Dance of Magic - The Books of Beginning [1]

52. No Place Like Home

They stayed on Loris all day, and spent the night as well, but did not sleep much, for they were helping to clean up. That clean up continued around into the next morning, so it was after noon when Richard made the suggestion to his wife and children that maybe it was time they went home.

"To what?" Emma had asked.

That had gotten them thinking. What we're they really returning to? They had only been in their house - a monthly rental - for a few months and hadn't properly settled in. All of the items there had been recently purchased or gifted to them, and were still shoved in cardboard boxes because only some furnishings had come with the house and the Wibberlys hadn't had a chance to get new ones. Hell, they didn't even have a phone plan. The last time the children had been there, they were attacked by screechers after having spies for their enemy live next door. All that house held was memories of awkward days and painful nights. It may have been a house, but it was not a home, and they would not miss it much.

That had led to another question for the Wibberly family. What was home? 

Richard and Clare had thought they were certain of their answer. They thought that once they were reunited with their children and settled down to a normal life, they would be home. But it hadn't been so easy. They were starting to see that their children had been miserable in that life and that not everyone had the same vision of the future. It was all very emotional and confusing, and they didn't know where home would come to be anymore.

The children were more certain. After all, they had spent their whole childhoods dreaming of home, and had watched their dreams fail to come true in many ways. So now they were doing the best they had with reality. Still, they had some idea of where they belonged. They belonged with the friends that loved them, in the world they had come to think of as their own. Home was with the people they cared for, be they human or not. Home was a place of growth for every part of them, including the magic inside. Home was family, yes, but it was also friends and mentors and people who would do anything for each other. And of course, for the three siblings, home was always with each other, because that was the one constant they had carried with them through time.

The day would come when they had to find a place to make this home though, and when they would have to give voice to their thoughts, even the ones that would sound their parents. But Dr. Pym spared them from having that charged discussion on the isle of Loris by offering to let them stay at his home in Cambridge Falls for as long as they wished, since no plans had been made to sell it and no one would mind.

Pym himself was staying on Loris to ensure that everyone who had come for the battle got home safe, that the island was rebuilt, and that the magical council didn't begin acting like a group of toddlers. But Gabriel was going back to Cambridge Falls with the Wibberlys (and then going to see Granny Peet) and Rafe was as well.

Also going, at least for a few days, was Wilamena. She had begged her father to let her 'ensure her beloved rabbit and his family were well after the battle'. And though King Bernard wasn't the most fond of humans sometimes, and was also rather protective after losing his daughter to the dragon for so many years, he hadn't been able to deny her when he saw how much she cared, and how bright she smiled around Michael.

Abigail offered to make the portal (since Emma and Michael were not experienced enough to, and Kate and Rafe were still exhausted from the land of the dead) and see them off. Which was why they were standing in an empty chamber, watching her work her magic.

The portal opened up like a little slice in the fabric of space that would soon be stitched back up, its edges glowing red with Abigail's power. She smiled proudly at her handiwork, then turned to the Wibberly family and their companions.