But something about it felt like home somehow

LOCATION | the marked in Aston
DATE | Wednesday 2nd of March 2022
TIME | Afternoon
WEATHER | Clear blue sky
ATTIRE | Link
TOPIC FOR |   @Juniper Avalon xx
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It was spring, fantastic, it meant the marked was crowded with people trying to catch the year's first glimpses of spring weather. Summer was coming soon, all their hopes and dreams seemed to come alive with the sun shinning upon them. Well, in Francis case, it was the perfect scene to put his sneaky hands into good use, him and Linus had been on it for some time now. And the marked was so huge, perfect playground for both of them. Looking towards the afternoon it was time to head back. Out of the marked and maybe find out where they should have dinner tonight, and he was just about to pick up his phone to ask Linus where to meet up, when he walked into someone, making him turn around just about to curse at the person he had walked into. Then he looked into her eyes, making him press his brows together for a second. There was something familiar about her, but he couldn't place it. Maybe he had stolen something of hers before? One could never be sure. "Hey," he didn't know why he felt like talking, usually he would just have turned around and walked away, but a part of him begged him to stay for just a moment more. Who was she?

She had pulled Hope with her on this little adventure of hers. Mostly because her oldest daughter seemed to have been the one that had the hardest time, to find a place within the new family that was starting to be build. So, while she had spent time with Mariella and Ayah, especially with how she and Reginald visited Nigel and Irina quite often, it was much easier to get to know Mariella. Which really had made Juniper extremely happy, feeling like an entirely new person than she had been for the last couple of years. Like, she was finally getting her happy ending that she kept reading about in books.
But somewhere along the many people she had lost sight of her oldest daughter. Walking around between the many people, she let her fingers glide through her long brown hair. Which made her a little unaware of her surroundings.
Juniper felt how she had walked into someone, as her head had been turned the other direction. Blinking a little, she gazed into the strangers’ eyes. Now, he looked an awfully lot like Edward, but he didn’t have the same aura besides he had been something else. A vampire. This was, she was suddenly a little lost for words. But the stranger broke the silence. “Hi” she whispered back blinking a little, titling her head. “Do I know you?” she asked, she could have sworn that there was something about him, other than the way he looked. It was the fire inside him; it was so familiar.

The longer he looked into her eyes, he became sure of having seen her somewhere. Now he wasn't the type of person who would agree to have past you on the streets, because the most of times he would just end up being hunted down by the police. Now, he wasn't going to let that happen again. Yet, as she asked if she knew him, there was something. Maybe it was the small spark in her eyes that made something about him ache to step closer, a feeling he never quite let in, he couldn't really remember many times where his heart tried to speak for him. "I don't know - you tell me, you seem familiar," he replied surprisingly softly pulling an actual genuine smile, like his mind didn't know her, but his body once again ached to take a step closer and reach out to hold her hand, yet he didn't obey to its wishes. He pressed his brows a little bit further together, feeing some scent in the area being rather familiar as well to him, yet so unknown. It scared him a little, but fear was a demon you could slay, so he chose to ignore it - for now at least.

She couldn’t help but let out a laugh, when he just turned it around on her. As the laugh died out, there was still a smile that had curled over her lips, making her look at him with a bright expression. She shrugged, tilting with her head as a brow had slowly lifted itself. She had no idea who he was, which was why she had asked him why he seemed so familiar. Now she had lived for so many years in this world, not to talk about the many years she had lost while living in wonderland. But he didn’t have the energy around him, that people born in wonderland had, so that couldn’t be it, could it? “Well, I have no idea, you just, like you said, seem familiar” she said, then she heard someone call behind her. She turned around.
“Mom, bloody hell, I’ve been trying to find you for the last half an hour, you can’t just take off like that” her oldest daughter scuffed, but then she looked past her mother and raised her brows a little. No, that couldn’t, that wasn’t. She licked her lips a little, looking like she had seen a ghost. “Who is your friend?” she asked, with a low voice that cracked a little each time she spoke a new word. “I don’t know, is he from wonderland too?” she asked Hope, knowing she had memories from the place, and was why she knew that Juniper was their mother. Hope shook her head, not her father hadn’t been from wonderland, but had led a life in wonderland with Juniper, her mother. “No, but he does look an awful look like your husband, our father” she said with a restrained smile, Juniper laughed, clearly not connecting any dots. “Oh, would you look at that, maybe that’s why we seem familiar to one another” she joked, giving the man a warm smile “I’m Juniper, this is my oldest daughter Hope” she presented herself and Hope, reaching her hand out to take his.

