#sigh. i miss you shulk and fiora. i miss you sharla. i miss you reyn and vanea and dunban and meyneth and zanza and alvis and kallian and

[seagullcharmer]

that survery was very long but now i am thinking wistfully about xenoblade characters again

[childrenofmeyneth]

Light Within Each and Every Person Ch 1

Chapter 1 of a new small fic! Check the Ao3 link to see art by @bionisinterior for it!

Meyneth’s Monado is no longer in her hands, Meyneth is pulling away from her body. Meyneth is going to die. She’s going to die and all Fiora can do is stare up and beg her not to do it.

She feels like her life is flashing before her eyes.

Meeting Shulk when they were both so young, fighting Reyn and running away when she began to lose, making the choice to get into the mobile artillery.

Attacking Metal Face (it had been Mumkhar, how had she not realized it was Mumkhar), being stabbed through and the darkness that followed, being torn to shreds by Mechon.

Waking up and unable to control her body (watching Meyneth, not knowing it was Meyneth, using her body), begging Meyneth to save Shulk and everyone else, falling so far -- down to the endless sea.

Finally waking up to see Shulk -- so relieved she was back, sitting in Linada’s medbay as she realizes her body can’t survive for long, looking up at Mechonis and feeling a connection she didn’t used to have.

Seeing Vanea and remembering her from when she first woke up unable to use her new body, seeing the fate of the Machina as Meyneth used her body, begging Egil to see he was loved.

Falling and surviving as Gadolt dies, Vanea telling her she’s sure Meyneth was happy to meet her, watching as the Monado nearly tore Shulk’s arm to shreds.

Watching Shulk resist Zanza only to be shot in the back.

“No!” The word tears from her throat as she jumps up and finds herself suspended in the air, in front of Meyneth. “I won’t let you!”

“Fiora, you’ll be killed!” Meyneth’s voice is painful. “Get back!”

Fiora doesn’t listen, she holds out her hands, ready to take the hit for her. Ready to die for the woman who gave her a second chance at life. And then her chest begins to feel warm.

There are blades in her hands now, and she has no time to wonder where they came from. She hears Meyneth fall to the ground, her Monado clattering to the ground next to her. Fiora stands her ground, deflects the attack with the blades in her hand.

“I see,” Zanza sneers as he reaches out a hand, Meyneth’s Monado quickly joining into one blade and settling there. “Troublesome, but nothing my disciples couldn’t handle. Dickson, it’s time to go.”

Without another word, Zanza was gone.

Fiora falls, suddenly feeling weak as she places the blades at her side. Meyneth catches her, holds her carefully with a frown on her face. She looks so worried as she holds tightly to the girl.

“You could have died,” she says.

“You would’ve died if I did nothing,” Fiora replies with a weak smile. “Little ol’ me or you… the answer seemed obvious.”

Meyneth says nothing then, just hugs her and sobs. Fiora returns the hug as she recovers, the Mechonis rumbling around them.

“We need to go!” Dunban yells, watching Vanea run down to where Egil lays. “The Mechonis could fall apart at any moment!”

Fiora nods and pulls away from Meyneth. “You’re right… What about Vanea and Egil, though?”

“Let me talk to them,” Meyneth says, already heading the way Vanea had gone, “we will meet up with you shortly.”

Fiora pauses for a moment, but nods. There’s no one she trusts more than Meyneth, not at this moment.

“Reyn,” Fiora turns to her friend. “Grab Shulk! Melia, Riki, you stay close to me!”

Reyn gently lifts Shulk’s motionless body into his arms. Melia and Riki are at her side in no time, and Dunban and Sharla prepare to follow just a bit behind, providing back cover. She glances back for a second, towards the bottom of Mechonis Core, and she prays those three will join them shortly.

--

“Vanea, I’m sorry…” Egil coughs, weak from the attack Zanza had struck him with. “I was so blind…”

“None of that, not right now,” Vanea shakes her head, crying into his chest. “I’m just so glad that you came to your senses… We can talk about everything else later.”

Egil frowns, heaves a heavy breath. “Vanea, I cannot go with you. There is still much that can be done.”

“No!” Vanea shakes her head. “I can’t leave you here!”

“Vanea,” Egil shakes his head. “It is too late for me.”

