Chapter 18
Questions and Answers

Two weeks after Tristan's announcement, Tala and Gabrielle left with the latest messenger to visit New Gaia. The two were practically inseparable during the day-long journey and, even though they'd left before sunrise, they didn't arrive in New Gaia until just after dusk. This was mostly due to the heavy snows they had to trudge through, though the playful antics of the two lovebirds certainly added to their travel time.

They were cheered as soon as they entered the Dining Hall and everyone came up to congratulate the two personally. Tristan hugged Gabrielle as soon as he was able to get through the throng of people in his way.

"I'm so happy for you, Sweetie," he said in her ear as he held her close.

"Thank you, Tris," Gabrielle replied.

When they pulled away, both had tears in their eyes. Tristan knew how long Gabrielle had been waiting to give her heart to someone. He glanced over at Tala, who stood protectively next to Gabrielle, carefully eyeing the mass of people that continued to jostle for position so they could be the next to congratulate their Chief. She didn't look menacing, she was just very alert to possible dangers to her mate.

"You take good care of her," he told the tall woman and offered his arm in acceptance.

Tala smiled at him and nodded her head as she took the proffered arm in a firm grasp. She would die before allowing Gabrielle to come to harm. She let go of his arm and Gregory came up to offer his support of the new union.

"So, are you going to hold another ceremony here?" Gregory asked when he'd finished with the hugs and armclasps.

Gabrielle looked over to Tala then back to Gregory. "Well, we didn't really have a public ceremony among the Iroka. Um, we just sort of... Well, we said our 'I do's' to each other and that was that," Gabrielle hedged.

"Wait, you mean you guys didn't have a wedding?" Tristan asked, a gleam coming into his eyes.

"No, Tristan, don't even think about it. What we did and said to each other is all the ceremony either of us needed. Please, don't turn this into a circus," she pleaded.

Tristan frowned. "You're no fun," he pouted. "Alright, I won't force you guys to get all dressed up or anything, but did you know today is Valentine's Day, according to Diane? Don't you think it would be nice if you had a little ceremony for your people? You know, to show them that you're committed to each other." As soon as he said it, he knew that there was no one so blind that they wouldn't be able to see how committed these two were to one another.

Gabrielle shook her head. "No. Everyone should have the right to declare their commitments in their own way. I won't set the example that, in order to be acknowledged as committed, you have to have some kind of ceremony in front of everyone. If you think we need to come up with partnership laws, then talk to the Lawmakers Guild and see about creating some kind of basic binding contract that each party must sign. Something that can be added to and altered in order to be individualized for each partnership and religious preferences," she added.

"That might not be such a bad idea. It may not be incredibly useful right now, but the more complicated and diverse our society becomes, the harder it will be to keep track of who's with who. I'll get to work on it tomorrow," Tristan promised.

"Alright, enough shop talk. Let's eat," Gregory enthused.

They all laughed and slowly got to their table at the head of the Dining Hall. It took Gabrielle and Tala almost fifteen minutes to get through the crowd of well-wishers, and another five minutes before Gabrielle was able to cajole the group into taking their seats, so dinner could be served.

It was a loud affair. The excitement of having their Chief back home, in addition to the news of her joining, caused the large group to talk over each other in their enthusiasm. Tala and Gabrielle laughed and joked with everyone around them, though every few minutes, they could be seen to glance at one another with the most serious looks of devotion on their faces.

The party went on late into the night by Winter's standards, though it really broke up around ten in the evening. Between the arduous trek from Tala's village and the boisterous party, Gabrielle was exhausted.

Gabrielle and Tala went to Gabrielle's cabin and prepared for bed as usual, though since that first night together, Gabrielle had forgone her usual nightshirt in favor of skin to skin contact with her love. However, they didn't go to sleep immediately. They talked for a long time, beginning with the differences in their two tribes' systems of leadership.

"We are one, so you lead my people with me now," Tala told her.

"I hope I can lead your people as well as you, Tala," Gabrielle began. "But among my people, marriage, or joinings, don't grant leadership privileges. You won't be allowed to stand in my place here."

Tala looked slightly annoyed. "It's my right to lead with you," she said defiantly.

"Among the Iroka, yes, but not here. The people chose me as their leader and, eventually, they will choose another, based on individual skills and abilities. Marriage doesn't make one a leader," Gabrielle explained.

Tala seemed to understand that, but she protested, "I would never choose a mate who wasn't my equal. I believed you felt the same way."

"I do. But the rules governing the leadership of New Gaia are there for the people's protection, as well as the leader's. What if someone who shouldn't be leader forced a joining and then took over? Or they lied and only appeared to be a good leader and then killed the good leader after the joining in order to become Chief. Our rules protect the people from just such a scenario, as well as protecting the leader from being put into that kind of situation. It really does help to keep our people strong," Gabrielle ended softly.

