As the sun started to set, Kes found herself outside with Tresit and Lanam, playing their game of making designs of rocks in the sand. As they did, Anara made up stories about the shapes they made. Then Lanam asked Kes if she knew any stories too, and Kes tried to do what Anara had, with, she thought, probably not as much success. When Anara had told her that her children thought her a good story teller, she’d been right, Kes had come to very much agree that she was. Anara had such a beautiful voice too – soft, but a little deeper sounding than she was used to women sounding among her own people. Kes had become sure she’d never tire of listening to it.

As the last rays of sunlight were dimming, Kes again found herself talking with Anara, this time in hushed voices. Tresit and Lanam had already fallen asleep and the two of them were keeping their voices soft so as not to wake them.

”So, Tae, Daggin, Lona, and I went down by the water’s edge. Farran was off with the girl he liked, so he hadn’t come with us. It’s forbidden to swim in the reservoir… either because it’s believed not to be safe, or because my people believe it goes against the Caretaker’s wishes, or some combination of the two reasons. I’d never heard of anyone getting hurt doing it though. Tae and I had gone down there together plenty of times in fact, and there were never any problems. This was Lona’s first time though, and she was so nervous of the water! I’d never seen her that way. She was usually the bravest of all of us. Or she liked to talk like she was, I think. It was her idea to start the gardens, you know. Her and her Daggin’s. They’re brother and sister.” Kes was telling her about one of her favorite memories growing up.

”Describe them to me. What do they look like?” Anara asked.

”Alright. Lona has hair that’s almost the color of mine, maybe a little lighter. She’s taller than I am, the tallest of all five of us, and kind of… graceful, in how she moves. Her hair is longer, and bushy, and she has dark eyes that are actually kind of mysterious to look at. Like you can never quite guess what’s on her mind, but you always would think it was something of the greatest importance. Or something profound, you know?” Kes chuckled a little then. ”When we would read each others’ thoughts though, practicing our mental abilities, I found out, she’s really not like that at all. She’s actually very… logical. Thoughtful, yes, but… down to earth, in a way. I always found her comforting to be around, because she always kept an open mind about things.” Kes related. In fact, Lona had been the only one she’d told about her feelings for Tae. One evening, when they’d been the only two still tending the gardens they’d started with their friends. Lona had told her that it didn’t make very much sense to her, but that she didn’t see anything wrong with feeling that way, and that she thought it was wrong of their people to all but ostracize people for something like that. She’d also agreed with her though, that Tae almost certainly wouldn’t return her feelings. She’d asked Kes then, ’don’t you want to have children, though?’. Kes has told her that it really wasn’t important to her (though the truth was, at that point, she’d hardly ever even considered it). And Lona had said ’Now see? That’s why I don’t really understand it.’ Kes wasn’t sure she understood it either, not really. But, she also knew, she couldn’t and didn’t want to change to be another way.