you," she told him, "it will be your own fault."

Earendil handed Miyuki over to Lin ever so gently, careful not to wake her. The infant had had a very long and exciting day, she needed this sleep.

"You know," he murmured once Lin had her, sitting next to her and slipping his boots off, "it's quite peaceful out here. It's nice to just be able to sit and do nothing for once."


Haldia waded deeper into the water, and then, once she was about up to her chest, she took a deep breath and dove below. Her eyes open, she swam for the bottom, dolphin style, trying to see how deep the water was.

Earendil smiled softly. "Yes ... I can definitely see why you like it out here."

He rolled up his pant legs and dipped his feet into the water, then sighed contentedly. "It's definitely more peaceful out here than back home. Always someone looking for you, wanting you to do something, or duties to attend to, or ..."

He grew silent, thoughtful.


Haldia blinked. Had she seen correctly? If so that was one enormous fish ...

She spread her arms and headed for the surface for some air. Once she was up there, she turned to Lin and Earendil and called out, "Are there very large fish in this river?"

She brushed her wet hair away from her face. "Because I think I may have seen one ..."

Haldia held out her arms almost as wide as she could. "It looked this big," she replied. "But I only caught a glimpse, I am not entirely certain ..."

She hesitated. It could be a trick of her imagination ... but somehow she didn't think it was.

"Mers?" Haldia questioned, tilting her head slightly.

Earendil chuckled softly. "Some of Lin's siblings. They're half fish. They're very interesting, if you saw one of them, you should tell them to come see us."

Haldia laughed. "I cannot speak underwater, I am not Leyenda," she giggled. "But I will look again and see what I find."

And she took another deep breath and dove below once more.

Earendil looked at Lin sidewise. "Feng or Ryu?" he asked, since he had not met Naida before. "Though I can't really see either of them being on their own."


Haldia swam through the water with the agility of a fish, looking around for the tail she had seen flash by her earlier. She heard something behind her, and she turned in the water just in time to see the fish swimming away from the girl who was half fish, half human. She was intrigued to see that the girl had the same colour hair as her ... that was a rarity.