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“And what is offered when something is worth more than coconuts?”

“I don't know how the economy in Moana works, baby. They don't explain that part.”

He accepted that, though I could tell he still wanted an answer.

Then Lucien started asking about Maui’s hook.

“Does the hook grant him the power to transform, or does it merely allow him to use a power he already possesses?”

“It's magic.”

“Yes, but how does the transformation work?”

“I don't know. It's a magical fish hook.” I looked at him hopefully. “Can I finish the story?”

“Of course, my darling.”

He let me carry on, though I was fairly certain he still had another ten questions waiting.

I loved those evenings. Sometimes I got so caught up in telling them a story that I forgot to worry about what I was saying. Earth was finally somewhere I could talk about without being scared, and they actually wanted to hear about it.

I just wished I could show it to them too.

More than that, though, I wanted to keep building a life with them. I liked being kissed goodbye in the mornings and knowing they’d come home. I liked Caius worrying about Frodo, Darius questioning what Aladdin was teaching his monkey, and Leon trying to work out how an imaginary island managed its trade.

I liked all five of them more than I really knew what to do with.

One morning, Gilda finished fussing over the breakfast table and reminding Caius that coffee wasn’t a meal before disappearing into the pantry and leaving the six of us alone.

“Elowen,” Lucien said. “There is something we would like to discuss with you.”

I stopped chewing.

He sounded serious, so naturally my mind went straight to wondering what I’d done.

“You did not send us any photographs, recordings or messages yesterday.”

I waited for whatever came next, but nothing did.

“Right,” I said slowly.

“Do you intend this to be permanent, or should we expect you to resume sending them?”

All five of them were watching me. Caius set down his coffee, Leon had stopped eating, and Darius looked just as serious as Lucien.

“We wished to understand why you had stopped,” Alaric said. “We had already observed a steady decline in the number of messages you sent over the previous three weeks.”

“You ceased sending photographs of your snacks first, followed by your clothing,” Leon added. “After that, you stopped telling us where you were and what you were doing.”

Darius leaned forward. “Then the recordings of you cooking ceased as well.”

I looked from one to the next.

They really meant it.

I honestly didn’t know what to do with that.

“But you never replied. You didn't mention any of it when you came home either, so I thought you didn't care.”