[Kyrit]

(Using the human form, but posting her pet form for show.)

"Dear Elario,

It's been quite a while since we have been able to see one another. Too long I must say... Things have been quite busy around this house, but it seems as though things are starting to calm down now. There aren't so many children coming in and out, so I believe I will finally be able to get away for a little while. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write to you. Not a day has gone by that I didn't think about it and no excuse can change the fact that I haven't until now.

If you happen to be free, I plan on going to visit Aldrect. I'd very much like to see you, but I can understand if you are busy. I'll be there all day, so there is no need to worry about catching me at a specific time.

Hoping to see you again,

Shotou"

She had sent the letter to the Arkuhna the day before, although maybe it would have been better to give him better notice than to say 'come see me tomorrow if you can'. It seemed very random and spur of the moment for someone like her, but they hadn't been able to see one another for some time. So much had happened that they would need to catch up on...

The female Preluhna, currently in the human form that she didn't often use, was sitting on the rim of the Aldrect fountain. Her first time coming here had been to see him as well, so this seemed like a good place to see one another. This time the sisters weren't around though, so things would probably turn out quite different. Maybe she should have brought Tsura... The girls really did need to get to see one another again.

Fiddling with the little rose that she had taken down from her hair, Shotou kept looking around for an Arkuhna in hopes that Elario would show up. Hopefully he wasn't busy...

[ToxicShadow]

Thank goodness that the mail system around his home functioned well, less Elario not have gotten the letter on time and nearly fallen out of his seat in surprise. The Arkuhna rarely received any mail, so it was an oddity in and of itself, but it was far more than a pleasant surprise to find that it was from Shotou. They hadn't seen one another in so long that he really did almost fall over from the excitement when it was delivered. Both the Kuhnas he worked with, Namina and Ferimia, had stared at him like he had suddenly gained a third eye and an extra set of limbs. Still, none of that mattered. It almost seemed a little silly or childish, but he couldn't sit still the whole day prior after reading the message.

Now, after hurrying to finish his current work and turning it over to Ferimia for her latest article, he was making his way to Aldrect, the city of their meetings. He hadn't thought twice about the form he was in, which happened to be his human form. It was easier and faster to draw when you had hands rather than paws, and he just didn't consider that Shotou had never seen him as such. No, no, he was too anxious to see her again to even think about that.

As he started his search of the city, he looked for a Preluhna rather than a human. In the end, he found that she wasn't anywhere to be seen. The letter hadn't specified a location, so he didn't really know where to look. Maybe she suddenly had something to do and couldn't find time to come after all? A frown played upon his face then, the thought very disappointing.

But he couldn't give up so quickly! Taking their past experience into consideration, the Arkuhna-man then remembered the fountain at the center of the city. If their thought processes were anything alike, she must have thought the same. Bingo!

He made his way to the fountain, where they had met previously, as fast as his two feet would carry him. But, alas, as he found the place, he didn't find any beautiful Preluhna waiting for him...only...a beautiful woman was sitting there instead. He made a face at this thought. It didn't seem right to think another female in admiration such as that, regardless of what form they took, when his love was with another.
He sighed, then thinking that, maybe, just maybe, she was running late. Either way, he came to the conclusion that he would wait all day, hoping for her to appear.

"Excuse me, Miss?" He approached the woman sitting at the fountain with a polite smile, brushing a strand of black hair from his face. "I'm suppose to be meeting someone here. Would it be too much trouble if I joined you?"

[Kyrit]

Tick... Tick... Time was passing by and as each second slid by she was starting to think more and more that she was an idiot for not sending him the letter days ahead and giving him a specific place. "What if he does come but doesn't know that I'm here? Should I be in my Preluhna form..? What if I didn't give him enough notice..? He does have a job after all."

Many thoughts were whirling through her head, all blaming herself for the fact she wasn't seeing any Arkuhnas around. Well... there had been that one, but it wasn't him. She knew what he looked like, and she was also pretty sure that that one was in fact a female anyways. Her thoughts were soon interrupted though as the voice of another called to her.

Looking up, she finally noticed the other. "O-Oh. Hello there... I don't mind at all." He was quite the handsome guy.... There was also something about him that seemed... comforting. Still... This wasn't the one she was looking for. She needed to keep watching.

