Goodbye Brother

[biali]

Since the writing worked so well today, I took some time to translate the first part of my contest entry.
It is mainly based on an awesome dream I had a year ago, which moved me very much and now gets to be written ^^

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Goodbye Brother

A new strong wave made the "Riese 3“ swing, and Helena had to steady herself on to the railing. The strong sea breeze had ruffled her long brown hair pretty much, and trembling a little, she pulled her hood over her head. It was already dark and the full moon was high in the sky. With steady sailor's legs Helena's husband Karl came up to her and held two invitingly steaming cups of coffee in his hands. Thankfully, she took the hot mug from him, and warmed her numb hands. Even after so many years they had spent on this ship, she was still very sensitive to cold and could never quite get used to the cold winds. A further wave had almost made her spill her coffee.
  "The kids are pretty wild today." Remarked Karl, trying to support his wife.
  "Well, I think they should enjoy themselves a little today.." Returned Helena and in her voice was very much melancholy.

the cool sea water dripped from Parin's, the long black hair and on his youthful face spread a wide grin. His younger brother Tito did not share his joy in the least, but jumped at the older with an aggressive grimace on his face to tear him down with him into the water. He often had problems to distinguish between seriousness and play, and after nearly an hour water fight, he was tired of being the loser.
A few yards away from them Naina, an approximately twelve-year old blonde girl and her little cousin Eris hat a small swimming race. Eris was quite far back, but this was not because he was not sporty but because it was getting cold.
  "Naina, I swim back to mommy. I'm tired. "He said a little whiney.
  "All right, we'll soon come too." She said, sounding quite exhausted too.
Slowly but surely, Eris paddled to the ship that rocked more and more, the closer he swam to it.

  "Look, Eris is back." Said Helena, pointing to the large figure that was slowly moving toward the ship. His blond hair looked much darker because the water and the lack of daylight. A few yards from the ship's side, he stopped, began reading water and looked up at the couple that beckoned to him affectionately. Only now every outsider would be able to see what was so different about these children. Eris' head was only one small piece greater than whole Karl's body. His head-sized green eyes looked a little unbearable at Helena.
  "Mom, I'm tired." He moaned.
  "All right, darling, sit on the raft and rest." "She said lovingly and pointed on the gigantic flat structure that lay in the wake of the" Giant 3 ". Eris nodded and paddled to the platform which was equipped with several pontoons and pulled himself out with some effort. A little trembling, he let his feet dangle in the water, looked over the deck and noticed that now even his parents moved to the rear. He knew of course that Helena and Charles were not really his mom and dad, but since he was barely three years old, they had cared for him and educated him as good as possible.
  "Come on, a blanket, or he'll caught a cold." Eris heard her beautiful and gentle voice. Only a few seconds later, two workers brought a large folded sheet of heat foil from the storage room and pushed it so close to the railing that Eris could take it without problems. Fortunately, the workers have long been accustomed to him, and did not back away when his hands came near them. Although he was only eight years old, he knew very well that it was not allowed to pick up people without asking. With numb fingers he unfolded the foil and put it around his shoulders. Although this blanket was not very soft, but it quickly. made him pleasantly warm
  "Hmm, that's better," he muttered and pulled his legs out of the water now. With tired eyes, he looked over to his parents who looked at him a little wistful. He returned their gaze in the same way and then said: "I don't want to leave."
His father was about to say something but than of the rest of the gang returned to the ship with a loud noise. First was, Tito, who at least wanted to win this final swimming race. But before he could touch the platform, he was rudely pushed under water by his big brother, who then swung himself quite elegant on the raft. Tito emerged loud puffing up again and shouted angrily: "That was unfair! I've won. "
  "The winner is who first touches the raft. That's what you said, not me." Parin said a little arrogant, and his little brother squirted a load of water on his face, which could have washed a small car away. "Just you wait!" Said Tito, and was about to pull his opponent back into the water. But then a shrill whistle came from the boat, and all was silent. Karl put the whistle, the only tool to get attention under the loud voices of the children, out of his mouth and then said, in a strict tone, "Now stop it boys, or you'll make the crew go deaf. Now get on, so we get home on time. And at least try to get along until we are home. "
Although the two boys towerd over their father with about sixty feet , none of them dared to contradict him. Of course, the two had earlier tried to enforce their by using their body size. But when one of these attempts ended with their father having to spend several weeks in the hospital, they made no use of this tactic more. Tito moved silently on the platform and then helped Naina out of the water. After the children were distributed as evenly as possible on the surface, they also got heat foils and a few minutes later the ship's engines started. the weight of the children was no problem for the powerful ship, so it took quite a considerable speed towards home.

[Amayasama]

:3 I have a few questions dear ^^ This story sounds so cute but I want to make sure I'm thinking things right :3 There are four children or three? I'm thinking three but I'm not quite sure XD Either three boys and one girl or one girl and two boys. And their boat, is this like a big private boat? :3 And my final question, how big are the children?

