Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aravis made a soft, purring sound as she, for the thousandth time the same hour, glanced at the 'basket' she was curled up around. She beamed at the sight of her 'son'; all her children were grownups by now, so it felt good to have a little one to take care of. Even if it was not her real baby, she still loved it with heart and soul - because she was going to be part of its childhood, and she'd become as much as a mother for him as possible...
She glanced at her real son, Caspian. He was glancing at some point in the distance nobody could see. She was sure he thought of Willow, his new girlfriend; she had to agree it was not a bad choice, though she could still sometimes be found mumbling that she was 'older than his own mother', though she accepted his choice of girlfriend quite well - in fact, she liked Willow a lot, seeing how she was very kind and such. She suited Caspian a lot, and she knew she could trust Willow, and she knew that they both loved each other, and that was enough for Aravis. All she needed to think about now was Felix, the new baby, Felix, the grownup Soleil, Felix, who Soleil's possible mate would be, Felix, where Malaika was and if she had gotten a mate yet,... did I mention Felix?

"Felix!" Aravis' eyes shone with happiness as she left her book and wand for a minute and stared at her mate, wide-eyed, in disbelief. Was it really him? She hadn't seen him for so long! Her dearest darling, her loveliest mate! Oh, she had missed him so much... she had thought of him all the time she had been locked up in the house... ohh...

Andromeda made a snorting sound of amusement as she saw Soleil, and then trotted forward.
"Hello, there", she said, in a kind, but a bit curious voice. "You may not know me, I s'pose. I'm your mother's guide... Andromeda. And you're the person I'm supposed to guide's daughter... Soleil, I guess?"

"Sis!" Caspian burst out, looking happy at the sight of his "little sister". "I've missed you! Where have you been these last months... Wow, you're grownup..." He stopped abruptly, staring at her up and down. "Not that little anymore, are we?" he grinned, as he flapped his wings.

"Feeeeeliixx!" Aravis half-screamed, half-burst out behind him, and she practically half-pounced, half-hugged her mate. "You can't believe how much I've missed you! And how much I wanted to tell you everything about what has happened since I last met you... Caspian growing up, and.. oh! Soleil's grownup, too!" She goggled, wide-eyed, at her daughter. "Soleil, my - no, OUR - little Soleil, you're so big now, aren't you? Big and beautiful... it's really time for you to get a mate, your brother has already gotten one." She flashed an amused look at Caspian.

Aravis smiled back, her heart almost jumping out of its place in happiness. She then followed his gaze and looked at the spell book and wand. She threw a glance at Andromeda. Andromeda threw a glance back, but understood. She trotted to the spellbook and settled down next to it, glancing at it with some sort of curiosity.
"That's Sirius Black", she explained. "He's really an orphan, but he feels a bit like... part of our family..." She made a sort of confused frown, not knowing exactly how to explain. "... So I'm just as protective of him like with our own children. Because... even if mum WILL raise him, it won't be the same, I mean... I'm still the adult female Tala in the house, the 'momma'... but of course, nothing that's mine won't be yours... so he's your son too... if you want it", she added softly, looking a bit anxious. She wasn't even sure if Felix wanted another son, what if he didn't want another child at all? At least not a child he hadn't even known of, a child which was an orphan... a child which wasn't... THEIRS.

Caspian blinked, a bit in astonishment, at his sister. She felt a bit... overly polite, he thought for himself, finding the right words. Was this really Soleil, teasing him during the Easter Ball, which he had tried to chuck easter eggs at so they started throw eggs around in the Tala ball room, with Flash and Kavi and Willow and everybody?... Was that Soleil, or was that a complete stranger whom happened to be his sister...?
"Uh... OK, I've missed you too", Caspian said, still a bit stunned by her politeness. "... Yeah. So any luck finding a mate?" he grinned. "Or new friends? Some special happenings since last time we met?"

Aravis could at first not reply, but she beamed so much she thought she'd burst.
"He'll be our little son!" she chirped. "Caspian's and Soleil's little brother... how has your time been without me, then?" she continued, looking at him with only increasing warmth. "I've missed you so much... all the time I've been at home. Caspian has been out, of course... meeting his girlfriend." She chuckled a bit.

