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Lilly was awakened first by A'aleen with Naoia by her side.

"Wake up now, child. Slowly now..."

"*Moan* Wha...whatimeisit..." Lilly mumbled.

"Time to wake up, dear," Naoia said with a soft smile, keeping a hand gently pressed on Lilly's shoulder.

"Na...Naoia...?"

"Yes dear, I'm here."

"I...I feel...funny...?"

"I'm sure you do, child. You're changing."

"Cha..huh?" Lilly opened her eyes, then furrowed her eyebrows, trying to make sense of things. "Ja...Jamie?"

"He's still sleeping, dear. We woke you first," A'aleen said, keeping a close eye on what was going on within Lilly.

Lilly turned her head towards the First One who had healed her.

"I...I can't move..."

"I know, dear. We're just making sure you take it easy at first," A'aleen said.

"Let's sit you up, though do it slowly. I will help you..."

With Naoia helping Lilly into a sitting position and A'aleen making sure that she didn't inadvertently do something that she wasn't ready to handle just yet, Lilly eased herself into a cross-legged sitting position.

"I...feel all tingly..." Lilly commented while squirming a bit and rubbing her arms.

"That is due to the change occurring, it should go away once what you received from Naoia finishes altering your body," A'aleen said, keeping a close eye on what was happening.

"Um...I'm not gonna look like somethin' weird...am I?" Lilly asked, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"More than likely, you will still look the same as you have before, only...you will be able to do things no one from your world can," A'aleen replied.

"Like what?"

"Dahmietra, after her adoption ceremony, gained the ability to self-heal, just like Kei'sa has. She also became able to change her own form at will to one like this," A'aleen answered, pointing to herself.

"Oh, like what Miss Kei'sa and her friends can?" Lilly asked.

"Yes, dear, just like they do. They inherited the ability from Dahmietra."

"Don't forget what she got from Ghen-sa'hal..." Naoia reminded her friend.

"Ah, yes...that." A'aleen shook her head a little and turned her attention back to Lilly. "It took a bit longer for what she got from my bond mate to manifest..."

"What was that?" Lilly asked.

"Dahmietra has some ability to control natural forces."

Lilly looked thoughtful for a moment and asked while looking at Naoia, "Kinda like when Fier'na messed with the temperature in the crew's mess that first time they came aboard to visit?"

"Why do you think_I_ knew about that?" Naoia asked, giving Lilly a shrewd look.

"Uh...I...I dunno, it just popped into my head that...you got onto her about it and tellin' her how she was lucky that she didn't get skewered by Rissa's tail," Lilly replied, rubbing her forehead a little. "It...it's like I'm lookin' right at her and she's lookin' at me, only...it's your voice doin' the talkin'."

Naoia and A'aleen glanced briefly at each other.

"What do you hear, my child?" A'aleen asked.

Lilly concentrated for several seconds and replied, "Um...not much of anything, just...Shauna snoring a little and Erlanna breathing." She looked back at Naoia and cocked her head slightly. "You're worried about...Arlan?"

That _definitely_got the attention of both First Ones.

"Why do you think_that_, Lilly?" Naoia asked, wondering how she could've known.

"When I looked at ya, I...saw a brief image of him and...it seemed like you were worryin' about him for some reason." Lilly paused a moment. "He's here somewhere, isn't he?"

"Lilly seems to be rather perceptive. I think you might as well tell her, my friend," A'aleen said privately to Naoia.

Looking off into the distance for a moment, Naoia turned her attention back to Lilly.

"He's been here for a while, along with the other two, Shauna's brother and his mate."

"So, is Arlan okay, or...did something happen to him, too?" Lilly asked, wondering if he had arrived under a similar circumstance as she had.

"_Physically_Arlan is okay, though his experiences have...been troubling him," Naoia replied.

Turning her attention to A'aleen, Lilly asked, "Can ya fix him up, like ya did with me?"

"It's not up to me, child. The Great Mother has him and..."

"He'll never be the same again after being with Her," Naoia interjected.

Before Lilly could ask, A'aleen filled her in.

"There is no best way to describe Her. It is from Her that we First Ones came into being, so we refer to Her as The Great Mother, mostly for lack of anything else to call Her. She cannot be fit into a mere name and only She knows what she is. To say that it is extraordinary that She has taken an interest in your cousin's mate is putting it in the mildest of terms. He will undoubtedly have an experience few will ever have."

"Ya, I can understand that," Lilly said quietly. She thought a moment and asked Naoia, "Does it have anything to do with what Rissa told us about what happened the first time she was on that dead planet we were on when...I...?"

"Yes, dear, it does," Naoia replied, taking a hold of Lilly's hand. "Arlan was displaced in time and location by something the Kær'aûla had made. It took him twelve of your turns of seasons into his future where he spent over one turn of the seasons before being returned back to his own time and place."

"Ya...I remember when he disappeared, just before Daisy and Rosetta were born. It was really hard on Poppy. When Rissa showed us an image she took of 'em on that planet, we had proof when he was there. Jamie and I got it figured out and he told Poppy about it in a message he sent her. He sent her a copy of the image Rissa gave us. It hurt Rissa pretty bad when Arlan an' them left an' never came back. She never gave up lookin' for 'em."

Naoia was not unsympathetic; indeed, she had a bone or two to pick with their creation, The Heart, over disrupting the timeline and particularly for what happened to Lilly.

"For the record, dear, Nial-sa'fel didn't have a choice when he had to continue on with Arlan, Cameron, and Hauvri'ahn, and they were not allowed to say anything to Rissanivi. All that will be explained soon enough, though, and those three will be joining you shortly. Before we wake everyone else up, you and I need to take a short trip to a place where I can help you to understand the changes taking place in your body," Naoia explained.

"I go, too," Char'ena announced firmly.

Naoia and A'aleen looked up from their sitting position to see the Great Lupin standing behind and slightly over Lilly. This was an unexpected protective gesture on Char'ena's part. Both First Ones, however, understood something of the connection between The Others--which the Great Lupin was definitely one of--and the one they called The Great Mother. Given that Lilly was one of the third iteration of The Three and that it was the creation of the First Ones that had very nearly ended her life, it would not be wise to object.

"Well, let's stand you up on your feet, dear," Naoia said after giving Char'ena a slight nod.

* * * * *

"AAARRRLAAAAN!!!"

Cameron lowered his hands from his mouth and perked his ears up and swiveled them, trying to hear his friend's voice.

"Hear anything, you do?" Hauvri'ahn asked worriedly.

"Negative, babe," Cameron replied, wondering if he should try again.

"Several times, tried you have, my Cam," Hauvri'ahn said, lightly touching his arm.

"He's never been gone this long."

"His choice, perhaps it was not."

Cameron looked at his wife and had to agree with her.

"You may be right, especially after we saw him with that...whatever kind of being it was."

"Return, we should, to our camp. There, wait for him, we will."

"Yeah, I guess there's no point wandering around out here, we might get lost ourselves," Cameron agreed.

The two made their way across the open area they had been camped in since they had arrived in the realm of Ayoo-t'ahna nal-Zhidôr. As they walked along at an easy pace, Hauvri'ahn looked around--the place had fascinated her like no other had. When she looked up at the "sky", for it was hard to tell exactly where the horizon stopped at the sky began as they seemed to blend together in the distance, Hauvri'ahn grabbed Cameron's arm and pointed up.

"My Cam, look!"

Cameron instantly came to a halt and looked up in the direction she was pointing. They saw the unimaginably large star-filled figure of the being they had seen Arlan with before, filling the "sky" above them. The being appeared to touch her chest, and when the hand pulled away, it reached down towards their encampment. There was a flash of energy like they had seen once before, before withdrawing, and then the being appeared to blow a kiss towards the spot where she had touched and then looked directly at both Cameron and Hauvri'ahn.

