A smile is the whisper of a laugh. If you are too busy to laugh, you are too busy. —A child's proverb

Once upon a time in a faraway called Poland, there was a sleepy little farming village, whose people toiled the land endlessly during the growing season in the hopes of producing a bountiful crop each year. After the yearly harvest, the people had a festival where the ladies would get together and cook pancakes for the entire village. And every year, each family would save their pennies so that they could buy a pot of jelly, which they would use to add flavor to the seemingly endless stacks of pancakes that were cooked up during each festival.

In this village lived an elderly couple. Every year the wife, Magdalina, would buy a pot of jelly. And every year the husband, Fabek, would eat it all up before the festival. This year Magdalina came up with an idea to keep Fabek from eating up all the jelly.

"Be wise, Fabek," she said with a scolding tone as she pointed to the pot of jelly. "And do not eat this, for it is poison and you will surely die if you do."

"Do not worry, Magdalina," he replied. "For I do not want to eat poison."

And so Magdalina put the pot of jelly in the top cabinet, the couple went about their day and all the days afterward until the day before the festival. Magdalina by now had become so certain that her ploy had worked that she felt it safe to go into town to some flour and shortening to contribute to the pancakes to be cooked the following day.

"I am leaving for town," she said. "Do not forget, Fabek, to leave the poison alone." And to be sure, she added cleverly. "Why don't you go and buy some bacon from the village butcher?" That should keep him out of trouble, she thought before she left for town.

And so Fabek walked to the other side of the village. Along the way he met a man of ill character who swindled him out of all the money he had. And Fabek came home so very distraught. "What ever shall I do?" He cried, slamming the door shut behind him. "For I have lost all our money, and Magdalina will be so angry!" He so despaired and feared his wife's wrath that he would rather have died than face her again.

It was then he remembered the "poison" that was stored in the top cupboard, and Fabek opened the door and reached up to retrieve it. Placing the pot on the kitchen table, he got a spoon and dipped it into the pot, and took a big mouthful. His eyes widened in surprised delight. "This poison is yummy and sweet," he said, having expected the "poison" to be bitter. In no time at all, Fabek devoured the entire pot-full and laid down on the couch to await the inevitable.

But fifteen minutes passed, and nothing happened. Another quarter-hour, and his tummy began to ache. "Oh, this must be the beginning of the end," he reckoned. But a full hour passed and still he lived with nothing but that sour tummy. Just then Magdalina came home to see an empty pot on the kitchen table and her husband laying on the couch, clutching his belly with a woeful expression on his face. "Fabek!" she exclaimed. "Whatever have you done?!"

"I have eaten all the poison, my darling wife, for I have lost our money and am not worthy to live!" Fabek answered her with sadness in his voice.

"Oh Fabek! That was not poison, but our jelly for the pancake festival!" And the two clutched at each other and cried together. And just when it seemed that they would have no jelly for their pancakes again this year, the village learned of their plight...and each family donated a spoonful of their jelly, adding it to Fabek and Magdalina's empty pot until it was full once more. And the next day, when the festival began, the elderly couple gave thanks for the generosity of their neighbors, and relished their pancakes like they never had been able to before.



*******

"And the moral of the story," Alec said to the collection of people and whatever children had gathered to hear the journeyman there by the pool as the day's brunch began to wind down. "Is that you should never lie, never gorge yourself on sweets...and that given the chance, the love of your friends and neighbors can get you through the worst of time." This was said with a meaningfully caring look at Hochi, who it might be assumed had come to listen to this flaxen-haired friend of friends tell his tale of pancakes and jelly.

"Our greatest strength' is our ability to acknowledge our differences. Our greatest weakness is our failure to embrace them." ~Judith Henderson

Around the same time that Aja was making a retreat to dab her eyes, Sivanna remained propped against a doorway, listening to Alec tell his story. The barest hint of a smile crept across the cleric's lips as the pirate gypsy swept past, carrying the white chiffon skirt of her sundress along with her in the wind of her wake. Sivanna didn't seem to mind at all. Her eyes remained locked on Alec, though it had nothing whatsoever to do with the story he told, judging by the loving expression she wore. The entire image was so sweet; it brought an ache to the teeth.

As the children giggled along with the moral of the story, the elfess couldn't help but be struck with pangs of guilt. Her husband was naturally gifted with a kind, tolerant personality. Though he would say he earned it through years and years of practice, his wife always had the sneaking suspicion that he was born compassionate and patient; the latter trait quite unalike her occasionally hotheaded self. Indeed, as Sivanna observed the rapt, adoring mien upon his listeners" faces, she recognized an uncomfortable sensation brewing in her stomach.

