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thecandywrites · 4 years

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Jewel Of The North Part 7

As always thanks to @monstersandmaw for sharing ice orcs with me.

Now, get some popcorn and a drink and lets watch things blow up in our readers face and her past comes to bite her in the ass, shall we?

Jewel of the North

Part 7

On Sunday, Noah and yourself finished your dishes for the family dinner and no matter what Noah tried to say, you were just on edge and anxious about it and you couldn’t shake your gut feeling that it was a bad idea and that something was going to go wrong. He even tried banging the nerves out of you, twice. But all that did was push you to try to hide how nervous and anxious you were.

The only one Noah warned you about was his sister Alorna who was a stuck up priss and a hypocritical one at that, how she loved to preach about the traditional ways but didn’t feel she needed to live by them herself and was the most “Anglo” out of all of them whereas Neena had practiced what she preached and how Alorna was always at odds with everyone, especially Neena and brought drama wherever she went and to take whatever she would say with a big grain of salt.

Meanwhile Summer’s tea leaves told her that you were feeling anxious and that you were going to be judged and compared to Neena and she practically drilled into everyone that they needed to be nice and gentle, warm and welcoming and accepting which they were all to happy to comply.

“Alorna, you’re still coming for the family dinner tomorrow right?” Summer asked as she was on the phone with her the day before.

“Of course I’m coming, I’m getting the crab now, John got huge tips this week, he gets off at 4 and we’ll be there by five, no problem.” She reassured her mother.

“And make sure you all bring your best manners too, she’s nervous to meet everyone. We have to be warm and welcoming.” Summer insisted.

“She’s the one who should bring her best manners, has anyone even checked her out? How do we know she’s not some gold digger or someone working for the developers or the oil company or even the prospectors? They’re getting more and more scheming and devious.” She argued.

“I can swear to you that she isn’t. She’s come on vacation and made herself and instrument in The God’s Will and I have seen it with my own eyes. She is a blessing and if you scare away this blessing, the gods will not look favorably on you. And if you and your family can’t be nice, you won’t be welcome. You can eat all that crab at your own home and I’ll tell her that you couldn’t make it.” Summer offered in ultimatum.

Alorna glared in outrage at her phone.

“No, we’ll be there and we will show her as much respect as she shows us.” Alorna spat before she ended the call before she got what she came for and went home and got out her own best outfit, she was going to be the prettiest woman there while she dug into the name she was given, she looked on Facebook and found so many Zara Kingsley’s but when she crossreferenced LMT’s and Great Lakes and was pretty sure she found you- especially when in the comments, she realized that “Zara” was a nick name. Your full name was a mouthful, but you had quite the following as she went through the facebook feed and the linked businesses facebooks. You owned three seperate businesses, but they were all spa businesses. Cushy jobs, you were beautiful- sure, and your home spa did look luxurious and obviously why you looked as good as you did for being as old as you were, you had your very own spa at your disposal. You were obviously spoiled and used to getting and having everything.

She then found old pictures of your husband who had not had a Facebook, he was- rather hideous, he was perhaps one of the uglier orcs she had ever seen, so that meant in her mind, he either had a really good personality, a really great dick, he worshiped you like a goddess or he was wealthy and came from a wealthy family and most likely, all of those factors were the only justifications a woman as beautiful as you would be with someone like him. Your children on the other hand were really adorable, your son was handsome and had a facebook of his own which posted a lot of pictures of him in modern dance which she could appreciate, but then she found the pictures and videos of him in ballet, which she thought was rather hysterical if not absurd, shameful and dishonorable. Orc boys did not belong in ballet. Elven boys and human boys and fae boys of course, especially moura boys who were born flamboyant, but not orcs, it was ridiculous. He looked so out of place and it was just... embarrassing. Were you trying to raise a pansy? You took a perfectly good orc boy and turned him into a flower is what you did, heaven forbid you give Noah a son and do the same thing to him as you did your own. There was no way he was going to continue the family line of his natural father. With a few pictures she found your son’s snake channel on You Tube and a little google search told her that it was an expensive hobby which all pointed to your family having a lot of money.

Your girl though, she was into MMA and martial arts in general, now that- she could approve of. Orcs were natural born warriors and she was a natural. She was also into hunting judging by the pictures of her with game she killed when she went hunting with her grandpa. Well at least the dishonor that your son bathed and rolled around it was not something she shared. She felt pity for your daughter for having such a brother. The poor thing couldn’t choose her family. Well hopefully Noah would straighten Xander out and get him out of those tights and ballet shoes and get him out in the woods or working with him in the plane or something, that was the only way your son could be saved, because you sure weren’t. And doing some math, it was only after your husband died that your son got into ballet and your husband was probably rolling in his grave if he knew how you’ve destroyed his son. The lack of a proper masculine role model was clearly damaging. It was your son that needed rescuing, if not a full on intervention.

And since you were a widow and judging by your posts, you were a widow for about two years now, you probably used all of your husband’s life insurance policy payout to either buy or build that house that was looking like a small mansion from these images on the business’ facebooks or you or your husband came from money and all of these were just hobbies for you. And when she found the post about what your husband did, another quick google search at what that kind of position payed and if you were wealthy, the wealthy always got life insurance and if you followed the rule of thumb, you got at least a million dollar pay out and that sure did look like a million dollar house to her. How foolish, you used all of your husband’s money to build a mansion with it. But one look at it all and she doubted you’d give this up for Noah. Noah was poor and his house was practically a trailer compared to your mansion, a humble cottage really. Which to her, meant one thing, you were probably going to be taking Noah and Sakura home with you- if this was ever going to go anywhere and the thought made her stomach sour, you were going to buy one of the best pieces of the Arctic Tundra and take it home and put it on a shelf with any other souvineer. The audacity you had!

The only way she was ever going to think otherwise is if you and your family moved up here. And with your tastes for the luxurious, there was really only a few homes that would be suitable because there was no way you would think Noah’s humble abode would be good enough for a princess like you, much less your son. Of course if that happened, you’d probably buy her dream house which was currently on the market. And she’d probably resent you for that too. You were only a blessing to them because you had money. And you could use whatever money your “mansion” sold for and “invest” it in the family. That was all there was too it. Well the least you could do is perhaps get Noah and maybe her parents out of their debt. Maybe pay off their houses if you were humble enough to move in with Noah. And if you’d be treating the family with your spa services for free and uphold all the traditions that Neena wanted to uphold without question or complaint. That was the only way she was going to be happy about this. If you could prove yourself in that way because if she or anyone else in the family had to pay for anything, you would practically be taking advantage of them from her moral point of view.

Come Sunday you felt like you were a bundle of nerves and one of the ways you found you could try to bury it was you got dressed up in your cutest, most flattering outfit and got dolled up so that you looked picture perfect and tried to make yourself look as sweet and as non-threatening and hopefully likable as possible before you made sure Sakura was looking particularly darling and perfectly precious and did her hair up in curls and braids and got her a new outfit and bow before Noah took you and Sakura to his parent’s house where everyone but Alorna and her husband John were already gathered, all of them eagerly awaiting your arrival, in particular Neena’s family who were especially excited to meet you.

You already knew Summer who introduced Neena’s parents, Isla and Tonrar, Neena’s brother Yakone and his wife Merideth and their children. Neena’s sister Miki and her husband Dave and their kids and Neena’s other sister Sedna and her husband Max and all of their kids before she had you meet the rest of her family- Ukluk, who you recognized from a picture on your parent’s wall. Noah’s brother Nago and his wife Samantha and their kids and of course Noah’s sister Sesi who you got to briefly meet yesterday and her husband Suka and their kids and you were so grateful that you brought so much of all your dishes so that hopefully everyone would get a taste as they all helped you bring in all your dishes and beer and wine and other alcohol from Noah’s truck after they all gave you a series of big hugs as you realized both families were big huggers which was fine by you because each hug you received seemed to settle your nerves a little more and reassure you a little more that it was going to be ok and that perhaps you had been worrying for nothing. All of Sakura’s cousins were awesome and had asked you all kinds of questions about your kids which you were happy to answer. All the boys especially were interested in seeing pictures of your son’s snakes while the girls liked to see the pictures of the other animals in your ‘menagerie’ while all the guys dug into the beer especially and talked among themselves in the living room, leaving the women to talk in the kitchen, around the kitchen island before the kids left to go play in the playroom, Sakura leaving her new hair bow with you so it wouldn't’ get hurt.

“How do you keep getting so lucky? A priestess and a massage therapist?” Suka jabbed at Noah’s arm and Noah could only shrug but his grin was awfully smug, if not proud, as they sat on the couch together and drank the ridiculously good beer you had brought.

“And she’s a good cook, her food is making my stomach growl.” Dave admitted.

“Yeah it was hard not to eat it as she was prepping it all day yesterday. You should have seen the spread she made on Tuesday.” Noah bragged. “She made me and Sakura something called a ‘gosbe’ it’s her clan’s tradition of a wooing feast which I didn’t know that was a thing until days later, after the fact which I wish I knew because it worked like a charm. She made these huge tomahawk steaks, one for each of us and cooked perfectly medium rare with all these sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, the mushroom risotto, candied yams with alcohol which I didn’t know you could do but she did and they were the best. She made brussel sprouts with bacon and they were actually really good and broccoli with cheddar that was also amazing. Like, I had never had a vegetable as tasty as she made those. And a death by cheese mac and cheese and rolls, all of it she made by hand, from scratch, I’m pretty sure I gained 20 lbs from that one meal and I was fighting, fighting not to nail her to every surface of my house on Tuesday and she managed to clean my house while she made all that too, like she was wonder woman, made it into a game with Sakura so Sakura helped out too.” Noah revealed as all of his brothers and brothers in law all keened and whimpered at just the sounds of the food.

“So she’s perfect, you found the unicorn. They stopped making women like that fifty years ago I think.” Nago teased as Noah just laughed but couldn’t argue about that.

“And she’s a widow?” Max questioned.

“Yup, been one for about two years and it has only been recently that her kids were ok with her moving on.” Noah answered.

“Ah, well have you talked to them yet?” Ukluk asked.

“I did last night, they’re understandably really weary because of extenuating circumstances they have come into a little bit of inheritance and they have already had to deal with vultures and wolves of the ‘walking upright variety’ so her and her kids are pretty gunshy. So it’s just gonna take a lot of time and effort to prove to them that I’m not one too or a threat and not out to take advantage of them in any way- so it’s gonna be a work in progress.” Noah ventured as he chanced a look in the kitchen to get a quick read on you and your body language to make sure you were ok as he noticed you were practically inbetween all of them and the center of attention which you looked like you were handling fairly well which made him grin.

He had told you that you had been worrying over nothing and that his family and Neena’s family were going to like you and that you had nothing to worry about in the first place. As long as you were yourself and genuine and honest, you were going to be just fine and right now you looked so natural and so in place in his parent’s kitchen, just having wine like one of the girls, besides his own house, you looked like you belonged there and he couldn’t help but think of what you had told Doug yesterday, that you were a jewel and you could decide what setting you wanted to be in and right now, in his humble opinion, you were in your proper setting.

“But honestly, the way she is with Sakura, even if she didn’t cook or clean or have a career or anything like that. That alone is proof that she’s an answered prayer for Sakura and me.” Noah affirmed as he turned his attention back to all the guys.

“Well I’m happy for you guys.” Ukluk encouraged his son as Noah smiled and nodded.

“So when you say she came into some inheritance, what kind of inheritance?” Nago gently prodded.

