Grave de Peralta, a Texas-based physicist and former political prisoner forced into exile four years ago, wanders into the kitchen in search of his 5-year-old niece, a blond girl in a pink dress.

``She is someone very special to me,'' he says, introducing the child he last saw as an infant. ``Her name is Eliana.''

More than a poetic coincidence, the Grave de Peralta family's long-awaited reunification is a rare, happy consequence of the Elián González saga. The family's flight from Santiago to Miami last Friday came after an unusual campaign marked not only by the indignation of exiles but also the cooperation of a central figure in Elián's return to Cuba.

Grave de Peralta credits a diverse group of advocates, including Gregory Craig, the powerful Washington, D.C., lawyer who represented Elián's father, with helping to secure his family's release from the island.

``My case involves a rare convergence of parties and ideologies. But I must thank Mr. Craig, because he kept his promise to help me,'' says Grave de Peralta, who contacted the lawyer through a mutual friend, a man he'll identify only as ``a Cuban-American Republican from Washington.''

The 43-year-old Grave de Peralta is hardly a guy one might imagine singing the praises of Craig, who antagonized exiles by keeping his client, Juan Miguel González, surrounded by Cuban government advocates and operatives, far from Miami.

Unlike Elián's father, Eliana's uncle has been highly critical of Fidel Castro's regime. He is an esteemed Cuban dissident who spent four years in prison for writing a manuscript deemed ``rebellious.'' He was one of three political prisoners freed after then-Congressman Bill Richardson, D-N.M., met with Castro.

When he landed in this country, Grave de Peralta listed his relatives on a U.S. government form. He was told his family would arrive soon -- in fact, all were granted U.S. visas.

But those 13 relatives -- including his then-wife, their two sons, his parents, three siblings and their families -- met the usual Cuban snag. The government agreed to release the children, but refused permits to Grave de Peralta's siblings, all scientists, and the mother of Grave de Peralta's sons.

In a stroke of irony, the Castro government granted an exit permit to little Eliana but refused one to the girl's mother. Recognizing Cuba's game, the Grave de Peraltas refused to leave until the Cuban government granted all of them the coveted ``white card'' exit permits.

And then came Elián González. In the heated moment, the Castro regime purported to advocate family reunification, taking up the case of the refugee boy's only living parent.

From his home in Lubbock, Texas, where he was working on a doctorate, Grave de Peralta decided to seize upon Cuba's campaign. He was not alone. In the glare of Elián, other parents began to tell their stories of unjust separation.

In Miami, there was an equally frustrated father named José Cohen, a Cuban defector whose parents, wife and three children have been stranded in Cuba since his escape by raft in 1994. The Cohen family, too, had U.S. visas but no white cards.

Once their stories became public, Grave de Peralta and Cohen joined forces and took their campaigns to Washington, D.C., and to the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland.

As the battle over Elián intensified, Grave de Peralta decided to make a desperate appeal to Gregory Craig. At first he wanted to have a father-to-father meeting with Craig's client. But then Craig promised to help reunite him with his family.

With the influential lawyer working behind the scenes on his behalf, the scientist and his relatives planned their reunification. Grave de Peralta's older son, Gabriel, 14, arrived the week after federal agents seized Elián at gunpoint. A teenage nephew also arrived.

And Friday, after Cuban officials had granted exit permits to the entire group, nine other relatives landed in Miami.

At the last minute, it was Grave de Peralta's ex-wife -- he divorced and remarried two years ago -- and 8-year-old son César who stayed behind. ``But everything is set -- they'll be coming soon,'' says Grave de Peralta, explaining that the two stayed to care for his ex-wife's mother, who fell ill.

Meanwhile, the influential lawyer who helped him says he is still working behind the scenes on other cases of split families. ``It's always a great tragedy when children are involved,'' said Craig, reached by phone. ``There's got to be a universally understood principle that places families first. There are no Democrats or Republicans when it comes to family reunification.''

Is the Grave de Peralta family reunion a glimpse of what is to come for other divided Cuban families? Did Elián's case set up a standard that Cuba can no longer ignore?

Craig agrees it's too early to tell.

But it is a topic that is sure to be on the table as U.S. and Cuban officials prepare to meet in Havana today for the next round of migration talks. For months, the United States has reprimanded Cuba for its delay in granting travel papers to the many Cubans already holding U.S. visas.

José Cohen, attending the Grave de Peralta reunion, takes a bit of hope from what he sees at this family gathering.

Deep into the night, Eliana snuggles in her uncle's arms.

``I want to go home,'' the tired little girl tells her uncle.

``You mean the house in Cuba?'' Grave de Peralta smiles back.