(That night, Tori's POV)

Oh, this is fun. I thought sarcastically as Taelin grabbed a handful of peas and tossed them at Hunter. Raising his eyebrow in reply, it was easy to tell he was struggling not to yell at her, and Blake looked torn between laughing and losing it himself.

Me? I was pulling carrots and peas out of my hair with, I'm sure, a rather disgusted look on my face.

Yep. Lots of fun. "Ok, Taelin? You have to eat them, not throw them." I stated with a forced smile.

Sticking her tongue out at me, Taelin grabbed another hand of peas and carrots and threw them at Blake who simply closed his eyes and let them hit him. With a heavy sigh, he grabbed his paper towel and wiped off his face, again, seemingly not noticing the carrot stuck in his hair.

"No! They gwoss!" she stated with a pout as she stuck her fingers in the mashed potates and then sucked on them.

"At least she seems to like the potates well enough." Hunter muttered with a barely concealed glare as he poked at his meatloaf and veggies.

I just shrugged in reply, taking the break in her promptu food fight to eat a little of my own food, which was growing cold. I glanced at her, to see why she suddenly got so quiet, and watched as she drew in her mashed potatoes with her fingers, using the peas and carrots as decorations.

Frowning a little, I looked at Hunter and noticed him eating his food warily, not really paying attention to her, and then I switched my gaze to Blake, who was watching her with a frown. It seemed like he could sense my gaze because he turned to me, and when he caught me looking at him, shrugged with a 'don't-ask-me' look on his face.

"Taelin?" Turning back to the little Windian girl, I watched as she lined up carrots on one pile of potatoes and peas on the others. "What're you doing?" I was a little unsure about breaking her attention from her 'art' because it could always start another food fight, but at the same time, there was this kind of freaky look of seriousness in her eyes.

"Dwawing dragons." she stated in a distracted voice.

"Dragons?"

My attention turned to Hunter who'd looked up in confusion at her words. Turning back to her work, I could see a pretty vague resemblance to a child's work for dragons...I guess... "Green and orange dragons?" I asked lightly, noticing the veggies she used.

Pausing in her work, Taelin shook her head before picking up her fork and hurriedly removing the veggies from the potatoes. "No." she stated with a pout as her eyes watered a little when she saw that the 'dragons' were ruined from her efforts.

"Well...what color are they?" I asked lightly.

She looked up at me and frowned as her eyes narrowed. I got this sensation that she didn't really trust me asking that question and she shook her head before returning to her food, picking up her slice of meatloaf in her fingers and eating it slowly.

"I guess it's still 'not time'." Blake stated with a shrug.

Hunter grunted and shook his head before glancing briefly at Taelin and returning to his food.

I was torn between continuing eating and just watching her. This little girl knew something. There were so many questions I had, that I really wanted to ask her, but I refrained, biting my lip as I turned back to my food.

"HEY!!"

Jumping at the sudden noise, I looked up to see Taelin giggling away with mashed potatoes covering one of her hands, and switched my gaze to the source of the sound, losing it and laughing uncontrollably when I saw Hunter with a glob of mashed potatoes stuck to the center of his forehead and a little in his hair.

"So much for her liking the potatoes." Blake stated with laughter as he shook his head.

Glaring at us all, Hunter stood up abruptly, wiping potatoes off his face and closed his eyes before turning and storming off.

"Dragon funny." Taelin stated with a giggle.

Turning to her, I frowned and caught that Blake was doing the same. Dragon? Did she mean the clump of mashed potatoes she threw at Hunter?

When he didn't return a moment later, Taelin began to frown, and that frown slowly turned to a pout as her eyes began to water. Turning to Blake, she tugged on his sleeve with messy hands and looked up at him with big watering violet eyes. "Is Hunter mad?" she asked in a quivering voice.

I felt bad for Blake right then. If she'd trusted me more, I would've tried talking to her, but it was all up to him, and I could easily see that he was lost.

"Uh, well... He didn't like having food thrown at him." he offered uncomfortably. Smiling a little he shrugged. "It was funny to us, but I think it hurt his feelings."

Nodding quickly, Taelin hopped down out of her chair and ran out of the room. I couldn't help the smile, knowing that she was going to try and make things right between her and Hunter.

Looking at Blake again, I couldn't help but giggle as I leaned over and picked the carrot out of hsi hair. In return, he grinned and reached out, brushing his fingers against my cheek before picking a pea out of my hair, making me blush deeply.

"Thanks." I muttered, biting my lip as I looked back at my plate.

