Disclaimer: Only Alani and any people you don't recognize are mine.

Chapter 9 – Settling In: The life at Pirate's Swoop took some getting used to. Alani soon discovered that her cousin Aly wasn't likely to give her any peace. Aly liked to ask questions and Alani found herself the target of most of them. Though, to be fair, it made sense. If she had been the one who had just had a cousin come to live with her from the other side of the world, she'd be asking questions too.

Also, there was Alan, Aly's twin. He was very quiet, and tended to just listen to what Aly and Alani said. But there were times he ventured a query or two of his own, mostly about her lessons with Skyfire, Hawk, and the other dedicates she'd had fighting practice with. Alani wondered if Alan might be intending to follow in his mother's footsteps and become a knight.

Her oldest cousin, Thom, was something else entirely. He continued to watch her in silence, often with narrowed eyes. After about a week, Alani had had enough. If Thom disliked her, she at least had a right to know why. So she confronted him. Going to the library, she found him poring over books of magic. She walked over to him. "Hello, Thom. Can I talk to you?" He turned around, scowling, and shrugged. She took that as a grudging yes, so she pulled over a chair. Not bothering to turn it around, she straddled it, resting her arms on the back. "What do you want?" her cousin demanded. Alani sighed.

"I know you don't like me very much, Thom. I'd kinda like knowing why." She met his gaze squarely and waited for his response. He glared at her. "It's not fair," he snapped. "I'm the oldest, and I wanted to be the family mage. Then you come along. You're 16, four years older than me, and you're an accredited mage! You have what I want. That's why I don't like you."

Alani stared at him. Thom was jealous? "Oh. Thom, listen. I can't take your place with your parents or anyone else even if I wanted to. Besides, I'm sure you'll make a better mage than me any day." When he continued to scowl, she lost her temper. "You don't believe me? Still want my life? Fine! I guess you want to be an orphan too, huh? Guess you want to be hundreds of miles away from all your friends, sitting with a cousin who's jealous for no reason? That's my life, Thom." She got up and walked out, leaving a stunned boy gaping behind her.

Alani went back to her room and slammed the door. Then she stormed up the steps to her workroom, where she sank onto a stool, shaking with anger and homesickness. The skirmish with Thom had caused her mind to flood with memories. Thom wanted to be a mage, accredited early like she was. Silly idiot. She thought of Daja, a great mage who didn't even discover her power until her entire family was killed and she'd been made an outcast. She remembered Tris, who was just as powerful, whose uncontrolled weather magic had once caused her parents to give her away, abandoning their daughter when she needed them. Then there was Glaki. Tris had taken a 4-year-old Glaki in and discovered the small girl's magic after both Glaki's mother and foster mother had been killed. She thought of herself, wandering the streets after her mother's death. Thom didn't know what he was talking about.

To make things worse, she missed Emelan. She missed days spent in Tris's store where she sold books and magical artifacts, learning about the winds and talking about books. She missed going to Daja's house on Sunsdays, where they talked or sparred with staves. She missed Discipline, where she and her housemates chatted on the roof, and she missed Shai's cooking experiments, and Lark's jokes, Cal's pranks, and even Rosethorn's sharpness. She missed walking with Glaki, talking about anything and everything.

Mixed in with the anger and homesickness was guilt. Life here wasn't that bad, despite her homesickness. She shouldn't have lost her temper with Thom. She knew the damage a sharp tongue could cause, and she certainly had not made a friend of Thom to begin with. Now, she'd probably ruined any chance of working things out with him.

Noise outside her window nudged her out of her reverie. She walked over and looked outside. Her aunt, uncle, and cousins were outside. She watched as they played games, and a lump rose into her throat. How could Thom be jealous? Despite everything, she was still the outsider here, and she knew it.

What she didn't know was that Alanna saw her niece watching. The Lioness didn't like the sadness in Alani's expression, and she was determined to do something about it.

After dinner that night, Alani returned to her workroom. She surveyed the space critically, figuring out what she needed. There was already a furnace, but she still needed an annealing oven. The shelves were sturdy enough, but she needed hooks for her wind-strings. Her glassmaking supplies were enough for now, but she would eventually need more. She returned to her room, where at a small desk, she wrote a list of everything she would need. Tomorrow she'd check the village; if they didn't have something, she would take a day to ride to Port Caynn.

Her plans were interrupted by a knock at the door. It was her aunt. "Hello, Alani. May I come in?" Alani nodded. Alanna strode in and sat on the edge of the bed. She patted the area beside her. "Sit with me. I'd like to talk to you." Alani sat. Alanna continued, "I saw you at the window earlier. You seemed upset. Why?

Alani sighed. "I guess I'm just feeling homesick. After all, I lived in Emelan for 8 years. I've been through this before, when Daja first brought me to the temple. I'll be fine."

Alanna nodded in understanding. She remembered her own homesickness back when she went looking for the Dominion Jewel. "Well, why don't we make you feel more at home? Come join us in the library. We spend evenings there, and it's very cozy." She noticed Alani's list and picked it up. "What's this?" she wanted to know.

"Oh, that's um, well, it's stuff I need for my magic. For glassmaking, and the like. I can pay for it. I've a fair amount of money and most of it's been changed to Tortallan coin." Alanna nodded. "Well, if you need help, just ask. Now come on," she ordered. Alani followed her out.

At first, the evenings in the library reminded her too much of time spent in the main room at Discipline, but as the weeks went on, that changed. Soon Alani was deeply involved in family life. The pangs of homesickness faded, replaced by contentedment at her new life.

A/N: Sorry I took so long to update, but my inspiration went on vacation. I know this was basically a filler chapter, but I needed some bonding to go on. There will be some interesting things next chapter, but I'm not telling...