The morning started with the screeching sound of an alarm clock.

Rolan groaned. "Turn that thing off already!"

Aidan groped around the nightstand sleepily and eventually found the switch of the alarm. Then he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up in one fluid movement. "Good morning."

"Why are you waking up this early..."

"Because I have work to go to, and Lucas needs his breakfast before that. The joys of family life and all that," Aidan replied with a smile. "Besides, I thought that fishermen woke up before dawn."

Rolan pulled the covers up to his ears. "Only if I have to."

"Heh." He almost tripped on Rolan's mattress in the dim light of the dawn filtering in through the curtains. "Oops, sorry about that. But now that you're awake, how about helping with making breakfast?" It had been quite a while since he'd had this many mouths to feed, if one didn't count Kress's and Mrei's earlier short visit.

"Give me a break, I've driven for several days almost non-stop. And don't even get me started on camping with three kids." Certainly he enjoyed their company, but between traveling and keeping a keen eye on Kress's health sleep was something that had been in short supply lately and he had fully intended to make up for that today.

"Alright, alright. I'll wake you once the food is ready."

Aidan made his way downstairs and much to his surprise found Mrei waiting on the couch. Not even watching television. Just waiting.

"Good morning, princess," he told her with a gentle smile. "How come you're already awake? Couldn't sleep?"

Mrei nodded. "I started thinking...and then I couldn't stop."

Aidan sat on the couch next to her. "What did you think about?"

"Daddy taught me that it's really important that the king or queen rule fairly and well. That once it's my turn, I have to think of my people first. Always."

"I'd say he was right."

"Then why..." Her face crunched up in thought. "Why do daddy's soldiers look down on heathens so much? And why do heathens call me and Kress outsiders? They don't seem to like us at all."

"I think that in order to understand that you need to look at the words you use."

"Eh?"

"A 'heathen' means someone who believes differently from what is considered mainstream. Why would you pick that word to describe the Skyfall tribe?"

She had never thought about that. "Because that's what you're called everywhere. In the history book I read in school too."

Aidan shook his head. "The victors rewrite the history to suit their own goals. What the books tell you is not always the entire truth. Ever since this kingdom was founded, we have been - in a sense - more of outsiders than ever before."

"I always believed that the Dawn King united the entire continent to build a kingdom where people could be free and equal and happy. But so many people I've talked with think differently." She looked at Aidan with a very serious expression. "So what is your side of the story?"

That made Aidan smile again. He had been right about Mrei. She might indeed break the barriers built over centuries.

"About 400 years ago the Dawn King came to our lands with a mission to unite all lands under one kingdom. Don't get me wrong - he did bring many good things with him. Medicine, technology, organized trade. He turned Skyfall territory into something more than a bunch of semi-isolationist villages whose people only interacted once or twice a decade." They'd had a sense of identity as one tribe, as descendants of the sky people, for a long time, but the sheer size of their lands had severely limited communications between clans. "But he also demanded we give up our old ways, our faith. That was not something we could agree on. So he brought the soldiers. Other than a handful of radicals, we had no desire to fight a war that would cost thousands of lives. Instead we decided to trust the Sky spirits and wait."

"For the messenger?" Mrei asked.

Aidan nodded. "That's correct. Our beliefs were banned in public, but we kept our customs and continued to teach our children like we always had. As we were useful, the royalty settled for portraying us as 'heathens' and left us mostly alone. Until...recently." He stopped and patted Mrei's head. "I understand that you love and respect him greatly, but to me it seems like your father is quite a ruthless man."

"I really can't believe daddy is like that..." Taking Lucas's mother and sister, creating a world where wonderful people like Lucas and Kress could just be locked up for no reason at all...She just couldn't believe it. "I'll talk to him once I get back home! I'll tell him about all the things I've seen and all the people I've met, and I'm sure he'll understand too!"

Aidan chuckled and patted her head once more. "I would have never imagined I'd get to meet a princess like you, Mrei. You are a rare treasure indeed."

"Um...thank you?"

Sudden yelling from upstairs interrupted their discussion.

"What was that?" Mrei asked.

"My guess would be that Lucas fell off the bed. He can be a...lively sleeper when he's about to wake up."

Mrei couldn't help but giggle at that image. "Do you think he fell on Kress?"

"Well, I wouldn't rule out that possibility. But what I'm certain of is that in about ten minutes there will be at least one very hungry boy demanding breakfast."

~*~*~

It actually wasn't Lucas who fell off the bed. He had gone to bathroom in the middle of the night and - half-asleep as he had been - had returned to his bed without thinking and completely forgotten that he had given it to Kress. And when he had started waking up, he had accidentally pushed the other boy over the edge.

Kress startled awake as he started falling and hit the hard floor before he had any chance to actually do anything about the fact. He just sat there for  moment, completely unmoving and trying to make sense of his surroundings. He had felt so warm and safe throughout the night, and now...

He covered his mouth with one hand, fighting off the sudden feelings of panic. He shouldn't let Lucas too close. It would only end in pain. But still he did. He wanted to. He...needed to.

Lucas yawned and stretched his arms sleepily, completely oblivious to the fact that he had pushed his bedfellow to the floor. And after hugging Kress for half the night like a plush toy too.

That made Kress feel annoyed in a very childish way. He grabbed the pillow on the mattress on the floor and smacked the other boy with it.

Lucas was instantly wide awake and stared at him in surprise and startled anger. "What was that for?!"

Kress smirked. "First you took over the bed and then you kicked me off of it. It's the least you deserve."

Lucas smiled and fisted his own pillow before throwing it straight to Kress's face.

~*~*~

Aidan looked at them curiously as both boys came downstairs completely flushed on the faces. Kress's white hair was peppered with equally white synthetic fibers. "Well?" the adult asked, directing his gaze straight at his son.

"One of the pillows kind of...broke," Lucas admitted sheepishly.

That made Aidan smile, although he tried to keep the stern expression of a parent. "You know the rules. If you break it, you fix it too."

"I know...Can I at least have breakfast first?" he asked as he watched Kress take a seat at the table laden with porridge, bread and all other kinds of breakfast stuff.

Aidan nodded, a little surprised that Lucas didn't try to push half the blame on Kress. His little boy was really growing up.

"I'll help!" Mrei promised. "I'm really good in sewing. My teacher said so."