His was a brief visit..barely enough time to warm their furs and re-acquaint themselves to each others bodies before he stood and donned clean leathers, took up his gear and slipped out through the flaps of their wagon. So quickly had the time passed that she had to wonder if she had perhaps dreamed of his homecoming in her sleep instead of being a part of the moment as it happened. This time she didn't even have the confirmation from her children to prove to her mind that he had indeed been there..they had been long asleep when he arrived late in the night and neither saw reason to wake them. She looked around the wagon and eventually found the proof she needed..his old leathers heaped into a basket by the flaps..ready to be taken to the stream and laundered. They were not there the previous night..she would not have tolerated soiled clothes to remain in the wagon. It was not her way. Kicking the furs away, she slips off the sleeping platform and settles on the bench next to a table holding her brush, a mirror and the various tidbits that she normally chose to wear woven into her braid each day. As she began the daily ritual of brushing through her hair, her thoughts set the order of her day. Tribe members she needed to see, medicinals she needed to make, household chores that needed her immediate attention..time set aside to spend with her children. Her children...THEIR children. Since the devasting fire, everytime she thought of the twins there came to her a quickening of heartbeat and a lump in her throat. If she had ever taken them for granted since their birth, it had stopped after the fire. That night woken from her dreams by shouting and the thick choking smoke that had enveloped their sleeping space, she had jumped from the wagon and climbed into that where her children slept with reshaka. Shouting now herself, she had snatched up a twin in each arm and ordered reshaka to grab what she could and follow..HARTA GIRL HARTA. No time to pick and choose, no time to dawdle..She had almost stumbled when she stepped from the wagon and tried to carry them both down the steps, but the skies must have been on her side and neither was dropped. She knew that reshaka was quite capable of helping carry the children to safety, but they were her children, her responsibility, and she was not about to trust their lives to anyone else. If any of them were going to die, they would all die together. With a firm hold on each, they had all made it to the stream. She had hesitated to leave them even then, but knew her duty as a healer left her little alternative..she had to leave her babes with reshaka while she went back to the camp to help others. Even the next morning in the aftermath of the fire, she was hesitant to leave her children even though she knew that the danger was passed. But responsibility for her people had to take priority and she had done her duty despite urges to constantly run back to check on them. Now, since that horrible night, she had made it a point to set time aside just for them. With their father gone most of the time, they needed her. Not just at night to bathe them, feed them and put them to bed after a story or two. They needed HER. With Jai absent, they demanded her attention and she gave it to them freely. And in return, they became her helpers when chores needed doing. When the drummers announced it was time to prepare wagons to move, Kus was there to help her grease the axels while Sheku held the bucket. When she pulled out the harnesses to oil, they all sat at the fire while she showed them how to do it. They were very young yet, and their work had to be checked over later after they had gone to their furs, but to Kaeli, it was the fact that they did these things together that mattered. This newfound togetherness took on a humorous turn at times such as when she made the evening meal that their own familial fires. Things ended up in their stew pot that definitly didn't need to be there, but she kept it to herself and ate the meal they had "helped" prepare with all the pride a mother could possess. When one morning they came to her wagon to show her Sheku's new dress that Kus had helped design, she had to turn away to hide the laughter that threatened to spill out and keep a straight face as she complimented them on their efforts at making such a fine piece of clothing.
Lately she had found a part of herself that she never knew she possessed. The ability to set aside her own need for order, and allow them to take hold of the moment and make it what they wanted. Baths at the stream became mud fights, with no clear victor between either child or mother. Meals had metamorphed into storytelling competitions complete with each acting out a part..Kus fighting giant kurs with his blunted, wooden lance, and Sheku becoming the damsel in distress that he fought to free. Sheku "healing" his wounds by wrapping him in so many bandages it took her an ahn to remove them. It was the simple things in life that became most important. Sometimes these moments with her children left her feeling a deep sadness..tears threatened to flow and the lump in her throat was so big, she felt choked by its presence. But like all the other times emotions threatened to spill out, she contained them..folding them into tiny pieces, pushing them to the far reaches of her conscious, a place that was quickly becoming a dumping ground for all the sadness, loneliness and resentment that built up with the absence of her mate...an absence that was never ending. When these emotions came too close to the surface, when they threatened her need to keep a stoic face for others to see, she took to riding late at night..sometimes staying out till Lar Torvis began to rise. Following no specific path or set destination she just rode. It was on one of these rides that Yem presented himself and became her shadow. Whether or not Jai had commssioned him to be so, she could not say. He was there and made no admissions one way or another. If she took to the saddle it was a safe bet he would be following. At first, she was not pleased with this new twist, and she made every effort to evade the old warrior..a game she had been practicing for many passings since she was an Ubara. While she had always been very good at this in the past, this warrior seemed to be able to see one step ahead and no matter what tactic she employed, just when she thought she had succeeded, he would be there..sometimes waiting, other times taking up a spot behind her own beast. After a while, she conceeded her defeat and theirs was an amicable friendship..he was like an old uncle she had never had and she became accepting of his presence.Once the meal was finished, children bathed and abed, she would go to the pens to find the grey saddled and ready. All she had to do to find the culprit was look to the shadows and he would be there, already settled on his beast, waiting. Was she that predictable? Had she become so set in her ways that others could set their time by what she was doing? Maybe so.
So began an alliance, a friendship perhaps, an unjudgemental ear when needed, but definitly one who kept her confidances and her safety.....