Oh My Stars!

Arrival

Cinder's eyes fluttered open at the sound of giggles. Sitting up in her soft bed with silk covers, she looked around her room.

No, she thought smiling, our room.

Cinder and Kai's room to be exact. A magnificent room in the palace of New Beijing that must've been Kai's parents before they were wed.

Stretching, she got out of bed yawning and went towards the sound of giggles that echoed throughout the hallway. They got louder as she neared a pair of double doors that light was fluttering from under the door. She also heard a voice-- Kai's -- as she neared and smiled to herself.

Cinder knocked before opening the door and the giggling stopped only to return once they saw her.

Her two children ran two her, hugging her waist and fighting to get Cinder's attention. Smiling, she knelt and hugged the two, kissing both of them on the cheek. Her son, Garan, wiped the kiss away and her daughter, Jannali, gave her a kiss back.

Cinder chuckled, looking up to see Kai staring adorably at her with his warm brown eyes. He got up and walked over to her. Cinder stood and Kai wrapped her in a warm embrace before kissing her tenderly, making her stomach flip. He would probably never stop making her stomach flip with each kiss.

Garan and Jannali both said "Ew" at the same time, which made Cinder and Kai laugh. Gazing at their children, Cinder was shocked once more at seeing how much they resembled Kai and herself.

Garan looked so much like Kai. Long unkempt hair, coppery brown eyes, and handsome features, yet he did inherit Cinder's jawline and hair color. He was 13. His name, Garan Rikan Yen-Blackburn, was in honor of Cinder's adoptive father and Kai's father who died of letumosis.

Jannali, however, looked like Cinder herself. She had curly hair, her facial structure, dark brown eyes, and her nose. She was 12. Her name, Jannali Peony Yen-Blackburn, was something Kai insisted. Jannali because of Cinder's maternal grandmother and Peony because of Cinder's step-sister. She objected to Jannali, saying that it should be Kai's mother's name since they already named Garan in honor of someone from Cinder's family, but Kai refused, stating, "Without them, I wouldn't have you." She also had The Gift.

"What are you thinking about?" Kai said, curling a piece of her hair between his fingers.

Cinder turned to him and kissed him again, smiling before responding, "Just the kids." Her smile widened when she asked, "Are they almost here?"

Kai looked baffled, only a moment, before he grasped what she meant and said, "I got a comm from Thorne saying that they picked up Scarlet, Wolf, and Summer and were on their way to Canada to get Winter, Jacin, Ryu, Scarlet, and Evret. They should be here within three or four hours, give or take."

"Good. We haven't seen them in so long... It would be nice to finally talk to each other face to face instead of over a screen," Cinder nodded, pulling away to sit on Jannali's twin-sized bed and watch the children play.

Kai took her hand--the cyborg one-- as he sat beside her and brought it up to his lips. Cinder leaned her head on his shoulder as she watched Jannali glamour her brother into dancing with her. Garan objected and complained.

"Jannali Peony Yen-Blackburn!" Kai said sternly, "What did we say about glamouring your brother?"

Jannali huffed and released hold of her brother before crossing her arms over her chest and responding, "Not to."

Kai nodded. "Exactly."

"But dad! He won't do it if I ask!" Jannali argued.

Kai opened his mouth, but it was Cinder who responded. "Jannali, don't argue with your father. I know that it is easy to just make people do what you wish, but it is not always best. Your father knows it more than any of us." Kai grunted from beside her. And Cinder squeezed his hand.

Jannali frowned, came over to them, and climbed into Kai's lap and hugging him. Garan, thankful that his sister released him, came to Cinder and sat beside her before he said, "When will Summer get here?"

She heard a snort from the door and turned to look. Iko propped herself against the door frame in a beautiful yellow dress with matching heels that looked to be four inches tall. Cinder had no idea how Iko could walk in those, considering how Cinder had just mastered the one inch heel. "Only one comm and he's falling head-over-heels for her. Typical Garan."

"Aunt Iko!" Jannali and Garan screamed as they ran to her and gave her hugs. Iko laughed and returned the hugs before turning to Cinder and Kai.

"I got an update from Thorne. He said that they would be arriving early."

Cinder's eyebrow raised. "How early?"

"Oh, umm, an hour and a half I believe."

"What!" Cinder jumped up and paced the room, silencing the excited squeals of the kids. "But I'm not even ready! And do you know if their rooms are ready? And what about--" Cinder was interrupted by Kai as he gripped her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"Cinder, relax. We have been prepared for this visit for weeks. Just go get yourself ready and leave everything else to me, ok?" Kai's voice was steady and calm as he looked at her.

Cinder pulled him into a hug and whispered, "I love you," into his ear.

Kai hugged her back, saying, "I love you too." He pulled arm's distance away and said, "Now go get yourself ready, my empress. We need to look good for our honored guests."

Cinder nodded and walked out of the room and back to her imperial bathroom. It was a beautiful bathroom, just like the room. Huge, grand, and, of course, imperial in every way.

She took a quick shower, dried off, wrapped a towel around herself, and went to her closet.

The closet was the biggest closet she had seen in her life, second only to her aunt's. It was filled with clothes ranging from tank tops to silk dress shirts; boots to pumps; simple dresses to extravagant ones; and tons of jewellery.

Cinder browsed the dresses before choosing a dressy red knee-length dress that fit her tremendously well. It's sleeves hung off her shoulders and were in line with where her bodice started at the top. The bodice was bejewelled gradually with white, gold, and black gems that twinkled when light hit them.

Her shoe choice, however, did not match the dress but looked nice anyway. She picked the combat boots she usually wore, knowning Iko would have a fit when she saw her. Cinder made her was over to the cases of jewellery and picked a ruby necklace that matched her ring.

She checked the time in her retina display. 9:22 a.m. Eastern Commonwealth time. Almost time to see her friends again.

Cinder walked out of the room, meeting Kai, who was wearing a dashing black silk shirt and matching dress pants. Jannali was wearing a silver dress with long sleeves and skirts that dragged the ground. Her hair was in the braid that Iko had used on Scarlet at her wedding-- even the pearls. Garan was wearing a caramel colored shirt that complemented his features and black dress pants. No doubt he was dressed to impress. Summer, that is. Iko still wore the same dress and heels.

Iko stared at Cinder in horror. Kai laughed. "Cinder Selene Channary Jannali Linh-Blackburn! What in the stars are you wearing!"

Cinder looked herself up and down. "Umm, a dress and boots?"

Iko fixed a glare on her before marching towards her and spinning her around. "Oh no you aren't. You and I are going to go back to your closet and get you some appropriate shoes."

"We don't have time!"

"Well then I guess we better hurry then, shall we?" Iko said, marching on.

Cinder grumbled under her breath but she followed Iko into the closet and watched Iko fish around her shoes until she found some red heels that looked to be two inches high. Cinder complained, but Iko wouldn't have it and she ended up wearing them anyway.

They made it just when Thorne commed them saying that they were outside. And so that was where the Yen-Blackburn family and Iko went.