A lot of things were going through his mind as he stepped through the witch's portal and onto the still-familiar cobblestones of RhyDin's streets.? How strange it was to be back, when he'd never thought he'd return to this place.? How weirdly safe it felt to be here.? He hadn't felt safe in a long time now.? Odd, because RhyDin wasn't anywhere like a safe place.? But at least there probably weren't people actively hunting him here.

As soon as the portal disappeared, he was moving out of the street.? Being in the open like that made the skin on his back crawl.? A blurred movement took him into an alley to crouch, head lifted, nostrils flaring.? No one was nearby.? It was late, after midnight, judging by the light, and the feel of the air.

It smelled like WestEnd.? Good.? He wouldn't have too far to go.? He wanted to try Zen first.? Showing up at Twin Oaks might be too much for them.? He slipped out of the alley and loped off, navigating the streets with ease.? They hadn't changed.? A block away from the Gardens, he paused.? If Riley saw his new face suddenly, it would scare her.? She didn't like unexpected changes.

It would be better if he came to her as Leopard.? There'd be no mistaking him, then.? He shucked off the loose clothes he wore, discarding them casually on the edge of the street.? Being naked never bothered him before, and less so now.? He Shifted, limbs shrinking and changing, fur pouring over his body.? In seconds, the Snow Leopard stood in the man's place.? He felt better this way.

The Leopard prowled down the block towards the well-lit, and well-remembered facade of Zen Gardens.? Seeing Harry and Sally still standing guard at the entrance was like meeting old friends.? They signaled safety...even home.

Sensitive ears caught the sound of music coming from the building.? Classical sounding.? Something to dance to.? Maybe she was dancing.? He'd always loved her dancing, watching that lithe body move.? He purred softly, remembering, then went inside.? The Foo Dogs didn't react to him, of course.? They knew he meant no one in their domain harm.? He could smell her now.? The purr grew for a moment before he stopped it.

The opening night of Paquita had gone off with a bang.? Working with the professional dancers of the Rhy'Din Opera's Ballet had been a dream.? They had all been easy to instruct, easy to work with, and had taught her students quite a few new things as well.? During the little opening night party, she'd been pulled aside by Nischa Ivanov, one of the principals, and asked to go over a piece he'd been having troubles with.? Riley readily agreed, of course, and after kissing David and sending him home, she went to the Studios at Zen to work with Nischa.

They worked for an hour and a half and finally, Nischa felt that he had the part under control and left, headed home.? Riley spent a few moments readying the yoga studio for the morning classes before heading back into the dance studio.? It had been a very long time since she'd worked by herself and decided to indulge in a little one on one time with the music and the empty space before heading home to husband and puppy.

Riley's eyes were closed, caught up in Schubert's Rosamunde, remembering this as the piece that she'd used to audition for the spot at Julliard, the audition that had landed her the full ride scholarship, which she ultimately she turned down in order to go to Boston University.? Muscle memories were sometimes stronger than emotional ones, and without thinking, she moved her limbs through the decade plus choreography. How different her life would be now if she'd gone to Julliard instead of BU. She would probably have had a successful career as a ballerina, would never have met Andy, would never have been on that beach...

Her mind was firmly stuck in the past, and she would have sworn she smelled Daniel.? A soft smile curled her lips. She hoped he was doing well wherever he'd gone, was happy at long last with his new life. However, Jaguar informed her that she was not merely remembering something, but she was actually smelling him.? Riley's eyes popped open and she dropped out of a tours cha?n?s d?boul?s, landing awkwardly and gracelessly. She looked around the Studio, seeking the source of that haunting scent.? "Daniel?"? She moved to the stereo and turned off the music before going out into the hallway.

Her voice was just like he remembered, too.? Husky, and very female without being girlish.? He made a soft chuffing sound in response to it, and sat down in the hallway as he heard her moving that way.

She spotted the Cat in the hallway and gasped in shock.? Jaguar sat up and started purring.? She recognised that Leopard.? That Leopard had been Her Mate.? That Leopard had been part of her family.? Riley's eyes filled with tears and she moved slowly towards Daniel, her hands extended, palms open and flat.? "Danny?" she whispered and got down on her knees a few feet away from him.

He rose, moving to meet her, pushed his face into her extended hands.? The purr started up again, a deep rumbling that could be felt as much as heard.? He rubbed against her hands, sliding the length of his body along them, and ending with a soft headbutt against her stomach.?

