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Niyana and Ruque spent some time every day at the ranch with Miyu and the children, helping out and simply playing with them. Ruque liked working with Miyu, and Niyana enjoyed the opportunity to do something useful again.

Construction continued on Celebor and Niyana's house, though Celebor did make sure to send aside some time to spend with Lin as well.

As for Ruran, he mostly avoided Lin, instead following Celebor around - no one was quite sure why, perhaps only for the sake of something to do without his sisters.

At long last, the day came when the children who had been rescued no longer needed medical attention, and it was time for Lin and Miyu to return home.

Ruque had gone to the ranch by himself that day, and he had been surprised to learn the Miyu and Lin were leaving. He followed Miyu around as she packed her things, watching her sadly.

"You're going to come back again, right?" he asked her in a hopeful tone. "And you won't wait too long?"

"And you live in the house on the orther side of the portal?" Ruque asked curiously, watching as she finished up. Maybe he could visit sometimes - but that wouldn't work, there was too much of a time difference between worlds, his parents would get worried about him ... but he liked having Miyu there. She was his intellectual equal, and shared many of the same interests as him.

"Do you have to wait until there's another hunt to come for a visit?" he asked then. "Or can you come more often than that?"

Though he had no idea how often there were hunts anyways.

Ruque smiled brightly at Miyu's words.

"I'm glad," he murmured softly, a faint blush spreading over his cheeks. "Because I like being with you ... I learn a lot from you, and you're really nice."

He shuffled his feet shyly, then turned towards the door. "Are you meeting Lin downstairs?" he asked without looking over his shoulder. "I can walk you to the portal ... if you want."

Ruque followed after Miyu eagerly, glad that he was able to do at least something before seeing them off to their own world.

And he wasn't the only one. Arahad, who had been so evasive the past several weeks, was just coming inside, and when he spotted Lin he grinned at her. "All rested up and ready to go home?" he asked her cheerfully.

Arahad chuckled. "I would expect nothing else from you," he agreed. He heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up to see Miyu and Ruque coming down. "Ah, and there's Miyu," he nodded. "All set and ready to go? I'll be coming along with you. Mother's worried about Ruque being alone after you two head through the portal."

Ruque smiled. Quite unlike his brother, he liked that people worried about him - it didn't mean they didn't trust him on his own, it simply meant that they cared about him and wanted him to be safe.

"We're ready," he nodded.

"Oh, I'm sure they are," Arahad chuckled, "though I'm not sure they're that eager to be going home. We all know how much they love visiting Aliya. Especially now that Adonijah's opened up and actually started playing with Naida."

Ruque led the way outside. "It's fun playing with Naida and Ecthelion," he beamed. "At least, when Ruran isn't being mean."

Though even he would admit, Ruran had been improving for the last little while.

"Perhaps because of Adonijah's bond with animals," Arahad suggested, "and as Naida is after part fish ..."

He shrugged. He really had no idea, it was just a guess. "But whatever it is, he has certainly improved since he was younger."

"I think it's probably more along the lines of, his entire personality has changed ... somewhat," Arahad debated. "Since Roydon and Rose came here, he's been different."

He paused. "Well ... not right away when they came, but once they had been here a few weeks. And then of course when everyone thought he was going to marry Rose ... but even when Adanedhel was the one to marry Rose, he's just been more open since then."