Re: A Long Awaited Vacation - 119 4A

[Nara-pyon]

Ulani immediately set about getting out the teacups. As she worked, she spoke to Miyu over her shoulder.

"Miyu, did Aliya tell you that Aragost has been waiting for you? If you've the time on this visit, he now lives in the main ranch house with Elrohir and Haradhel."

Aliya blushed faintly. "Sorry, Mum, I forgot to tell her. She froze up the warm corner of the cellar for us, and I didn't think of it."

Ulani laughed. "Well, now she knows."

[Kara Winters]

"Of course!" Miyu nodded eagerly, "Mi.... it's been busy for so long until now."

Kara chuckled, "Miyu has had to look after the medical, or healer's wing while Yukito was helping me. It's only recently that he's been able to go back."

Though that still left the question of what Miyu wanted to do.

[Nara-pyon]

"Busy isn't bad," Ulani murmured with a smile. "We also seem to be getting busier all the time. What with the horses, and building, and of course there's hunting and gardening and the fields and preserving ..."

The work never seemed to end, but Valar help her, she loved it.

"How are the rest of the family?" Aliya asked with a bright smile as she took a canister of tea leaves from a shelf. "Still keeping well?"

[Kara Winters]

"Everyone is doing well," Kara murmured, "Feng, Ryu and Nadia came back from their trip, and let us know how the others traveling this new continent are doing. Granted, by now that was years ago, so who knows how they have been doing. We have hints from Ura, when he manages to connect with Shiro, but... it's still not the same as hearing from them."

And they probably wouldn't a few more months, though at least it was only months to them.

[Nara-pyon]

"Like hearing third-hand how River and Jess are doing our in Caras Galadhon," Aliya agreed. "They've been out there nearly a year now, and got a little girl of their own. Just adorable, too, though of course a glimpse in a mirror is nothing compared to seeing them properly. What do you hear from Ura?"

She remembered the neko slightly, but he had not been there long, and only once.

[Kara Winters]

"Not much," Kara admitted with a laugh, "I suspect Shiro and Ura mainly talk about research and work, so whatever we learn, we need to glean from that. We know that they're alright, according to Ura..."

Not that she didn't believe him, however, she had learned that Lin seemed to have inherited Kara's tendency of really weird things to happen during travel.

"But that doesn't tell us much," Donovan shrugged, "We do know they have covered ten countries so far, we haven't heard anything yet from the latest country they're in, and that the two eevees pets that Lin and Earendil have brought for Miyuki and Andarien have pretty much bred to create a horde of eevees over the years."

He was surprised that there were no more new babies announced, maybe the original two thought six was enough.

[Nara-pyon]

"Still, that's quite the distance to travel in just a few years," Ulani murmured thoughtfully. "I still can't imagine just how large the continent must be ... though Aragost has said that it is quite large. That's already more than twice as many countries as exist here in the Four Lands."

"And you say so far," Aliya commented as Ulani poured out the tea. "How many countries could there be left for them to visit?"

[Kara Winters]

"I have no clue," Donovan admitted, "Ura wasn't really helpful in that regard, but that could also be Shiro didn't think to share that information. Really, Ura helps Shiro with his research, so the topics they talk about are limited at best."

Kara giggled, "What Donovan and I have been doing is, ask Ura specifically if the group are in a different country, and then just mark it down like a tally. Really we should ask Ura, to ask Shiro how many countries are left."

[Nara-pyon]

"I also wonder how easy it is for them to communicate," Aliya commented thoughtfully. She passed the tea to Donovan and Kara and then reached for the cups for Miyu and Toshiro.

"What do you mean by that?" Ulani asked her daughter. "They share thoughts, as do your father and brother."

"Well, yes, but between worlds, where the time passes differently?" Aliya pointed out. "What might be instantaneous for Ura, how much time would pass for Shiro?"

She had no idea, and she didn't know if somehow the worlds temporarily aligned chronologically, but it could possibly explain why Ura's information was somewhat spotty on what some might consider to be large details.

[Kara Winters]

"I'd imagine for Shiro, it would be much longer before he hears anything from Ura," Kara murmured thoughtfully, "I don't know if the two figured out when would be the best time to communicate, or if they just know. I've noticed they have a bond that runs deeper than just sharing thoughts."

