WOT: Vacation III

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It was a long way down into nothing.

Sal peered over the edge of the island-like thing that she and her family were on.  Kurt and the kids were doing their thing in the background (in all honesty, she didn't know what they were doing), but she was preoccupied with observing the dizzying drop.

Her hands clutched the tree root tightly as she leaned over even more.  It was breathtaking, the light that came from seemingly nowhere was everywhere all at once, as though the entire world was lit by something beyond it.  Her heart hammered in her chest as she settled back under the shade of the tree, hand resting gently on her stomach.  She felt a vague twittering there, as though the little one inside was asserting her presence.

All in all, things were getting better.  She watched the castle recede as the island moved, and sighed, at peace with everything.

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[random_xtras]

Small fingers poked her in the butt through a gap in the intertwined roots and trunks and branches of the jungle, and a baby voice giggled before it moved away in response to Kurt's call about 'more lollies!'.

A flying flower hovered in front of her face, purple and gold petals beating strongly as it seemed to try and figure her out.

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She lifted a finger to poke at the flower and smirked as it hopped happily over to it, whirling itself to and fro as though to show off.

"'Course I gets the one of ye that decides yer an acrobat," she said, adjusting the way she was sitting and giggling outright when the flower hopped into her hair and rested there.

Well, this is nice....

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"It looks good on ye, b'y," said a male voice quietly from behind her. It wasn't a voice that she'd ever heard before, yet there was something familiar about it, and it carried affection.

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She tilted her head and turned around slightly, eyes going wide when she saw the newcomer.

"Who - ?"

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It was the young dark-haired Burgite from the war, his face creased into a friendly smile as his blue eyes danced with laughter. "The name's Pete. Ye minds if I sits?"

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He looked down at his toes, eyes creasing at the corners in a way that brought Albus to mind. "Peter Aaron James Wagner."

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She laughed. "So we did have more kids. Or at least this one had kids."

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"This one?" He turned his head slightly and cut her a glance.

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She put a hand over her stomach. It was still early; perhaps the slight roundness that she noticed wasn't so visible to everyone else.

"This's ... uh, I think we decided on the name Celeste."

Now Sal was beginning to be weirded out by this scenario.

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Peter snorted and gave a rollicking laugh. "Nah, b'y I ain't hers. She's just the dang awfullest big sister a guy ever hadta put up with."

The dancing of his eyes belied his last words.

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"I told 'em five kids was enough." He shook his head sadly.

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Sal stared. "Oh my G-"

And then she laughed. Almost hysterically.

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"Accorse they wasn't jus' doin' it one at a time, but still." His mouth twitched at her laughter.

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Mutely, Sal just shuck her head, still laughing quietly.

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He razzed her and scootched out of reach.

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She felt too lethargic to move, and just smiled.

It was silent for a moment, and then Sal perked.

"Am I dead?"

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"@#$%& no, b'y. Yer knockin' the Council on their arses." He took a playful swipe at the hovering flower.

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She laughed out loud. "Who bribed me to take up that job?"

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"Heck no, b'y." He finally turned toward her, frowning. "Sometimes we gits choices took away, but even then we gits t' pick how we responds."

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"Hm." She considered it for a few moments. "I don't like it, but I kin understand it just the same."

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"I's mostly there t' keep things fr'm endin' too soon."

Even if it meant socking his great granddad in the jaw....

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"I see."

She shivered. This wasn't the best of times to be talking about things ending.

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"But anyway." He sighed and looked away. "I best get goin'. Was nice talkin' to ye."

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Sal frowned. "No rest, I suppose. Well, yes, b'y, the same here. I wagers that I'll look back on this an' wonder where my brain went."

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"I got my rest." He put up a hand and gently squirted a tiny jet of water at the flower. "I loves ye, Mum."

With that he took a leap over the side of the jungle, vanishing in mid-air.