[biali]

they are four children thre boys and a girl... The two brothers Parin and Tito, and the two cousins Naina and Eris. Maybe it does not become clear because of the shortness of this part ^^'
What the boat really is about will be explained in the next part ^^
The biggest is Parin with about 65 feet, next is Tito with 62 feet. Naina is 55 feet tall and cute lil' Eris is about 50 feet ^^

[biali]

here's the next part. ^^

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The loud engine noise made it impossible for Helen and Karl, to continue to talk to the children , so they went below deck.
But the four giants could talk further without any problems because of their loud voices and good hearing.
  "I wonder if we can play in the sea at home so often." Naina said, who wrapped the foil tighter around her, as the wind blew over her bare skin.
  "Of course we can, we live on an Island, you foolish pumpkin." Tito said intolerable. He was obviously still upset with his big brother and had no inhibitions, to take it out on the little girl.
  "I'm not foolish. And I do not mean here at home ... I mean where we go the day after tomorrow. "She said in an angry tone.
  "I don't think so, after all, we live in the city there." Said Parin. He had to know best. He had lived in their home world the longest time of all four and therefore couldremember best.
  "Yes, and the city was pretty cool. All these cars and cool toy stores! ",agreed Tito excited. But then his voice got quieter. "We are not allowed to go to the cities here.“
  "Mainly because you've treated the cars like toys there.", His big brother said coldly.
  "I've already apologized one hundred times. At that time I was very young, and stupid. ",bleated Tito and still seemed to be embarrassed by this fact.
Just when Parin was about to give a taunting comment, he was interrupted by Eris, who seemed close to tears: "I don't wanna go there. I want to stay with mom and dad... "
Naina silently put her arm around her little cousin and the other two nodded. The little boy had said what they all thought. Actually, none of them wanted to go. They have grown up here the last five years and had almost completely forgotten about what life was like in their home world. Especially Eris, who had arrived in the age of three, had almost no memory of the place they were from. The silence was interrupted after a few minutes when Naina started to sing a calm song. Her voice mingled with the hum of the engine and it seemed to calm them all down.

It was certainly a good two hours before the "Riese 3", an over 300 feet long research ship, anchored before the small North Sea island. The children slipped from the raft and waded through the, to them, only knee-deep water on the beach. Only Parin stayed at the boat and waited for Helena and Karl, who stepped out on the deck .Of course the ship had a dinghy, but with such great help, they would not need it as usual. Experienced but gently the giant boy laid his hands with the palms up to the deck and waited for his parents to climb on. Only when they had sat down, he raised his hand slowly over the railing and carried them over to the beach where they climbed off again. As Helena's feet touched the sand, she looked up at her son and said:
  "Just prepare yourself for bed, we will soon come to say goodnight."
Parin grimaced and said, "Oh Mama, I can not even stay awake longer? Why should I go to bed at the same time as the little ones?? "
  "It is now almost two clock at night, which itself is already too late for you. There is also a lot to do tomorrow, you know that. "She told him slightly strict, but lovingly.
  "Mhhhm, all right. So see you later. "He mumbled a little disappointed and walked to the house that made the island widely visible by its sheer size. It was one of the few buildings that Parin and the other three were able to enter without problems. It was a fairly stable gray concrete building, which was a little attacked by the stiff winds. The only thing which made the house not look like a bunker, were the generous windows that were closed by stable shutters at the time. In addition, his mother had planted many flowers near the entrance to make it look a little more like a home. Still grumpy he pushed open the large metal door open and entered the living area of the dwelling. Tito walked around with a towel over his shoulders and his toothbrush in the mouth and was visibly annoyed by the noise that Naina and Eris did in the bathroom. Although they had just been so tired and sad, the two seemed to be in high spirits right now. With some irritated remarks, the oldest managed to fianlly have the batroom for himself, and washed the salt water from his skin. Even if he really wanted to avoid it, he had to think about tomorrow. Then they would leave this place here forever and drive towards the Atlantic Ocean to open the door to their home world in a godforsaken place. Meanwhile this world would be incredibly strange to them, not to speak of their real parents. He was only eleven years old when they left their world, and now he was a teenager, in the midst of puberty. Probably his parents thought, he and Tito were long dead, and how bad it would be for Eris and Naina? The two had little or no memory of their families. And it was all his fault alone. If he had not played around with this damned machine, that would not have happened, and many people would have been spared a lot. A jolly sharp cry from the bedroom pulled him from his thoughts. He quickly brushed his teeth and trotted into the room,which was unfortunately, fairly to small. There lay four large mattresses on the floor. When the house was built, nobody had really thought that they would still grow considerably, and his sleeping place was already too small for him for two years now and Tito too had problems to fit in. But for larger premises and mattresses no funds were available, particularly after the military realized that the children could not be used for fighting. But anyway it was the last night they would spend here, the very last ...

[emily13]

I just want to give Parin a big hug! I love this story!

[biali]

thanks emily ^^ Just go ahead and hug him, he is well trained ^^

[emily13]

Fudge yes! X3 *hugs Parin's ankle* <3 <3 <3

[Amayasama]

^0^ *hugs Parin's ankle too* ;3; Aww poor dears..are they moving because their house is too small honey?

[emily13]

*puts on hard hat, while still clinging to Parin's ankle* If that's the case, I'll help build a new one!!! +_+

[biali]

Parin: *looks down to the two girls* Well, hello there... er... *slowly sits down* nice to meet you... uhm...
Me: Come on, stop acting so shy, big guy
Parin: I-I'm just not used to that strangers come so close to me... and are not scared...

[biali]

these are not all words I've written yesterday, but it would probably be the end of a chapter here.