In their minds they heard an oddly compelling feminine voice giggle lightly with a musical quality to it, saying, "Heart of being no longer lost in time. Always he has been, always he is, always he will be...here."

The gigantic image of the being again touched her chest and smiled lovingly, only to fade from view.

"Soon with others you will be..." they heard the voice say as it, too, faded away.

Cameron and Hauvri'ahn looked at each other in dumbfounded awe at what they had just witnessed.

"Arlan..." they both said in unison, before running the rest of the way back to their camp.

"Arlan! Talk to me, buddy! Are you okay?!"

Hauvri'ahn knelt down by their friend's side and held his hand.

"Arlan, with you we are. Worried for you, we have," she sent to him using her touch telepathy.

Arlan's eyes blinked open and he struggled for a moment to focus on Hauvri'ahn's face, as if he was coming out of a deep sleep. When he came to enough, Arlan sat up and touched her face as if he wasn't sure she was real or not, then, realizing that she was, he quickly threw his arms around her in an emotional hug. When he pulled away, Arlan turned his attention to Cameron and embraced him, too.

When he could speak, Arlan said, "You...will not believe what happened..."

"Share with us," Hauvri'ahn said, holding her hands out to each of them.

With her help, Arlan did his best to share with them the experiences he just had.

"Jeezers, dude..." Cameron nearly whispered when the sharing was over.

There was not a dry eye between the three of them.

"Yeah, I know," Arlan agreed. "Rissa's here, with Poppy's cousins. Shauna's here, too."

Hauvri'ahn made a slight gasp as she held her hand to her mouth, looking in shocked surprise at her husband who was no less surprised as she was.

"My lil' baby sis is...here?"

"Yeah, man, she's here. She's all grown up now and...wearing the same black uniform as Poppy's cousins," Arlan replied.

"Black...? That's...if I remember right, that's what long-range scout ship crews wear!"

"I only got brief glimpses of their trip here, though...I got the impression that they were put on that same Journey-thing we did. Somewhere along the way they met Rissa and she remembered you telling her about Shauna, so in exchange for rescuing her and getting her ship fixed enough she could make Esba'in Station, Rissa's been helping them find us. She never gave up looking for us..." Arlan said, with another tear running down his cheek. He wiped it away and said, "I...I saw Alicia...then Poppy and...and...the girls..." Arlan broke down at that point and cried, prompting Hauvri'ahn to scoot next to Arlan and hold him.

"Dude, I..." Cameron struggled to say, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder.

After a few moments, Arlan struggled to say, "Th-They're...they're...beautiful...just like...their momma..."

He fished out the pocket watch Poppy had given him and carefully opened it. The time and date had not changed since they arrived. The display inside the front cover still showed Poppy sitting and wearing the formal gown, holding a long-stemmed red rose.

* * * * *

Naoia, Lilly, and Char'ena appeared near the edge of what the First Ones had created for themselves. Beyond in the distance, there was only a plane of white fog.

"What's out _that_way?" Lilly asked, looking up at Naoia.

"That is where _we_began, dear. Well, at least as far as we know."

"Is that where we're headin'?"

"To a specific place, there, yes. You'll be able to see it when we get closer. It's not as far as you might think."

Naoia took a hold of Lilly's hand and they began walking towards the fog. The ground they were traveling across gradually diminished as the fog seemed to grow ever so slightly around their feet and the features of the landscape faded. Lilly couldn't tell how far or for how long they walked, though it didn't seem like it could have been very far. As the last of the vegetation faded ghost-like, Lilly held up for a moment to look all around.

"This sure looks kinda strange. Well, kinda creepy in a way," Lilly commented softly.

"This is, I suppose you could say, is the edge of what you might think of as the beginning of reality. When we First Ones came into being, this..." Naoia said, waving a hand about, "...was all there was, at least as far as we could perceive. The one we call The Great Mother gave us the ability to create what we wanted here, so..." Naoia said turning to face where they had come from, "...we made all of _that_for ourselves."

Continuing on, Lilly asked, "Where did you come from, Char'ena? Did ya just kinda appear like they did?"

"Char'ena has always_been _here."

"She's right, Lilly. Char'ena and all those we call 'The Others' were already here when we came into being. They are a part of this place, and as long as it exists, _they_will exist," Naoia explained.

"So...what made _this_place?" Lilly asked.

"We...don't really know. There's only one who would know, but She has never told us." Naoia lowered her voice and added, "We think this is somehow a part of Her. There's really no words that exist that can describe it. We've tried. For a very long time, we've tried. Well, before there was time...at least as you understand it."

Lilly didn't know what to think, though some part of her knew what Naoia was talking about, and Lilly was having difficulty grasping that particular concept.

"You don't look all that old."

Naoia looked down briefly at Lilly and smiled slightly.

"That's because I don't age."

"Why not?"

"Unlike, say, the Dra'kans, we First Ones exist outside of time. The Dra'kans were born within time."

"So...how come _they_don't age?"

"Oh, they do, just ask Arneora sometime," Naoia said with a little chuckle.

Lilly thought a moment and asked, "Will we ever get to see the ol' gal again?"

Naoia glanced down at Lilly and replied, "Arneora? Oh, I'm sure you will, dear."

"She's kinda neat...even if she does like Jamie a bit much."

Naoia laughed a little.

"He's not hard to like. And neither are you. And for some reason, Tanya is almost just like my Ahnia."

"Who's that?"

"You might know her by her other name, Red Moon. She's my great granddaughter. You'll get to meet her after we leave here."

"Whoa...seriously?"

"Seriously, dear. And Meri, too."

Lilly looked up at Naoia.

"I hope she's as nice as she seemed in that recording."

"Oh, she is, dear. I think you two will get along quite well."

As they continued to walk, Lilly had a lot more questions running through her mind. At one point she looked behind her towards where they had come from--it seemed like a glow that spread across the horizon. The only light where they were presently at appeared to come from the glow of the fog itself. The scenery, or perhaps the lack of it, was disturbing to Lilly, who had grown up surrounded by forests and mountains in the five hundred year-old community known as Gelfheim, Alaska. Here it was just a featureless flat foggy surface, with no sky, that faded into the darkness beyond.

Lilly was so lost in thought that she didn't realized they had stopped.

"We're here," Naoia announced, startling Lilly.

"Whoa..." Lilly said softly as she looked upon the sight before them in wide-eyed wonder.

Silently hovering above the fog were large vertical stones with odd patterns of slowly scintillating colors, much like she had seen on the beast ships of the First Ones. The stones looked to be several stories tall, slightly wider in the center than at the ends, and appearing rough-hewn in form, creating a circle around a small hill that had a cliff face on the side they were on. Large roots sprouted from deep within the hill, reaching up to form a giant redwood-sized tree gleaming with a silvery bark and whose leaves were illuminated from within by stars. Directly below the tree, at the base of the cliff, appeared to be a small grotto with a pool of water.

"You, my dear, are the first being not of this realm to ever be brought to this place. This...is where we began."

Lilly tore her gaze away from the spectacle before her to look up at Naoia as the impact of the First One's words hit her.

"What you see all around us was all that there was at first," Naoia explained. "We made this_out of respect to The Great Mother." Naoia went on to explain to Lilly the significance of each part. "This is where _we began, and in a sense, where_you_ will also begin again with the part of me that is now part of you."

Naoia took Lilly's hand and led her into The Circle.

Walking towards The Pool, Naoia spoke softly to Char'ena, "You know I have to do this, right?"