That genuine bright expression was new to him, not something in this sense he experienced a lot. Well, the one who got all of the kindness Francis had to offer was his brother after all. Everyone always came in second, and yet he rarely if ever let other people completely in. Then someone with that familiar scent came closer, he pressed his brows a bit further together. Well, now this was a scent he found the most familiar, the scent of family was something he knew quite well, and it hit him like a sword stabbed through his gut and like someone was twisting it around, making him uncomfortable. Their eyes met, but Francis had lost his words completely for now. Which, he was sometimes more observant than vocal, but right in this moment Francis was just completely puzzled by now knowing how to react in this situation. A part of him wanted to escape it, the other part hushed him wanting for him to wait it out. From Wonderland? He had heard about that place, never been - to his knowledge at least.

Look like your husband, our father, he blinked a little. Even if the fairy laughed it did nothing than only pull a slightly restrained smile. Maybe he was getting a little bit pale. He always remembered anything, very detail orientated - so why wouldn't he remember. Wait, had she said our father, were there more? He felt the knot in his stomach tighten a little bit. But nothing less he took Juniper's hand as she reached it out for him. Juniper and Hope. He blinked a little bit as their hands touched almost like a small burning sensation that tried to make his mind, body and soul connect. "I'm Francis, pleasure," he exhaled a little bit feeling completely out of it, even if he did hold his cards close to him, giving them a small smile to mask his confusion. Yet he knew fairies were known for being able to catch onto emotional sensations of people, perhaps that was the reason why he didn't make a bigger show on hiding he was confused.

Hope just stood there, to stunned to even recognise how freak out the man in front of them were. Juniper’s smile slowly subdued as she looked from her daughter to the man that had just introduced himself as Francis. Now, that too, seemed familiar. Juniper took her hand back, licking her lips, as she looked from Hope to Francis back again.
Now the portals were fickle, and one could always walk through and back, without remembering anything. It was just like the land of Fae, if you weren’t careful, you could get lost and when you came back seven years could have passed and you had only aged a day.
The younger fairy blinked a little and let out a soft exhale. “Francis Minerva?” she asked, giving him a restrained smile “ But perhaps also a phoenix?” she asked, Juniper folding her brows together in a confused manner, what on earth was going on? Hope took her mother’s hand; she didn’t like this. Maybe she was just afraid, and her mother seemed so happy right now. What would change, if the man she had been so madly in love with, actually was alive? And then he was nothing like the man she remembered? “Come mom, I think it’s time to get back home” she ushered her mother, trying to pull her along to disappear in the crowd of people that was still walking around at the market.

Now, he was adjusting by every second to the discomfort of the situation, and he had always been quite the people reader - you had to be when you lived the life he did. He could see something was off with this Hope. Minerva. He pressed his eyes a bit together, it was his mother's name, the only thing he ever had to hold onto from her was her name - and what him and Linus were. A phoenix, he narrowed his eyes by an inch, giving her the answer she needed. But also the answer he tried to form in his mind would make sense, how did he not remember this possible little taste of heaven? His eyes looked from Hope to Juniper, almost begging her to stay to not leave his mind unsolved. Which was odd, Francis never begged for anything, ever. "Wait," he licked his lips a little bit, pressing his brows together. "How do I not know? Any of you," because he could sense it on the smell. He knew by her standing so close for this long that his daughter was standing in front of him. There was only one other time had been close enough to a scent like that, and that had been back in Nepal, it had distracted him enough to get him shot by a hunter tripe - it had been by luck Linus had been quick enough to get him out of there before he had gotten captured our worse. But he had never thought about that scent till this day.

