A/N: So sorry it's taken so long to update again, but my Internet connection has finally been restored so hopefully this'll be easier now.

Calm Before the Storm

The Starr family chopper was impressive, huge and black with the ancient family crest in red on both sides. Were the two families not so distracted, what with just finding out that their missing-and-presumed-dead children were still alive and restored to them, they might have been more appreciative. As it was, they only cared about having their children back again and going somewhere where they could relax in the serenity brought by living by the sea and try to forget the horrors they had all endured, most of all Darry and Antares. They sat opposite each other inside the massive copter, each sitting with their family members, minus Sirius, as he was flying them. Darry and Antares talked together and with their families, trying to catch up on whatever they had missed and avoid the topic of what had happened to them since they had disappeared. By and by, fatigue overtook them both and they could see it in each other's eyes. Antares glanced briefly at the floor between them and looked up at Darry again. Darry smiled and nodded, and the two slipped off their comfortable seats, stretched out on the floor together, and promptly fell asleep for the rest of the flight to North Carolina. By chopper, it only took them about an hour and a half to two hours to get back to their personal landing pad on the roof of their rather large old Victorian house. Neither Darry nor Antares showed any signs of waking, so their respective fathers each gathered up his child and carried him/her down the rooftop stairs and into the very comfortable house. Just before they reached the door of the stairs, Antares whispered, "I smell the sea," and gave a small smile. Asleep or not, she knew she was home again. Darry didn't speak, just smiled in his sleep. Their family members smiled at them both as they carried the sleeping pair inside. Quite understandably, both families were reluctant to let their beloved children out of their sight even for the night, so Rigel and Trish set up the large family room to accommodate them all with sleeping bags, air mattresses, and blankets and pillows. The futon couch they opened up and their fathers laid Antares and Darry down on it together. The rest of the family members settled themselves on the makeshift but cozy beds on the floor around the pair.

"You seemed to know what you were doing, there," commented Trish to Rigel softly as they settled into sleeping bags near each other (the families had intermingled, most likely as a sign of friendship). "You've done this before?"

"A lot," replied Rigel. "Sleepovers, slumber parties, all that. What's really fun – and don't make fun of me for this – is when Ana and I have these mock campouts. We clear all the furniture out of the room and set up a small tent to sleep in. We build a fire in the fireplace there, roast marshmallows, make s'mors, tell ghost stories – and let me tell you, if you hear one of Ana's ghost stories you will not sleep peacefully for a week. And she makes up her own! She's got a great imagination, but she doesn't live in the "real world" so much as she should."

"Wow," said Trish. "Sounds like fun. It's great that you and your sister get along so well. God-" she broke off, shaking her head "-when I think of how I was treating Darry the last day we were together…I can't believe I was such a bitch. I made fun of him, made up new rules to beat him in this stupid car game we were playing, rode him down even after he climbed out of that basement looking like he had just seen a glimpse of Hell. I'm the one who dropped him down the pipe. I told him we shouldn't go back, but he wanted to make sure there was no one there who needed help, and to help anyone who did."

"It was an accident," said Rigel gently – Trish had told him everything up to when Darry was carried off by the monster. "You didn't mean to." Trish sighed and looked over at Darry.

"I never got to tell him that I love him," she said quietly. "He's my annoying little brother; he's embarrassed me, he's bugged me, he's invaded my privacy, he's made my life a living nightmare…and I love him for it."

" 'You never know how precious something is to you until you lose it,' " said Rigel with the air of someone quoting a famous line. Trish looked at him thoughtfully.

"Who said that?" she asked curiously.

"Ana," replied Rigel, turning on his side. "She says a lot of very meaningful things. Y'know, she never ever buys Hallmark cards or anything? She always makes her own. For Mom, every Mother's Day and for her birthday, Ana writes her an original poem and they almost always make Mom cry. In a good way, I mean. Ana's a writer; she writes stories, poetry, little blurbs that just come into her head, anything."

"That's really cool," said Trish, and she meant it. "Darry's more of a joker; he's always telling or playing jokes, but he's really funny. I made fun of him for that, too. I called him a goof. Now I realize that I love that too. He's a fun-loving guy, really carefree and kinda foolish." Rigel smiled and looked up at their younger siblings thoughtfully. The two were now cuddling, holding each other in sleep. Rigel thought of everything that Antares had said to him on the ride home, telling him how wonderful Darry was, and how much he had come to mean to her in such a short time, and how Darry had said similar things when they had all switched their seats around so they could all talk to each other at some point. Antares had spoken with Trish, too, and now Rigel wondered what she had said.

"Hmm," he said contemplatively.

"What?" asked Trish.

"I'm just thinking," said Rigel. "I think that your brother is in love with my sister."

"Really?" said Trish with interest, following Rigel's gaze to the futon where Darry and Antares slept. "Well I think that your sister is in love with my brother."

"How interesting," commented Rigel with a grin. Trish returned the grin. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I'm thinking," said Trish, "it's time to play Cupid."

Rigel laughed softly. "My thoughts exactly. But tomorrow." And he stifled a yawn. Trish did likewise with a nod. Both settled down in their sleeping bags and fell asleep with thoughts of matchmaking.

'Endless darkness…where is that?'