The Great Lupin glanced up to Naoia and said, "Char'ena know. I call Others?"

"Do what you feel is best, dear."

Once at The Pool, Naoia knelt down on both knees and had Lilly do the same, facing her.

Taking a hold of Lilly's hands, Naoia looked down for a moment, then meeting Lilly's eyes with her own, said, "You, James, and Tanya...you three were always meant to be together. That was not The Heart's doing--it only put you on your own Journey of the heart, which, by the way, you passed. The reason why you three are meant to be together is..."

"My doing, heart of being."

Lilly saw a blinding flash of light out from which walked a strange being about her height and build, though looked very much like a walking hole into space with glowing fiery pupil-less amber eyes similar to Char'ena's, only brighter. Lilly could only look on with an opened-mouth, wide-eyed look of awe, especially when she saw Naoia bow her head towards the strange being. Lilly never imagined _anyone_that a First One might show such respect towards.

"First One may continue to help this heart of being understand," She instructed Naoia.

"Yes, Great Mother," Naoia acknowledged, again bowing her head. Turning back to face Lilly, she picked up where she left off. "The Heart, what you thought you were looking for, is something we First Ones created. We instructed it to find individuals who might be worthy of being protectors of sorts, 'Guardians of Light', as it were, of those who could not protect themselves. It is supposed to sift through the various universes and when it found those who might be candidates, it would call them when it determined the time was right, and it would test them. Not all of those who it has called has passed their Test of the Heart, though..." Naoia paused briefly, with a quick glance to manifestation of The Great Mother, looked down for a moment before looking Lilly in the eye. "...it is not supposed to end a person, and...it very nearly did you. It took...a lot, even for me, to keep from losing you. It was nearly too much. Because it was our creation, we have to fix things, make things right. That is why I brought you here, once you've had a chance to rest up a bit from what you went through. It was never our intention for you to have been tested so sorely. It was my duty to be your guide, to show you pieces of the puzzle to see if you had enough wits and ability to think beyond what you thought you knew to figure it out...and you have." Naoia looked down and took a slow, deep breath and let it out. Meeting Lilly's eyes again, Naoia added in a soft voice, "I am sorry our creation almost ended you. Kh'nar deserved what he_got..._you nearly got what you did not deserve."

Naoia looked down and, slumping her shoulders, fell silent.

Lilly listened to all that the First One had to say, and although she was surprised by what she just learned, she stayed true to her principles--there was only one thing in her heart of being that she could do.

Lilly embraced Naoia in a hug.

Pulling back, Lilly took a hold of Naoia's hand and held it against her chest over her heart.

"We have sayin' back home, 'here you will find only love and acceptance', and...and you will. You kept me from bein' a gonner, and that counts for somethin', right? I don't see it any different than when Mindy fought to keep that one guy alive durin' the war even though she nearly died tryin'. Besides, it wasn't your fault that idiot Dark Blood tried to take Jamie out...I'm just glad that you were able to do what ya did." Turning to Char'ena, Lilly added, "And you, girlie...thanks for getting' us here quick enough."

Lilly hugged and nuzzled Char'ena for several seconds before kissing her on the cheek. Char'ena put a foreleg around Lilly in her version of a hug and gave her a lick on the face, making Lilly smile.

Char'ena walked up to The Great Mother and, looking intently at Her, cocked her head a bit to one side. The two seemed to share some sort of silent communication between them, then the Great Lupin wagged her tail with her ears lowered. Being quite familiar with the wolves of her home, Lilly was reasonably sure what Char'ena was trying to do. Never having been reluctant to stand up for someone, Lilly got up and stood by Char'ena, putting her arm across the Great Lupin's shoulders.

Standing straight, Lilly said, "Don't be hard on Naoia and Char'ena, they did everythin' they could, so we're all good as far as I'm concerned. If me and Jamie and Tanya are like you said, somethin' of your doin', then you oughta know we wouldn't have done anythin' different, whether that Heart-thingy had anythin' to do with it or not. If anything happens to Naoia, it might happen to me, too, since we're kinda a part of one another now. I told Khel'zet that we'd all stand with her when her name is called; I'm pretty sure we all would for these two. I know I would, and if I did, Jamie and Tanya would, too."

Lilly gave Char'ena another hug and was about to go back to Naoia when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Heart of being understands as should. The giving between First One and heart of being cannot be undone--heart of being now more than once was, more than others of own kind. The one who gave will show how to use what was given, heart of being must learn with care."

The Great Mother gave Lilly a hug and a kiss, and in so doing, gave a little something of her own to her, and then disappeared as she had appeared, in a brilliant flash of light.

Naoia stood when Lilly walked back to where she had been kneeling during the whole exchange.

Cocking her head just a little, she was about to ask, though, without thinking, Lilly accurately anticipated the question.

"Yeah, I meant what I said about standin' with you. Since part of you is now part of me, and part of me is part of you, then I guess that makes you practically like family now. Not sure how all that's gonna work out, but...I guess when Jamie and I can have little ones, they're gonna be a handful and a half, and you get to be like a third grandmomma to them."

Seeing the sly grin on Lilly's face made Naoia think, "Oh...my...word...!"

* * * * *

It was time to wake everyone.

James, Tanya, Rhuw-Rha'an, Rissanivi, and Erlanna were the first to be awakened. Lilly was right there to greet James immediately as he became conscious.

"'Mornin', sleepy-head," Lilly sent lovingly as she kissed her mate.

"Mmm...now that's_a wake-up call I can deal with..._" James sent back.

When James opened his eyes again and looked more closely at Lilly, he got a strange look on his face and quickly sat up, holding her face in his hands.

"What the..."

"Jamie, what are ya doin'?"

"Your eyes, Lil'...ye gods, they...they're glowing!"

"What are ya yammerin' about?"

Naoia, who had been kneeling next to James when she woke him, leaned over and looked briefly at Lilly's eyes.

"So?" Turning her attention to James, who finally realized that she had been right next him, said, "They look a bit more like mine. What do you expect after how much she got from me?"

James looked at the First One who was almost cheek-to-cheek to him and saw the exact same inner glow within her eyes.

"If Sa'leh was this_close to you, James, she'd probably get a wild hair up her tail and kiss you in a way that would curl your toes and make your hair stand on end--probably literally, knowing her. Luckily for _you, I'm not Sa'leh."

"Uh (*clears throat*) who is that?" James asked

"She's..."

"Why, me, of course," Sa'leh answered for Naoia, appearing in a multi-colored swirl of light a short distance away. "Oh, I'm not that bad, Naoia," she said with a bit of friendly sarcasm and a dismissive wave of a hand. Turning her attention to James, she added, "I don't mess with males who have mates..._too_much." Sa'leh said the last part quietly with a sly grin.

Watching Naoia's friend, Sa'leh, while she was sitting down and joining them, James thought her fur colors and pattern looked a bit familiar, like he'd seen her somewhere before.

"Have...I ever seen you before...?"

"Oh, I doubt it," Sa'leh replied. Looking thoughtful, she added, "Although...maybe you might be thinking of my great, great, granddaughter--she looks a lot like me. Let's see...I doubt you know her by our name for her, though maybe you know her as Night Song."

That was a name James did happen to remember, and so did Lilly. Picking up her PAD and thumbing it on, Lilly quickly searched on the name and...

"Is _this_her?" Lilly asked Sa'leh, showing the image on the PAD to her.

Leaning closer to look, Sa'leh raised an eyebrow and then grinned a little.

"That's her alright, and remarkably accurate, too, considering. Show that to Naoia."

Lilly did and Naoia had to agree with her friend's assessment.

