Autumn glanced out of the kitchen window as she placed another clean dish upon the drainer, watching the droplets of rain trickle down the glass with a small sigh. From her peripheral vision, she caught a shadow of movement and quickly glanced back, only to see that it was just Eraj, coming to grab bottles of water, probably for those passing time in the gym.

The contaminate in the rain had not lessened and while it was doubtful that a little would cause harm or lead to mutation, it did not mean it was wise to prolong exposure outside. Therefore, just as during Winter, they were somewhat confined. Well, not everyone was.

The monotonous meals and also with certain other supplies dwindling fast, half of them had once more driven beyond the walls in hopes that they might be fortunate enough to be able to get something, anything to improve the food and living circumstances. Take soap, for example. All of the shower gels had long since been used up, the last drops in between snowstorms and with the hard soap they had but one left and no others. Scraps of newspaper had been folded neatly in each bathroom, along with scraps of cloth. The latter could be washed and reused, the former... once it was gone, there was nothing to replace it. Tyler refused to sacrifice the books in the library for such.

As the new father that was Jonah adamantly insisted on remaining at home with his newborn, though no one had even thought to insist otherwise, it was Dexter that was leading others out on expedition. Most of his original squad had followed him, with the exception of Paul and Ren Zexian. The former had been worrying for days over Shaun, who took three days to reshape the lump of metal in the gym into usable weights,tiring himself out as he did so. The latter would not leave Nathan's side. Right now, the pair were holed up in the cottage in the garden and not one person had seen them since a break in the weather, yesterday afternoon when Nathan brought in new potatoes, a winter cabbage, spring onions and some newly grown radishes.

Instead of those two men, Chang Min had joined them, providing more than enough firepower to keep them safe from unexpected surprises. However, although it had been intended that the group would take a quick trip to a village some few miles away, the rains had begun to fall with little pause an hour or so following their departure.

Placing the last plate upon the drainer, left the water in the sink for purifying. This had been one of the things Ren Zexian had tried to teach Tyler and Brooke, though, as he had explained, being that water was not his element, he could only advise them of the theory and not demonstrate or guide them more clearly.

"As with cultivation," he had advised, "there are some abilities in which hand signs are required in order to help focus and guide the mind. A former senior of mine learnt the purification technique as he felt boiled water still held too much impurities and would taint his body. Thus I can teach you the hand signs. The rest will rely on your comprehension of them."

Brooke had been a little embarrassed, at first, thinking she probably looked ridiculous as she placed finger to finger, thumb to finger, finger to palm and so on, however Tyler had taken it in his stride, even seemed elegant while doing these movements. "Just look at it as if you are speaking in sign language," he'd suggested, as Brooke had begun to pout red-faced. "And besides, if you purify dirty water this way, who exactly is going to laugh at you? How precious is water?"

So she had fallen into practice once more, fumbling then muttering; "What about Nathan, why isn't he doing this as well?"

Tyler had rolled his eyes heavenward. Some people could accept a disability such as autism, without accepting it as well. Nathan's type was not obvious, but that did not mean he did not have it. In his world, if Nathan did not see the point of something, explaining it would also be pointless. Why would Nathan purify water, when he can just make some? So Tyler had not deemed Brooke worthy of an answer.

The whole idea of purifying water was to reuse it, not as drinkable water or for cooking, but if they could clean water for dishes, for bathing, wouldn't this make life a bit easier? When asked why Ren Zexian hadn't put forward this suggestion before, he replied; "I'd forgotten about it. I last saw my senior four thousand five hundred years ago. He failed the tribulations a season later, I heard. I only recalled once I gave that cultivation technique to Brooke, the Gentle Rains from the North technique was what he practiced. He was blessed with the lone Ice root as well."

Strangely enough, it seemed Brooke was destined to follow in this senior's early footsteps, for she comprehended how to purify water quite quickly and although the amounts of water she could purify were not great due to her low cultivation, it gave her immense satisfaction to reduce the dirt and soap in the bath water she used, even this tiny bit. Tyler took much longer at comprehending the technique and still his ability was less than Brooke's, making her happier still.

