"Be glad, those who still have a family to go home to. Be sure to cherish those you have, while you still can." - Old saying.

After another week of relaxation and exploration in Al-Hassid, Cal brought everyone - Dan included, since he said he would like to visit Paradise as well if she doesn't mind - to the gate chamber in the citadel. Together, the seven of them, eight if Lumi was counted, stepped through the gate that led to Paradise.

As they went through, the warm, dry winds of the Caliphate gave way to the cooler late autumn winds of Paradise's temperate climate. The gate hub building itself was empty that day, other than the usual guards, which Cal thought wasn't unusual.

Kino split from the party and brought Dan with her as she took the young half goblin to sightsee in the city. On her end, Cal brought her nieces and Ying Xiao towards the inn where their families had stayed before. The one run by Aideen's family, as she had learned later on.

When they arrived at the inn, it was the older lady, Aoife, Aideen's mother, who happened to greet them. She informed them that Cal's family had bought an empty house in the third circle of the city in their absence, and resided there nowadays. Thanking the woman for the information and directions, Cal headed towards the house as she was told.

As she followed the directions, Cal finally arrived at the house in question. It was a rather large two-story house, large enough to be considered a mansion in less affluent areas. It was also one of the older houses since it was located in the third circle.

Apparently the owners were descendants of the original owners, but their family had dwindled and thus the house was a bit too large for them. Because of that, they sold off the house to find a smaller one that fit them more instead, and apparently Krystal caught wind of it during one of her visits to the city.

The scene Cal saw at the small yard before the house made her certain she was at the right place. Ilena, Leila's little sister who turned four this year, happily played on the yard, as she chased Ida around the place, with two dogs running alongside them.

Naturally, the dogs were the same puppies Elaina and Sidonie had adopted last year. They had not brought them along as the trip this year goes through some rather dangerous areas like the desert, and the dogs were too young besides.

On the other hand, Ida had started to show her growth as a Reaper Serval. While the catlike beast was notably slimmer and more slender than the two bulky dogs, she was nearly as long as them, and ran around with far greater alacrity and agility.

It was the dogs who first noticed their arrival, as they sniffed the air, turned, and ran straight towards their respective owners. Elaina's smaller dog literally jumped onto her while Sidonie's larger one rubbed its head against her leg like a spoiled child.

Ilena naturally noticed how the dogs suddenly turned away, and as she turned to look herself, she saw Leila, so she ran her way and called out to her sister happily. Ida followed closely beside her. The serval eyed the drake on Leila's shoulder closely, as if trying to certify whether it was a threat or not.

The way Lumi curiously sniffed at Ilena, then sniffed at Leila, then back to Ilena before she fondly rubbed her scaly head against the little girl's cheek made Cal sure that she could leave the girls there, so she bid Ying Xiao to wait for her as she went to the house, allowing the girls their little reunion.

As she opened the door to the house, she saw Unitia, who sat on a rocking chair while reading a book in the living room. What surprised her however, was that Khal-Est was still there as well, as he chatted with Idania. She had thought that he had returned to the orcish lands by now.

Cal smiled as her family noticed her enter the house and greeted her happily, and soon they all sat down and traded stories of what happened in the past year with each other. It turned out that Khal-Est and Lorna had decided to move to Paradise as well after much deliberation, and over the autumn they had settled their remaining business and brought back what items they wished go keep from Gal-Morogh.

The large house they currently inhabited was more than large enough for the whole family, even including the younger generation, to live together, which was what they had decided on when they purchased it. Naturally, they left a vacant room for Cal as well, for her to use as she wished.

Cal felt nothing but warmth in her heart from the offer, and accepted, even if she might not be around to use the room much during her travels. The rest of that night was spent with her family, as Idania fetched the girls from the yard and later Krystal returned with Lorna from the market.

It was a rather festive night at the house as everyone reunited. Leila was particularly happy and proud as she introduced the young drake to her mother, who was quite surprised by her good fortune on the trip. The rest of the family chatted together happily as they ate dinner together, basking in the shared warmth of being amongst family.

When she laid down on the bed of her room in the house that night, Cal thought that the warm feeling shared together with the family, the way they just basked happily in each other's presence, was a feeling she definitely could get used to.

It was a peaceful, dreamless slumber that she had that night, a peaceful feeling that she had only found again after a long time. A feeling that she had last felt long ago, before the civil war in the Empire started, when her parents were still alive...