"Even has that "I'm up to something" grin on her face," Naoia noted. Handing the PAD back to Lilly, she added with a little snort, "She definitely has a history of messing with people, the scamp."

"Her and Sonya would probably get along," Lilly thought out loud.

"Two nuts in a shell, and a cracked one at that," Naoia quipped, rolling her eyes, causing Lilly to snicker quietly at the comparison. "So what are you doing back here, Sa'leh? I thought you and Rha'ena were keeping an eye on Esba'in..."

"We were, though I asked Nev to take over for a little while," Sa'leh replied.

"Why?" Naoia demanded.

"So I could see how you were doing...and you, too, dear," Sa'leh replied to her friend and giving Lilly a few pats on her shoulder. "Say...you did get a lot from Naoia," she added quietly, raising an eyebrow at Lilly, sensing the amount of First One life energy now in her.

"Yeah..." Lilly agreed softly.

"Is this one going to always be like this now?" Sa'leh asked Naoia privately.

"According to both A'aleen and L'saren...yes," Naoia replied.

"And what about you_, my friend? How much of this one did_ you get?"

"Not nearly as much as she got from me. It was..._close. That fool Dark Blood got more of a hit on her than we thought. A'aleen was able to extract the E'nchiekh crystals from her body and they're now safely locked away until I get a chance to deal with them_," Naoia explained. "And...that's not all..." She went on to tell Sa'leh about The Great Mother's involvement with Lilly, James, and Tanya.

"Oh...my...word..." Sa'leh said when her friend had finished explaining what else had happened after she woke Lilly up from her rest. "I take it that you've been helping this dear girl how to deal with the change?"

"Yes. She knows how to call to us if she needs help with her abilities, though I'll be keeping an eye on her as often as I can from now on. Lilly is a quick learner, I'll give her that. We made a lot of progress." Naoia replied.

"Well, that's something, at least. Whenever you get them back to their home again, I hope she will be able to keep her temper in check--if she were to get angry and cut loose..."

"I know," Naoia agreed with a mental sigh.

The mental exchange between Naoia and Sa'leh took place quickly enough that James and Lilly had no idea the two First Ones just had a lengthy conversation about her.

"Well, I suppose we should get everyone else up," Naoia announced, getting to her feet, and proceeded to wake Tanya, Rhuw-Rha'an, Rissanivi, and Erlanna before the others. Just as she was about to awaken Tanya, Naoia asked Char'ena, "Would you mind fetching Valerna and Nevi and have them wait for me with Cameron, Hauvri'ahn, and Arlan?"

"Char'ena do...will let know when all together."

"Thank you, dear," Naoia said, giving the Great Lupin a few strokes on her neck.

James and Lilly watched as Char'ena took off at an easy run, only to disappear in a swirl of light.

"Would be neat to be able to do that," James thought out loud.

Naoia looked over her shoulder just as Lilly asked, "Ya mean like this...?"

James' expression went from "Huh?" to "Jeezers!" as he watched Lilly look off at the spot they last saw Char'ena and then a multi-hued swirl of light erupted around her. Just as she began to disappear from the spot where she was standing near James, another swirl of multi-hued light simultaneously appeared farther away where she reappeared with a big grin on her face. Lilly just as quickly returned to where she had been standing a moment later. It was exactly like how Naoia and the other First Ones would appear.

"That's still really strange, though...I like it," Lilly said when the light faded.

Naoia smiled a little because it did not take long for Lilly to master the basics of that form of travel. With experience she would get much better at it, though for now, relatively short distances was a good start.

"Lil...!" James exclaimed in wide-eyed wonder as he witnessed what she did.

"Neat trick, huh?" Lilly asked, feeling proud of herself.

"How did you..._do_that?" James asked.

Giving a quick glance over to Naoia, Lilly replied softly, "It's that change-thingy, from when...you know..."

Before James could speak, they heard Tanya's voice mumble sleepily, "Pora zavtrakat'?" [[1]](#_ftn1 "><span class=") as she rubbed her eyes before sitting up.

"Almost, dear," Naoia replied. "Here, drink this..." A drinking cup appeared in Naoia's hand and she gave it to Tanya, encouraging her to drink up. "That's it, all of it. There, that should get you woke up all the way." Naoia took the cup when Tanya was finished with it and made it disappear.

Naoia awakened Rhuw-Rha'an and Rissanivi as she did Tanya, giving them each something to drink to help clear the grogginess. When it was Erlanna's turn, it took a little more doing. Lilly, not knowing how, could sense the pulse of energy Naoia used to wake up the Dra'kan female who was in her full form. To Lilly, it looked like a faint golden shimmer ran the full length of Erlanna's body; to James and the others, it just looked like Naoia had only placed her hands on Erlanna's cheeks as she spoke into her ear. After a few moments, they all heard the distinctive metallic clicking of scales as Erlanna began to uncoil.

"Oh...hello...nap time over?"

"Yes, child, time to get up now," Naoia replied.

"Okay," Erlanna acknowledged sleepily. She finished uncoiling herself and sat up on her haunches, stretching her wings and moving her head and neck around to work out any kinks. "Oh, I...I guess we're the first ones up," Erlanna observed, looking about and seeing the majority of her friends still sleeping. Being careful and minding where everyone was at, Erlanna stood to her full height, something which James and the others had not seen her do before, so that she could flap her wings a few times. They had only seen her move while in her full form in a bat-like fashion on all fours, they had no idea a Dra'kan could fully stand in their dragon-like form. It gave an eye-opening demonstration of just how _large_an approximately fifty meter long winged being was, or how strong her legs were. James had no idea what her mass might be, though he thought she surely had to weigh several metric tons in Terran gravity.

* * * * *

Char'ena went first to the workshop the First Ones had constructed for Valerna and Nevi, but they were not there. She sniffed around until she sensed what direction they had gone, and then with a slight snort, she stuck off, disappearing again in a swirl of light.

Char'ena appeared before the structure that held The Heart and she frowned at it. She never much cared for the sentient device the First Ones made and she had growled at it on more than one occasion, which had startled The Keepers. Char'ena picked up the scent of Valerna and Nevi and followed it inside, all the way to the chamber that held The Heart. There, she found the two she was looking for, talking to Tyrûn-Gil'ithel, or rather, he was telling them one of his long-winded stories. Char'ena walked boldly across the open floor of the chamber, immediately drawing the attention of the First Ones, including Tyrûn-Gil'ithel.

"Char'ena needs Valerna and Nevi to come with. Now."

"What for, if I might ask?" Tyrûn-Gil'ithel inquired at the highly unusual demand.

Char'ena ignored him and looked directly at Valerna and Nevi.

"Follow Char'ena," she stated bluntly, then turned and started walking out.

"Oh, I...guess we should do what she wants," Valerna said, surprised at the tone the Great Lupin used.

"Nevi thinks so, too."

"Let's go, dear. Another time perhaps, Tyrûn-Gil'ithel," Valerna said apologetically to the head of The Keepers.

Char'ena paused to look back for a moment to see Valerna and Nevi quickly take their leave and start following her, walking hand-in-hand at a speed that Nevi's shorter stature could easily handle. As Char'ena was turning her head back forwards, she paused just long enough to stare hard at The Heart and give a low growl, slightly raising the fur on her neck, before proceeding towards the entrance. Valerna and Nevi both saw what the Great Lupin did and looked at each other wondering what that could possibly have been about, though they said nothing of it.

"Char'ena take to where other three are to wait for Mistress Naoia," she stated once they were outside.

Nevi was about to ask who she meant when everything disappeared in a swirl of light. When they appeared again, they saw three other individuals that they had not met before.

"Mistress Naoia said you wait together until she comes. I call to let her know you all here."

