Castaway Resolution
Page 36
Tavana ran forward to hug his mother and aunt, catching them both in a hug that lifted both from the ground, and now the rest of the people there were talking and the news crews were filming, realizing something extraordinary was happening before their eyes. Xander and Maddox sprinted across the landing strip into the arms of their mother and father, who were crying and laughing in equal measure.
There was an echoing bellow and a pod of Bemmies emerged from the crowd; Whips slid forward, and suddenly Sakura and her whole family were running, helping Whips along, as Tallenal Pod trumpeted their own disbelief, jagged patterns of shock and surprise and joy clashing in brilliant celebration across each and every one of them.
Bemmie arms reached and intertwined and hugged and for a few moments Sakura felt as though a forest of ivy was embracing her and rumbling and cheering with love. Finally they loosened their embrace and all stood, holding hands and tendrils, happily regarding each other—Pageturner, who had grown half a meter since they’d last met, and who was now hugging Melody so close that it looked like he’d never let her go, and big old Numbers—Kryndomerr, Whips’ father, one arm entwined with Whips’ and another with his lifemate Windharvest, whose pattern showed she was crying with amazement and relief, and Dragline, trying to stretch his arms to cover everyone at once and singing a song so joyful and loud that Sakura didn’t know whether to sing along or cover her ears.
But now there were more: Lieutenant Haley and Sergeant Campbell had come, and Francisco, tugging his mother with him, a torrent of Spanish pouring unstoppably from his lips as the rest of his family followed, and Xander and Maddox pulling their parents with them despite an obvious nervousness near the Bemmie family, Captain Toriyama just standing there watching, with a brilliant smile and unabashed tears flowing down his cheeks, and Tavana, trying to introduce his dazed mother and aunt to her and everyone else at once.
Finally, Numbers gave a hoot that broke through the din, and everyone fell silent for an instant. “This…this is a true miracle,” he said at last. “By the Vents and the Sky, our family is all reunited, and my soul cannot express my joy, our joy. And these about you, my son, my daughters, my human family?”
Whips drew himself up proudly. “They are more family, more for Tallenal Pod to hold in love and pride.”
The big Bemmie—much longer than Whips and probably three to four times his mass, nearly a ton of massive deliberation—settled and rose in a bow. “It is always a joy to meet new family.”
“Family? Tavana…what is it…is he saying?”
Tavana looked at his mother. “He is saying that those of us who returned are family. And we are, Maman.”
“Yes, we are,” Sakura said, stepping up next to him, and meeting the eyes of all the newcomers—the other parts of the families who had yet to meet hers.
“But…but how?”
Mom laughed, and her laugh carried across the field. “That is going to take a long time to tell,” she said.
“A long time,” Sakura echoed, and put her arm around Tavana’s strong waist. “But now we have time to tell it.” She hugged him tight, and with her other arm, reached around to embrace her other best friend. “We have a lifetime to tell it, now.”