Zander's POV:

Rain's words and actions had hurt Rick beyond measure, but he knew that whatever he had said was not incorrect. His guilt was a living, breathing thing in the room. He had tossed and turned for a week, until I had asked Sky to tell Rain that it was high time they had this conversation. I knew that Rain would never refuse Sky. So that was my last hope. Receiving the message from Pai had finally lifted my hopes and I was thrilled that everyone would at least start to be happy again.

When we opened the door to Venice's room, Rain, Sky, Pai and he were already there. Rain was standing by the window that faced the training grounds, looking out. Venice sat at his desk and Sky and Pai sat in the visitors' chairs. All of them were looking at Rain. "Can we come in?" Uncle Vegas asked. "Of course dad!" Venice immediately spoke up. Even Sky and Pai got up and Rain turned around. We all filed in and sat on the sofa and all available spaces. We were all there, Uncle Vegas, Uncle Pete, Dad, Pa, Uncle Kinn, Uncle Porche, Saifah, Chai, Rick and me. We looked expectantly at Rain.

"Before anyone says anything, Dad, Pa, Rick, I would like to apologise for my behaviour that day. I got too worked up and I said things I shouldn't have. I am really sorry," Rain spoke up. Pa immediately got up and went to him and hugged him tight. "Baby, we understand you. We will always be there for you, no matter what happens. After all, to err is human, to forgive divine. We all have made mistakes. Let's learn from that and move on," he said. I saw tears falling from both their eyes as they broke apart. "Rick," Rain turned towards him. I looked on as both the brothers hugged. Rain was sobbing and even Rick could not hold back his tears. "I am so sorry, so sorry Hia. You know I love you, right?" he sobbed in his arms.

I was so happy to see both of them together. I know Rick had missed Rain like a limb. Their love was a tangible thing for the world to see. My eyes filled with tears and from the sniffles coming from around the room, it was obvious that no one was to able control their tears. "Zan," Rain said, finally pulling away from Rick. I opened my arms out and he rushed to hug me too. "I am so sorry. Don't hate me for hurting your Rick," he said laughing through his tears. "I will never hate you. Two reasons. One, you are my squirt's best friend. Two, you are my mate's best brother," I said.

"I am your mate's only brother," he said. "Hey! What about me?" Sky called out, laughing as he too rushed in to be hugged as well. "You are Zan's brother, not Rick's!" Rain pulled his hair. Sky pulled it right back. And seeing the boys' antics, the whole room laughed. Finally, it looked like everything was getting back to normal. "Rain," Rick said. He looked at him. "Actually, I should also apologise. I missed you so much, and I think I was so guilty over what happened that I wanted to blame someone. Phayu was the closest target, and," he trailed off, looking at Venice.

"I am guilty Rick. And you can blame me all you want. I will take it all, as long as you forgive me and give me back my best friend. That's all I can ask for," Venice replied. Rick walked towards Venice. "Phayu," he said. Venice fell back in his chair and put his head in his cupped arms on the table. His shoulders were shaking. Rain went to him and put his arms around him. He wrapped his arms around his waist and sobbed openly. "It's the first time in 3 years, he has called me Phayu," his voice shook badly.

Rick walked over to them. Rain stepped away as Venice stood up. After 3 years, he and Venice hugged each other, something that had been so normal for them but now seemed something like a miracle to all of us. Again, there was a not a single dry eye in the room. "Okay, okay, everyone stop crying now. No more tears. I don't want you all to flood the kingdom before I have my mating ceremony," Saifah said, and we all burst into laughter. "So true Fah, I agree," I said. "Imagine having to walk on water. I am sure even Rain's skills will not be able to make that happen." "Don't worry Zan, making you walk on water will be a piece of cake," he said laughing, "but I sure as hell don't want to try that!" Just like that, our family was one again.

