Lost and Found
"Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come. Remember everything you have faced, all the battles you have won, and all the fears you have overcome."
~ N.R. Walker
Australian Author
There was something to be said for having friends with people who had more money than they knew what to do with.
One perk was having private planes and helicopters at your disposal, so you didn't have to deal with the crowded airports.
Liam had been greeted at the NASA Space Camp facility by a pair of the Wing members that he hadn't even known had been staying in town, and whisked away to a private airfield. Not having to deal with security and long lines, it had been a smooth transition from car to the small Xanatos Enterprises jet.
The flight from Hunstville had been uneventful, and within a short time, he'd been shuttled from jet to the helicopter that would airlift him straight to the helipad located at the castle.
He had enjoyed his time away, learning the skills and techniques needed to become an astronaut and navigate a shuttle from Earth to space…
But he was glad to finally be home.
Phone calls and emails weren't the same.
As the helicopter touched down with the slightest of thumps, Liam looked out to see his mother waiting for him.
It was still daylight, being mid-afternoon by this point though he wasn't sure exactly what time it was, so most of his family and friends would be asleep for hours yet.
Meaning that there was no one to judge him as the doors opened, and he all but flung himself at his mother.
Elisa Maza, kick ass detective with the NYPD, caught the boy in her arms and held him tight and fought the tears in her eyes. It had been a rare thing for him to spend more than an occasional weekend away from home, so having her son out of her sight for just shy of six weeks had been an exercise in slow torture.
"Welcome home," Elisa said with a short laugh.
"Glad to be home, Mom," Liam said with a grin. "What did I miss?"
"There's time enough to play catch up," Elisa said, reaching out to take her son's bags from the Wing members who'd followed him off of the helicopter. She gave a groan as she took the full weight of the bags. "What? Did you bring home some bricks?"
"Nah," Liam said with a smile. "Moon Rocks."
Elisa laughed. "Well, your sister will be happy to hear that."
"How is she?" Liam asked, concern filling his face. "She kept saying she was fine, but…"
"She's more than fine," Elisa said. "Let's go inside. She's been waiting for you to get home, and I'm sure she has about three thousand questions for you."
Liam followed his mother inside, and down the spiral stone steps that led down into the main castle. She asked him questions, and he found himself rambling on about what he had learned.
After a quick stop at the room that was his whenever they stayed at the castle, he dropped off his bags before they continued through the castle.
"Are we staying here? At the castle?" Liam asked. "Is something happening?"
"There is," Elisa admitted, "but not until tonight. We thought it best if everyone was together for it."
"What's going on?" Liam asked.
Elisa shook her head with a smile. "I'll explain in a bit, but first, there's someone who has been waiting to see you." She stopped outside of the martial arts training gym. "Ready?"
Liam perked up. "Ellie?"
"Brace yourself," Elisa said with a straight face before opening the door and calling inside. "Nayeli? Guess who's home?"
"Liam!" came the familiar voice of his sister.
Liam smiled and moved to step inside the door. "Hey El, I…" he trailed off, blinking in surprise as his sister ran full out, gargoyle style on all fours, straight at him. With a leap, she had tackled him to the ground. As he laid on the stone floor, laughing at his sister's exuberance, he realized why his mother had stayed outside the door.
"Okay! Alright!" he laughed. "I missed you too, now get off, so I can get up!"
Nayeli hopped up, and held a hand to her brother.
It wasn't until he was upright again that he clearly saw her face and blinked in surprise.
"You got taller," she said in accusation.
"You…didn't," he said slowly, looking from Nayeli's face to his mother's. "You haven't changed at all."
"Surprise!" Nayeli said with a shrug. "The whole rapid aging thing seems to have stopped with the prophecy thing."
"Which comes in handy," Elisa said, moving to ruffle her children's hair, "as your sister is something of a local celebrity now."
Nayeli rolled her eyes.
"This is awesome," Liam said laughing. "I was worried that you were going to be bigger than me when I came back!"
"If only," she said with a sigh. "I'm going to be short like mom."
"Hey," Elisa said with exaggerated irritation, "I'm not that short."
"Compared to the clan, you are," Nayeli said with a laugh.
"Well, I can't really argue with that," Elisa said with a shrug.
"Let's call it for the day," Fox Xanatos said, coming out from the gym with a fine sheen of sweat on her face. "We were about done anyway, and I have a feeling that Nayeli wouldn't be able to focus now that Liam is home."
"Thanks," Nayeli said, giving a bow to Fox.
Fox returned the gesture before turning towards the Xanatos family area.
"So, how was it?" Nayeli asked, practically bouncing in excitement.
"It was fun," Liam said with a laugh. It had been a while since he'd seen his sister this carefree. It was as if, now that the prophecy had been completed, a massive weight had been taken from her and left her to be happy again.
"What did you bring me?" she asked now, a twinkle in her eyes.
Liam screwed his face up into one of confusion. "Was I supposed to bring you something?"
Nayeli's jaw dropped in such a look of astonishment that he couldn't hold his expression. "Of course, I brought you something," he said with a laugh. Turning to his room, he motioned for Nayeli and Elisa to follow him.
