"Ehh.." Nod said, unsure. "That is a good question. We should probably just go back to Moonhaven and wait for Ronin. He'll probably be able to answer more of your questions than I can." Nod swayed back and forth, gently rocking Alisia.

"Well let's stop somewhere to feed her first. I'm worried she's going to end up starving," I said with a laugh in my voice, but I was completely serious.

Nod smirked but reassured me, "If she was starving, you'd know."

We walked a little ways back to Moonhaven and stopped at what looked like a little park. I put the bags down and Nod and I sat on some flat gray rocks that were mounted in the grass. I put some watered-down honey in a bottle and looked nervously at Nod. "It doesn't need to be heated up, does it?" I asked.

"No, room temperature is actually best," Nod told me as he handed Alisia to me. I layed her on my lap and stuck the bottle in her mouth and she accepted it eagerly. I smiled in relief as I watched her eat. Now I knew she wasn't starving. I looked up at Nod to share this moment, and I saw that he was already looking at me. When our eyes made contact, he kind of cleared his throat and looked away.

"Nod, do you have any brothers or sisters?" I asked him, curious. I didn't know anything about his homelife.

"Nah, it's just me. I just like kids," he answered me with a smile. But his voice grew somber, "My dad kind of died before he and my mom could have any other kids."

My heart panged in sympathy. I knew how that felt. "How old were you?" I asked softly.

"Seven," he replied. "But my mom got sick just after I was born, and it took her a long time to recover. Ronin was my dad's best friend. They were inseparable, practically brothers. Ronin was with my dad when he died. It's why he takes so much responsibility for me." Nod picked up a little pebble and tossed it across the yard. "He promised my dad he'd take care of me."

I remembered their display of affection at Moonhaven fondly. "He does love you though," I said to Nod, smiling.

Nod laughed gleefully. "Yeah, he does, the old badger."

Suddenly there was a swoop down from above, and two feet plopped on the ground, followed by the settling of a gorgeous hummingbird.

"Old badger am I?" Ronin teased Nod, giving him a brief noogie. "I went to Moonhaven to get you, but obviously you weren't there," Ronin said with a small smile.

"Alisia needed some things," I explained, still holding the bottle to her mouth.

"I see," Ronin said, looking fondly down at Alisia. "Well, hop on MK, I've come to take you home." Ronin mounted his hummingbird again, leaving room for me in the front.

"Home? Where?" I asked eagerly, getting up.

"Hold on a second, I want to come," Nod complained.

Ronin looked doubtfully at Nod, me, and then finally his bird. "Well, I guess we can squeeze one more one then," he said. "Let's go," he held the reigns up for me to slide underneath.

I put the empty bottle in a bag. "Nod, you get the bags," I ordered him.

"Royal Advisor for one day and already abusing the power," Nod teased. He picked up the bags and hopped onto the hummingbird behind Ronin.

Ronin put his arms around me to grab the reigns. "Hold Alisia tight," he warned me, "I'm not sure how much she's going to like this."

Ronin was right, as the hummingbird kicked off into the air, Alisia started to cry. Not an 'I'm hungry' cry, not an 'I need changed' cry, terrified screeches. I moved her to my shoulder and started whispering in her ear as I rubbed her back. "Shh, shh baby it's alright. It's okay baby, we're almost done, it'll be over soon." My words did nothing to soothe her. Her wails grew louder as we flew higher and I think they were starting to frighten the bird.

"Almost there," Ronin said in relief. "Just a few more minutes," he added.

"Baby girl, baby girl. It's okay sweetie, everything is just fine. I've got you, I've got you, you're going to be okay." I hushed her, kissing her head. Her cries grew less in intensity and I could look out to see what we were flying above. A community. Houses. Some made of stone, some made of hallowed tree stumps or hallowed mushrooms or whathaveyou.

Ronin started to steer the bird down and I sighed in relief as we touched the ground and Alisia stopped crying. Her only sounds now were angry hiccups. I dismounted from the bird and rocked Alisia gently. "Ooh, poor baby," I coddled her, laughing gently. "You poor thing, you don't like flying, do you?" I murmured, rubbing her back.

Nod and Ronin dismounted from the bird and Nod wrapped an arm around my lower shoulders. Then it kind of instinctively dropped to my waist and he pulled me closer to him. "Alisia didn't like it very much, did she?" he laughed.

The house we landed in front of was really nice. There were actually two 'houses', connected by a wooden bridge. These houses were made of stone, decorated with moss, and they were actually really pretty. They actually looked like homes.

Ronin walked in front of us just a bit. "I'll be right back out, I've got to get something from my place real quick," he said. Then he entered the house on the right!

"Ronin!" I stopped him. "You live right there?" I asked, just a little bit of alarm in my voice.

"Yeah," Ronin answered, a little confused. "We decided it would be best for you to live close to someone who can protect you," Ronin grinned, "And that someone just happens to be me. Anyway, I'll be right back."

I glared daggers at Nod as Ronin retreated into his house. "Did you know I was going to live in Tara's house?" I asked between clenched teeth.

Nod back away. "Whoa, whoa, easy there. This is just as new to me as it is to you! I mean, it does make sense though. Baby Queen," he gestured to Alisia, "Royal Advisor," he gestured to me. "It only makes sense that you would live in the Queen's house."

I sighed and scrunched up my mouth. "Okay," I admitted. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting that," I apologized.

Ronin returned from his house with a small key. "MK, this is yours," he handed it to me. Ronin led Nod and I up to the house. I carefully held Alisia as I unlocked the door, and Ronin opened the door for me, letting Nod in behind me with the bags.

The house was really gorgeous on the inside. I could honestly see Tara's touches on the house, even though I didn't really know her. There was a packed dirt floor, but a large, worn green rug covered most of the floor. There was a stone fireplace, and candles sitting on shelves on the walls. There were some pictures of the walls also.

I walked farther into the house, looking at the pictures. There was one in particular that caught my eye. It was one of a younger Tara, a younger Ronin, and a tall young man with dark brown hair and a very familiar face. I felt Nod's presence next to me. "Is that your dad?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah," Nod answered, kind of sadly.

I heard Ronin walking around behind us, and I turned around to give him my attention. "MK, this is your home now," he said. I could tell he was trying to put a brave face on. This had to be killing him. "The kitchen is to the right, the bathroom is to the left, and the bedrooms are upstairs," he said, motioning to a staircase. "Nod, we're going to leave and let MK get settled. You're needed on the rebuilding missions anyway, I don't remember giving you the day off."

Nod groaned. He gave Alisia and I a small smile. "See you tomorrow, MK," he walked out the door to wait for Ronin on his bird.

Ronin's cheery façade dimmed just a little as he looked around the house, reminders or Tara still everywhere. His eyes came to rest sadly on me, and I sighed and walked closer to him.

"Take care of the house, MK," he murmured as I put my free arm around him, hugging him tight.

"I will, Ronin. Don't worry," I whispered as he put his arms around me, carefully to not squish Alisa, "Thank you so much." I smiled at him.

He returned my smile as he walked out the door and I could almost hear Tara saying, "There's that smile."