She wanted desperately for Tala to understand that she had total faith in Tala to lead beside her, but that she had to abide by the rules set up by her community. She couldn't just arbitrarily make Tala her Co-Chief. Though she took the dictator's route in other areas of leadership, keeping the final say for herself, this was one line she wouldn't cross. It set too bad a precedent for future generations.

"I understand. I will not try to lead your people," Tala relented.

Gabrielle kissed her softly on the lips. "Thanks for understanding," she whispered.

Another topic soon came to Gabrielle's mind and she decided to ask Tala what her own thoughts on the subject were. They wouldn't have to make a decision that night, but there was probably less than a month before the snows would begin to melt, signaling Spring.

"Where do you want to live, Tala? I have a duty to continue to lead my people until we're more established as a community, since we've only been here a few seasons. But after that, I'll live wherever you are."

The statement reminded Tala of a question she'd tried to ask several months earlier, but her vocabulary had been too limited to get the idea across. This time, she was able to articulate it a lot better.

"Your people, they were not here. Now they are. Where did they come from?"

Gabrielle took a moment to collect her thoughts at the seeming non sequitur. Then she remembered her confusion when Tala had asked, upon visiting New Gaia, 'People no. Where?' Now she understood what Tala had been asking about. She tried to come up with an explanation that would be truthful without being totally confusing.

"Tala, tomorrow, we will eat in the Dining Hall. In a sense, because we know that's where we will be, we are already there. We have already eaten breakfast. Well, my people come from tomorrow, where things have already happened, but for us lying here now, they haven't happened yet. Do you understand?" Gabrielle tried.

Tala was intrigued by the idea. She nodded and then asked, "What is tomorrow like?"

The question caught Gabrielle off-guard. Gabrielle immediately realized that Tala understood more than she was giving her credit for. She knew Tala wasn't asking her what tomorrow would be like, she was asking about the future in the only way she could conceptualize it at that moment.

"It was an interesting place, but many mistakes were made and those mistakes were ruining the world. Smoke polluted the air and water and food, making the environment sick. Tribes upon tribes of people called nations fought with each other, killing each other. Certain kinds of animals were killed until there were none left to bear young the next season. Almost all of the forests of the world were cut down.

"But there were many people trying to change those things. They helped replant the trees. They worked to bring peace to the peoples of the world. They tried to stop the killing of too many animals and force people to find new ways of doing things so that the environment could heal," Gabrielle paused to take a breath.

Tala was thoroughly enraptured by Gabrielle's tale. Her older brother was a wonderful storyteller, but Gabrielle's voice seemed to add color and dimension to the words she spoke. However, Tala had to admit she was a little biased when it came to Gabrielle.

"Then, my people found a way to start over, to start everything over. We decided to go to yesterday and use the knowledge of tomorrow's mistakes to keep from making them in the first place. And that's when we came here," Gabrielle finished.

"Will you ever return to tomorrow to see if you have fixed the mistakes?" Tala asked pensively.

Gabrielle could see the tense worry in Tala's face and stiff body. She was scared that Gabrielle was going to leave her. "We plan on spending the rest of our lives right where we are. Now, yesterday has become today and tomorrow is really tomorrow," she assured the blue-eyed woman.

Tala smiled and relaxed and pulled Gabrielle to her. She whispered, "Mine."

"Mine," Gabrielle whispered back, with all the fierce possessiveness she felt. She marveled at how good it felt to hear and say that one word.

They fell asleep in each other's embrace.

**********************

After breakfast the following morning, Gabrielle and Tala walked with Tristan to the Main Hall. The entire Council was there and ready to begin. When Gabrielle walked in with Tala, curious glances were sent around the room. Gabrielle caught the looks and addressed them.

"Good morning. I think there's a few things we need to discuss and I'd like Tala to sit in with us, since it concerns her, too," she said.

The Council members slowly nodded their consent. All of them, except Tristan and Gregory, were worried about whether the native woman would be able to understand what was going on. They weren't even sure how much of their dialogue she would be able to follow. Even though all of them had read Gabrielle's reports about Tala's continued mastering of English, they were skeptical as to the reality.

"Alright, let's all take our seats."

Gabrielle sat and Tala took the seat to her left. Tristan was on her right, with Gregory next to Tristan. Julia sat next to Tala and Jonathan was on the other side of Julia. The rest of the Council arranged themselves around the huge table.

"First off, I'd like to inform all of you that Tala and I talked last night, and though I am now considered co-leader of the Iroka, Tala understands that it's not reciprocal."

Tala could see the looks she was receiving from the members of the Council. They looked at her the way she looked at one of her people whose bodies had grown to maturity, but whose minds had remained as a child. At home, she would have simply growled or challenged them to a fight. Here though, she knew she would have to find some other way to deal with these people.

