Aria took in their surroundings with a kind of quiet appreciation, noting that it seemed as if Yerbol’s dad (Vol, at least it was close enough to Yerbol’s that it would make it easy to remember..) was quite hands-on, the normally basic looking circular home had been vastly expanded on, she had to admit it was impressive and indeed unlike anything she had really ever seen before. Anything she had wanted to ask was quickly dismissed, however, as Vol disappeared and returned with a woman almost a foot shorter than himself, introducing her as Yerbol’s mother. Understandably, emotions would run a little high since it had been so long since Yerbol had last seen either of them, it wasn’t much of a surprise to see Tabitha crying a little as her eyes finally rested on her son, therefore. Once again, Aria hung back and let the pair hug first, waiting until Tabitha broke away and approached her first. 
The young woman's face flushed a shade of light pink as she shifted her weight awkwardly and proclaimed:
“I'm sure it's more of a two-way street than you think,  I've gotten us into more than enough trouble too.”
His parents were so warm and inviting it was almost off-putting, even her own mother hadn't been so quick to give out hugs so that was something Aria had to get around (thankfully Yerbol's previous hugs had helped with that too). 

They recounted their efforts together against Bracknell and Saresh’s Alliance movement, pausing every so often to answer Tabitha and Volgorl’s questions whenever they popped up. She had expected them to ask about Lysa even though the duo artfully avoided bringing up her demise. Like Yerbol, Aria too wasn't sure whether their lack of prodding on the subject was a good thing, or not. She was grateful when the topic moved from their previous exploits to the goings on here on Taris since Yerbol had been away. Aria noted their marked reduction in Rakghoul sightings on the way in, which Volgorl proudly attributed to the large grey wall structure encircling the settlement, and also to recent scientific studies that had been conducted on the local populations in the efforts to try and develop some kind of vaccine. It was still in prototype stages, of course, but it seemed to prove effective which meant that more people could survive attacks without mutating into one of the beasts. While it didn't shrink the CURRENT population of Rakghouls, it did ensure that it didn't grow as quickly, and the older specimens were bound to die of natural causes sooner or later, they weren't immortal after all. She managed to speak calmly about her own parents without crying this time, when it came up, which she was somewhat proud of. 

Her attention had been fixed on the breathtaking views outside of the large kitchen windows when Tabitha suddenly spoke another question:
“How long are you two staying for?” Aria bit her bottom lip and exchanged a glance with Yerbol. They hadn’t really talked about the length of their visit, she wondered whether Yerbol had given it thought and not brought it into discussion with her just yet. 
“Well, we hadn’t really thought about it too much.” she admitted, a smile creeping onto her features as it seemed to REALLY sink in that they actually had NO other strategy conferences or anything of that sort to attend in the near future. “I mean, we had to promise to visit others again too in a couple of months but we could certainly manage to stay a little while.” She glanced at Yerbol, who seemed to nod in affirmation with that.
“We’re not in any hurry.”
_________________________

The night’s rest had to be the best one Aria had ever had in her life, and that wasn’t an exaggeration. Perhaps the only thing better was having the opportunity to surface again the next morning at their own leisure without a comm unit blaring obnoxiously to beckon their presence to a certain squadron that Neta or Elara needed them to captain for the day. When she finally managed to rouse herself from sleep enough to actually get up and move, she found Yerbol’s family all gathered around the same wooden table from the night before, all their eyes moving to focus on her as she shuffled in to join them.
“Good evening, both of you.”
“...huh?” Aria had frowned at Volgorl’s teasing smile in confusion, not quite understanding what he had been getting at. Tabitha had swatted her husband in the chest again as she had done the night before and admonished him. 
“Vol, leave them be! They probably haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in months! What does it matter that they slept till three thirty in the afternoon?”
“Relax, I was just teasing.” Volgorl had assured them, though Aria got the feeling that the pair bantered back and forth like this a lot, oddly it reminded her of herself and Yerbol. She wondered if that jab at their sleeping habits was the reason her friend’s face seemed flushed or if there was another reason. His parents had insisted on not keeping them too long for the rest of the day, and dismissed them rather quickly.

She had almost forgotten about Yerbol’s previous idea in the haste of their departure from Zinuthra and subsequent catching up with Vol and Tabitha; it wasn’t until Yerbol nodded and rose from his seat, motioning for Aria to follow after him that she remembered. Bidding his parents a quick farewell, she slipped back out into the verdant countryside around the settlement.
“So...are you going to tell me where we’re going?” she had asked him, to which the Knight simply grinned and shook his head, leading her along a pathway that snaked off through the hills from his parents’ garden. They traversed the path in silence for a few minutes before Yerbol implored her to slow down again, Aria complying with some confusion which was only heightened as he placed both hands over her eyes.
“Bol...what...what are you doing?” she had asked him, Yerbol simply insisting that she keep on walking. “How am I supposed to walk if I can’t see?” 
“Would I let you fall, Ari?” he had chided gently, batting her hands away as she tried to reach up and pull his away. “Uh uh, no peeking!” 
With a mock long-suffering sigh, she had dropped her hands back to her sides and kept walking, allowing him to lead her along. 
“Okay, okay...but if I trip over something I’m taking you down with me!” she promised.