Disclaimer~ Nope, still not mine. Darn it.

A/N:And now I thank Harps and Shootinstar for reviewing, you two win the award for being the most constant reviewers *cough, cough, (as in only)*



Etta was sleeping soundly. She was faintly smiling in her sleep, it had been a year now since she and Zell returned to Balamb- to Home. For it had become a home now, a home worthy of family, a family that Etta finally had; what she had wanted more than anything else. She may have been thinking of her triumphant return with Zell as she turned over in her sleep. The little boat had landed with a soft jolt against the Balamb docks where her husband had been waiting for them. He loved Zell too, that she knew for sure. Etta could see it in the way he looked at Zell and the way he talked about him to friends, smiling fondly with as much, if not more pride than any so called 'real' parent possessed. Her husband had smiled for days when Zell had first performed the 'I like you' gurgle in his presence. The Dinchts had spent the first day rearranging the furniture in their tiny room off the back of the house, so that a tiny cradle for Zell would fit snugly in the corner. So much had happened since then, the Shym baby girl, Gella Ember, was now a bright-eyed 10 month old and the Ketter's girl child, Camellia Japonica was 14 months old. She had said her first word two weeks ago, it had been "bird."



After awhile though, Etta had started to suspect that Zell might have a fear of the dark- he had been a constant night-time cryer since the first night. During the day he would smile and laugh and make happy cooing noises, but the moment he was in a dark room he would cry as if the sun wasn't going to come up the next day. This went on for the entire first year. Twelve months of Mr. and Mrs. Dincht getting up at all hours of the night, trying to comfort Zell and lull him back into his restless and uneasy sleep. Etta had a brilliant idea one day, though. A night-lantern. She sent for one that she had seen advertised on a sign in Balamb Station. It was a glowing half-sphere filled with water and plastic fish that could be turned on and off. In the dark, it projected a pattern on the ceiling much akin to the lines made by the sun shining through water. It started working immediately, that night was the first completely peaceful night since Zell had arrived.



Used to the routine schedule of waking up in the middle of the night, Etta woke up to the humming sound the night-lantern made as it lit the room with a warm glow. She propped herself up on one arm to see over the edge of the cradle. Zell was sleeping, curled around his favorite blanket and a small stuffed bear. He wasn't making any noise and the dim light the lantern provided illuminated his pale face. Zell sighed and half-heartedly flailed out his right arm towards the bear. Etta crept lightly to the side of his bed and moved the bear closer to where he could reach it. Zell's arm hit the bear and he woke up with a start and started to make his pre-crying noise. Etta gently swooped him up in her arms and sang to him.

"The stars are all your friends, the sky is their home- so when you're standing on your own, just try to remember, that you're not alone. . ." Zell made a sleepy sighing noise and Etta stopped singing.

"I'm sorry I woke you up, my little Zelly," she apologized softly. Zell was already engaged in looking at the watery patterns on the ceiling, however. " Do you like your night-lantern, Zell? Ma and Pa bought it specially for you. . . See the fish swimming around inside?" Zell smiled.

"Ma-pa fish!" he chortled quietly but happily.

"Yes, that ri-" Etta stopped short. She looked at Zell closely. "Did you just- was that- Zell?" Zell giggled and looked impishly up from his cradle. Etta was frozen with Zell in her arms- should she set him back to sleep? Was she so sleepy that she was hearing things? For the past month he had been able to make repetitive sounds like "baba," "nana," and "tata," but he had never actually spoken before. That must be it, she was hearing things from her own sleepiness.

"Ma-pa! Ma-pa!" Zell exclaimed. Alright, that was it she was not hearing things, this was it- Zell was talking!

"Evan! Evan- wake up! He's talking!" Etta called to her husband. He groaned and rolled over in bed. "Evan Dincht, wake UP!" she yelled.

"Wha-?" Evan muttered sleepily as he struggled to sit up in the bed.

"Zell just talked- he said his first words!" Etta repeated. This time, the words and their meaning sunk in to the sleepy mind of Evan Dincht and he sat straight up in bed, falling over the edge of it as he tried to hurry over to Zell's cradle.

"What did he say?" Evan asked frantically, his eyes shining in the light of the night-lantern.

"Ma, pa, and fish," Etta answered. "Actually he said Ma-Pa fish, but still I mean I figure, I don't know if he was trying to say them all or just- you know I was talking and I said 'do you see the fish, ma and pa bought them specially for you...' and he just started talking!" Etta was rambling, and she didn't even care. Her baby had talked- to her! He said Ma, and it didn't matter what else he had said, he had said Ma first. In Evan's mind though, it was the opposite- yes, Zell had said Ma, but he had said Pa! Zell loved Evan as much as Evan loved him! Their family, this family- it was not a goal, not an ideal or an idle dream, it was something real, concrete, and right here in front of them.











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