AREANA
The moment Areana's feet touched the tarmac, her eyes locked on her sons.
She knew what they looked like, had talked with both several times during the submarine trip and then the long flight. But it wasn't the same as seeing them in person or holding them in her arms.
Kalugal's dark hair caught the afternoon sunlight, highlighting some of the dark brown strands, his blue eyes, her eyes, fixed on her with an intensity that she didn't know how to interpret. Next to him, Lokan was a little taller, a little broader, his features sharper, but he couldn't compete with his younger brother's aura of superiority that was innate rather than assumed.
They were both hers. Her boys, who she'd held for such a brief, precious time before Navuh had taken them away.
"Mother," Kalugal said, and the word broke something inside her.
She was running before she could think, her legs carrying her across the space between them, and then she was in Kalugal's arms, and he was holding her tight, and she was crying.
"I'm here," he murmured into her hair. "We're here. You're safe."
"I've never been in any real danger," she whispered into his neck. "But I wasn't really living."
Lokan joined the embrace, wrapping his arms around both of them, and Areana found herself sandwiched between her sons, crying while they held her up.
"I've missed you so much," she managed between sobs. "So much. And I didn't even have the benefit of knowing what you looked like until I saw you on Anandur's phone." She turned to look at Lokan. "Thank you for trying to save me. For sending Carol and the communicator."
He chuckled. "That's not how it happened. I wanted to find you, but I went about it in a very bad way and ended up in the clan's dungeon. I was lucky that Carol saw something worth loving in me and decided to help me find you."
She knew that, of course, but the details didn't matter. What mattered was that Lokan had somehow managed to remember her despite being taken away from her as a little boy, and he had tried to find her.
The Fates had done the rest.
She pulled back enough to look at their faces. To really see them. "You are so handsome, my boys."
"We have good genes," Kalugal said with a crooked smile. "We inherited our good looks from you."
"And the modesty too?" Jacki walked up to them with Darius in her arms.
She embraced Areana lightly with one arm. "Welcome to America, the land of the free."
The land of the free. This carried so much meaning for her on so many levels.
Freedom was something she had lost hope of ever experiencing again.
"May I hold him?" Areana asked.
"Of course.“ Jacki positioned Darius on her hip and directed his attention to Areana.
"Darius, this is your grandmother," Jacki said gently. "Can you say hello to Nana?" She cast Areana a sidelong glance. "Is it okay if he calls you Nana?"
"You can call me whatever you want, sweetie."
The little boy studied her with such a serious expression for someone so young that Areana felt her heart crack open all over again.
He was perfect. Beautiful. And she'd missed his first year of life.
"You are so precious," she whispered, taking him carefully from Jacki's arms. He came willingly enough, curious about this new person, and Areana pulled him close, breathing in his baby scent and delighting in the substantial weight of the child in her arms.
Memories came unbidden. Kalugal as a baby, giggling as she tickled his belly. Lokan was determined and serious even then. The weight of them in her arms, the softness of their hair, the trust in their eyes when they looked at her.
Navuh had let her keep them longer than he'd allowed the other ladies to keep their sons. A mercy and a cruelty wrapped together. She'd gotten more time with each of them before they'd been taken to the Dormant enclosure, but that had made the separation even more heartbreaking.
"He's beautiful," she said, her voice thick. "Perfect."