Char'ena lifted her head and howled, then listened for a bit.

"Be here soon."

Taking his wife's hand, Cameron sent privately, "I didn't hear any sort of a reply."

"Agree, I do...heard nothing, I did," Hauvri'ahn sent back.

Taking the initiative, Cameron introduced himself, his wife, and Arlan to the two newcomers.

"Uh, hey, I'm Cameron Eriksson, this is my wife, Hauvri'ahn, and our friend, Arlan Schneider. I...don't know if you understand me or not," he said, pointing at himself, then Hauvri'ahn, and then Arlan, ending with holding his hand out to whichever one of the two who might figure out his greeting gesture. Seeing the confused look the two strangers shared with each other, Cameron slowly lowered his offered hand and turned to Char'ena. "They don't understand me, do they?"

Char'ena, who had been watching, said, "Not think so. Char'ena tell them their way."

The Great Lupin told Valerna and Nevi, "Tall one with long face called 'Cameron' by his family; female with green skin called 'Hauvri'ahn' by her family; other one with white hair called 'Arlan' by his family. Cameron wishes nice greetings to Valerna and Nevi. Be nice, they are, so are others you meet soon."

"Well then, we should not be rude, my love," Valerna said to Nevi with a little smile.

Nevi looked up at Valerna and nodded his head, then asked the Great Lupin, "Would Char'ena repeat what Nevi say to others so others understand?"

"Char'ena do for Nevi," she agreed with a wag of her tail.

Nevi thanked her and then, facing Cameron, said their names first in his own fast, chittering language and then in the Dra'kan language, as he pointed first to Valerna and then to himself, and then offered his greeting to Cameron, his wife, and Arlan.

"The tall silver one called 'Valerna' by her kind; short furry one called Nevi by his family. Valerna is Dra'kan; short one is Thabbani. Char'ena think already know who Thabbani are. They greet nice, too," Char'ena repeated in her own way.

"The Thabbani are members of the Sol Federation of Worlds. How come he doesn't understand us, even a little?" Arlan asked.

"Nevi came here before your people knew what stars are, never heard your words before. Valerna came here not much before Nevi, but Valerna same as Arneora. Char'ena way older than all others," she explained, with a little mirth in her eyes at the last part, especially when she saw the looks on the faces of Arlan, Cameron, and Hauvri'ahn.

"Jeezers, no wonder why they don't understand us!" Cameron sent to his wife and Arlan.

"Yeah, no kiddin'. Hey, didn't Rissa tell us one time something about an Elder Race that--the way she described them--they looked kinda like what we call dragons?" Arlan asked.

"Think so, I do," Hauvri'ahn replied.

"Damn..." Arlan sent.

"Yeah," Cameron agreed.

The wait wasn't overly long before Naoia arrived to get them.

"Well, I see you are all here in one place," she said as the swirling light around her diminished. Giving Char'ena few strokes on her neck, Naoia added just for her to hear, "Thank you, dear."

"They not understand each other," Char'ena commented privately.

"Oh, well, I suppose it would make things a bit easier if they could," Naoia observed. "I can fix that easily enough..." To Valerna and Nevi, she said, "You two will need to be able to converse with these three and the rest of the others you will be meeting shortly, so I am going to give you the common language they use among themselves. Valerna, you first..."

Naoia motioned to Valerna to lower her head a bit. When Naoia held her hands a short distance from either side of Valerna's head, there was a brief sparkle of light.

"There, now, that will give you full use of their language. It will be as if you've known it all along. Now, your turn, Nevi..." Naoia did the same for Nevi as she had for Valerna. When she was done, she turned to Cameron, Hauvri'ahn, and Arlan and said, "I just gave these two full use of your language, so you will be able to understand each other from now on. Might as well gather up your things since you will be staying with the others; when they get to go back home to Terra, you will be going with them."

"Nevi understood everything!" the Thabbani smith exclaimed in amazement upon hearing Terran Standard English being used for the first time.

"I did, too! That sure makes learning a new language a lot quicker!" Valerna agreed.

"So, you _do_understand everything we say now," Cameron commented, wondering how the First One was able to accomplish the feat with such apparent ease.

"Why, yes! Absolutely wonderful! Thank you, Mistress Naoia! As you know, we Dra'kans _love_languages..."

"Yes, dear, your friend, Arneora, has gone on about that at some length. More than once," Naoia interjected.

"Arneora! Oh, do you know how she has been? How is that youngling of mine?" Valerna asked excitedly.

"Arneora is still the same scamp she's always been, and Erlanna...she's doing fine. Now," Naoia replied, saying the last in a way that caused Valerna to be concerned.

"Did something happen to her?"

"Kh'nar happened," Naoia replied gruffly.

Valerna put her hands to her face and asked in a low voice, "What did he do...? He better not have touched her! Why...I remember the day Arneora gave him a sound thrashing, which he deserved, by the way! If he's done anything to my Erlanna..."

"I will let you talk that over with her--she's here, with the other people I will be taking you to shortly. Suffice it to say that I ended up dealing with Kh'nar my_way. Your daughter has plenty of good friends now who care about her--one even challenged Kh'nar in front of the Council _and the entire Assembly and _that_was sent out over your information service in real time, so I imagine quite a few others on Dra'ka saw it play out. That took some backbone on James' part, I might add. You'll get to meet him in a bit. Char'ena and her friends had to step in and put a stop to it before things got ugly." Naoia looked over at the other three and motioned with her hand for them to hurry up with gathering their things. She turned her attention back and said to Nevi, "I'm sure you understand that by now a lot has changed on your world."

"Nevi understands. Everyone Nevi knew back home now long gone..." he said sadly, dropping his ears and looking down, tucking his hands in the front pockets of his knee breaches.

Naoia regretted reminding him of that, for she was not unsympathetic. Watching Valerna pull Nevi into a hug and trying to comfort him, she decided then to find if he and Valerna could go back home for a while with the others. Things may not have changed much on Dra'ka for Valerna since the Dra'kans are immortal there is no hurry to change, though in Nevi's case, a few tens of thousands of years had seen a great deal of change on Thabb.

"There is a Thabbani among the others you will meet, so maybe you can catch up a little on what's been going on back home since you left," Naoia suggested. Seeing Nevi perk up a bit, she added, "Her name is Thavi, well, that's the short version of it. Anyway, she's a Builder, though her younger sister is a Smith, and she made an interesting thing on that old forge of yours and gave it to Thavi as a gift. It was the sister's final project and now Thavi carries it with her everywhere. I'm pretty sure both of you will like how it turned out." That caused Nevi to perk up a bit more with an expression of interest.

"Nevi get to see what another Thabbani Smith made on Nevi's forge?"

"Yes, dear, you will. I'm sure Thavi will be more than happy to show it to you," Naoia replied with a kindly smile.

While they were getting their things together, Cameron had been listening as best as he could to the conversation the First One had been having with the Dra'kan female and the Thabbani male, and saw how those two seemed to care for one another a great deal.

"Man, I wonder what's going on with those two? Given what Rissa told us about those Dra'kans, I thought they'd be scarier than that. She doesn't look so bad...actually, she's...kinda nice_, if you like tall, armor-plated gals who supposedly can incinerate anything in their path. She's gotta be at_ least_a good ten to fifteen centimeters taller than I am and the little guy is a lot shorter than Rissa is. Definitely an odd pair, if they're anything other than 'just friends'_."

When Cameron, Hauvri'ahn, and Arlan got all of their gear and personal items together, Cameron announced that they were ready. Naoia whisked them all to where the three ships and their crews were parked.

