A/N: Scratch the last note. Lost will come to a close today.

AER: Congrats :)

Aubrey Cortez: Hope you're okay. Maybe no more staying home alone?

Eggy: So glad you're back :) Maimed: yeah you had it right the first time. for your questions... chili power is something used in India and Spain...'chili' referring to peppers. Cocoa powder, I assume when writing the Spaniards have already started conquering the Aztecs and brought it over. I haven't ready the Brotherband Chronicles. Waiting until I have the time to binge them :) See your PM for the rest...too much to put here.

Saberin: Everything is winding down :) Will wind back up in Found.

Raider: Getting there...

Alice: Oh, Amy's Baking Company...an entirely new level of crazy chef...

Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan.

Once back in Araluen the group traveled directly to Duncan to give their reports. Halt and Will checked in with Crowley and, once the official business was over, Halt stayed to enjoy the company of his old friend. Will went to find Alyss, Liam, and Lina. The three had gathered in the twins' nursery. Evanlyn rocked little Rosalina while Horace lounged on a sofa. Alyss held Little Will possessively and Lina kept Kane with her. She'd be turning her friend's son over to the Redmont Ward the moment they arrived. Will was sure she'd come to love the child but also realized she was in no position to take on a baby. He wondered if it'd be hard for her to let Kane go. He then wondered if it'd been hard for Halt to let him go.

The twins had grown quite a bit since he'd last seen them. Both had messes of blonde curls framing their faces and had developed crystal blue eyes. Rosalina blinked a few times before finally settling down for a nap but Little Will giggled in awe of the attention.

"They're growing so fast," Will commented as he joined Alyss in staring at Little Will.

"How was Clonmel for you?" Horace asked. "Since all of you took off and left me behind."

"We figured you had more important matters to attend to," Will shrugged.

"Now that you've joined us we should take about important matters," Evanlyn said. "Like the two weddings. Did you make any decisions?"

"It will be in the spring and we will marry five days after Liam and Lina," Alyss said. "That's about it."

"You will want to get invitations sent out right away. The foreigners will have little time to prepare if you wait any longer."

Alyss and (reluctantly) Lina left to arrange for invitations. Will supposed it would be an interesting pair of weddings with both grooms and one bride being orphans. Lina may as well be orphaned with them, he decided. There had been rumors just before they boarded the wolfship to return home of Finley appearing at the school after they killed Leader and Sardar but that was the last of her. They'd decided to assume she gave up and went elsewhere. How she escaped transport they didn't know and, so long as she left them alone, didn't care.

Alyss chose Evanlyn and Jenny as bridesmaids and Will chose Horace and Gilan as groomsmen. With the weddings so close both couples decided to avoid being part of each other's ceremonies even though they'd become close enough to consider such things. Liam and Lina were at a bit of a loss for themselves. They didn't know many Araluens nor did they have many close friends. Anyone they'd choose was back in Hibernia restructuring the Academy and didn't have the time to travel. They decided to simply have no bridesmaid or groomsman. Their wedding would indeed be much smaller, despite both the king of Clonmel and emperor of Nihon-Ja being on the guest list for Princess Royal of Clonmel Nerilina O'Carrick.

Upon return to Redmont, Lina tearfully turned little Kane over to the Ward and Halt formally took Liam as his apprentice. Because Lina moved in with Halt and Pauline, Liam distanced himself out of respect for the family's privacy. He used Duncan's reward money for services to Araluen to buy a small piece of property near Will. Liam stayed in the vacant apprentice's bedroom of Will's cabin while he built a separate cabin for himself and Lina to begin their new life in together come spring.

Halt went to him each day to give him a new weapon that would eventually become a full Ranger's kit or to test a skill. Other than a few technique errors Liam was already the perfect Ranger. Crowley had already deemed that, once the formality apprenticeship was up, he would become part of the Special Task Force and live in Redmont.

Lina began traveling between Duncan and Baron Arald, laying out plans to start the first school for female warriors. They had a small training grounds built outside the Redmont Castle and granted her permission to recruit four other teachers and twenty apprentices as a start. Lina arranged for former Sunrise Warriors she trusted to fill the teaching positions and structured the school to allow for more staff as time went on.

By the time spring came Lina had all twenty apprentices recruited from all over Araluen being taught Nihon-Ja, Toscana, and Scotti languages along with horseback riding, dancing, music, negotiation, swordsmanship, saxe knife skills, archery, hand-to-hand combat, unseen movement, and disguise. She'd worked with a dress designer and soon all the girls had a flattering, feminine version of the Rangers' cloak and a uniform green dress with skirts that could hide their katana-like sabres. The amount off work she accomplished in such a short time was indeed impressive. Many admired her drive to complete so much. She never mentioned that, while the school was important to her, a sizeable part of her drive came from avoiding Alyss's wedding plans.

Will, Alyss, Liam, Lina, Halt, and Pauline met at a dining room at an inn the two soon-to-be-married couples completely booked for guests the night before everyone was due to arrive for the anticipated weddings. They'd all come from work so they wore uniforms. Will, Liam, and Halt sat in their green tunics and mottled cloaks comfortably while Pauline and Alyss wore their clean spotless white Courier gowns and Lina wore her Charmed Battalion uniform. The name for their sect came from one of the apprentices and was inspired by the charismatic Hibernian Charm teacher who taught dancing, disguise, and negotiation.

It was an odd group but they'd never been normal anyway. Once the meal was over Halt pulled Will and Lina to the side. "I probably won't get a chance to talk to the two of you again before your weddings with all the visitors arriving," he said, "I wanted you two to know how proud I am of both of you. Will, you're an excellent Ranger and Lina…you've created an entire new force for Araluen. It's incredible."

"Thank you," the two muttered humbly.

"I also wanted you two to be the first to know. Pauline and I will soon be welcoming a child to our family."

That got their attention. "What?" Will exclaimed trying to sound casual. Lina said the same word at the same time but her tone was much more demanding. She was royal, afterall. She could whip out demands naturally.

"Pauline is telling Alyss now. We've been talking about it and we decided that we wanted to raise up a child rather than wait until they were half or fully grown to take them in." Halt's gaze settled on Lina. "We went to the Ward and decided the child for us to adopt is Kane."

Tears swelled in Lina's eyes. She had never felt right about leaving her only real childhood friend's son in the ward but hadn't been able to find a couple she trusted with him. She threw her arms around Halt and thanked him endlessly.

"You're in for an adventure," Will teased gently.

Halt just let one of his rare smiles slip out. "I'm sure you will be next the way Alyss swoons over the royal twins."