"I told you that I was talented at breakfast." Ariala smiled as she took a bite out of her own pancakes. "Now if I could just learn to cook other things then we'll probably survive on our own." She teased.

Dimitrius chuckled as Dimeria dug into her pancakes and he began eating his own, "Aye, love. But if worst comes to worst, we could always go to Aunt Lina's for dinner."

"True but I don't know if Cindalina would appreciate us mooching off of her for supper. I'm just going to have to learn how to cook something other then eggs and toast." Ariala laughed.

Dimitrius chuckled as he teased, "Don't forget pancakes, love, they're actually not half bad. And I'm sure if you stayed at Lina's long enough, you'd be a professional cook in no time at all. I'm sure if you asked her, she'd give you a copy of her recipe book to learn from."

"That sounds good." Ariala said happily. "I'm not sure that everything I'll make will be edible but its worth a try." She said as she finished her pancakes. She picked up her plate and silverware and moved to the sink to rinse them off.

Joining her with his empty dishes, Dimitrius placed a tender kiss upon her neck and teased softly, "As long as I don't have to eat it until you're sure it won't kill me, love. Besides, if you keep practicing, you'll surely end up a great cook like Cindalina. Once you've practiced a bit, I'll become your official taste tester."

"Me too!" added Dimeria as she eagerly raised her hand and looked over at Ariala and Dimitrius, her face covered in syrup.

Ariala laughed as she saw the younger elf's face. "I think we'll have to let Dimitrius taste the food. That way if its horrible then its just him getting sick." She said, winking at Dimitrius.

"You have syrup on your face." She said to Dimeria, wringing out a washcloth and walking over to the table. "Hold still." She giggled, wiping the syrup from Dimeria's face. "Much better." She winked once the syrup was gone.

Dimitrius laughed, "Of course, we'd much rather I get sick then our dear Dimeria."

Dimeria giggled as she wiped her wet mouth with her hand before placing a kiss on Ariala's cheek, "Thank you!"

Noticing the basket on the table, Dimeria peeked inside, "COOKIES!"

Ariala laughed at the young elf. "I'd forgotten that Emelaide gave you cookies." She said to Dimitrius as she cleaned up Dimeria's dishes and bringing them to the sink. "What kind are they?" She asked Dimeria as she began to wash the dishes.

Dimeria stuck her hand in the basket and pulled one out. Taking a bite, Dimeria exclaimed excitedly, "CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL!"

Dimitrius chuckled, "Dimeria, you may have more later, but for now only two, alright? And slow down a bit, you don't want to choke."

Dimeria nodded as she began to slowly eat the remaining half of her cookie.

"Oh, my favourite." Ariala said, moving over to take a cookie from the table after she'd put the dishes out to dry in the dish rack. "Delicious. I'll need her recipe to." She. "I'm going to get dressed." She said before placing a kiss on Dimitrius's cheek and hurrying off to her bedroom.

Ariala showered then combed out her wild hair, untangling the curls. She pulled her still damp hair into a ponytail and changed into a light pink sundress with a small flower pattern. She twirled once in front of her mirror, stretching to look at all angles before slipping on pink ballet flats and returning to the kitchen.

Dimitrius smiled as he wrapped his around around Ariala's waist and placed a tender kiss upon her lips, "You look wonderful. I'm going to take a quick shower before we head over to Auntie's. Do you want to take Ria and head over to Erreminette's and Marreck's to have them join us at Lina's?"

"Sure." Ariala said, moving over to Dimeria and holding out her arms. "Ready to go?" She asked the younger elf. "You can meet Erreminette and Marreck." She smiled, knowing how Erreminette adored children. It was starting to look like a good day. Now I've just jinxed it... Ariala said, mentally slapping her forehead.

Dimeria wrapped her arms around Ariala's neck and nodded eagerly, a grin on her face. Dimeria adored meeting new people. She was even more excited that they were friends of Ariala's, for if they were friends of Ariala's, they surely must be as fun and friendly as Ariala.

Dimitrius smiled, "I'll meet you all at the rope ladder?"

"Right." Ariala said, carrying Dimeria as she walked out the door. She walked expertly over the rope bridges that connected the treehouses when she ran into Adan who seemed to be going in the direction of her house. Or maybe she was just paranoid.

"Who's this?" Adan asked as he looked at Dimeria. "She looks like your Winter Elf. Only she's not nearly as hostile looking." He laughed, brushing his fingers against Dimeria's cheeks. Ariala slapped his hand away quickly, her face red with anger.

"Leave." She said coldly.

"Aw, so soon? I was just visiting your parents. They think the four of us should get together for lunch sometime. How about the day after tomorrow. I assume you're busy today with your Winter Elves and tomorrow you have lessons." He said.

"I said leave." Ariala repeated, her teeth grinding.

"I'll get back to you then." Adan winked, his hands up in a surrender.

Ariala rolled her eyes, running straight to Erreminette's house without anymore interruptions.

Dimeria's eyes lowered into slits as she glared at Adan's back, her magic going to work as his temperature decreased enough to make him very uncomfortable. One thing that is very strange about children's magic in Winterglade, is that their magic isn't able to be called on a whim like an adult's magic is. A child's magic may only be summoned when they feel they, or ones they care about, are in danger. Dimeria felt that Adan was a threat after seeing Ariala become angry and agitated, not to mention a bit jumpy.

Another thing that was strange about a child's magic, is that when they use their magic, no matter what their talent is, the air around them grows quite cold.