Juniper stopped, making Hope have to stop as well. Because where Hope just wanted her mother away, Juniper wasn’t really the one to just walk away from someone that asked her to wait, that clearly had unanswered questions that he would like to get the answers for. She gave him a small smile, letting out a soft breath. Giving Hope’s hand a little squeeze letting her now that it was alright. People was walking past them, but somehow it didn’t really disturb the old fairy as she looked at Francis. “Well, portals between here and wonderland can be fickle in how they work” she explained, as a small hiss formed from Hope, clearly not happy with her mother just sharing things like that. They had no idea who the man was now, and he could be dangerous. “I don’t remember much from my time there either, that might be why” she offered as an answer to him, giving him a soft smile. Now she knew that there were people out there that could help unlock memories that had been forgotten. The question was, wanted they too?

Portals. Now he knew they were very real, it didn't come as a shock. What came as a shock was the fast that it appeared as he had fallen in one and gotten back without having any memory of it. Not even a glimpse. And yet before his eyes stood a woman who he had possibly loved, and a daughter. Who wouldn't be out of their mind confused by the scenario. Telling him yes they could be tricky, if it had cleared his memory, fickle was way to nice of a word to put it, he didn't appreciate it. Now it wasn't like he wanted to remember on the thought of having one big happy family, but he just didn't like the fact that someone or something had messed with his head. "And you don't wish to know?" He questioned her words, pressing his brows a bit more together. Now, he would never change the way he was, would he? He found it hard to believe that he ever would have settled, married someone, had children. It had never been how he saw himself, so suddenly having it and still not having the ability to recall it was frustrating. He could feel how irritated he got at himself on that note, frustrated on his mind. Even if it seemed like her soft smile could ease the frustration, at least keep it a bit away.

Juniper was just about to open her mouth, when Hope cut in and stepped half between her mother and what seemed to be her father. Her eyes narrowed as she looked towards the slightly taller man than herself. “Listen” she growled, almost the exact opposite of her very gentle and smiling mother. “I was the one that was left to pick up the pieces after our father disappeared, so, maybe there is a comfort in forgetting what she went through when she stepped through the portal herself after having lost her husband, and then suddenly was in a time period where she knew no one and all of her family as gone, so” she took a step closer towards him and almost sneered. Maybe she was more like her father than she knew herself. “Sometimes there is comfort in not knowing things, so, maybe we should all just forget we ever saw each other, come mother” she tried once again to get her mother to leave, but when she turned around another man was standing in front of them. Same aura, a brother? Linus looked towards Francis “Everything okay here?” he asked looking from the angry fairy to the rather confused fairy. Then to his brother that looked like he had eaten something that didn’t sit right by him.

Francis lifted his brow as his apparently eldest daughter found the nerve to tell him he needed to listen to her. Not just letting Juniper speak up for herself, giving her a piece of his mind. Now, he didn't care much about that, and it only irritated him even further. He let her step closer to him, not that he ever had bowed down from a challenge, no he just looked right back into her eyes, feeling the fire spreading in his veins, and a little smirk seemed to pull for a second. Because he was impressed rather than angry, at least for the moment. "Now listen up you -" he hissed lowly cutting himself off for a second, "that is not completely your choice to make, I'm sure you mother can make her own choices wouldn't you agree," he replied back and cleared his throat a little bit, and narrowed his eyes by an inch as she stepped back again.  Then his brother showed up, asking if everything was alright, but before Francis got a chance to speak, someone else replied, "I was just about to ask the same question, funny enough," Reginald narrowed his eyes a little bit as he was standing not far behind the shapeshifter that had just spoken. Looking towards the frustrated Hope that tried to pull Juniper with him.

Well Reginald had just been out on a walk and had the pleasure to run into Mariella who had gotten off from work, so they had ended up just getting a coffee while walking through the marked. Mariella pressed her brows together, confused, because she could feel it. The fire energies that roamed within in her, they knew the fire roaming inside the two strangers. Francis looked towards the other man and the red haired fairy. "Everything is fine, we were just leaving," he looked towards Linus and took a sharper breath in. Well, one thing he did remember from way back was how his and Linus' father had talked about their mother's beautiful red hair. Then he also knew who the man was, and he had no interest in ending having to run from Reginald. Even if he would give him a run for his money any other day.

