The First Love Of Alipang Havens

Some forty-five minutes passed from the encounter with Mr. Heron till the moment when Kim could quit her station and sit in the seat Alipang was reserving for her. In that interval, Alipang did plenty of eating and chatting. Some of the talk was with Chilena, who occupied the other neighboring chair, for Dan was at a play rehearsal. So far, there was no news of Dan's involvement in the production having brought anyone closer to a faith in Christ.

Scarcely three minutes before Kim was free to join him, Alipang was providentially spared from becoming a rope tugged at by his sister and his girlfriend. Chilena was given someone else whose attention she could enjoy, as her biological brother Mike Jakekens walked into the fellowship hall. Mike, in fact, needed comforting just then, as his girlfriend Ursula up in the Beltway area had left him over the weekend. So Chilena redirected her soothing affection from one brother to the other, and Kim had her turn at possession of Alipang.

Kim's dark eyes were gleaming in a conspiratorial way, even as she tackled her pansit. "Wait till you see your cake!"

"Is it as creative as the one that was made for Mr. Richardson's store?"

"Better. You'll see. And speaking of you seeing things, I didn't find time to tell you before now: I asked my friend Holly to join us here. She had to take care of something or other first, but I expect her any minute."

Alipang nodded solemnly. "That's good. Once I meet this dance teacher, maybe we can do something about getting _your_ eyesight corrected."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Simple: you keep telling me that Miss Brighton is better-looking than you are. Since that is a physical impossibility, once I see her I may be able to diagnose your vision problem."

"A dentist, diagnosing an eye problem?"

"Sure, haven't you heard of eye teeth?"

Kim suddenly leaned over to kiss him, the first kiss he had gotten from her as a legally adult man. "Very funny. Seriously, I won't get mad if you scope Holly out a _little_ bit. She really captures the eye. When she comes in, just watch: _everyone_ here will be looking at her. And I'll be silently repeating to myself: He loves me for what I am on the INSIDE."

Now it was Alipang who leaned to kiss Kim. "Is this another of your tests for me? I thought we were done with all that. Now I'll have to quote Shakespeare again."
 
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Holly still had not shown up at the time Alipang's cake was revealed. It was in three sections, extending from a common center. One of the sections was formed like the straight blade of a balisong knife; its frosting was white, while the cake within, as at the center, was chocolate. Eighteen candles stood in the center. The other two protruding sections were made to look like the two halves of the handle of a balisong in the process of opening to reveal the blade; the cake here was cherry-flavored, with chocolate frosting over it, suggestive of a wooden handle.

Just prior to the presentation of the cake--which afterward was cut by Mr. Imada with his big parang knife--Grant the worship singer led several of Alipang's favorite worship songs, followed by "Happy Birthday To You"--which he had learned to sing in Tagalog, a touch that greatly delighted the guest of honor.

Cecilia Havens had privately objected to the cake design, looking like the weapon with which her son had taken a human life last winter. Eric, however, had stood his ground: Alipang had acted in legitimate self-defense, and should not be expected to feel ashamed of it. Besides, his long involvement with martial arts warranted the design, quite apart from one incident which had been gruesome, but in which Alipang had been blameless.

Hardly anyone else present suspected what a victory over emotion, what a suppression of qualms, was represented when Cecilia ate a piece of this cake.

After adequate cake-eating time was allotted, a DJ started music for dancing. Alipang lifted his little sister Harmony off her feet to dance the first dance with her, while their Dad partnered Melody and Mike danced with Chilena. Then Kim laid claim to Alipang for one dance, mainly because she knew he would want her to dance with him. She still was self-conscious about social dancing, and had not yet had a chance to take Holly up on her offer to coach her some.

But it was not much longer till the dance instructor made her appearance.
 
Alipang danced one tune with his mother, followed by one with Peggy Holder the Christianized Goth girl (at Kim's urging). Peggy was actually wearing a dress that wasn't black; she had submitted to a makeover at the hands of Lucinda Rockwell, and didn't look bad at all.

Alipang had just thanked Peggy for the dance and stepped away from her....when something like a visible wave action, or a ripple effect, swept across the room. Heads were turning to look at the door, and other heads were turning to see what those heads were turning for. Several heads of wives and girlfriends then snapped around to check what expression was on the husband or boyfriend's face.

Kim had been right: Holly Brighton did capture every eye.

It was not that she was in any way superior to Kim in appearance, face or figure, though neither was she inferior to Kim. It was not that she was revealingly dressed; far from it, her red and white evening gown was floor-length and high-necked. But she radiated poise; everything about her proclaimed, "I am self-confident, but not stuck up; I know my own worth, but I will also acknowledge yours."

Since Kim was the only person here whom Holly knew well, she hurried to greet Holly. During a good squishy-hug, Holly whispered in Kim's ear, "Are you ready to introduce me?"

Kim whispered back, "Yes--but only because Alipang DID somehow keep his eyes in his head when he saw you come in."

Holly kissed Kim's cheek. "Maybe I can teach you some security tonight. Your boyfriend's eyes, and the rest of him, are safely yours. People on campus who are in the martial-arts club tell me about Alipang; they all say that girls there might as well be groundhogs, for all the interest he takes in them."

And so it was that Kim kept her cool while introducing Holly to person after person at the party. When it came to Alipang's parents, Kim observed that Dr. Havens did not ridiculously pretend not to see Holly at all; but his noticing of Holly was entirely civilized, exactly as it was when he looked at Kim. And Mrs. Havens was visibly at her ease with her husband's propriety. That must be where Alipang learned it, Kim thought.

When Alipang himself met Holly, he addressed her as "Miss Brighton;" she was, after all, older than Kim by a greater margin than Kim was older than Alipang. Upon confirming by his manners that he was NOT overwhelmed by insane lust, he said, "I beg your pardon, Miss Brighton; Kim and I have a sort of game with quotations, and it's my turn." He turned to gaze directly into his girlfriend's eyes at close range, setting his fingertips on either side of her oval face, and recited: "From women's eyes this doctrine I derive; / They are the grounds, the books, the academes, / From whence doth spring the true Promethean fire."

Holly knew exactly what part of Love's Labors Lost that quote came from; but she sensed that it would not be well right now to draw attention to herself by saying so.
 
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Summer and Evan had not yet been introduced to Holly; they had been preoccupied with a conversation of their own. But now they approached. Summer spoke first, addressing the newcomer: "Welcome to the rite of passage! My name's Summer Heron, this is my boyfriend Evan Rand, and we're accomplices to Al's birthday party."