“No it’s not, Egil, don’t you speak like that.” Vanea’s head snaps up and she turns, seeing Lady Meyneth behind them. “There is no reason for you to stay here, we can leave. I… I can do what is needed.”

“I will not let you die…!” Egil forces himself to sit up. “Lady Meyneth--”

“I will not die, and even if I did,” Meyneth looks away for a second. “It would lead to the world we both want. A world with no need for gods.”

“Lady Meyneth…” Vanea’s lower lip trembles. “Please, no. I cannot lose either of you, I cannot…!”

“Do not worry, Vanea.” Meyneth kisses her forehead with a gentleness exclusive to a mother goddess. “We will all survive.”

Egil grunts, and Vanea watches as he stands, the chords connecting him to Yaldabaoth break and snap. He can barely stand and Vanea moves to match him, letting him lean against her. She pats his chest gently, pulling him out of Yaldabaoth.

Meyneth takes his other side, humming gently as if to calm them both. “Come on then, Fiora and the others must be waiting for us.”

--

Meyneth lets out a scream as she falls to the ground, feeling her vessel, the Mechonis, be split in two. Fiora is at her side quickly, hands on her shoulders and frown on her face.

“Are you alright?” Fiora asks, rubbing her shoulders gently.

“I’m fine, just… in pain…” Meyneth lets out a sigh. “That is… all I will be able to do, to help you.”

Fiora nods, “that’s okay. You’ve done enough.”

Fiora sighs, thinking of everything that’s been happening. From Dickson shooting Shulk to Meyneth nearly dying to these strange blades… She closes her eyes, just as yells alert her to problems on the deck of Junks.

She runs out, leaving Meyneth behind with Miqol (and Shulk and Egil, lying unconscious in Med Bay beds-- no, she can’t think about that now). There’s Dickson, and more Telethia than she thought possible.

(It reminds her of Meyneth’s memories of the attack on Agniratha she thinks with a shiver).

“Dickson!” Fiora calls out, a frown on her face. “Why are you doing this?”

“This isn’t like you,” Sharla adds. “Snap out of it, Dickson!”

“How could you do this, Dickson?!” Dunban shakes his head. “Shulk adored you, looked up to you!

“ You can quit your bellyaching! I'm in total control,” Dickson laughs. “I've always been like this! Ever since long before any of you lot were born!”

“Before we were born?!” Dunban furrows his brow, but Fiora can see where this is going.

“Now you get it! It's just like Egil said,” Fiora bites her lip as he continues. “I'm Lord Zanza's disciple. Dickson of the Trinity!”

Before much can be said, a Telethia comes down, and there’s no choice but to fight. Fiora pulls the strange blades from her side and prepares for it, Melia and Riki coming to her side.

Reyn, Dunban, and Sharla stand a bit further back, but they’re all there, too. All of them, except for Shulk. Fiora reminds herself of that when she lunges. She lets the beams of the blades tear into the Telethia and it screams out.

Melia’s summoning elementals to her, enough that Fiora feels faster than she ever has before. She runs around it, watching as Riki spits poison onto the thing. Dunban digs his own blade into its side as Reyn draws its attention and Sharla shoots it straight in the head.

It begins to use Soul Read, Melia’s told her about this. That the only way to stop it is when she’s overflowing with Ether or when Shulk is using the Monado… Shulk… She grits her teeth and lets power in her chest build.

“Let’s see how you like this,” she hisses out, knowing Final Cross does not miss. Beams of Ether attack the beast and it falls to the ground, but not for long. It seems like there’s no stopping it… No matter what they do.

Dickson jumps on the back of the Telethia, a grin on his face as he looks at the group. “Look at all of you wastes of space! None of you are that tough without Shulk, eh?”

He shoots at Fiora and Dunban, the two barely dodging out of the way. “Stupid beast and a little girl who’s only good for cheering Shulk on! You should all be grateful, really. Not everyone has a war buddy, or a man who just happens to be able to guide you through the Marsh.”

“Dickson…!” Reyn grits his teeth. “You…!”

“It’s too bad, too, that Shulk didn’t listen. I told him someone would die if he didn’t end Egil,” Dickson turns his gaze to Fiora. “Someone just had to fill his mind with ideas of peace. If you had just laid down and let him do what Lord Zanza had planned, maybe he’d take it easy on you all.”