* * * * *

While Naoia had started waking the others, Erlanna returned to her smaller anthropomorphic form and began helping where she could to tidy up their resting place. Once the last of the Mûr Tua'ansa crew members were awake and on their feet, Naoia summoned A'amahi and they had an announcement to make.

Gathering everyone around, Naoia began with, "We have a bit of a surprise for you--don't worry, this is a good surprise, or at least it should be. You have had a small hint of this already, though you might not have given it much thought while you had other things to deal with. While you were resting, A'amahi here, along with a few others, has been working on a little project that she started a bit before you started on your Journey. A'amahi?"

Taking a step forward, the other First One said, "I want you to meet someone, someone you knew, or thought you knew, though now is in many ways more like you. I want you to welcome her as a good friend should be. She does know all of you by sight as she came to check on you herself while you were resting. I will have her join you now."

A'amahi turned around to face the ships.

"Come on out, dear, and properly meet everyone."

"What are we watching for, ah?" Tanya asked.

"Look that way..." Lilly said, pointing in the direction of the Mûr Tua'ansa ship.

"How do you..." James started to say.

"Just trust me, look that way," Lilly insisted, prompting Naoia to glance questioningly in her direction.

Soon everyone watched as the vine-like structure of the boarding ladder on the _Se'nika_began to grow downward and form into its normal shape. The access portal in the body of the ship opened and a form began to descend the ladder. The figure appeared to be tall and of slender build, wearing an outfit that was reminiscent of some outfits worn by Dra'kan females, and moved with a definite feminine grace. As the figure walked towards them and became close enough to be seen well in the soft light of the realm, the elegant slender curves of alien beauty coupled with the being's graceful bearing caused more than a few jaws to drop. When the being stood next to A'amahi, she was nearly the same height as the First One.

"This...is Se'nika's_new bio-avatar, grown from a tissue sample I acquired while her ship body was undergoing 'regeneration', as you call it. She, like Moira's own avatar, is in constant contact with her ship form and, if necessary, can operate independently on her own. Your ship now has a _fully sentient mind and a proper voice by which she can speak with her crew or with others. In many ways, your Se'nika is on the same level now as Nightwing."

This caused a bit of a stir among both crews, though for different reasons, though they remained silent.

Speaking softly to Se'nika's bio-avatar, A'amahi said, "Go and greet them properly, dear. You know who to start with first."

Se'nika gave an acknowledging nod of her head and went to Rha'an.

Saluting in the Mûr Tua'ansa manner, and speaking in the Tu'an language, she said in a clear voice, "Madam Commander Rhuw-Rha'an, I, like the ship that I am part of, am yours to command. Please accept me as both an extension of the ship and as part of your crew. My loyalty is to you and the crew, as well as the ship herself, and others as you may decide proper."

Rha'an, returned the salute and, putting her hands on Se'nika's shoulders, responded, "I accept your loyalty and vow to never abuse it. We have been through much since we first took our place within your ship form; no doubt we will have more adventures ahead. I count this as a joyous day, even if the term may or may not be properly applied to this place, such as it is. I welcome you as one of my own."

With that, Rha'an warmly embraced Se'nika's bio-avatar and the rest of Rha'an's crew gathered around and greeted their new crew member in the same manner.

After greeting her own crew, Se'nika's bio-avatar went to James.

Speaking in Terran Standard English, she saluted after the fashion of those of her own crew and said, "Honored Captain, James Daugherty...I--my ship self--was unable to properly convey her thanks to you and all those of your Sol Federation of Worlds who came to our rescue. I chose to do so for her at this time. If not for your timely aid, my ship self and crew would have been lost and it would not have been possible for me to exist. We...thank you and yours for this."

James smartly returned the salute after the fashion of his own service and said, "I'm glad that we were able to effect the rescue in time. If you had been lost, then we would not have made the good friends we have now, nor would we have had the adventures together we have had, or those yet to come. As with Commander Rhuw-Rha'an and her crew, you are welcome aboard Nightwing as a friend."

As Rha'an did, James hugged Se'nika, giving her a few pats on the back. She greeted all individually, though when she got to Felix, she paused.

"I...remember you. Felix Canberra. You were first not of my crew's kind to show...kindness. I shall not forget you." Taking ahold of Felix's hands and cupping them together, she focused her eyes on them and, in a similar fashion to _Nightwing's_matter-teleporter effect, a small potted plant appeared. Felix instantly recognized it and was stunned. "For you..." Se'nika's bio-avatar said in a soft voice and gentle smile. Word quickly and silently spread among _Se'nika's_crew from Felix to Zhir-Chi'an and from her to the rest.

It was the flower of the Tykua-niya vine that had spontaneously sprouted and grown from the spot where Se'nika's tear had fallen to the ground next to where Felix had rested. It was still glistening with the light of stars shining within it.

While A'amahi was busy with introducing Se'nika's new bio-avatar, Naoia went to fetch the others. When the crews had had enough time to greet the new addition to Rha'an's crew, A'amahi let Naoia know it was time to bring them.

Arriving in multiple swirls of light, the appearance of Naoia and others quickly got everyone's attention.

After a moment of stunned silence, three voices range out.

"CAMMIE!!!"

"ARLAN!!!"

"MOMMA!!!"

Shauna, Rissanivi, and Erlanna ran towards their loved ones, who ran towards them as well.

When Shauna and Cameron reached each other, they paused for only a moment to look one another over. Shauna, with bottom lip quivering and tears already flowing, shakily reached a hand out to touch her long lost brother's face and looked at him in part wonder and part disbelief; Cameron stared dumbfounded to see his little sister fully grown as a beautiful Clydesdale mare G.E.L.F. wearing the black uniform of the scout ships, and Lieutenant's bars on her shoulders to boot.

"C-Cammie...it...it's really (*choke*) you?"

"Oh, jeezers," Cameron said softly, "my baby sis...all grown up...aw, damn, sis...yeah, it's me!"

Despite being nearly the same height, when they embraced each other, Cameron picked her up off her feet and swung her around before putting her back on her feet. They kissed, nuzzled, and hugged tightly for nearly a whole minute, with tears of joy flowing unchecked down their cheeks.

When they finally pulled back a little, Cameron held his sister's shoulders and stared at her.

"I don't know from who in our messed up family you got your looks from, but damn girl, you're gorgeous! And an LT to boot!"

Cameron dropped his hands to his sides, and coming to attention, he smartly saluted his sister.

"Cammie, you...oh..." Shauna started to say, though she gave in and returned her former Fleet Marine brother's salute in the same manner, then they hugged again.

"I...I'm sorry...I couldn't...come back for ya, sis. I really wanted to! We...we were only supposed to be gone for three days..."

"Shh...it's okay, Cammie...I know. I...I'm just glad that...you're alive! The only thing that matters is...this!"

Shauna hugged her brother again and they rocked slightly from side-to-side, sniffling and whickering softly.

When Cameron felt his wife by his side, he pulled back and asked, "Sis, you remember Hauvri?"

Shauna turned her attention to her brother's Élendorian wife and disengaged herself from Cameron and held her arms out to her.

"Yeah...I...I remember..."

Shauna hugged Hauvri'ahn nearly as fiercely as she had her brother, crying anew. Her highly empathic sister-in-law was nearly overwhelmed by the strength of the emotions she felt, not only from Cameron and Shauna, but also from the others nearby.

Rissanivi nearly pounced on Arlan, wrapping arms, legs, and tail around him, She held him so tightly that it almost squeezed the breath out of him, though at the moment, he didn't care.

"Ar...Arlan...lil' ol' me thought you lost!"

"I know...I know, believe me, I know!" Arlan managed to get out.

As soon as Rissanivi relaxed her grip on him enough that he could get a few good breaths of air, Arlan kissed her longingly.

