"I just feel so bad for laughing at her." Sylphiel said as she walked down the hallway with Lina, her hands pressed against her lower back to stretch it out as she walked, "I don't know what came over me!"

"The same thing that came over us all!" Lina replied, "That the idea was so ludicrous she had to have been joking."

"Only she wasn't." Sylphiel pointed out, "The look on her face…it was brief, but…"

"Oh, there's no sugar coating it with Naga!" Lina exclaimed, "If you're not rude and blunt it won't sink into her thick skull! Laughing at her was really the best way to drive the point home."

"There had to have been a politer way." Sylphiel insisted as she moved her hands from her back to cradle her stomach, "Moments before I broke out into laughter several of you were praising me for my tact and diplomacy. And then, mere minutes later, there I was committing a faux pas. Surely someone with as much diplomatic skill as you claim I have could have been firm and polite while telling her no."

"It's Naga!" Lina pointed out, "It just all rolls off her! And boy, can she dish it."

Sylphiel sighed as they walked into the library, "It doesn't roll off her. She just grew up in a place where she couldn't show weakness. Something you might know a thing or two about."

Lina blanched and shifted uncomfortably, "She can still dish it! I only dish it if someone has it coming!"

"I need to find her and apologize." Sylphiel said as she clapped her hands together.

"Oh ho ho! Lesson Number One! The Queen never apologizes!" Naga admonished as she materialized behind them, and Lina shuddered as she jumped and turned around. And then her jaw hit the floor. Gone was the tiny black bikini and lethal shoulder guards. In its place was a drab grey dress that covered Naga from her neck all the way down to her ankles. Her hair was pulled back into a rather severe bun that sat low on her neck, and she had even found a pair of spectacles to perch on her nose. If it wasn't for the laugh, Lina wouldn't have recognized Naga!

"What's all this?!" Lina exclaimed.

Naga slapped a pointer stick in her hands and said, "Isn't it obvious? If Sylphiel is going to be queen she will need lessons in how to survive at court! And how to even host court. There are so many mundane and tedious rules and procedures that while it may be tempting to cast them all aside, it all serves a purpose! And while Sylphiel knows all about the rules and procedures for being a proper shrine maiden, and even how to play the proper hostess as the only daughter of Sairaag's High Priest, hosting a royal court is a different horse altogether."

Naga then pointed the stick at Sylphiel as she looked at her directly and proclaimed, "You have a steep learning curve ahead! And I, Naga, will graciously bestow my time upon you to help you learn the ropes!"

Lina and Sylphiel looked at each other in alarm before Sylphiel turned back to Naga, "That's kind of you…"

"Sylphiel is more than capable!" Lina cut in, "And why are you suddenly being so generous with your time?"

"Because It gives me a chance to prove that I have what it takes to be a good teacher!" Naga said as she brought the stick back to rest upon her shoulder as she puffed up her chest, "And then you'll have to hire me."

"Oh brother." Lina said as she facepalmed.

"With all due respect," Sylphiel said, "If I am to be queen, I would like to be a different type of queen than what you would find in Saillune, and to have a different court. And to be a ruler more like the Eternal Queen. And despite not being born to it, I have spent time in the royal courts of Lyzeille, Saillune and Zeferia. I am familiar with the similarities and differences, though I am by no means an expert. Yet I do know I would prefer the traditions of the court at Lyzeille for continuity. Unfortunately there's not much room for the traditions of the Saillune court in there."

"Well of course you would prefer to continue Lyzeille's legacy!" Naga said, "But your mistake is in assuming I have only been groomed for the court at Saillune. Women in Saillune can't inherit royal titles after all. I have been betrothed to several princes and trained in the courts of each of them. Princesses like myself are raised to be chameleons, really, because goodness knows where we'll ultimately end up! All of those engagements fell through, obviously. But for a time, I was betrothed to Lyzeille's Crowned Prince! And groomed in the customs and traditions of their court, as well as how to be a proper queen to their people. For instance, are you familiar with how to play hostess for the Fudocca Festival?"

Sylphiel shifted as she started to rub her back again and said, "I remember hearing about it, but if I am going to be honest I can't even remember the reasons for hosting it, much less how to organize it."

"Exactly," Naga said as her hand grasped the stick, "And it's a festival to honor the Fudocca, beloved wife of King Streissha IX. Or so they say. Really it's to allow some wealthy, but minor nobles to circulate among more influential nobles who are broke and arrange marriages of convenience, with the expectation that they will blossom into real love, like King Streissha and Queen Fudocca."

"I can see how that would be useful to know." Sylphiel said.

"Oh, but Sylphiel would be better off reading it in a book or finding some old servant who knows the ins and outs." Lina pointed out. "Especially as all of Naga's information is second hand. It's not as though she's implemented any of this!"

Naga brought her hand to her mouth and laughed, "Little do you know, I was trained by the Queen of Lyzeille's protocol expert!"

Lina cringed, "You're going to send Sylphiel into premature labor if you keep laughing like that!"

