Page 54 of Dark Destiny: The Turning Of The Loom

Annani had told him that Mia's legs had grown back, and he wanted to know what it had felt like.

Had it hurt? How long had it taken?

He did not know whether it was acceptable to ask such questions at the dinner table, so he did not. Perhaps Annani knew, and he could ask her later.

Mia smiled at him. "How are you doing?"

"I am doing well, thank you."

She set down her fork. "When you're all better, what's the first thing you want to do?"

He had been asked that before, but he had not had an answer then. Now he did. A very unconventional answer.

"I do not think I will wait until I am all better to have an adventure with Annani." He covered her hand, still resting on his knee, with his own. "I hear there is a machine in the village that grants wishes, even if only for a few hours. I can be whole inside the dream machine." He glanced at Annani. "Would you like to join me on a dream adventure?"

She chuckled nervously. "I did not plan on ever availing myself of Perfect Match services before because I had already found my perfect match. But now that I have you back, I might one day give it a try and see what everyone is raving about." She turned to look at Toven. "If my cousin survived it, I am sure I will survive it as well, but I cannot say I am eager to try."

"That just gave me an idea." Toven set down his wine. "We should build a new kind of adventure that takes you back to the time of the gods. The palace, the markets, even the people. We have many more survivors in the village now, and we can pool what we remember to create a replica of what was lost." He looked pleased with himself. "You could walk the streets of your own city."

Annani's hand tightened on Khiann's knee.

"No," she said.

Toven looked at her. "No? Why?"

"It would be too sad," she said. "Walking those streets would bring back the pain, and re-creating the people we knew inside the simulation is just wrong." She smiled, but it did not reach the rest of her face. "Build something new. Somewhere neither of us has been. Let us walk there together for the first time."

"Atlantis," Amanda said. "There have been so many movies about it that there is no shortage of ideas for creating the right atmosphere."

"Or Anumati," Annani said. "Aru, Negal, and Dagor can provide the descriptions, and Tim can make the sketches. It would be wonderful to walk the streets of the gods' home planet, especially since this is the only way we will ever get to see it."

"I love it," Alena said. "We should definitely do that. By the way, I spoke with Sari earlier today. She is sorry she cannot come tomorrow, and she said to tell E.T. she will make it up to him with a very large present."

"He is turning one," Kian said. "He will not know the difference."

"I will know," Alena said. "And so will Sari. There will be pictures and videos, and when E.T. gets older and looks at them, he will ask about his aunt and why she wasn't there."

"We can doctor the pictures," Orion said. "And the movies. It is so easy these days."

Alena glared at him. "Really? That's your solution?"

He shrugged. "You were worried about E.T. looking at the picture from his first birthday and not seeing Sari there. I offered a solution."

Khiann looked at Annani and wondered if it was difficult for her to have one of her daughters across the ocean. He knew she still mourned the son she had lost. She did not talk much about him, but he could see the pain in her eyes every time she did.

Annani shifted her gaze to Syssi. "What do you think about my idea of creating an Anumati adventure in Perfect Match? Usually, you are the fountainhead of ideas."

Syssi smiled, but it looked forced. "I think it could be magnificent, but I don't know whether the three Anumatians in our village and Tim will survive working together for weeks, perhaps even months. The number of drawings needed is staggering."

Annani nodded. "We will have to think of a way to incentivize Tim. Does anyone know what he likes besides pizza and food from the Golden Dragon?"

Kian chuckled. "If we promise him daily deliveries from the Golden Dragon for as long as he works on the drawings, he will keep working on them forever."

Syssi did not laugh or even smile, and Kian noticed.

"What's the matter? Does something about this bother you?"

Syssi looked at Kian and took a deep breath. "Coincidence bothers me because I always feel that nothing is coincidental."