In the Midst of the Lonely Sea of Loneliness 12

"Neet! Where are you?" Artham called as he made his way into the forest. "Leeli just told me you were here. She's waiting for you on the front porch!" He paused and waited for a response but only got the sound of birds and wind. "Nia... When will you realize your children miss you...?"

"I ssim meht erom naht yeht ssim em, Mahtra." Neet replied from an unknown location, causing Artham to look around. She then proceeded to jumpscare him by hanging upside down from a tree, just a foot away from his face.

"Ah!" Artham backed away before realizing it was Neet. "What were you doing so close to the house?"

"Gninruter Rennaj." Neet replied, "Eh emac ot em..."

The gibberish Neet was uttering made Artham let out a deep sigh. "I don't have a clue what you're telling me but..." He looked her in the eyes. "Your children want you home. They know who you are, Nia. Is it fair to hide from them?"

Neet's eyes filled with tears and her eye twitched at the mention of her name. "On... S'ti ton riaf rof enoyna. Od uoy kniht I detnaw ot eb detarapes?" Her breathing sounded raspy, like she was getting worked up again.

"Come down from there before you break something... Please." Artham reached up and held his arms up in case she were to fall.

Since he asked so nicely, Neet dropped from the tree and landed on her feet but didn't face him, hiding her claws in front of her.

"Won't you at least stick around long enough to meet them?" He asked, really hoping this would be the last time he asked her to come home.

She looked over her shoulder at him before looking down at her claws. "Mahtra... I t'nod wonk fi d'taht eb a doog aedi..." Neet hid the claws under her arms.

"They're your family, Neet... I don't know what else to say that I haven't said in the passed seven years... Just... come home." Artham tiredly pleaded, his patience wearing thin.

Neet slowly turned to Artham with tears streaming down her face. She just nodded, signaling she wanted to go with him.

"Really? You're coming?" He asked, his thick eyebrows lifting from his eyes with surprise.

Neet nodded again, averting her eyes like she was having second thoughts.

"Well- let's not waste any time then." Artham smiled at her and began to guide her back through the forest toward the house. "Leeli is waiting..."

And so, the former Throne Warden and Queen of Anniera gradually made their track back to the cottage to meet their family.

A million thoughts rushed Neet's mind as she walked behind her brother-in-law toward home. Would the children like her? Would they be mad at her for being gone so long? Would they mind her claws? Janner didn't seem to mind them... And Leeli was even waiting for her after seeing them! Maybe the claws wouldn't be a problem... But would the fangs?

Neet didn't know what to with such thoughts and since she was trying to commit the idea of meeting her children, running wasn't an option for her. Instead, she just cried silently.

On the way, Artham kept looking over his shoulder to make sure she was there and while he was glad she was, he still felt a nagging guilt tugging his heart when he saw how depressed she was.

"She's crying nearly every time I see her... I hope that changes once she's home for a while." Artham thought to himself in an effort to soothe the guilt he was feeling. "... I wonder what happened to her and Esben..."

They made it as far as the fence when Neet saw the whole family watching from the front porch, causing her to freeze just like she had before.

Artham stopped when he didn't hear her footsteps anymore and turned to her. "Neet? Are you coming?"

"... Sey..." She forced herself to reply and nod to indicate she wasn't going to run.

"Then let's go before your dad gets impatient." Artham offered his hand to escort her further but Neet did not take it; she walked ahead of him, keeping her claws tucked under her arms.

Artham retracted his hand in a perplexed manner but didn't question her. He followed behind her cautiously, wondering what she was thinking.

"No..." Podo remarked upon seeing his daughter coming up the path. "Wendy, are you seein' what I'm seein'?"

"It's our Nia!" Wendolyn gasped and covered her mouth with both of her hands.

As soon as Neet and Artham were close to the house, Leeli came running with her blanket over her head to prevent it from dragging in the ground. When she got to them, she threw the blanket around her mother's shoulders.

