More "Not in Kansas"

Apex stared in wonder at seeing the female before her. A small part of her wanted to address her by the name she knew her by - "Mother" - but she couldn't. It wasn't Mother, at least, not yet. She hadn't realized how pretty she was - or how much she looked like her. "No," she answered softly. "You don't."

Iranda took it for what it was worth and nodded. "I'm Iranda," she said politely, offering her hand to shake.

'I know,' came the unshared response. Instead, Apex took the offered hand and smiled. "Ailyn," she offered, giving her a slightly shy smile. Mother always loved calling her Ailyn [even if Father insisted that her name was Apex].

"Ailyn," Iranda repeated softly. "It's a beautiful name."

Apex wondered for a moment if this just ensured that she was going to be named Ailyn when she was born, but shook herself mentally, not wanting to deal with the headache that was bound to rise up. Her eyes widened as she saw the figure approaching Iranda from behind.

Aaron placed his hands over Iranda's eyes and chuckled. "Guess who?" he asked.

"Aaron," Iranda sighed and pushed his hands down. She turned [gracefully, oh so gracefully - why couldn't she be as graceful as her mother] and faced Aaron. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," he said, chuckling. "Just wanted to surprise you. Did it work?"

"No," Iranda said, shaking her head. "But I'll give you an a for effort." She lightly kissed him, slowly curling into his arms.

Apex was silent, trying not to cry at seeing her parents - so young and so in love.

Skyla reached over and squeezed her shoulder, trying to comfort the misplaced youth.

Fanart: Poke'mon

possible AU

Iranda curled up in her favorite chair, the youngest cuddling close to her. She gently stroked his hair as she hummed softly. He was such a little angel, she thought before glancing up to spot her only daughter standing in the doorway. She smiled softly, and gestured for her to join them.

Ailyn padded over and settled down at her mother's feet. "Mama?" Ailyn asked softly. "When's Papa coming home?"

Iranda sighed softly. "I don't know, Ailyn," she admitted. "He and Uncle Joshua are busy working on finding the amber crystals."

Ailyn nodded, accepting the answer even if she didn't like it. "Do you think he'd teach me how to fly Blaze Wind later?"

Iranda sighed again. "If he has time," she admitted. The hunt for amber wasn't the only thing that Joshua and Aaron were looking for - they were also looking for the missing eldest child, Zhane [Z'neth]. It still broke her heart to know that somewhere on Old Earth, her firstborn was in the hands of the mutant lord, Dread Wing. She had to keep the tears from falling, not wanting to upset the other children.

Phillip yawned softly and snuggled close. He could sense this much older boy and he didn't know how to help. /Z?/ he sleeply called.

/Hmm?/ came a soft voice answered.

/You 'kay?/ Phillip sleeply asked, not realizing that he was the only one who could sense his big brother.

/I'm fine/ he murmured. /Now, you go back to sleep, little dragon cub/