Welcome to Gaia! ::

Elrohir chuckled. "I think this is the first child we've rescued who has been this ... uncaring about the fact that he was kidnapped."

Roydon grinned up at Elrohir. "Well I'm not with them anymore, and there's lots of new kids to play with, and I get to explore places I always wanted to go ... Ada always says, we should forget about bad things but learn lessons from them, otherwise we just get sad when we can be happy, and it's better to be happy than sad!"

Haradhel was impressed. Most people didn't believe that - or realize it - at any age, and this boy was, at the most, six or seven years old.

"But perhaps you should go to bed," Elrohir suggested to the boy. "After all, if your sister wakes up and you're not there then she might get scared, and the sooner you go to bed the earlier you can wake up in the morning for a new adventure."

Roydon thought about that for a minute, and one could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he thought about what Elrohir had said. Finally, he nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," he agreed. "Can Saki come with me?"

Elrohir chuckled. "Any particular reason, Roydon?"

The boy grinned at him. "Well, I'm not sleepy yet, so I thought maybe I can play with Saki while I'm falling asleep," he explained. "That way I won't be bored!"

Haradhel's eyes sparkled mischievously. "I think that would be a wonderful idea," she nodded, smiling brightly. "Maybe if you ask her nicely she can sing you a lullaby, what do you think?"

Roydon's eyes grew wide and eager, and he nodded vehemently. "I think that would be nice!" he agreed. He looked down at Saki. "Will you sing me a lullaby?" he asked, stroking her belly playfully.

Roydon was thrilled. "Okay, let's go then!" he exclaimed, jumping carefully to his feet. He shifted Saki to his shoulder like an infant, cuddling his cheek against hers and stroking her back and wings gently.

"Good night!" he grinned to the others. And with that he ran out of the room, and up to the bed he had been shown earlier.


Once he was gone, Elrohir chuckled. "Ah, if only all of them were so easy to take care of."

"Aww...." Lin pouted, "Mommy."

"She's right," Donovan replied, "You need more sleep, and this will be the few times you actually get a full night's sleep."

"I think..." Kara mused, "I shall head to bed, after I make sure Lin gets to bed."

Not that she didn't trust Lin, but she did want to make sure that the little girl did get a good night's rest. So with that Kara got up to usher Lin to bed.

Elrohir smiled at the three of them. "Then I suppose we'll see you in the morning," he said cheerfully. "We'll do our best not to wake you when we come in again, though we might be a while so I'm sure you'll be fast asleep."

He grinned and rose to his feet, putting one arm around his wife's shoulders and pulling her close.

"Good night," he told Kara, Donovan and Lin.

Haradhel smiled at them as well "Good night," she repeated. "Sleep well."

And she and Elrohir headed outside.

By the time Celebor awoke the next day, it was well past noon, and his stomach was growling. He changed his clothes, then strapped on his weapons once more (a habit by now, though he knew that once he returned home his mother would have him break it soon enough) and headed out of his room, downstairs to find something to eat.

He could hear all of the children playing - some of them in the play room, others outside - and he smiled softly to himself, knowing that he had been able to help free them from a life that would have been terrible indeed.

When he entered the dining room, he saw that there was a bowl of fruit out on one of the tables, and since he couldn't hear his aunt around anywhere, he decided to help himself. As he sat at the table, he couldn't help but wonder where everyone else was.