“I’d rather die fighting you than live as a slave of Zanza!” Fiora snaps back, pointing one of her blades at him.

“Then die!” The Telethia is starting to rear up and Fiora prepares… Only for an attack to hit their enemies, making Dickson fumble. “What?! Who was that? Show yourself!”

“Melia, are you alright?” Dickson hops off of the Telethia as Kallian approaches.

Fiora notes that he seems quite strong, but kind all the same (reminds her a bit of Dunban, really). She’s never seen him before, just listened to Melia talk about him with quite the adoration. And now he’s here to save them… maybe she’ll talk about him the same way in the future because of that.

“Brother!” Melia runs up next to Fiora, hands on her arm.

“Kallian!” Reyn is quick to speak up. “Dickson! He works for the Bionis like those Bionite blokes! He shot Shulk in the back!”

Kallian’s eyes widen and he looks at the girls. “Is this true?!”

They nod, and things start to go too fast for Fiora to keep up. Kallian swears to stop Dickson, and says the Harves can stop them… And then the woman, Lorithia, reveals herself to work with Dickson and Zanza too.

The High Entia are Telethia, when the right amount of Ether is concentrated. The Havres become part of them, even. Fiora feels sick, sicker than she feels looking at other Faces. Melia screams, but she can’t make out what she’s screaming.

All she can make out is Reyn pulling her back as Kallian rams into Lorithia and they explode.

--

“Your brother seemed kind,” Vanea’s words are awkward as she sits next to Melia, who cries in the corridor as they head for Colony 6. “He loved you.”

“I wish he did not,” Melia replies. “If he did not, he would not have done that to save me.”

“Oh, Melia…” Vanea frowns and reaches out to touch her shoulder. “You should not think like that. The love of a sibling is a wonderful thing. You may not realize it, but… not having that love hurts more than anything.”

“Like you and Egil?” Melia asks, looking up at her. “When he said those things to you in Agniratha… did that hurt?”

“More than anything else I had experienced,” Vanea admits. “He… he was willing to die, back in the Core. If Lady Meyneth had not been there, he would have. If he died, it would hurt… But I could at least find peace knowing he loved me again, at the end.”

“Vanea…” Melia looks down again, eyes glued to her feet. “I am sorry, it was selfish of me to wish like that.”

“It is alright to be selfish sometimes,” Vanea replies. “It is just important to remember the love he had for you. Even if that may be hard right now.”

“You’re right,” Melia wipes tears from her eyes. “I… I did not realize my father loved me until he died. It was different with Kallian, though. I knew he loved me, from a very young age I understood he cared for me. It makes losing him… so different.”

“It will take time to register it completely, Melia,” Vanea squeezes her shoulder gently. “Allow yourself that time. Just know he died to let you live, and that you have the chance to carry on his wishes.”

Melia nods. “That is… a wonderful way to look at it. My people are bound to be displaced now, and I am to be their hope. For their sake, and for Kallian, I must be strong.”

“Even one who is the hope of their people can ask for help, though,” Vanea reminds. “Please do not hesitate, I am sure everyone would be willing to assist.”

Melia looks at Vanea, a smile finally coming to her lips. “Thank you, Vanea.”

[xenobladeimagines]

Thanksgiving special

Fiora had been working all day at the ovens, wanting to make a perfect Thanksgiving meal. It was their first with all seven of them, and she wanted it to be extra special. She’d spent the previous day at the market, getting as many different spices and fresh ingredients as she could.

She’d gotten spices and ingredients from Makna and Eryth, along with the Colony 9 and  6 classics.

Fiora had woken up before dawn, and soon enough, a sweet smell started drifting into the house.

Dunban had been stirred awake by the smell, and made his way downstairs. “Oh, I forgot it was today.” He said.

She laughed. “You always forget Thanksgiving.”

He shrugged. “Want me to get anything in town?”

“No, I got everything yesterday. Just keep Reyn and Riki out of here before it’s time to eat. You know how they get.”

He laughed. “Will do. Will it be ready at sun wane, like usual?”

She nodded as she turned back to the counter. She still had a lot of work to do.

An hour or so later, Melia came yawning down the stairs. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Thanksgiving dinner. Did you have that in Alcamoth?”