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Naina had snuggled in her blanket and realized now that she was very very tired. Blinking sleepily she looked at the wall they had painted with her parents two years ago with many bright colors. from her point of view She could accurately see the image that she had painted then. It showed her family, and considered her, the boys and the parents, who were sitting on Parin's and Tito's hands. And if one looked closely, one could still see a little human in the arms of her mother. Because if you took it very well, she had four, and not only three siblings. However, she saw her little sister not too often, because it is not quite safe for such a small child when it was surrounded by giants, after all, Ronja was only four years old. It made Naina sad that she could not stay longer to play with her when she was older. But above all, she had pretty big fear of what they would experience in this other world where she and the boys were born. Often she had tried to recall her life there, but the images often were only blurred. She did not know whether their real parents would love her just as Helena and Karl.
When her brothers had finally gone to bed, a small door opened between Naina's and Eris' mattress and their foster parents came in. Quiet, but clearly sad they walked to the middle of the room, where each of the children could see them well.
  "So my dears, have you all brushed your teeth?" asked Helena, and got nods and mumbling as an answer.
  "Sleep well, tomorrow we have a long journey ahead of us. Luckily this time the government has promised us the „Riese 5“, so you do not have to sit on the uncomfortable raft all day. ", said her father with a little joy in his voice.
That was really something that they could look forward to. The "Riese 5“ was much bigger and all four siblings would find a place on the ship without being too cramped. But Naina that her dad was not as lucky as he sounded, which also spread to the girl. And even though she knew exactly that she was not alowwed to, she reached out her hand, and lifted up her father to press him as lovingly as possible against her cheek.
Karl was a little shocked when his daughter simply snatched him from the ground, and wanted to resist. But when he realized that she simply wanted to embrace him, he quickly calmed down and stroked her face. Suddenly Naina let hear a loud sniff and soon big tears rolled down her cheek, which made Karl'S clothes a little damp.
  "Shhhh, calm down honey." He said softly and did not stop to pet her.
  "Dad, please let us stay here." She sobbed.
  "That's not possible, darling, we have already explained to you yet." He said glumly.
  "Then we you take with us." Eris suddenly stated
Suddenly all eyes were focused on the youngest, but eac with a different expression. Naina looked excited and thought it was a good idea. The parents otherwise did not look very convinced, but before they could say anything, Tito said annoyed: "Just stop being so stupid. You can not take them with you, that's far too dangerous for them. In our world, no one is accustomed to such small people. "
  "I would protect them." Naina said defiantly and pressed her father a little more to herself.
  "Me too!" agreed Eris, grabbed his mother, placed her beside him onto the mattress and put his arm around her in a protective gesture.
Parin frowned and then said, "You two are some great protectors. If if not even you can keep yourself from picking up people without their permission, how do you think could other people in our world? We can not take them, they have to stay here and take care of Ronja. "
The two youngest took this a little reluctanty, but finally gave up and gently put their parents back on the floor.
  "Believe us children, we don't like the idea of you leaving us either . But as we have explained to you many times before, there is no other way. If you do not go tomorrow, you will never get a chance to return to your world. We love you very much, and that is why we believe that it is better for you to live in a world where you can move freely and play safely with other children. "Said Helena, who refrained from scolding Eris, because of the very special situation.
Karl nodded in agreement, but he knew that there was much more about it. If the children stay here, the government would not finance the project "Riese“ anymore. Thus,the children would neither get shelter nor food. And his own property would not be sufficient to even supply them for a week. He was so absorbed in thought that he had not noticed the further conversation between his wife and children. The four had already crawled under their blankets, and Helena said: "So, good night my sweethearts, see you tomorrow morning."
  "Yes, sleep well and sweet dreams." , Karl added. The children responded in turn with a "Good night, Mama and Papa." And the couple left the bedroom after they had turned off the light.


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I just love those two youngsters ^3^.

I made a (crappy) sketch of the four siblings, if you want to see it, click here: biali.deviantart.com/art/Goodbye-Brother-sketches-162916361

[emily13]

This post choked me up a bit ;-;

*Crawls up onto Parin's knee* How could we be afraid of someone so cute X3

[Amayasama]

^^ Aww they're all so cute ;3; And Parin be nice to the little ones...*pats his leg* They just want to cuddle D: It makes me wanna take them all in! >> Though I believe my home is a tad too small :3 I'm wondering dear, their world they are talking about, it's an entirely different planet right? Not just like a new country or anything? :3

[biali]

wow... it's been a while until I found time to write more for this story... and to translate more ^^
And yes... they are going to another world... so not on our planet.... anyways, I hope you enjoy the next update^^