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressed her face against the top of his head and just...inhaled his scent as silent tears fell from her eyes.? She kissed the tender spot between his eyes, right at the top of his broad nose, ran her hands along his sides and gasped at the sharpness of his ribs, the way his pelt hung from his body.? "Danny," she said softly and looked him over carefully, noting the scar beneath his eye, and along his foreleg.? "What happened to you?"

"Sorry."? He still wasn't embarrassed, but he could smell that she was.? She'd always been the more human of them.? He turned, looking for the clothes she'd mentioned, then slipping them on once they were found.? "How's David?" he asked, as he dressed.? "And congratulations."? He turned back to her, dressed now.? "I was happy to learn you'd married him...even if I was a couple years too late to send a card."?

"Happy to learn?? From who?"? The mention of years was lost on her. She turned around and was relieved to see that he was dressed now.? "David's fine.? Wonderful, in fact.? And thank you."? She gave him a soft smile and then headed into the dance studio, moving to the back of the room where there were two very comfortable chairs in which parents sat during her classes.? She sank down in one of them and patted the other seat.

"Your parents," he answered, following her out to the chairs.? He glanced around the room before sitting, angled the chair so he could see the door clearly.? "I visited them.? Before coming here."? He sat in the chair, one leg curled under him, leaning forward just a bit, as though prepared to leap up in an instant.

She was watching him intently, memorising every tiny nuance of his behaviour.? Something horrible had happened to him.? Something that had left more than just the physical scars.? He'd never been this wary, this tense.? He'd always been relaxed, perfectly at home in any situation, but now...? Now he reminded her of a whipped dog, always on alert.? "My parents?? But...? They didn't say anything about it yesterday when I talked to them."? She frowned softly.

"It was a couple months ago."? He didn't know why they'd not mentioned it.? Something thumped overhead, an innocent sound, like a book falling off a table, but he tensed sharply, half leaping from the chair.? The over-sized shirt he'd put on flapped loudly with the speed of his movement.

"Jesus Christ, Danny," she said, shooting off the chair after him.? "It's just someone knocking something to the floor upstairs.? You're safe here, remember?? Harry and Sally and Mr Cheung's wards?? Nothing's getting inside."

She was right.? This was probably the safest place he'd been in the last four years.? He let out the breath he'd held unconsciously, and sank bank into the chair.? "Yes.? Yes, sorry."? His hand rose of its own accord and smoothed through his hair.? Embarrassed Cat was embarrassed.

She, too, sat down again, frowning at him in confusion and no small amount of consternation.? "So, you talked to my parents a couple months ago, and they haven't mentioned it at all?"? The frown grew deeper.? "How is that even possible?"

He shrugged, looking around the room.? Even knowing he was safe here, the probing stare was automatic.? Every corner checked, every shadow examined.? "They almost didn't recognize me.?? It had been so long."

"So long?? It couldn't have been more than, what?? Six or seven months since we were in Boston?"

Now he looked at her, frowning.? Was she kidding?? "It's been almost four years."?

"Bullsh*t!" she barked out.? "You left last September.? It's only May now.? Eight months, Danny.? Not four years."

He flinched at her yell, shaking his head.? "May?? It's March."

She stood up, crooked her finger at him, and went into the studios' office.? There, on the wall next to the desk, was a calendar turned to May 2011.? She pointed at it, pointed at the date - Monday, 23 May 2011.

He stared at the calendar.? "What the hell?"? He turned to her, eyes wide with shock.? "No.? I went through the Portal on March 20th, 2014."

She chuckled sadly and shook her head.? "The f*cking Nexus, Danny.? It's wonky with time.? Hell, just a few weeks ago, it spat us out into the wrong Japan."? She went and sat down on the couch, curling up in the corner and giving Danny soft, sad eyes.? "What happened to you?? Your face...the scars.? You're so tense now, like you're being...hunted or something."

The Nexus.? What had it done?? Had it sent him back in time?? Or was it just...different times.? Had four years still passed back home, while only 8 months here?? He couldn't wrap his head around it.? Dumbly, he followed her to the couch, sitting at the other end of it.? "I've been hunted.? For more than a year now."? He closed his eyes for a moment.? "So much fighting, Riley."? He knew he wasn't getting the words out right. She scooted closer to him, Cat calling out to Cat, offering the comfort of touch.? She hooked her arm around his shoulder, drew him near, rubbed her face against his cheek.? A sigh escaped him, tense muscles loosening.? He leaned his cheek hard against hers, eyes still closed.? He had to put it all into words for her.? "When I left...you and David," he started.? "I wandered.? Ended up in India.? I found my mother.? My real mother."

