[color=598527]"I will."[/color] Illyana said to Lucien, her "smile" remaining as she spoke. For the first time in her life, she did not feel alone, lost or confused. She felt safe and even...a little normal. It was strange to her, but a good feeling nonetheless.

At Aurel's words, she looked to him and nodded as well. [color=598527]"She will want to hear everything, Aurel. I know it."[/color] She and her twin had often played adventure games. Her sister was a princess trapped by a dragon, or a lost kitty-cat in a well, and it was always Illyana's job to find her. She remember starting off a little shaky, not used to being a commanding presence, but as the games went on she got more and more confident. Maybe that would happen now? She would have to remember that feeling, hold on to it, and she was sure she would find her sister.

[color=a36209]"Alright."[/color] Faolan said from the driver's seat as he folded the map. [color=a36209]"We better get a move on then. We'll start heading West, and every stop we make we'll do a scan to see if we can find someone to help."[/color] He looked to Lucien, then the kids, "Sound good?"

Illyana, filled with renewed hope, nodded enthusiastically at Faolan's question, as did the others. Lucien joined him in the passenger seat and Illyana caught a smile between them that was...strange. She had never seen two men look at each other that way, and in fact had never seen her parents look at each other like that. It was brief, but it made her uneasy for reasons she could not explain.

She drove this thought from her brain for now, she needed to focus. She turned around on the bench and got on her knees so she could look out the window. There would be a long journey ahead, but she knew that Isy would be on the other end of it.

------------------

And that was just what they did. For Lucien, Faolan, and Aurel, their lives returned to almost normal. For Illyana, however, it was a vast change. She had taken to sleeping in the back trailer with Aurel during their travels, especially when Faolan decided to drive through the night. The two were comfortable with each other and got along well, so it was a mutual decision. She was much smaller than Aurel, who was starting to grow lanky as he got older, so Faolan and Lucien built her a little pile of pillows and blankets on the opposite end of Aurel's "room". She liked it there and in fact, found it much easier to sleep than when she had lived at home.

They made frequent stops in towns, and stayed for days at a time when they needed work. Faolan had been working a lot more lately. Though Illyana did not eat much and required very little, her presence was a little extra strain on their finances, and Faolan was in the best shape to make more money. On the East coast, it was just a little easier to find handiwork than anything else. He would often be gone for 12 hours a day, and he didn't mind, but Illyana could tell that Lucien was growing worried about him and was trying top pick up slack. Sometimes, Faolan would be gone all day, and Lucien would be gone all night working. Illy and Aurel didn't mind, they could contend themselves with hanging out together, reading, doing art, or sometimes talking. Overall, it was a nice life, and soon Illyana's impatience about her sister faded. It was always in the back of her mind, but she knew that it would be a long time before she saw her again and that she just had to accept that. Lucien and Faolan were doing what they could, and she did not want to put extra pressure on them by asking too many questions.

The quartet headed South at first, staying along the coast, and then they started to head inland. Faolan and Lucien often discussed where they should head to next, and it just so happened that within several months, they were on track to stop in New Orleans.

At the mention of this, Faolan looked up from the map, eyebrows raised, [color=a36209]"Really?"[/color] he asked Lucien. [color=a36209]"Wow...I haven't thought about New Orleans in...years."[/color]