Desires, or inner feelings, Kara noted that Ura would say the things Shiro would like to say but was too polite to do so.

[Nara-pyon]

Ulani smiled. "Well, their bond is unique," she admitted.

Suddenly the front door crashed open, and there was a good deal of banging in the next room. A voice was heard muttering in elvish.

"Leave the ice outside, Ada," Aliya called, laughing. "Miyu's fixed the cellar for the moment, it can wait until tonight."

There was a moment of silence, and then a grunt, another thud and a sigh.

"One of these days we'll figure out how to rig an early-warning system so that I don't have to spend an entire morning slaving away just to find out it's not even needed and not only that but I'm missing out on company."

Ulrich entered the kitchen as he spoke, and despite his gruff and annoyed tone, there was a twinkle in his blue eyes and a smile on his lips.

"Welcome back, all," he greeted the visitors. "Don't mind me."

[Kara Winters]

Miyu giggled, knowing that Ulrich didn't mean most of his complaints.

Kara chuckled, "Don't mind you at all Ulrich. At least you don't have to rush anymore."

All the banging and muttering had attracted the attention of the twins, who peeked into the kitchen clutching the dolls they had found in the play area.

[Nara-pyon]

"Very true," Ulrich grinned. He sniffed the air. "Tea?" he asked, looking at his wife.

"If you'd like," Ulani nodded.

Ulrich pursed his lips briefly, then grinned. "No. Hot ale for me. But don't you worry about it, I'll get it myself." And he moved to do just that.

While Ulani and Ulrich debated the drink, Aliya smiled at the girls who were poking their heads into the doorway and beckoned for them to come in and join the adults. There was no reason why they couldn't, after all.

"I see you've found some of my old dolls," she said warmly.

[Kara Winters]

It was Faith who stepped in first, with Hope clinging to her sister from behind. Though it was Hope who spoke first.

"She's pretty," Hope commented on the dolls, with a slight lisp on 'she'.

"Apple!" Faith was far more interested in the food, she had a bit of a sweet tooth.

Hope nudged her sister in the back, causing Faith to re-balance herself, but the nudge reminded Faith.

"Please!"

[Nara-pyon]

Aliya giggled. It didn't matter how many children she saw, the way they spoke when they were learning to speak properly never ceased to amuse her.

"Have all you like, we've more than we could want," she assured the twins. She picked up two of them and held them out to the girls.

[Kara Winters]

Faith's eyes lit up and she took an apple, and Hope shyly took the other.

"Tank you," Hope murmured before going back to Faith.

Kara smiled at that, the girls didn't remember all the time to say please and thank you, but when they did, it was a good feeling.

[Nara-pyon]

"You're quite welcome," Aliya beamed.

She turned back to the others. "Ada, if you're back, does that mean Amdir is as well?"

Ulrich nodded. "He was only a moment behind me, he was stacking some of the ice blocks on the sled before coming back."

"Oh, dear," Aliya giggled. "I'd best go tell him there's no rush on that."

She excused herself and left. Once she was gone and everyone was settled at the table with either their snack or drink, Ulrich and Ulani both turned their attention back to their guests.

"So what brings you here?" Ulani asked curiously. "Anything specific, beyond the fact that it's been a while?"

[Kara Winters]

"Nothing specific, I have no reason to seeing handing everything over to Elrohir and Haradhel before Lin left," Donovan admitted with a shrug.

It had a been a decision Donovan had decided on when Lin began her journey all those months ago. Technically Donovan didn't own anything on the Ranch, though his family still had a place to stay if they needed it. Besides, he hadn't even been collecting the money he had initially invested (or received) over the decades. It just didn't matter.

"So it's just a visit," Kara added, "Also a vacation because the past year or so has been busy."

[Nara-pyon]

Ulani smiled. "Sometimes it's nice to get away," she agreed. Then her smile widened into a grin, and she added, "And sometimes it's just nice to have more people around. Speaking of which, are you going to be staying for supper? Leilani and her family are coming, but we've more than enough to go around."