Holly shook Summer's hand, then Evan's. "Hi, my name's Holly Brighton. I got to know Kim at the community college, and she was nice enough that she made me want to meet her friends."

"Holly isn't just AT Doverwood," Kim interjected; "she teaches dance there. I've been hoping she'll coach me, because I know Al enjoys dancing."

"Maybe she can start tonight, by dancing _with_ Al," Evan suddenly suggested. This caused Holly to glance a bit nervously at Kim, who promptly set her at ease: "It's okay with me. Al will be a pure gentleman with you, and he'll come back to me when you're done. By the way, he is strong enough to toss you in the air and catch you safely, if you want to be fancy. Let's talk to the D.J. about a song selection." Joined by Summer, she led Holly to see the D.J.

Left with Evan, Alipang told him, "I would have suggested Holly dancing with adult men--well, with men _more_ adult than myself."

"But those men are married," Evan replied. "Besides, by my immediately foisting that hottie-potato off on you, I prevented Summer from thinking I was hitting on the dance instructor myself."

Alipang's eyes narrowed quizzically. "You don't mean that Summer's been acting jealous, do you?"

"No, but it's good to be cautious. Besides, Al, _you're_ the one having a birthday. Dancing with that blonde supermodel is an extra birthday present."

"If you're feeling so generous, may I have a dance with Summer after Miss Brighton releases me from her seductive clutches?"

Evan smiled sheepishly. "I guess I owe you that much, after putting you on the spot."

===============================

NOTE: In anticipation of Nightcrawler Fan soon getting underway with her parallel story about the same cast of characters, I have written this installment in such a way that N-Fan can later latch onto it and fit in other dialogues happening on the same evening.
 
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Being in the annual Escrima demonstrations at Lakeshore Park had freed Alipang from stage fright. Still, he was a little taken aback when the D.J. announced, "We have a special treat for you all: our own version of 'Dancing With The Stars.' Mister Alipang Havens will dance, unrehearsed, with Miss Holly Brighton from the Doverwood College Performing Arts Department....to the music of that great one-hit Eighties group, Atlantic Star."

As if a receding tide could recede in two directions at once, the crowd on the dancefloor parted and made way. Like something in a movie, Alipang saw Kim's willowy blonde friend reappearing in his view, thirty feet away. As the love song "For Always" began, Holly beckoned to him, with a facial expression clearly intended NOT to look sensual, so that he would not feel he was doing anything improper.

Shedding the jacket of his favorite green suit, his Morpheus look, Alipang mustered everything Chilena had taught him, and strode fluidly toward his partner.

Holly came gliding to meet him; and almost like telepathy, a movement of her eyes and face uncannily told him what she intended to do. Unhampered by her long dress, she sprang from the floor to fall into his arms. He caught her flawlessly...turned right...enlarged his turn into a spiralling run...then whirled Holly around in such a way that she could land on her feet gracefully. She was hardly on her feet again before she began a series of quick turns under his arm.

Every onlooker was captivated. Those with any real appreciation of dancing, which included Chilena, realized what Alipang was realizing: the truth of the saying that a genuinely expert dancer could make a partner look like an expert as well. Alipang and Holly whirled and surged and flew together; at the same time, unless one counted her initial jump into his arms, there was no very close bodily contact between them the whole time.

When they finished, the fellowship hall exploded with cheers and applause.

Isobel Stetzer commented to her husband, "I don't think the Baptists would like that routine."

"Don't speak for ALL Baptists," said Lorraine Kramer, who stood nearby with her husband.

As Holly was bringing Alipang back to Kim, she wistfully asked, "You wouldn't have any older brothers, would you?"

"Afraid not. But surely it won't be too hard for you to find a decent man."

"You'd be surprised, Al."

Moments later, Alipang was dancing with Summer, while Kim was showering Holly with compliments which were intended to show that she was NOT jealous of the older and more accomplished woman.
 
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Many of the birthday gifts Alipang received--for instance, from the Richardsons, the Kramers and the Capshaws--consisted of money contributions to his education fund. This was as Alipang himself desired. But he was also pleased with the present he received from Tom and Isobel Stetzer: a bilingual English-Tagalog New Testament. Only when he looked in it did it strike him how little _reading_ he had ever done in his native language; but here was the very tool for correcting that.

Before the dancing ended, he danced once more with Peggy, and also once each with his mother, Chilena, Melody, Erin, Lucinda, Kaitlyn and Emelinda. But the concluding slow dance belonged to Kim. Alipang had expected to have to coax Kim into dancing another time with him; but she proved more than willing to reassert her claim on him in the sight of all present. Indeed, Alipang and Kim found themselves clinging _very_ closely to each other in this farewell dance, but the adult onlookers didn't panic about it.

As the party was winding down, Kim asked her now-adult boyfriend to come upstairs with him, to one of the smaller rooms in the church building; she asked Chilena and Mike to come also, as witnesses to the innocence of what she had in mind.

Once in the room with the door shut, Chilena and her biological brother watched in puzzlement as Kim asked Alipang to lie on the floor. Kim then stretched herself alongside her sweetheart, not quite touching him. "Now, Al, please close your eyes, with your face still turned toward me." When he did so, Kim closed her own eyes...paused a moment...reopened her eyes...and said, "Okay, open your eyes again."

Alipang did so; and the two witnesses could see the tender smile which passed both ways between the horizontal couple. "Good, now help me up."

Alipang sprang to his feet, then lifted Kim to a standing position as easily as if she had been a small child. Kim turned toward Chilena and Mike to say, "I wanted to see, and feel, how it would be to wake up beside Al in the morning and see him waking up beside me. Because there's a long time to go yet before he can officially propose to me, I wanted both of us to have this little vision to carry around in our heads."

Mike, who had scarcely ever seen Alipang and Kim together, asked without irony, "So, you two really are serious about each other?"

"Set-in-concrete serious, as far as I'm concerned," replied Alipang. "The only reason why I _haven't_ officially proposed to Kim before now, is because I know that God may change things from what we expect. You know what it says in James about our life being a vapor."

"Yeah, I do. We're supposed to say that IF God wills it, we'll do this or that."

"But meanwhile," Kim put in, "I'm the one who gets to inhale Al's vapor. So would you two please leave us alone for at least twenty seconds? You can testify that you saw us fully clothed and standing upright, both before and after those twenty seconds."

