Young Writers Society

(I half expected her to say "that's my other dad")

"Hi!" Marcella waved at Tasia and pulled Mattathias along with her. Oscar followed quickly, not wanting to be left behind. "I'm Marcella Ash, and this is my brother Mattathias--we're twins. And that's Oscar."

(haha I was thiiiis close to saying 'my new Papa' and then decided that wasn't helpful since Tasia still wouldn't know what to call him aha)

Tasia's grasp tightened anxiously on Tadaaki's furs. He looked down at her and gave an encouraging nod. "Go say hi. I bet they're super nice."

Tasia hesitated, looking at the kids for a long moment, but not finding the courage to leave her papa's side quite yet. "I'm Tasia... just Tasia."

"Do you like racing, Tasia?" Mattathias asked. "We were just racing."
"How old are you?" Oscar added. "I'm four, and so're they."

"I'm four, too!" Tasia gasped, delighted. She turned towards Tadaaki with an excited grin.

"Sounds like you four have a lot in common," Tadaaki said with a grin. "You're also a good racer. Go show 'em!"

Tasia hesitated a long moment, then stepped forward hesitantly towards the other children. "I'm very fast."

"I bet I'm faster," Marcella said eagerly. "Let's find out! Race you to the big cat!" She dashed off without warning.
"Marcellaaaa!" Mattathias whined, running after her. Oscar gave Tasia a shy grin.
"Come on!" He followed after his cousins.

"Wait, where's the big cat?" This was cheating. Tasia went sprinting off after them.

Tadaaki grinned, watching her go. She was so carefree. And he was glad for it. She should be free from the anxiety and trust issues that weighed him down. Aashi watched Tasia dash off, a little uncomfortable, but decided if Tadaaki was comfortable with it then it was okay. Tadaaki was so protective of them both -- maybe a bit overprotective at times.

"Your lordship," Tadaaki greeted Tomhas, giving him a low bow. "Thank you for opening your home to us again... me again... now us?"

He flushed with embarrassment.

"It's such a pleasure to finally meet you, sir-- lordship?" Aashi said eagerly, offering a hand to shake. Tadaaki elbowed her. Her eyes went wide and she bowed instead, then sank into a curtsy.

Tomhas shook his head. "Oh, dear. You two don't need to bow, really. I'm nobody special." He shook both their hands fervently. "Just call me Tomhas; everybody does. I'm absolutely delighted to have you back, Tadaaki! And welcome to our home, madam. We were all eager to meet you; we've heard lots about you. All good things, of course! How was your journey?"

They shook his hand, both smiling at his warmth.

"Wonderful!" Aashi said with a bright grin. "It's so pretty up here and your soldiers are so nice and I've never really traveled before so all of this is so new and exciting to me and I had a really, really great time and I think Tasia and Aki did too!"

Tadaaki watched her, smiling slightly. She was always so bubbly. He looked back at Tomhas and nodded, agreeing with his wife's account.

"Wonderful, wonderful!" Tomhas clapped his hands. "But gods, you look cold. Shall we let the children finish their race and then get in where it's warm? Dinner should be prepared soon, hopefully, and I can introduce you to the rest of my family. They'll be delighted to meet you, I'm sure!"

"I'm absolutely frozen to the bone!" Aashi agreed, nodding her head vigorously. "And I've been looking forward so much to meeting all of you. Tadaaki has told me how kind you are and how much he was looking forward to seeing you and your family again and how wonderful his time here had been."

Tadaaki blushed.

"And he's too shy to say it but I will -- I appreciate so, so much what you've done for Tadaaki and Ky. I never thought I was getting my husband back, and here, you've brought him back to me and for that, we are both forever in your debt. You're like their guardian angel."

This touched Tomhas more than he could say; he had so many misgivings about interfering at the beginning of all this. He was the meddler, the third party with no idea what he was doing. Who was he to help these people and call himself a savior?
"That's very kind of you," he managed, face flushing. He hoped they thought it was the cold. "I only did what I thought was right; I'm very glad you have Tadaaki back. Nobody deserves to be separated from those they love."

(aww!)

"That's the truth!" Aashi agreed enthusiastically. "It's so hard to be a single mother -- and it's even harder to try to explain to your little girl why she doesn't have a papa like the other kids, and what happened to him, and try to tell her all the memories you have of him but realize that you were both dumb kids yourself when you got married and didn't really know each other as well as you thought you did."

"Aashi..." Tadaaki put his hand on her shoulder, still blushing.

"Sorry!" Aashi said. "I talk so much. Too much. I'll stop. I'm just excited and nervous but so grateful to be here and excited to see what all this hype about Caracal Keep is about."

(I swear she's a child xD)

(This is all breaking my heart!)

"I completely understand. Well, I couldn't. Not everything. But I know a thing or two about talking too much." Tomhas chuckled. "I'm quite guilty of that." He turned to Wick. "Brother in-law of mine, would you be a good chap and fetch the children back? Let's get everyone out of the cold." Wick saluted.
"I'll be back in a tick," he promised, and strode off with a nod to Tadaaki and Aashi.
"Caracal Keep," Tomhas went on, leading them toward the doors of the Keep, "is, I'm afraid, just a Keep like all the others. It's not the oldest nor the largest, but it's home. That's enough for me. It's got a magnificent kitchen, though! My brother and my aunt in-law will be baking pies in there tomorrow in preparation for the big day."

"It's the biggest house I've ever seen in my entire life," Aashi said admiringly. "I'm not quite sure I believe that it's possible for anything to be any bigger than this. You really live here? That's incredible. You must have... what? Like... like twelve bedrooms in there, don't you? And I bet they all have real beds in them too, don't they?"

Ky smiled as she tagged along with Tadaaki; Tomhas and Aashi walking ahead of them. Tadaaki shook his head, also smiling a bit. Ky had forgotten how utterly shocking it was the first time she'd ever seen a Keep. It was a reasonable reaction; even though Aashi wasn't even close to guessing correctly.

"Try twenty bedrooms, all with real beds and attached bathing rooms," Tomhas said with a smile. It was a silly thing to brag about, but he liked this woman's energy and he wanted Tadaaki's family to be impressed. "My elder brother, Lord Ash, has a Keep with thirty bedrooms."