Snuggle!

Elsewhere a Larya finds Maitimo with a briefing packet! "You want a chiplocked computer but we'll want everyone in one place for that, saves time. There's a you here and a you here and a you here - you'll need to pick a nickname -"

             "There are two of us here presently, though I imagine if you have interdimensional transit Timothy will want to go home."

"- how did that happen?"

             "I haven't the faintest idea. They fell on us."

" - oh, that happens all the time, actually, just usually it's a Bell - we don't know why - it's all in the packet -"

             "A Bell?"

"Name has 'Bel' in it somewhere, looks like this or this or this or this though there's no reason to think that's exhaustive - all yous look like you except the genderswapped one - you've got a list of names in that packet but it's Iobel and Akibel and Campbell and Beldri and Tirehbel and Isabella T'Mir and Isabella Boots and Isabella Gem and Isabella Sybil - the human you is Mitros."

            "The human me here is Timothy. Timothy Michael Theodore Aaron Minor James Samuel though the latter two were left behind in their original dimension and it's not known if they're all right -"

"We have resurrection. Timothy should write up everybody he knows for the list of names, you probably don't know anybody new to us - you've got some people who will want to make immortality necklaces and should be started on that immediately and then there's a slower process to fold the rest of your people in with the multiverse operations."

           "You do this a lot."

"It's a treat, if we find you soon enough."

          "Is this soon enough?" He's flipping through his briefing packet. 

"Yes - oh, there's really excellent magic therapy. For Angband. I can schedule it -"

         "It can wait."

"As you see fit."

         "If you go get Macalaurë Beka he'll be much happier, can that be on the list of first-day projects?"

"Beka?"

          "- uh, yes, the orf who rescued me from Angband -"

" - that's non-standard."

          "Well. Does it usually fail or does she usually not exist at all - I do get out of Angband, one presumes -"

"Findekáno goes and fetches you."

         "I do not think he will resent being denied his chance at heroism - he wouldn't have gotten there for Years -"

"How long were you in -"

        "Objectively? Five or six years - felt like thirty -"

"It's objectively fifty. Usually."

        "Am I typically in greater need of therapy?"

"Absolutely no one except your alts is going to have any idea of the answer to that, milord."

        Maitimo smiles. "Go get Beka."

"My teleport doesn't do people just places but I can find someone -"

        "Yes please."

Being alive again is painful and bewildering and overwhelming and loud and bright and hot and cold and dizzy and it feels so fucking good. Free will feels good too but in a vague disembodied way, she barely notices it amid the sound of breathing and the feel of her fingers and toes and the taste of air.

She misses the transition from where Mandos puts her to where she comes to her senses; the first thing she manages to parse is being in a pleasantly dim little stone room laid out on a cushion. There's a soft recording playing over and over in the Black Speech: "Welcome to our orc planet. There is no rush. Whenever you are ready please say 'I'm ready' and this system will ask you some simple questions to help unite you with your family and find you a place to go. The system can also work in Quenya, Thindarin -" It's got a longish list. Then it circles back around to "Welcome to our orc planet".

Beka eventually tells it she is ready.

It wants to know if she has a name (she does), whether many people knew it (no), how many siblings she has, how many aunts and uncles, did her parents have names, did she have any lovers she wants to find again, did she have children -

"One," she says.

- how would she identify the child's father -

"- no."

"Question postponed."

Eventually it finds enough other information to triangulate her. It assigns her a number and a little ticket and tells her to go here and get on the thing and get off when her number is called and there she will be around a manageable number of other people and be able to find her family.

She is sitting on the train, braiding her hair.

Pop! There's an Elf. "Beka?"

"...hi?"

"Hi! Uh, the Noldorin government in your home dimension requested we find you -"

"- the thing said it was taking me to my family, I need my little girl -"

"I don't think she's here, I think she's still on your homeworld - she didn't swear anything, right -"

"...not while I was there but I was dead."

Pop. Pop. 

"Yeah she's still by Lake Mithrim -"

"- can you take me -"

"Yes." And there they are, right outside the Way estate.

"...what is this place?"

"I don't know," says the teleporter. Uh, Prince Canafinwë - Beka's here -

"Beka's here -" he says to Michael and Rebecca -

Rebecca scoops up Kat and plops her on her hip and goes out to meet her.

Kat blinks.

- Beka makes a soft almost injured noise. "My Kat -"

"All yours, of course, we were looking after her for you," says Rebecca, setting her down.

"- Kat d'you remember me -"

"........Mama," identifies Kat tentatively.

"Yeah - yeah I'm your mama -"

"I swear," begins Kat, and Beka dives to tackle her and clap a hand over her mouth.

Tackled Kat finds this satisfactory and hugs Beka's arm and is scooped up and held very tightly.

Michael hugs his wife.

Eventually:

"Who are you -"

"Uh, there are apparently lots of worlds and they have the same people in them for unclear reasons and we're a species called humans from a world called Earth and I met Rebecca and married her and we have three children - the oldest one is Catherine, she's - the same as Kat the way I'm the same as Macalaurë and Rebecca's the same as you - I'm not Catherine's biological father I adopted her -"

"...aw."