Chilena took Mike's arm and led him out into the corridor, suddenly glad that she at least had A brother with her. Inside the room. Kim held out her arms to Alipang, and a moment later they were sharing their first unabashedly long and passionate kiss since his arrival at legal manhood.

Chilena and Mike gave them almost a full minute.
 
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Somehow or other, everyone got home after the party. Mike graciously declined an invitation to sleep over at the Havens house; he had to be back at work in the morning.

Chilena was in a down mood over having seen nothing of Dan throughout the celebration of Alipang's birthday. When the rest of the family was in bed, she opened the downstairs meeting by entering a standing embrace with her brother and asking, "Do you think Dan went to a cast party instead, after the rehearsal was done?"

Alipang gazed into the face which, apart from Kim's, was unquestionably the dearest face on Earth by far for him. Chilena's hair was almost identical in color to Holly Brighton's; but Chilena's face and shoulders were broader than Holly's. There was not even a thought of judging comparative attractiveness; Chilena simply was Chilena, forever treasured and unique. "Mrs. Calder forbids cast parties on weekday nights," he reminded her.

"But he might have gone for ice cream with some of them after the rehearsal."

"Maybe so. He could have felt that he needed to support what Brendan would call 'unit cohesiveness,' the sense of group closeness. But if he did that, I'm confident it was not _only_ with Lori Purdue."

Chilena nestled closer. "I hope not."

"Have faith in him, sweets."

"I'll try;" and then Chilena was kissing the first reachable parts of her brother's face. This, too, was treasured and unique--not in competition with Kim, not even when they kissed on the lips. It was apples and oranges. "Let's sit down."

So Alipang took his classic position on the sofa, receiving Chilena onto his lap. Once there, Chilena neither kissed him nor spoke anymore for a very long while, but wound her arms fiercely around him and held on with all her might, to which his own arms responded in kind. She was extracting every bit of squeezing comfort her brother could give her. Additional kisses would come when they were close to going to their bedrooms and sleeping; but for now, squashing and straining together was the thing.

For soon--or this was how it felt--Chilena would no longer have Alipang to comfort her in this way. Because now he was an adult man.


~ ~ END OF PART 27 ~ ~​
 
PART TWENTY-EIGHT:
THE SOLSTICE OF THE SOUL​


On the next Sunday morning, Tom Stetzer had a surprise for his flock--the report of something which had surprised him after the night of Alipang's birthday party.

"How many of you are old enough to remember when it was the governors of states who were in charge of declaring emergencies?....Good. Now, can any of you tell me of a _recent_ large-scale emergency in which any authority _below_ the federal level did the declaring of the emergency?"

The silence was tangible.

"Rhetorical question. Let's move on. In the Old Testament, when the so-called separation of church and state was violated, from which _side_ was it violated? It was the temporal government which intruded on the church, not the other way around. Kings Saul and Uzziah both stuck their noses into priestly functions, but the priests were not trying to be kings.

"On Friday, I read a news report which you might not expect me to be unsettled about; but it did unsettle me.

"All of you have heard of regular civilian ministers acting as part-time chaplains for police and fire departments, hospitals and so on. But now this kind of service also looks like being drawn into the sphere of centralized power. What I read was that the federal government wants to recruit thousands of clergypersons to be available in disaster situations to calm the frightened public...to persuade citizens to trust in whoever is giving them instructions.

"To control them.

"It sounds innocent, even honorable....until you recognize the implication: that ministers _aren't_ qualified to give comfort and courage in an emergency, _unless_ they are federally licensed to do so. Think about this. If it were only that _some_ organization was needed to coordinate clergy efforts in times of disaster, we _already_ have the Salvation Army and other such groups, which can do the same thing. No, this Washington initiative is not about merely ensuring _availability_ of ministers; it's about _filtering_ which ministers will be _allowed_ to work in a crisis area. Also about reserving the right to monitor what they say.

"Which leads me to the matter of how this affects us. What I have just been saying, as any of you can attest, is closer to a partisan political speech than anything you normally hear me utter from this pulpit, although I have not named politicians or parties. But _even_ this much would be construed by some observers as partisan. So how much must we censor ourselves, and when must we speak plainly?

"If the notion of placing civilian clergy under federal command is reflective of the secular establishment's intentions toward believers at large, then there may not be much time left in which we can speak as God wants us to--and still keep our tax-exempt status. Therefore, in place of the usual Sunday evening service, tonight we will hold a congregational meeting, to discuss whether we should by our own initiative _renounce_ our tax-exempt status. Opting for this uncommon change would give us more freedom to make our voices heard; but it will do us great harm as a church.

"Please pray between now and this evening."
 
Eric and Cecilia Havens were among the first Redemption Church members to return to the church for the meeting. At the same time, Chilena drove to Dan's house while Dan was at play rehearsal, in order to speak privately with Mrs. Salisbury about what might be happening to Dan's spiritual life. This left the younger four Havens at home after supper. Kim, whose mother was also attending the congregational meeting, joined Alipang in looking after Melody, Harmony and Baby Terrance.

When the baby permitted it, the two young adults played card games and board games with Alipang's younger sisters. Only after more than an hour and a half of this did Melody ask Kim a rather mature question:

"Kim, your family takes care of animals. Are you going to college to be a veterinarian?"

"No, honey, that takes a long time to learn. We call in a vet when the animals need one."

"Daddy can fix their teeth!" chirped Harmony.

Unaccustomed to being the eldest in a female group, Kim smiled indulgently. "I'll tell my mother about that, just in case we need him."

"Is the government going to say that you can't take care of animals anymore?" asked Melody.

"I hope not. That's how we make our money."

Alipang reached across the table to tap Kim's arm. "The reason why she asked that is because at church today, before worship started, Amy Gordon told us that she'll be interviewing an expert on animal-rights issues later this week on her program. His name is Tim Forrestal, and she says he's been tracking the ways Washington is increasing needless regulations on animal ownership."

Kim shook her head. "Regimenting ministers AND animals?"

"Anything they can get their meddling hands on."

When Dr. and Mrs. Havens came home, their report of the meeting was that the people had decided not to reject tax-exempt status yet, but to obtain all the information and documents which would enable them to proceed with this in a hurry if later it seemed warranted.

Digesting this did not prevent Alipang from saying good night to Kim alongside her parked car, with no nosy little sisters allowed to watch. Kim seemed scarcely to have slid OUT of Alipang's arms and driven away, before Chilena pulled up in her own car and flew INTO Alipang's arms.
 