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It was ten clock in the morning when Eris was the last to the bathroom. His siblings had already gone outside to help loading the ship. If he would not hurry now, they would surely think that he wanted to skip work. But the opposite was the case. He liked it very much if he could be of any use, especially because the little people were less afraid of him then
.
He just wanted to pick up his hat, which he had placed on the coffee table earlier when he saw a small door open next to the sofa. Out of reflex, he knelt down gently so the human who was about to come him would not be scared. He quickly recognized the brown hair of his mother, who was already in their dark blue coveralls, which she would wear on the trip. But today she was not alone.
 On her hand went a little girl with wild light brown hair, wearing a blue and white striped overalls. She looked incredibly cute in that attire, which was just reinforced by her timid glance towards him. Eris had indeed not seen for nearly a month, but he knew that this girl was his little sister Ronja.
Helena unerringly walked towards him, but hadencourage her daughter to go closer to Eris.
  "Good morning, Mama, and hello Ronja." The boy said quietly, stroking his lcurly blonde hair a little nervously.
  "Good morning honey. I'm glad to meet you before you go out. ",said his mother, and laid her hands affectionately on the shoulders of her daughter. "I thought you want to say goodbye by Ronja."
The girl said nothing at first, and just looked at Eris with wide eyes. It was quite a usual reaction from her, she always acted like that when she was around her indeed very big siblings. The boy tried to look friendly, but the comment of his mother had reminded him again that he had to leave all of this today.
  "Why are you so sad?", he suddenly heard a small, high voice from below, which clearly belonged to Ronja. Instantly, a smile spead over his face. It was quite rare that the girl spoke to him.
  "I must leave today." He answered her.
  "Where are you going?" Her voice was so fine that he almost did not hear it. She also lisped a bit, which made her words sound more cute than awkward..
  "I go ... I'm going home. "He brought forth.
  "But you live here, don't you?"
Eris ponderd what he should say now. He wanted to explain it as eays as possible.So he used the same words that his mother had already used two years ago to explain to him why he and his siblings had to leave this world soon:
  "Yes, I do. But we are all a bit too big for the house. So we go to a place where there is more room for us. "
  "Is it far away?" Ronja was now no longer shy, but this was surely because she knew her mother with her.
  "I think so, yes." returned Eris.
Suddenly she turned her bright blue eyes from his face, and looked at his hands resting on his knees. They were twice as big as herself, but this did not seem to bother her much. In her eyes was less fear, but rather curiosity. And all of a sudden she did something that no one of the two would have expected: She ran straight for Eris, and touched his leg. Helena was a little shocked when her daughter had loosened herself so suddenly and ran to the huge boy without warning . But luckily, at least physically, Eris behaved very calmly. His eyes showed surprise, however. It was the first time in his life that a human had approached him so readily.
The boy had to pull himself together a lot, so he would not flinch. Ronjas small hands tickled on his skin. If he had worn long pants, he would have felt not her tiny fingers through the cloth. He did not know how he should respond, and thus remained as calm as possible.
  "This feels weird." she said giggling.
  "And you tickle me." He replied, smiling.
A little puzzled, she looked up at him. Then Helena, who had now walked up next to her daughter said: "Do you want to go onto Eris' hand, dear?“, which was answered with surprised looks first. But then Ronja said beaming: "Oh yes! Then I'll be biiiig too!"
The boy gave his mother a questioning look, which she replied with an affirmative nod. She saw him grin like never before. He was certainly pleased with the confidence that his mother showed him by trusting her daughter to him.
Although he was pretty excited, he nonetheless managed to lay his hand as still as possible with the palm up on the floor. Ronja backed away a little as he had to lean forward a little. But when she saw that his hand did not move any further, and her brother threw her a smile, she regained courage. Her mother took her by the hand and led her safely to the goal.
Ronja looked at the hand a little uncertain, but then put her little fingers on the strange leathery skin. Eris had to re-apply every effort to not to flinch at the tickling feeling . What made the whole thig even more difficult was that Ronja did not managed to hurl herself onto the palm immediatly. Only when Helena helped and lifted the girl into the middle of the hand, the tickling stopped.
He had previously had people in his hand, but someone who was so young and little was new for him. He almost could not feel her wieht, and therefore was even more fragile. Ronja kept quiet only until he said: "I lift up high now, so do not worry."
  "Yeah! UP!, "she exclaimed excitedly. But despite her enthusiasm, he moved so slowly as possible until his hand was chest high. Curious the girl looked around at the gigantic rooms.
  "That's not small." She remarked a little precocious.
  "You're just not big enough." He replied with a grin.
  "Soon I'm as big as you Eri. Mama says if I drink much milk, I get very big, "she replied defiantly, and stretched up her arms to reaffirm her words..
Eris had to laugh a little. Ronja was just too cute.
  "When you come back from the other home?" She asked again, quite abruptly, which let her brother's laughter subside immediately.
  "I, I do not know ..."
  "When I'm big, I visit you," she said suddenly,and she seemed very confident about that. Before he or Helena could say something, the wide front door opened, and his three siblings came in, led by Tito, who did not look particularly in good mood.
  "I really can'tt understand why all were so nervous again. I told them at least three times that I won't do anything to them. ",he muttered.
  "Maybe it would help if you would make a face that does not look as if you wanted to crush everything around you. If I was little, I had a fear of a giant with a bad temper. "Parin remarked tartly.
Tito was about to say something but was interrupted by Naina, who had just realized who was sitting on the hand of her little brother ". Hey, Ronja is there," she said cheerfully, but quietly, so as not to frighten the girl. The boys paused at the door immediately, and watched the scene before them with wide eyes. Just Ronja being here was a rare event, but that she sat in Eris' hand, several feet above the ground was a sight to see. Nevertheless, Parin tried to ignore it, but nodded slightly and said:
  "Hello Ronja."

[biali]

