It was impossible to concentrate on translating the old chu nom words on the ancient and corroded bronze Yore artifact that I'd picked up today. I couldn't stop thinking about the young Draka lady who had come into the shop. She must be part Yore, because her skin was a little darker than usual. The way that she walked meant that she was nobility of some sort, maybe even royalty like my brothers-in-law and now my sister and her children. She had that proud stance that Draka had with a face that haunted me. She was so quiet and unobtrusive, even though everything about her stuck around.

I got smacked in the face by a wet bubble.

"Twins!" It was half of a curse and half a laugh. Served me right for not looking at the babies. I was watching them while their parents had some alone time, which I wasn't going to think about. My sister was grown up, but it was hard for me to let go of her.

They giggled and began to run around the room, throwing themselves at the walls and then catching themselves before hurtling in the opposite direction. They had boundless energy.

Now they were heading for the sink.

"No!" I lunged for them, but they'd already turned the faucet by stacking one of them on top of the other so that they could reach it. They didn't have fine motor control of their telepathy, but that didn't stop them from getting into things that they shouldn't touch.

"Water!"

I was resigned when I watched a jet of water coming out of the sink and head straight for me, soaking me from head to toes.

The top twin jumped down and giggled like crazy, throwing himself on his back as he looked at me from the floor. His feet and fists flailed with the force of his laughter. The other twin stayed standing but was laughing as hard as his brother.

"Very funny." I turned off the faucet and watched the rest of the water disappear into the drain. "Water is expensive, you know." I sighed. They had no idea what "expensive" meant, and why should they? They'd been born into a life of privilege. They'd never have to pinch pennies. They'd never have to make the sacrifices that their mother and I had made just to survive.

I scooped them up, one on each side. "I'm going to stop translating. It's clear that you guys can't keep yourself out of trouble. We're going to go to the bathtub if you insisted on spraying water. At least you can spray it at yourselves."

We went into a big bathroom with blue tile on the walls. There was no point in undressing them, since it wasn't a bath. I filled the tub halfway before they started splashing each other with telepathically directed water. They didn't have laser control, so tiny tsunamis hit them as they tried to make bigger and bigger splashes. I knew that this bathroom was designated as their splash zone. If they didn't have it, they would turn every room into their splash zone. They still had gotten water all over my workroom, but I'd clean that up later.

After a particularly fierce wave, one twin was levitating. I didn't know that they could fly like their fathers could. They weren't even in dragon shape.

"What are you doing?"

In response, the airborne twin spun in a cartwheel in the air. His twin immediately tried the same trick, except he wasn't in the air. He hit his head on the tub.

I had a half second before he started screaming.

"Come here." I pulled him to the edge of the tub. My clothes were wet anyways, since I was an unwitting victim of their playtime. "Just a bump. You're not really hurt." I drew him close and held him close.

His little arms went around my neck as he kept crying. I knew that the pain would fade given a little time. At worst, he'd have a minor headache for a little bit. He wanted sympathy. I stroked the other side of his head. His body was relaxing into me. His eyes were closing. Apparently crying his heart out and screaming was tiring. The other twin was still hovering, his mouth open. He hadn't meant for anybody to get hurt.

"Come down. I'll have to tell your mother that you can levitate and fly now."

He landed slowly in the tub with a small splash of water.

"I'm going to put your brother to bed. Dry off before I come back." I pointed to the sonic shower in the corner that could dry him off.

I stepped into it, holding the wet and sleeping twin. In a few seconds, we were ready to leave the bathroom. I put the little one to bed in their shared bedroom before I went back down.

Miracle of miracles, the second twin, the one who could fly, was dry and in the sonic shower.

"Am I in trouble?"

"No." I picked him up and ruffled his hair. "You're still a champ. Are you tired? Your fathers say that flying takes up a lot of energy.

"Sleepy." His little head went and rested on my shoulder just as his brother's had. He went limp. I envied his ability to immediately pass out. I put him into his own bed in their shared bedroom. I stayed in the room while they were sleeping. Who knew what they would get up to if I left them alone? They needed constant supervision.

I looked at the little half Yore, half Draka twins who had changed my life. Phuong was happy. These twins were part of her phoenix rebirth. We'd had those implants that had stopped us from being who were. Now she knew who she was.

And I still didn't.

Hoa was not very forthcoming. She wouldn't tell us everything that we needed to know about the Yore, since we were now closely entangled with the Draka royalty. There were some things about Phuong that I wished someone could explain, like the way that when submerged in water, her skin had silver in it. There were so many questions that I didn't even know what to try to find out first.