An inaudible sigh escaped her lips as she turned around and wandered aimlessly into a spare bedroom. It was selfish keeping him all to herself, wasn't it' When he was so wonderful with children, with people" Perhaps that little worry didn't matter to Alec in his grand scheme of things, but even his Ippon brethren believed he was destined for greater things. What she would give to go back in time and walk his Earth— to ask his mentor what he thought about the impending, inevitable turn of events: The Scathing, Nemesis, and ultimately his arrival on Rhy"Din, where he had been reduced to performing chores all day. Sivanna was confident it wasn't a life he would have seen for himself, and she often had to wonder if he weren't remotely disappointed with it. After all, Rhy"Din had never been a first choice for him. Or her, for that matter.

Or any of them.

The elfess lingered in the bedroom as the journeyman's story concluded with the thunderous applause of tiny hands. She dwelled. Alec's calculating thought process had become more a part of her than she would care to admit, and so as she dwelled, she analyzed each individual within their group with dizzying speed.

Almost every one of them had been burdened with a tragedy that brought them to Rhy"Din. Whether it was Anya's harrowed past that brought her to her fear all things fire, the thought of Neo's history in glorious ruins, Hochi's doleful enslavement in the inhuman confines of a mine, or Aja's grudging and precipitous departure from a life of indulgence, Sivanna deduced that every one of them had grown stronger because of their trials.

Well....Almost every one of them.

The cleric gazed at the lines and faint scars on her palms, reminded of her constant, desperate endeavor toward more power. She sighed.

No. She hadn't changed much. Not much. She was always going to be that general in Silvanost what brought the vibrant growth of an impressive metropolis to a staggering halt. It was a part of who she was, and she would ungrudgingly carry it with her for the rest of her life.

Perhaps that was all right, though. Perhaps it was all right that she was different. Perhaps it was more their differences than their similarities what brought them together. The former Brats Club United. As Sivanna recalled that name, she couldn't help but emit a musical chuckle. What in the name of Nuitari were they thinking when they put that together" It seemed so trite now" like they had all grown years apart since then.

And yet, here they were in Arcadia on one of the most beautiful days Sivanna had seen in a long time, eating pancakes and teasing Neo about his embarrassing blushing habit. What was it about long skirts that made him light up like Yule" Why did Aja, a grown woman, turn into a child again when presented with candy' What prompted Anya to sing operetta when she was delightfully filterless" What actually brought Misty to smoke" Why did Thorne choose to remain so often in puppy form'

These were all questions that she wanted answers to, but ones that could wait. No, Sivanna would be happy to have them unanswered for however long it took" so long as she could find the answers out on her own. Her family: Every last one of them a strange, quirky collection of awkward traits and goofy mannerisms.

Her family.

With a smile, Sivanna ducked back into the hallway and crept up on her favorite pirate gypsy. In one sweeping motion, she made to cover Aja with her arms from behind in a firm embrace, and proceed to gnaw playfully on her shoulder.

"Feeeeeeeed meeeeeeeee!" she teased, giggling, before she perked up with a wicked look.

"This is a brunch, right' Where are the mimosas" Come on, Aja!" she bubbled, snapping her fingers. "Get on the ball, woman!"

Even as she jested, Sivanna shared a warm, loving smile with her sister. She had a feeling they were both thinking about the same thing.

Misty, in true Kirn style, had found herself a perch near the ground in one of the trees, tickled pink to finally be able to wear her favorite sarong and halter-top combination again. She missed those floral prints soooo much.

Her eyes twinkled as she watched everyone, her tail waving in the gentle breeze, her only sound a quiet purring. It was nice to relax like this. She'd been doing so on Motuv'Utaw, but it just wasn't the same without this, her new family.

Even so, with everything else that was going on in her life, she was almost snoozing by the time she heard somebody say "mimosas". But it only made her smile. Somehow, that wasn't even a temptation anymore.

It was finally starting to feel like she had nothing to prove.

Better late than never Darcy had arrived in her full fashion of completely Awesomeness. Happy to shed winter clothes for a time as she wore a spaghetti strap scoop necked black band midrift tank top this one featuring The Misfits, hiphugging black shorts, and flip flops. Pack of cloves and Zippo were stuffed in her pocket. Hair pulled back in a high ponytail. Darcy was more of a summer person than anything. Even though she knew it was a brunch Darcy of course not being able to help herself brought quite a few platters of yummy ooey gooey brownies she herself had made.

Secretly she wanted to spoil Hochi rotten. And that is what she was here to do. Once she had set the platters in the kitchen she went to greet her fellow BCU members. Her family. Each was greeted with a hug, a kiss, and a warm greeting. Funny how she had quickly came into this family of misfits and seemed to fit in perfectly.

However she had a mission...She had promised her Hochi she would get rid of this horrid closet monster. So after hugging him tight, ruffling his hair, and sneaking him some brownies when Aja wasn't looking she asked him to take her to battle on this closet monster head on.

She would do anything for Hochi. And the rest of the Brats. Simply because she felt deep down within herself that they were her family. A family to love, support, and be there for no matter what.