“I don’t know and frankly I’m scared of asking or finding out because apparently everyone who finds out becomes a gold digger and comes after her. Because that’s what happened to Doug Kizzo last night. Turned that asshole into a gold digging bootlicker overnight. We were at Taylor’s house getting the rest of her stuff so she can stay with me and we weren’t there five minutes and Doug rolled in there with the biggest bouquet of flowers I’ve ever seen in my life, wearing a suit and he begged her to leave me for him and threw me and all the native clans under the bus, insulting every tradition we have and tried to appeal to her “anglo sensibilities” and that he would worship her like a goddess and cater to her every whim and desire and some crazy, off his rocker bullshit and Zara shut him down and had Taylor ready to call the cops because she’s already had guys find out about it and quit their jobs, sell everything they had to buy a ferrari and pull up in her driveway from across the lower 48, ready to throw her kids into summer camp and take her to Europa to sweep her off her feet, kind of crazy bullshit so what none of us are going to do is ask her about it or try to play FBI- looking into it. She just wants to be a normal mom and LMT, and we’re going to give her that and I swear to every god in the realm if any of you go digging into her, I’ll disown you.” Noah warned them.

“Because we’re better than that.” Ukluk insisted.

“That won’t be a problem right boys?” Tonrar insisted as he looked out over the rest of them as they all nodded even though Suka was looking like he was gonna die because the curiosity was killing him.

Meanwhile back in the kitchen-

“Aren’t you just as pretty as a picture.” Isla fawned as she gave you another big hug after you had popped open all the bottles of wine for the ladies who were all eager to try it all the different kinds with you.

“Thank you.” You graciously thanked her.

“How much did you spend on all this?” Sesi asked as she looked at it all.

“It doesn’t matter, as long as you like it, it’s money well spent. When I was flying around with Noah this week, I unexpectedly got to work on his clients who all paid me really well, which I didn’t think I would be making any money while I was up here, so I used some of that money to splurge on this- so don’t worry about me exceeding my budget or anything like that, no one is going to go hungry or anything and this isn’t going to be any kind of hardship for me, I did it because I wanted to and no- no one is going to be paying me back. It’s a gift.” You reassured them as you refilled a few of their glasses, Isla’s and Summer’s especially.

“Well, you didn’t need to go all out. Even if you had just brought one, it would have been more than enough because Sakura told me on Wednesday when I was helping watch her with Summer that when she hugged you for the first time on Monday, it felt like she was hugging her mom again and when you watched her on Tuesday and cooked with her and played with her and most importantly prayed with her in Intuk and you were so incredibly respectful of her heritage and wanted to keep those traditions alive, you have no idea how much all of that meant to all of us.” She praised.

“You’re welcome, I was raised to be respectful of all cultures and traditions, especially when they were not my own. And not to be weird- but the feeling towards Sakura was mutual, when I hugged her for the first time, it just felt like I was hugging my own children after I gave birth to them and I got to hold them for the first time. That’s the only way I can explain it because I’m sure all of you have had that- ‘there you are, my most precious possession, I have waited so long to finally meet you, I’m gonna love you forever’ feeling when you held your own kids the first time after birth? That’s what I felt when I got to hold her for the first time and from there I was helpless to fight against all my mothering ‘must protect and care for this child’- instincts towards her and Noah of course has been nothing but amazing from the start. Really nice, really respectful, really professional, supportive, understanding and of course protective without being smothering or overbearing which is a hard balance for anyone.” You bravely confessed as you chanced a glance at Noah to make sure he was at least close in case you needed saving because Noah had told you to tell them that and that they would believe you and would be so happy and relieved to hear that and that it would endear you to them the way it endeared you to him. So for them to hear that confession, you might as well have brought out a kitten or the most adorable puppy ever, all the women fawned at hearing that before they started hugging you again as a few of them got a little teary eyed.

“You have no idea how long and how hard all of us have been praying for that exact thing to happen. And it’s not weird at all- that’s The Gods’ Will, the fact that you said those exact words without any prompting from us- tells us that there is no better or no safer place for Sakura than with you and you have been the one we’ve been waiting for.” She reassured you and you felt a little gutted because you were sure she was gonna take those words back when she found out you were potentially taking Sakura away.

“So speaking of traditions, are there any in particular that you really want to see Sakura hold true to?” You asked thoughtfully.

“Well there’s the summer festival, those are always a really big deal up here, there’s the singing and dancing, which we don’t expect you to perform, especially on such short notice. ” Isla explained.

“Ok, is there anything else? Other than the daily prayers, the language and the summer festival?” You prodded before you noticed a few of them looked questioningly to each other as you could see a few of them seemed to want to tell you something but a thinly veiled look from the others were keeping them quiet.

“Well since Noah is the head of the house, he should probably be the one to decide which traditions he wants Sakura to follow.” Sedna suggested before the kids came barreling through the kitchen chasing each other.

“Hey Sakura,” you called out to her before she turned and came back to you.

“Yeah Mama?” Sakura asked.

“I was talking to your family about traditions, which ones do you really want to keep true to?” You asked her.

“The Talik!” Sakura answered.

“Cool, what is it?” You asked.

“It’s basically a mother daughter dance at the summer festival.” Summer supplied.

“Aw, is it really complicated?” You asked.

“It can be.” Summer nodded.

“But I can try to teach you later Mama, you’re a really good dancer when you were dancing with my Daddy yesterday in the kitchen while you were cooking so you should pick it up really easy.” Sakura reassured you which got all the women to fawn at the news Noah and you danced in the kitchen while cooking, so romantic.

“And the Kaskae,” Sakura insisted. “It’s where all the warchief’s and their sons dance, it’s really fun, Daddy’s always really good in it.” She explained.

“Oh, I didn’t realize he was a warchief’s son.” You answered.

“Grandson. It’s Ukluk’s father who’s the warchief and he had eight sons and several daughters each of those sons had a ton of kids too so it ends up being just about every guy in the clan that dances in that dance.” Summer explained.

“And the Kunik.” Sakura giggled which got the other women to giggle with her.

“Uh oh, what’s the kunik?” You asked playfully as you tried not to giggle yourself.

“It means ‘kiss’ so it’s the newly wed dance, all those who either got married or will get married dance together.” Isla explained.

“I see.” You nodded and your instincts told you that what Doug was alluding to was probably this and wondered if there was a ritualistic part where the younger ones would take part in that dance at least ceremonially.

“Well it all sounds really fun and I can’t wait to see it in person.” You assured them before Sakura got called back to play with the kids.

“And did my mama tell you she’s an heiress! She’s teaching me how to be one too!” Sakura added proudly before she ran off as you blushed and smiled and laughed a little nervously as they looked from Sakura’s retreating fram to you as Noah nearly spit out his beer as he practically jumped off the couch to come into the kitchen to intervene and stopped Sakura in her tracks.

“Honey, that’s her personal business, and we don’t talk about anyone’s personal business.” Noah began to get after her which got everyone to pause and look at each other as Suka practically bounced off the couch too and got another beer which happened to be in the kitchen.

“It’s ok, it’s the truth. I wasn’t born into money and I didn’t necessarily marry into it either. But I did inherit a few estates when my grandparents died and I’ve been managing them ever since, that’s all, it’s a long, sad, story.” You informed them as you tried to waive off the details before Sakura slipped away to join her cousins again.

“I wouldn’t mind hearing it.” Isla gently prodded. Before you took a deep breath and stiffened up your posture before Noah came over and put his arm around you and held you to his side as he was ready to come to your defense.

“Me either.” Suka and Sesi murmured as Noah glared at them as all the women noticed how defensive Noah was getting and realized from your body language you were getting defensive too.

“You know what, Noah’s right, we don’t need to know, don’t worry about it.” Samantha dismissed.

“Agreed, if you’re uncomfortable talking about it, then don’t. We were just curious.” Meredith seconded.

“Zara, really, you don’t have to say anything, you were telling me on Monday how you’ve dealt with people who’ve acted like vultures and wolves once they found out about it and you’ve learned to be very defensive about it because you don’t want to get eaten alive or preyed upon over it and you wanted to teach Sakura those same lessons but without her having to go through it herself and honestly that was more than enough for me. You’re basically a member of the family and all of us are more than willing and ready to defend you against those who mean you harm. I know you will defend Sakura against those who mean her harm too and that’s all that matters. You don’t know us that well, you don’t have to bare your soul and all your scars to us when you don’t know us that well. Especially when we have yet to show you ours.” Summer very calmly and very warmly reassured you from her spot next to you as you breathed out in relief and smiled appreciatively at her.

“Honey, if it’s that big of a deal to you, I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to pry, I was just curious. Sakura is an heiress too but dealing with it has been nothing but headaches for all of us. And she’s had her own wolves and vultures and it honestly gives me peace that you have experience in dealing with that and can help her. That’s all I need to know.” Isla apologized profusely which made you feel guilty but the validation was like a soothing balm.

“Look, you can’t blame her, she just had Doug Kizzo turn into a vulture just last night, and she’s still a little shaken up and on high alert from that.” Noah pointed out as all the girls gasped in horror.

“He’s an asshole already, I can’t imagine what he was like if he turned into a vulture.” Samantha realized with a grimace as did all the other people who at this point had come to gather around in the kitchen.

“What did that bastard do?” Isla growled.

“Well first, Greg spent the last two days hyping him up and gassing him and Taylor told me that Doug had actually been camping out at her house, waiting to ambush me when I would eventually return to get my stuff, even though Taylor has been practically screaming at the top of her lungs that it’s not gonna work and that I’m not interested and they wouldn’t listen to her, like at all. Because when I went on a blind date with him on Monday, I picked up on the narcissistic asshole immediately and it wasn’t the worst date I’ve ever been on but he took me out earning him and not needing him or his income as a blow to his ego. So I get there, the second I’m through the door Greg texted Doug to tell him I’m there, as I’m gathering my personal belongings so I can continue to stay with Noah- Doug comes hauling ass over to their house and makes this huge, stupid, grand romantic gesture with a hundred roses, wearing a suit and bathing in cologne and hair gel.” You began before a few of them sniggered a laugh.

“And he’s making this big long spiel about how he’s ready to follow me to the ends of the earth, worship me like the goddess I am, how he’ll make sure I never have to work, let alone cook or clean for the rest of my life.” You recalled.

“Which is rich because he can’t do either, I know because my sister is his ex wife and he didn’t do jack shit when he was married to her, hence, the divorce.” Samantha spat in disgust.

“He would probably use her inheritance to hire a maid and a personal chef.” Noah sneered and you watched as they all seemed to roll their eyes or snigger another laugh.

“Anyway, so I tell him to take a hike and ask him what happened between Monday and yesterday because Monday he was so not interested and yesterday he’s obsessive and so instead of admitting he’s a douchebag, he sees Noah who came in to check on me and he throws Noah under the bus and outright attacks Noah and his character and thank the gods that Noah was able to have some self control because I was ready to beat his ass and if it hadn’t been for Noah to get me out of that situation, the police would have gotten involved, again, because they always do when that happens.” You revealed as all of them were just staring in various stages of disgust and horror.

“No wonder you didn’t want to say anything! Oh you poor thing. That’s just awful, no wonder you’re defensive, you’ve had to be to survive that.” Isla realized.

“Well the worst part is what that’s done to her kids, both of her kids are understandably super weary of strangers, which is why I’m not taking any offense to their own defensive attitude towards me.” Noah pointed out.

“Oh I didn’t think of that. Do they just..hate every stranger now because of that?” Sedna asked.

“Just about, because the first couple guys who pulled an “Alex” which is the name of the first guy who tried that on us, he actually talked his own kids into stalking mine in school, like he pulled his kids out of their school and put them into my kid’s school for the sole purpose of getting as close as possible to mine, like one of them, he had him repeat a grade to get into my son’s class and had all of his kids phishing for information to use against them and me and try to divide and conquer my family.” You revealed.

“No!” Isla and the other women blanched.