Sylphiel rubbed her belly and sighed, "Princess Naga, thank you for your offer. I would be happy to learn what I can for you."

"What!?" Lina yelled, "Don't let her guilt you into this!"

"Thank you for your concern, but it's not guilt that motivates me." Sylphiel explained, "If I am going to be queen, it would be to my advantage to learn as much as I can about the organization of royal courts and the dynamics within, especially as I construct my own. And while Princess Naga may not have ever stepped into the royal court at Lyzeille, she obviously is well versed in its traditions. And I will need to learn all I can about it from as many people as I can."

Lina's jaw dropped, and then she shook her head, "Well, I can't argue with that."

"So you'll be my student?" Naga asked as she held out her hand.

"I will." Sylphiel said as she took it and shook it.

No good will come from this. Lina thought as she shook her head in bemusement as Naga looked at her and said, "And, if Sylphiel deems me a good teacher, will you hire me?"

"That is a high bar." Lina said as she lifted her chin, "And I have a feeling that Sylphiel is a good student who won't challenge you much. So I'll consider it. But mark my words, I will be watching and keeping a close eye on you! We at the Luke and Milina School of Swordplay and Sorcery have high standards for our teacher!"

Naga laughed, "Of course!"

Lina's attention had held for ten minutes as she watched as Naga drilled Sylphiel on the intricacies of courtly graces. But she was so bored she just couldn't bring herself to stay longer. For someone who usually drew attention and amusement, Naga was a surprisingly boring teacher. Lina thought briefly about rescuing Sylphiel from the tedium, but she quickly discarded the idea. Lina had already tried to get her out of this and Sylphiel had insisted on enduring the torment, and so after finding the book she was looking for, Lina left and started to walk towards her office.

It was as she was approaching Luna's office that she started to hear raised voices, which she quickly recognized as Luna and Leia's. Lina stopped in her tracks. While she was used to Leia yelling at her like that, she rarely had an occasion to yell at Luna. Luna's voice was more measured, but Lina knew that was when Luna was also at her most dangerous. Lina shuddered as she debated whether or not to intervene. But if she was honest, she'd rather face Hellmaster again than a pissed off Luna.

Lina was about to turn around when the door to Luna's office burst open and her sister ran out as she yelled, "My decision is final! There is nothing more to say and no reason to discuss this further!"

Luna nearly barreled Lina over but came to a full stop right before she did. The sisters looked at each other for a moment and to Lina's horror she could not mask the terror she was feeling. Dammit! Will I ever learn to not show her how scared I am of her!?

"Excuse me." Luna said curtly as she moved around Lina as she continued down the hallway as Leia followed, red faced.

"Don't you dare walk out on me! I am your mother!"

Lina held her book to her chest as she tried to say something to Leia to encourage her to take a break and cool off, but the words died in her throat as Leia briefly glared at her as she followed after Luna. Soon their angry footsteps and voices receded from earshot, and Lina quietly continued down to her office and opened the door. She sat the book on her desk and then wandered over to the window and looked out. She wondered if she would see her mother following her sister across the grounds. But no one was out and about. Lina deduced that Luna must have ducked through some secret passage and confounded their mother. Or perhaps they were fighting in the foyer. But given that the students had not yet returned to the school, Lina was not going to intervene.

Still, despite the grounds being empty, Lina did not move from the window. And she lost track of how long she stood there before there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Lina said.

Amelia burst through the door, full of cheer and vigor as she announced, "I must have written fifty letters this morning to everyone I could think of who may know of some heroes ready to retire to teaching. Of course, Saillune is opening their own school, but surely there will be enough for both."

Amelia threw herself on the couch as Lina nodded, "Thanks for putting the feelers out. I hope your hand isn't cramping too much."

"You get used to it in my line of work." Amelia said, and then she took a second glance at Lina, "What's up?"

"Oh, Mom and Sis were fighting. I was wondering if it would spill out to the courtyard." Lina said as she tried to sound casual.

"Yeah," Amelia said, "I saw the look on her face when Miss Luna made her announcement. She was livid! It's to be expected, I guess."

"Is it?" Lina asked, "She let me go with a hug and an admonishment to be good when I was thirteen."

"Oh," Amelia said as she shrunk a bit as she realized she'd stepped into a sensitive topic, "Well, it's different now. There are grandchildren! I mean, she wasn't mad or anything when you were thinking about leaving Maninstit, but I'm pretty sure it was because she thought you wouldn't actually leave! I mean, I'm really, really sure that's why she wasn't mad!"

Lina glared at her as Amelia's voice trailed off and she said, "I'm making this worse, aren't I?"

"Maybe if I had heard that first." Lina said as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Oh, come on, Lina! Your mother loves both of you equally!"

"According to Naga, you were the favorite growing up. So of course you would believe that stuff about parents loving kids equally." Lina said. What she didn't say out loud was that she couldn't blame her parents. Luna was the model daughter who never got in trouble and got a job to help them out. All Lina did was drain their bank account as they paid for things she had destroyed during her experiments with Black Magic.