Back in his room, Liam attacked his bags, digging for the large plastic bag that held the souvenirs that he had picked out for everyone. Locating the large white bags that held the red and blue NASA logo, he pulled them out carefully.
"Let's see," he said softly, opening the bags to look at their contents. "Mom, this is for you," he said, dragging a navy sweatshirt that had the same NASA logo down the left arm and holding it up for her inspection.
Elisa smiled and took the offered shirt. It was thick, fleecy, and just what she liked to wear on her off nights in the winter. "Thank you," she said.
Liam opened the second bag and dug through it. "Aha!" he said, lifting a small, tissue paper wrapped item. "I know that you wanted a moon rock," Liam said, handing his sister the item, "but this was the closest I could get."
Nayeli gingerly took the item, and unwrapped the tissue to reveal a snow globe. There was a large white moon held suspended in the middle, and when Nayeli gave it a small shake, colored oils and glitter mixed in a swirling riot of colors that resembled pictures she'd seen of other galaxies and clouds in space.
She gasped at the shifting colors that were only highlighted by the recreation of Earth's moon in the center.
"It's beautiful," Nayeli said, watching as the colors and glitter stilled again slowly. She looked at her brother, "Thank you."
"Glad you like it," he said, watching as Nayeli gave it another shake.
Elisa leaned against the door and watched her kids. How had she gotten this lucky?
"Alright," she said, hesitant to break the moment, but knowing that there was still a lot to do before nightfall, "It's almost time for your lesson with Xanatos and Christopher."
Nayeli sighed. "Alright," she said, reluctantly lowering the water globe. "I'll go put this in my room, then I'll go."
After Nayeli's departure, Liam glanced at his mother. "She's having lessons with the Xanatoses now?"
Elisa nodded. "She's taking martial arts and gymnastics from Fox to help her with her training with the clan, and she's learning both business and negotiation styles from Xanatos," Elisa grimaced, "so that next time, she won't feel like her best option is to throw herself in front of a gun."
"Good idea," Liam said, still feeling a twinge of guilt over his part in the events that had led to his sister being so badly injured. "She's okay, though?"
"She's fine, Liam," Elisa said quietly. "We would have told you if she wasn't."
Liam nodded. It was going to take a while to get the image of his sister in that hospital bed out of his mind.
He'd had more than a few nightmares about it while at camp. The kind that had him jerking awake, chest heaving and gasping for breath.
Luckily, he'd had a pair of truly awesome roommates who had helped him out. One had taught him yoga techniques to relax his mind before bed, and the other had been a willing ear when he needed to talk.
He hadn't told them about the gargoyle connection to his family, of course, but had told them about his sister and her injuries. That, and how she'd all but demanded that he go to camp.
He had their email addresses, and fully intended on keeping in touch.
Liam got to his feet now, lifting the bags from the floor and placing them on top of his dresser. He needed to get the items out and sorted for the others tonight.
"So, what's happening tonight?" he asked.
Elisa sighed. "We wanted to wait until you were home from camp. Well," Elisa gave a one shoulder shrug, "that's not true. It was me. I insisted that we wait until you get home."
Liam frowned in concern. "Did something happen?"
"No, but," Elisa gave him a smile and pushed off the doorframe. "Things have done a good turnaround here in Manhattan, especially after Nayeli got hurt to save what the public saw as an enemy to the gargoyles. It has gone so well, in fact, that the other clans have decided that it's time to come forward."
Liam tilted his head, thoughtfully, "What does this mean to the council?"
"Most of them are going home," Elisa admitted. "A few have asked to remain here, with us."
"Really?" Liam asked. "Who is staying?"
"Garia," Elisa said with a chuckle. "I don't think you could ask her to leave here, with all of it's lovely tech toys for her to play with. Bolin is staying, though I think he has his own motives as well."
"Like what?" Liam asked.
"Demona," Elisa sighed. "He's got it in his head that he can help Demona."
"Maybe he can," Liam said with a shrug. "Something's been working on her. I've been seeing a change. It's slow, but it's there."
"How did you get so smart?" Elisa asked.
He shrugged and gave her a grin, "I got my smarts from my mom."
"Good answer, my son," Elisa said with a laugh.
"So, Garia and Bolin," Liam recapped. "Anyone else?"
"There are a few that still seem to be making up their minds," Elisa admitted. "I guess we'll have to see after tonight."
"What about the council as a whole?" He asked.
"They'll still meet," Elisa assured him. "They'll be connected through phones and video conferencing, though that will be difficult at times with the distance and daylight restrictions. They will physically meet up two weeks a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, and if there are any emergencies, the council can call for an emergency meeting."
"Hmmm," Liam hummed out thoughtfully. "And all of the clans are announcing their presence tonight?"
"Well," Elisa said lightly. "They're going to start tonight, here in Manhattan, where the clan members can announce where they're from, exactly, and introduce the world to the idea of their clans. As night falls in their area of the world, the other clans will emerge and introduce themselves to the local humans and news reporters."
"Wow," Liam said, smiling. "This is going to be cool."
"I think so," Elisa said softly. "Are you hungry? We have time to grab something to eat, rest up a bit before the fun begins and reset your clock back to being nocturnal."
"Sounds like a plan," Liam said with a sigh.
