Dearly Departed

Gwene nodded "It is, I know it is, my heart is telling me its true." she looked down at Niamh "Niamh." she turned Niamh to face Konbei. "This is Konbei, he is your father."

Niamh's face turned to one of excitement and she leapt into Konbei's arms "Papa!"

Konbei was a little taken aback from Niamh's sudden show of affection but his stamch seemed to do a backflip when she leapt into his arms. She was so small... he could hardly believe she was his.

Gwene couldn't help but smile even brighter.

Zelda had come over to them "Last night she was looking for you, so I bought her back here for the night, I didn't know at that stage. I would have contacted you sooner, but the poor dear was tired and hungry."

Gwene looked at Zelda "Really? Thank you so much, Zelda." she stood up and gave Zelda a hug, of thanks and Zelda returned it.

Konbei patted Niamh's back a little.

"Gwene..." he leant over and said quietly. "What are we supposed to do with her? I mean, what if we accidently screw her up or something?"

"I'm worried too." Gwene said "But, we will try our best."

Zelda stepped forward "And anything you need from me, just ask and I'll help in any way I can."

Gwene smiled at Zelda, she suddenly had a look of an idea on her face. "Niamh, come here a moment."

Niamh wondered over to Gwene "What is it, Mama?"

Gwene looked up at Zelda "Niamh, I don't think you realised this before, but this is your Aunty Zelda."

"Aunty Zelda?!?" Zelda asked Gwene, her voice full of shock and surprise.

"Yeah." Gwene nodded "You have always been like a sister to me, and you really helped her out last night." she felt guilty for going away with Konbei like she did. "Besides, Aunty Zelda has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Zelda couldn't help but smile "I.... thank you..."

Another sudden thought shot to Gwene's head, this time, it scared her, she turned to look at Konbei and said only one word "Nuala...."

Konbei scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I know..." he said, thinking about what his mother might say.

"What are we going to say?" Gwene asked "I mean, she wasn't really comfortable with me around you..."

She was quiet for a few moments, thinking "What about Celeste? I'm sure she'll take the news great."

"I guess," Konbei said. "I can go get her if you want?"

Gwene nodded, she looked back at Niamh and Zelda. Zelda spotted Gwene's look and took that as her cue to leave. Niamh wandered back over to Gwene's side and stood behind her.

Konbei hesitated a little before looking at Niamh again, and disappearing, leaving a patch of snow behind him.

He returned minutes later with Celeste. "Where is she?" She said quietly and then spotted Niamh and placed a hand over her heart. "Oh my..." Celeste gave a small smile and walked over to Gwene and Niamh.

Niamh looked at Celeste from behind Gwene, she looked up at her mother, and Gwene looked down at her and gave her a reassuring nod.

She stood out from behind Gwene and walked up to Celeste. "Hi." she felt a little nervous.

Celeste knelt down to Niamh and gently held her hand out to her. "Hello, sweetheart," she smiled.

Niamh hesitated before she took Celeste's own hand. "Who are you?"

"I'm Celeste, I'm your..." she thought about it for a moment, "great Aunty."

Her smile brightened "Aunty Cel-es-te?" she sounded out

"That's right," Celeste nodded and smiled at her. "What's your name?"

"Niamh." she replied. She took a better look at Celeste "Wow, you're pretty."

Gwene had walked over to Konbei and wrapped an arm around his waist "I can see those two getting along well together, don't you?"

"Oh, thank you, Niamh," Celeste said sincerely. "You are aswell, and so is your name. Tell me, who gave it to you?"

"Umm... It was the name of this princess in a book I liked." Niamh said "I liked it so much."

"Oh, well I can see why," Celeste said. "I think you did a very good job of picking a name that suits you."

"Yeah," Konbei laughed a little. "Guess we won't ever have to worry about keeping her entertained."

Niamh couldn't help but smile more, she leapt at Celeste and gave her a hug.

Gwene rested her head on his shoulder "Now the easy part is over. Should we give it a few days before going to tell Nuala?"

Deserax and Dalikos had gone home and Deserax was helping Dalikos get used to the five year time skip that happened while Dalikos vanished.

"Yeah, I'd to get used to this whole situation first," Konbei said, looking at Niamh.

Gwene nodded. She watched as Celeste and Niamh got along. "She is too cute."

"She gets it from you," Konbei said.