Changling Families

Redemption

Nomura struggled against the two Gumm-Gumm soldiers dragging her back to her cell. She could hear the person in the next cell trying to escape. The pink trolless collapsed panting into her cell, defeated.

"Are you alright over there?" Nomura would recognize that English accent anywhere.

She struggled to her feet andd peaked threw a hole in the wall between the two cells.

"Hello."

"Nomura!"

She was  honestly surprised that Stricklander sounded so happy.

"You're still alive!"

"Only just."

After a beat of  silence she heard the scraping again.

"Are you trying  to escape?"

"Of course I am," Stricklander called over, " I have a wife and son to get home to. Not to mention the rest of our family."

"Our family?"

Stricklander chuckled, "Yes, Nomura. Our family."

"And, let's just say you manage to dig threw solid rock and  cut down two dozen Gumm-Gumm gaurds, how do you think you'll get out of the Dark Lands? Killahead was destroyed again."

"I'm not quite sure," His reply was flippantly confident, "I'll figure it out once I get us out of this dungeon. And as for getting out of the Dark Lands, we have family and friends back home who are problebly trying to rebuild Killahead and get us back. Even if it is just to kick my ass for coming here alone."

"Us?"

"Of course! Do you have any idea how happy Otto and the children are going to be to know your alive?! Barbara and Lenora may take a little warming up, though..."

Nomura leaned against the wall between them, "I'm pretty sure Little Gynt will problebly side with his mother, Strickler."

"He wont. You should have seen how he cried when Otto told us you had been sucked in here. He almost missed the play!"

Nomura hung her head. She had been excited to see her nephew perform.

"Was he good?"

She could hear  Stricklander's smile, "He was amazing. Barbara cried."

LLB

The siblings were sitting back to back against the wall between their cells. It had been a couple days since they had been reunited and Strickler was catching her up on everything she had missed.

"I still find it hard to believe that you came into the Dark Lands alone."

Strickler sighed, "There was no way I was letting any of the children come; Blinky's not a fighter; Arrrgh was sick;  and, in the end, there was no way I  was putting Otto, Lenora, or Barbara in this kind of danger."

Nomura looked up at the hole in the wall when his voice cracked. She let the silence that followed hang for just a  moment.

"You left th-"

"Don't! Please. I-I don't want to think about how they both screamed."

Nomura hung her head. After a moment she stood and stuck her hand threw the hole, feeling arouund for her brother. He took the offered hand.

"We'll get home, Nono," he promised, "I don't know how yet but we will."

LLB

Nomura watched as a her nephew and sister-in-law embraced Walter. The older changling clung to his son and showered his wife with kisses.