To Gabrielle's statement, she added, "I also understand that even though I won't be considered Co-Chief of New Gaia, I will still be influencing Gabrielle as my mate, and I will do everything in my power to be worthy of such a position."

Utter shock registered in the faces of most of the Council members. The obvious intellectual reasoning that Tala was capable of threw them all for a few moments. Then, they came back to their senses and nodded their approval and thanks for Tala's pledge of honor.

With that first hurdle out of the way, the meeting went much more smoothly. Tala voiced her opinions and ideas and the others listened, all traces of condescension gone from their features.

"Well, what if Gabrielle did go to live with Tala and her people?" Jonathan asked the group.

Gabrielle immediately shot that idea down. "No. I made a commitment to lead my people," she said.

"Yes. Gabrielle must stay here," Tala agreed.

Everyone was surprised, including Gabrielle. They'd all expected Tala to be all for Gabrielle coming to live with her. Gabrielle questioned Tala with a look. Tala smiled and explained to everyone.

"I understand that Gabrielle is responsible for her people and can't leave them, no matter what. So, I will stand beside her, no matter what."

"Well, what about Tala coming to live here?" Julia offered.

Gabrielle shot that idea down just as quickly as the previous one. "No. The same way I need to lead the citizens of New Gaia, so Tala needs to lead her tribe."

Tala wasn't quite so quick to agree this time. "No. My brother, Riku, could lead my people, or one of the other strong hunters. I would feel better leading them myself. I know I am the best one to keep my people safe, but..." She turned to look at Gabrielle. "Since you have to be here, and I have to be with you, I'm not sure what other choices there are."

Gabrielle decided now was as good a time as any to bring up what she felt was a perfect solution to all their problems. Her only fear was that it was based too much on her own selfish desires and not enough on what would be best for everyone involved.

"Well, um, what do you think about the idea of your people coming to live here in New Gaia?" she asked Tala.

Tala's face screwed up in confusion and then lit up with delight. "That might work. My people are good hunters and we would pull our own weight. Our elders are wise with many years of living and would add greatly to your people," Tala said confidently.

"And most of your tribe have learned enough English that they've been able to get their ideas and meanings across to me without having to revert to what I know of your language. And I think I know enough of your language that I could start teaching it to my people here. And if our two peoples were living together, I think it would only be a matter of time before everyone learned the other group's language," Gabrielle concluded enthusiastically.

"Well, even those who don't, who have problems with languages like me, will probably just end up using a lot of gesturing to communicate, or we won't hang around each other very much," Tristan added.

Gabrielle started to protest. "But it's important that everyone be able to communicate with one another..."

"The first generation of our combined peoples will bridge any gaps that the adults find difficult to cross," Tristan interrupted. "Our children will be bilingual."

Gabrielle got the most wistful look on her face at the mention of children. Tala caught it, as did Tristan, and nodded to herself as though making a decision. Tristan realized Tala understood that Gabrielle wanted a child and intended to give her one, however that could be accomplished. His musings were interrupted by a single word spoken by Andrea.

"Technology," Andrea said, and that was all.

Gabrielle realized she wasn't really trying to be cryptic, she just didn't know how much should be said in front of Tala. Gabrielle was about to respond when Tala spoke up.

Tala was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. "What is 'technology' and why don't you want to tell me about it?" she asked.

Gabrielle turned to speak directly to Tala. "You remember when I told you about war?" Tala nodded. "Well, the people that we came from, that I told you about, tried to make better and better weapons to hurt each other with. We call making things better and better 'technology' and though some technology is good, other technology is bad. We're worried that, because your people haven't seen how bad war is, you might be tempted to use our technology for bad things."

Tala looked like she was getting pissed, but Gabrielle put a hand on her arm and quickly continued. "Tala, if a child in your tribe, who only played with sticks to practice hunting, was suddenly given a spear, the child might easily hurt himself or another child, or even an adult. Without the knowledge of a real hunt and helpful guidance from his elders, the child could cause a lot of damage."

"You're saying my people are children," Tala stated angrily.

"In a way, yes. In technology, your people are infants and it is our duty and obligation to keep you from harm's way, until you can grow up a little more. You wouldn't hand a knife to a baby and we can't just dump our technology on you," Gabrielle explained.

"I understand. You wish to find a way to teach us, so that we won't hurt ourselves or you."

"Yes."

"Alright. Teach me first. Teach me everything. Then, I will teach my brother. Then we will both teach our strongest people. Then, they will teach everyone else. Our children will learn with your children. Is this good?"

Gabrielle looked around at the rest of the Council members. They were all nodding their heads in agreement with Tala's plan.

"That'll work. We should teach you first anyway, since you're the leader."

"Yes. And, for us to be one, I must learn all that you know, just as you will have to learn all that I know," Tala added.