“Oh I’m gonna be sick.” Summer groaned.

“That’s unthinkable, like, that’s so messed up. Like they didn’t have a shred of decency or respect or honor to do that.” Isla insisted.

“No they didn’t, so once the police got involved, then he backed off and once I and my kids got a restraining order against him and his kids, he went to jail for getting his kids involved. But by the third time an asshole tried the whole ‘swooping in with a big romantic gesture’ kind of thing, they got wise and they’re beyond fed up with it and when they had to change schools when we moved into the new house this past September, they had a hard time making friends because they just plain don’t like new people. They have taken a similar stance that the mafia takes which is- you have to be introduced to them by someone they trust. Which is basically, they only have a handful of friends that they had made before everything went to shit when most of their support system all died within the span of three months and that handful of people who they trust, those are the only people who they trust to introduce new people to them. And they have gotten really, really good at reading people and deciphering whether someone is being genuine with them and they have their own tests for it. And anyone who fails, they immediately cut off and once that decision is made, they don’t look back.” You warned them.

“So what happened the second time a guy tried to make a grand gesture?” Sesi asked curiously.

“I called the cops and my dogs wouldn’t let them get out of their car and actually bit the bumpers and mirrors off the car. The third time it happened, my son had the police on the phone and my daughter, getting impatient, got her father’s rifle out of the safe from the second story, had the rifle resting on the window sill, and shot the guy’s tires out and held him at gunpoint until the police did arrive, which was terrifying. Of course, them hearing gunshots and hearing Xander screaming ‘Stop shooting! Put the gun down!’ They thought the guy was the one who had the gun and had me and my kids at gunpoint so they came barreling in and Xander managed to get the gun from Skylar and get it put away by the time the cops rolled into the driveway and I’m inside consoling both of them. And the police beat this guy into the concrete of my driveway, like, he came in looking like a million bucks and he left looking like a road penny. And after that I learned to change all the safe codes, because my husband and I were already responsible gun owners before, but now, they are really locked away and only ever used under adult supervision and my kids got into therapy because that was really, really traumatic for both of them and me. And now I have a gate at my driveway and all kinds of cameras all over my property and all my clients get a special code whenever they come to have their treatments.” You explained.

“And that’s what you’re walking into?” Suka asked Noah.

“Yup.” Noah nodded.

“You’re a braver man than I am.” Suka admitted.

“That’s for sure.” Sedna muttered as Sesi glared her.

“It’s just gonna take time and effort. Besides, I kinda like her, and I want to keep her around, she kinda makes me happy, and Sakura happy. Sure she has enough baggage to fill a jumbo jet, she’s been through hell, it’s kind of expected at this point.” Noah tried to joke which got you to laugh.

“Yeah, that’s true, so here’s why we’re all like this but please don’t repeat any of this, so eleven years ago when I was in massage school, my school had a clinic for the students to get their practical learning hours in and sometimes clients of the clinic really click with you and bond to you and end up following you as clients once you graduate and that happened to me. Even though, I got pregnant when I was in school because the massage teacher swore that two women out of every class get pregnant, Well I had a big class and I was one of five and that’s how I conceived Xander, but anyway, I picked up about 2 dozen older couples as clients- who were between my parent’s age and my grandparents age at the time. And these wonderful people watched my belly grow and felt my babies kick and got me baby shower presents and saw me through both of my pregnancies and watched my kids grow up and in the process of living and working and befriending each other, we grew really really close as friends and they basically adopted me as a grandkid because I took such good care of them because most of them either didn’t have children or the ones that did, their children were out state and they never got to see each other so I took care of them because my own maternal and paternal grandparents were also out of state but they had other members of the extended family close to them to take care of them.” You began.

“So at the time they didn’t need much because almost all of them were physically mobile and had all their faculties and mental clarity and their independence and I was able to help them keep that precious independence for as long as possible so that they didn’t have to go into nursing homes and they could continue to take care of themselves. And then about five years ago, the pneumonia was really bad that year and almost all of them lost their spouses. Some lost husbands or some lost wives and they were left all alone but they still wanted to be independent and so a lot of them would just come over to my house, I’d make them breakfast, have a pot of tea or coffee and hang out and they would watch my kids and cook me lunch and sometimes dinner like any other grandparent occasionally does so I could work out of my home office while my husband went into work and each one had their own specific day where they got to play grandparents and they got to celebrate all the high holidays with me and my family so they wouldn’t be alone. And then two years ago my husband Andy died at work from an accident, out of the blue and I was completely blindsided by it and if it wasn’t for them, I don’t know how I would have gotten through it. And they all paid for me to meet with their financial advisors and lawyers and helped me invest and structure Andy’s life insurance policy payouts so that I could live modestly off the interest instead of using it all up trying to pay off debt and stuff and still trying to pay for the house because at the time, the house I am living in now was still under construction and they barely knocked the delapedated house down and cleared it out and dug the foundations of the old farm house out that had been there. And the house we were going to build was our dream house that his parents had helped us finance, he had gotten a really good raise at work, most of our debt was getting paid down, we weren’t going to expand our family and I was working from home and we made all these plans and just as things got started, it all came crashing down. So it was, really awful timing but they helped me get through it and they helped me use all the money I had come into from his death- wisely and invest it well, so well in fact that I was able to take just the interest off of most of it and replace my husband’s income with just the interest so myself and my children would be taken care of so I wouldn’t have to overextend myself trying to work full time to be the primary caregiver and caretaker and primary breadwinner because being a single parent is really hard and really expensive.” You explained.

“Wow, that’s really smart to invest it though.” Meredith nodded in agreement as did the others.

“And so anyway, we get through that, and one of them told me that when he passed away, he was leaving everything he had to me and so I just assumed it was just his house which was a nice house in the suberbs and his car which was a nice daily driver and I thought was really sweet and agreed to it because he didn’t have any kids or any surviving family that he knew too well and he felt I was deserving, little did I know the guy had a couple million dollars in the bank and a really old, really rare, really amazing sports car in his garage that was also worth a fortune but I digress. What I also didn’t know is all of them, all of my adopted grandparents even though they knew each other through me and befriended each other, they all decided separately to all go to their lawyers, and none of them used the same lawyers and all of them left me either something really valuable in their estates in the cases where they had kids, or in the 15+ cases where they didn’t have any kids or grandkids- they left me everything they had but none of them told each other or me, only one told me that that’s what they were going to do for me but because of my confidentiality agreement, I didn’t tell any of the others that because anything anyone discloses to me, especially while I’m working and in session- I never repeat, that’s part of the job because I can get sued for breaking that client confidentiality, that’s how serious it is. Anyway, so then just a few months after Andy died, just as everything seemed to be settling down and I was learning how to live without him and how to juggle everything and find a new groove and make progress and still try to build the house, another round of pneumonia came around and killed all of my surviving adopted grandparents off within the span of a week and a half, because they all decided to get together one night and play bridge at someone else’s house and that someone else had it and passed it to them. When they first got sick and I took them to the doctor and they got diagnosed with either pneumonia or double pneumonia, I had hospice called in for only a couple of days and boom, it felt like overnight, they just all- died…” You explained as you tried not to cry at the memory as everyone got so quiet just listening intently to you.

“And for me, it was absolutely hectic because no sooner had I gotten all their animals and took all their animals home with me along with their valuables like jewelry and important paperwork like deeds and titles and bank records, I had to go back and clean out their fridges and freezers and cupboards of all the food so nothing would spoil and I would be at the food banks dropping it all off and then I would get another call from hospice for another one because I was their power of attorney and I was informed that another passed and I just did a cycle of- they’re dead, take all the animals home, come back, clean out the fridge, the freezer, the cupboards, give all the food to the food banks and all their clothes to Goodwill, then come back and give the house a good cleaning and then lock it up and move on to the next one’- all while arranging or helping to arrange- 26 funerals within a week. I was preparing and planning and executing 26 funerals all at the same time and it felt like just one big long funeral to me and practically slept in the same black dress for a week and I was beyond numb by the end of it and my parents moved down from the northern Great Lakes to the Southern Great Lakes to be with me and the kids and help me through it all and another week after that as I was finalizing all of their final affairs, that’s when I learned that I had inherited everything from 15+ couples and then lots of somethings from the other 11. So now I have 30 plus houses in my care and they’re just...sitting there, winterized and empty. And I am still, two years later, overwhelmed by it all. So um, please don’t get mad at me or Noah but I was talking to Noah about it and he suggested that we could flip them which had been my plans initially anyway. But they’re all very dated and would need to be updated before they could be sold on the market. So since Noah’s season ends in September slash October, he offered that he and Sakura would come down for the winter, get Sakura in school and Noah could work on flipping the houses for an hourly rate and a percentage of the final sale while I continued running my own businesses since it’s the fall, winter and spring that are my busiest times of the year and that’s when I make the biggest bulk of my own income and just see how that goes.” You suggested as you held your breath and waited for the floor to drop as they all looked from you to Noah expectantly but otherwise didn’t react negatively, but mostly just looking for a confirmation.

“But that is contingent on Zara’s kids meeting me and liking me and approving of that idea because those houses are part of their inheritance too and they have every reason and every right to be weary of me until they get to know me and I have a chance to earn their respect and trust because of their shared past, I understand that they’re a family unit and they’re part of the package but when they do get to meet me and if they like me and if we even get go that far, I think it’s gonna be fun, I had a blast building my house and helping build everyone else’s houses and help build this house even. And all things considered, Sakura would have been going to school either way and she would have done it either up here or she can do it down there and I would prefer her to go down there because she’ll be with her kids and make new friends. Plus Zara’s kids are into a lot of extracurriculars that the Frozen Tundra just doesn’t have up here and I’m not gonna ask them to give any of those up, especially for me, especially since they haven’t met me in person yet. So right now they’re coming up with how that’s gonna happen and hopefully we’ll find a way to make it work and hopefully we’ll be able to get along. Plus Sakura might get the advantage of getting a new perspective and a fresh start which we both sorely need right now and she may end up getting into the same extracurriculars that Zara’s kids are into.” Noah added as he rubbed soothing circles into your back from his spot right next to you.

“What kind of extracurriculars are your kids into?” Sesi asked curiously.

“Ballet, modern dance, tumbling, gymnastics, martial arts, hockey, hunting, fishing, archery, knives, snakes, horses and just 4H in general.” You listed off as all of their eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Yeah, we have the hunting, fishing and archery up here and the hockey and some martial arts but that’s...that’s it.” Miki answered.

“So like, half of them so unless both of your kids are into both, one of them isn’t going to be happy about it.” Sedna realized.

“And both of them need to be happy with the arrangement, I won’t settle for less and I don’t want them to settle either, I mean if this was the other way around, and I had two kids instead of one and only one of them would have what they’re into available to them while the other had nothing, it would be a no go deal for me because their happiness is more important than mine and Zara and her children shouldn’t have to give up everything they love and sacrifice their happiness for anything.” Noah insisted as they all had to nod along that that was a good and fair argument.

“But snakes? Really?” Sedna asked as she grimaced at the thought.

“Yeah my son is really into animals and breeds ball pythons as a hobby and he’s hand raised all our chickens from chicks and he manages the menagerie that I inherited really well. He’s very detailed and specific and likes to have things ‘just so’ and he’s one of those- likes to have every move mapped out in a logical sequence before he makes the first one which makes him a terrifying chess player and he’s facinated by genetics. Whereas my daughter follows her heart and her gut rather than her head most of the time and is very reactionary, which is why she’s in martial arts is to learn self discipline and self control.” You explained.

“That makes sense.” Isla nodded in understanding.

“But what about your house and your plane?” Sesi asked Noah.