“Yes, though it was in November, not October.”

Fiora nodded, then gave her a smile. “Do you want to help?”

“If you would let me.”

“Of course, come on over. I could use a hand.”

After a little explanation, they got to work. While the turkey was already in the oven, it would be cooking all day and there were many side-dishes to prepare. Melia was mashing cool potatoes and mixing in cheese, butter and Eryth spices. Fiora, meanwhile, was working on some mac and cheese. They worked in silence, not really needing to talk.

Sharla dropped by around noon, which is when they took a break. For lunch, they sampled some of the side-dishes to make sure they tasted alright. Sharla would’ve joined them for cooking, but she still had work today. Fiora and Melia didn’t mind, insisting that Juju come along for the supper, since, of course, he was also part of the family.

They kept working throughout the afternoon, talking about everything and anything, even singing along to the radio. They were glad to be able to spend this time together, since they’d both been really busy recently.

Dunban had dropped by again, bringing back some tablecloths that Fiora hadn’t noticed were missing. She thanked him, then asked if Shulk was still alive in the lab, since he’d been there since last night.

“I found him asleep at his desk, so I carried him to one of the rooms in the lab.” Dunban replied with a sigh. “I’ll make sure he’s there tonight.”

“What about Riki?” Melia asked. “What has he been up to today?”

“His littlepon are running around the commercial and residential districts. His hands are full.”

Melia laughed. “Are they joining us tonight?”

“No, they’ll’ve exhausted  themselves by then and gone for bedtime. Oka will be joining us though.”

Fiora nodded.

They still had a couple of hours until sun wane, and a lot to do.

“Are you sure we’re cooking for 9 people and not the entire colony?” Melia eventually asked.

Fiora laughed. “Dunban always says I don’t know how to cook for a small group of people. We’ll have leftovers for awhile, and I’m going to donate some of this to the food bank and give it to some that don’t have much.”

Melia nodded. “It’s better than letting the food go to waste.”

“Yeah, I hate wasting food.”

Time passed quickly afterwards, the sun started waning and they starting plating. Shulk was the first one to arrive. He helped out with the final details. Then Reyn and Sharla came in, holding the door for Riki and Oka. Dunban was the last one there, fashionably late, as he called it.

Once they were all seated and all of the food was on the table, they started eating.

“So,” Dunban declared. “What is everyone thankful for this year?”

There was a beat of silence.

“I’m glad we’re all here together.” Dunban started. “That we all made it safely, and that we can even be here, together.”

“I’m glad for that too,” Reyn added. “I’m thankful for everything we went through, because even if it was hard at times, we came out stronger, and we wouldn’t be this close if we hadn’t.”

“I’m thankful for being alive.” Shulk said. “And that you all stuck with me. You could’ve easily left and stopped, or not come along. I also could’ve easily died in Mechonis Core, and I’m glad I didn’t.”

“I’m thankful for meeting you when I did.” Sharla said. “You allowed me to find Gadolt, and even if he isn’t with us here right now, I know he’s thankful for you all, too.”

“I’m glad I met you all, neither Sharla or I would be alive if it wasn’t for you all.” Juju said. “And Colony 6 wouldn’t have been reconstructed.”

“Oka happy friends brought Riki back in one piece!”

“Riki happy he meet everyone! Riki meet new people and see new places all thanks to friends!”

“I am glad I met you all.”  Melia said. “I don't think I would’ve been able to go through everything that happened had it not been for all of you. I’m thankful for your constant support and friendships, and I truly hope we can keep being friends for as long as possible.”

“I’m thankful I’m alive.” Fiora said. “I’m glad you didn’t leave me behind, and that you worked so hard to help me get my body back. I wouldn’t be alive if not for that. I’m also thankful to Meyneth, even if she isn’t with us anymore. None of us would be here without her.”

They all nodded.

Dunban raised his glass, which was just plain water. “To another year.”

They all raised their glasses. “To another year.”

The supper continued on, Fiora scolding Reyn every time he tried to reach for more food even if his plate wasn’t empty. The same thing happened to Riki and Juju, though Fiora didn’t notice the latter until after he’d done it.

When everyone was full, they cleared the table and played board games until they were ready for dessert. After that, they talked over coffee and tea until it was well past midnight.