Tito stared at Eris and his little sister for several seconds without a word, still abundant with a sullen face. Suddenly he turned around, shaking his head and hurriedly left the house through the door. On the sea, several hundred meters before the island was the "Riese 5", a converted container ship that would now serve them as a carrier. The workers were already on their way to the ship and had left the beach long ago. Tito was glad about that. He could not bear it any longer, to have all these nervous tiny people around him. Towards his siblings, they always behaved much more relaxed. He did not know exactly why it was like that. Even when he had previously behaved just as friendly as the others, everyone was much more distant and became more hectic when he was around. 
Therefore, he had eventually given up, to act more friendly and cautious than necessary. And that was why he did not want to get close to Ronja.If she also would reject him in hat way, he would not be able to bear it.. 
With hanging shoulders, he walked around the house and threw a disgruntled look at the barren trees, whose branches only grew to one side due to the strong and fierce winds that often hit the small island. The only went up to his knees. He needed only a few steps to reach the grassy dunes on the western shore. 
Sighing, he sat on the bank and let the sea rush against his bare feet. 
Perhaps he was the only one of the four, who really looked forward to returning home.Although he liked Helena and Karl very much, he had nevertheless always felt like a stranger here. 
Lost in thought, he drew circles in the sand until he was startled by a distant voice. Somewhat surprised, he looked around and discovered a small boat on the water, with a small human in it, waving eagerly at him. 
Suddenly a broad smile spread on Tito's face and he stood up to approach the vessel. Now he could see the driver of the boat: a young woman with straw-blond hair, who now drove more slowly and stopped a few meters in front of Tito. She cast a quick glance at the huge ship that was anchored further out and then looked up at him. 
  "You did not just wanted to leave without saying goodbye, right?" She said with a rough voice, but there was no sharpness in her tone. Tito said nothing, but bent down in order to pick up the boat with both hands and lift it out of the water up to his chest level. The inmate held on to the steering wheel and looked him in the eyes again as soon as the boat stood still. 
  "I just do not like goodbyes." He finally said, looking at her a little sad. 
  "There probably is no one in this world who likes those, Tito. But it would have made me very sad, if you did not say goodbye. If I hadn't caught some radio signals from the workers of that ship, I wouldn't have known that you leave today.. "She said severely, and gave his fingers that gripped the edge, a little nudge with her fist. 
  "I'm sorry Inga...", he muttered. 
  "You should be. You would have missed your farewell gift. "She said in teasing tone. 
  "A-a gift? But you don't need to ...", he stammered. 
  "No, I do not need, but you still get one. I put a lot of work into it. ", she responded and turned up the seat of the boat. Curious Tito leaned a little forward to see what she would get out. At first he thought it was a rope, but it was too broad and flat. It was difficult for Inga to load these long strips on her arms, without tangling herself, but when she finally managed it, she turned back to her great friend and held it up to him. 
  "Here ... this is for you. ",she said smiling. For a moment, the boat rocked a bit, as Tito now freed one of his hands to accept his present. Slowly he stretched his fingers out for it and did his best to be careful so he would not hut Inga.
The young woman did not flinch a tiny bit, but smiled at him confidently. With two fingers he took the gift from her arms and looked at it. It was a wide band of colored cloth, the ends were tied together with a pretty sailor knot. 
  "This is a bracelet. You must always wear it now, so you do not forget me. "Said his friend, whose cheerful tone had changed to a slightly whiny one. Tito pushed the bracelet over his hand until it was attached to his wrist. 
  "Thank you Inga ... this is really beautiful. I will not remove it. Ever. I promise. "He said, and the boy felt that his eyes were wet now. This woman was the only person outside his family, he was really fond of. She had never shown any fear of him and had always tried to understand him. She was almost like his real mother, even more than Helena ever could be.
Since he had saved her from this storm four years ago, he had felt connected with her. 
Now he did something he rarely did with people because it mostly frightened them. He stretched his hand out towards her and laid it on her back in a protective gesture. She did not respond with fear, but leaned into his hand and looked at him with teary eyes. 
  "I'll miss you, Tito ..." 
  "I'll miss you too ... If ... if there is a way to come back ... " 
  "... Then tell me in time. Otherwise I can't bake enough cake before you arrive ...", she said jokingly, and now even Tito could smile again. 
  "TITO! Where are you? We have to go! " ,Naina's voice Interrupted their conversation. 
The boy turned to the house and bit his lower lip. 
  "I think now it's time ...", he said sadly, and almost a bit frightened, as Inga turned around and hugged his hand firmly. But soon he felt only joy and cradled his fingers a little to return the embrace. 
  "Be a good boy. And think of me from time to time, yes? " 
  "And you stay at home while storm surge. I won't be here to save you ...", he replied, and moved his hand gently away from her. Then he bent down slowly and put her boat back on the water. 
  "Farewell, my big one. Take care of yourself. "She said, and started the engine. 
  "Farewell ...", was all he could mutter even before the little craft began to move and went in the direction of the next holm. The two waved at each other for a while until Inga was out of sight. 
"Tito! What are you doing? We have to go now. "said Naina from the beach. Tito hastily wiped the tears from his eyes and went back to shore. 
  "I just said goodbye to the North Sea." He muttered, and rushed over to his sister, with his usual grim expression. 

[Amayasama]

D: Awww Tito...>> You know for some reason I thought he'd take Inga with him XD That would be one crazy ride ^w^ It's so cute, can't wait to see what happens next

[biali]

@amaya ... this really would have been a interesting twist XD But Inga will aprear again later ^^

So here is the next short part.

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As the four children got on the ship, the workers got a quite worried expression. It was not easy for the four to take their places without making the freighter rock considerably. Eris was the last one who sat down on the padded deck. He cast a wistful glance at the gray concrete building that had so long been a good home for him. 
Saying goodbye to Ronja had only made him aware that they would now soon be no part of this family any more. He would never see how she would grow up. In his memories, she would always be a little girl. 

Fortunately, the technical devices were moored in the belly of the old container ship set and did not move an inch, despite the swaying the children caused. In contrast, Karl and the technicians were shaken heavily and had to hurriedly look for something they could hold on to. Karl took his radio and made a angry complain to the bridge, because they had not been forewarned. 
He loved the children very much, but he was really happy, if proper safety precautions were taken. Especially when they came in contact with non-family members, he was very keen that everything was as safe as it could be. 
When the ship was calm again, he took a deep breath and prepared himself to go up. Only when they reached their destination, he would be needed down here. The stairs to the deck were pretty steep, and while climbing up he felt a familiar sting in his right leg. He did not like this feeling, since it reminded him of something he would rather forget. 

