A whole day went by. Tonks grew more and more comfortable with this wizarding tribe. She could use her magic here, and she didn't have to worry about Teddy morphing on accident in front of these people. She secretly prayed that Andromeda found Sahar's patronus and was following it to her. Then again, she didn't know what Sahar had said, what if she said "We're going to eat Tonks, so don't bother crying for her?"

But Tonks highly doubted that. Sahar, though probably not much older than Tonks, had been very motherly ad kind towards the visitors.

In order to keep good terms with her captors until Andromeda could come for her (hopefully), Tonks offered to do chores along with the other tribal women. She decided it was safe to allow Teddy to be taken care of by three teenage girls who seemed delighted by his metamorphmagus abilities. As they played with Teddy, who seemed more than happy, Tonks redressed herself in the purple sari-like robes Sahar had given her, and took up the task the women seemed to be working on for the day. They were hovering giant pottery pails to the nearby river and filling them, then bringing them back. Other women were magically doing their laundry.

Tonks wandered down to the river and waded in the water. Sahar was a little further downstream, filling a pot. She looked at Sahar and, she pointed at a certain kind of reed that grew along the bank. Tonks took this as a sign to pick these reeds. She did so, and Sahar nodded approvingly. Tonks decided that this was her task if she wanted to stay in with this tribe and not get discovered by the other, much more malignant tribe. She took out her wand and began waving at the reeds along the bank, using a weeding spell she'd seen her mother use on the weeds in her garden outside her old cottage.

It was boring work, but if it kept her and her son safe, then so be it.

Though she had to admit, the cool water of the river felt wonderful on her hard, dry, hot feet. The water was so clear, she could see the little minnows swimming at her feet. The water barely rippled today. It was quite a tranquil day.

Tonks sighed after a while and put down her wand and looked at the pile of reeds piled up along the riverbank. She stared at her reflection in the water. The bags under her eyes had gotten bigger. Her purple dress complemented her hair (which, unbeknownst to Tonks, was an orange-red again). Her skin was pasty and lacked much color. Remus would be heartbroken to see her in such a downtrodden state.

Tonks double-blinked. As she thought about Remus, she could have sworn she saw him staring back up at her from the water instead of herself. But after she wiped her eyes, it was only her own body looking curiously back up at her.

Tonks spent a LOT of the afternoon wondering what would happen to her and Teddy if Andromeda never found them. She sighed and wondered if she could pick up the language these people spoke, and if she could teach it to Teddy. Maybe she could live peacefully among these nomads until the end. Never would she make it to the Borderland, never would she see her mother and friends again. But what choice could she have? Her mind was still too weak to do any safe Apparition. Perhaps if she became stronger after awhile, she could Apparate back to Grimmauld Place and call Andromeda home from there.

But she couldn't risk it for some time. Apparition was tricky enough to do with a full mind. It would be at LEAST a month before her mind would be up to an attempt. So, for now, she was stuck.

After a few hours getting reeds from the riverbank, Tonks wandered back up to the camp. She found the three teenage girls watching Teddy playing with what looked like a doll that walked on its' own and dances a sort of belly dance. Teddy giggled with delight. Tonks smiled at the girls and nodded silently in gratitude. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad staying with these people after all.

Tonks closed her eyes and muttered to herself. "Forgive me, Remus. But unless you can send a miracle, our journey ends here…"

That night, Tonks sat with Teddy on her lap around the council fire. The entire tribe gathered to dine together. A roasted….something…(Tonks was at a loss for what it was) was cooking on a spit over the fire, and wine jugs were being passes around as the members of this large family chatted happily amongst each other. Sahar sat with a good-looking dark-skinned man (her husband, maybe?), her head on his shoulder, on Tonks' right. Tonks bounced Teddy up and down on her knee to keep him happy. She, however, could not keep her eyes off the large orange flames, thinking how this was the way her whole journey was going to end. Her face was blank and soot-covered as the sky above her grew to indigo, then black.

The tribal chief got to his feet after a moment and held up his hands. The tribe was silenced. He gestured to Tonks and began speaking in Arabic. Tonks was confused. But the rest of the group seemed to be pleasantly interested in what the man had to say. A priestess (or elder woman, or some old woman) handed a golden headdress, lined with small golden coins and a waxing crescent moon. He held it towards Tonks. The rest of the tribe seemed elated and clapped wildly.

Sahar grinned and pushed Tonks to her feet, Teddy still in her grip. She walked cautiously over to the chief. The chief smiled. He then placed the headdress on her head so that the moon was out in front, and the coins rounded her head. The old priestess handed a smaller trinket, this one with a waning crescent moon, to the chief, who put it on Teddy's head. Tonks smiled. She didn't need to know Arabic to know that she and Teddy had just been formally welcomed into this large family.

The chief then yelled something, and a drum began to beat. Many of the villagers got off their feet and began to dance around. Tonks was tired, but Sahar seemed to insist that Tonks dance around the fire with the rest of them. She shrugged and decided to dance. Swinging Teddy around until he was almost sick, Tonks decided that if she couldn't beat them, she could at least join them!

