Heart's Treasure Returned|Talen'sul

[Kender Bard]

Laura was a picture of misery. Not only had she lost her husband, but one of her daughters as well. Even the loss of her grandchildren struck at her heart, though she partly blamed them for Raindrop's absence.

She was staring blankly at the documents in front of her, having been unable to move off this single page for the past hour. Such was her days.

[Northen Light36]

Amaro herds Raindrop towards the door, then knocks on it firmly, while letting Saph learn heavily on him. While Saph's injuries and illness are mostly taken care of, the trip home was still hard on him.

Not as hard as it hard been for Amaro though. Even the Merc's usual stone-faced expression can't hide Amaro's sadness. It had nearly killed him to make the choice to leave Acqua behind.

There had been no choice, but his mind raced with 'what if's.

[Kender Bard]

Laura opened the door, and for a moment, nothing registered through the fog of her mind. But only for a moment.

And then her world lit up. "Rain! Saph!" She grabbed Raindrop fiercely, pulling her close in a hug with one arm while reaching for her husband with the other. "Oh, oh thank Etaf!"

[Northen Light36]

"Hi Mum," Raindrop says quietly, squirming out of the hug as Teardrop comes running to the door.

"Rain! Rainy!" the younger twin shouts happily, hugging her twin as tightly as she can. Saph smiles at his daughters even as he hugs his wife.

"I've missed you," he says simply, kissing Laura lovingly.

At this point in the reunion, Amaro turns around and starts to walk back down the garden path.

[Kender Bard]

Laura holds on to Saph, but notices movement out of the corner of her eye. "Wait! Amaro!" She lets go of Saph and hurries after him. "Please, wait, we need to repay you somehow. I can't tell you how overjoyed I am that you brought both my husband and my daughter back."

[Northen Light36]

Amaro looks at Laura, then turns away. "I'm glad you have your family, Laura, but this job cost me more then I can repay. If you'll excuse me, I need to go explain to Alethia and Talon that I abandoned my sister in favour of getting your husband and daughter out safely."

Listening, Saph cringes slightly.

[Kender Bard]

Laura blinks but steps away. What could she possibly say to that? I'm sorry wasn't adequate, and honestly, she's not. She feels bad for what happened, but she would take her family over another's.

Silently she draws her family inside and shuts the door.

[Northen Light36]

Taking a deep breath, Amaro starts out for the Veatherfall house. For a moment he considers saying nothing to them and just turning around to head back to Ekaitz. But, he's exhusted and low on supplies, plus Talon and Alethia have the right to know.

Feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders, Amaro knocks at the door.

[Kender Bard]

The door is answered - eventually - with Talon looking out. From his more unkempt than normal appearance, he'd been sleeping in late. Flashing Amaro a wide, if drowsy, smile, he exclaims quietly, "Hey, buddy, I'm glad to see you're back! Come inside, tell me how it went. Er, where's Acqua?"

[Northen Light36]

Amaro winces visibly at the mention of Acqua as he steps in. "Saph Calder's home," he sighes, then more softly, "Talon... Acqua was taken... I couldn't find her... I... I had to leave without her..."

[Kender Bard]

Talon blinks slowly, then seems to slump a little, and sigh. "I'm sorry, Amaro," he murmured. "Do you think she's o-" he stopped himself from saying a stupid question, and asked a painful one instead. "Alive?"

[Northen Light36]

Amaro closes his eyes. "I hope so Talon, I can only hope so," he sighs. "I'm not leaving her there. I'm going back... I just thought you should know so you wouldn't worry when you found Calder was back but Acqua and I were still gone."

Amaro turns to leave again, despite looking and feeling ready to drop dead with exhustion.

[Kender Bard]

Talon jumps forward, trying to grab Amaro's wrist. "Amaro, Amaro, I know how you feel, but you have to come inside," he says firmly. "You're of no help to anyone the way you are. You always do this; overextend yourself."

[Northen Light36]

Amaro tries to avoid having his wrist grabbed, but exhustion is dulling his reflexes and Talon catches hold of him easily. "Talon, I'm fine," he protests. "I just need to find her..." Despite the protesting, Amaro doesn't have the energy to put up any real resistance, meaning Talon can force him inside easily enough.

---

That night there's a soft creeking sound as the door to the Veatherfall home is pushed slowly open.

[Kender Bard]

Alethia and Talon slept deeply, if it was an uneasy sleep. Spice, however, was sneaking in some midnight playing when he heard the door creaking. Looking to his baby sister, asleep in her crib, he says to her, "Thieves!" With an excited grin, he picks up his toy sword and shakes his puppy awake. "C'mon Skip. Gotta save the family." Grinning, he hurried out of his room and towards the front door.