About three and a half years ago the children had received the permission to visit a coastal town . They were keen that the Giants made a positive impression on the people. After all, their food and shelter was partly paid by the taxes of the citizens. To be sure, they had only brought Tito and Parin, since Eris and Naina were much too young back then. 
First, everything was going well, but after almost an hour of sitting still the little, only ten year old Tito got bored. He stood up without warning and grabbed one of the many cars of the press and used it as a toy. 
This in itself was bad enough, but behind the wheel of the car sat for a driver who certainly was scared to die. The panic that spread among the surrounding crowd was not exactly helping to calm the nearly thirteen-foot boy. 
Parin was also nervous, but did nothing to hold back his brother, but rather backed away from the people, into the sea. Karl, however, wanted to act like a father and scold him and force him to stop. But instead of obeying his father, he looked at him defiantly, striked out a little with one hand and swept Karl aside, who slammed against a car with full force.. 
What happened next, Karl could not remember to this day. He awoke several hours later in hospital, with a few bruises, a concussion, two broken ribs and a broken kneecap. 
The latter had left its mark and still hurt from time to time. 
But also his relationship with Tito got a crack. Since then, he had approached the boy with greater caution than the other three. Although both probably knew inside, that something like this would never happen again, a latent fear was still there. 

When he stepped on the deck, he met the sad gaze of his adopted children. He could not blame them. He did not feel good about it either. Simply sending them back after more than five years without knowing exactly what would wait for them, gave him stomach pains. Both he and Helena had hoped that they would return to their biological parents and be right at home in their world again. They had worked hard to give the children the same education as any other kid in their age. 
  "Dad? How long do we need until we get there? "asked Naina, who was sitting closest to him. 
  "By tomorrow evening we reach our goal. But fear not, we stop in between, so that you can stretch your legs. "He replied, trying to smile. 
Suddenly the horn rang the ship and the engines were started. And a few minutes later, they started to move. 
The more they veered away from their small remote island, the more tears gathered in Naina's eyes. Sobbing, she suddenly clutched at Tito, who only looked a little irritated. Normally she had never had shown such affection towards him. For a brief moment, he wanted to push her away, but then he changed his mind and put one arm around her. Although it may was a little too late for it, he wanted to behave like a real big brother now. 

Helena preferred to stay on the bridge for now. She liked environments in which everything seemed well-organized. Just as she held it with her rather unusual family. Without their thoughtful plans and organizational talent, the last years would have been a chaos. Of course there were several major institutions involved in the project around children, but they cared more about public appearances, research and supply of the giants. But the rest of daily life and education was in the hands of her and Karl. 
A little absent minded she looked at a sea chart, which was completely cryptic to her. Nautical really was not her strength, even after all these years that she had often spent on the sea. 
  "Shall I explain the route to you, doctor?" Someone asked behind her, who had a heavy northern German accent. 
Helena turned around and looked into the face of a bearded man whose face obviously had been exposed to the harsh winds of the oceans. She knew him well. Hannes Petersen was the captain of the "Riese 3", their actual research vessel with which they had brought the children home from the yesterday's swimming trip. He accompanied them on this trip because he was best versed in transportation of the children, and how their weight and their movements affected on the navigation. 
  "No thanks, the chief officer has already told me earlier." Helena replied, glancing out the window at the children. 
  "I'll miss the little rascals." ,said the old captain and stroked his already slightly greying beard. 
  "Oh yes. It will be strange, just to have one child ...", she said and smiled bitterly when Tito put an arm around his sister. "I often try to imagine what will become of them. Parin and Tito are very good in science. Maybe they will be scientists, like their father ... " 
  "I don't really like to imagine them as adults." Said Hannes, gently smiling. 
She nodded. She actually would like it more if they would just forever be what they were right now: her children.

[Amayasama]

;^; Awww this is so sad but I love it so much! I hope the children have a good home...

[biali]

In the afternoon the ship was anchored near the Dutch coast, so the four could stretch their legs, since they had to sit very still during the whole trip, which made their limbs ache a lot. It would be the last stop for the next eight hours, because they had to pause before they would drive through the English Channel, where a stop was not possible. 

The beach where they could rest, had been closed as a precaution. But of course, like at any other public appearance of the siblings, a small crowd was waiting at the barrier. While Tito did his best to ignore the gawkers, Naina waved shily at the,. Eris and she were rarely in contact with people other than the members of the research project. Most of the spectators responded to her greeting with a frightened gasp, but some also waved back smiling and cheering.
The girl let her eyes wander over the crowd and could see some families with children. One little boy was getting her attention since he stuck out by sitting on the shoulders of his father. The boy looked up at her with wide eyes. She had to giggle a little. For her, it was customary that her father was sitting on her shoulder from time to time. But then she also felt a little sad. 
Sometimes she wished it to have a father in whose arms she felt safe and secure, or a mother with loving hands stroking her head. Now she clutched a little nervous at the fabric of her T-shirt and turned back toward the beach. Maybe it was not really so bad to return to their real parents. Naina felt a little bad when she thought so. 
She loved her adoptive parents above everything, and did not want them to think that she would like them less just because they were not big enough.

