Say what you like about them, but Disney really did know how to cater to the family holiday. Admittedly, there had been a little confusion when Des, Piper, and Lyneth had arrived for their honeymoon together, but the staff had rallied, and swiftly sorted out the arrangements in the three bedroom villa that had been booked so that the rose petals and champagne were confined to the double bedroom. Lyneth had done something new every day thus far, from learning how to make a lei, to surfing in the bay, to enjoying the local folktales with other children at the resort. And, of course, while Lyneth was busy enjoying herself, Des and Piper were free to enjoy each other. But even they couldn't stay cooped up forever, not in Hawaii.

Piper paused on the soft sand of the beach, shading her eyes as she looked down at the water's edge, where Lyneth was splashing about with one of the friends she'd made since they had arrived. Laughing at the enthusiasm, Piper bumped Des' shoulder with her own. "How bad do you think the tantrum will be the night before we go home?" she teased affectionately.

Desmond smiled, feeling completely at peace here in Hawaii with his two greatest loves. He slid his arms around Piper from behind to rest his head against her shoulder as they gazed out on the ocean where Lyneth was frolicking with a new friend. It seemed they were about as far away from Rhy'Din and their everyday worries as they could possibly get. "Oh, I think if we promise to come back here someday, she might be okay with it. She's gonna start missing Loki and Knip and her fairies friends eventually. Besides, there's no reason we can't go on vacation now and then when she's off school."

Leaning back into her husband's arms, Piper sighed, deeply content with life at that moment. All the worries and fears and stresses were miles away, and she was not inclined to go back to them. "We're lucky the concierge didn't catch her rearranging his flower display the other night," she chuckled softly. "However did you manage to convince her not to make him believe in fairies?"

"I didn't. I distracted her by promising her choklit," Des replied with a grin, pronouncing the word the same as Lyneth. Over the last year, he'd come to know the little girl well enough to know her weakness for sweets and had learned the art of distraction. Distract first, explain later. Surrounded by greenery and flowers in full bloom, fairies were one thing Hawaii was not short on. "This place is full of them. She's in her glory."

Piper's laugh turned indignant as he confessed his master plan, one hand gently slapping his arm. "That, Mr. Granger, is cheating," she informed him cheerfully, tipping her head to kiss his cheek. "But she is happy here. Well, I mean she's happy anywhere, but she's very happy here. And I'm very happy here, with you."

He chuckled at her scolding of him, offering the only excuse he had to give with a small shrug, "It works." Smiling as she kissed his cheek, he nuzzled his head against hers. "Happy enough to make it a yearly excursion' If you really like it here, we could come back every year. Make it a tradition." Though there were lots of places to explore, this place held its own magic, soothing the stresses and strains of everyday life away with its easy-going lifestyle and calm. To live here would shatter the illusion of peace and tranquility and make it all too ordinary, but spending short periods of time here were good for the soul.

"Mmm, that sounds like a lovely idea," she agreed softly, snorting with laughter as Lyneth went head over heels into the water, bobbing up like a cork and thrashing her way back to land. There was no concern there - the tiny girl could swim, there were plenty of fairies around to get her out of whatever scrape she got into, and it was warm enough that her clothes would dry out within a few minutes. Perfect, really. "Not at Christmas again, though," she added with a smile. "Maybe we could make it an Easter vacation?"

Des lifted his head from Piper's shoulder as Lyneth went ass over teakettle into the water, momentarily worried before she righted herself, though he knew there was no real danger there. "We can do whatever you want," he told Piper agreeably, as he reached for her hand to draw her further out onto the beach, a smile on his face. "Care for a swim?"

Her gentle smile deepened as he drew her out over the soft sand toward where the waves lapped gently at the beach. "Desmond Granger, are you proposing to get me wet in public?" she asked him teasingly, a sure sign that marriage was definitely agreeing with her. This time last year, Piper would never have said anything like that.

Desmond flashed a her a dimpled, mischievous grin. "Yes, but not the way you're implying, Mrs. Granger. It is a beach, after all." He turned to face her, holding both her hands in his. "Have I told you lately how beautiful you are?"

"Not since Lyneth did my hair this morning," she countered with equal mischief, stepping close to brush her lips to his under the cloudless, azure sky. "Have I told you how much I love you today?"

"Not in the last five minutes or so," he replied, touching his lips to hers in full view of Lyneth and her friend and whoever else was watching. They were on their honeymoon, and he wasn't shy about showing his affection in public for either his wife or his daughter.

She giggled into the kiss, loosing her hands from his to smooth her arms about him as they lingered there for a long moment in their shared affection. As her lips left his, she smiled. "I love yo- Oh!" Unfortunately, neither of them had noticed a small bundle of energy and giggles accelerating up the beach toward them until that mischievous little person ran headlong into Piper, knocking her off her feet. Mother and daughter tumbled onto the sand in a hail of cackling laughter.

Desmond was jarred, but remained standing on two feet, chuckling as their little bundle of energy knocked her mother over into the sand. Since they were both laughing, proof that neither was hurt, instead of helping them to their feet, he kicked off his sandals and unbuttoned his shirt, before turning toward the waves that were washing up on the shore. "Last one in is a rotten egg!" he called, shrugging his shirt off and darting toward the ocean.