"Oh, I...I've missed_you, too...just as much! When I...found out you were _here, I...I almost couldn't believe it, though...here you are! Rissa, I...I hope you still..."

"Lil' ol' me still want be with! You no get lost again!"

Arlan looked Rissanivi in the eye, nose-to-nose, and said in a near whisper, "Babe, I'm not lost anymore...I'm not lost in time...it's all straightened out now."

Rissanivi's eyes opened wide and she saw the joyful content look in his.

"You, um...you not?" she said, taken by surprise, for she remembered the difficulty Arlan had after his displacement in time.

"No, I...I got help, got everything straightened out. I...I don't know how to explain a lot of what I was shown, what I experienced, but..."

Rissa was happy that Arlan was no longer troubled by his previous experience cause by the artifact, though she thought of something to ask.

"Um, did...did the old, old, old ones..."

"The First Ones? No, not them...the one they came from, the one they call "The Great Mother". I'll tell you about it all when we can get some time alone together."

Rissanivi closed her eyes while she and Arlan happily just held each other for a time, both breathing a sigh of content. If anyone had looked into Arlan's partially open eyes at that moment, they might have seen a bit of an amber glow within them.

The reunion of Valerna and Erlanna was no less enthusiastic than of the other two, as far as Dra'kans were concerned.

"My dear hatchling, my old eyes are filled with joy at seeing you again! Why, you have grown a bit more, I think!" Valerna said, looking at her daughter, seeing more of her than most others could. "Have you been well? Has Naoia taken good care of you since I have been here?"

"Yes, Momma, she has. I have missed you!" was all Erlanna could say at the moment, simply wanting the love and affections of her only parent.

As Valerna held her daughter and rubbed a hand along her neck and back, stroking her pure white mane, and being as sensitive as she was to all forms of matter and energy that had been manipulated, Valerna concentrated on a certain place on Erlanna's neck.

"My daughter, have you been hurt recently? I feel...you have been healed by someone! And...something else was done to you! What happened, dear? Mistress Naoia mentioned something about having to deal with Kh'nar...did he do something to you?" When Erlanna held her head low and nodded slightly in the affirmative, Valerna pulled her close. "Oh, my dear child...we can talk about it later, if you wish. I wish I could have been there...though what has been done has been done, and as much as I might want to go back in time to change that..."

"I know, Momma. It's okay, my friends helped a lot, and so did others." When Erlanna heard the sound of someone clearing their throat, she looked down to see a Thabbani male standing near her mother and looking up at her and holding his hands behind him. "Oh, hello, who are you?"

Valerna looked down and smiled as she put her hand on his opposite shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, dear, in my excitement at seeing my daughter again after, well, who knows how long, I do not wish to be rude. Nevi, this is my youngest, Erlanna; Erlanna, this is Nevi nBan, he is a Thabbani Smith who I have not only been working with, we...um, we are...well, I might as well say it..." she leaned close and whispered, "...we are lovers."

Erlanna looked at her mother and her jaw dropped slightly. Valerna nodded slightly and smiled. Erlanna looked down at Nevi who smiled back at and held his hand out to her. She glanced briefly again at her mother, then knelt down to be closer to eye level to Nevi. Instead of shaking his hand, Erlanna hugged him, which surprised Nevi.

"You must be a very special guy if my Momma loves you like I think she must."

A bit embarrassed, Nevi teetered a bit side-to-side and lightly scuffed the ground with a foot while holding the fluffy end of his tail.

"Nevi didn't know Valerna's daughter was as beautiful as Valerna is..." he said shyly, lowering his long hairy ears.

"Oh, how sweet! Thank you!" Erlanna said with a smile and hugged him again. She stood back up and, taking a hold of their hands, said enthusiastically, "I'd like you to come meet my friends! I'll introduce them to you!" With a shy smile, she added, "Momma, I think you'll like my friend James..."

"Ah, so you're my Ship's Engineer's long-lost brother, eh?" James asked as he shook Cameron's hand.

"Yes, sir," Cameron replied, though he shot a quick glance at his sister with a "you didn't tell me" type of look.

"I know it's been on Shauna's mind as long as I've known her, and especially after we met Rissa." Privately he sent to Shauna, "Go get that bracelet that belongs to your brother's wife. Don't say anything about it, just go get it."

Shauna glanced at James and sent back, "Oh, yeah, that. Thanks for reminding me!" "Hey, Cammie, I'll be right back, I...gotta go check something."

"Yeah, sure sis," Cameron replied, watching his sister walk at a brisk pace to the ship Turning his attention back to James, he said, "If you've known my little sis for a while, I image you've probably heard about our messed-up family..."

"Yeah, she shared with me what her childhood was like," James said with a saddened expression and tapping his temple with his finger.

Cameron slightly raised an eyebrow, beginning to wonder just how well they did know one another if his sister was willing to share something that intimately with another person.

"Was it...bad?"

"You should hear it from her, when you can have some private time together. I will say, though, thanks to our Mûr Tua'ansa friends, Shauna is...okay. In fact, she's helped Erlanna deal with some issues of her own."

"That's the Dra'kan gal that's with you folks now, right?"

"That's affirmative," James acknowledged.

Cameron looked over at Erlanna and said, "You know, from the way Rissa talked about them, you'd think they're scarier than that..."

"Oh, they definitely can be. We've seen what they can do, especially in their full form," James said.

"In their what?" Cameron asked.

Dra'kan's have two forms, the one you see Erlanna and her mother in now, and ...the other one is...well, I can show you..." James fished out his PAD, thumbed it on, and pulled up some images of Dra'kans who were in their full dragon-like forms. When he showed them to Cameron and Hauvri'ahn, they were shocked.

"Jeezers!" Cameron exclaimed quietly upon seeing video of a Dra'kan changing forms, flying, and also their ability to 'breathe' fire.

"Guessed, I would not, other form they have, or size it is," Hauvri'ahn commented.

"When we first met Arneora...this is her...she was in her full form, which is a good seventy-five meters long, nose to tail."

"'Bout scared the_fur_ off of me!" Lilly added.

"Poor Rissa, curled up into ball on floor, too scared to move," Tanya chimed in.

"Yeah...I...can see why," Cameron agreed, "especially given the stories she grew up with about them."

Cameron and Hauvri'ahn chatted with James, Tanya, and Lilly until Shauna came back from the ship.

"So, what did you have to go check on in such a hurry, sis?" Cameron asked with a smile.

"Oh, well, I guess_you can say that there _is something that needs fixing, so I just went and got the means to fix it," Shauna replied.

"Huh?" Cameron said, looking a bit confused.

Shauna reached for Hauvri'ahn's right hand and turned it palm up.

"This is what needed 'fixing'. You see, there's a part that went missing, though it eventually got found by someone, cleaned up, and it was given to me to make sure it got put back on where it's supposed to be. Hopefully, it'll stay put this time," she explained, putting something in Hauvri'ahn's hand.

When Shauna pulled her hand away, Hauvri'ahn's eyes widened and the greens and browns of her skin rippled with darker and lighter shades that gave away her surprise.

"My n'lenda chéwë bracelet!"

"How the hell did you end up with it?!" Cameron exclaimed, looking in disbelief from his sister, to his wife's hand, and back.

"We had made a brief stop on Fren'a and we met some Y'Nahrans who had apparently got there before we did and had been waiting for us. One of them, a lady named Fier'na had found it, though wouldn't say where, and got it to Shauna to hold on to until she could give it to you. They apparently knew it was yours after it was cleaned up and the inscriptions could be read," James explained.

"What are the odds of..." Cameron started to say but trailed off.

"Perhaps not as great as you might think, dear."