The pause lasted about an hour during which the children had time to eat lunch before they climbed back onto the ship. 
As they crossed the English Channel, they marveled at the docks in the distance, waving to other boats that sailed past them. 
Soon the night was falling and the team brought their blankets from the hold. The upper deck offerd enough room for everyone to stretch out. Shortly after midnight, Karl went back to the children to look after things. They all seemed to be asleep and quiet, so he was alreday turning away to go back, but then Tito said to him:
  "Dad? Can I talk briefly with you? "
Karl nodded slightly and walked closer to him until he stood beside the pillow of his son. But as always, he could not suppress a slightly nervous expression.
  "What do you got on your mind?"
  "I'm sorry, Dad." The boy said with a sigh.
  "What do you mean? What should you be sorry about? "Karl asked confused.
  "The fact that I have hurt you back then. I'm really sorry ...", Tito responded with a debt-conscious look.
His father looked at him with wide eyes until he finally smiled.
  "You've long since apologized for it. And it did happen so long ago ..."
  "But you're still always afraid of me." ,said the boy bitterly.
Karl was silent for a few seconds. Tito had spoken out what had stood between the two all these years
  "I would not say it was fear. But I was probably very much more cautious. I'm sorry that I just could not put it down. Please do not think that I've liked you less for it than your siblings. "
Tito was silent now, resting on his arms to look out at the sea. Then he again turned to his father and spoke again:
  "Would you be happy if I come back later? I mean, if we find a way ... "
  "Of course I would. I would love to see all of you return." replied the man. And without hesitating a second now, he went closer to Tito, to lovingly put his hand on his arm.The first time in years he felt no fear while doing this, and regretted that he had never before spoken to his son about it.
  "Is there something you want to do when you come back?" ,asked Karl.
Tito looked at him and pondered.
  "I would like to see the pyramids, with you." He finally said.
His father laughed and nodded. "Good. If you're back, we will go to see them. "
  "You promise?"
  "Yes, very big promise."



Charles sipped a little of his morning coffee and looked at Helena withquite sleepy eyes, His wife showed no tiredness at alls, like every morning. The sun was just rising and colored the horizon in a fiery orange. From thier breakfast table, they could see the children, but they were still asleep. Yesterday could be almost described as boring. The whole time they were on the open sea, that only lay flat and the weather had been pleasant and quiet. 
The brief stopover on a small island had not offered much variety either. Of course, the two youngsters became a bit unbearable from all that boredom, but luckily Helena had prepared some games for the trip to deal with this. But nobody could get into a real good mood, since the final goodbye was very near.
.
In a few hours they would finally arrive at their destination: a purpose-built research station in the North Atlantic, where they would find the ideal conditions to open the portal to the world of the children. According to Parin the name of this world was 'Alastha'.
Karl was leafing through his research papers that lay before him on the table, even though he knew he would find nothing new in it.
  "I hope we do not set them out somewhere in the middle of nowhere. All we have are the approximate locations of Parin's childhood memories. "Helelna said, clutching her teacup.
  "They will be allright, honey. They still have the names and addresses of their parents. The authorities in Alastha will surely help them in case they get lost. And they're not alone.They will all arrive together. "Charles tried to calm her, but he also was worried.

As the sun was preparing to sink again, on the horizon appeared a strange structure.
Parin leaned a little over the Rehling to see more precisely what they were heading at. From a distance it looked a little like an oil rig, but not sticking as far out from the sea. In addition, there was no rig, but something like a huge satellite dish. Parin had previously only seen drawings or computer models of them. But he knew almost exactly what this setup was good for. Even then, back in his home world, he had much interest in the experiments and research of his uncle, and also for the device that had caused them to strand here on earth.
At the moment, this device was stored in the belly of the ship, but tomorrow at noon it would ensure that they would all come back home. Actually, it was not transport people to other worlds. As far as Parin knew, it was meant to be a new type of energy storage, something like a battery.
Although he could not have known that the device responds to this way, he made accusations over and over again. If he had simply stayed away from it back then, their lifes would have been normal and without any problems. He had sepearted all their families and condemned them to a life far from normalty. Almost every day he thought about how he could make amends, but never found something that could outweigh all of this even slightly. Therefore, he had always tried to help Helena and Karl to educate an raise the others as good as he could.
 Especially after the incident between Tito and his father, he had impressed upon them again and again, to be as gently as possible with the little people. Especially against Tito, he was often very severe. That was certainly the reason why they fought constantly.

It took almost two hours until they reached the station and were able to get out. The platform was very generous and offered enough room to walk around a bit and a place to sleep on for all of them. Parin helped to unload the equipment onto the artificial island in the sea. Among the various crates and containers was the black metal box that would take them back home tomorrow. He put it carefully next to the small shack-like building, which was the accomodation for the scientists. Quickly the enigineers gathered around it and checked if it was still intact.

Karl also was there and gave some instructions. In addition to the education of children, he was also involved in research for the functioning of the strange device. Just a few months after the children had arrived here, had sought for a way to send them back.
But back then, the alleged energy storage was the main objective of this research but they had to of course treat it with caution. After all, it was the only specimen that they had available.