"Are you waiting on someone too...?" Poor dears. Completely clueless as to the fact that they were right there with one another. That tended to happen though when you looked completely different than the last time you had seen the one searching for you.

[ToxicShadow]

With a nod of his head, Elario gave his confirmation to the woman's question. "Yes. I am to be meeting someone quite dear to me, though I have not seen her about yet." While he spoke, he took a seat beside her, though not directly so. From her adding on the word 'too' to her question, he could only assume that she must have been waiting for someone as well. The city must have been a good place for people to meet up with one another, here at this fountain. Trying to imagine it during dusk, it must have actually been a beautiful sight to behold.

"You are waiting for someone as well?" Still, it did not occur to him that this woman could have been Shotou. He didn't even know that she was capability of using a human form. Though, he did find it almost unusually easy to speak with her. How peculiar.

Through and through, he kept his eyes out for a Preluhna wandering around, and he couldn't help but wonder just how many Preluhnas there were in Evelon. He was positive that he would be able to identify her once he saw her, it was just a matter of seeing her.

[Kyrit]

Giving a small nod, the human form Preluhna looked back toward the fountain's water, her eyes closing for a few seconds. "I'm afraid though.... that I don't think he'll be coming today. For all I know... He might not get the letter until tomorrow or the day after, or... well, any day. I didn't really give a specific date or time..." Her words were very soft, barely above a whisper level. "It's been so long since we saw one another... maybe I've walked right by him and not noticed. Although... I don't think that could happen. He means very much to me, so I've kept him in my thoughts since we had to leave one another's side."

A small smile spread over her pale face, her hand dipping down to run across the water's surface. "If he doesn't show up today though, I'll keep coming back and waiting for him." Two days, a week, a month... She'd wait for Elario for however long it took, even though he was really sitting next to her currently.

"What about you, sir?" her pale eyes were shifted toward him now. "You must be waiting for some pretty young lady. May I ask her name? I've seen many people around today."

[ToxicShadow]

As her eyes strayed away from him, Elario's eyes strayed from her as well, scanning the crowds for her Kuhna face while he listened. His gaze returned to her more quickly, however, as she began to explain her situation. He received a letter from Shotou, after all, and it hadn't given him any date, time, or place of meeting. The details were very vague, just as she was describing about the letter she sent to whomever she was to be meeting. Could it be her...? But...no.
It was all so similar, the letter, the place they both ended up when they didn't have a specific place to meet the other Kuhna they were looking for, but he was not aware that his Preluhna love had the capability of changing forms. Did that rule out the possibility that she could? No, but the Arkuhna found himself to be quite skeptical none-the-less.

He offered a smile at her statement of waiting, only because the lady seemed to have a similar mentality - they were both willing to wait for the person they wanted to see. His response followed, "Ah, yes. She's...very beautiful, not just in her looks, her heart, her personality... All of it." She's very sweet, kind hearted... I find her company to be quite amazing." He was trailing off into his own thoughts there, sort of rambling, but trying to keep in mind that he was talking to another woman. It seemed slightly unusual to ramble on about the beauties and all the reasons you loved another woman, to a woman. He shook his head, as if it helped to clear his mind.

"Oh, yes... Her name is Shotou." When he announced this, he found himself staring at her in order to observe her reaction to being given this information. It seemed so unlikely that this woman was her, but he that didn't mean he couldn't hope. If it wasn't her, then maybe she'd have some information or something, at least.

[Kyrit]

Her hand continued to move back and forth across the water as she listened to Elario. It sounded like whoever this guy was looking for had quite the guy to think such of her, as well she being an amazing person themself. In no way did she connect those words to herself, considering so many lovers, true ones at least, thought that way about one another. Love wasn't something that was decided by outer appearances, although many seemed to think so these days, but instead by what was inside.

Suddenly, she heard her name from this 'stranger's' mouth. Her face turned slightly red, her hand slapping against the water quickly in surprise, which caused it to splash slightly. Well... it was a name. Surely there were many others out there with the name Shotou. It might not have been the most common name, but there had to be someone else out there with the same name as her.

"E-Elario...?" She turned to him now, pale eyes wide and cheeks still slightly pink.  Was this really him? It had never really crossed her mind until now. Now she sort of realized that it would be sort of common sense that he'd have a human form. It'd make his word a whole lot easier if he were able to use his hands. "Is that.... you?"

