Welcome to Gaia! ::

Keeta left the house well before Ceres had told her to. She was grateful that Rhine was pulling an evening shift. It meant he would not be at home during the fateful moment and she would not have to explain why she was going out. Ceres had told her what would happen to the mirrors when she....Well she knew that Rhine would know immediately, so if she was to get this done, she had to be gone before it was time.

Before leaving, she purposely left her mirror and cell phone on the counter. She did not want to know the exact moment. She knew she would not be able to handle that on top of everything else.

Keeta left the kids with Jiao'lan, barely getting away. Her friend was far too perceptive and could sense that something was off. Jiao'lan didn't like it, but she finally allowed Keeta to leave when she promised that she would share everything later.

She had gone to the library, trying to kill some time by looking at books, but she finally gave up after reading the same page over and over, but still having no idea what she was reading. Eventually she ended up wandering the streets, slowly working her way towards the address she had been left, as sunset approached. She felt the keys Ceres had given her jingle in her pocket with every step, a constant reminder of the mission she was on.

Her chest tightened as the sky grew more colorful and the sun started to head for the horizon. Had it happened? Were they gone? She swallowed hard, wanting to cry, but finding that there were no more tears left to be cried. At least not by herself. When she found Rhine grieving later she knew she would cry again, this time for him, and also with relief of no longer having to hide it. It had only been a few days, but it felt like an eternity.

As the sun kissed the waves, Keeta stepped up to the property and inserted the first key into the gate. Inside, stood a quaint house with an adjoining stable. Keeta used a second key to get inside, where Ceres had told her a message would be waiting, with further instructions.

Keeta started reading the message while still standing, but found herself slowly lowering to the floor, her back leaning against the nearest wall. She hadn't realized it until now, but part of her had secretly hoped that this was all a big joke and that Ceres would be waiting for her here, but it was all happening just as her friend had said it would.

The letter did not elicit tears, but her heart started pounding, wondering what exactly would happen once she got up and started taking action on Ceres' instructions. She wondered what Rhine's letter said that Ceres believed would cause him to forgive, and whether or not she would be allowed to read it. Would it work? Would his mother's words preclude any resentment he might develop?

Shaking her head and putting those thoughts aside, she briefly flipped through the property information. It was a sizable chunk of land. Perfectly capable of housing a medium to large sized family, and was paid in full. It had waterfront access and of course...the stables.

Keeta feared what she would find there. Would Natalia still be an equine? Would she be a little girl once more? Would she have to witness her changing from one to the other?

Will she fight me away like she did the others? Why would Natalia call me mother? Ceres is her mother. I fell like I will be dishonoring her sacrifice and memory, and yet....if she had wanted it to be different she would have set it up that way. Keeta swallowed and massaged the bump at her waistline that got bigger every day. She would have four now that would call her mother. What would Rhine say? Would he be Father? Camille would wonder why her aunt/ cousin would suddenly start calling Keeta mom. This was not going to be easy no matter now it was sliced.

And then....Natalia's child. Ceres believed it would die. But if it came to term then...another one. And they would be carrying the children at the same time. And if it didn't....would she be able to help Natalia through the trauma? Would Lir and the other ponies stay here, or would Rhine make them a place around the cafe? There was so much to consider.

She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, continuing to massage her belly. She knew she was stalling, but she was uncertain of what she would find in the stables. After a moment or so she made herself get to her feet and start heading over, however. It was starting to get dark, she was unsure of the logistics that would be required in getting Natalia home, and she couldn't wait too long. Her husband would be needing her about now. Scooping up the clothes and the letter, Keeta started to make her way to the stables.

Keeta reached the stable door and slowly swung it open. The hinges were in need of grease and the groaned as they turned on their pins. That of course did nothing to help Keeta feel any better about this. Taking a deep breath, she nervously stepped into the stables, her head turning this way and that. From the doorway she couldn't immediately see anything, so she took a few small steps inside, quietly calling out.

"Lir? Natalia?" The stable was growing darker by the minute from the setting sun and Keeta didn't immediately find a light source. She hugged herself with her free hand, mentally kicking herself for allowing herself to start feeling scared, but like it or not, that's how she was feeling. Glancing at the open stable door she wished she could go back and pretend this was all a bad dream, because if she dounf Natalia here...particularly if she found Natalia human she would no longer be able to pretend that this was not happening. Keeta was soon jostled by her thoughts, however, when a familiar face appeared over a stall door and "whuffed" her sweet breath at Keeta.