Several external scans and X-rays had shown early, that on that inside was a chamber with a solid substance was that was surrounded by another chamber with a jelly-like mass. At first they suspected that there would be a reaction when the two substances would connect. But when they later took samples of it, and brought them together, there was no response. In addition, the materials were totally unknown and could not be found on earth.
.
The bright light that had appeared during the emergence of the children, spoke for a strong energy discharge, which led to the suspicion that the device had to be charged for another effect of this type.
With the samples they therefore constructed a smaller version of the apparatus and for four years they had been trying to figure out what was needed to feed energy back to it.
Only four months ago ther had been a major breakthrough. Only a particular combination of UV radiation, heat and X-rays caused a charge. Presumably, in Alastha it was charged with simple solar energy, but apparently the solar radiation was slightly higher than on earth.
The station was built here, in order to combine the appropriate amount of solar radiation and to provide enough heat and X-rays. It was also far enough away from populated areas to minimize the possible resulting damage.

The next day, at least in terms of weather did not reflecte the mood at the station in any way. The sun burned down onto the platform, and not a single cloud threatened to obscure it. A latent humming revealed that the device charged more and more, and the moment of absolute departure was fast approaching.
The huge children sat in a semicircle on the open space of the station and looked at their adoptive parents, who were instructing some workers to procure a large, six meter long box.The workers opened it with some effort, and the four bent curiously over to see what was inside. However, their veiw was disabled by their own huge shadows. 

  "What is in there, Mama?" asked Parin and hesitated to touch the box to have a closer look.
  "These are gifts that some people have sent to you via the project ... actually it was a lot more, but we had to sort some things out.. "said Helena, and reached into it to extract a set of papers tied together. "These are letters ... most are written large enough so that you can read them easily."
  "And here is something that I like very much." ,added Karl and moved, with the help of his wife, a stuffed animal that was almost bigger than himself. It looked a little like a cross between a rabbit and teddy bear, made of several colored patches . "There are four of them. So all of you get one. A class from an elementary school in Berlin made those just for you. "
Naina looked at her father, and after a brief nod from him, she took the toy from his hands. Lovingly, she stroked the long, soft ears and smiled.
Parin and Tito did not seem quite as enthusiastic. They were probably a bit too old to be happy about such things. But they nodded approvingly, because after all it was a nice gesture to give them something.
The couple just wanted to introduce other gifts, as they were interruped by a technican that hurred over to them. He said to Karl:
  "Dr. Henning. The device is charging faster than we thought. If we do not hurry, we will miss the perfect moment. "
Karl frowned. He had not thought it would go so fast.
  "Well, I think you have to unwrap your gifts later. Please stow it away, darling. ", she said to Parin, who nodded, closed the crate and put it in his backpack.
"And now ...", she attempted to start, but could not speak further, because suddenly there was a lump in her throat.

Nainas lower lip began to tremble, and only a few moments later she began to cry loudly . "I don't want to leave, I don't want to leave.“, she weeped again and again.
Eris also could not contain himself, and soon big tears were rolling down his cheeks. The two oldest tried very hard to keep calm and took their little brother and sister into their comforting arms. The parents tried to comfort them by affectionately patting the knees of the two youngest, because that was the only thing they could reach in their current position.
Suddenly Parin let go of his sister and raised his parents carefully, but quickly up, until they were at eye level.
  "You are truly the best parents that one can imagine. We are never, never. never going to forget you.“, hee stammered, and also sobbed audibly.
  "Never!" Naina chimed in, and leaned forward to give both of them a loving kiss on their heads. Helen and Karl were not disturbed from very moist result. Her adoptive mother kissed Nainas freckled nose, and did the same with all the other ones.
  "Don't forget the pyramids, Papa, you promised." Tito said, sniffling and wiping some tears from his eyes.
  "Do not worry, I won't." ,assured Karl, also with tears in his eyes.
Eris stroked gently with his finger over the heads of his foster parents, and wanted to say something, but the loud sounds of a siren interrupted the farewell scene. Over the loudspeaker came the voice of a man:
  "The critical load is reached soon, all of who are not involved in the transport, must leave the station now. All but the children have to leave the platform. "
  "We must go, my darlings ...", said Helena and looked at them with a painful expression.
  "Look out for each other, you hear me? Be careful and behave yourself well. ",added Karl, trying to act in focus, but this did not really work.
  "Yes Papa. We ... We can do it. "said Parin and put them both back on the ground with slightly trembling hands.
When thier parents slowly walked away wavin, they clung to each other again. 
Soon the couple and the other technicians climbed into a medium sized boat that would take them to a safe distance.
Another roar of the siren told Parin that he had to pick up the device now. He had discussed it several times before with his father. With sweaty hands, he reached for the black box that was barely bigger than his hand and looked out to sea where the boat, with his parents gently rocked back and forth. He motioned to his siblings, who gathered around him hesitantly.
  "Have no fear. You will not feel any pain. It did not hurt the last time, right?. "He tried to calm them down.
Eris turned once more in the direction in which his parents went away and cried aloud:
  "We're coming back! For sure! ", He only felt that someone grabbed him by the arm, and a bright light blinded him.

Helena had clung firmly to her husband, staring at the ever departing platform platform. She heard Eris' cry and had to start crying again.
Then station suddenly was engulfed in a bright white light that lasted less than one second and then disappeared. Blinking, everyone stared at the point where the children had been sitting.
  "Transportation was success. The cameras and sensors can't detect the kids anymore.", said one scientist who was seated at a table full of monitors and instruments.
  "Oh God! Please let them be allright. ", muttered Charles and softly crying he stroked Helena's long brown hair.

[Amayasama]

D: NOOOESSS THE CHILDREN ISH GONE! >> But it makes me wonder if you're going to do a time skip to when they are older x3 I think I'm excited for their return! ...<< I wonder if the children will remember how to behave correctly XD