He had the nerve! She almost growled once more, all the way from her stomach as she looked at him. But as she saw Reginald looking around also wanting to know what was going on, she backed down. Especially since her youngest sister was here as well, she didn’t want to make a scene.
Linus walked towards his brother and placed himself by his side, he was rather intrigued by the young fairys standing there, and how much their energy reminded him of his brother and his own. Especially the redhaired fairy. Who were these people? And why did they have the scent of family. He was pretty sure that his brother didn’t have any kids around, and not to talk about the fact, that he had never mentioned the woman standing in front of him, looking rather confused.
When Francis told them that they were leaving, Juniper reached out and grabbed his hand. “Wait” – “Mom” Hope warned, and her mother locked at her with a small smile. “Like he just said, I can make my own choices too” Hope grumbled “but he is an ass” she retorted looking at him, she didn’t have any fire powers, but she had light. A light that had a burning sensation to it. Now that she thought about it. Juniper closed her eyes and let out a soft breath, Hope crossed her arms and looked her father in his eyes. Warning him, that if he did anything she would not care about making a scene. She found her number “please call” she whispered, giving him a soft smile and turned around to Reginald walking over placing a soft kiss against his cheek. “Everything is fine” she reassured him, not noticing how Hope still looked at two brothers, almost as if she had seen them before. And what she had heard, wasn’t a good thing. “Now, better go before I start remembering where it is I’ve seen you, from this dimension” she warned in a much lower tone, now she wasn’t a criminal herself. But she walked in those social settings, as she needed their help. Smuggling refugees weren’t cheap and those who did it, was typically criminal. And something about brothers, and phoenixes was starting to ring a bell. “And don’t call her” she added as a last warning.

Francis regained his power to contain himself and let the well known confidence return to him completely, almost not taking his eyes of his oldest daughter even though his eyes curiously enough wanted to know the face of the others as well. Feeling the fire wanting to spark from his fingers, or that was when she reached out and grabbed his hand, making him press his brows together for a second. She wanted him to call her, maybe she looked for answers just as well, no matter how the hunt would go? Francis took a slightly deeper breath in, realizing he had held it for a while. Then he watched her walk over to Reginald, giving him a soft kiss, well Reginald much like Hope starred at the two shapeshifters, almost like a warning not to do anything stupid. Well, he had been around for a while too, not as long, but he knew who they were. Mariella was rather confused with all the anger and frustration, confusion going on, making her press her brows a bit further together, looking towards her sister that starred at the guys.

Francis pulled a little smirk by the next warning, narrowing his eyes a little, "careful. One should almost think you would be happening to actually be your father's daughter," he replied back in the same low voice she talked to him in. Now, this was not really how he ever had imagined having kids the times it had ever crossed his mind. And he was used to response to how people acted towards him, so she just got right back at her own medication. Then he looked towards his brother, "let's get out of here," he took a sharper breath in nodding to the side for them to leave, so he could explain whatever he had just discovered that still didn't make much sense to him. But like with anything else, he didn't hide things from Linus.

"What was all that about?" Mariella then asked looking from Juniper to Hope, since it seemed like perhaps Hope had more answers to give. Reginald just having his arm around Juniper kissing the top of her head before looking towards Hope as well.

“If I am, then you also know what I will do for my family, to make sure nothing happens to them” she whispered, eying him and his brother, waiting for them to walk away. She let out a soft breath, feeling how her shoulders sank as she saw them disappear in the crowd, almost as easily as they had found them. It scared her a little, but she also knew that her mother was a grown woman. That needed to do with her life, that she felt was the best for her. And if that was reconnecting with a man that was no longer the husband that she had once had. Then she couldn’t stop her, but she wished that he would stay away. Her mother had been through enough.
Juniper looked towards her youngest daughter and gave her a soft smile. What did you say? That it might be the man that was your father. Hope turned around. “A man that looks like our father” she answered truthfully. Juniper looked towards Reginald and let out a soft exhale. “Maybe we should go back home, and get something to drink, how does that sound?” Hope nodded “I can drive us, if you guys want” she said with a smile, looking towards Mariella “Unless you have plans with Leon?” she asked giving her sister a small smile putting her hands into her leather jacket.  