Caspian felt a bit sick. This was not exactly... as he had expected it to be. 'Not very polite'? He frowned in his mind. Had Soleil really been THAT Soleil whom he had thrown eggs at? Was this like... his NEW sister?
She felt more like his older sister than his younger one.
"... Err... OK...", he said, still stunned at her comment. "I was just wondering... never mind...", he said, making a slight shrug. "... Since we haven't met for so long... so... I don't know much about... what has happened lately, you see..." Whack, whack, whack. It at least didn't hurt or show in his mind, he thought, as he mentally whacked himself once more. Couldn't he think of anything better to say? "Er... yeah... so... er... hm... have you... um... met new friends then? Something special happening? I'm just wondering", he added swiftly, not wanting to risk to have her brow furrowed again.

Noticing that something was a bit wrong, Aravis licked back, and smiled:
"Yeah... and I'm here for you, too. But... I've a feeling that you're feeling a bit uncomfortable, darling... is that right? Tell me out loud about how you feel, I won't feel bad about it. You're my mate, after all... and I'm yours." Her eyes twinkled softly like stars. The thought of having Felix as a mate always filled her with deep warmth and happiness. That they had a family together...

"OK...", Caspian said, smiling, feeling a bit more courageous. She still felt a bit distant, but a bit closer to the Soleil he had gotten to known, now, anyway. "Oh... so have I. I've just met that 'girl', yes, Willow, she's my mate now... just like you said, during the Easter party, remember? You teased me for having her as a girlfriend and I started trying to stuff your mouth with eggs to make you stop and then the egg toss thing started!" He laughed, thinking of the old memories. "Good you're here now, though", he smiled. "Having a mate is great... don't wanna save you that fun, you better find a guy here... and I'll make sure he won't be forgiven that easily if he makes you cry..."

"... Oh, I understand what you mean...", Aravis said slowly and thoughtfully. "If it had been me... but... yes, he'll still be our little son, won't he? He'll love you, Felix, his father; look up to you and adore you... I'm sure he will." She smiled. "... And also... I think we're going to become grandparents soon." She grinned widely, as she jerked her head in Caspian's direction.

"Tree person?" Caspian raised an eyebrow, but ignored it and continued: "... Oh, don't be sad. I'm sure you'll find somebody soon..." He sat down beside her. "I mean, there're so many guys in the Meadow. There must be somebody whom you'll meet and like... I'm sure you'll find somebody. And... now that you're here, you're probably gonna meet somebody."

"Oh, don't say so, honey", Aravis laughed, as she licked his cheek. "When we mated, you were about his current age now. Six months." She tilted her head to one side as she watched him shift and sigh. "Her name is Willow... the daughter of Eve and Senki, two Generation 1 Talas. She's beautiful and kind... and has known since he was little. But she's a bit older than us, but it doesn't much matter... what matters is that they love each other, isn't it?" She smiled. "I mean... you'd have loved me even if I had been older than your parents, right?"

"Yes, exactly. We're still happy youths, so there's no rush. But I'll be looked forward to that day when I become an uncle", he laughed. "But... maybe Malaika becomes a mother before you do. Then I'm still an uncle, and you'll be an aunt", he smiled. Then he stiffened. The thought of Malaika had just struck him. He had seen her very little. He had mostly seen Soleil throughout his childhood, along with his two parents, but Malaika had grown into an adult faster than they had... and he felt like it was somewhat of a pity. They had not shared childhood together, the three of them, as two sisters and a brother... and he wondered if Malaika and dad were still not getting along. He shook off the thought and continued: ".. Yeah, anyway, we're young and happy, aren't we?" His smile came back again. "So... any thoughts of how your dream prince might be? Cool and romantic and nice? Or a calm, smart, nice? Or a romantic, charming nice prince? Ah... so many choices. I wonder what kind of dream prince I am to Willow", he grinned.

"... So were you", she grinned back. "... But imagine having a little mini-Caspian running around. Ooh, then he'd look like you. Caspian looks like you, doesn't he? Then a mini-Caspian would be the second Felix Jr..." She smiled.

"Mom's sister?" Caspian frowned. Hadn't Soleil heard of their older sister? "... No... she's OUR sister. Don't you know? Before we even came out of our baskets, her owner fed her two Growth Potions at once and then she became an adult. That's why we never saw her. I've seen her... once. She has... red eyes. A circle of crimson stars on her forehead... she's pastel pink, with a golden mane. Her neck-fur is deep red, and she has a pitch-black and silver braid. Her tail is deep red and pastel pink, too... she looks a bit like mum, because she has the same colors, just that mum is deep red and a bit pastel-pink and she's the opposite - she's pastel-pink with a bit of deep-red. She was born five days before us..."