Hi everyone! Guess who's back :)

I know how incredibly long it's been and I am so sorry. If I even still have any of my fans out there I will be shocked. But this story was starting to come back and nag at me, so I thought I would give it another go.

Besides, I never abandon my stories. It may take me two years to get back to them, but I never abandon them.

Whether you're a newcomer to my stories or whether you've still been waiting to hear more all this time, I hope you enjoy :) review please!

I ducked behind the knot of men who were talking in front of the entrance to the kitchen. Mom and Dad were just on the other side of them. Obscuring myself behind Andy's large body, I strained to listen.

"Wanda?" Dad repeated, his voice tight. "Honey, what is it?"

"I was just at the hospital wing," she murmured. "I was visiting the Musician that we took from Phoenix on our last raid-well, her body, anyway." My mom's normally gentle and cheerful voice was softer than usual, and she sounded sad and exhausted. "You know she woke up a few days ago."

"Yes," Dad confirmed. I could imagine how his blue eyes would be boring into hers, brighter as they always got when he was stressed. Mine did the same thing. "What happened? Is she okay?"

"She's confused and disoriented. Something went wrong with her memory, it appears. She still believes herself to be the soul that was inside of her. The Musician, Starlight Song, I believe it was. The one we sent to the Bats. She's terrified of the humans. She keeps screaming, thrashing around like she's having some sort of seizure whenever anyone approaches her. Doc had to put her under again."

My father sounded less tense when he answered, and I could picture him relaxing, relieved that nothing was harming Mom. However, I could also picture the way his eyes would fill with compassion for the lost, confused woman. Sure enough, his voice was tight with sympathy when he answered.

"It will be all right. Once she's calmed down, once we've given her time, she'll start to remember, just like they all do."

"I hope so." I peeped around Aaron's arm, unable to help myself. I saw Dad slip his arm around Mom's shoulders. She still had that crease in her forehead, her golden eyebrows drawn tightly together.

I, however, relaxed like Dad. Nothing was harming our family. Of course I felt bad for the woman, the Musician that we had taken the soul out of on our last raid, but I knew it was nothing serious to worry about; she would remember eventually. Mom and Wes were like that a lot, constantly worrying about the wellbeing of others even when they couldn't change it. The best thing to do when such a situation arose was to distract them.

I could see that Dad knew that, too. He towed Mom along to one of the tables, voicing suggestions that carefully steered Mom's mind toward breakfast and away from the confused human woman that she couldn't help. It seemed to work; she smiled up at him and then took a seat next to Aunt Melanie. He leaned down and murmured to her, likely promising a quick return, before weaving his way through the crowd and out of sight. The two women leaned close, and I smiled wistfully to see Aunt Melanie's dark head next to Mom's golden one. My mother and my surrogate aunt had always had a sisterly bond that I could not understand, yet envied. I'd never had a sister of my own; however, I knew that I wouldn't trade Wes for anything.

Although I knew it, it was hard to remember at the moment as a surge of irritation coursed through me when I thought of my brother. Ratting me out to Daddy like that had not been a cool move.

I scanned the crowd, trying to find him. I intended to march right up and confront him-I had no doubt that he already knew he was in trouble-but before I could, a hand fell on my shoulder. It was too familiar to cause alarm, and I turned to face Daddy with an expectant, albeit slightly guilty, expression; it was quite obvious from my position, still half-huddled behind Andy, Brandt, and Aaron, that I had been eavesdropping.

"Celeste, you NEED to stop spying on people," he told me, his tone and expression torn halfway between amusement and exasperation.

I blinked innocently up at him, knowing that he wasn't really mad. "Maybe if you guys would tell me things..."

"You don't need to know everything," he retorted, amusement winning out.

I shrugged. Remembering my earlier resolve to make the day a good one, I decided not to argue with him about it.

"Go get some breakfast. And go easy on your brother," he added gently, catching my shoulder as I turned to go. "He's only looking out for you, you know. He cares about you. So do I."

I sighed heavily. "I know," I grumbled. "All right, I'll cut him a break. Only if you two stop worrying about me all the time, though, got it?"

He kissed my forehead and sent me off to breakfast, but I caught the subtle fact that he hadn't agreed.

"Celeste!" he called after me once again. I turned back. He winked and nodded toward the seat of my pants.