Reginald pressed his brows a bit together by the mention of the fact that the man had looked like Hope and Mariella's father. It took him off guard for a second, because he couldn't really imagine it, then again there was so many things in this world he couldn't really explain but had learned to live with. Mariella just like Reginald kept her brows pressed together, moving her eyes shortly in the direction she watched the brothers walk away in. Was someone that look like enough to describe the connection she had felt? She knew there had to be more to it, she could feel it. Even Hope seemed sure of it, but Mariella also understood the sense of not wanting false hope. Mariella nodded to the suggestion of driving home and get something to drink. Then turning her eyes towards Hope again giving her a soft smile, "not till later, I can stay for a while -" she nodded a little, also it there was something about this guy they just had seen, she wanted to know more - even if she wasn't sure they would tell her more, but maybe it was then just a good idea to be around this part of her family for a moment, being around her sister too. Reginald nodded a bit, "let's find the car then, shall we?" He took a deeper breath in, getting back towards his and Juniper's home, back with nature was perhaps what they needed after whatever had happened. Could that guy possibly be Hope, Ayah and Mariella's father? He didn't want to believe it, but perhaps it was just his mind that believed the girls deserved better - but who was he to make that choice, it wasn't up to him.

It wasn’t about wanting false hope. It was knowing that the father that she had seen today, wasn’t the man that had raised her. A father that Mariella had never had the pleasure of meeting, and Ayah, she hadn’t been that old when he had disappeared. She remembered her mother telling a story about how he had gone off to fight a dragon, and he would come back one day. That night Hope had caught her crying in the kitchen. She had not been that old, but she had understood that her mother had gotten just a little closer to fall into the lure that the darkness gave. The promise of everything being a little better.
It was better she didn’t remember, better that she kept herself away from him. She was sure of this. When Reginald spoke, Hope snapped out of it, nodding as she turned the direction where the car was. She walked a little faster than the others could follow. Mostly so she could dry away the tears that spilled from her cheeks. Knowing that Mariella would be able to notice how upset and angry she was about the situation. But there weren’t much she could do right now about it.
Juniper furrowed her brows, clearly not happy about leaving things like this. Even so, she had figured out that Hope needed her own time to deal with the many things that had been happening the many years she hadn’t been with her family. Looking up at Reginald, she gave him a soft smile, putting an arm around his waist leaning against his side as they walked towards the car. She motioned Mariella to sit in front, then her and Reginald would sit in the back.

Mariella took a deeper breath in walking next to Reginald still, as Hope started to walk a little bit ahead. The fairy had always found herself lucky with the family she had gotten, even if her parents weren't perhaps parents of the year - they had cared for her, she knew that, even if they hadn't always if ever been fair towards her brothers, they had been to her. Which was down the line why it had been so hard for her when her father suddenly had a change of heart thinking putting her with Quentin would be the best thing to do for all. There was already many confusing emotions there on how she was treated compared to them, how her parents emotions towards them sometimes had been like. She had felt horrible. But from that to suddenly having gotten the chance to find her biological mother and that being Juniper, which perhaps was one of the sweetest and strongest people she had met, how could she not be completely overly excited to be daughter of Juniper? Then there was this man they had just seen that clearly had gotten Hope upset and angry, but Mariella had also learned not to poke Hope about it. She knew that Ella knew, and if she wanted to talk about it, well she was welcome to, but otherwise Mariella kept quiet

Getting to the car, Mariella sat in on the front seat looking over at Hope with a small warm smile, letting Reginald and their mother sit on the backseat taking a deeper breath in before just driving away towards home. Closing her eyes a little bit to channel out the frustration in the small space to her best ability. "Is Ayah back at your place?" She wondered turning her back behind looking at her mother for a second, because Mariella believed they should talk about what had happened today, even if she knew Hope might not agree on that.

Hope couldn’t help it, but when Mariella asked if Ayah was back at Juniper’s house, she grabbed the steering wheel just a little tighter. She knew why Mariella had asked, because she wanted to talk about this. Where Hope wanted it to be a memory, they could all forget, because it hurt. How could it not? To look into your father’s eyes, and once again be met with nothing but confusion and no hint of recognition? Not only that. But it wasn’t the man that she had grown up with. No, the man that had fallen in love with her mother, had been shaped in wonderland, and when those memories had been taken away; he hadn’t been her father anymore. Because for him, wonderland had never happened. He hadn’t married, and he hadn’t gotten children with the love of his life. None of her world was real anymore. And it tore her apart.
Juniper cleared her throat and then gave Mariella a warm smile “Yes, I asked if she wanted to join us for the marked, but she stayed behind to tend to the garden, I’ve started to clear the garden beds now that spring is here” Juniper said, and as she kept talking it was clear how excited she was about spring. Putting the small incident at the marked in the back of her head.