Her brows sketched upwards as she heard this news.? "In...the Valley of Flowers, right?"? That was the place he'd told her he'd been born a Cat, where, when he was a teenager, had Shifted for the first time, discovering the truth about himself.? "She's still alive?? Isn't that...unusual for a wild cat?"

Soon they rounded the stacked stone wall of Twin Oaks and walked casually up the path to the front door.? A single light burned in the living room window and Riley wondered if David was already in bed.? Sometimes he waited up for her; sometimes he didn't.? It would be better if this was one of the nights he stayed up.? She paused at the front door, hand on the knob and looked at Danny.? "Sh*t.? He's gonna freak out.? How do you want to handle this?"

"Go in first.? Tell him."? He stopped moving, waiting for her to go inside.?

"Tell him that you're here?? Tell him about your...your face?"? She bit her lower lip, thinking.

"Yes.? I'll wait."? He leaned against one of the trees, trying to look casual.? It wasn't a look he did very well anymore.? He looked away from the door, watching the street in front of the house.? This late, no one else was out.? He liked that.? No danger.? He wondered what David would say, how he'd react.? Would he be happy to see him back?

She gave him a soft smile and went inside, laying her bag down on the small table next to the door and slipping her shoes off to put on the rack under the table.? Finn bounded up to her, sat obediently to be petted.? Riley leaned over and stroked the puppy's ultra-soft ears and said quietly, "Where's Papa?"

David was in the bedroom, lying on the bed, reading.? When he heard the door open, and Finn go galumphing towards it, he sat up, smiling.? Riley was home, finally.? He knew she'd be late, she always was after an opening night, but it was even later than usual.? "I'm in the bedroom," he called out to her.

She went into the bedroom, leaned against the door frame and sighed deeply.? "Promise you won't wig out," she said without preamble.? Finn was still at the front door, his nose pressed against the crack at the bottom, sniffing away.? He sat down and c*cked his head back and forth, issued a little whine and scratched at the door.

The smile dropped from his face instantly, and he stood up from the bed, moving towards her.? "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong.? Just..."? She paused, then said softly, "Daniel came home."

His eyes widened.? "Dan's here?? In RhyDin?? Is he with you?"? He looked over shoulder, as if expecting to see Dan's face behind her.

"Yes, he's...waiting outside.? He's...he's changed a lot, David.? He's been hunted, scarred.? He's...so different now.? Even his face has changed.? He said he had plastic surgery."? She shook her head and leaned against him for a moment, even as Finn continued to scratch and whine at the door.

His arms went around her automatically, holding her close as he processed her words.? "Plastic surgery?? Christ.? What happened to him?"

She shook her head and clung to him for a moment before telling Finn to sit.? The dog reluctantly obeyed, giving his mistress a sheepish look.? "I don't know.? He said something about...fighting.? And he's been away for four years, too.? He saw my parents."

"Four...?" he trailed off.? "Goddamn time shifts.? Where is he?"?

"Out front.? He wanted me to...to warn you before he came inside."

He nodded, understanding.? "Tell him to come in.? I won't freak out."? Little grin, there.? He wasn't exactly prone to panic.

She gave him a tiny smirk and went to open the front door.? "Danny," she called out, using her foot to force Finn back, out of the way.? "Come in.? Don't mind the dog.? He'll only love you to death."

As soon as the front door began to open, Daniel turned to face it, moving before she even spoke.? By the time she'd said 'come in,' he was at the door.? He slipped inside, glancing once over his shoulder before turning to look at her.?

She stepped out of the way, loosing Finn, who busied himself with sniffing Daniel's bare feet.? He licked the arch of one foot before sitting down to be petted.? Riley watched the dog proudly - it was the very first thing she'd taught him, not to jump up on people who came to the door.? When he was full grown, and weighed significantly more than she did, he'd run the risk of injuring guests if he greeted them too enthusiastically.

He was a little taken aback by the dog, not surprisingly, being a Cat.? But the puppy's polite manners tugged up one corner of his mouth, and he bent to pat the furry head.? Riley's proud look didn't go unnoticed, either.? Clearly the manners where her doing.? "He's well trained."? Then he looked around the house.? It was very different from the half-finished place he remembered.