Desmond, for all his age and wisdom, wasn't anywhere near a biology major and knew very little about the flora and fauna of their surroundings, but what knowledge he lacked in biology, he made up for with common sense. "I assume he lives here. Maybe he's looking for food, or maybe he's on his way home." The truth was Des was guessing and wasn't even sure if the turtle in question was a male or a female, now was he about to find out. "Your mother is lucky to have spotted him."

"We should of bringed Leilani wiv us," Lyneth nodded sagely, rubbing her fingers over the smooth shell as the turtle drifted in the water beside them.

Piper chuckled softly. "Well, it would have helped a little bit," she agreed, "but this is supposed to be our first family holiday. Maybe next time we'll convince Cian and Leilani to come with us, and she can tell us about the sea."

Desmond didn't have too much to say to that. He hadn't gotten the whole story of how Cian and Leilani had met, though he had been told the shy, gentle creature was really a mermaid. As unbelievable as that sounded, Desmond knew better than to question such things, seeing as he had a half-Fae child for a daughter.

"D'you think there's mermermaidies in the sea here?" the tiny girl asked then, slipping her hand from the turtle as it turned to dive down toward the coral reef a little way from them. She cuddled into Des' arms, comfortable with both her parents so close by.

Piper smiled, shrugging a little. "I don't know," she admitted cheerfully. "This isn't the Earth I was born on, Lynnie. This is Daddy's Earth."

"I don't know either, Lyneth. I've never seen any, but there are stories of mermaids, just like there are stories of fairies. If fairies are real, why not mermaids?" he countered, turning thoughtful at the mention of mermaids and fairies and magic on his Earth, where he'd always assumed such things were only that of an over-active imagination. He privately wondered if there was any place that would ever be truly safe for his little family, though he kept those thoughts to himself.

If Piper had known this was going through his mind, she might have taken pains to point out that wherever there was magic, Lyneth was more than capable of looking after. But just the fact that fairies proliferated in Hawaii was evidence enough that magic thrived here, on this Earth, and for that she was envious of his childhood. Her fingers swept Lynnie's hair back off her face, a faint smirk touching her face as the little girl's head drooped. "Something tells me it may be time for a nap."

Desmond had turned thoughtfully quiet, which in Desmond's case usually meant he was thinking too much. He pushed the worries from his mind as Piper mention a nap, drawing him back from his thoughts of danger to his little family, primarily worrying whether or not Lyneth's father would be able to find them there. Fortunately, the Autumn Queen that came from one possible future to teach her younger self that was Lyneth had given Desmond enough information that he knew the time had not yet come where he had to worry about an attack from the Fae who wanted Lyneth back. He glanced to the little girl who's head was drooping against his shoulder. "Nap time it is," he said, holding her carefully and close as they started back toward the shore.

Smiling, Piper paused to say goodbye to the turtle who had drifted in and out of the bay before she, too, turned to make her way back to the beach with Des and Lyneth. Her lips brushed Des' shoulder tenderly. "Do you know, I think she might be enjoying herself on this holiday," she murmured impishly, not even needing to look to know that Lyneth was all but asleep.

"I think we all are, Pip," he replied quietly, so as not to waken the little girl with their chatter. "I think we needed this," he added, reaching for her hand as they made their way back together. He didn't bother to explain why they'd needed this trip, knowing he'd only agree with her. It wasn't so much about getting away from Rhy'Din or even getting better acquainted; it was about forgetting about all their problems for a little while and just enjoying being together.

She bent to collect their belongings from the sand as they passed, wrapping her sarong about her hips once again before re-taking his hand. "It's nice to be a normal family for a little while," she murmured, admitting her own frustrations with the strangeness that surrounded them. "Although I have to admit, I miss some of it." She smiled, kissing Des' knuckles. She was missing Oisin and the fairies they knew, the easy-going attempts at magic around the home Lyneth constantly tried. The family side of their magical oddities.

"It's not going anywhere, Piper. It'll all be there when we get back. Let's just try to enjoy our time here while we have it." He paused to turn and brush a kiss against her cheek. "Come on. Let's put sleepyhead in for a nap."

"And take a shower to get the salt off our skin," Piper murmured teasingly, flashing him a somewhat cheeky smile. They'd become experts at taking their moments when they could get them over the past year, and nap time was definitely one of those moments.

On Des' shoulder, Lyneth stirred just a bit, smacking her lips, and cuddled in closer as they passed from the heat of the sun beneath the shade of the trees. Even if it wasn't usual to take your child on your honeymoon, she didn't care. She had her Mummy and her Daddy close at hand; that was all that mattered to her.

"You wash my back and I'll wash yours," he murmured back with a smile, before turning to watch Lyneth against his shoulder, looking very young and innocent and vulnerable. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do to protect her or Piper, but here in Hawaii, he didn't have to worry about that for now. This was their time to relax and have fun and he wasn't going to let his worries about their safety ruin this their first family trip.

They were safe, for now. The conditions hadn't been met for the danger to be close yet, and if Piper had her way, they'd have another year before those conditions made themselves known. A year to prepare and warn those close to them of the dangers in trusting a stranger too easily. A year to grow closer as a family, to learn one another inside and out, and strengthen the loving bonds that held them all together. A year to convince Lyneth that no matter what happened, no matter whose path they crossed, she would always be foremost in their hearts.