With the pact made, they continued with their discussion. The Council decided they needed to work on where their new members would live. Jonathan brought out a map of where proposed buildings were going to be placed and set it in the center of the table, so that everyone could see the plans. They marked the map to denote changes to the layout of their community.

"What about material for building all the new residences? We'll have to level another forest to construct so many homes," Barbara remarked.

Tala shook her head. "No, we can take apart my people's shelters and bring them with us. Then, we can put them back together again where we said we would on the map," Tala declared.

They worked until lunchtime and then chatted amiably over their food. Afterward, the Council members returned to their work. This time, they brought in Tom and Jose to help with the city planning. Things went faster and several questions concerning earlier ideas for placement were answered.

They finished early and left to their separate endeavors shortly before dinner. They were all quite satisfied with the amount of work they had accomplished that day. In celebration of a good day's work, Tala led Gabrielle back to their hut, and quickly divested both of them of their clothing. They enjoyed themselves, and each other, until the dinner horn sounded.

**********************

The following morning found Gabrielle being treated almost as a guest in her own village, as she walked around the small town, while Tala spent time with Gregory and his Warriors. She hadn't been to the town since Billy's funeral and everyone seemed a little unsure of how to treat their visiting Chief.

So, instead of attending to the business of running the settlement, Gabrielle decided to take the day off and visit with New Gaia's soon-to-be mothers. The birth control shots had run out at the end of Spring and, by the beginning of Winter, several women had been declared pregnant. A maternity group had been formed in Gabrielle's absence and she found it impossible to stay away.

Gloria was due to have Jonathan's child sometime around Summer Solstice and Colette would probably be giving birth to Billy's baby in August. Colette had found out she was pregnant less than two months after Billy's funeral and that had seemed to cheer up the community, when they realized a part of Billy would be with them again soon.

And Rebecca, one of Claudia's nurses, was going to have Timothy's baby in less than two months, if Claudia's calculations were correct. Rebecca and Timothy had taken a liking to each other, while they both studied to be assistant Healers to Claudia, and Claudia had made her pronouncement about the first new life in New Gaia just days after Gabrielle had left to go live with Tala for the Winter.

"I wish I could have been here for that, Rebecca. You're going to be our first mother," Gabrielle told her enthusiastically.

"Well, at least my place in the history books is assured," Rebecca joked and patted her bulging stomach.

"Yeah, which means you get to make all the mistakes, so we don't have to," Colette quipped.

"Oh, thanks a lot," Rebecca replied.

"Actually, by then, the Iroka and their children will be among us, so maybe you can get tips from them." Gabrielle caught the unsure looks and continued. "They may speak a different language, and they've lived different lives from what we're used to, but they're a good people. I'm sure we're going to learn a lot from them, just like they'll learn a lot from us. And considering that we live in their world now, it would be a good idea to listen to what they have to say."

"Of course. I'm sorry. I guess it's just hard to think of them as..." Gloria trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Civilized?" Gabrielle supplied with a grin.

"Yeah. I remember reading about the savage 'cavemen,' the Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon people, and I know a lot of that was speculation and it all got rewritten as they found more evidence of societies and stuff, but I still have that image in my head of big hairy people with clubs," Gloria laughed a little.

"Actually, they have very little hair on their bodies. And I haven't seen any of them with clubs. Knives and spears, yeah, but no clubs," Gabrielle smiled back.

"You lived with them. What are they like with their children?" Colette asked, leaning forward with real interest.

"Well, they don't keep their children separate from their lives the way our society did. The kids learn by being around the adults while they're working. And the ones that are too young for that kind of thing stay with the baby-sitters."

"The baby-sitters?" Rebecca inquired.

"Yeah. That's what I call them. Everyone takes turns staying with the really young children and watching over them and playing with them. Babies that are still nursing stay with their mothers, of course, but the older ones, who just aren't old enough to go off on their own yet, stay with the nannies. And they don't really separate out whose parents are whose. The whole community is responsible for all the children, even those who don't have any children of their own. It's like they have dozens of parents instead of just two. It's really wonderful. And the children learn everything they need to know in order to survive without ever attending what we would consider a regular school. That'll change, of course, when they come to live here, since there are things that can really only be taught in a school setting, like reading and writing, but I really think their way of teaching living skills is the best way and I hope our community agrees."

"It sounds really nice," Gloria said.

"Yeah. I think I like the idea of everyone helping out with raising my child. I wish Billy could have been here to help me, but if everyone else pitches in, I don't think it will be so bad," Colette added.

"You won't be alone in raising your baby, Colette. No one here would ever let you be alone," Gabrielle told the young woman.

"Right. And that's a threat, not a promise," Rebecca warned.

Everyone laughed and then the real reason for the maternity group took hold and Gabrielle got her first real dose of gossip since before she'd left her people.