They looked in the direction of the voice that spoke and saw Naoia coming to stand behind and between Cameron and Hauvri'ahn, putting a hand on a shoulder of each.

"Go ahead and put it back on, child." When Hauvri'ahn slipped it back onto her wrist, Naoia said with a slight grin, "There now, back where it should be."

Hauvri'ahn smiled and she and Cameron hugged each other.

"Nevi, I have someone here who would like to meet you," Erlanna announced quietly while her mother was talking with Naoia, James, and Rhuw-Rha'an.

"Oh?" Nevi asked happily.

"This is Miss Thavialasoona Anshathuaithsan... did I say that right, Thavi?"

"Yes," Thavi replied.

"Good, that's quite a mouthful. Thavi, this is Mr. Nevi nBan, whom I believe you know of."

Thavi proceeded to greet Nevi in the current Thabbani manner, though he seemed to be a little awkward at it.

Erlanna leaned down and softly suggested to Thavi, "You may wish to stick to James' language, my friend, as he just recently acquired that from Mistress Naoia. Remember, it's been a very long time since he was home last, and he may not understand the language anymore since nobody on your world has spoken _his_language for...several thousand years."

Thavi looked up at Erlanna and dropped her ears in dismay.

"Sorry, Thavi didn't account for time," she said. "Does Dakanevinbanansathchan understand Thavi now?"

Looking quizzically at her, he said, "Nevi only known as Nevi, Nevi doesn't know name Thavi just used."

Thavi's enthusiasm was now totally deflated and she felt like she had made a fool out of herself to the most revered person in the history of her world.

Seeing the dejected expression on Thavi's face, Nevi attempted to cheer her up.

"Nevi understand much has likely changed, don't be sad Thavi, Nevi happy to see another Thabbani from home. Like Erlanna said, been a very long time since Nevi was home last." He looked around and spied a stack of folded blankets and said, "One moment, Nevi be right back..." and he struck off to get one. When he came back with it, Nevi spread it out on the ground and sat down on it, patting a place in front of him. "Thavi come sit and tell Nevi all about home," he said with a happy smile.

Thavi's ears perked back up and her face brightened as she joined the legendary smith sitting on the blanket. Using the Terran language, they spoke for some time. After a while, he asked, "Nevi was told Thavi had something to show Nevi?"

"Oh...yes! Thavi's younger sister, Naverilasanna, um, can just call Naveri, made this on Nevi's Forge as final project for graduating as a Smith..."

Thavi removed the ornate rock-pick hammer from its carrier and handed it respectfully to Nevi. He received it with a nod and a smile, then carefully studied the item, testing its heft and slowly running his fingers over its surface, examining every detail carefully, while Thavi anxiously looked on. Nevi smiled as he traced a finger along the outlines of the engraving that bore the likeness of his beloved Valerna.

"This is Quality Work," Nevi said at last. "Thavi's sister, Naveri, did well. Nevi would like to meet Naveri and say so, if...Nevi get chance to visit home again." He carefully handed the tool back to Thavi, who took it respectfully, feeling a bit of pride in knowing that her sister had earned the equivalent of high praise by the legendary Master Smith himself.

Thavi's Hammer

John and Diwenzi gravitated over to Arlan and Rissanivi, mostly so that John could find out what Arlan had been up to since the day he had disappeared from the McHenry Research Facility on Mars.

"Hey, Arlan, long time no see," John said, holding his hand out as he walked up.

"John? John Donnelson?" Arlan inquired, surprised to see him there.

"The one and only," John said as they shook and briefly embraced, giving each other a few pats on the back. "Lilly is over there with James."

Arlan looked in the direction John had indicated and stared for a moment.

"Jeezers, they are here..." Arlan said quietly.

"Yeah, I guess this is kinda like that old saying, 'all roads lead to Rome', eh?"

"Yeah, no kidding," Arlan agreed, now knowing for sure that other members of Poppy's family were in the same place he was. Turning back to John, Arlan asked, "Did someone send the military out to come looking for us?"

"Not that I know of. Diz and I got assigned to Nightwing when the Nelson dropped to normal space near Élendor Prime. As soon as we launched, the ship left and we didn't know we had been assigned to James' ship until we landed and were being pulled into the berthing spot next to them. When we left Élendor Prime, we were going to make a quick stop at Élenswena to let off a rider, and then continue following a residual energy trail that was supposedly left by an ancient alien device that had been on Élendor apparently since around the time life began there. But some sort of spatial rift began to open up near Élenswena and all hell broke loose when an unknown alien force started coming through it. Well, long story short, we ended up getting dragged nearly ten thousand lightyears across the galaxy by what eventually turned out to be a First One's 'beast ship', and we've been following an energy trail left by something called 'The Heart'. We've had quite an adventure getting to an old dead planet called Chenau-Ri, then we got attacked by some Dark Bloods, Lilly was almost killed, and we got brought here. It wasn't until we ran into Rissanivi that we found out you and Lieutenant Eriksson's brother and his wife were out that way, so...we added you three on our 'to do' list. At least, that's how _I_understand it," John explained.

"Uh, did you folks happen to have had any odd dreams after you left home?" Arlan asked.

"As a matter of fact, yeah, we did. Miss Ja'f'darwe said we'd been 'called by The Heart', or something like that, John replied.

"That...that sounds like an Élendorian name..."

"She is. Her uncle is the Élendorian ambassador to the Sol Federation of Worlds. She came along with us to make sure that if we could find the thing that it would make it back to its place on Élendor Prime," John said.

"Well, good luck with that. The thing has been here all along."

"Huh?" John and Diwenzi said in unison.

"Yeah, it's something the First Ones made and apparently it sends out small copies of itself to various worlds throughout the multiverse."

"How do you know about it?" John asked.

"Well...," Arlan started to say, glancing at Rissanivi, "...I've had some interesting adventures of my own, whether I intended to or not. When Cameron, Hauvri'ahn, and I left Mars in December of 2489, we were only supposed to be gone for three days. When we arrived on Chenau-Ri five years later in July of 2494, we were below ground in some ancient storage vault looking at alien tech that had been left behind, and one of those artifacts sent me 12 years into the future and back to Mars, and..."

"Jeezers! That's how you met Poppy, wasn't it?" John asked in shock.

"Yeah. Well, when the artifact yanked me back, I reappeared only three minutes after I left. It...it's been really messed up, but I...I got help to get everything straightened out in my head. Time travel can definitely screw you up," Arlan replied, whirling his finger around near his temple.

"Ooo, no doubt," John agreed sympathetically. "Geez, nobody had any idea what happened to you."

"Um...do you know anything about what happened to Poppy after I...got sent back?"

"Sure. She had her two kits, Daisy and Rosetta, and last I saw them before deployment, was they were doing fine. I know Poppy sure missed you, she'd..."

John didn't finish that sentence because Arlan went down on his knees and buried his face in his hands, and began to silently cry.

"Aw, geez...sorry, dude..." John apologized, getting down alongside of Arlan and putting his arm around his shoulders. Rissanivi also got down next to him on the other side to try and comfort him, for she knew how much turmoil Arlan had felt after he had returned.

Arlan knew now that everything he had been shown was real and had not been just some wishful dream on his part.

After a short while, Arlan lifted his tear-streaked face to the twilight sky and mouthed the words, "Thank you". The now familiar star-filled form of the "Cosmic Momma" appeared, which only his own eyes--now with an inner amber light of their own--could see. She smiled lovingly down at him, and blew him a kiss...

...and he felt it.

---

[[1]](#_ftnref1 "><span class=")Tanya asks in her native Russian, "???? ???????????" - "Is it time for breakfast?"