Bella's empire settles down, grows, expands, produces art and music and designs for interesting lamps. She works doggedly at getting the populations of both planets torchable and the former population that she didn't get to back up and running. She goes on a charming television spot with a little old man who managed to avoid or staggeringly misinterpret every reference to magic and Saturn he ever heard until the other day when his son-in-law put in a request for his wife to come back, and she shows him a few little tricks and then presents him with his wife. (Bella did not just resurrect her on TV. She was prepped a few hours ahead of time.) The Imperial Society puts on annual parties, then shifts to years-divisible-by-five. Bella puts in more bubbles. She and Ripper test out some of these, from the trampoline playground to the slightly less buggy encapsulation of a mock rainforest to the large self-cleaning white room supplied with crayons and paint. (This last is ostensibly intended for children, but so what?)
(Ripper and the Jokers have a few rounds of paintball in it. They are messier than paint fights with Bella, on a number of levels.)
[Still playing paintball?] she asks Ripper, from her palace, where she is sifting through e-mail.
[Just got back, actually,] he says with a shaky laugh. [Why, what're you up to?]
[Boring, boring things. I'm bored. And lonely.]
[Ooh. I bet I can do something about those. Is anyone going to scream if I teleport to you without getting dressed first?]
[I am aaaaall alone up here.]
He is indeed not dressed.
She's dressed, but he's welcome to fix that. She holds out her arms and tastes like key lime pie.
Ripper tastes like cinnamon hot chocolate.
That is a good taste for him to wear.
There is the sound of a door, and the sudden pour of aura, and a voice exactly like Bella's, saying, "Eep!"
"Not again."
Ripper is distracted from his enjoyment of key lime Bella by a fit of the giggles.
Key lime Bella smacks herself in the forehead, squares clothes back whence they came, and says, "Hi, guys."
"Hi, Pattern! We're collecting everyone and then we're going to try to retrieve Aegis and company from wherever they went. Who's the boyfriend? How long's it been?"
"This is Ripper," sighs Pattern, "it's been sixteen years, and we need to take Aianon and Ansharil with us and bring them home first thing."
"Of course. Nice to meet you, Ripper."
"I'm new," says Tab. "I'm Tab. Hi."
[Peal's here. No Jane, just Shell Bell.]
Aianon teleports to them and looks at Shell Bell.
"Next stop is Thilanushinyel," says Shell Bell. "Does Ansharil do the Joker daemon shapeshifting thing or do we need to get him through a door another way?"
"You wanna come?" Pattern asks Ripper softly. By brainphone she perfunctorily informs everyone else who knows about worlds - Queenie, Ghosty, Slipstick.
"He is with me," says Aianon.
"Sure," says Ripper, "why not."
Isibel clears her schedule.
Out they all go. Once Milliways is full of Bells and Aianon and Ripper and the door is closed, Shell Bell opens it again, and this time it's Thilanushinyel.
The rest of the peal will not be hearing from them for a while.
She loves them so. They are home, home, home.
"So, it's been sixteen years here, and it could easily be another sixteen if we leave unless Tune shows up to anchor the place or something, do we just have to wait for the happy reunion to end? I mean, we can time-dilate them, I don't think Sarion'll mind."
"Oh, no, we have that covered," says Tab, holding up a Kersible, "these aren't exactly Janegems but they'll sync all right. Is this a good place to drop it?"
"Yeah, this is Sarion's house, although it doesn't look like she uses it that much lately," says Juliet. She keeps looking at Ripper funny from the corner of her eye, and is the only member of the peal with her aura withdrawn.
"I'll leave her a brainphone message," volunteers Glass, "so she doesn't sit up next month wishing she'd asked us to wait in a panic expecting to be adrift. Juliet, why are you looking at Pattern's Rupert like that?"
"...Pattern's what?" says Ripper.
"My what," echoes Pattern.
"That's why you look familiar," says Juliet, snapping her fingers, "you're an alt of Giles, that's just -" And she cannot continue her sentence because she is laughing too hard.
"You didn't know that?" Glass asks Pattern.
"No! I didn't really talk to Giles and I saw Merryweather out of the corner of my eye once and - Juliet, will you stop?"
"I caaaaaan't," laughs Juliet.
"I have an alt who actually lets you call him Giles?"
"Oh, he's," laughs Juliet, "he's got to be at least fifty and he's a high school librarian and belonged to the Watchers' Council till one of them murdered me, and," she dissolves into helpless laughter again.
"I am sorry about her," says Pattern to her boyfriend.
"The other one, Merryweather, is from Peace," volunteers Aurora. "Picked Aegis out for the prodigy space soldier program."
"Right," says Ripper, "moratorium on new facts about my alts until I actually meet them, please. This is one kind of Bell story I am just not up for."
"We could stop in Sunshine," giggles Juliet.
"Let's not," says Tab, picking out a nook into which she deposits Thilanushinyel's Kersible. "It's just Rose and Angela before we have everybody who wasn't spun off, right? Who first?"
"Doesn't matter," shrugs Golden, "no strandees, let's get Angela first."
"Samaria it is," says Shell Bell, and she opens the door to Milliways again.
"I'm sorry if you didn't want me to mention your template," Glass murmurs to Ripper. "I figured Pattern would have had a chance to find out and would've said something if it was a secret."
"Yeah, well, she didn't," he says. "Whatever, it's over and done now."
"Did you literally not tell her your real name? I thought that was just Jokers," says Golden.
"Name's Ripper," he says mildly.
Juliet starts giggling again.
But before anyone obeys her and before she touches the handle, someone else is incoming.