The world become blurry as Tonks danced all her frustrations right out of her body. She felt lightheaded and free. Now, she was never quite sure, but she felt that somewhere in the twirling vortex of merriment she found herself in, she laughed. For the first time in the month since Remus' death, she laughed.

Amid the swirling and excitement of the dance, Tonks was barely able to notice a shoot of red sparks high in the air above them. The drumming stopped, and the dancing ceased. Tonks looked up.

Red sparks. As an Auror, Tonks knew what that meant. She gasped.

The chief got his own wand out and short up a few sparks. The sparks were repeated from the far away subject, this time spreading out to spell "Tonks and Teddy?"

Tonks and Teddy broke through the crowd. Sahar followed, pointing up at the sky and yelling. Tonks whipped out her wand with her free hand and shot it in the air with all her might. Blue sparks flew in the air. Blue sparks meant 'yes.'

More red sparks from the far away source. They didn't spell out words, but they were fired in quick succession. Tonks cried and laughed at the same time, rubbing her cheek against the crown of Teddy's head.

"It's Mum! Teddy, its Mum!" she cried. The rest of the tribe members muttered loudly amongst themselves. Tonks laughed and jumped up and down excitedly. Sahar's patronus had worked. Tonks shot more blue sparks in the air.

More red sparks, followed by more blue sparks. Tonks kept shooting up more and more signals as her excitement grew and as her heart beat faster and faster. Soon, she could see, silhouetted against the moon, a dragon with a woman riding on it's back, flying towards them at breakneck speed. Andromeda, from what Tonks could see, had her wand high in the air as she shot off more and more red.

Meanwhile, the tribe, seeing the dragon, had panicked, and had begun to form lines of both men and women, wands at the ready, about to shoot off curses in defense of their people.

Tonks bit her lip and ran in front of the first line, waving her hands.

"No! No! My mother!" Tonks screamed. The chief, who was heading the first line of defenders, looked confused, but nonetheless, brought his wand hand down to his side, then bidding the others to follow.

Mashka wailed as Andromeda landed her about one hundred feet from where Tonks stood. Andromeda cried out in utter ecstasy.

"NYMPHADORA!!! TEDDY!!" Andromeda hollered.

"Mum!" Tonks called back, running towards her mother with teddy in arm. The embrace was strong and secure. Tonks almost never wanted it to end. But she was the one who broke the hug apart, as she also needed to breathe.

"Some Arabic patronus found me, and I heard it say your name…"

Tonks grinned and nodded happily. "These people took care of me, Mum. That patronus was hers," she said, pointing at Sahar, who smiled meekly and stepped forward. The tribe was silent.

"Why weren't you at the oasis where I left you?" Andromeda asked.

"There was another group of people, a mean group, who kidnapped us. I escaped with Teddy, but fainted somewhere after Apparating as far away as possible. These people rescued me, fed me, and helped me out."

"This woman sent the patronus? They're a magical tribe?" Andromeda inquired, pointing at Sahar. She was silent.

Tonks spoke instead. "Sahar, yes. She sent the parrot to you to come find me. Mum, these people have treated me like one of their own. Before we go, may I please say goodbye?"

Andromeda nodded and observed Tonks for a moment. "Nymphadora, darling, you…you're smiling!"

Tonks had forgotten that she was in such a merry mood. She nodded and then turned her back to her mother to say goodbye.

She let the three teenage girls from before hold Teddy one last time. They fawned over him as if he belonged to them. Meanwhile, Tonks shook hands with the chief and took off her golden headdress, motioning for him to take it back.

The chief shook his head, took the headdress, and put it back on Tonks' head. The tribe nodded approvingly. Tonks actually felt a tear come to her eye as she turned from the smiling chief to Sahar, who looked just as sorry as he to see her go.

"Aktas?" Sahar asked Tonks nodded.

"Aktas," Tonks said solemnly. Sahar pouted sadly and took Tonks into her grip. Tonks was a little startled by this sudden show of affection, but it was not completely unwelcome.

Once Sahar let go, she took a large red ring off her finger and put it on Tonks' right ring finger. "Friend," she said in struggling English. Tonks beamed and accepted the gift.

"Yes, friend," Tonks agreed softly.

Once she once gained possession of Teddy (and it was rather hard, taking him away from the three crying teenage girls who loved him so), Tonks climbed onto Mashka. Andromeda then climbed up front to take them to the inn in Aktas where Charlie was waiting.

Mashka rose off the sand and began to fly northwest. The tribe then waved and called out in Arabic (Tonks could only assume they were saying goodbye). She waved back. The three sobbing teenage girls ran after the dragon for a good minute before Mashka flew too high and too fast for them to keep up. Tonks sighed and laid her chin affectionately on her mother's shoulder.

"Mum, may we rest for a day tomorrow before going on?" she asked. Andromeda sighed.

"Yes. Nymphadora, I think we ALL could use a full day's rest right now."