[ToxicShadow]

Ding, ding, ding! It looks like we have a winner!

That was definitely his adorable, pink-faced Shotou, no doubt about it! Without so much as thinking, Elario was up from from seat, on his feet, arms around the other human-form-Kuhna. Within a matter of seconds, he had her pulled up from her seat as well, standing, with his arms wrapped around her as tightly as was possible without hurting her. His grip of death suggested that he might have been afraid to let her go for fear that she might just up and vanish in a sudden burst of smoke if he did.

It took a long moment just like this before the artist loosened his grip, lowering his arms, and letting all of her go but her hands. He held them in his own as his eyes met with hers, and he nodded as a little crooked smile came to his face. "Yea, it's me..." As if she didn't figure that one out already with his choice of action. "I'm sorry that I didn't realize it was you! Please forgive me?" There was a tone in his voice that made him seem slightly distressed, almost begging. How didn't he see it before?!

[Kyrit]

At first Shotou almost fell backwards in to the fountain when Elario rushed to grab hold of her, but that fate was quickly thrown aside as she was pulled to her feet and in to his arms. Her own dainty arms moved to  rest against him, hands ever so lightly clutching at the fabric of his shirt. This guy... was really her dear Elario? She wasn't surprised in a bad way. Quite opposite actually. Now she didn't feel horrible that she had thought he was quite the handsome looking man.

Her hands gripped back at his as he took them, giving her own gentle smile to offset that sexy smile of his. Listening to his words the Preluhna pulled her hands from his and moved back against him, this time her arms doing their best to wrap around him instead of the other way while she let her head rest on his chest. "There's nothing to forgive. I suppose I should've come here in my formal form. I didn't stop to think that you hadn't seen me like this before..."

She nuzzled against him, her golden eyes sliding shut. "I'm sorry for leaving everything so vague... I was just so excited at the thought of getting to see you again that I sort of forgot to put all that info..."

[ToxicShadow]

Happily willing just to let her hold onto him, Elario still wrapped his arms around Shotou, so now the two were holding one another. Surely of she decided to pull away though, he'd allow that too. He wouldn't force her to hug him.
This moment sent his heart a flutter, so surely the Preluhna woman would be able to hear it pounding in his chest. He couldn't say what heaven was like, as he had never passed on, but he was sure it must have been something like this. Or maybe this feeling was even better, because it was a mortal feeling and so very powerful, something he could only possibly feel to the one in his arms now.

"Likewise, you need not apologize either." A  hand found it's way to her hair, which he stroked softly, running his fingers through the beautiful, long locks. "I did not think twice of coming here in this form. We're even...." Though she could not see it with her eyes closed, there was a softer, smaller smile present on his face now. "It doesn't matter. We both made it here and, while we may not have known it at first, we found one another." A moment later, he added, "I was so excited to receive your letter that I nearly fell out of my chair when it arrived."

[Kyrit]

The flutter of Elario's heart was a comforting sound oddly enough. It was... soothing. It seemed to say what words couldn't in expressing how much he had missed her and how happy he was to currently be there with her. If he asked her, she'd likely say that it was better than heaven. Being in heaven wouldn't mean being together for sure, since it was always likely that one might die before the other. This was... a feeling of pure bliss.

She let her arms loosen around him, one hand eventually moving up to rest on his chest over her heart as she looked up at him. "Silly." Shotou spoke with a soft chuckle, smiling. "You didn't rush any work to come here, did you?" While the Preluhna was delighted to see him, she didn't want him running off from his job and leaving things rather pitifully done just to see her. She easily could have waited many hours for all she cared.

[ToxicShadow]

Elario shook his head. "No, no, dear, do not worry. I finished my last project, and the newpaper article hosting it should be out within the next few days." Even though the Arkuhna wasn't one to smirk very much, a small bit of one showed on his face now. "I even beat the writer, this time, and she was pleased with my work." So all was well. He'd done it quickly, and efficiently.
He had actually been turning into a sort of family man, what with his daughters both moving on to have children. He even had grandchildren, and great grandchildren, now which meant Shotou did too. Though, perhaps, she had already been a grandmother before he managed to become a grandfather. But, of course, that never made her any less lovely. Neither of them were actually old.