(Hunter's POV)

Ok, so I've never been the most patient guy in the world, but if I didn't leave right then and there, I was really going to lose it and yell at Taelin. Yeah, I knew she was acting like a normal 3 year old.

I just didn't care to end up wearing her dinner... Again.

So I left. I headed to my room and stripped out of my t-shirt, using it to wipe my face off. Feeling the potatoes in my hair, I couldn't help but groan as I carefully wiped them out as well and frowned.

"Who's idea was it again, to have us taking care of her?" I muttered angrily as I tossed my shirt to the floor and gabbed a clean one, pulling it over my head and settling onto my bed in a huff. Realizing what I'd just done, I closed my eyes tightly and lifted my face to the sky. "Great." I muttered sarcastically.

Trust me, I knew what was coming next.

"Five. Four. Three. Two. One." I muttered with a roll of my eyes as I turned to my closed doorway.

As if on cue, the door burst open and Taelin came racing in, still covered in dinner. I opened my mouth to tell her to stop, but before I could, I ended up with my arms full of a crying little Windian girl, and I could feel the mashed potato-covered hand clinging to the back of my neck, making me wince.

"I'm sowwy!" she cried as she clung to me tightly. "I'm sowwy Hunter!"

Sure, I was still royally irritated, but hearing her sobs and words, and I sighed, feeling my heart melt. I mean, who could stay mad at her? It was easy to tell just how sorry she was. Her wings were hanging down a lot lower than they normally did.

One thing we learned about her was that the position of her wings can give away how she feels. When they're dragging on the ground, it's usually because it's early morning and she's exhausted. If they're lower than normal, but still folded against her back, she's usually feeling bad. Maybe left out, or guilty. And when they were folded neatly, perked up high on her back, that usually meant she was happy, or excited.

"Pwease don be mad." she pleaded.

Looking down at her shaking form, I sighed again and brushed my hand through her hair. "Taelin, you gotta stop this." I stated as firmly as I could. When she looked up at me with tear-stained cheeks and big watery eyes, I shook my head and brushed her tears away. "You're supposed to eat your food." I stated with a raised eyebrow. Wincing again, I wiped the clump of mashed potatoes from the back of my neck and showed it to her. "Not wear it, or make us wear it."

She bit her lip and I could tell she still felt bad, but at the same time, she seemed to be trying to bite back giggles.

"Are Blake and Tori still at the table?" I asked lightly, grabbing the shirt I was wearing before and using it to wipe my hand off before wiping off her hands the best I could.

"Yea. I tink Blake likes Towi." she stated with a thoughtful look and grin.

I raised an eyebrow and laughed a little. "Taelin, he's my brother. I know he likes her." I pointed out. Frowning a little, I decided to bring something up that had been bothering me. "You don't like her, do you? Or Cam, Dustin or Shane?"

Looking away, Taelin's wings drooped a little more and I knew she felt bad. "I don kno her, or dem."

"You took to me and Blake right away." I pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "And you knew us about as well as you know any of them."

Now Taelin's head shook firmly. "No, I new you." she said with a frown. "I new you rite way."

"Knew us right away?" I repeated quietly with a frown. That only confirmed the look of recognition I'd noticed in her eyes, before. "Taelin, what do you mean you 'knew us right away'?"

"I can't tell you." she said softly, her wings hanging almost to the floor. "It's..." Pausing mid-sentence, she bit her lip and looked up at me with watery eyes, full of guilt.

'It's...'? It's what? I thought in confusion, brushing her hair away from her face. My eyes narrowed as I recalled her saying before 'It's not time'. Was that what she was going to say? Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, knowing it was useless to question her about it. Forcing a smile, I nodded as I looked at her again. "It's ok. Listen, you might not know them, but I promise you, you can trust them. Besides, how will you get to know them if you don't try?"

Taelin's face scrunched up a little before she really looked at me. After a moment, she nodded softly. "Ok." she stated.

My smile became more natural, until it turned into a wince at my once clean shirt and the dinner-covered little girl in my arms. "Looks like it's bath-time again." I groaned. Thankfully, Tori's already here.

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Poor Hunter and Blake. They seem to be the main attraction for food fights. LOL.

I think most of the funniest moments are going to be at key ages, but suggestions are welcome. I love trying to figure out how they'd deal with these situations, you know?

Brief note, you likely won't see Taelin's POV until she hits her teen years, because I don't do children's thoughts well, and while her mind is still growing, I was more or less clueless how to have her POV.

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"The dragons are here! The dragons are here!"

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R+R please

Thank you.

Tenshi