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Alipang had gone out in the dark and the cold without a coat for his goodnight kiss(es) with Kim, and his body had been kept warm by her warmth. Now Chilena was taking over warming him as she kept him fixed on the spot with her clinging and crying; but neither Kim nor Chilena had done anything to warm his ears. "We can do this inside, can't we, sweets?" he implored.

Finally Chilena drew her head back from his shoulder so he could see her nod; yet she did not at once stir a foot from where they stood closely clinched. So Alipang kissed her; then she went inside with him.

Chilena asked their mother to sit in on this conversation. Their father obligingly took charge of Melody, Harmony and Terrance in the family room. Cecilia sat on the living room sofa, hugging her eldest child, while Alipang sat on Chilena's other side.

"Here's how it is, Mom," Chilena sniffed. "Dan doesn't know I met with his mother; Mrs. Salisbury promised not to tell him I was there. But she told me that Dan has started talking the same way as Mrs. Calder does, or nearly. Lately he says often that it's terrible how pagans are suppressed and discriminated against by Christians in America."

Alipang bristled. "What? How can he be saying that? Apart from the Salem Witch Trials, and the government suppression of the Plains Indians' Ghost Dance, there's hardly been a finger lifted against pagans in the United States, specifically upon the religious issue of their being pagans--territory being a separate issue. And certainly nothing for longer than Mrs. Calder's been alive."

"I know what it's about," sighed Mrs. Havens. "It's about the double standard in modern teaching: any pagan culture gets a free pass on its bad side, but Christian culture is guilty until proven innocent, and then it's still guilty. That's one of the main reasons why I homeschooled you kids."

"But Dan doesn't have the same background Al and I have," Chilena groaned. "I think he's falling for the whole bill of goods."

Cecilia Havens hugged her daughter closer. "We can't command him whom to listen to, dear. We can only pray for him, and be on the lookout for chances to talk with him that aren't forced."
 
When the nightly movement in the direction of bed began, Chilena silently caught her brother's eye, and silently made her plea to him. Tonight was no time to cut off the recent revival of downstairs meetings. The look Alipang sent back to his sister was all the answer that was required.

Once they were alone, he gestured for Chilena to follow him into the basement, for an extra degree of privacy. At the foot of the basement stairs, he turned and made room for his sister to descend. Having closed the basement door behind her, Chilena came down, and poured herself into Alipang's embrace in the same unbroken motion. Their mouths joined in one of the firmest kisses they had ever allowed themselves, fully five seconds long; only when emerging from this kiss did Alipang get in the whispered words, "Wonder Twin powers, RE-activate!"

"What is the Wonder Twins' mission?" Chilena asked, settling her head on Alipang's shoulder.

"First of all, simply this," he replied, kissing her temple and clasping her more snugly against him. Half a minute later, he added, "Next, a transfer of energy from heart to ear;" and he moved them across the basement, to sink into a huge old beanbag seat, where he could let Chilena listen to his heartbeat for awhile.

When she seemed in less distress, Alipang murmured, "Now, let's try not to assume the worst, even yet. For instance, think about the fact that you were hearing from Dan's mother, not Dan himself. Maybe Mrs. Salisbury unthinkingly added her own emotional coloring to whatever her son actually said."

"Maybe so, at that. I ask him about the play at lunchtimes at school, and all he says to me is technical stuff, like how well Jason and Kaitlyn are speaking their lines. So maybe....Well, how do we get a better idea where he stands, without getting him angry by seeming to pressure him?"

"For starters, we'll pray;" and Alipang led his sister in essentially the same prayer they had been saying for Dan at most of the new downstairs meetings. Then: "Let me think about it for awhile. You stay right here with me, to help me think." So they continued reclining on the beanbag, hugging and occasionally kissing, for a duration of time neither was sure of.

Alipang broke the silence as they completed another kiss. "I think I have it. If Dan is straying as badly as it sounds like, he'll be sure to be hypersensitive toward apparent signs of disapproval from us. And if he _isn't_ seriously straying, a gesture of support will keep the hailing frequencies open. So, in view of our concern, we need to ask Dad and Mom to let us attend a performance of his play after all."

"Yuck," was Chilena's economical comment, followed by winding her arms more tightly around her brother.

"Yuck is right; but I think it falls under the same category as Jesus spending time with the tax collectors. And there's more. You remember the _other_ anti-Christian play, at Doverwood?"

"Sure. Kim says it's even worse than Dark of the Moon."

"Right--because it's a _concentrated_ attack on Christian beliefs. That Grovemore guy ruled out any uncertainty, any possibility that he was 'only against the bad apples.' His script is a declaration of war against _every_ form of belief in Christ. It makes the older play look diplomatic."

"I don't understand, Al. Are you saying that as long as there's a play someplace that's worse, it's okay for Dan to be doing the one he's in?"

Suddenly Alipang pretended to grow angry--pretended in the familiar playful fashion. "What, girl, do you have _that_ bad an opinion of my discernment? I'm insulted! I challenge you to a furious battle of desperate combat!"

Chilena laughed, some of her anxiety draining away with it. "Ha! Prepare to be vanquished into defeat!" Stretching herself full length exactly on top of Alipang, she clamped herself to him as he also increased his hold on her. For more than two minutes, not budging from where they were, she squeezed him with all the strength she could muster in her entire body, while he squeezed her with as much strength as would not hurt her. When he felt her pythonish bearhug and leglock slacking off, he also relaxed his hold on her; and just before she went utterly limp with exhaustion, he rolled over to put her beneath him, kissed her, and then lay alongside her.

"Now that you are properly defeated, let me tell you what I _actually_ meant."

"I am not defeated!" Chilena panted, heaving herself on top of him again, but now limply as a dishrag, to be cuddled afresh in his arms as the tip of her nose caressed his jawline. "I shall be battling you all over again, even as you say your silly piece."

"Then I shall be conquering you all over again, as I tell you: my point is that A Solstice Carol is to be performed two weeks after Dark of the Moon. So, after having attended the highschool play, we can ask Dan to go with us--'us' including Kim, thus a double date--to see the college play."

"And this helps things how?"

"By letting Dan see, through Grovemore's play, the _direction_ in which Dark of the Moon was leading. When he sees the completely unrestrained slander against everything we stand for, hopefully he'll figure out for himself that his play had exactly the same spirit, merely a bit less full-grown."

Chilena lay considering this...then stretched upward just slightly, to kiss Alipang's jaw hinge and ear. "Maybe it _will_ work. Maybe Dan _will_ see what he's been flirting with."