“Oh I told him to keep both. It does get much hotter down there than it does up here and I know from my own schooling that some orcs who are used to cold climates actually get sick if they get too hot.”

“So what you could do is just spend the off season at the Great Lakes at Zara’s house, and then spend the shorter flight season that’s only three months long up here that are the hottest months down there, up here, that way we’ll still be able to see Sakura when we normally would have, your kids can take their summer vacations up here when they’re off school so Noah and Sakura don’t get too hot or chance getting sick and Noah can still earn a living as a pilot so he doesn’t have to give that up completely and you can still practice your massage up here if you want to either from Noah’s house or one of the hunting lodges and retreats and you guys can have a dual residency.” Miki realized before you turned to Noah to give him a hopeful look because that sounded awesome to you as he was mirroring that look.

“Yeah that could totally work.” You agreed as you and Noah were both nodding to that.

“So where is the baby picture of me on the wall?” You asked Summer before she brought you to the living room where she had collages of her family on the wall.

“So I take it you’re the newborn?” Sesi asked.

“Nope, I’m the toddler. Jewel orcs are born a really dark, drab olive green and brown, it’s a built in defense mechanism and camouflage. But between two and three, they change, the olive green turns teal and the brown turns blue and purple. Imagine my parent’s surprise when that happened to me because their parents were only partially paradise orc and it wasn’t until the great grandparents met me that they confirmed that that’s what happens because I only had a one in 32nd chance of coming out paradise orc, I had much higher chances of looking more dark elf like my sisters, I had a one in four chance of either that happening or not looking orc at all, cause I also had a one in four chance of looking human or a one in eight turning out more moura than I am and I had a one in two chance of looking gold rush or great lakes orc and then because my husband was half paradise orc himself even though he favored the southern great lakes which is more jade green as opposed to the deep turquoise, both of my kids turned out paradise orc, so even though it was a slim chance, I just happened to hit the odds, but the cool thing was after I transitioned into my jewel orc colors, I stopped getting mistaken for a boy over night. Because that’s what happened to my own kids see?” You urged as you got your phone out and pulled up pictures of your own kids before and during and after the change as they all ‘oohed’ in understanding.

“So how is Grusta?” Ukluk asked.

“You can ask him yourself, they should be done with Sunday worship by now.” You answered as you got your phone and called him.

“Yeah Baby?” Your dad answered.

“Hey Dad, guess who I’m having dinner with?” You prompted him.

“Who?” Your dad answered.

“Ukluk Kintuck and his family and the Yural family.” You revealed.

“Really?!” Your dad gasped in delighted surprise.

“Yeah, here, say hi,” you offered before you gave the phone over to Ukluk who started talking with your dad and they started talking and catching up on the last 30+ years they had been apart as your dad told Ukluk that he was currently helping his grandkids look into Noah as Tonrar accompanied Ukluk because he wanted a chance to speak to your dad too as they walked to the back porch because that’s where the best service was for cell phones before Noah’s sister Alorna and her husband John Wilks came in late and you nearly gave yourself whiplash giving John a double take.

Oh shit.

“Noah,” you breathed as he turned to consider you.

“Hey, uh, so John and I have already met, and uh, he’s not gonna like me and he’s probably about to pull you and every other guy in here aside to tell you to dump me but before you believe every word he says about me and what I did in his presence, just give me a chance to defend myself ok?” You pleaded to Noah who knitted his eyebrows together in contemplation but still smiled adoringly at you and kissed you really quick because you were so close since his arm was around your shoulders.

“Don’t worry about it. I ain’t changing my mind, no matter what.” Noah reassured you and you wanted to laugh because this sweet sweet man still had no idea who and what was standing right next to him.

“Hey, come in and meet Zara,” Sesi urged her sister and brother in law as John was looking at you in disbelief, like you were a ghost but he did his best to remain cool and nonchalant.

“Zara, this is my sister Alorna and her husband John and their kids Johnny Jr. and Gabby.” Sesi introduced.

“Hi I’m Zara Kingsley, pleasure to meet you.” You greeted them as Alorna offered her hand for you to shake which you obliged instead of giving you a hug as you could tell John was trying not to blurt out how he knew you before you could see John take out his phone and try to subtly shoot Noah a text after he had put their broaster on the food table as Alorna seemed to look you over with thinly veiled criticism.

‘We need to talk privately NOW.’ John texted Noah.

‘About?’ Noah answered.

‘Your GF, she’s trouble.’

Noah looked at his phone and looked at it disbelievingly and looked at John the same way as John pointedly looked at the door and back to Noah and back to the door then back to Noah meaningfully as some of the other members of the family looked on curiously because John was acting strange.

“Hey Noah, I need your help bringing in the beer Bud.” John hinted heavily as you just grinned knowingly.

You fucking called it.

“Ok,” Noah nodded before he unwrapped his arm around your shoulders and walked with John back out of the house.

“We can help too.” Suka offered.

“No, I think John and I can handle it by ourselves.” Noah immediately dismissed them and there was an insistent tone in his voice when he said it that had Suka stopping in his tracks before he looked from their backs to a few of the other guys who by now were either shrugging it off or looking at each other meaningfully because they picked up on it.

“Hey um, I know you just met her and all, and I know she’s probably the most beautiful woman any of us have ever seen in our lives, but listen, that woman is a snake in the grass, she is a man eating she-wolf and I know from looking at her from your parent’s livingroom, she doesn’t look it but Dude, I saw her take down a whole table of pilots on Wednesday night. She has a thing for pilots and she ate every single one of them alive and she seriously fucked them up, like it’s been four days and they still can’t walk, they can barely crawl and they had to be carried out of the bar, they couldn’t even walk out.” John professed.

“What did Zara do to them?” Noah asked, worried that you had gotten into a bar fight or something.

“Dude, that’s not even her full name! She’s pretending to be Anglo, she’s not Anglo, she’s Siberian. She came into the bar with the hottest most sexiest gold dress and everyone was drawn to her like a moth to a flame and she burned everyone.” John insisted.

“Ok, was she alone?” Noah asked worriedly.

“No, Taylor was with her, call her yourself, she’ll tell you! But you have to believe me! I don’t know what kind of spell she has you under but you need to break out of it. I know it’s hard, hell I was under her spell too, don’t tell your sister but I was ready to fuck her so hard she couldn’t walk straight and I’ve been fantasizing about her ever since and I know that sounds awful, but she had her pick of the whole bar and she chose Derek and Evan’s group and their game wasn’t even that good. Look I have pictures.” John told him before he brought up pictures of you at the bar as Noah looked closely at them.

“What was she doing?” Noah asked as he looked them over. You did look hotter than sin. And if he was honest, if that’s how you looked when you first met him, he probably would have reacted the way these guys did but seeing you in these guys’ laps with their hard ons tenting their pants behind your butt and their arms wrapped around you had jealousy and possessiveness eating him alive.

“Everything ok out here?” Suka asked as he peeked his head out the door to see Noah and John next to John’s open trunk.

“Yeah, we got this, get back inside or else you’ll let all the mosquitoes in.” Noah urged his brother in law firmly before Suka shrunk back.

“What’s going on out there?” Dave asked Suka.

“Something Noah doesn’t want us to know about, he’s awfully defensive.” Suka murmured as they stood by the door and looked out of the window by the door from the kitchen as all the women were engaging you in conversation.

Meanwhile outside.

“She was doing some kind of erotic massage on all of them, all of them creamed their pants while she did it too.” John answered. “It sounded like they were fucking right there in the bar.” John professed.

“Moscow Doll.” Noah realized as he mumbled that under his breath.

“Yeah! That’s what they called her because they got so drunk they couldn’t remember her name. But ask her what her full name is, It’s Zara- Zahn-something, Vol-something.” He urged Noah.

“Zara Zahnochka Volchietsa Kingsley.” Noah supplied.

“Yeah, wait, how do you know that? Did she tell you?” John pressed.

“Yeah, that’s her priestess name, she’s a priestess for Aura.” Noah supplied.

“Oh, ok, yeah, that explains that Siberian connection. But still Dude, don’t trust her with anything, she’ll take it and run, I’ve seen it before, like I know Sakura is head over heels for her but Sakura will get over it, you don’t want a woman like Zara raising Sakura. She’s going to be nothing but a bad influence and you know Neena wouldn’t be cool with you moving on with a predator like her, she’s gonna eat you alive my friend and leave you worse than Neena did when she passed.” John urged desperately as Noah frowned in concentration as he continued to look at the pictures skeptically.

"She hasn't touched you yet has she?" John asked worriedly as he noticed Noah wasn’t really saying much in response to this.

"She has actually." Noah confirmed. "But obviously she hasn't done me any harm." Noah defended.

"Wait, have you slept with her already?" John asked, torn because he was weary but jealous all the same. "No, you did- didn't you. Oh gods, was at least good? Crazy pussy is the best pussy and I'm both thrilled yet terrified how she's gonna spit you out- yet jealous because of course a woman that hot would be a good lay. But think about Sakura, do you want Sakura to turn into that?" John pointed at your image as you straddled Evan's lap a wolfish grin on your pretty painted lips.

Meanwhile Alorna was looking you up and down skeptically herself. Alorna was drop dead gorgeous too and you could tell she was used to being the most beautiful person in the room and you wondered if she felt threatened by your own beauty.

“Well let’s get dinner ready to eat.” Summer suggested before you got everything organized on the tables.

“Well I brought king crab legs. John got super big tips this week.” Alorna bragged as she took the lid off the broaster to show it full of king crab legs.

“Oh that’s awesome and very generous, I just made mushroom risotto and a side of sauteed mushrooms, candied yams and death by cheese mac and cheese and caramelized onions and Noah made some awesome Salmon.” You praised as you showed her your own dishes in Noah’s pots and pans of the dishes.

“Oh,” Alorna grinned smugly. “So Anglo, is all the experience you have with family dinners just the high holidays? You might as well have brought a turkey.” She practically sneered with a condescending giggle through her nose as Neena’s sisters and sisters in law and even her own sisters and mother all cut their eyes at Alorna because they brought humble but familiar dishes themselves.

“Nope I did.” Sesi piped up rebelliously, as she put her turkey on the table from out of the oven as Alorna quickly rolled her eyes.

“And I brought good ol’ roasted potatoes.” Samantha added as her and Nago just shook their heads at Alorna before all of the other women pointed out to you what they had brought too as the food tables were practically overflowing with food around the dining room table.

“And moose and reindeer roasts to round it out.” Ukluk cheered once he put the reindeer roasts on the table as Tonrar put moose roasts on the table before he handed you your phone back since he had spent this whole time talking and catching up with your dad and exchanged phone numbers so they could keep in touch as Tonrar had done the same with your dad and Ukluk was so tickled that you were basically family found at this point as your dad gave Ukluk the run down of what had happened to you, how you had been a good, discrete, modest and loyal wife and an amazing cook and a somewhat decent housekeeper but because of an accident at your husband’s work you were a widow and mother of two and doing your best to take care of them and how you stood squarely on your own feet and taking care of your parents in their retirement years as well and how if Noatak was anything like Ukluk and could make you happy, your dad was happy to give his blessing on the match and vouch for Noah to your kids which Ukluk agreed to do so as well since he trusted his friend to be honest with him and Tonrar was ready to do the same.

“Ooh, all this looks really good Zara,” Ukluk praised as Tonrar hummed in agreement.

“Thanks, I know it’s not as glamorous as Alorna’s dish, she brought the crab.” You deferred.

“Eh, crab is to us what chicken probably is to you, not that big of a deal. Those mushrooms though, I’m gonna have those all over my roast,” Ukluk replied as Alorna frowned and the other women snorted a laugh and gave each other meaningful looks.

