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Aston Zehemerata gave a loud squeal of delight and bounded from her window seat to the main door of her family home. "They"re here, Mima! They"ve arrived!" Bouncing up and down with excitement, the child flung open the heavy wooden door, allowing the swirling mists of snow to enter and shower both her and the entry landing with wet, sparkling flakes. Just as she made to dash outside in her small stockinged feet, her father appeared behind her and gently pulled her tiny form back inside.

"Not yet, Aston," he said. "It may be a while yet before the landing scouts allow the Altairs permission to leave their vessel. Once they make their way through all that snow out there and we hear their approach, then we can go out to greet them properly."

Disappointed, Aston ducked her head in a brief pout before scooting away to peer anxiously through another window. She wasn"t able to see Le"pra Zh"r and where it had actually landed, but she knew its passengers would be coming soon, as the Altair had promised they would. So much excitement was overwhelming for one so young, particularly when there were so many surprises in store and so many great menus being planned throughout the whole village for the next several solarities. "Please hurry," Aston whispered, her small hand curling against the frosted window as she tucked the other into the crinkled folds of her new blue shanton dress, the one her mima had made especially for this one and only, extra special occasion. "Please..."



The time of winter storms now prevailed over much of the eastern half of planet Ulstra, a perfect setting for what Dammen Altair had in store for his family.

Arrangements had been made several mentas in advance with those of Aston"s small village, for this unusual visit by Kaanig Altair and his family to the home of Jina and Manaham Zehemerata, Aston"s parents. Were it not for the promise Dammen had made to Aston about inviting her to TrCasinaar, he would never have considered such a venture unless he had other business to attend to on Ulstra. However, this time things were going to be very out of the ordinary. It would be a time for celebration and of the sharing of different worlds and cultures. He had taken such care to plan everything, he could only pray now that all would go well. He turned to his life mate who was sitting on their bunk, dressing their son for the condition of the world outside.

"The scouts have cleared the way," he told her. "We can go now. The Tompkinses and the Aemonses will go ahead of us with the scouts to make certain everything is in order. Is that acceptable to you?" He observed her head come up at the question, and noted the odd look she gave him. He knew he had never asked her opinion before regarding his orders or decisions and was studying her reaction to his words. As she met his steady gaze, he knew she was aware that he was reading her thoughts. So she only smiled and nodded.

"Sounds fine," she murmured, not even considering if there was an alternative.

At her response, Dammen gave a satisfied grin, realizing he had done the right thing in asking her opinion. They could never rule together as one unless she was included in the decision-making as well. Eventually he knew she would become more skilled at it. He wanted nothing to concern him whenever he was away tending to the populace.



A large group of Kathians disembarked from Le"pra Zh"r and proceeded toward the village of Hemenek. It was about a koron"s trek to the Zehemerata homestead, but Dammen wanted his entourage to be a least three quarters ahead of them before following. Not wanting Casina to miss out on the beauty and peacefulness of the Ulstran landscape, he thought he would share a few quality moments with his family before an entire village of Ulstrans surrounded them.

"I"ll take him," Dammen told his life mate as they left the ship, carefully lifting Arian into powerful arms. Secured in one arm, Arian squirmed briefly before settling a bit. Dammen then took his life mate"s hand, admiring the large snowflakes now covering her hooded head.

"It"s beautiful here," Casina said. "I haven"t seen snow in so long. And it"s so peaceful

and…and…"

"Romantic?"

"Yes," she chirped, laughing. "With the growing darkness, it does seem romantic. Everything is so white, and the snowflakes sparkle in this eerie light. It sends a chill down my back." She moved to hug her husband"s arm. "I"m glad you"re with me, Uri. You make me feel so safe."

Dammen didn"t respond, but a wonderful feeling went through him at her last words. He had never known if she felt protected or not, but now she was actually voicing the words he wanted to hear. Drawing her along beside him, through the deep mounds of snow, he observed the large flakes falling gently to earth. It was one of those nights when the moons of Ulstra weren"t visible because of the overcast clouds, yet the sky was orange-hued and bright enough to illuminate everything about them. It did make one experience an eerie chill, but he knew he wouldn"t change anything if only he could keep that look of joyful wonder on Casina"s face forever.

Careful to follow the trail of footsteps of his entourage across the large field, Dammen made their trek as easy for his wife as possible. They walked almost half a koron before arriving at a secluded glade of surrounding trees. Beyond that were woods, with a trail of footsteps leading through them. Stopping, Dammen peeked into his son"s sleeping face and, content, drew his blanket about him more closely, once freeing his arm from Casina"s embrace.

"I"m not tired, Uri. We can keep going."

"I didn"t stop to rest, Cas. I stopped to spend a rare, quiet moment alone with my family, and to admire my beautiful life mate. And to give you this." He pulled forth a strange bracelet, shiny and silver, took her wrist, then secured it there. Casina stared at it with fascination.

"What is it?" she asked, drawing it closer for examination.

"A d"lab"r." I had it made and sized especially for you. So you can always be in contact with me should you need me. We have our own private channel, just between us, but I"ll show you later how to access it."

A smile spread wide upon her face. "Th-Thank you," she said, lifting her gaze to his. "I could never remember the real name. Only that it was some sort of wrist thingy. Like from a comic strip."

"I had to be sure I could trust you completely before giving you this," he explained, grinning and not asking her to elaborate on that. "Your behavior when I was killed, and later when I fought with Menakam, proved your complete loyalty to me and to the empire."

Reaching over, he slowly drew back the hood of her thick cloak and peered down into her face. Her gorgeous eyes shone brightly in the unearthly light. He felt her tremble as his free hand slid up her arm to her shoulder, then to the back of her neck. "I realize we were alone aboard ship, but here, out here, we are completely by ourselves, and that will be a rare thing for us to enjoy so we need to steal these moments whenever we can."



Drawing her closer, his lips sought hers as her heart melted against him. She struggled to maintain her footing in the piles of snow they were standing in. A soft moan escaped her lips, and she struggled again to control the waves of panic and desire now rippling through her as he kissed her, as if it might be their last, and she wished fervently that she could be alone all weekend with him instead of having to share him with a bunch of strangers.

Faith, even a moment such as this was more desirable than to have him leave her again. Whatever was he thinking when he thought to bring her so far from their home just to spend a few days? He had only just been returned to her, and here they were off and running again. How she just wanted to stay in bed with him the entire time and not share him with anybody. She imagined how glorious that would be, not to have her husband dashing from her side to attend to some business matter that she usually knew nor cared anything about. Well, at least not yet. She was still getting used to the Kaaniga thing and still had a lot to learn.



Aware of Casina"s troubled thoughts, Dammen broke the spell, realizing how important it was for him to make her forever understand and believe just how much he loved and cherished her. Things might well be different by the time they left Ulstra, and he desperately wanted to maintain the strength of their present relationship.

"Come. It"s getting late. I certainly don"t want my scouts to think we got lost and come looking for us." Snuggling his bundle closer, he then brought a possessive arm about Casina"s shoulders as they continued their hike.