They eventually went home, everyone bringing some of the food back to their houses.

[maggiewritesthings-blog]

Metamorphosis: Stage 1

It was strange. The world had started over, kept turning and growing and living, yet she felt like a ghost in its wake. Bionis was dead, for all intents and purposes, and Mechonis had gone with it. The Gods that she had prayed to and so revered were gone now-- they had not even been the same Gods she thought they were, yet still, she felt like they had been stolen from her.

Just like her mother.

Just like her father.

Just like her brother.

Just like her people.

Melia couldn’t remember when she had laid down on her bed, or how long it had been since. She drifted in and out of sleep so many times. With the world put back together and the fighting finally over, the emptiness had caught up to her. She had run out of smiles to give to her friends within minutes, and retreated to the empty shell of a palace that used to be her home.

She did not know how many days she stayed there alone, while the remnants of the High Entia still lingered with the homs. They were waiting for someone to tell them that their city was safe again.

Melia was waiting for someone to tell her that she was still alive.

It was strange to wake up and find herself not-alone. Alone had become so normal, so natural, for a ghost like her. When Melia was finally found, she didn’t know what to say.

“Melly! Has Melly eaten? Melly looks sick--” Riki was quick to fill the silence, waddling over to her quickly and jumping onto her bed. His larger second hands took her chin, turning her face back and forth. She was gaunt, pale, her eyes gone grey and cloudy, and her wings were limp with thinning feathers. But how strange it was, to be touched.

“I’m... fine...” she muttered, her voice was hoarse. “Go home, Riki.”

“Hero-pon must never leave friend who is sick,” he insisted, patting her cheek with one massive furry palm. Melia flinched, pulling away.

“Stop it, I’m fine, just let me sleep, if you please.”

Riki ignored her, and as he hopped off of her bed, Melia realized that he was not alone. In the doorway of her bedchamber, a mass of pink peeked inside. She whispered to Riki as he hurried back to her.

“How is she, Riki?”

“Melly needs food. All will be good after she eats,” he nodded.

Melia squinted, feeling patronized by their words. Why had Riki brought his wife to Alcamoth? 

Oka waved one of her own large hands at Melia from the other side of the room, her eyes growing big with a toothy little smile. “Good morning, Miss Queen!”

Queen...

That’s right.

Kallain had dubbed her queen, to become Empress in one year’s time.

Melia hugged her knees into her chest, her head falling to rest upon them as she shuddered. What kind of queen had no kingdom? No family, no friends, no p--

“Papa! Papa, is Queen Bird ok?”

“Can we play with her?

“No, littlepons, Melly needs food, we must cook good foods for her,” Riki chided, shooing away children from the bedroom door.

Melia looking back up, her eyes staining pink with the tears she wanted to shed. His children too? He had brought his entire family?

Oka waved her hand again and said, “Go back to sleep, Miss Queen! Oka promise, she will make something very good for you. You will feel better soon.”

Melia wasn’t so sure about that, but she laid back down anyway and buried her head into her pillows.

In the end, Melia ate, though she did not taste much. When thirteen faced stared at her until she took a bite, she had precious few options. Eating made her feel nauseous, but having done nothing for as long as she had, she knew that it must be from malnutrition.

Oka smiled as Melia ate, and she seemed so proud of herself. The pink Nopon who had traveled so far from home, fixing supper for then High Entian Queen. A grandiose day dream for Oka.

A rather melancholic evening for Melia.

“Melly, Melly,” Riki nudged her as he ate more than his share of the fish stew. “Is Melly feeling better?”

“I’m not sick, Riki,” she muttered, but did not even try to smile for him.  “You don’t have to hover, I assure you.”

Once again, the Nopon ignored her and continued to speak, “Riki take Oka and littlepons on trip! We want littlepons to see world, meet all kinds of not-pons. Maybe they be merchants someday, need to know people outside Makna. Or maybe they become heropons like Riki.”

Melia sighed, moving around some pieces of salmon and carrot in her bowl. Stews were an odd dish to High Entia, they tended to eat much lighter meals than this.

“But so few Entia in city, Riki not know what to do! How can littlepons meet all people, when all people not here?”

Melia closed her eyes, clenching them shut as tightly as she could.

