Welcome to Gaia! ::

Raynakre is being punished, so he grumbles quite a lot as he comes to drop off a package from his sister. He leaves it at the door with a servant.

The babies are several days old now, and Kaioto is back in the palace, surrounded by an excited staff and and even more excited empire. It seems that the babies have not left her arms more than necessary to change their diapers, and Kaioto is content to keep it that way.

However, the naming ceremony is approaching fast, and Kaioto knows she must prepare for it. So for the first time since the twins came home, she enters the nursery which had been prepared for them earlier. Previously, it had been a storage closet (Albeit a large one) that branched off of Kaioto's personal bathroom. She had decided it would be the perfect place for the babies' nursery because the only way to get to it was through Kaioto's own bedroom, so they would be safe all the time, and the hot water pipes would warm the room to just the right temperature for the twins. Though the walls were made of stone like the majority of the rooms in the palace, the heat kept in well, and just in case, Kaioto had hung a tapestry near the window. The same one, in fact, that had been given to her by Dot several months earlier. That window, actually, had been one of the major reasons Kaioto had finally decided on the room as the nursery. Made out of fine stained glass, one side featured intricate sun and clous patterns while the opposite side featured just as intricate a moon and stars pattern. 'How perfect!' she had thought. 'What better room for my two little opposites than a room of opposites?' In keeping with her new theme, she had taken one of her favorite rugs out of storage - A circular one that was woven into the shape of a sun being encircled partway by a crescent moon - and layed it on the wooden floor of the nursery. She had gotten it from a visiting merchant a few years back but had never found the right place for it before this. Also in the room, she put a changing table, diaper pail, clothes dresser, table, chair, and lastly, two wicker bassinets for the twins to sleep in. On the girl's, the one with the pink ribbon on the end, she put a blanket with a moon and stars design woven into it, and on the boy's, the one with the blue ribbon on the end, she put a blanket woven with a sun and clouds design.

Now looking at the twins she holds in her arms, it seems that her gut instinct, while she had really given no thought to when laying out the nursery, was right - The boy's eyes seem to sparkle with the light of the sun, while the girl seems as peaceful as the moon.

Reluctantly, she places each child in their repective cradles, and with a kiss on their foreheads, she puts a baby monitor on the table next to them. Though they cannot be with her 24/7, she now wears the recieving end of the baby monitor on her kimono so as to always know what is happening with the babies.

For the moment, there is peace in the room. A VERY brief moment.
As though in complete sync with each other, both babies start to cry. Kaioto is startled by this. They've been so tranquil since they came home, what's wrong? Perhaps they miss their mother already? She picks both of them up, cradling them in her arms, and immiediatly they stop crying. She rocks them gently until they fall asleep, and then once more places them in their bassinets.

And enjoys a second of silence before both once more wake up and start wailing.

"What's wrong?!" she questions, exasperated. Several times this process repeats, and Kaioto becomes very tired as the night goes on. After yet another fruitless try to get them to stay in their bassinets, Kaioto herself falls asleep on the stool, her head resting on the boy's bassinet as he and his sister continue to cry on through the night.

Several hours later, Kaioto awakes in the nursery to silence. As the haze of sleep begins to clear, her relief at the quiet fades away as she notices a very pretty and very naked winged woman standing over one of the bassinets.

"Agh!" she screams at the stranger. "Who are you?! Where are my babies?!"

The woman stumbles back as she is taken aghast by Kaioto's yell, but manages to regain her balance and get out a "Called Therlia. Babies right here." as she points down into the moon-blanketed cradle. There, sound asleep lay both children happily curled up next to each other. "No yell, sleeping."

Kaioto is now very confused. It seems that this woman doesn't want to harm the babies... so then why is she here?

"H-how did you get it here? Who sent you?" Kaioto questions, her heart still hammering against her chest from suprise.

"Shina." is all Therlia says in response.

'Shina... the fa'e?!' Kaioto thinks. She only knew of one Shina. "Did Eirnae send you?" she questions out loud.

Therlia nods, but says no more. Though still a little wary, if she was sent by Eirnae, she can't be bad.

"A-alright." she stammers out while thinking 'Ok, so she's a friend of Shina's. I'll have to talk to her later and find out what's going on. In the meantime...' "Thank you for putting the twins to sleep. How'd you do it?"

"Twins like being together." she says simply.

'Well that makes sense... why didn't I think of that?' Kaioto thinks to herself. "You like babies?" she says.

Therlia nods and smiles.

'Good enough. She doesn't seem dangerous, and I sure could use her help...' "Ok Therlia, you can stay if you like." she says to her. "But you will have to put some clothes on if you want to leave the nursery and my chambers."

Therlia doesn't seem to happy about Kaioto's last statement, but is delighted that she gets to stay. As she smiles down at the babies, the girl opens her eye, and in an instant, both babies are awake and ready to be fed.