"Speaking of flirting, sweets, we should take some encouragement from what we hear about Dan _not_ responding to Lori's flirting in the rehearsals."

"You're right--though he does have to kiss her in the show." Chilena was regaining more use of her tired arms, and placed all the returning strength into holding on to her brother. Talking gradually trailed off between them, and snuggling increased, to continue for twenty minutes or more. Both elements together had Chilena feeling much more hopeful by the time they hugged their way up two flights of stairs and kissed goodnight on the landing.
 
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On Monday morning, Mom and Dad granted an adequate compromise: Alipang and Chilena were not to buy tickets for performances of Dark of the Moon, but they could ask Dan to ask director Tricia Calder to let them attend the dress rehearsal. When Alipang had a chance later that day to phone Kim and tell her about this, Kim had an inspiration. "Let me bring Holly in on this; it may be helping her, too."

What Kim had meant was made clear after school, by a call directly from Holly to him. "Hi, Al, it's Holly. Kim told me what's up, and it's actually providential for me. I've had a hard time keeping Mr. Grovemore from reprimanding me for 'not being a team player'..."

"By which he _means_ not being a fellow Christian-basher, no doubt."

"He means exactly that. But if I go to see your high school's Christian-bashing play, even in dress rehearsal, I can tell Mr. Grovemore that I'm acting on behalf of the college, keeping in touch with the sources of our own future drama students--which will be true enough. My not being put off from this purpose by the nature of the play will tend to placate my boss. At the _same_ time, letting Mrs. Calder know that I want to attend her dress rehearsal should give her a warm fuzzy, getting attention from the college level; then she's that much more likely to let you and Kim and Chilena come in with me."

"That's good thinking, Holly," said Alipang.

"It's God's provision. He laid out all the circumstances for us to take advantage of; we just needed to notice what He was handing us."

With Kim in the early evening, and later with Chilena that night, Alipang was to enjoy TWO cheerful and affectionate celebrations of the opportunity to deal with Dan's situation at the same time as making things easier for Holly at Doverwood.
 
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The performances of Dark of the Moon at Smoky Lake East were to be on the Thursday through Saturday before Thanksgiving weekend. It was indeed Holly Brighton's relative prestige which obtained admittance to the Wednesday dress rehearsal for herself, Kim, Alipang and Chilena--which was the order in which they sat down. The foursome chose a row of seats near the center of the auditorium, with a good view of the stage, but not obstructing anyone's activity.

While they waited for the rehearsal to begin, Alipang leaned across Kim to whisper to Holly a brief account of Mrs. Lewiston's ludicrous self-esteem assembly the year before. Dan did not come to greet them the whole time they were waiting, though he waved to Chilena when he spotted her, and Chilena waved back. Mrs. Calder did come up to greet Holly warmly; her manner was almost as if she herself were auditioning for a show that Holly was directing.

Lori saw the exchanged wave between her leading man and his girlfriend, and didn't look happy about it. But she still managed to act smug when her eyes briefly met Chilena's eyes.

At last the run-through began, and there was Dan Salisbury as the hillbilly warlock, asking Jason and Kaitlyn Katon as the conjurers to transform him into a normal human so he could court Lori Purdue as "Barbara Allen." An unspoken thought ran through the minds of the four visitors: A normal human is exactly what we want him to change BACK into. Without planned intent, Holly clasped hands with Kim, Kim with Alipang, and Alipang with Chilena--all of them agreeing in silent intercession.

They also all agreed in silent revulsion when, on the stage, some of the so-called Christian characters did not merely drink alcohol, which none of the four onlookers would have judged very harshly, but actually sang a song in praise of hard corn liquor. The pastor of the fictitious church was one of these characters.

When the show had slouched along to its miserable ending, Holly whispered to Kim, "And they all died unhappily ever after. Whoopee."

The quartet gave the barest minimum of applause for politeness. Fortunately, they were not the only members of the dress-rehearsal audience. There were a few faculty members watching, plus crew members who did not need to be backstage during the performance; so it was not glaringly obvious how little enthusiasm Chilena and her companions felt for Dark of the Moon. Only when Dan, last of all as the star, took his bow, did Chilena or Alipang clap with any force.

Mrs. Calder had plenty of notes to give; but at last a moment came when all notes were given, Mrs. Calder came to speak further with Holly...and Dan could no longer avoid facing his girlfriend and her brother. "Well, uh, what did you think about it? I mean, um, I mean artistically; of course I, uh, don't expect you to be thrilled with the story."

Alipang had been considering in advance what positive thing he could possibly say to Dan. "You made the transformation convincing. You projected one attitude when you still had all your magic powers at your command, and a very different attitude when you were trying to get things done _without_ the use of magic."

Dan clutched at the straw. "Yes, yes, that's one of the most important elements in my role. I like to think of my character when he _does_ have magic as a metaphor for the Christian walking with the Holy Spirit, and when he loses his magic it's like a Christian compromising with the world, with all the corrupt business corporations and racists and so on. Just like the gospel messages in the Harry Potter books."

Alipang and Chilena realized that Dan was saying this last part in perfect seriousness; for their part, it was hard to keep _their_ faces straight when they heard it.

Kim came to the assistance of the Havens siblings: "Dan, after Thanksgiving week, the community college will be presenting a play that follows logically in the footsteps of this one. Al and I plan to go to its opening night; we're hoping that you and Chilena can join us."

"Thanks, yeah, I don't see any reason why we can't go." Dan's tone and expression bespoke startled relief that he wasn't being chewed out for the content of the play he had just performed in.

"We'll plan on it, then," said Alipang. But somehow, sometime, he was going to tell Dan that it took more than the presence of a thin, generic, minimal concept of "right and wrong" to make a story into "a gospel message."

In the end, the foursome prevailed on Dan to come with them to the Havens house for snacks and carefully trivial talk. Now as a quintet, they conversed in various combinations, until at last everyone not surnamed Havens said goodnight and departed. Holly was the only one of the five who didn't get kissed by anyone at the parting, though Kim did hug her.

Guardedly optimistic about eventually getting Dan back on the right track, Alipang and Chilena did finally have a token downstairs meeting--a small portion each of praying, hugging and kissing. The hope of better times went to bed with each of them.

 
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On the following afternoon, Amy Gordon sat in her talk-show studio at WVVV-AM, facing a man who was more heavily built than she was, and taller besides. This was Tim Forrestal, an expert in both animal husbandry and the contemporary legal issues surrounding it. Amy's first words into her microphone concerning her guest were: "Welcome back to the Amy Gordon Program, folks. I have just been joined in the studio by Tim Forrestal, a Christian gentleman who's lately been in D.C., waging an uphill fight against lobbyists who promote a totally fraudulent cause. This a no-children topic; I'll play a bit of music to give you parents time to move the kids elsewhere." And she ran about half of the song "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer."