I twisted around, gasped, and hurriedly brushed off the dirt that covered them from when I'd sat and talked with Freedom. I mouthed a silent thank-you to Dad as I skipped off to collect my food; Grandpa Jeb undoubtedly would have noticed, and lectures from him this early in the morning were unbearable.

The rest of breakfast was light and carefree as always, my brief anxiety lifted from my shoulders almost as soon as it had come. I enjoyed the meal, chatting animatedly with Freedom, Isaiah, Wes, and Sharon. Mom seemed to relax, too, laughing and rumpling Uncle Jamie's hair, her and Dad's intertwined hands on the table between them. Aunt Petals giggled as Uncle Jared teased them, poking Uncle Jamie in the ribs with one hand, the other arm curled around Aunt Melanie, who was half-sprawled across him, still sleepy as she ate with one hand and absentmindedly petted Mom's bouncy golden curls with the other. Uncle Ben sat across from them, Aunt Sunny placing a comforting and restraining hand on his chest whenever Uncle Jamie grabbed Aunt Petals and swooped in for a kiss, which was often. Uncle Kyle and Aunt Jodi laughed at their antics.

"Off to school, now, I suppose?" I grumbled reluctantly as I finished the last of my toast. Sharon rolled her eyes at my martyred expression while Freedom mirrored it and Wes laughed. Wes didn't mind school.

"Nope!" A cheerful, rough voice answered my question before Sharon could. We turned to see Grandpa Jeb, his familiar eyes sparkling as he leaned against the counter. He banged the butt of his rifle on the hard surface three times, and slowly conversation died down as people turned to look at him expectantly.

He smiled at us and raised his voice. "No school or chores this morning. We've got to form a welcoming committee instead, people!"

"A welcoming committee?" Uncle Jared's eyebrows drew together as he pulled both himself and Aunt Mel into a more upright position, ignoring her grumble of protest. "What do you mean, Jeb?"

"Nate's group has had a cave-in; we just received word about it today."

No one bothered asking how we had gotten that word. People tended not to question Jeb's strange ways of mysteriously doing crazy, impossible things, communication that was not face-to-face with another human community being one of them. Everyone had heard of Nate and his group. Even if they had not met them personally, the other human outposts were discussed often in the caves.

"Now, calm down, everyone is fine," Jeb said, raising his voice over the mutters that swept through the room. "But a good chunk of their living spaces has been damaged. Their place isn't as big and roomy as our setup here, and they can't house all of their little renegades anymore." He smiled. "Now we here have been makin' all kinds of improvements and renovations lately, so I offered to keep some of em here, just until the repairs are done." He spoke louder yet, as this news had caused another outburst of chatter. "We'll discuss who's where and what's why and all those finer details and things when they get here, all right? But for now, we'd best be ready to greet them like the hospitable folk we are. I expect everyone to be on their best behavior, hear?"

He leveled a glance at my table. Freedom's and Isaiah's smiles dripped innocence, overdone in my opinion. I avoided my grandpa's gaze, trying not to smirk.

Jeb nodded once, having gotten his point across. "All right, then," he said, satisfied. "Everyone gather in the main plaza. Jared, Mel, Ian, Andy, Trudy, you five come with me down to the entrance and we'll welcome em and lead them from there. Now don't nobody be steppin on my plants, got it? We still got chores and school and all that in the afternoon when everything's settled, so don't be thinkin' you're gettin out of anything here."

My smirk vanished in an instant as Freedom and I groaned together.

Wes shook his head, tutting. "You two really need to get a better grasp of the values of education," he berated us.

"Do us a favor and tell someone who cares, Squirt," I yawned. He stuck his tongue out at me, a bit of his real age shining through.

"So!" Isaiah exclaimed to us as we gathered our plates and dropped them in the large plastic bin for dirty dishes. "Guests in the caves, huh?" He shook his head. "Gotta say, that's a new one."

"Sure is," I agreed. Isaiah would know better than us, of course. At the very mature age of twenty-two, he knew what he was talking about. However, Freedom and I considered ourselves something of experts, as we were the only ones who had spent our entire lives in the caves.

The only ones, that is, except all my cousins.

What do you think? Sorry if it's shorter than what you're used to. Would you like me to go on with it? No?

Review, please, and I'm sorry it's been so long. But i have to say; it's good to be back :)

Hostfanatic out!