Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gwaethir chuckled again. "Let us hope so," he said warmly.

He turned his attention back to Miyuki. "You are a very special child, you know," he told her sincerely. "You have two special parents, and you are able to see more of this world than almost anyone else - and your own world besides. There are few that have such an opportunity."

Gwaethir just smiled at that. "Sometimes it's being lucky that makes someone special," he told her cryptically.

But before he could say anything else, a hush went over the crowd of people. Earendil looked around to see what had happened, and he was slightly surprised when he saw Aragost, little more than a shadow in his robes and cloak, standing near the house, hands raised.

He motioned for Lin and Miyuki to listen, then turned to face his ascendant, his eyes filled with respect.

Everyone was present, Aragost noted, though he could not see with his physical eyes. Everyone from the valley, the ranch - even the mountain - had come. Ulani and Ulrich, their children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren; Celebor and Niyana with their family; even Amara and Fletcher, for the first time in decades, had made their way down from their home to take part in the celebration. All of the fighters were there, the trainers, the grooms, the field-labourers; old and young alike, residents, travelers, and guests.

It was quite a crowd, even he had to admit.

"I have been asked," he said, his voice audible to all in the stillness, "to lead this morning ... to begin this morning with all of you ..."

He spread his hands, gesturing towards every last person present.

"Friends ... family ... we do not all know each other, perhaps ... but we have been brought together. By chance, by fate, by direction ... however it happened, here we all are. Let us together look back on times past ... because today as we gather, there is another year behind us all ... and though much has stayed the same, much has also changed."

He gestured towards the row of houses behind the barracks. "New homes have been built." He motioned towards the space where Elros and Alena stood, with Shiloh in Alena's arms. "There has been new life given." He gestured towards the area where Lin and Earendil stood with Miyuki. "There have been new families created." He made one final gesture towards the pasture, beyond which was the designated cemetery. "And there have been lives lost," he concluded emotionlessly. "Such is the passing of life. Let us take a moment to reflect, each of us, on our past year - the people we have known, the things we have done. Let us measure their worth - not only to ourselves, but to the world around us."

And with that he bowed his head, as did everyone else in the crowd.

After several long moments, Aragost again raised his head, and then raised one hand high in the air.

"To life!" he shouted, one of the only times he ever raised his voice.

"To life!" the crowd shouted back, pumping their own fists into the air.

Earendil looked down at Miyuki. She didn't seem to be taking this very well. As Aragost led the people in the next cheer, he picked Miyuki up and hugged her, then balanced her on one hip so that he could continue with the rest of the cheers.

"To love! To family! To peace! To happiness!"

When the shouting was over, everyone cheered, clapping their hands and whistling and cheering at the tops of their lungs.

The celebrating had begun.

Earendil turned to Lin and Miyuki as the women hurried off to the ranch house to bring out the food that had been prepared the day before in expectation of a the huge feast they would be having.

"You all right?" he asked Miyuki with a soft smile. "I think we took you by surprise ..."

Earendil stroked her head softly, then set her on the ground. "That should be the end of the noise," he told her. "Now, they're going to be setting up for a while, do you want to help them?"

The women had gone for the food, some of the men were setting up tables, Celeborn was setting up the archery targets, and a few of them were setting up boundaries for a fighting arena. There was a track being marked for races, and a few of the elves were even returning to their quarters for musical instruments.

Earendil grinned at Miyuki. "Wherever you want," he told her. "I don't have anything in particular to help out with, so I'll let you choose. Is there anything you would like to help out with? Any particular activity? With any particular people?"

There were plenty of people here after all.

"Maybe we could find River," he suggested. It would be good for the girls to get to know each other, especially since they were going to be traveling together for a very long time.

Earendil just about choked on his laughter before he forced himself to calm down and look around for River. Unsurprisingly - though amusingly - he heard her before he saw her.

She was not too far away, helping Timaeus, Amdir and Adwin to set up the race course - babbling away as she bounced around them.

"Right over there," he chuckled, pointing the way for Miyuki.