In the kitchen-classroom of the house on Liddell Street, Cecilia Havens hastily made sure that Melody and Harmony had homeschool work to keep them occupied, then attached earphones to the radio in the kitchen, so that she could still have her eyes on the girls, yet they would hear nothing of what she was listening to. Terrance, fortunately, was asleep in his cradle.

A portion of the on-air dialogue went as follows--

TIM: "Have you ever known a dog owner who uses a small dog as a whipping boy, to vent all of his desires to be tyrannical and cruel? The sort who savagely jerks the poor animal this way and that when walking it on a leash, not because of any misbehavior by the dog, but because the owner enjoys being a petty dictator?"

AMY: "Unfortunately, I've met persons like that. They rank high on my list of despicable, cowardly bullies."

TIM: "Very true. But still more unfortunately, every time we encounter a phenomenon like this, which allows us to experience moral outrage without any complications, we need to dig deeper, to find out if there's a much worse evil related to it and going unreported. That's the case with the whole field of preventing cruelty to animals. There happen to be large, powerful organizations which _claim_ to exist for the protection of animals, but whose real agenda is both less praiseworthy and more complicated."

AMY: "What, you mean the Humane Society? The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals?"

TIM: "The first thing you need to realize is that there are _multiple_ organizations which use one version or another of those names, but which are completely independent of each other. Plus more groups with different names besides. Some are more genuine than others; before the show is over, I'll give you a detailed breakdown of which is which. But what hardly anyone realizes is just how far removed some of these advocacy groups are from their ostensible mission. They would have you think that they want to protect the little dog from being yanked off his feet by the abusive owner; but in reality, what they want is to put the _owner_ on a leash, whether or not he has been abusive, so that _they_ can enjoy doing the yanking. For that lust for power over others is a widespread plague."

AMY: "I know there are environmentalist groups who say that they want to elevate animals to the legal status of human beings, but what they _really_ want is to _lower_ humans to a status no higher than animals."

TIM: "That's right. The collectivist political philosophy always 'equalizes' people by levelling them downward. The fake animal-rights groups I'm exposing are closely allied with collectivist-redistribution groups, like the W.A.L.N.U.T. organization which I know you're come up against, as well as with the green movement. And they're not found only in the largest cities. One of the biggest groups has its headquarters right in your own state of Virginia, in Norfolk.

AMY: "Now, that's odd. I've been in Norfolk many times, mostly to cover news concerning the Navy; but I've never seen any animal shelter there which was the home base of a national organization."

TIM: "The organization I'm talking about doesn't _have_ a shelter in Norfolk. What they have there....is a low-profile slaughterhouse. I have documentation of the fact that, during the year 2008, this organization killed _ninety-five_ percent of all adoptable animals in its custody. They run ad campaigns telling people to adopt homeless animals _instead_ of buying from pet stores; yet except for a _very_ few cases done as window dressing, they _don't_ facilitate pet adoptions."

AMY: "But if they aren't assisting in the placement of pets in homes, why do they bother advertising animal adoption?"

TIM: "They don't do it to _help_ animals; they do it to _harm_ commercial pet businesses. This organization wants to _deprive_ people of the power to possess and manage animals, as merely one part of the wider program to take _every_ kind of power and freedom away from the private citizen."

AMY: "Hold on now, isn't that a pretty big leap of generalization to make?"

TIM: "It would be, if I didn't have the evidence. But I do have it. For example, these activists have campaigned for laws to restrict transportation of large animals across state lines, _even_ if the transportation is for the purpose of bringing a sick animal to a specialized veterinarian who can save its life...."

Cecilia had never doubted her husband's rightness in opposing elements which would rob the medical community of its freedoms; she herself was a resolute campaigner to preserve the rights of homeschoolers. But the more she listened to Mr. Forrestal, the more she realized that the assault on liberty was _even_ more comprehensive than she had thought.
 
Alipang got to hear about the Tim Forrestal interview when he came home from school driving Chilena's car. Chilena would not hear about it till later, for she had accepted a short-notice early-dinner invitation from Ruth Salisbury. Ruth wanted to preserve her son's relationship with Chilena as urgently as Chilena did; she believed Chilena was good for Dan.

Dan's head was full of opening night; he would have to get back to East High very shortly after eating. Over homemade ravioli, he said to his girlfriend, "Give me your opinion, Chil. Are the Christian kids at school simply indifferent to the unconventional storyline of the play, or are they sparing me from criticism because your brother's status rubs off on me through you?"

"Maybe some of both," Chilena replied; "but in addition, I suspect they simply aren't as judgmental and condemning as you're worried that they are."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Hardly any professing Christians came to see the play; but the Principal did, and so did an alumnus.

Kevin Purdue, the jock who had tried to steal Kim Tisdale from Alipang the year before, was now a freshman at a college which was not so far away from Smoky Lake that he couldn't visit home at will. Tomorrow night and Saturday, he would be playing freshman basketball for his college; but tonight he was available to cheer for his sister Lori, as she opened in her first leading-lady stage role.

Also to try to charm Lori's female friends as the opportunity might arise.

When Dark of the Moon had completed its dark lunacy, Kevin was among the first audience members to penetrate backstage with congratulations for the performers. After a brotherly hug to Lori, he proceeded to do what he thought would be helpful to his sister's desire to capture her leading man:

"Hey, Dan, I had no clue how much talent you had! You could be the next Tobey Maguire, maybe even the next Tom Hanks! If this school, or whatever college you end up at, ever does a stage version of The Cider House Rules or The Da Vinci Code, you're a shoo-in to star!"

"Um, uh, thanks, Kevin." Dan did not feel greatly affirmed by this notion.

"He's right, Dan," Lori enthused, oblivious to Dan's uneasiness.

"It's great to see you come to your senses," Kevin went on. "When I graduated, I had you written off as a lost cause. But now that you've gotten out from under that holy-roller Havens family, I can see you making it big in the REAL world!"

