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Everything had fallen into place.

The grapes in the vineyards were plumping. Not all the land had cleared and cleaned yet, but they had done enough to begin with. There were enough grapes growing to produce many bottles of wine in the fall. And the other plants Dahlia de Mai were slowly starting to cultivate were also thriving. Nayru's greenhouse was bursting with color and plants, and there was no lack of help in helping her sort them, study them and discern the uses. The knowledge on foliage and flora within the pack was growing and Nayru couldn't be more pleased.

Everyone seemed willing enough to come together and do what they could to help rebuild Dahlia de Mai. Or most. Nayru missed a few faces, but she knew their hearts too were still in the right place. For this reason among others she did not mind when she found that no one had marked the borders that morning. The pale stones dotted the land, right where Conor had left them and Nayru walked along the boundary, now and then leaving little traces of herself to let the others know. She was here. Nayru was almost always here. This was home. That is what the scent said.

When the man stumbling quite near to the boundaries was discovered in the distance Nayru grew very still, nose twitching. The regal lady kept her usual calm, serene aura to her, ready to slink up like a ghost upon the near trespasser and inquire to his nearness before he realize anyone had been watching him. With one deep breath Nayru willfully slowed her breathing and heart beat as she proceeded to go into a tracking mind set. The stealthy lady came quite close before the face was recognizable and suddenly all her monk like calm vanished. The tiny two feet that had silently been bringer her close broke into a run, and when she skid to a stop in front of grinning fool the woman felt more a child than she ever had. "Razekiel? Razekiel is that you?"

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Nayru had never considered that the man might not recognize her. Even in his perpetual haze the memory of the young girl returned to him and Nayru was pleased and almost giddy to hear the pet names she had been called before. That he scooped her up in his arms would have been strange for any other being, even Gideon was not so open and warm with her. Yet Nayru did not shy away but let herself fall completely into the embrace, finding the smell of earth and smoke to be enjoyable and comforting. When he put her at arm's length to inspect what the past year had done to her, she smiled up at him in a way she did not with the others who had an investment in her growth. With them she was always reserved, quiet: a thoughtful ghost among the living. With Razekiel it was so easy to be one of the living herself.

"And you look very much the same Razekiel." Her near silent voice was filled with affection and warmth, although she slowly regained some of her normal cool composure as she straightened herself. More and more the girl was becoming comfortable with touching and being touched by others. Nayru knew now that no one stayed around forever, and it was best to love them while you could. Part of her wished she had been closer to Conor, but the thought did not stick in her mind for very long. Razekiel was here and it was better to focus on him, who existed now before her, than ghosts that were long gone. The girl smiled her slow, shy smile then, replaced from the larger grin that had appeared at the surprise sighting of the former Inferni man.

"I run this joint." Her words came loosely, less structured than normally, but she laughed her light laugh as she spoke. Leadership seemed to come comfortably enough under her, and Nayru had never been happier with the pack, except for the shadows that seemed to lurk still. As if they couldn’t shake Conor, and even Haku no matter how hard they tried. "What about you? Have you been in Inferni all this time?" She had never gone to look for him, as he had warned her not to. Only once had she come close to breaching their borders, and it had only been for a mere moment before she turned her back on the unhappy lands again.

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Nayru smiled warmly as he praised her accomplishment, if it was that, smiling freely as she spun in his arms. Only a few short months had Dahlia de Mai been under the control of the girl, but it seemed more flourishing now that it ever had been. The girls mind reeled back to her recent conversation with Saluce. Perhaps not all of the Dahlians agreed with her more passive methods, but overwhelmingly she had only had positive feedback since her rise to the throne. Whether such tactics would prove beneficial remained to be seen and Nayru wasn't sure how long it would take to convince the naysayers. Yet she had no intention of returning to the more aggressive and warlike ways of earlier Dahlians. In that respect, whether she knew so or not, Nayru took after her mother.

"You joined Phoenix Valley?" Finally she came to a standstill, fingering the flower he had placed in her hair. The information was unexpected but not all together surprising. The scent was clinging to his coat, but that could simply mean he had been hanging around there the past few days. To become a member of one of the other packs? And turn away from Inferni? Yet Nayru only grinned at the man, happy that the kind coyote was integrating with what Nayru knew to be a pack mostly made up of wolves and wolf hybrids. Not everyone who came out of Inferni seemed to cling to their hostilities toward their canine cousins, even as instilled upon them as it was at young ages. Yet it seemed perhaps Razekiel was just floating, from here to there, and he spoke of floating further out. Up north. "What's up north?" Besides Inferni and the mountains, Nayru had no desire to cross again the mountain she had climbed in order to reach Dahlia de Mai.

The old hippie talked on and Nayru smiled at his enthusiasm. From what she knew of Jefferson the man's description was accurate, if a bit colorful, and she nodded. Yes, the gruff was a cranky creature but his heart was in the right place. Nayru could tell by how he had conducted himself he cared greatly about his own pack, and she admired the man for how long he had been leading Phoenix Valley. Long before she had ever stepped up to the plate in Dahlia de Mai. So easily it seemed a land could change leadership, that he had clung on for this long said something about him. Nayru nodded when he asked if she had ever been there, but all she could say in response to the mouthful Razekiel gave her was "Jefferson is great."

And the two toned girl continued to listen, trying to visualize whatever it was that captivated the peace loving fool so, but Nayru didn't know what she was trying to imagine. Mountains, sea, sky? Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to go have a look, because when the day was done she would be coming back here. Even with all of Razekiel's flowery descriptions, Dahlia de Mai was home and those who lived there looked up to her. Even if the Great Mother wanted her elsewhere, here she was and here she would remain.

"It sounds lovely Raz, though a little hard for me to imagine." Nayru watched as the smoke danced from his lips and she poked a finger herself at the rings he made. Was it simply the lull of the weed that had him so jazzed, or was there really something more to that place? "You'll have to show me."