"Well, if you're going to be that way about it, which one of your babies do you love more?" Amelia asked.

Lina blanched, "What sort of a question is that!?"

"Come on! You must have a preference. Or do you love them both the same?" Amelia asked.

Lina fumbled. Then she said, "There's no way I can answer that! Both of them are my babies!"

"Just like you and Miss Luna are your mother's babies."

Lina was about to protest when there was another knock at the door, this one frantic. "Yes?"

Marlena opened the door, "You'd better come quick!"

Lina was out the door and into the hallway in seconds, "What is it? Are they okay?"

"Oh, they're fine, more than fine! Don't worry about that!"

"You about gave me a heart attack! What is it then?" Lina asked as she continued to race down the hallway with Amelia keeping pace.

"They're opening portals!" Marlena said.

"What?" Lina exclaimed as they made it to the nursery and walked in to see a portal hovering over Midas's crib. A moment of terror gripped Lina as she feared what would come through it. But then it closed, and Lina raced over to the crib that Moe was already tending, his lips pressed tight together.

When Lina got there Aurelia's fist opened and another portal appeared in front of Lina, and then she smiled a gummy smile as a dollop of drool ran down her chin, obviously pleased with herself. Lina stared at the portal and put a hand over her mouth and said, "There are no words…"

"I have no idea how to get them to stop." Moe said as he ran a hand over his bald head, "It's not often that I don't have a trick up my sleeve."

The portal closed, and within seconds Midas opened another one and kicked his legs in pleasure at his accomplishment. "If I didn't know better, I would think they are one upping each other." Amelia said.

"Did you try picking them up?" Lina asked as she grabbed Aurelia. Midas closed his portal, and a second later Aurelia opened another one behind Lina. She cried out, "Stop that! You don't know what you could be inviting into our home!"

But Aurelia just put her fist in her mouth as she looked at her mother, and if she wasn't such a young infant Lina would have been convinced that her daughter was daring her to stop her. "Agh! Close it! Close it! Moe, make her close it!"

"Lina!" Gourry cried as he came in with Han and Zel, and then his hand went to his sword as he saw what was happening, "What the…"

Finally the portal closed, and Moe grabbed Midas and handed him a rattle. Midas looked at the toy for a moment as though considering whether or not it was more or less interesting than the portals as he reached his pudgy fist towards it. For a moment Lina thought it had worked. But then Midas's fist opened and another portal appeared.

"Dammit!" Lina shrieked.

"Language!" Amelia admonished.

"At a time like this?!" Lina said.

"Hey, let's not lose our heads." Han said as he stepped forward.

"But anything can come through there!" Lina said.

"Yeah, and those two could probably take care of it." Han said, "Look, it's not too cold today. Why don't you take them outside and a few of us can go with you until they get it out of their system."

"Well, it's not like we can reason with them, can we?" Gourry said.

"Fine," Lina said, "Moe, you're with us. Connie, Marlena, keep the nursery safe."

Lina and Gourry walked out with the twins, Moe and Han as the portal trailed after them like an awkward balloon. "I'm glad you're here." Gourry said to Han, "I don't know how you were able to keep your head."

"Most people don't have to worry about their kids becoming more powerful than them until they're grown. But for us, well, Luna had us beat by the time she was four. And I remember how terrifying that was."

Lina cuddled Aurelia closer to her as Han said, "And look, it turned out fine. And so will this."

They were silent as they reached the grounds, but by then the twins seemed to have tired of their game and were more interested in being outdoors The group chose a nice, grassy patch and sat down together and laid the twins on their backs, "It sure must have been tough, with Luna being your first child. I bet you have lots to teach us."

"There are some parallels, but there are also differences." Han said as he took an unlit cigarette and put it between his lips, "Damn, I thought these days were behind us. At least Luna couldn't open portals."

"Luna was such a goody, it's not like she gave you too much to worry about." Lina said.

Han chewed on his cigarette, "You don't remember what those early years were like."

"What, you just said she couldn't open portals." Lina said.

"No, but there were times we were scared of her powers. We had to instill a lot of discipline in her at a young age, the Eternal Queen helped."

"But I thought I was the troublemaker!" Lina said.

Han laughed and patted the top of her head, "You were, but the typical kind. Hell, until you took up sorcery you showed us what it was like to have a regular little girl."

"Must have been boring after Sis." Lina said.

"Nah," Han said as he wrapped an arm around Lina, and she was reminded of the fact that while Luna may have been Leia's favorite, Han had always had a soft spot for her, "It was our greatest gift."

AN: To those of you who leave guest reviews, thank you so much! I'm sorry I can't respond to you personally, and I enjoy reading your thoughts and comments!

I hope everyone is safe and healthy. Everyone in my household is safe and healthy and we're weathering this as well as you can. I definitely look forward to the day I can take my kids to a playground again and let them run off some energy! Till then, it's one day at a time.