"Daisy!" Keeta said, putting a hand over her heart and trying to calm herself after the start the pony had given her. The little equine's ears perked up at the sound of her name and her eyes brightened. Keeta felt a little guilty looking at Daisy's face. It had been ages since she had taken Joel and Camille to visit their four-footed companions. She figured with the new turn of events, however, that they would be seeing a lot more of Daisy and Brownie. Sighing, she gently rubbed the pony's nose.

"I wish I could stay and visit with you girl, but I'm on a mission. Have you seen Lir and Natalia?" Daisy looked a little disappointed, but Keeta could see in the pony's intelligent eyes that she understood the question. She tossed her head, and pointed her nose further down into the stable.

"Figures..." she said, before turning back to Daisy with a sad smile.

"Sorry I have to go girl, but I promise I'll see you again soon, and I'll bring Joel and Camille." With a final pat, Keeta started once more in the direction the pony had indicated. She stopped in front of a stall when she though she heard some small movement. Something was rustling the hay slightly. Peeking into the space, she saw Lir....and the naked form of a girl on the hay.

"Natalia!" Keeta exclaimed, hurriedly opening the stall door and going to the side of the blue-haired figure.

"Lir....it's me. Keeta," she said, trying to reassure him. She smiled when he leaned over and nuzzled the girl. Keeta smoothed Natalia's hair, trying to be gentle and not startle her. It was her that was startled, however, when Natalia began to speak. Dinner time?

"I know Natalia, but I need you to get up," she said, trying to keep her tone from revealing the chaos going on inside her head.

"We need to get you dressed and get you home, so we can have dinner at all." Dinner was certainly the last thing on Keeta's mind, but if that was what it took to get Natalia up and going, then dinner it would be. The last thing she wanted was to be caught here in the pitch dark, with a naked girl and a grieving husband at home.

Keeta noticed the little toy for the first time since comig upon Natalia. It was strange to remember her in the context of Kiwi. It seemed so long ago that Natalia was little and clutching the little bird against her. Now here she was, no longer so little and yet the stuffed toy was still there in her hands. Keeta gently reached out to touch the worn, fuzzy toy.

"Oh...thank you Natalia," Keeta said, accepting the stuffed toy. It had not been her intention to take Kiwi away; she had simply wanted to touch it as a nostalgic thing. Either way, she gave the bird a small squeeze, finding herself comforted somewhat. She also hugged Natalia in return. It was akward, when the girl was naked, but she would not deny her the chance to gain some comfort.

Keeta helped Lir get Natalia to her feet. The girl was taller than Keeta remembered. She looked to be "blooming" and was apparently moving well down the road known as puberty. She blushed slightly seeing Natalia so revealed and averted her eyes, reaching down to pick up the clothing where she had left it.

"Here Natalia, put these on so we can get you home," she handed her the clothing, hoping Ceres would have made a good guess as to the size Natalia would require. She absent-mindedly massaged her smallish baby bump as she turned away, waiting for Natalia to clothe herself.

Keeta offered Natalia a small smile. She tried to keep her sadness out of it, but she was only mildly successful. Natalia's confusion was obvious and there was nothing Keeta could say or do to help alieviate it. With how Ceres had left things, whatever she said would only make things worse.

"Of course, Natalia," Keeta responded, reaching for the hair tie. "Although I think we'll be more successful at home when we have a brush to help us." Keeta started to loosely braid Natalia's hair into a single plait, just to get it out of the way until something better could be done with it. She eyed the piece of paper Natalia had pulled from her pocket.

"What's that?" she asked, nodding towards the girl's hands.

"This is true," Keeta said, still trying to act as though things were perfectly fine. She took the paper, gladly exchanging it for the small stuffed bird. Carefully, she placed it in her pocket, so she could examine it later. It could be nothing, but Ceres had planned this so well, it seemed odd to Keeta that Ceres would leave a pair of jeans that had an old scrap of paper in the pocket for no reason. She felt that somehow the paper was sigificant.

"So let's get you home and cleaned up, shall we? I know Rhine, Camille and Joel will be glad to see you." She tried to smile in a way that would make Natalia feel at ease. Keeta was also curious as to how Natalia would respond to the mention of her brother and cousins. How had Ceres programed her to think about them?

Keeta mentlly backpeddaled, realizing that Natalia didn't think she'd been gone long. She quickly tried to come up with something that would explain her words.

"Well when you went to see Lir this morning, we had expected you back at the house sooner, so everyone started to get a little worried. That's why I came here to find you. I guess you must have had so much fun riding that you wore yourself out and fell asleep in the hay." She gave the girl a sidelong glance, hoping that the explanation would satisfy her.