Antares woke without opening her eyes. The darkness remained, but it was sacrosanct, devoid of monsters and horrific screams of agony. She didn't want to open her eyes. She had been having a wonderful dream about finally being free of the monster and home with her family. She had even smelled the salty sea air of home in her dream. But it had to be a dream. But still, the smell lingered…slowly she opened her eyes. She lay on a futon bed in her own family room with her parents and brother lying on the floor around the futon, mixed in with Darry's parents and sister. Darry lay asleep beside her, looking so peaceful and sweet in his relaxed state that Antares smiled. She looked all around again, remembering everything. There was one difference between the family room she remembered and the one she was in now: there were pictures of her all over, covering every available surface. Looking into the kitchen, she saw even more pictures. She breathed in deep and smelled the sea air she had been longing for all this time.

"Home," she whispered. "I'm…home." She could hardly dare to believe it, but there she was, home again in the beautiful old Victorian house by the sea she loved so much. She smiled and joyful tears stung her eyes. Darry stirred next to her and sat up slowly.

"Wha-? What happened? Where are we?" he asked thickly.

"We're home," Antares said. "We're in the house by the sea. Remember? I told you about it. This is where I live. This is my home."

Darry looked around. "It's beautiful," he said softly. He smiled when he saw his family lying asleep on the floor around the futon. Antares touched his hand, putting a finger to her lips and gesturing for him to follow her when he looked up. He nodded and followed as she led him carefully over and around the sleeping bodies and to the glass doors out to the balcony. Dawn was just breaking over the ocean, the rising sun staining the crystalline waters flaming rose and tangerine. Antares sighed and smiled as she watched it.

"Isn't it wonderful?" she asked. "I used to come out here to meditate at dawn, sunset, and under the four major phases of the moon."

"It's great," said Darry. "It really is. It feels like everything that happened was just a bad dream now, like it didn't really happen."

"Well, it's so unreal," agreed Antares. "It could've just been a bad dream, save for the scars we both bear." Darry nodded resignedly. "Scars fade. Wounds heal and close. Time passes. Life goes on. And I finally truly believe that things are really going to be OK now. I can try to forget now, let the memory just wash away in the flow of Time." Darry smiled.

"I think you're right." He looked at her, and was surprised at how she looked. Her shining white hair caught and held all the colours of sunrise, and her silvery-white skin reflected their radiance. Her eyes sparkled like the jewels they were coloured as, and she smiled a small dreamy smile that somehow conveyed all the joy the world had ever known. This was no ordinary girl. This was a mystical and beautiful creature that the gods never intended this world to know…Darry shook his head, wondering what he was thinking. He averted his gaze from Antares and gazed back at the water.

Antares gazed at Darry. Helios's touch was kind to a face that needed no kindness. The gentle light of dawn gave Darry's skin a golden glow that Antares had never seen before in the darkness of their prison. A soft breeze ruffled his thick, soft brown hair, blowing it back from his face, which gave him a pensive, distant look. His puppy-brown eyes still held the light that had guided her out of the cold shadow of fear under which she had lived for so long, and now showed a hidden mischievousness that she hadn't seen before. His eyes were full of laughter and fun, and she found herself wanting to make him laugh, make him smile so his eyes would crinkle up at the corners in that endearing way that captivated her…she gave a small start, forcing herself out of these thoughts and turning her attention back out to the sunrise. She didn't want to think about the sunrise, sunrises came and went every day. She wanted to think about Darry, sweet Darry, handsome Darry, brave and strong Darry, Darry who had saved her from the beast.

'Out of the dark, back to the light. Then I'll break down the walls around my heart,' she thought. 'Didn't I promise myself that? And I'm back in the light, thanks to him…'

"Wow, I'm hungry," she said aloud. "You like pancakes?"

"Sure do," said Darry, turning back to her. Neither could easily meet the other's gaze, though they didn't find it strange somehow that the other couldn't. Antares led Darry back inside and to the kitchen, offering him a glass of orange juice and setting it on the counter in front of him when he politely accepted. He offered to help, but she graciously declined, saying she preferred to cook on her own. They talked quietly together, trying not to wake the others, as Antares mixed up pancake batter and poured it onto the hot griddle she had set up after she got Darry his juice. Noticing that the others were stirring, she made a big stack of pancakes and, after serving a couple up for herself and Darry, covered the others to keep them warm.

"Want anything with those?" she asked. "We've got strawberries, blueberries, chocolate chips…" her voice trailed off as she glanced at Darry to see if any of these sparked his interest.

"Chocolate chips," he said. Antares grinned and sprinkled his pancakes with the sweet morsels, as well as her own, taking a seat next to Darry when she was finished. Soon the two were laughing and talking as they enjoyed the best breakfast they had had in a while. Soon their families had all woken and joined them.

"Oh sweetie, you didn't have to make breakfast," protested Mira. "If you'd woken me up, I would've-"

"I wanted to," Antares interrupted her gently. Mira hugged and kissed her daughter, as did Sirius, and Darry's parents to him. Mira hugged Darry as well, though, but he just smiled and said good morning. Trish came over and kissed Darry's cheek. He smiled up at her and hugged her.

"Hey, why don't you kids all head down to the beach after breakfast?" suggested Sirius. "Ana, Rigel, your mother and I have to head out for a little while, but we'll come back and join you, OK?"

"Sounds good to me," agreed Rigel. "Ana, Darry?"

"'Eh, frur," Darry said through a mouthful of pancake. He swallowed and translated, "Yeah, sure. Sounds great."

"Love to," said Antares, and she meant it. She loved the sea; loved everything about it. "And it's such a beautiful day." She finished the last of her pancakes and turned on her stool to face the great bay windows facing the water, sipping her milk thoughtfully. Though they hadn't even been to the water yet, and Darry was certain that this wasn't something you could tell just by looking, he swore he heard Antares murmur, "The sea is cold today."