Arya: Sixteenth summer
Daran loved staying at the cabin. Exploring the hills and woods... he even enjoyed the hard work of caring for the orchards, working the soil, and harvesting, all by all by hand.
He and Mom arrived first, and and did much of the work themselves, pulling the first moon of preparation, cultivating, and planting together.
For three moons after that, both parents were with him. It was Darans favorite time of year.
Here, Baron was just his dad, and Lerah was just his mom... This is where mom taught him to swim, and dad showed him how to trap rabbits, and to use a bow and arrow to hunt for turkeys, and catch fish with his bare hands.
Everything Darran deemed important, he learned here....
Mom taught him the stories of the old days...
Robotic farming was okay for a while until the crops failed one year. The
people blamed greed and poor management, and the protested, and even
rioted. But they won...
Robotic farming was all but banned 200 years ago, and the corporate farms were bought, and divided equally. Everyone who wanted one had a homestead of their own.
The people were allowed to decide, and majority took up their cause to bond with nature, and it worked out well.
Daran loved working the land with his parents and when the uncles and aunts shared harvest, it was a gloriously fun feast and festival.
He grew up here, climbing trees, running through the forrest... He learned astronomy, agriculture, weather patterns, every type of cloud, every constellation, every thing he trusted most, all right here.
He learned to swim, racing his mother across silver pond, until he could swim faster than her. At least, he could until last summer... before she accepted the DNA modifications.
When she first returned from that, Daran cried at first...
But it wasn't all that bad. The love was still in her eyes, and she matched his strength and ability... and she didn't get tired anymore... He could not out swim her anymore, but she made it fun to try...
The hardest part was her new appearance... oddly youthful. Not the same on the outside, but she had the same heart, and somehow less demanding, and more thoughtful about everything it seemed...