“And these onions smell divine, I’m definitely having both the mushrooms and the onions on the moose. I know caramelized onions are a labor of love and take a lot of time and patience, and I’ve never had risotto but that looks amazing, thank you.” Tonrar thanked you as he gave you a squeeze from the side before you returned the side hug.

“You’re welcome.” You smiled.

“Where’s Noah and John?” Ukluk asked.

“Outside getting beer.” Alorna answered before Ukluk sighed before he left and opened the front door, passing the guys who were still watching from the window as John was talking and gesturing wildly about what was on his phone that he was having Noah look at.

“Something’s up.” Yakone murmured as he watched them too as they were all thoroughly enjoying the beer you had already bought and brought in, and all of them had been impressed and grateful that you had excellent tastes in booze.

“Hey! Get your asses inside! Food’s getting cold!” Ukluk barked as Summer quickly whispered ‘when they get back inside, own it’ into your ear before Noah gave John his phone back.

“Don’t show those to anyone else. I’ll get to the bottom of it on my own, let’s just have a nice dinner ok? Don’t make a scene and keep your mouth shut about this.” Noah insisted to John as John and Noah quickly grabbed the rest of the beer and came back inside to join everyone else as everyone seemed to grab their second choice for a bottle of beer from them before Noah took one of the best ones that you had bought and sat down next to you at the table before Ukluk urged everyone to bow their heads so he could offer a prayer over the food as Sakura happily grabbed your hand to hold it as you offered your upturned hand to Noah discreetly under the table before he readily took it and held it on top of the table before he let it go so he could wrap his arm around you again before holding your hand with his other hand and any tension you had that Noah was going to distance himself from you melted away. Ukluk gave a beautiful prayer thanking the gods for bringing you here and bringing family back to them and over the food and then after the prayer everyone was quick to get a plate, Ukluk and Tonrar being the first to go through the line followed by Summer and Isla and then the moms went after that to make sure all the kids got fed first before any of the dads did.

“Wait, what do you mean she’s family found?” John asked as they went around the food tables.

“Yeah, my old air force buddy Grusta Wainwright, Zara is his eldest daughter. Her baby picture is on our wall with Duska and Dakota, apparently paradise orcs are born olive green and brown and turn peacock colors when they’re toddlers,” Ukluk informed John and Alorna proudly before he explained how you and your sister Blossom were born up here and how you had moved away when you were a toddler and since then, your dad had started a plumbing business in the Great Lakes with your brother Gavin and had taken on a couple of your brothers in law and all of them became jack of all trades and how there was a branch right where you lived that your dad still managed in his semi-retirement and how your parent’s friends had kids and you stayed in touch with them and became friends and came up to visit them and met Noah as Summer was looking at you, giving you an encouraging smile and nod.

“Oh,” John and Alorna answered as Alorna was considering whether or not she had judged you too harshly from just your facebook.

“And John, I just wanted to thank you again for taking care of Taylor and I the other night.” You chimed in with an appreciative look to John, your tone sweeter than honey with a smile to match.

“Aw, did you girls go out drinking this week?” Ukluk realized.

“Yup, on Wednesday night, after I spent all day treating Taylor and her family, we went to Goose’s and John was the bartender and he took such great care of us and made sure that we didn’t get taken advantage of or rufied or harrassed in any way.” You praised and John turned three shades darker with his blush and a guilty smile as Summer and Ukluk as well as Isla and Tonrar all smiled appreciatively at him before Tonrar gave John a big pat on the back from his spot next to him.

“Good lad.” Tonrar praised.

“Uh, yeah, you’re welcome.” John thanked you as Nago looked from Noah’s schooled neutral expression and John’s expression and then to the other guys who seemed to nod in understanding as they all wondered if more had happened that night that John wasn’t letting on to anyone else but Noah apparently. That would explain John’s dodgy behavior and Noah’s defensiveness.

“Wait, so you’re Taylor’s siberian friend?” Alorna realized because that’s what John had told her.

“Well, kind of, so my brother’s wife and her family are Siberian, Yamalian to be exact and his wife Natasha and her mother Olga are both priestesses of Aura and when Gavin was courting Tasha, the second Olga she met me- she practically adopted me and trained me to be a priestess of Aura too alongside Tasha so I’m in the Rushaka order with Natasha and Olga is the Manta at Sinai Temple. If you look on the priestesses of Aura website I’m listed under Olga’s daughters as a private priestess. Which means I don’t belong to any one particular temple and Olga named me Zahnochka Volchietsa when she met me when I was only 15 and I was baptized at 16 as a priestess under that name. Volchietsa means ‘she-wolf’, and Zahnochka means ‘she will rise again’ and Olga always gives me a ‘blessing bag’ whenever I go anywhere, and this time for this trip, it had all the jewelry and shawls and a ‘blessed reading’ tea ceremony set and things for a proper priestess and Summer encouraged me to ‘let the she wolf out’ and to embrace that heritage so I could help Noah, which I did, I must have blessed at least three dozen of his clients, giving them free tea readings in exchange for guaranteed business with him so he and Sakura wouldn’t just survive but thrive.” You explained.

“Is there any way we can sweet talk you into doing your priestess thing at the summer festival? Because Sakura has inherited quite a bit of land and the people who would have normally inherited it have been hounding us for her to give it back to them and if you could try to discourage them and find a way to make them knock it off, we’d really appreciate it.” Ukluk requested.

“I would love to.” You readily agreed and John looked like he was about to explode and ignoring Noah’s warning look and subtle shake of his head as they all dug into the delicious food, everyone thoroughly blown away by how exquisite everything was, all the women murmuring to each other on how they were going to try to coax the recipes out of you later.

“So is part of ‘taking care of Noah’ fucking over Noah’s competition?” John blurted because the truth of what he saw was eating him alive watching Noah continue to be affectionate with you and it was obvious to him that Noah hadn’t changed his mind.

And with that, everything stopped.

Everyone froze, most of them mid bite as they looked from you to John then back to you and noticed your kashmir blue blush morphed into an amethyst purple that went from your ears, to your cheeks and to your chest as Noah looked like he was ready to reach across the table and strangle John himself and before either you or Noah could say anything Summer thankfully cut in.

“So what if she did? Who are any of us to judge her for that? All of us know how snow bears, moose and she wolves protect their den and their cubs, calves and pups with their lives and none of us bat an eye when they take down their prey for food for them, why should we do that for Zara? It’s in her name and she should be proud to bear it. Her ‘den’ was threatened. What mother here at this table wouldn’t do whatever it takes to ensure that our children are safe and cared for and even if that means we have to show our teeth and claws to do it. All of us have had to show our own teeth and claws to defend Sakura from those aiapas who are after her shares. I for one am grateful she had teeth and claws big enough and sharp enough to take them all down and a mind sharp enough to do it in such a clever way and walk away without a scratch, that takes nerves of steel and she obviously forged them in hellfire for them to be so fine and so strong. You can’t fault her for that. Anglos like to think women are soft and innocent and harmless but most importantly defenseless and easy prey but we know better. We don’t disrespect our snow bears or our ice dogs or wolves or moose just because they’re females and we all know better than to mess with cubs or pups or calves and it isn’t any different with us as people. It’s an instinct that drives every mother and I’m grateful hers kicked in so strongly for Sakura’s sake. She didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not offended by it all, I’m very proud of her actually. She took initiative and was moved to action at the right time instead of second guessing herself and missing her opportunity. I can’t think of a better model of a mother for Sakura.” Summer defended you which caused you to smile at her gratefully.

“Did your tea leaves tell you that Mom?” Alorna spat.

“Yes they did and so much more, and if you practiced the art yourself you would have seen it too.” Summer returned defiantly.

“Well if you have any questions about my motives, you can call Taylor yourself.” You challenged John calmly.

“Alright.” Alorna agreed as she called Taylor and put it on speaker phone as Neena’s family looked questioningly at each other.

“Hey Ali.” Taylor greeted.

“Hey, so Noah and Zara got together and started dating but John pointed out how he served you and Zara on Wednesday night and apparently some things went down, can you tell us what happened from your point of view?” Alorna asked.

“Or better yet, Taylor, you could come and tell them in person, just in case the phone cuts out.” You suggested.

“Ok, I’ll be there in five.” Taylor agreed as you dug into the food because chances are you were going to leave with Taylor after she put in her two cents. You almost wanted to blame your heart for not trusting your gut on this.

“She doesn’t need to come,” Noah shook his head no.

“Yeah she does. Because I doubt I can say anything right now that anyone here will believe or trust. If all of you trust Taylor to tell the truth, let her tell the truth.” You insisted.

“But I believe you. Isn’t that all that should matter?” Noah gently argued.

“That is all that matters to me but this is still your family and Neena’s family and everyone here has a common interest in protecting Sakura who is the most vulnerable member of this family and I’m willing to bet a hundred dollars John challenged my ability to mother Sakura when he pulled you aside earlier.” And to see Noah’s eyes drop from yours told you that you were right.

“I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings about motives and intentions and actions.” You answered and no less than four minutes later Taylor was there since she lived right down the street.

“Hey, you made it, come here, tell them everything that happened Wednesday night, don’t leave out anything.” You invited before you went back to eating while everyone else stopped to listen to Taylor talk.

“Well after she treated me and my family we went to Shen’s for takeout and Evan and Derek and their crew were there and talking about how they were going to the bar later and Zara asked me which bar and knowing them, it was going to be Goose’s and she asked me if they were attracted to women, I said yes, so she had me take her back home so she could change into the proper ‘catch a man’ attire and you told me while we were curling our hair in the bathroom that your plan was to sabotage them and get them so black out drunk that they would miss flying the next day so Noah could pick up their loads and save the day from the client’s point of view because those losers had the audacity to undercut Noah and put Noah and especially Sakura’s livelihood into jeopardy and you were going to eat them alive for that. So we went and we strutted into that place and every guy in there tried to get in your drawers and even John tried his best to hook up with you.” Taylor began as everyone turned and glared at John, Alorna most of all who looked like she was about to set John on fire where he sat as John got impossibly blushed and avoided everyone’s gazes as he tried to stuff his mouth with food as everyone else looked downright pissed as Nago and Suka and Yakone started to snicker a laugh because that would explain why John looked so guilty.

“Ha! That’s why you looked guilty as sin when you saw her here and why you were ready to piss your pants when she brought it up that she met you already, you tried to get Noah to dump her before she could expose you. Now this makes sense.” Nago practically sang from his spot before he continued eating as did everyone else as everyone seemed to get over it but they were eager to hear what else had happened.

“So Zara paid John a hundred dollar bill to give her the lay of the land, confirmed Evan and Derek were the other pilots and she paid you to give her an empty beer glass so she could use that as a “chaser” so she wouldn’t get drunk and she assured me before we left that I was the one who was going to take her home. And so John gave her what she asked for and it was like she turned into Marylin Monroe on the red carpet and every guy in there was drawn to her like a moth to the flame and Derek and Evan were powerless against her charms and her allure and once they started asking her about herself, she told them she was an LMT and she offered to give them Vahva Kun treatments.” Taylor continued.

“Now, I’m gonna stop you right there, someone google Vahva kun, it’s spelled V-a-h-v-a Kun is K-u-n and then add the words Olen heikko- o-l-e-n, h-e-i-k-k-o and read out loud what the answer is.” You invited.

“It means ‘strong when I’m weak’ in Finnish, and it’s a discipline of massage therapy used in body building when the therapist disables prime movers so that the synergists have to take over, it causes all muscles involved to bulge and is very popular among bodybuilders before competitions because it enhances aesthetic but disables functionality and strength. First time recipients usually have a sexual response but can not move properly for one to two weeks after while others who regularly receive Vahva Kun only take a few days to recover, it is estimated that 95% of body builders use Vahva Kun and for the last five years all of the top 10 competitors in every competition have used practitioners to enhance their body’s esthetic and swear by it. Practitioners make on average 1 to 5 thousand dollars for a full body Vahva Kun treatment which can only take an hour or two. Only professionals should attempt it and uneducated attempts can risk permanent muscle injury.” Yakone read out loud.