Daniel sipped the soda, and grabbed a sandwich.? Oh man, it was good.? Good food was something he'd definitely missed.? He was a great cook, but you could only do so much with bad ingredients.? "Pookie?"? His voice was a bit muffled by the mouthful of food.? Maybe he'd lost some manners, too.

She chuckled softly.? "Meste?o," she explained.? "Remember him?"? These sandwiches tasted better than normal.? Or maybe it was just that she was super hungry.? Or maybe it was having her Boys back together again.?

He did indeed.? He remembered the man in question and his friend kidnapping Riley, sending David and himself into a panic.? And now they were friends enough that she called him Pookie?? He shrugged it off for the moment.? Too much other stuff going on.? And this sandwich was like Heaven on bread.? He nodded, though.

She fell silent, eyes moving from face to face.? Then she just cracked up, laughing until her sides ached and tears streaked down her face.? "Oh, god.? This is just...Oh, it's just too much!"

David stared at her, one eyebrow rising as she laughed.? "Uh...what's too much?"? His tone was sort of half-concerned, half-humoring.? Play along with the crazy woman.

At the first peal of laughter, Daniel pressed back into his chair in surprise.? What was so funny?? Still, it was nice to hear laughter.? There was precious little of it in most of the places he'd been in over the past three years.? He waited for her to recover, remaining silent.

When the raucous laughter died down to mere giggles and she'd wiped the tears from her cheeks, she said, "Our lives are a study in absurdity.? You both realise this, right?"? She split a curious look between them, still giggling.? "It's like...? It's like a bad novel or something.? Menage a trois and lycanthropy and jumping through time and dimensions and magic.? Christ, it's just so...completely absurd."

David continued to stare at her for a moment, then his face split in a large grin, and he started to laugh, too.? "You're right, it's absurd.? Can you imagine trying to explain this to someone not from here?"

Daniel looked back and forth between the two of them as they laughed.? His expression suggested he half-thought they'd both gone insane.

She nodded readily.? "When I was trying to explain about the demons to Meste?o this spring, I felt like I was telling him about this really awful horror movie."? She glanced at Daniel and raised a brow.? "Oh, come on, Danny.? It's ridiculous.? Admit it."

Hesitantly, the corners of his mouth lifted, and he nodded slowly.? "I suppose it really is, isn't it?"? He leaned forward again the seat, not quite perching, but not exactly sitting easily, either.

"It really is."? She smiled softly and then grabbed another sandwich, munching contentedly, giving Danny time to adjust, time to gather his thoughts before he launched into the telling of what she suspected was going to be an epic story.

Since David had missed the first part of the story, he started over.? "When I left...you two, I wandered for a while.? I went to India, and found my birth mother."

David sat back against the couch, and sipped his beer, listening quietly.? He was definitely very curious to hear what happened to Dan to make him so different. Riley wanted to go and sit between them, curl up around them both like she used to, her feet in David's lap, her head on Danny's shoulder, just a big pile of happy.? She stayed on the floor though, unsure where things stood between the three of them now.

"She'd been living her life as a leopard," Daniel continued.? "So long now...over twenty years."? There was sadness in his eyes.? "She...forgot how to be human."

Whatever sadness Dan felt was reflected in her eyes and she moved now, reaching out to lay a gentle hand on his knee and give it a soft squeeze.? Cat calling to Cat, touch that always comforts. A faint purr rumbled in his chest at her touch.? Sometimes Cats purr when they're happy, and sometimes when they're sad.? This was a bit of both.? He covered her hand with his, after glancing at David, almost as though asking for permission.? David gave him a little smile. He was perfectly fine with Dan touching Riley, wouldn't even presume to try to stop it.

"I stayed with her a while."? Daniel said.? "Six months, maybe.? But I was too human.? Couldn't talk to her.? So I left."? He shifted in the chair, but didn't take his hand from Riley's.? "I went back to Oxfordshire.? My father was sick, remember.? I went back to help Mother take care of him."

Riley nodded mutely, scooted closer to him, leaning her body against his leg, resting her head atop his thigh, purring softly, comfortingly the whole time. The soft purring, the comforting touch worked wonders on the Leopard.? His muscles relaxed by degrees, leaving him almost at ease there in the chair...the first time in recent memory.? His hand lifted, then touched her hair, gently stroking it just like a person petting a cat.? Or a Cat petting a Cat.? "Father got worse, fast.? He...passed away about four months after I got there."