It did sting in her heart, just like it stung in Hope's and their mother's - in another way, perhaps from just feeling what burden they both carried very different from this event. Reginald placed his hand on top of Juniper's leg just above the knee and gave it a little squeeze. Perhaps Mariella leaned more to Reginald in this, while he was confused on the matter it wasn't his memories that were mended with, at least not on this matter, so he could only be their for the love of his life and hope that he could get her through this the best way possible. Just like he wished to be their for her daughters that he looked upon as his own, no matter if they wanted to or not. "I'm looking so forward to see spring in your garden," even if it was always magically beautiful, there was always something magical about spring. Now even if she didn't have nature related powers, she could feel it in the nature thanks to her empathic abilities, how it came alive. Perhaps why she also had felt so alive and thriving when she had visited Theronida. But talking about the garden was perhaps also a way to take all of their minds away from the other matter at least for a few seconds. Reginald smiled a little bit with his nature abilities he thrived staying at Juniper's place. He had even a few times taken Katelyn with him back, so she could have a stay over at her grandparents house, because why not? And he loved seeing her thrive in the garden as well, tending it.

Juniper’s smile brightened as Mariella confessed that she was looking forward to seeing the garden. Her hand found Reginald’s that was resting by her knee, without even looking. She leaned forward placing a hand on her youngest sisters shoulder. “And I heard you visited Theronida? You must tell me what you thought of it!” Juniper almost begged, now she had been there long before any of the Radclyffes had made it their own. She had grown so many beautiful things there, when she had been all alone, long before she had known Reginald. Long before she had known anyone. “I’ve heard that my creations are still thriving there, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen any of the Radclyffes, Leon’s father joined me for a while, when I was fighting slavers in Asia” she explained with a smile upon her lips, reminding the time fondly. Even though it hadn’t been, at least not most of the time. But that was the good thing about memories, you either took the bad or the good. And after Reginald had come back into her life, she had decided to remember things happily. Hope looked straight forward, letting out a soft exhale, trying to relax herself. But for now, she found it comforting just to listen. Maybe she should text Ace and see if he was available to see her after she had spent some time with her family.

Mariella looked towards her mother again as the hand got placed on her shoulder. "It's incredible," she replied rather fast her eyes widened a little bit in excitement. "I dragged Flora out on a hike, which really is just classic me - but I do reckon she ended up appreciating it in the end!" She nodded a bit very confident in the smaller hike had been worth it for both. "A little bit of underwater adventure and all that," she added, leaning her cheek against the head restraint with a big smile. She listened to how her mother spoke about having been there for a long time, still having some creatures there perhaps, then of course the fact that she had spent time with Leon's father for a while. Now with how many people she knew by now, and how people were entangled in each others lives, like how sometimes the world was small. So her mother and Damian having spend time together, it was just like Reginald and Cassian knowing each other.  Or at least in some ways. "There might be some of them, I mean the place is huge after all," she chuckled a little delighted, well lucky enough she had no doubt it wasn't going to be the last time she would visit that place. Reginald chuckled a little to himself by Juniper and Mariella's excitement. Now he had his own history with the Radclyffee's, with many of the supernatural people actually, well he didn't have the best reputation. In his past he had been brutal and cruel, coldhearted and without mercy. Especially after he had lost Birdie and their daughter. He had taken it out on Melanie, actions he knew shouldn't be forgiven, and yet she had forgiven him once he had apologized many years after, but still. It didn't erase what he had done, it was still something he had to live with. Like many other lives he had taken.