“Now, go to AMTA and look me up under members from the Great Lakes and cross reference with Vahva Kun. But you’re going to have to use my full legal name since “Zara” is my anglo nickname because my full legal name is too long to fit on a business card and it’s a lot easier to say. It’s Zarasashasabine - Z-a-r-a-s-a-s-h-a-s-a-b-i-n-e Kingsley- K-i-n-g-s-l-e-y. And my licence number is 816-269-937-55.” You spelled out as a lot of them tried to wrap their mouths around saying your full name and got tongue tied.

“She’s the top result on AMTA, she’s been practicing it for 5 years.” Sedna revealed as she showed them a picture of you on the website and indeed found that as she passed her phone around as Noah realized here had fallen in love with you and hadn’t even known your full name and was a little embarrassed by that.

“So, back to the story Taylor, what did I tell Evan and Derek and their group about Vahva Kun before I implemented it?” You prompted her.

“You told them that you practice it on body builders and that it would make their muscles bulge and it feels better than sex with the gods.” Taylor proudly answered.

“And did I give them the opportunity to turn me down and tell me ‘no thanks’ or did I force it on them?” You prompted her.

“Nope, you asked and gave all of them the oppertunity to consent, they all had the chance to look it up but they just wanted you to touch them after taking like a hundred pictures of you and all of them gave you clear and conscientious consent to do whatever you wanted to them. And because they were drinking like there was no tomorrow and pushing you to drink just as heavily as they were to lower your guard and your own inhibitions and if it wasn’t for John giving you those empty beer bottles, you would have gotten black out drunk with them. But you didn’t, you stayed in control the whole time while they lost most of their self control. You barely got tipsy and you did screw them over without dropping your panties an inch and no one would have been any wiser for it and you stayed above everyone’s suspicion, Evan and Derrek and their group most of all because they have a habit of finding and taking advantage of easy prey. You made it seem like you were just another woman on vacation enjoying a night on the town and trying out your massage tricks on them and you tried your best to cover your tracks and make sure that your behavior and Noah’s reputation would never meet let alone ever get connected. And on the way out you gave John another hundred dollar bill for helping you stay sober before you had me take you home and on the way there you told me all about it and the science behind why and how it worked before you told me that the inventor of the discipline was originally a prostitute who had gotten the crap beaten out of her when her clients recovered and you risked getting the crap beaten out of you from them and it’s been a good thing you’ve been with Noah ever since because he can protect you, and he should considering you did it all for him and Sakura.” Taylor defended.

“That’s where you got the two one hundred dollar bills in your wallet, and why you wouldn't tell me where you got ‘em from and why you didn’t fight me when I told you what I wanted to spend them on, because you got ‘em from her!” Alorna accused John angrily because she was still livid that her husband had tried to be unfaithful and then had lied and kept it from her as Noah looked like he was well passed strangling John, he was mentally already beating him to death by the death glare he gave him across the table.

“Well that’s Noah’s choice if he wants to, he doesn’t have to.” You answered Taylor as you couldn’t bring yourself to look at Noah before you set your silverware down and addressed everyone else.

“Now what I want to assure you guys is I gave Evan and Derek and their crew exactly what they asked for and what they agreed to and I had their informed consent to do it and I executed that technique flawlessly and yes I had to get a little flirty to get that physically close to them to begin with but I did not do them any lasting harm. Yeah, they’re going to be sore for a week or two but when they recover, they’re going to look better than they ever have and practically drown in pussy when they get cleaned up and emerge from their apartment, which is all they really wanted anyway. Cause they’re young, single and stupid and for them it’s about getting laid and having fun rather than making money or taking care of themselves. It’s not a big deal to them to lose loads and customers because they’re again- young and stupid and chances are they have parents that help them out and pay most of their bills anyway. They’re not going to be without food, clothing or shelter. But Noah on the other hand, he can’t lower his prices down any more or else he’ll lose money and when he loses money, his bills can’t get paid and he’ll go hungry to make sure that Sakura doesn’t and he has pride which means none of you would have ever known about it because he never would have said anything to anyone, would you.” You turned your head slightly in Noah’s direction but wouldn’t look at him directly as he nodded in confirmation because you called that one right too.

“And I could write a check for a hundred thousand dollars right now and try to give it to him and you know he probably wouldn’t take it. Would you?” You questioned him as Noah shook his head no.

“Are you going to charge me a fair price to fly me back to cruise ship if you’re gonna fly me at all?” You asked.

“No I was going to fly you down and I still will if you want me to because from where I sit none of this changes anything between you and me and I wasn’t going to charge you at all because I swore to your children that I wouldn’t take another penny from you and I’m a man of my word.” Noah insisted as he looked to everyone else, daring them to stop him or argue with him.

“I know Noah, I know you’re a man of your word because my first husband was too. And you both have pride and having been married to a man before who would rather suffer in silence rather than say anything. I recognized that and I knew I had to get around it and I would rather Noah think it was just a ‘coincidence’ or that I got drunk in bar and let a table full of men try their best to take advantage of me or that I was a man eater or whatever else he could possibly think of it me if it meant that he would be ok and Sakura would be ok because I couldn’t risk him rejecting my help. Not when so much was on the line.” You insisted before you took a deep cleansing breath.

“Big talk when your son is fruitcake.” Alorna spat.

“Excuse me?” Noah barked before you started laughing.

“Wow, someone did thier research before coming to dinner, is that why you were so late? Doing some googling did you?” You taunted her.

“No, we were late cause John didn’t want to leave work, hoping you would come back in but obviously that didn’t happen. But yes, I did do some research on you because I wanted to know what Noah was getting into. I knew your name was Zarasashasabine Vivilana Zahnochka Volchietsa Wainright Kingsley. You were married to Andrew Kingsley, one of the ugliest orcs I’ve ever seen in my life, but I’m guessing he had a great personality, and obviously deep pockets, with parents who had even deeper ones. Andy died at work two years ago which is a shame you’ve had to live without his income of a hundred grand a year but you probably got what? Half a mill, maybe a whole million in life insurance money? And you built a mansion with it. And since then, your son Xander got into snakes and ballet of all things, let me guess, his daddy kept him pretty tightly in the closet when he was alive but since Andrew died, he sure did come out in style didn’t he? Now he dances in tutus and point shoes and has a hobby that costs more than Noah can make in a year. I’m just praying Noah beats the homo out of him before it’s too late and get’s him to straighten up and fly right before he’s a complete lost cause. And I’ll bet you everything you have that Andrew would be rolling in his grave if he found out how his son was living. The only positive is your daughter is now in martial arts. So you have a fifty percent sucess rate at raising children. At least Sakura might grow up to only be half as fucked up without Neena. But too bad that’s still a failing grade.” Alorna taunted defiantly.

“Alorna, what did I tell you before you came? If you couldn’t be nice, you weren’t welcome, get the hell out of this house.” Summer challenged.

“No, don’t leave just yet, she was just now showing me her true colors, I think how she’s sexualizing a child is disturbing because he’s only ten. And my daughter is only 8. How you can judge them based on their tastes as children think that that’s what will define them as adults is...frankly pathetic. And it’s really hypocritical that you accused me of Anglo when you’re the one with the super Anglo points of view. Because my children, even though they’ve been through hell and lost a parent and lost their adopted grandparents who they were closer to than their actual grandparents and had to be in the public eye since they were 8 and 6 and already get scruitinized and judged based on looks and circumstances that they had no control over is upsetting, but typical, I’m used to it and sadly, so are they. That’s why we’re so fiercely protective of our privacy. But in all your “research” the way your tone and your choice of wording tells me that you didn’t find the biggest piece of the puzzle.” You returned calmly.

“Which is what?” Alorna spat.

“Google it. Google my full name and then add Andy’s work place which was Nullensill Semiconductor and see what comes up. I dare you. But know that from this moment on, you and I will never be friends, never be close and you and your family will never benefit from me and know that once my children do come up here, you will stay the fuck away from them and you will have no contact with them because I don’t trust you not to lash out at them and try to hurt them.” You determined.

“Alorna, for the love of the gods you and John need to just leave, Johnny Jr. and Gabby are always welcome but you no longer are.” Ukluk snarled.

“I can’t believe you! You’re taking a stranger’s side over your own daughter?!” Alorna shrieked before John reached out and grabbed Alorna’s arm harshly as he stared at his phone’s screen with wide eyes and sharply inhaled through his nose.

“Just shut up you petty, jealous bitch! You need apologize to Zara for offending her right now! Zara, I am so sorry I tried to have sex with you, that was inappropriate and I’m so sorry, and you know what? Just take all the crab that’s left and take it home with you, our gift to you. And you know what, you are doing such a good job raising your kids all on their own and I know Noah will take care of them like he has taken care of Sakura.” John tried to appease but you just shook your head at him. Suck up as Alorna was about to rip him a new one before he shoved his phone in her face which got her to freeze and her jaw to drop before she looked from the phone to you.

“And I take back everything I’ve said before this point, I’m sorry, I was just concerned, I didn’t want to see Noah get hurt and obviously there’s no safer place for them to be than with you.” John tried to excuse.

“You weren’t concerned when you tried to fuck her Wednesday.” Alorna spat as she continued to read the article.

“Because she looked like this at the time! I’m a hot blooded guy, I never said I was perfect.” John excused as he brought up the pictures he had taken of you on Wednesday as the other guys were curious enough to get up go around the table to where John was to look at the pictures, making their wives narrow their eyes before all the guys dropped their jaws at the pictures.

“Damn!” Suka and Dave jeered.

“And that didn’t stop you from kissing her on Wednesday either.” Taylor added as all the women gasped as Nago and the other guys started laughing because there hasn’t been this much drama in the family in forever as some of the wives started snickering too.

“Only her hand! I only kissed her hand!” John quickly defended himself.

“Only because you couldn’t lean over the bar any further and kiss her on the lips, not that she would have let you do even that much to her.” Taylor taunted John.

“And as I recall, you were the only one who I let do even that much.” You added just a little smugly before Alorna finally read what John just did before she gasped in outrage.

“You’re the one who should have brought the crab! And you should have brought prime rib roasts too with a quarter of a billion dollars!” She practically shrieked angrily as she threw her husband’s phone at your head but Noah caught it and crushed it in his palm.

“That’s it! Alorna and John, leave!” Ukluk boomed angrily.

“Yup, on it.” John got up and picked up his angry screaming wife and kicking wife out of her chair and promptly left the house with her over his shoulder.

“Do we have to go too?” John Jr. asked.

“No, you guys should stay, you didn’t do anything wrong. Your parents will need some time and space.” Summer warmly assured them as she picked up her plate and came around to eat with them.

“Well, I hate to tear apart another family. So, I’ll leave it up to all of you. You can put it to a vote if you want to, if you don’t think I’m good enough to be here and share the same space with you or to help Noah and Sakura that’s fine, you’re all entitled to your opinions. Now, what I’m going to do is thank you Summer and Ukluk and Isla and Tonror for your hospitality and warm welcome and Sakura, Baby, do me a favor and remember that everyone at this table loves you very, very much and they only want the best for you. Let them talk about this so they can come to their own conclusions about me. Ok? I’m gonna go home with Taylor. And if you and your Daddy decide that I should continue to be in your life and if you still want to be in mine, you know where to find me. If not, just gather my stuff that I’ve left at your house and drop it off at Taylor’s house. But I need to get out of here so everyone can talk about me freely.” You told her as you hugged her and kissed the top of her head as a few tears escaped your eyes.