“Riki think we stay here a bit. Littlepons want to meet Melly so much, after Riki tells them how pretty she is.”

Her eyes opened again and she looked down at the creature of yellow and orange fur. “Stay? Riki, that is... unprecidented, no one simply comes to the palace of Alcamoth and demands to be accommodated--”

“Riki knows!” he chirped and looked up at her before, once again, patting her face with his large extra hand. “But Melly sick. So Riki will stay.”

In the proceeding weeks, Melia had come to assume that anyone who did not eat at least six meals a day was ‘sick’ in the eyes of the Nopon. Oka cooked giant meals every day in the palace kitchens, and the smell of it had filled the entire royal chambers with scents of spice and warmth. It was different than Melia was used to. Usually, the palace smelled of clean marble and cool air, and the distinct lack of dust.

Now, it smelled like children and stews and a very distinct presence of dust.

As Riki coaxed her out of bed every day, Melia found it marginally easier to think about the state of Alcamoth and her people. They were scattered to the winds now, but not impossible to find. Those who had already returned were cleaning the city as best they could. Rebuilding fountains and houses, making lists of those who might have died. Some of the returning came to the palace and hesitantly sought her audience, but without a full staff, Melia could be hard to find in the many halls.

It was strange to be here without the formalities. They used to be the backbone of High Entian culture, and yet without them, everything still stood in place.

“Make new fountain to Riki, Heropon!” Riki had suggested as MElia sat and looked over some of the ideas her people had proposed for repairing the city center. “Right here!”

Melia’s mouth skewed to one side. “As tempting as it is, I think we should focus our efforts on a memorial garden. So many were--” turned into Telethia “-- lost from us. It may do good for the people to have a place to put their prayers.”

Not that prayers meant anything anymore, but it was a difficult habit to break.

“Fine fine, garden. But then, fountain of Heropon,” he suggested, nudging her side as he did.

“I’ll consider it,” Melia agreed, though her voice lacked the humor to carry such a statement. She was trying to go through the motions, for Riki’s sake if not her own, but her eyes were still glassy, her pallor still drawn. She did not look hollow anymore, but she was a far and away shadow of who she had once been.

Riki watched her as she stared at the papers. He noted the exact moment that her mind drifted away from the material in front of her, turning to the ghosts that lingered in her mind. When her eyes stared through the sheets, when her shoulders drooped ever so slightly, when her wings closed inward, she was thinking of her brother. Her father.

What would Kallian say?

What would the Emperor say?

What, even, would her mother say, who had died so long ago when Mellia was just a child?

She was snapped out of her revery by Riki’s soft hand on her cheek, patting it three times.

“Is ok if Melly wants to make Brother-Bird fountain instead,” he offered.

She pinched the bridge of her nose hard in a vain attempt to prevent tears. But still the proposal blueprints were quickly freckled with water marks.

After three years, Alcamoth began to feel like home again. Most of the High Entie who had fled returned, and with open borders instated, Mechons and Homs began to filter in too. Piece by piece, the city filled up with noise and trade and traffic. Melia was able to hire a palace staff again, and begin trade treaties with the Homs colonies.

Riki encouraged the others to visit, writing letters to Reyn and Sharla and Dunban when Melia wasn’t looking. The guests always showed up, with encouraging smiles and questions and hugs.

They recognized the statue in the memorial garden, and offered her belated condolensces when they could.

Shulk did not come. Reyn said that he didn’t come to much these days, and often spent time traveling the wilds.

Melia suspected he wouldn’t be satisfied with the world until he had observed every corner of it for himself.

“Don’t worry,” Fiora had assured her the week before, when they had all come for the most recent visit. “He’ll be fine. I think he’ll be comforted the most if we just keep going on without him. Shulk has never had a problem catching up.”

Melia sighed, reaching up one hand to stroke one of her wings, making sure each feather was in place. Her wings were starting to fill out again, thicken up and soften. Her hair did the same. Even her eyes had started to look a little less grey these days.

“Melly! Melly Melly Melly Melly--” Her name was repeated in a large chorus as eight of the littlepons came bounding up to her. She sat on a balcony, looking down at the City of Alcamoth from above and admiring the way it lit up at night-- just like she remembered.

