** Friends, Partners, Sisters... Aunts? **

Lenna
*****

<My rider I hope you don't mind but you're about to have a visitor,>
Blanchie told Lenna sometime after they had come home. The dragon knew her
rider was upset about something but since Lenna hadn't been to open about
the reason, Blanchie had kept quiet, knowing her human would tell her when
she was ready too. <I know you said you wanted to be alone for a little
while until we go see your sibling... But I didn't think you would mind
seeing this human.>

Lenna dried her tears and got up from the end of the couch when she had
found herself after she had found the proof that B`rand *had* given up on
her ever returning. No matter what the others had told her. She had seen the
evidence with her own eyes when she had entered the bedroom to find he had
pack everything that was hers into boxes and had them stacked near the door
as if for later removal.

Why would he have done that if he thought like everyone told her, that he
believed she would return one day.

She hadn't really expected him to grieve for her for the rest of his life.
Really she hadn't. She had wanted him to be happy. Really.

But the sight of her things packed into boxes was just a bit harder then she
could have imagined.

He had given up on her. He believed she was dead. So what then did that mean
now that she had returned?

She heard the sound of a dragon landing on the outer ledge and made her way
to the door to find out who it was, knowing that if it was someone she
wouldn't want to see, Blanchie would have told them she was sleeping.

"Kat..." she breathed softly, barely uttering the girls name aloud as her
eyes took in the wonderful sight of her old friend.

Kat managed to get a slim grip on the wave of emotions that surfaced as she
fragmentally spoke, "Oh Lenna, it is you. You are back and alright. I..I.. I
thought you were lost. I..I..I should have believed Lonnie that you were
still with us, but...  Oh, I..I..I missed you. So much has happened. I..I..
I am so glad to see you." Katrina wiped more tears from her eyes as she
moved to embrace her friend.

Lenna allowed the girl to come. She found she needed the human contact more
now then when she had first showed up. Kat was her friend. Had been her
patrol partner. Sometimes the long hours they spent together made two people
closer then family.

"Gods it's so good to see you! You don't know how much I've missed you,"
Lenna sobbed along with her friend for a few moments before finally they
broke contact. 

She saw Kat's eyes searching her face for signs of she wasn't sure what, and
gave a weak smile.

"Yes it is really me," she quipped, but without the humor Kat remembered.
Then she looked back over the girl's shoulder and satisfied that there was
no one else, she stepped back and waved the girl inside.

"Come on in," she said, and stepped back so that Kat could enter the main
living are. "I'm afraid that I can't offer you much in the way of drinks or
eats right now... You know how B`rand was about stocking up....." Even
saying his name hurt, but until she spoke with him herself she didn't want
to say anything.

"That's okay I came to see you not eat... So where have you been?" Kat asked
taking a seat at one end of the couch while Lenna sat on the other.

"Truthfully," she said, looking her friend in the eye. "I couldn't tell you
if I wanted too. It's like..... I don't know... it's weird... I know we had
a life there but the longer I'm back here in the Cleft... the less I
remember about our time away."

"Weird," Kat murmured. 

Lenna knew her friend was wondering if for some reason she didn't want to
talk about it, and there were reasons. Reasons she couldn't have put into
words had she tried. The words just weren't there to speak.

"But how about you... What have you been doing for the last year," Lenna
asked and could have hugged her friend again when she didn't balk at the
change of topic, but went along with it.

"Well you remember my family?" Kat asked and saw Lenna nod.

"Your father still hate that you ride a dragon?"

"Well he's not thrilled with it any more then he is about my brother Seth
joining... He did you know at the last hatching before today's..... But
father has come to some kind of terms with our riding..." she shrugged. "At
lease he's talking to me now."

"Well I'll have to congratulate him when I see him," Lenna beamed. She had
liked the kid and knew one day he would join with a dragon. She had seen the
dragon affinity surrounding him each time she had seen him, but hadn't
wanted to rock the boat by saying anything about it. It was nice that she
had been right. Seth would make a good rider one day when he was a bit older.

Kat looked at her and nodded. "He'll be happy to see your back..... "

"It's my sister we were all worried about after the thing with the now
departed Lord Vorbis... We weren't too sure how she was going to deal with
it,  but I think she's going to be all right in time."

"Lord Vorbis?" Lenna asked. "I don't know the name? Who is he and what'd he
do to your sister?"

"Oh I'd forgotten you weren't here then."

Kat went on to tell her about then man and some of the things that had
happened before his timely death. She told her about her father allowing her
younger sister to be in the mans company hoping to make a good match... but
that was before then man's true colors had shown through, and he had
kidnapped the girl and abused her so that his plans wouldn't be found out.
Kat told her how her sister had been able to get a note out to her, telling
her that she was in danger and then she told a stunned Lenna about the
rescue and of finding the Lord dead when they went to confront him."