“No! I don’t want you to go, you’re not leaving without me Mama!” Sakura started crying as she got up and clung to you and tried to force you to sit back down as you tried to back away from the table.

“Baby, I don’t want to leave you either but right now, it has to be this way ok?” You tried to counter as you started to cry too because seeing Sakura cry cut you to your very bones.

“No, you can’t leave, not without me,” Sakura tried to argue as she practically glued herself to your leg and wrapped herself tightly around it and clung to it for dear life.

“It’s not like you’ll never see me again Sweetie, I agreed to go to the summer festival and intervene on your behalf as a priestess of Aura and I’ll do that if everyone else still wants me to. It’s only two days away, the day after tomorrow.” You tried to remind her as you steadied yourself on the back of the chair and lean over to talk to her.

“Zara, no, don’t go.” Noah pleaded and the poor man was in tears himself as was most of them around the table as he got up and tried to gently guide you back to the table because he felt like if you walked out of there, he was gonna lose you forever and die right then and there. He didn’t care if his whole family turned on you. He was ready to cut them all off for you. He made the concious decision to choose you over all of them.

“Zara, please don’t go anywhere, you’re part of this family, and anyone who doesn’t want you to be in this family can leave the house now and take whatever food they brought with them and take their place in it with them too like Alorna and John just did.” Ukluk pleaded as he joined his son in trying to guide you back to the table because seeing how much his granddaughter loved you and her distress at being parted from you was breaking his heart and he wasn’t going to let this circumstance detract from you or your place in this family.

“Agreed,” everyone else mirrored in agreement as you finally gave in and sat back down only to have Sakura climb into your lap and practically hold you to the chair itself so you couldn’t get away as you cuddled and coddled her and dried her tears as Noah just smiled gratefully and adoringly at you and rubbed on your back before he tightened his hold on you from beside you since once you sat back down, he put his chair right next to yours and promptly wrapped his arm around your shoulder. Because you weren’t going anywhere, your place was beside him. And he wanted to thank you in every way for doing even half as much and even though at first blush he wasn’t completely comfortable with your method, the more he thought about it and knowing why you did it had him readily forgiving you and in fact it endeared you to him even more and meant so much to him and he could understand why you felt you needed or wanted to do what you did. And why you would have kept this to yourself even though you had told him about it in a way, little hints here and there when you explained who Zahnochka was and what she was capable of. He just didn’t put two and two together. But now he felt like he put it together and he was even more in love with you now than he was this morning. You were a badass and he loved that about you before Taylor seemed appeased that you were where you should be and simply grabbed a plate and then went home.

“So how much of that did you get to keep?” Suka chanced before everyone else glared at him.

“I was just curious.” Suka defended.

“A very small portion, a very tiny fraction really, his company took the vast majority of it and what was left was split between myself and the five other widows and widowers who’s mates were involved and died in the accident, most of them took the one lump sum pay out of 25 million which the government took half that so they’re left with 12 and a half million and the three of them barely have a million left two years later, and the other two and myself were smart and took the full payout but over the next fifty years. So I only get a check for 250,000 to live off of and the government only gets 15% instead of fifty percent.” You waived off.

“Oh,” Suka nodded in understanding.

“Which is still about double what my husband made a year so I shovel whatever we don’t use just on day to day expenses into savings accounts and retirement accounts and college funds and investments just like everything else I inherited from my grandparents. But at least my house is paid off, so I don’t pay a mortgage which is really nice. Those stinkin credit cards though, they’re just too easy to use. Death by a thousand cuts those things.” You revealed.

“Oh you’re preachin to choir on that one.” Merideth answered.

“Oh and don’t feel bad about Alorna leaving, she’s been a hypocritical bitch since day one, anyone who isn’t native- she hates and honestly now that she’s gone, we can finally all relax and enjoy the evening.” Sesi reassured you from her spot next on the other side of Sakura as you looked around to everyone else who were subtly and not so subtly nodding in agreement.

“Nothing shows your true colors quite like money.” Noah grumbled as he cut into his moose with the caramalized onions.

“I swear I thought I did better raising her.” Summer just shook her head.

“Me too.” Ukluk chuckled as he did the same.

“So what we’re saying, don’t worry about it, don’t let Alorna’s bark scare you off, the gods will make sure she gets what’s coming to her. And if you do end up coming here and staying here only a few months out of the year, don’t ever treat her or have anything to do with her or John.” Tonrar encouraged you.

“Yeah but if she starts running her mouth and telling everyone that I have a quarter of a billion dollars, there’s going to be another manhunt for me like there was a year and a half ago.” You muttered.

“You told us that you only get two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, so that’s how much you got, period and as far as I’m concerned and all I need to know and all I will ever assume is that was a one time payout, and don’t you dare go and correct me, which means you’re no richer than anyone else at this table, it’s easy to say Andy’s company took it all and you said as much and we have no reason to doubt you and anything more is your own business and should stay your own business. They don’t need to know about settlements or any other details. All of our voices together will drown her one voice out or even her’s and John’s or even hers, John’s and Doug’s. So don’t worry about it, as far as I’m concerned, you’re still just the oldest daughter of my best friend in the airforce. So practically family. And I already vouched for Noah to your dad who agreed to vouch for Noah to your kids so your kids will have someone they trust introduce Noah to them which is what they need and I don’t care about what your kids are into, they’re kids, they deserve to be happy and carefree and if they’re happy doing what they’re doing, that is all that matters. Especially to everyone here at this table.” Ukluk reassured you.

“Thank you. The reason I didn’t take Alorna’s words seriously is because ballet saved Xander’s life. After Andy died, he shut down completely and he just...imploded. He wouldn’t necessarily cry and sob, but he wouldn’t laugh or smile or hang out with his friends or talk beyond one or two words. All he did was eat and sleep and spend what little time he was awake in a near catatonic state. Ballet brought him back, and taught him it was ok to be expressive. Skylar on the other hand, she was on the opposite side of the spectrum and so explosive. She was getting into fights every day, she nearly went to juvy and she got so aggressive and combative. So it’s the martial arts that saved her, taught her self control and to tame all the chaos she felt and still feels. And of course therapy, lots and lots of therapy.” You revealed.

“Aww, the poor dear. I can’t wait to meet them both.” Isla assured you.

#Jewel Of The North #Jewel Of The North Part 7 #it hurt so good.#ice orcs #jewel orcs #moura #modern orc love story #orc #orcs #orc romance #orc reader insert #male monster female reader #monster boyfriend #orc boyfriend #reader insert #modern fantasy fic #enjoy

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crimsonblackrose · 4 years

Text

Paris exhausted me. There were so many things I wanted to see coupled with the strikes that was the one two punch combination that left me a zombie. After Paris I had a week to regroup and repack for my Seollal (Lunar New Year) trip to Okinawa. A week that pre-Paris me had filled with plans like: hiking, hosting, packing, and cleaning. Pre-Paris me made the worst decisions.

So by the time my flight to Okinawa had come around I was a little wary. All I wanted was a peaceful and relaxing vacation. It’d be the last one until I return to the States.

Like Paris and a couple other trips this year I made a pdf guide to try and organize myself. You can check it out here: Okinawa.

So maybe you’re wondering, where is Okinawa? Okinawa is an island off the coast of Southern Japan. It reminds me a bit of Jeju-do, which is off the southern coast of Korea. In both cases they were originally their own country with their own people and cultures until Japan and Korea took them over. (A bit like Hawaii). Okinawa is actually closer to Taiwan than mainland Japan.

Okinawa, once upon a time was the Ryūkyū islands (though not all of the islands) and due to its location the people who lived on the islands frequently traded and interacted with China and Korea and several other countries in the area. The results of which can be found within the foods and traditions.

At one point in the 17th century swords were banned which led to the creation of several Okinawan martial arts, the arguably most famous of which is karate.

In 1879 Japan decided to annex the Ryūkyū islands. Also after the Battle of Okinawa in World War II the island found itself occupied by the United States army from 1945-1972 and there are active American army bases still on the island which adds a controversial USA style residue.

Something else found around the island are Shisa or シーサー. These creatures are a cross between a lion and a dog and can be found throughout the island in pairs. One will have its mouth open while the others will be closed. The one with an open mouth is said to eat evil spirits while the one with the closed is meant to keep good spirits in. They are from the Ryūkyū period and can even be found in cute but silly looking souvenirs. Or in many souvenir/tourist spots you can make your own set to take home.

This shisa has it’s mouth closed and is keeping the good vibes in.

Another uniquely Okinawan thing you’ll find often, even just by sound is the Sanshin, or 三線. It is a three stringed snake skinned banjo. Classes are offered to learn how to play, the instrument is sold as souvenirs, and you’ll see people just chilling and playing them depending where you are. Many old traditional Okinawan songs are played using this instrument.

Okinawa is also one of the first places within Japan to experience cherry blossoms. This special type of sakura is called Kanhizakura and is a darker color than the cherry blossoms found in the rest of Japan. They start blooming on the northern side of the islands in late January and through early February which is around when Seollal this year was. (January 24th-27th) So I was actually quite excited to see them. I’ve always wanted to attend hanami of some kind but the dates of cherry blossom viewing and my time off never coincided.

My goal was the Nago Cherry Blossom Festival which was due to happen while I was in Okinawa. The cherry blossom festival was scheduled to happen at Nago Central Park (名護城公園) from January 25th-26th. But according to Google maps it was a 2 hour bus ride away from Naha where I was staying and about a 23 minute walk from where the bus would drop me off in Nago city.

Normally I’d do that. I’d get up early, hop on the bus and then just spend the entire day in Nago before catching a bus home. But I just really wasn’t feeling it. I wanted my trip to Okinawa to be an actual vacation and not me running around trying to cram every possible thing I wanted to do into my short time there until I exhausted myself. (see Paris) So I came up with a compromise. I’d check and see where the cherry blossoms generally were popular to visit in Naha and I’d go there. If they weren’t blooming at all then I’d do the bus. If they were blooming even a little I’d take a cooking class.

If you’re curious about other places you can see cherry blossoms in Okinawa during late January/ early February I suggest checking out these posts that I used to decide for myself. Japan also tends to have a cherry blossom forecast you can check. As a general rule the northern side of the island blooms first and then makes its way down south.

Matcha’s Top 5 Cherry Blossoms

Gina Bear’s Blog: Alluring Sakura Spots

The weather in Okinawa is tropical. It’s pretty warm. I was visiting in winter and during the time it gets the coldest. Generally from December through February the lowest it might get is around 9.6°C and with highs of 26.9°C (between 49-80°F). While I was there in late January while the forecast called for low 70°F (21°C) it ended up being more on that high end of nearly 80°F for most of the trip. Meaning I had packed for a warm spring and ended up in summer style weather. It did however rain towards the end of my trip which cooled things off a lot.

I highly suggest making sure you take care of yourself and prepare for the heat. In the summer it gets a lot hotter. If you’re curious to read more about the monthly weather, what you should wear or how much rain and typhoons they get on average I suggest checking out this website here.

As you can tell, since I went in winter and it was in the upper 70’s it gets hot in Okinawa. I was expecting from the weather reports I saw before I left for it to be spring like in weather and so I packed accordingly…which wasn’t right. I should’ve packed for summer. Clothing wise this is what I wish I’d packed. If you want to print it you can print a copy of my okinawa packing list by clicking on the link.

I suggest packing for warmer weather that might cool off with a breeze or some rain. The jeans I packed were too hot until it started to rain towards the end of my trip. At which point it was nice and cool. Also definitely take a fan. While for most of my trip I was good.