“Yes?” she asked them all. By now, she had learned all of their names. Riki had to recite them for her for months in the beginning (Tema, Usa, Oki, Lulu, Ero, Beba, Niki, Weki, Quino, Resa, and Bo), but once she started paying attention, they were all very easy to tell apart. Currently, Usa, Lulu, Ero, Beba, Weki, Quino, Resa, and Bo were the ones gathering around her in excited hops.

“Melly, Papa says is almost time for dinner! Come come come, we hungry, not allowed to eat without you!” Ero bounced, waving his little arms as if they were wings-- like hers-- and he could fly.

“Tema made supper, very good,” Bo interjected. “Tema says she make super for now, because Mama too tired.” In the three years that Riki and his family had been living with her, Melia had not been surprised when Oka announced whe was pregnant. Again. Having eleven children was a feat in itself, but apparently the affection that the Nopon woman pretended to withhold was actually quite strong. In moments when they thought they were alone, Melia had seen Oka preening and cuddling her husband as if he were the most handsome prince in a fairy tale.

“Well, then we best not keep Tema waiting,” Melia agreed, pulling herself up from her seat on the balcong. “Maybe you all can find some nice ways to help your mother too? I know she will need it soon.”

“Of course we help Mama, we are good pons!” Weki insisted with pride. As they all walked towards the dining room, the littlepons walked with their extra hands held up and back, not hugging their bellies like most Nopons. They kept their little hands splayed out like feathers.

“Will Melly carry me, if I ask nice?” Lulu peeped at Melia’s feet. She battered her big marble eyes endearingly.

“Perhaps, if you are very polite,” Melia answered with the tip of her head.

“Pretty pretty pleasey pleaaaaase?” Lulu begged, flapping her hand-wings excitedly.

Melia paused, leaving some sense of dramatic suspense for the littlepon. But then she leaned down and scooped the buncle of strawberry tinted fur into the crook of her arm. “Yes, I will, Lulu. Now what do we say?”

“Thank you, Miss Melly!” Lulu squealed, her little feet kicking playfully.

When they reached the dining room-- which had become a strange mixture of formal table-and-chair seating, and floor-pillows for fmaily circles, over the years-- Melia saw Riki and his wife sitting side-by-side and muttering to one another. Riki had one big hand on Oka’s tummy, which was getting even rounder than usual these days, and his other fixed her bow for her.

“Papa! Papa Papa Papa, Mama Mama Mama--” the littlepons announced, bounding to their parents in hops and leaps.

Lulu wriggled in Melia’s arms until she was put down, then she bound to her parents too as Tema emerged from the kitchen, Oki and Niki helping, with a large pot of yet another type of Nopon fish stew.

Melia sat beside Riki on her neatly folded legs, and she accepted a bowl gratefully. “Tema, this smells absolutely divine.”

“Thank you, Miss Melly!”

Riki grinned up at Melia, “Riki’s littlepons make best food! All because of their good Papa-pon.”

“I have no doubts,” Melia said, bemused. She sipped a spoonful of the thick stew, and it tasted like oregano, apples, and cream. Warm and inviting to her palette, if not a bit rustic for the High Entia Queen. “Very good.”

“Riki knows. Riki is proud.”

The rest of the dinner went as it usually did. The littlepons babbled about their days, the people they had met, the things they had learned. Oka mentioned something about ‘proper nesting’ for the new baby. Riki re-told an exploit of his days as the Hero-pon, and Melia did not correct him when he got the facts wrong.

At the end of it all, Riki reaching up his big hand and patted her face gently. He smiled a soft smile, knowing in his own strange way.

“Melly does not look so sick anymore.”

“Don’t I? I’ve been sick by your standard for years, Riki.”

“Yes, but not anymore. Melly better now.”

She laughed and shrugged her shoulders. “You truly are a mystery, Riki. I’ve insisted on my own wellness for three years, and you only now believe me?”

“Only now has Riki heard you laugh.”

Melia paused, staring at the Nopon before her eyes moved to every other ‘pon in the room. All thirteen of them lookd back, with little smiles and nods of approval. When she looked at the children-- the brothers and sisters sharing their plates and pestering one another and immitating her wings-- she thought of how much Kallian would laugh, not how much is hurt to be without him.

She shook her head, smiling as she did, and placed one of her own hands on Riki’s face in return. “My hero-pon.”