After visiting a few places to see what had changed, Ulrich's sister and her family had returned to stay in the valley with Ulani and Ulrich. Their home was near Celebor and Niyana's, and was only a few years old.

[Kara Winters]

"Why not?" Kara replied, "It would be nice to meet Ulrich's family. We've heard of them, but not met them in the same way Lin has."

Which wasn't a surprise, Lin was here more often than they were.

[Nara-pyon]

"Of course, you weren't here when they arrived," Ulrich recalled with a chuckle. "That was fun. They nearly got themselves killed, but that's another story."

"It's something that can't really be helped if they're going to sneak around a place like Haven," Ulani said dryly, though she was also smiling.

The place at that time had been full of fighters who were constantly on high alert. What else could be expected?

[Kara Winters]

"That sounds like a story..." Donovan replied in turn.

He didn't ask for clarification though, that, maybe could come at dinner. Though now that he thought about it, since they were going to see about staying for a while. He turned to Toshiro and Miyu.

"Since I'm sure you have people to visit, and we'll be staying for a few," he told the two, "Why not run on ahead and tell Elorhir and Haradhel we're here?"

He figured Miyu wasn't running off out of politeness.

Miyu smiled widely and nodded, "We'll be back in time for dinner."

Tugging on the back of Toshiro's coat, the two made a beeline for the door.

[Nara-pyon]

There had been many changes at the ranch. First of all, while the people who lived and worked there were still proficient in arms, their focus was no longer either offense or defense, but simply farming and surviving as a united group. As such, all of the old barracks had been demolished and replaced with single houses, and many of the ranch hands had sent for their families to join them - more often than not, just wives, since their children were usually grown and married already - while others had taken the opportunity to travel to the Westland cities and had come back with new wives.

Even the main ranch house had been taken down, replaced with another house that was, while not exactly smaller, very different. It was only two floors, not four and a half, and it was more sprawled out than built up. As a matter of fact, the house had been built as four wings, each one a house of its own, though they were connected in the center via a shared glass-domed courtyard. One wing was for Elrohir and Haradhel, one for Arahad (though he shared with Aragost now), one for Ahren and Shiara, and the fourth was for any visitors that still occasionally showed up.

By the time Miyu and Toshiro arrived at the ranch, Arahad was already back home and was actually in the process of preparing some hot cider for himself and Aragost in his kitchen. Out of his small kitchen window, he spotted Miyu and Toshiro making their way towards the house, and since there were so many doors through which they could enter and at which they could knock, he hurried to the main front door and opened it for them.

"Hey, this way," he called, standing to one side and beckoning for them to come towards that door. "Easy to get lost now, there've been a lot of changes since you were last here."

[Kara Winters]

"No kidding," Toshiro huffed as the duo made their way over to Arahad's door, "Lin is going to be floored when she gets back."

Though to be fair, the same might be said for the other way around. Toshiro was sure by the time Lin and the others got back from their trip, the kids would have grown and maybe Dareon would have had his own kids too.

"Grandfather will be happy," Miyu replied in turn.

This was what Donovan figured would eventually happen to Haven, and it did.

[Nara-pyon]

"Well, since we weren't expecting wagon loads of people coming at a moment's notice anymore, Ada figured it just made sense for us all to have our own living space - especially with Ahren and Shiara starting a family of their own," Arahad explained.

He let the two inside before closing the door behind them. The foyer was enormous, about twenty feet tall, with a rich oak decor. There were four doors, two to each side, each one of which led to a different wing of the house. Arahad's door was open, as he had hurried to the foyer, but the others were closed. Directly across from the door to outside was a glass wall with a glass door in it. Through the wall and door a brownish-green courtyard was visible, walled in on all sides and with a glass dome overhead.

"So who would you like to see?" he asked Miyu and Toshiro with a grin. He gestured towards the open door behind him. "That's my place. Nana and Ada are across the way, just there," he pointed at the door across from his that was closer to the outside door; and then, pointing to the door next to it, added, "and Ahren and Shiara's place. This other one is empty, are you and your parents staying the night? That's where you'll be staying then. Got its own kitchen and everything - shares a cellar with the rest of the house, though."

He was about to wait for a response when suddenly he remembered his roommate. "Oh, and Aragost lives with me, now."

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