She came in like a sandstorm early in the morning.

Here in England, Shabbat meant less and little; Saturday was not a ceasing, but merely an end to the week.  It was a pause, a stopping, but not with the same sense of peace that it had back home; a mere chance to catch her breath in between whirlwind adventures now that Gringotts had her back in the field again.

This last had taken her to the deserts of Tunisia -- near Nafta, close to the Algerian border.  Raizel was still flushed with the excitement of it all when she'd burst into Akiva's house.  Hair still golden from the sun, nose just starting to peel; her shoulders were likely starting to peel too, judging by how she winced whenever she moved too sharply and pulled the cloth of her blouse too tight against her skin.  She'd brought a bushel of dates and a desert rose that wasn't really a rose at all, but just a pretty crystal, and had been exploding with stories from the moment that she'd burst in all through the breakfast with pastries that Akiva served, and had only stopped when Gabriel had started getting fussy.

It had taken that bit of fussiness to calm Hurricane Raizel.  By the time Akiva had returned with her son, smelling of fresh diapers and baby powder, Raizel had somewhat subsided. 

"So how have you been?" she asked, her eyes flickering over her friend as she resumed her seat at the table.  The question wasn't loaded so much as it was often deflected; usually when she asked after Akiva, they needlessly ended up speaking of Gabriel.  But she always asked, nonetheless.  "I got the note you sent.  Have you been all right?"

It felt good to see Raizel again, like a chaotic wind that just blew in and was uprooting some of her world.  She was recovering from a sunburn, hair looking even lighter than usual, and chattering happily about what she’d been up to.  Akiva was happy to listen to her, drinking tea and nibbling on some pastries while she was at it.  Gabriel even seemed to be listening, at least until he wasn’t, and then she had to attend to that.

After having taken care of all of his needs, Akiva deposited him in the levitating chair that bounced with each push of his growing leg muscles and turned her eyes back to Raizel.  Thankfully, the toy was enchanted to stay stationary, much like the muggle ones that hung from doorframes with cumbersome hook-ups and straps that tangled.  It was a wonder what magic could fix for people. 

Turning her attention back to Raizel, she wrapped her hands around her mug of tea and shrugged.  “I’ve been alright,” she shrugged, which was true.  There was about an even amount of good feeling to match the negative ones, but she didn’t really want to focus on those feelings. 

“But, the note – yes, wait a second,” Akiva had left the book upstairs.  She should have grabbed it when she brought Gabriel up there, but she’d totally forgotten.  Pushing herself out of the chair, Akiva hurried up the stairs, grabbing her notebook with all of her notes and the book and then hurried straight back down.  “You know it’s been slow going,” she announced as she reentered the kitchen, approaching the table, “but I was reading the other night, and I’ve been noticing some strange things,” she pursed her lips.  The translations that had confused her, like the sparks and Grindlewald - were marked off with little sticky notes. 

She frowned and took a seat.  “Maybe you should just read them yourself.  Don’t worry,” she added quickly, “my notes are in English,” she grinned, knowing Raizel wasn’t quite as… familiar with Yiddish as Akiva was.