"Man oh man did I miss out on the fun!" Lenna murmured in stunned shock. "I
do hope your sister is okay. It may not seem like it now but she will
somehow learn to deal with it." Lenna's voice lost some of it's vitality as
she remembered her own bout with abuse. The same abuse that ended up with
the loss of her first baby, and her nearly losing her own life."

She had come to terms with it while she was in that other place...
Especially after the birth of Rand. But at times she still thought about it.

"I can't believe that man's gull. Did he really think to black mail Cynthia
to have the Warren do his biddings?"

"He did and for a while it looked like he might have had her going," Kat
grinned wickedly. "But then he had never dealt with a woman like Cynthia
before... when it came time to fish or cut bait... you know who was holding
the fishing pole and it wasn't our dear Lord Vorbis."

They were silent for a few minutes after that and then Kat spoke up. Her
voice full of concern and caring.

"Look..." She said after coming to a decision. "I don't know if you want to
talk about what happened to you or not but you do know I'm here if you ever
do. Don't you?"

Lenna reached out and touched her friend on the arm. "I know you are my
friend, but I'm just not ready to talk about it yet... I'm not even sure I
remember things happening the way they did or if it was all a dream."

She had visions of things happening that she didn't know if they were real
or not. Things so bad that she wanted to forget them. Things no one should
have to go through. 

A cry came from the other room and Lenna turned her head to look at the door
leading into the bedroom before getting up.

"Excuse me... Rand  must have woken and is upset cause he doesn't know where
he is yet."

"Rand?" Kat asked getting up and following Lenna into the bedroom. She
stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who Rand was. "Lenna that's a baby!"

"He's a year old now," Lenna's smile face radiated a warm, loving smile now
as she picked her son up and began to gently rock him. "Kat meet my son
Rand... Rand this is Aunt Kat..." 

She turned slightly so the boy could see the other woman in the room, and
she him.

"But... but... HOW!" Kat asked grinning as she came nearer to hold out her
hand for the little one to take. "Not that I'm not glad you see, but...
It's... I mean he is B`rand's baby... I can see that from the hair color,
but..."

"I must have been pregnant when I disappeared," Lenna told her. "It's the
only thing I can figure out. I mean I remember us... well I remember our
last night together and it is possible it happened then... all I know is I
have my son and now he's home where we both belong."

"Does B`rand know?"

Lenna shook her head. "No... he wasn't here when we arrived today. Dani said
he'd taken our parents to Telnor for the night so mother and Pops could see
some old friends..... Kat... how had B`rand been... I mean..."

"He's been lonely without you," Kat said honestly. "He isn't at all like the
man I knew when you were... well before you disappeared. Even Lonnie had
been worried about him here lately every since B`rand has been spending a
lot more time away from here on his own and won't tell Lonnie where he's been."

Lenna feared she knew the reason why. Feared it might have something to do
with why he had boxed up all of her things. But she didn't say this to her
friend. She didn't want to say anything until she knew the truth.

She wondered if Kat saw the boxes. They were hard to miss since they nearly
tripped on them coming into the room. But she blessed her friend again for
not referring to them.

<My rider I hate to cut this short but you sibling is on his way to take you
to see Varie's rider and your other sibling.> Blanchie told Lenna who was
just putting a sleeping Rand back in his bed.

She turned to Kat then with her hands out in apology. "Look my brother's
coming by to get me. We're going to see Turner and Kellie since the one
can't come see me and the other won't believe I'm back until he sees me for
himself... But maybe tomorrow we can get together and you can fill me in on
what else has been going on around here while I was gone."

"Sure Lenna," Kat started to follow her back out into the living room and
then on to the dragons ledge. "Would you like me to stay with Rand while
you're gone?

"No he's asleep now and Blanchie will listen for him and let me know when he
starts to fuss," Lenna told her, thanking her for the offer. "She's very
protective of him."

"Can he hear her?" Kat asked. 

Lenna frowned and thought, "I think so. I mean I've ever tested it out, but
sometimes after she's said something he gets this silly grin on his face
that reminds me of Dani's girl's when they were that age... then too hearing
dragons runs in the family. I can hear Meri you know and Lonnie can hear
Blanchie and the girls can hear any dragon who'll talk to them. No Rand'll
be fine. I don't plan on being away to long. Just long enough for Turner to
believe I'm real."

They parted then with one more long hug that almost set Lenna to crying
again, but she wiped her eyes and mounted Blanchie then met her brother at
Kellie's where Turner was waiting for them.

============  

Nrpg:
This is part one... Working on part two now but wanted to get this
out.......Next Lenna meets the Mapmaker ;)

****Submitted by: ***** 

Lenna & Blanchie
Cleft Warren

Aka
Barbara