Dan was unable to speak. An instant later, a dubious relief from this awkwardness came, in the form of Lori planting an uninvited but inviting kiss on his mouth. Kevin gave a thumbs-up to his sister for what he thought was a guaranteed conquest on her part, and wandered off to see if he could do anything about conquests for his own gratification.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Chilena, reasonably hopeful that she and Dan would weather this rough stretch on their journey, was by the same token keenly aware that her downstairs meetings with Alipang were likely to dwindle away again after the school play closed. Therefore she threw herself headlong into this night's meeting, as if she and her brother had been parted for years. They talked and wrestled and kissed and joked and cuddled literally for hours. Alipang's account of what Mom had related of the radio interview lent some variety, and they spoke of the likely effects of taking Dan to see A Solstice Carol; but it was mostly just Alipang and Chilena poignantly enjoying each other's nearness. Heartbeat-listening was definitely on the agenda.

In the end, like stage actors milking their curtain call, they spontaneously came back out of their bedrooms six times for encores of kissing goodnight on the landing.
 
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On Friday night, Chilena had to get by without her boyfriend OR her brother. Alipang had a date with Kim. Some gentle nudging by her mother prevailed on Chilena to pay some attention to her younger sisters. They had a movie night, which turned out not so bad. It was improved for Chilena, though, when a text message came to her from Dan:

Pls ask ur Dad 2 let U come 2 final cast party. Need U there 2 show Lori who is and isnt my girlfrd. U R, she is not.


Having been persuaded to keep a _little_ bit of his birthday money for his own use, Alipang had told Kim to choose a restaurant, and he would treat her there. She surprised him by naming a barbecue restaurant in Shilohsville with which he was unfamiliar. She, after all, was driving.

When they arrived, Alipang thought they would sit in a booth, but Kim asked him to sit at a table instead. Her real reason for this was not long in revealing itself: in walked Holly Brighton, accompanied by six community-college students, two male and four female, and they all proceeded to sit with Alipang and Kim.

Alipang had been expecting a romantic evening, not a party. All he said, however, was, "Hello, Holly--there's a musical comedy in that somewhere. I hope all of you aren't also expecting me to treat you to supper." Then, instead of looking at Kim to prompt an explanation, he looked at his menu and waited to hear it.

Kim and Holly simultaneously began to say, "I'm sorry, Al;" the verbal collision led to Kim taking precedence. "I'm sorry, Al. I should have told you sooner, but this is a covert operation. An adventurous raid--and we need the Filipino Fireball. You're going to like it, I promise."

"My friends here have been wanting to meet you anyway," Holly added. "These are the only Christians I have encountered so far on the Doverwood campus, besides you and Kim." Introductions ensued, and ingrained good manners helped Alipang to smile and speak cordially to this crowd which, as far as he was concerned, was uninvited. When he had shown courtesy to them all, he asked Kim, "Do we still get to eat before the adventure?"

"Of course we do; in fact, right now. Holly placed orders in advance for several combination platters." Kim pointed to a pair of waiters who were already bringing food.

"And _we're_ treating you and Kim," said Holly in placating tones.

This gesture was no substitute for what Alipang had been looking forward to, but he did not say this. "Thanks, Holly. But what IS the covert adventure?"

"A counterattack against the Secularist Inquisition," replied the slim dancer. "There are four large stores here in Shilohsville which have announced their refusal to let the Salvation Army set up kettles this Christmas season. After we all eat, we're going to drive to each of these stores in turn, dash up to the entrance, sing one verse of 'Joy To The World' quickly, shout 'Merry Christmas,' and make our getaway before the enemy knows what hit them."

"We're a flash mob," said one of the newly-introduced girls.

Alipang felt better hearing this. Kim was right, he _would_ like doing this. As long as these college folks understood that he couldn't really sing. When he mentioned this point to Holly, she said, "That's okay. As you surely must know, this town sees more drunken rowdiness on its streets than Smoky Lake does. We want you to be on guard for any bums."

Alipang nodded. "I can do that."

Kim side-hugged Alipang. "Good. The potential rough stuff is the reason I didn't want your sister along. I've seen more of it than she has; and call it a sign of my closeness to you that I share your desire to shelter and protect Chilena."

"Nice of you," replied Alipang; "though you're forgetting that she spent years in the Philippines."
 
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Despite Alipang's deficiency in singing, the carolling raids on the big stores came off splendidly. The only place where anyone made any trouble was where the objective was actually next to a bar. Two drunken slobs coming out of the bar tried to push their attentions on the first females in reach, which were two of the girl students Holly had brought along; but these men were so sloshed that the girls themselves were easily able to shove them away, without needing help from Alipang--though he did then interpose himself in case the bums tried anything further. They didn't. Nor did the Shilohsville Police Department see any cause to take action against the politically-incorrect carollers.

On the drive back to Smoky Lake, Alipang was uncharacteristically silent, until Kim asked him, "Are you mad at me for making it a group evening?"

He drew and released a long breath. " 'Mad at you' is too strong. And you were right, I did enjoy tweaking the noses of the materialistic elite. But I was....well, I don't know what I was expecting." This was not quite true; he had been vaguely expecting something with Kim which would prove that his relationship with her was more, not less, like a _romance_ than his relationship with his own adoptive sister was.

Kim was silent in turn for a bit. Then she took her right hand off the steering wheel long enough to give Alipang a hasty pat on the knee. "If it helps any, try to remember that I'm new to this love thing myself. My slight previous boy experience was so lousy, it's no help to me now in being the girlfriend of a _good_ boy--excuse me, a good young man. You and I have made out a couple of times, and it was great..." She tried not to think about the fact that their first really passionate clinch had occurred when Alipang had just slain two gangsters. "But I don't know how much is safe to do with you, when we still have such a long time to go before we get married. I just hope you can keep on being patient; I'll try to make it worth your waiting when the time comes."

Though it went unseen in the dim light, Alipang's boyish smile suddenly reclaimed his brown face. It did, anyway, brighten his tone of voice. "Kim! Do you realize what you've just done? You've just spoken of our getting married as an _expected_ thing!"

"Why, I guess I did, didn't I?"

This absolutely called for at least a brief stop for a reasonable smooch, before the white sedan drove the rest of the way to the Havens house on Liddell Street.

Alipang said goodnight to Kim at his front door, no longer feeling at all cheated, for he had seen his long-term hopes reinforced. At home, contrary to the norm, he found that his parents were up and Chilena was not. Chilena had sung Melody and Harmony to sleep in their room and had fallen asleep there herself, so Dad had carried her to her own bed. Alipang told Mom and Dad about his peculiar yet rewarding date with Kim.

"Your mother and I operated under strict physical limits when we were courting," Eric Havens reminded his son. "But once married, it wasn't difficult getting with the program."
 