Venice's POV:

This conversation had been so cathartic for the whole family. Finally I was gaining everyone back. And for that, I owed a big thanks to Rain. I had been amazed when he had reached in and hugged me. I had begun to cry when Rick had called me Phayu. And the way he reached forward and put his arms around me, and let me hug him right back, felt like heaven. We were still in the learning curve of our relationship, so I knew that what he did was not out of love of a mate, it was his empathy as queen that made him reach out to me. But for me, that one hug meant the world. It meant that he was willing to accept me and bridge the gap between us, and for now that would work.

The talk soon turned to the mating ceremonies. "Since we have less than a week to go, we should start thinking about decorations and guest lists and food and catering and," my Pa started. "Pa, Pa, stop!" Saifah started to laugh. "Take a breath for a minute. You and Uncle Type have already done so much. Let Zan and me handle some of the details. What say Zan?" he asked. "Sure! That works for me. And we are not alone. Loads of people to help out. But I do have a request," he said.

"What request?" I asked. "I want Pai to be Master of Ceremonies. He speaks really well and he knows us all very well too. Rain is obviously going to stand for Rick, Sky for me and Venice for Fah, right? And you Chai?" he asked. "Who will stand for you?" "One of my cousins. I have some relatives coming in. I have a cousin, Aroon, whom I am pretty close to. So he will stand for me," Chai said. "Okay, looks like that's sorted. We will need to plan a shopping trip," my brother said. "Ooooh noooooo!" Rain moaned. "Oh my God Rain! Do you still hate shopping?" my Pa asked him. "Oh yes Uncle Pete! He would never get out of pyjamas or sweats if he had a choice. It's the thing he hates most in the world!" Sky said, laughing.

"I am surprised at that. You are always so well dressed," I whispered to Rain. "Thanks to Pa and Sky. I hate shopping from the bottom of my heart. Whenever I needed something, Pa and Sky would buy it and bring," he laughed. "Let's all go together, make a day of it," I told him. "Day of it? Meaning?" he asked. "Let's shop, have lunch outside, generally have fun. Tomorrow onwards, we have to start training anyway," I said to the room at large. Rain looked at me consideringly. "You are saying it like this so that I can't get out of it, right?" he asked.

I nodded, and all of us starting laughing. Rain glared at me, but I knew it was not the serious one. So I smiled back at him. "Okay, let's do this guys. But tomorrow onwards, no excuses on the training, right?" Rain asked. "Of course, we promise to do our best," Chai said. "Good! But no malls, please!" Rain said, flinching at the thought. "Rain, malls are the easiest. Plus open markets would be worse and you know it!" Sky said to him. "Hmm.. true that! Okay, mall it is," Rain said, resignedly. "Fine, all of you go ahead and get ready. We will join you in a while. Rain, Sky, Pai and I need to prepare the schedule for the training that starts tomorrow. we will join you directly at the mall. How about that?" I asked. "Drag him if you have to Sky," Uncle Type said to him but looked at all of us. "Done! Don't you worry Uncle Type. I promise to get him there at any cost!" Sky replied cheerfully.

Sometimes I was really envious of the friendship these two boys had. I had once thought that Rick and I had something similar, but it had not been able to weather a storm. But these two boys had gone beyond death and come back even stronger. I remembered a story that Uncle Type had told me, that Sky, who is 6 months older than Rain, had cried non-stop till everyone had realised that Uncle Type had almost miscarried. He had stopped crying only after Rain had been born. At that time, they had not understood why. But after Rain's accident and realising he is the prophecy, everyone had finally figured out their connection.

This was not just friendship. They were brothers in the right sense of the word, connected through the heart and the soul. I knew that I would eventually get that back with Rick, but I also knew that it would never be the same. Just the fact that Rick had hugged me, after almost three years, and shed tears for me, that in itself had been like the ultimate happiness. "Okay, let's get this done, so we can go," Pai's words brought me back.