Juniper looked at how Mariella’s face lit up as she spoke about her adventures in the far away land. That only a few had the pleasure of actually getting to. Hope couldn’t really hide a small smile either, when Mariella said that there might be some of them. But that the place was huge. “I think what mother is trying to say, is that she created Theronida” Juniper shook her head a little, at her daughter’s blunt words. Even if it was true, that the island had been where she had landed all alone with no family. Which could be one of the many reasons why it was so magically for others to come too. Much like Moonlight falls, that was like a small piece of heaven for magical users. Or, it had been before Rebekah had turned into the woman that she was now.
“Well, let’s just say that my garden isn’t the first little piece of Eden I’ve created” she said with a soft smile, and squeezed Mariella’s shoulder before she let herself fall back into the seat she was sitting. Closing her eyes for a moment, she let her hand find Reginald’s and gave it a small squeeze.

Mariella blinked a little looking towards her older sister with big eyes, then looking back at her mother, "really?" the word just rushed over her tongue, not because she didn't believe it she was just astonished by the mare thought of it actually being her mother that had created Theronida. Perhaps it was one of the reasons why her whole being at just felt so balanced out with the enegies, or as balanced out as Mariella's chaotic energies could be. Then she looked back at her mother, still with those big bright eyes, before the smile followed, "that is so cool," she chuckled a little bit before turning in her seat so they could look at the road ahead. Looking shortly at Hope before moving her eyes to the road again.

Reginald didn't say much, not in the car at least because there were so many things going on. The on going conversation, and then the whole topic that awaited them when they would return home. Because they needed to figure out what they were going to do, or of course he knew it wasn't about him at all any of this, but he was still going to be there. So, he took Juniper's hand in his as she squeezed it, and gently caressed the back of it. Mariella took a sligtly deeper breath in herself, almost forgetting how long the drive could be. Well, since she sometimes stayed a little bit at Ayahs' to be closer to Grounds of Lily or Elias didn't mind opening a door every now and then, it was quite easy to go around. But either way she just sat back and enjoyed the drive till they finally could see their desired location.

It struck Juniper, when both her and Hope started laughing, at how Mariella took the news about what her mother had been running around doing. How much they sounded alike. It stirred something in her, that was rather hard to place. Because it also meant that Hope had been around her long enough to take her laugh and mimic it in some way. It was hard. Not knowing this part of her life, she could feel it in her heart. Because something would never be able to leave the soul, no matter how scrambled her mind were. A small sigh left her, and the car descended into a comfortable silence as everyone took the day’s news in.
One could speak about trivial things. How had the water been these past days, or how was everyone doing. But they had almost seen each other, and only so much could happen on such a short period of time. And if something extortionary had happened, it would either have been shared without asking or someone wouldn’t be ready to talk about it yet.
Juniper knew that there was so much going on with Hope, but she never shared anything. When you asked how she was doing she shrugged and gave a small smile. Saying that it was fine, never really an explanation on why it was just fine. She had no idea if she had a boyfriend, or if she had someone she cared about in her life. What she wanted to do. Letting out a soft exhale, she closed her eyes and leaned back.

Hope could finally pull into the small parking lot outside of her mother’s house. “Here we are” she announced in a soft voice and turned off the ignition. Her eyes looked towards the garden and the small house nestle into the small heaven that their mother had made. But where all the others got out of the car. Hope needed a moment to breathe. Because now things needed to be talked about again, and she really didn’t feel like doing so. But she really didn’t’ feel like she had a choice in the matter either. Not her decision, even if she wished it was.

Mariella let out a small exhale before stepping outside of the car, leaving the emotions it was filled up with, because it was a lot. So, taken in a deeper breath of this calming energy from the nature around her mother's place was something. She looked towards the car for a moment, towards Hope really but simply gave her a small smile before leaving her to catch her breath for how long she might need. Mariella wasn't going to pressure anything. So, she just followed her mother and Reginald towards the house.

Ayah met them half way, noticing only the three of them looking shortly towards the parking lot, she could feel Hope's aura rather well. She however pressed her brows a bit together, able to see that something had happened to make all of them come with these odd looks on their faces. "How about I put on some tea, huh?" Ayah didn't really wait for the reply before walking inside to the kitchen and started preparing some tea. Mariella looked towards her mother and just walked over to give her a warm hug, because that was now all she really could do, right? Then after a moment she let go and gave her a warm smile before going inside to help Ayah. Reginald looked towards Juniper. "What ever you want to do in this, I'm here okay?" He turned to her and cupped her face for a moment letting his thumbs brush over her cheeks, then kissing her forehead before pulling her into his embrace shortly, letting her catch her breath.