"So, erm..." The male took Shotou's one free hand in one of his own, vaguely having the random thought of how soft and delicate it was, and smaller than his own. "We have a lot to catch up on, don't we? The last time I saw you was when Balliden had found us within the art museum. You know, though she has met her mother, she never quite took to her very well. She seemed to stick with me, Arabella, and Arabella's children..." He didn't exactly mean to get off subject, but he couldn't help himself. He just kept on talking and couldn't stop, since he hadn't spoken to the Preluhna in so long.

[Kyrit]

It was a great relief to know that the human form Arkuhna had finished all of his work early, and not just crammed it all together because of her letter. It was nice to be able to see one another since they hadn't in so long, but his job was rather important. He had been with them since before she had met him, and she wouldn't want to chance putting his place there in danger.

"I'll have to make sure to watch the papers then." It was more of a note to herself, but they were still words spoken out loud. The Preluhna woman didn't generally read the papers, or even pick one up for comics for that matter, but she wanted to see his latest work.

Shotou gave a nod, twining her fingers through his when he took her hand. Lots to catch up on for sure. Wait... Arabella had children? Time seemed to really slip by these days. It seemed like just the other day she and Tsura had been kits. Tsura had had two children as well, although Shotou couldn't tell Elario much about those two since neither were with them. "Children already?" she asked with a small chuckle. "Looks like the two of them share yet another thing in common. Tsura hasn't been home a lot lately I'm afraid, so I wouldn't know too much on how she is doing. She leaves home for weeks at a time before she finally comes back."

For a moment, were he able to catch it, there was a great sadness hidden within the pale woman's eyes. It had felt to her as though she was losing her daughter, but she also knew at the same time that not all children stayed with their family once they were grown. Many left off on their own and found a family to care for as well. "How have Balliden and Arabella been? And her children? How many did she have?"

[ToxicShadow]

Elario's ears twitched when Shotou mentioned that Tsura had been away much of the time. It did strike him a little odd since, while Arabella had her own life, the daughter that stayed with him never seemed to express a want to truly leave her home. Perhaps she wanted a family of her own, but she never actually left to leave her father to wonder where she had gone for too long and without notice.

Being as keen as he was, at least with his love whom he hadn't seen in so very long, it wasn't too entirely difficult for him to notice how she felt all about Tsura and her being gone. He debated on rather or not to mention it, but settled with only a few words, a warm smile and the simultaneous rubbing of small, gentle circles into her hand with his thumb. "I'm sure she's fine," he said, words holding the purpose of assure her and lifting her spirits some degree. Hopefully, it would work, if only just a little. He didn't like seeing her sad.

Still, he felt the need to continue to answer her questions for maybe they would bring more light as well. "Both girls are well, it seems. Things were a little rough with Balliden from time to time..." Like when they found out she was a rare type of vampire and when said side took over, she had went and gotten herself pregnant... The true her cried and cried for the first few months. "But eveything is alright now. She has a daughter and two sons, herself. Arabella... She's mother to nine children in total with two males. A son and a daughter remain directly with us, while others have remained with their fathers or found their own paths. Her daughter, Wro, is currently expecting as well."

[Kyrit]

Wow. So ultimately, all three of the children had made them grandparents, and one made them great-grandparents. Even though she probably should've have included Balliden's children in that count since she wasn't her daughter, she did. Sure, there might not have been any blood tie, but any daughter of Elario's was a welcomed daughter of hers. Blood children didn't get treated any different than those accepted as her own.

"We ought to go see her children some time." The thought of checking in on Arabella's daughter, whom she had never had the chance to meet before, brought a smile back to her face as if she had forgotten all about her worries of Tsura. "Honestly, it'd be nice to meet all of Arabella and Balliden's children... though I'm willing to bet that would be pretty hard to manage. At the very least I'd love to see my great-grand children after they have been born."

It was such an odd feeling. They were already going to be great-grandparents. Sure she had white hair already, but her hair had always been like that. She didn't particularly feel... old, which was possibly what made it feel so weird. The two of them weren't some elderly couple, yet they already had so many grandchildren. As odd as the feeling as, it was a nice feeling as well. A warm, fuzzy feeling because she had such a large family now.