We spent more than an hour making the schedules. We had divided the warriors into two groups. Both groups would do an early morning endurance run, then split. One group would do hand-to hand and combat training, while the other would do weapons training in the morning. Post lunch and a break, they would switch their roles. Evenings would be for element training. The training grounds would be prepared accordingly. We had decided that the area would be divided into two halves for the practice to happen. It was big enough to accommodate our warriors, and if more joined we would figure out what to do. "Avani and I will figure out if push comes to shove," Rain said, ending that discussion.

Sky's POV:

"Thank God this is done. Let's send out this mail. Keeping the Council members in the loop is really necessary, and of course the warriors," P'Pai said. P'Venice and Rain were bent over some maps. "Guys, we are done here. What about you?" I asked. "Yeah, done! We have earmarked the spots we need, and we will see what more can be done when we start training tomorrow morning," Rain said. "Are you guys worried about tomorrow?" P'Venice asked. "Nope, not really. We have the best people taking care of things, so no worry at all," Rain said.

"Okay, Rain, let's go," I said. "Do I have to?" he whined. I could see P'Venice trying to supress his smile. I am sure he had never seen Rain this way. "Welcome to my world P'Venice," I said laughing. "What do you mean?" he asked. "You will understand that Rain is definitely not Queen when it comes to going out into the world. He is like a spoilt brat!" I was in splits. P'Venice looked at me in shock. "Hey!" Rain bopped me on the head. "You can't say that!" he said, "although it's the absolute truth!" Both of us were literally holding our stomachs and laughing. Both P'Pai and P'Venice looked like they believed that we had lost our minds.

"C'mon, let's go, we are going to be late," I pulled Rain out of the chair and pushed him out of the room. We drove to the mall in P'Venice's car and met up with everyone. Although was Rain was extremely reluctant to pick something for himself, I finally convinced him and we both got what we needed for the mating ceremonies. We also shopped a bit for training clothes. We had a wonderful family lunch and then returned home to rest. In the evening, the four of took a walk around the grounds, just to have a look and see if everything that we had requested was being executed.

The next morning, we woke up really early. We were still not living with our mates, Rain because he was still not sure about P'Venice and me because I wouldn't leave Rain at any cost. P'Pai knew that very well. And thankfully, he had never forced me either. I felt a bit bad, but thanks to his very nonchalant and laid-back attitude, he never made me feel guilty. I was very grateful to him for that. I finally had a mate, after being alone for so many centuries. But my first and last priority was Rain and that would never change. And I felt blessed that my mate was extremely understanding of that fact.

We ran 5kms. By the time we were done, everyone, including seasoned warriors were exhausted. And there was Rain, still looking as fresh as a daisy. If I didn't love this boy so much, it would be so easy to hate him. Everyone was looking at him with utmost surprise and respect. As soon as the run was over, Idalia, Neoma, Avani and Rain walked to the four corner of the field. "What are they doing?" Rick asked me. Everyone turned to look at me. "They are cloaking the grounds to ensure that no one can see what we are doing," I replied.

As soon as they reached the four corners, they lifted their arms and we all watched as visible ropes of power shot out from their fingertips and spread all across the field. The whole air crackled and I could see more awe, respect and pride on everybody's faces. This was their Queen, someone who was to be cared for and cherished, but also someone who didn't really need any help. As I looked at P'Venice to see his reaction, I realised one very important thing. It was not only the look of a man in love with his mate, but also the look of a King who was immensely proud of his Queen.

After a short break, the groups split and Alaz, Llyr and I divided the whole group into 3 as we worked on physical train and hand-to hand combat. Pai was in my group and was actually pretty fit. But it was an exhausting process. Across the grounds, I saw Rain, Alizeh and Raejin train with weapons that they had set out in advance. They asked the warriors to pick out a weapon of their choice. At first, the warriors were not so comfortable taking orders from Rain, maybe because he was a boy who was young yet and untested. But he was so calm and dignified and helpful, that they soon changed their minds. Rain had decided to only show techniques to them, not how he actually fought. Our guardians had felt that longer he could cloak his powers, the better it would be. This would soon be our routine for the next God knows until when.