Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aurin chuckled. "True enough. And what about Haldia? Did she return home, then? Or is she on the ship with the others? Oh, and by the way, from now on you'll be flown to and from the ship so that you don't have to worry about the walk anymore."

It would save them a lot of time, what with rowing to the shore, walking up to the palace - which took a good three hours - and then the return trip, of course.

"Ah, I see," Aurin nodded as Earendil returned. "Well, there is a time for everything, and sadly, parting ways is one of them. Have you hopes of seeing her again?"

"Seeing who?" Earendil asked, having missed most of the conversation.

"Haldia," Aurin replied. "We were just discussing old times."

"Ah," Earendil smiled. "Well, we were hoping to visit Nauros again after we're finished here. Or perhaps if I'm finished quite a bit before the city, we might make a side trip or something of the sort."

"I see." Aurin nodded. "You will have to greet her for all of us here, then."

"Ready and eager," Earendil grinned. "I really got used to having Rhea around when she was living with us at the palace, it's been kind of quiet without her."

"Well, she's right here now," Aurin smiled. "Possibly asleep, I'll have to check first before we can go in. Come." He motioned for them all to follow him, and headed out to the hallway.

"Miyuki, come," Earendil called, holding his hand out to her.

It was a very short walk to the next room over, and Aurin slipped inside for a moment before opening the door wide for the others to come in.

Rhea was not in bed, as Aurin had thought she would be, but was sitting at a desk and seemed to be reading through some scrolls. Her hair was tied back in a low ponytail, and she was wearing an everyday sort of skirt, not at all dressed for a nap. Her belly was quite large, and it was quite clear that she was indeed very near her time of giving birth.

"Welcome, everyone," she beamed, her eyes sparkling brightly as she turned to greet them. Her cheeks were flushed, but other than that she showed no signs of being tired, either physically or mentally. "We've been waiting for you for a long time now."

Rhea giggled at Miyuki, not at all put off by her question. After all, it was clear, more so to her than to any of the others there, that Miyuki was not a naturally born baby, and that she was a stage grower: it was no surprise that she had never seen a pregnant woman before, or that she didn't know where natural babies came from.

"Well, Miyuki," she said proudly, "there's a baby in there, and then when the baby is all grown and ready to live on its own, it will be born. And then I will have a little tummy again, just like everyone else."

Well it might take a while to lose the pregnancy fat, but other than that ...

Rhea giggled and nodded. "In our world they do. In your world, babies come from many different places - like you. You were brought by a stork, I believe. Your mother came from a vase. Your Aunt Cindy, who I grew up with, she came from a feather. But in our world, everyone comes from their mommy's tummy."

She put one hand on her swollen belly. "Do you want to feel the baby kick?" she asked with a wide smile.

"Not at all," Rhea smiled, her eyes sparkling brightly with laughter. "It kind of feels like ... well, tapping."

She took Miyuki's hand and placed it gently against her belly. "There. Do you feel that?"

There was a soft thud-thud-thud against Miyuki's palm barely even noticeable, but present nonetheless.