She lifted her head, looked up at him with tears in her eyes.? "Oh, Daniel," she said softly.? "I'm so sorry." David leaned over, clasped Daniel's shoulder gently.? He knew what it was like to lose a parent.? He didn't say anything, didn't have to.

If it had been anyone else, David would have been more than a little unhappy with the sight of Riley sitting in another man's lap like that.? But Dan was different.? They were like brothers, only even more.? Not lovers--he wasn't into men, and neither was Dan, but almost that close.? They'd shared the same woman for months, all three of them sleeping in the same bed.? Making love to Riley together.? An unusual situation, perhaps, but he'd been happy then, like he was now.? He slid over on the couch, close enough that he could put his hand on Riley's back.?

She reached out for David, drawing him closer, knowing that his touch would also comfort Dan.? A tiny traitorous part of her body wanted to take them both to bed, relive what they'd had those many months ago.? Things were different now, though.? She and David were married, and though a ring on her finger and a piece of paper didn't mean much in the long run, the vows she'd taken in front of her parents and her friends meant a lot.?

The three of them were pressed together on the couch now, and it did help Daniel.? He rubbed his palm over his face, scrubbing away those tears.? It felt almost like it had, years ago.? When the three of them were a family.? "We had to move a lot.? Avoiding more hunters.? Made it even slower to heal.? We were on the run, hiding, for months. When I could move myself around, I left.? I didn't want my new friends to be killed.? I fled into a national park, the biggest one in the country.? I lived there, as a Leopard.? Four months, maybe.? I hunted the animals there, avoided the humans.? The rangers saw me now and then, told stories about the White Cat."

She smiled at that, imagining the stories.? "Ghost Cat?? If you were in Japan, they would have called you Maneki Neko and regarded seeing you as a token of good luck."? She sobered then, recalling that it was only the Cat and the Serpent who did not weep when Lord Buddha died, thus earning both animals a less-than-favourable reputation.?

He nodded, realizing a bit of what she was thinking.? Living in a Buddhist country for that long, he'd heard the story, too.? "They tried to catch me, the rangers, but they couldn't.? Their traps were for a real leopard, not one who could think like a human. I stayed in the park until I was fully healed and strong again.? Then I left Burma.? Went back through India, and back to England."? He paused there, fighting down the pain that accompanied the next part of the story.

She shifted a bit in his lap, scooting closer to David, positioning herself evenly between the two of them, arms around them both, still purring softly.? She caught the change in Dan and steeled herself for the rest.

"While I was gone...while I was fighting and killing...Mother died."? He sighed softly.? "They said it was pneumonia.? I know it was heartbreak.? Father dead, me gone."

"Sh*t," David muttered.? Both parents gone.? Just like him.? His hand found Dan's shoulder again, squeezing it.? "I'm sorry, Dan," he said softly.

"Oh, god.? Dan.? I'm so sorry."? She kissed his forehead softly, hugged him fiercely against her body, ran her fingers through his hair and tried to take away his pain.

"She left me everything; the house, the cars, money.? I couldn't stay there, though.? In that empty house."? He forced himself to keep talking, trying not to dwell on those past events.? "I sold the house, the cars, just about everything.? Then I went to the States."

"I think all lost souls end up in America," she said softly.? "Is that when you went to see my parents?"

He nodded.? "Yes.? I stopped in Boston first, and visited them.? They almost didn't recognize me, but they remembered.? They told me you'd married David, that the ceremony was beautiful."? He smiled then, a real smile, the first one since arriving in RhyDin.? "That made me happy."

"We have pictures," she said softly.? "I think there's cake left over in the freezer, too, though how good it is after three months is anyone's guest." David chuckled softly, but didn't say anything.? He wanted to hear the rest of Dan's story.

Daniel made a little 'yuck' face at the mention of old wedding cake.? "I'd like to see the pictures, though.? Maybe later?"

She nodded.? "Of course."

"I didn't stay in Boston long.? I was afraid the hunters would find me, and I couldn't let them anywhere near your parents.? That was when I decided to get the surgery."? He lifted one hand to touch the stranger's face he was still getting used to. Then I set out across the country.? I was aiming for California.? I remembered liking it there.? And it was while I was there that I ended up here the first time, and met you."? The best time of his life.