Autumn wandered down the hall, wrinkling her nose as the scent of sweaty men was noticeable from the gym. Eraj, Arthur and Cole were in there, Cole looking displeased. Actually he'd worn such a face for the past couple of days. Autumn shook her head. She wasn't about to ask him why he was in such a mood, perhaps it was due to being forced to stay behind while the others went. There were several times in the Winter when he was like a caged beast pacing the hallways or burning off excess energies in the gym, at least until Chang Min coaxed him to cultivate. Apparently cultivation did not come naturally to Cole due to his erratic temper, but when he was calm, his patience was enduring and his progress was abundant.

"You are so cheating!" Paul's complaint came from Shaun's bedroom, followed by hysterical laughter. Shaun had created some dice from metal, but he couldn't be trusted to play fairly with them. He'd just gotten sixes too often to be true. He didn't deny his fault though and Paul continued to fall for his reassurances that he'll behave next time.

Finally, Autumn reached the distant sunroom in the east of the property. She'd been watching carefully as a couple of chilli's ripened on the plant. That and there was some mushrooms beginning to develop in the most shadowy corner of the room. She was longing to add these to a soup or something, just for something a little more in their diet. Although, Nathan's first radishes were definitely a good step to add a new flavour to their current meals.

Lucy was sitting in a chair in the sunroom, singing to herself. The little girl never spoke much, but was an expressive, adorable little thing and Autumn was very fond of her. Her heart melted as a bright grin was directed her way and she rubbed the mess of blond hair that never seemed to stay neat for long with one hand. "If I ever have a little girl like you in the future," she smiled warmly, "then I will be the luckiest person ever."

"Don't you think that's a redundant wish?" Monika appeared behind her. In her hands were a small batch of seedlings that Nathan had passed to her. In the future, they should produce cherry tomatoes and lettuce leaves, small things, but easily grown indoors. They'd not had too much luck with the plants they tried to grow in winter, not expecting the blast of cold weather that had them huddling in just a few rooms to keep warm in the end. Many of their indoor plants had died, with the exception of a few that Nathan managed to save and move into a living room to keep warm. He'd given the House these seedlings to replace the lost plants now the weather was warmer.

"Why do you say that?" Autumn asked her, suddenly conscious of her curves. It wasn't that she hadn't lost weight, she thought, inwardly, but her hips were still large and her bust size still abundant. Her belly was still soft and her face still a bit round, but did that mean she was really doomed to never find a husband to have children with? Perhaps it was too selfish to bring children into this harsh world to begin with... but holding her cousin's son in her arms felt too wonderful...

As if she could sense what Autumn was feeling, Monika flicked her forehead in rebuke. "Stupid," she laughed, placing the seedlings upon an empty shelf. "How much does this little girl look up to you already? Aren't you already like her mum?" Lucy smiled and placed her small paw on top of Autumn's hand. The woman's melancholy thoughts vanished without a trace.

"Then what about you?" Autumn retorted, though her lips curved with the happy sensation Monika's words brought her. "She shares both our room!"

Monika gestured dismissively. "I think I'm more like an aunt, you know, the one who happens to be a questionable influence." Autumn laughed joyfully and Lucy giggled along. "Now you just gotta get her a dad."

Autumn stuck out her tongue before softly saying; "And how am I supposed to do that? Men like girls like Brooke." Monika rolled her eyes, partially in agreement, but also because Autumn was too lacking in self-confidence.

"Bet I can think of one man who'd be happy to keep you company for the rest of your days," Monika purred, teasingly. Autumn frowned wondering what the woman was on about. "Shall I give you a clue? He's usually the second in the kitchen in the morning, after yourself and he often takes the kitchen scraps for you to the compost and he was always the first to bring you a blanket whenever you were cold or a drink of water, whenever you were thirsty..."

A blush spread over Autumn's cheeks.