Iris hesitated a bit. The awkwardness was clear as she didn't know what her first words should be. Should she greet her? She should definitely do that right? She should say her name as well, but then will her Great Grandmother recognize her by just her name?
"I… I am Iris," she spoke up. "My mother is Lily, and my grandmother is Dahlia. I-I am your Great Granddaughter."
Tanya looked surprised, and somewhat shocked as well. "Iris? Is that really you?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, it's me," Iris said, her hands shaking from nervousness.
"Oh, my girl. How you've grown." Tanya walked forward and hugged Iris with tears in her eyes. "I never expected to see you here."
She let go of the stunned Iris and asked, "Where's Dahlia? She said she would only come after she had made sure everything was okay back at home and she felt okay to leave it up to the others."
"Grandmother is not here," Iris said. "She's waiting for you and the rest, only I came here to get you."
Tanya's eyes narrowed. "Only you came? She let you come here alone?" she asked.
"Oh no, not just me. I came with—"
"She came with me," Ning spoke from the side, finally revealing himself.
Tanya's eyes went wide. "Aah! Uncle Ning? How- how are you here? When did you come back?" She asked.
"A few months ago," Ning said. "How are you doing, little girl?"
Tanya couldn't help but feel like a child again in front of Ning and quickly jumped into his embrace. "I missed you so much, uncle Ning. I'm glad you are finally back."
"I'm glad I am too," Ning said and patted her a bit.
Tanya let go and looked at the two of them. "Only you two came? And what is this about taking me back? Are you here to take me back to Kumia?" she asked.
"No, not Kumia. I've found a better place which I'm sure Iris will tell you about in due time. I hope you don't have anything important to do here as we will be leaving tomorrow if possible," Ning said.
"You came here just for me?" Tanya asked.
"No, not really. There were too many of our people here, so I came for all of you. I don't know if you know this, but your cousin is actually on another continent right here on this planet right now," Ning said. "Along with him, and many other Klavians, I came to take back all of you."
"Wait, my cousin is in this world too? I wish I had learned about this before, I could've gone met him," Tanya said.
"You will meet him tomorrow. Uh… go rest for today, I still have to go let a few more people know that we are leaving. Once I've notified all, I will come to get you and take you all back," Ning said.
"Okay," Tanya said and turned towards Iris. "You've really grown up to be a fine woman. Come tell me about your childhood that I missed."
"Alright, I'll see you later."
Ning teleported away and went to get the final few people that he needed to find. He had already met with over 50 different people by now, so he had to let them all know that he was coming to take them after that.
Iris and Tanya went back to Tanya's home where they talked for the entire night. Then, once morning came, they heard Ning's voice ring in their head.
"It's time to leave."
Ning went up to everyone and teleported them all to an empty island in the middle of the ocean that one wouldn't necessarily find.
The people who saw familiar faces after hundreds of years couldn't help but converse with each other, voicing their regret for not meeting earlier.
Once everyone who wanted to come was here, Ning opened another portal door back to the Origin where the rest were.
One by one, the people started walking through the portal and arrived at the place where they saw even more familiar faces.
Mother and daughter, uncles and nephews, brothers and sisters, and many other people were reunited with each other. They all started tearing up and talked about how much they missed each other.
Ning watched from the side with a soft smile on his face, seeing so many people find happiness in what they thought they had lost forever ago.
Seeing that only motivated him to go out once again to find the rest.
He spent a day or two with Ely, going around the Origin that seemed to have more buildings built already.
"These people are working quite fast," he said as he looked at them.
"Everyone is excited about meeting their family members again. So they want to prepare the best place for them to return to as they can," Ely said.
"That's understandable," Ning said.
"By the way, where are you going next?" Ely asked. "You mentioned that you are going by based on which planet has the most people, right?"
"Assuming that someone doesn't immediately need my help, I'm going around based on what you said," Ning said. "My next one is most likely going to be Halyms."
"Who's on Halyms?" Ely asked.
"Uh, Sonya and her children, little Ning, Hijaka, and a few other Klavians," Ning said. "All in all, about 40 different people. It will be a quick journey."
"Alright," Ely said. "You should go and get them quickly then."
"Sure, I will leave tomorrow morning then," Ning said.
Ning kept his word by opening a portal early in the morning and left for the Planet Halyms. Most folks didn't realize he was gone for the whole day until they came around looking for him.
Then, 2 days later, a portal formed once again inside the Origin from where more familiar faces walked in.
Once more, the atmosphere turned happy as everyone enjoyed the company of someone they hadn't seen for a very long time.
Ning watched them with a smile on his face. "I should go around even faster," he said.