"There you go... It's cold out here." Leeli beamed innocently up at her mother.

This simple act of kindness caused Neet to begin sobbing. "Ym Ileel... Kanth uoy, Read..."

"What??" Leeli tilted her head to one side and looked over at Artham as if he might be an interpreter for whatever language Neet was saying. Alas, her uncle only shrugged and gestured that her mother couldn't speak correctly.

"Oh... Well... Welcome home, mom!" Leeli stepped closer and hugged her. "We can get a room ready for you!"

With such a warm welcome, Neet couldn't resist a hug from her own daughter. She slowly revealed her claws and hugged Leeli back, shocking the other four who hadn't seen them yet.

Artham's eyes widened and stepped aside, trying to figure out what he was looking at.

Both Podo and Wendolyn gasped at the sight, just as confused as Artham was.

As for Tink, he just howled excitedly, "Woahhh! That's so coooool!" Janner nudged him. "Ow..."

Leeli didn't mind Neet hugging her despite her strange hands so it wasn't hard for her to take one of the paws in her hand and begin to lead Neet over to the rest of her family.

Podo and Wendolyn were quick to join them, quickly throwing any caution left to the wind. After all, this was their daughter. Who cared that she had claws? She was home after seven years of effort! The two of them embraced Nia, each crying happy tears to see her.

Nia hugged her parents back in silence, tears rolling down her face and her body shaking.

"My dear, you're home..." Wendolyn brushed Nia's hair to the side to look at her face more fully. "We've missed you so much... We feared the worst for a long time but we're so glad you're back."

"Aye, lass." Podo added to his wife's heartfelt words, "I lost a part of me heart when you disappeared... at last, it's whole again."

When the three of the had their moment, they let go of their daughter and joined Leeli in ushering Neet toward the house so Janner and Tink could see her.

As Neet approached, she first looked at Janner and offered a small smile before looking at Tink, the smile fading almost immediately. The fading smile wasn't because she wasn't happy to see Tink but rather because she hadn't met him yet and didn't know what he would do.

Tink was pretty much staring at Neet's paws the whole time, glancing a few times up at his mother's face. "Um... You left the scarves at home, huh?"

"Tink." Janner groaned.

"'Kint'???" Nia questioned, never having heard that name for her son before.

"It's just a nickname we gave em, Nia. Don't worry about it." Podo reassured her but mistakenly used her real name, triggering a mild response.

Neet pulled her claws away from both Leeli and her parents before placing them over her ears and scrunching up her face. She began shaking, similarly to how she had when Janner was with her in her treehouse.

Thankfully, Janner immediately realized she might go into another episode so he acted quickly. "Mom, it's okay! Just breathe. Remember? Breathe. You're home with us, there's nothing to be afraid of."

Everyone present looked at Janner like he was strange but when they recognized that whatever he was doing was indeed soothing Neet, no one commented on it.

Neet focused on breathing before she lowered her claws from her face. It was as if every time she heard her name, a loud ringing in her ears would occur that she couldn't turn off.

"We call her 'Neet'... Remember? Podo?" Artham reminded Podo, knowing all the times she ran away just from the mention of her name. "We don't want her running..."

"Right..." Podo quieted himself, not caring all that much about calling his daughter by a name he didn't give her but also not wanting her to run off again.

"Oh, you have a nickname too. It's... nice?" Tink complimented with his smile askew, hoping it might help his mother feel better.

Neet sighed in response before she ruffled Tink's hair affectionately. She seemed weighed down but from what Janner could tell, she seemed happy to be there.

"You must be tired... Podo! Get a place ready for our daughter to sleep. I'm going to get started on clothes!" Wendolyn said, running into the house on a mission.

"I... better do what she says." Podo remarked, following after her. He smiled at Nia before entering the house.

"Welcome home, mom." Janner softly smiled at her and he was satisfied when she smiled back.