Welcome to Gaia! ::

River giggled and waved at Naida with her free hand. "That's good," she told Feng brightly. "Because I like it when you bring Naida! We can swim together when it's warm enough! It's too bad it's not warn enough right now, but if you come back in the summer sometime - but after we're back from our trip, of course, because it would be hard to swim with you when I'm not here," she added, half-seriously.

Then, without skipping a beat, she pointed to the candy cane in Naida's mouth and added, "What's that?"

Earendil shook his head slowly. "Then I'm afraid I can't help you," he said apologetically. "I simply don't know what it might be."

River looked confused at that, but it was clear that she wasn't going to get any clearer answer from Naida. Without hesitation, she shuffled over to where Donovan was sitting and plopped herself down right next to him.

"So you're Naida's grandpa," she said to him in a tone that clearly indicated that she expected him to pay attention to her.

River giggled. "I sure am!" she beamed. "Well anyways, I can tell you're busy and all, but I had a question for you, if that's okay."

She smiled as cheerfully as if she were giving him the best news of his life, pointed at the candy cane Naida was sucking on, and said, "What is that? She said it's a candy cane, but what's that?"

River blinked. Candy? She hadn't had candy in a very long time ...

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked hesitantly, though she longed to say yes. "Mama might get terribly upset, she says I'm hyper enough without more sugar ..."

She was an honest child, one had to give her that; but she was also self-conscious, which was really a good thing.

River's eyes grew bright at that. She just couldn't argue with his logic. And truth be told she was a child and so she really didn't want to. Let her mother argue with him if she wanted to.

"Thank you," she beamed, holding her hand out for the treat.

It was a special day, after all.

So River was able to enjoy a candy cane, just like Miyuki and Naida.

The afternoon was filled with more fun and games, races, contests and competitions of all sorts, but after her grand win of the morning, River was content to watch most of it.

At long last, the end of the day came upon them, and as night began to fall, Alyse and Timaeus set out to find their daughters. There would be one final thing before everyone would return to their homes, though, and so they all sat together in the grass, waiting for it.

River was looking for Miyuki again, slipping between the people in search of her friend.

River spotted Miyuki in the midst of her extended family, and she smiled and headed towards her.

"Is it okay if I sit with you?" she asked eagerly. She wouldn't take Miyuki away from her family, but she did want to sit with her friend. She didn't have her bow or her prizes with her anymore, she had brought them back to the house so that she wouldn't lose them in the dark; so her hands were empty, though she had also pulled on her cloak in the meanwhile.

Earendil was sitting behind Lin, with both of his arms around her, holding her close, simply relaxing while they waited for the end-of-day fireworks that Haradhel was preparing. He smiled softly when River asked Miyuki if she could sit with her. It was good that the girls were getting along so well - they would be traveling together for quite a long time, after all.