*****
"Momma!" I call out, running to my momma in the meadow outside of the estate, carrying my teddy bear with me, giggling the whole way to her.
"There you are my girl!" My momma opens up her arms and I jump into them, laughing as she picks me up and spins around with me. "Did you have fun today with the children?"
Momma looks over to the children from the Dragosvellier community that had come to play with me.
I nod, "Yes, Momma!" She sets me down and we start walking to the estate, her humming the melody of the song she likes to sing to me. I tug on her sleeve to ask her a question, "Momma, can we stay here? I like it here, and grandpa is nicer than Daddy. Please, can I stay here with you?"
My youth voice morphs into my adult one, as I continue, "I don't want to go back with out you, Momma."
Momma stops and turns, pulling me into a fierce and tight hug, a sob escapes her lips as she pushes me back to grip my shoulders.
Eyes brimming with tears, she informs me, "You have to go back Rakara. Trust the Elements, my dear. They will help you. You can not stay with me, but I love you, my precious girl. You are my greatest gift, my love, and my home..." She sings the last part to me.
"Momma!" I reach out for her as I hear some one calling me in the distance. I try to ignore them and try to hold onto her, "Momma!"
"Rakara!"
*********
"Rakara! Wake up, Rakara!"
Someone's shaking my shoulder lightly, and I groan and try to shake them off, still tired.
"Rakara, wake up. You're covered in dust and Bavarthos has been trying to find you all night!" A deep
That makes me sit up quickly, but my blurry eyes can not focus and my head spins as I try to break from my sleep.
"Whoa! Careful, you were sleeping pretty hard."
My dream comes back to me, and I stand anyways, crying out for my momma, "Momma?! Momma! Where did she go?!" I ask frantically, looking around, even as I lose my balance and fall back in a sitting position on the bed. My hands on each side, holding me up.
As my head stops spinning, I open my eyes and look up to see Soot's and Flair looking concerned at me. I shake my head, a tear falls down my cheek, but I quickly wipe it away.
"Sorry, I had been dreaming when you woke me up." I take a deep, steady breath to calm myself as Soot's looks around the room.
"I see you found my old living quarters. How did you end up here?" He asks, taking a seat on the bed next to me, reaching behind me and grabbing the journal I fell asleep reading.
'That probably explains part of my dreams.' I think to myself as he thumbs through it.
"I got lost in my thoughts and ended up outside the door last night. I checked to see if it was open and decided to explore to distract my mind. My apologies, I didn't know that these were your old quarters. I only found out when I saw the painting on the nightstand."
Soot's hands me the journal and grunts, "No problem, Rakara. They would want you to know about them, in whatever way you could discover. Be it journals or paintings, or what they wore and read."
"You are more than welcome to anything in here, anytime." Soot's stands and offers me his hand, "Come on, let's get you to your husband. You've gone missing twice in less than 72 hours. You keep this up and you'll age the poor Fey."
Flair chuckles at Soot's comment. "That is something I would like to see. Although, I do have to agree, you've caused the poor man to stress himself beyond his normal limits. His skin turned to look as if it was made of bark, and his eyes have become entirely black."
"Oh dear." I grimace, knowing he's angry, and stand up, clutching the journal. "Let's make haste."
Soot's leads the way, even though I try to remember how I got here, I'm lost already after a few turns. He continues on though and we are back on the landing of the second floor, where Nordrem is standing.
"She has been found!" He bellows out, loudly, a shock wave striking us.
Bav instantly appears near him and sweeps the area with his gaze anxiously. He stops on me, as I sheepishly clutch the journal in front of me, like it is a barrier.
"Where have you been?" He steps toward me, his skin returning to normal, but his eyes stay black as he looks down at me. Pulling me closer into his arms, holding me close against his chest. His rapid heart beat thunders in his chest, as I hug him back.
"My sincerest apologies, Bav, darling. I didn't mean to frighten you again so. I was merely lost in my thoughts and decided to go for a walk on this floor." I tell him quietly as Flair and Nordrem walk away, nodding for their departures.
Bav's leans back, a hand coming up to remove something from my hair. A ball of dust and fluff.
"You're covered in dust. Did you end up in an old broom cupboard with a broken door handle?" He inquires, holding me at arms length, taking in how filthy my clothes are, at the same time I do too.
I blush at how filthy I am, "Not a broom cupboard." I murmur sending my eyes down to the floor in embarrassment for troubling him so.
Soot's comes to step in. "She found my old residence, where her mother grew up. Flair and I, found her sleeping there, with my wife's old journal. It's been a while since I've gone and cleaned the place. Hence the dust." His voice is heavy, but I've noticed since I've come back from the woods, he's much more civil in demeanor with everyone.
Bav nods and lifts my chin up, "Let's go get you cleaned up, darling. You can tell me about it as you wish." He turns to Soot's, "Thank you. We will head to our room now." Bav nods to him and Soot's does the same. There is still a stiff tension between them, even as my own has weakened.
Bav begins to walk us to our rooms, but before Bav can pull me into the hall, I tug his hand gently to wait. He gives me a questioning look but releases my hand.
I turn to Soot's, staying where I am but swept up in the emotion rolling through me. "Thank you, Soot's. I hope that you can help me find those rooms again?"
Soot's just nods, standing stiff and with a blank stare, as if bored.
"Thank you. I shall talk with you, next time. Rest well." I turn back to Bav, so that we may head to our rooms.
I glance over my shoulder before we make our turn to our rooms, and he still stands there, but with his hands in his pocket, looking forlornly, at the floor.