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On Saturday morning, at the Escrima class, Pitik Imada sprang an innovation on his pupils:

"In the real world, your enemies will not be interested in fighting fairly. They won't wait for you to assume a ready stance; they'll catch you off guard and in a vulnerable situation if they can. Therefore, this morning will be devoted to helping you make _every_ position a ready position. That is why I have placed this card table and these two chairs in the training space."

One of the chairs was a regular wooden chair, the other a folding chair. Using the chairs alternately, Master Pitik had every student take several turns at sitting with his or her legs under the table, then trying to get clear of this position faster than the instructor could get to them from a few paces away and tap them with one of the toy Escrima sticks. Even Alipang had some difficulty here, because the tropical environment in which he had acquired his original self-defense instincts had not featured much furniture. That day last year, when he had started out sitting at a desk and from there had thrown Rick "Brickpile" Pelham to the floor, Alipang had had the advantage of initiating the action--a very different matter from trying to react in time with Master Pitik rushing at him.

Only when he resorted to overturning the table itself, giving himself more freedom of movement, was he able to get up, turn around, and face Pitik before the plastic baton could touch him.

"Very good," Pitik declared. "Although some tables will be too heavy to toss out of the way easily, it's good that you're showing adaptable thinking."

The instructor's words about adaptability got Chilena thinking, until she also came up with a way to beat the test. The next time she was seated and under simulated attack, she ducked _under_ the table, to come up on the far side of it from Pitik. This, too, earned a commendation.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Adaptability was also on the minds of the two siblings--and of the brother's girlfriend--when they went that night to Mrs. Calder's house for the final Dark of the Moon cast party. It was a strange atmosphere to be trying to have fun in. Kim was there for Alipang's sake, since Alipang was there for the sake of Chilena, who was there for the sake of Dan, who wasn't entirely sure what he was doing there. Dan was there as the star of the show, being endlessly complimented for what a good job he had done of helping to depict his own Christian faith as contemptible and worthless.

"Didn't you graduate already?" a dull, thick voice asked Kim. It was George Calder, the drama teacher's diesel-mechanic husband, who was helping himself to the refreshments without helping his wife in anything.

"Yes, I did," Kim admitted. "But I still have friends at East High, and some of them are in this room."

"You in college, or got a job?"

"Both, actually. I take courses at the community college, and I work in my family's animal-boarding business."

"Oh yeah, right. My boss boarded his cats with you one time. He says your Mom's a nice lady."

"Yes, she is, thank you." Since Mr. Calder's interest didn't seem to be of an offensive sort, Kim was glad to chat with him as long as he cared to chat. It was less uncomfortable than the ambiguous feeling produced by talking with highschool kids whom she knew personally, but who were now divided from her by the mystical highschool-college chasm.

Of course, Alipang--who currently had much of his attention on his sister and her boyfriend--was also on the far side of that gap from Kim; but as long as _others_ didn't make a big deal of this, it made little difference between the two sweethearts themselves. Chilena and Dan were the sweethearts who had to set right something that was askew between them; and the unsuccessful efforts of Lori Purdue to steal Dan from Chilena were of no consequence, compared to the sense of spiritual compromise on Dan's part in the matter of the play itself.

Kim was earnestly hoping that taking Dan to that college play would help him to get his head straight about preserving conscience and principles _even_ in the realm of the arts.

It struck her that she didn't know how she would take it if Alipang ever sold out his convictions. But she remained confident that he never would.
 
Mrs. Calder succeeded in extracting one last concession from Dan.

Fully aware that her leading actor wished to attend church on Sunday morning, the director of the just-closed play demanded that cast and crew members show up at East High in the _morning_ to strike the set. Dan reported for work as demanded, when even some of the atheist kids hadn't bothered to show up. He at least came away from this anticlimax with points for diligence and integrity. And he could, and would, attend an evening church service.

Dan's absence from Redemption Free Church in the morning facilitated Chilena and Kim having a conversation they had not found time for at last night's party. Not wanting to be sneaky, Kim explained to Chilena why she and Holly had transformed a date into a group adventure. She concluded: "Al and me going out as just the two of us was part of keeping the plan secret until we carried it out. A lot of people in both towns know your family, so in case anyone was watching Al and me, the dating setup disguised our involvement in a covert operation. I hope I haven't made you feel like we didn't think you were good enough to be in on the plan, or anything like that."

"It's okay," Chilena assured her. "I wouldn't have been much fun that night, what with worrying about Dan. It was easier for me to be good company for Melody and Harmony that night; most of the time we were just watching movies. I'm glad you wanted to be truthful with me, but it's no big deal. No harm, no foul."

=======================

A much bigger deal in Chilena's mind was the realization that now she had her boyfriend back....which in turn meant that the revival of downstairs meetings had fulfilled its purpose. It came to her that the net gain by this transition was not gigantic.

Late that evening, therefore, Chilena found an opportunity, even before their parents had gone to bed, to whisper in her brother's ear: "I'm desperately furious at you. We need to go downstairs very soon, so I can decide what I'm furious about." Accordingly, as soon as they were free from observation, the Wonder Twins kissed their powers into action, and embarked on one more superhero-mission into the basement.

Kneeling in a front-to-front hug on top of the huge beanbag, with each one's hands stroking the other one's back up and down, Chilena braced her forehead against Alipang's and said in her best silly-indignant voice, "Okay, here's what I'm furious about. _You've_ been terribly dependent and possessive and clingy with me lately, and you have to stop it. To show you that I mean business about no more of this clinging...." She lurched her whole weight forward against her brother, winding her arms tightly around him as they toppled, his own arms responsively hugging her in reply.

The snuggly wrestling which followed was in no hurry to end. Be their motions fast or slow, tense or sluggish, all that really mattered was that they held each other and held each other without letting go at all, on and on for a very long time. Like some sort of musical finale, they poured their youthful energy into a thinly-disguised embrace full of not-at-all-disguised mutual tenderness and love. No words were needed, even though they were not kissing now and so could have spoken easily.

Alipang and Chilena still held off kissing when they finally stood up, still in each other's arms, and made their way most inefficiently upstairs. Only when they were on the landing did that getting-out-of-the-swimming-pool feeling overtake them. Then, they did kiss, as much kissing as they felt allowed to do, before prying themselves loose from each other and going to bed.

Without saying it to each other, each one felt that it would be a slightly different world in the morning. A little colder, such that they would need a great deal of emotional warmth provided by Kim and Dan to compensate for it.
 
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