The Forgotten Zodiac

Gabe smiled happily, then raised his hand again. "Oh, oh! When do we get our army? Do we have an awesome insignia? I want to make one! Then we can put it on our flag!" he said.

"Army? We're as much of an army we'll ever have, Gabe." Rush chortled. "But...I suppose if you wanted to make us an insignia, it can't hurt. Remember, we're Forestum Champions. We ally with the forest and fight for them and them alone. So...make it a tree or something like it."

"I'll make it beautiful!" Gabe declared, getting up and trotting off, looking for a black scroll or something of the like to doodle his insignia on.

Bermuda watched him go, shaking his head slightly. "Got to love that kid," he murmured, but loud enough for the others to hear.

"I do," Aries chortled, her hearing naturally better than most. "It's not like you have to wear what he draws," She smiled. "And I'll hold the flag if no one else will."

Bermuda laughed, smiling at Aries. "You're a great mother," he said, giving her an approving nod. "I suppose I'll hold it if you're busy," he added.

Aries smiled. "I always wanted a kid of my own. Considering the fact that half-breeds are impossible for Viera females, you can see the difficulty I would have. But," She chuckled. "I wouldn't give Gabe for anything, not even the chance to bear my own. He's so sweet,"

"My mommy is good too!" Manny spoke up, blinking at them curiously.

Bermuda nodded at Aries and Manny in turn, smiling. "Good thing we didn't decide to eat him way back then," he said, laughing slightly. "Isn't that what he was afraid we would do?"

Aries smiled. "Yes, I remember that day well."

"What day?" Manny blinked.

"Oh, this was before we met you," Aries smiled. "It was the day we found Gabe."

"The day you became a mommy?"

Aries blinked at him, then smiled warmly. "Yes. It was."

"So...you didn't eat him?" Manny blinked. "You don't eat people...right?"

"No, Manny. None of us do," Bermuda said, laughing softly. Over in his bed, L'arc made an irritated hissing noise, and Bermuda quickly quieted.

"Sorry, sorry, didn't realize you missed your nap," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

Manny giggled. "You people sleep a lot. All the time."

"We do a lot of fighting. We have to sleep when we can." Aries shrugged. "Why don't you go find Eve? Reetah is back, so Eve should be free to hug you again."

"Oh yeah!" Manny bobbed his head, then darted off.

Eve had been relieved of her position watching Ullar, and was wandering down the hall past the Sanctuary now. She paused at the door and glanced inside, surprised to see that Minori was in there. Her attention was diverted, however, when she heard familiar footsteps headed her way.

"Manny?"

"Mommy!" Manny practically tackled his mother in a tight hug. "Hi, mommy." He beamed, then looked towards the sanctuary. "Oh, it's that place. The place I'm not supposed to go. Minori's in there, though...is he allowed to be in there?"

"Of course he is, dear," Eve said, hugging Manny in return. "This is his home - he can do whatever he pleases. That's his room," she said. "He goes in there whenever he likes."

Minori, who had noticed them by this time, turned with a smile and moved over to the door, nodding in greeting. "Eve, Manny. Was there anything you needed?" he asked.

"Need? No." Manny shook his head. "I don't need anything but this lady right here." He took Eve's hand, smiling. "Do you need anything, though? You look sleepy."

Minori smiled slightly. "There's been a lot going on," he said. "We've had to move Apathy and Aton away from the capital, and now with Ullar... it's just a lot," he said.

"What is wrong with Ullar? He's odd." Manny questioned, frowning slightly. "And last I saw, he was all bandaged up n' stuff. But you're doing okay, right? Riiiight? You shouldn't be hurt or anything. That's bad. Not good. Bad is not good." Now that the immediate danger was long gone, Manny was obviously acting more like a child. As though nothing had ever changed in the first place.

"It's... complicated," Minori said, massaging his temple. "I suppose I'm doing all right, though, with all that's going on. Physically, I couldn't be better," he said.

"Hmm. Sounds like you need some of that mediation Kendra was talking about." Manny tilted his head to the side. He was referring to the 'meditation', but he had forgotten what the word sounded like. He was trying his best to help, at least.

Minori laughed slightly. "Mediation?" he asked.

"Meditation," Eve corrected gently, and Minori nodded, laughing a bit more.

"Ah. Maybe," he conceeded. "It might help. I came to the Sanctuary to clear my mind, but actually focusing on doing such a thing... is a thought."

"Focusing is hard. Oh, mommy! I saw butterflies outside. Does that mean it's officially spring now? Can we go catch some butterflies and bring them to Sylas? Sylas can talk to butterflies, right?" Manny asked, jumping up and down happily.

((Focusing is difficu--BUTTERFLIES! : D))