Dimeria, not realizing the temperature had changed, snuggled her head back onto Ariala's shoulder as they made their way to Erreminette's house.

Ariala gasped as the temperature lowered. Her body racked with shivers as she reached Erreminette's house.

"Why's it so cold?" Erreminette asked, her arms wrapped around herself.

"I-I don't know." Ariala said, turning to see Marreck who was curled into a ball under a blanket. "F-f-fire?" She asked, making her way to the fireplace.

"Warmth." Erreminette sighed as the three huddled in front of the growing fire.

"Oh, uhm, this is Dimeria." Ariala said awkwardly, leaning towards the fire. "She's Dimitrius's younger sister.

"Great, there's more of him." Marreck huffed, turning away from the younger elf and earning a smack from Erreminette.

"S-she's adorable." Erreminette said. "I-it's a pleasure to meet y-you."

Dimeria smiled as she held out her hand to shake Erreminette's, "Pleased to meet you." Turning towards Marreck, Dimeria frowned, "You're not very nice. Why does Emmie like you?"

Blushing, Dimeria turned back towards Ariala and buried her face into her chest, "I'm sorry Ariala, that wasn't nice.."

Ariala laughed despite herself. "He's grumpy because he's a little boy who likes to hold grudges." She explained, a smile on her lips.

"And I'm cold." Marreck added bitterly. "Did your boyfriend put a little spell on us or something?"

"No, my fiance did nothing of the sort." Ariala said angrily. "He can't affect temperature." She explained.

"She looks so much Dimitrius, its eerie. But not bad eerie. Stop me before I start talking in circles." Erreminette said, blocking out the bitter exchange between the two friends.

Dimeria frowned as she looked back over at Marreck, "You're a very mean person. Holding grudges is a mean thing and makes life miserable. You should try being nicer. And Trius can't effect temperature, he can only do weather."

Turning back to Ariala, Dimeria grinned as she said proudly, "I can change the temperature like Emmie though! Emmie teaches me when she comes to the Palace 'cause I'm not old enough to go to the lessons at the College yet. Emmie taught me how to lower the temperature to the point of making someone so uncomfortable and so cold that they catch a cold! I don't like the practices though.. I still can't make my magic do what I want.. it can only be used on people who try and hurt us.. so practice is always mean and not fun.. But it helped earlier! That mean old man who hurt Ari and was mean to Trius made me so mad that I couldn't help but defend you! My magic did it all on it's own. He's gonna wake up with a nasty cold tomorrow morning!" she admitted proudly with a giggle as she snuggled back into Ariala's arms, thinking she'd done a very good thing for Ariala.

"Dimeria." Ariala said quietly, her voice even. "Did you lower the temperature around us as well?" She asked as the other two stared in disbelief. "Our bodies can't handle this cold." She explained, fighting back a shiver that ripped down her spine.

"Dimitrius can fix this right?" Erreminette asked, her teeth chattering together. "The fire isn't as effective as I'd thought it would be."

"I don't know but Dimitrius is waiting at the rope ladder." Ariala said, biting her nail.

"Great idea, Ariala." Marreck said miserably.

"If you're not going to be helpful then you can stop talking." Ariala said sternly, slapping Marreck in the shoulder.

Dimeria shook her head, "No, I only did it to that mean old man on the bridge.. Did I do something bad?" Dimeria's eyes filled with tears, afraid she'd angered Ariala and her friends. Wrapping her arms around Ariala's neck, Dimeria buried her face into Ariala's neck as tears poured down her cheeks, "I'm sorry Ariala! I didn't mean to make you angry!"

"Oh, we're not angry." Ariala said, casting a glare at Marreck. "You're alright, don't cry." She said, her voice soft as she rubbed Dimeria's back soothingly. "We just need to find Dimitrius because the weather around us is cold to and we're not used to it. So who's going to get Dimitrius?" Ariala asked, still trying to comfort Dimeria, yet she was met with silence.

"I nominate Marreck." Erremintte piped up. "It'll be a bonding experience for them." She offered, giggling.

"Fine." Marreck grumbled, knowing there was no point in fighting. With his arms wrapped around himself, Marreck made his way out the door. He made his way to the rope ladder, falling against the bridge from the cold, his teeth chattering loudly.

Dimeria simply continued to cry, as she clung to Ariala, still feeling like what she did to Adan was wrong and that she angered Ariala because of it.

---

Having just emerged from the house, Dimitrius noticed the temperature change, as well as Marreck shivering his way. Confused, Dimitrius called out, "Marreck, what's going on around here? We heading towards the apocalypse or something?" he added with a laugh as he walked towards him. Noticing Ari and Ria were no where to be seen, confusion came into his voice once more, "Where's Ari and Ria? Weren't they with you?"

"Shh." Ariala said as she held Dimeria. "I'm not angry at you. You shouldn't have tried to hurt Adan but there's no reason to be sad. We're not angry."

"Yeah, its okay." Erreminette soothed. "We're not angry, just cold." She laughed quietly.

~-~-~

"They're at Erre's. Dimeria put a s-spell on Adan because on the way there he came up and Ariala got angry. And now not only is Adan probably freezing, we all are to. Erreminette and Ariala are back at Erre's house in fron tof the fire. I got sent here to find you so you could reverse the-" Marreck's voice broke off as it was interrupted by a shiver that racked his body. "Can you just fix this?" He asked.