I, and a lot of people, while leaving Okinawa at the airport were dying while in line to go through security. There were only 4 doors and a lot of people trying to get through and the airport didn’t have any air conditioning on, at least that was noticeable. I whipped out a wooden fan I got in Malaysia and I’m pretty sure it’s the only reason I didn’t pass out. It also let me bond with a family whose grandma had a similar fan and whose grand-kid got excited every time they spotted me with my fan.

Also a side note for people with allergies. Due to the climate there are a lot of flowers in bloom and they��re everywhere.

The connecting platform from the airplane to the actual airport was filled with orchids. There were orchids everywhere in the airport. (It’s lovely) There are also a large amount of well loved stray cats.

I saw many people halting their daily business to stop and check on the cats or feed them and a lot of the cats seemed friendly. However if you have allergies and are extremely sensitive to cats or flowers make sure to pack your most trusty allergy medicine.

Something to note in Okinawa is that the usual transit passes you use in the rest of Japan do not work. There’s are lot of different passes for different regions of Japan. I have two. I have a Pasmo and a Icoca which usually covers where I tend to want to travel. Neither work in Okinawa. Other IC passes also don’t work.

The first thing you should do is decide what you want to do while in Okinawa. I wanted a super chill vacation so I wanted to stay in Naha as much as possible. Especially after seeing that the cherry blossom festival was a two hour bus ride away and there weren’t tours available that I could find in English. I had already booked my hotel in Naha for the entire time I was going to in Okinawa. So I suggest even before booking your hotel decide what you want to do and where you want to go. Then try and figure out logistics. If you want to travel around beyond Naha (the city nearest the airport) then one way to do that is to get an Okinawa bus pass. A 1 day pass is 2,500 yen, a 3 day pass is 5,000 yen. It is 500 yen more to add on the Yui rail. It does not however “include buses that pass the highway such as limousine buses, line No. 111 and No.117, and regular sightseeing buses.” You can pick up or buy the pass in the International arrival terminal at Naha airport. (These tickets are also available at other locations if you want to buy them later in your trip. You can check out the locations here.)

I had planned to get this ticket because it’s what everyone suggested getting online for getting around while in Okinawa. But because I was mostly staying in Naha it wasn’t worth it for me. Instead they suggested I go to the Domestic arrivals terminal and get the Naha bus pass. (660 yen per day just for the bus. If you want to add the monorail it’s 1,000 yen) After some back and forth in my limited Japanese and the staffs limited English I finally understood why they weren’t selling me a 3 day transit pass. Let alone why they weren’t wanting to sell me any bus pass. The Naha bus pass works for that day. Meaning if you start using it at 5pm it will only work until the last bus of that day. It’s a bit expensive to even do this. My hotel which was the only goal for that day other than eating and going to a nearby park was accessible via the monorail. It was more financially responsible to just go to the monorail and buy a one way pass to my nearest station and walk the ten minutes to my hotel. Due to my hotels location I was also near a ton of popular things to do including a lot of restaurants. And it turned out most of what I wanted to do was arguably within walking distance.

So I bought a one way ticket via the monorail (Yui Rail) and spent the rest of my vacation walking around the neighborhood my hotel was in.

I’m really grateful that neither bus shop sold me tickets. I’m glad that both booths knew that it wasn’t financially worth it for me to buy a pass with them. Because I’d never been to Naha before and the number 1 suggested way to get around is via a car. So I had assumed everything would be too far away for me to walk. But because I had planned to stay in Naha it was better for me to just walk. Or buy tickets at the station for the monorail. You can get a one day or two day monorail pass if that will be better for you financially. These run 800 yen for a day pass and 1,400 yen for two days.

If you want to the local IC card (similar to the Pasmo or Icoca) which is what I was looking for, it is called OKICA pass and can be purchased at the ticket machines. To get the card you must load up in increments of 1,000 yen and you will loose 500 yen as a card deposit when you first get the card. The purchase amounts for the card are 1,000, ￥2,000, ￥3,000, ￥4,000, ￥5,000 and ￥10,000. If you would like to take the bus and trains around Naha often then I suggest getting this card because it will make your commute around Naha faster than buying a ticket one way. The ticket machines have an English option so follow the instructions to get your card.

I did not get one of these cards since I took public transportation a grand total of twice. Once from the airport and again back to the airport. But if you want to explore more of Naha and be able to easily jump between bus and monorail I suggest getting this card. (For me to get to and from the airport those two times I spent a grand total of 600 yen which is why it was not worth it for me, even in retrospect.)

The regular paper pass work via scanning a QR code. Scan when entering the monorail and when leaving. When you’re done with your ticket there is a bucket you can drop it in or you can keep your ticket.

One of my favorite things to do when travel is try the local specialties. It’s become even more of a thing since living in Korea and whenever I mention traveling, even just to a different part of Korea, my coworkers want to know above all else if I ate the foods of the region and if it was good. Food is also a huge part of Okinawan culture, they believe that food is medicine and the proof is in the pudding as they have the longest life spans.

I didn’t manage to try everything they’re famous for but I tried a lot. I’m going to make a quick list for you and then in upcoming posts go more into detail on which places I went to try the foods.

Super special local ingredients!

Goya ( ゴーヤー)– Goya or Momordica charantia is a super healthy food and looks a bit like a bumpy cucumber. It is chock full of vitamin c and is considered the perfect thing to eat when it’s hot out to protect your stomach from the heat. Usually when it gets too hot out the appetite decreases. It’s believed the Goya keeps that from happening.

umi-budō (海ぶどう) – Umi Budo or Caulerpa lentillifera is known as a couple of different things, green caviar and sea grapes are the top two. Umi budo is neither a fruit or an egg but instead a satisfying to eat type of seaweed. Rather than leaves sprouting from the main stem there are a whole bunch of tiny orbs. If you like salty and popping boba in your tea then I suggest giving these a try. They’re a lot of fun, almost an edible equivalent to popping bubble wrap. It’s usually served covered in vinegar at room temperature.

Shiiquasa (シークヮーサー ) – This citrus fruit has various spellings and names in English. Among which include shiikuwasha, shiiquwasa, or shequasar or the scientific term: the Citrus depressa. It’s is a very sour fruit similar to a lemon or lime and sometimes confused with a calamansi (though it is similar). It can be found in various types of juices on the island as well as as a chip flavoring and in ice creams.

Benni Imo 沖縄の紅芋 – This is a relative to the sweet potato, taro, ube, or yam. However it is dark on the outside and bright purple on the inside. It gets used a lot in Okinawa for various fun desserts with no artificial coloring due to the natural dark purple color.

Maasu 真潮 – Massu or Masshu is very simply salt. There are about 150 types of salt uniquely made in Okinawa. And you’ll find a lot of things have salt to them. Some of these are quite fun like salt ice cream and cookies. As a person who grew up in the United States where salt is arguably over used, living for the last 5 years in South Korea where sugar is grabbed in almost all instances I would have use salt, meant my savory salt taste bud was in absolute heaven in Okinawa.

Aguu あぐー豚 – Aguu is Okinawan pork. Aguu is used commonly in many dishes so if you do not eat pork or meat make sure to double check with the restaurants that this is not used. It is a local special ingredient and every bit of the pig is used in some part of Okinawan cuisine. If you’re sensitive please take care when walking around in Okinawa as pig heads are commonly on display as a showcase to their importance within the culture or as part of souvenirs. I usually did not get too close to see if some of the ones on display were real or fake. Aguu itself is considered a very special type of pork and has become rarer than it use to be. Due to this the pork you eat in Okinawa might not automatically be aguu, and if you do find aguu it will be expensive.

kokuto 黒糖 – Kokuto is a local type of brown sugar made from a very sturdier type of sugar cane on the island that can withstand typhoons. It’s considered one of the world’s healthiest brown sugars.

peanut tofu– most tofu found in the world is made out of soybeans, but in Okinawa you can buy and try tofu made out of peanuts. Note peanuts is a popular ingredient, if you have allergies make sure to double check before eating things in Okinawa.

pineapple and mango- Pretty sure most people know what these are.

Alcohol and spirits

Awamori– local very strong rice liquor, it has no added sugars and is low in calories. If you want to enjoy it it is highly suggested to add at least ice or water (hot or cold). If you want all the calories then have it in a cocktail. Popular cocktails according to an Okinawan guide are: Mango Harusa (local mango, orange and shiiquasa), Awamori twice (milk and chocolate liquor), and Ryuku tonic (lychee).

Orion– the local beer. If you like this beer then you’re in luck. You will find souvenirs for it everywhere.

wine– due to the large amounts of fruit grown on the island you can try all sorts of fruity wines like pineapple, mango, guava, and shiiquasa.

Foods!

Goya Champuru – you might recognize that first word. Goya is bitter melon and Champuru essentially breaks down to stir fry. Goya Champuru is a great way to try bitter melon. Common ingredients include goya, tofu, egg, pork belly and/or Spam.

Rafute– this dish is a sweet meat. It’s made from pork belly cooked in Awamori and a local type of miso. Depending on who makes it it may be sweet or salty but it will be melt in your mouth soft. For some people that is a textural no-no with meat.

Okinawa soba– Usually soba is quite thin and dark looking, however the Okinawan style looks a bit more like udon with its paler 100% wheat made chewy noodles. It usually comes with some sort of pork. Commonly pork belly or spare ribs.

Taco rice– It’s exactly what it sounds like. Instead of a taco shell either soft or hard you’ve got a taco salad essentially on a bowl of rice. Not everyone’s cup of tea but I loved it.

Mimiga– I didn’t manage to give this a try but it is boiled and steamed pork ears. Note that if you have peanut allergies make sure to let them know because it’s usually covered in a peanut dressing.

Sweets

Santa Andagi– nicknamed Okinawan brown sugar donuts these are not what most would consider a donut. They are instead balls of fried dough. They aren’t super sweet and tend to be very crunchy on the outside. They’re fun to try and they come in other flavors but the traditional old school flavor is brown sugar.

Salt ice cream– exactly as it sounds. Also depending on location you can try flavored salts on top of your ice cream.

Okinawan salt cookies

Chinsuko– a cookie similar to a short bread cookie that comes in a lot of different flavors. They’re quite good. When it comes to souvenirs though you may notice that they’re being sold in joke boxes because Chinsuko is similar to a slang word for penis, “chinko”.

Beni Imo Tart– a bright purple sweet potato tart which can be found at almost any souvenir shop. You should also be able to sample these at many of the shops to see if you like it.

Beni imo soft serve– if the tart isn’t up your alley you can also try beni imo in the form of bright purple ice cream in many locations.

This of course isn’t everything that is exclusive to Okinawa or all they have to offer but this is a lot of the main ones I ran into and ran into often.

While Japanese is spoken in Okinawa and they’ll understand you if you say the basics, Okinawa has its own language that predates even the Ryūkyū Kingdom.

Languages are confusing and I am no expert. I only learned two phrases, one on a tour and the other at a show, but I figure if I share them so you’ll pleasantly surprise those you meet.

First up is hello. But as a note the language is gendered. So from my understanding what you say depending on the gender you identify as.

Since I identify as female I would say Haitai はいたい as a greeting to the people around me.

For those who identify as male you say Haisai はいさい .

Thank you is nifee deebiru 御拝でーびーる. It is not a gendered phrase.

If you want to memorize hello in Okinawan there is a song that is played practically everywhere, even if it’s just a little jingle on the Yui rail or at the airport called Haisai ojisan (ハイサイおじさん). If you want to hear the song a version of it can be heard here. If you go to any traditional performance there’s a good chance this song will be played accompanied by the sanshin.

Okinawa Paris exhausted me. There were so many things I wanted to see coupled with the strikes that was the one two punch combination that left me a zombie.

#how to get around okinawa #okinawa #public transit #public transportation #transportation #travel

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