Summary: Rand and the rest of the Emond Fielders decide on one last visit home before the Last Battle, which they know will be soon.
Disclaimer thingy: Don't own any thing from WoT. It all came from the brilliant mind of Robert Jordan. The last books won't be the same without him.
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In a rather large clearing, in the Westwood north of the Quarry Road, a couple of rabbits forged cautiously, yet unaware of the fox slowly stalking nearer. The rabbits bolted out of sight as a loud crack followed shortly by a crash echoed through the surrounding trees. The fox slinked back a few steps, deeper into the undergrowth and froze, unsure whether to stay and try to remain unseen or continue fleeing. It decided fleeing was the better option as five people stepped out of the hole that had cut the fallen tree in half.
As Rand let the portal close behind him, he looked around in order to see where exactly in the Westwood they had ended up. Perrin silently pointed in the direction of the Quarry Road and Rand turned his horse that way; Perrin, Mat, Egwene, and Nyneave followed right behind him.
Once they reached the road and followed it to the edge of the forest, they got their first sight of Emond's Field.
The trees were pushed back from the edge of the village nearly a thousand paces. A wall had been built around the edge of the village, but from what they could make out through the open doors the streets look every bit as crowded as the large cities he had been to.
When everyone, except Perrin, had been here last everyone had known each other; if not well, they at least knew of them through others. Now, everyone moved past each other as if everyone else was a stranger to them. At a second inspection Rand saw styles representing countries from all over. Everyone really was a stranger now; just like in the bigger cities.
He could see many people wearing fine wool and even an occasional silk garment, when it would be considered a treasure and only be worn on feastdays when he left.
There were many more buildings now; many tiled in slate instead of the usual, or what used to be usual, thatch. The Winespring Inn had been the largest building in the village. Now it was nearly dwarfed in comparison to other Inns that had sprung up around it.
Rand looked to his side, toward the others, and saw Egwene looking as if she was trying to hold back her tears, and failing miserably. She was whispering, as if to herself, and Rand caught a few of the words.
"…same as in the dream. Yet so different when seen in reality."
Nyneave nodded numbly in agreement, trying to hold back her own tears and only doing slightly better than Egwene.
Mat was only staring in shock at what used to be the small backwater village they had grown up in.
Perrin, the only one who wasn't showing any outward surprise, sighed regretfully and muttered to Rand and Mat, "I warned you it was different."
Mat just looked at him, "You never said this much!"
As Rand turned back to study the village walls once more, a wind blew across the group and he felt something slightly cold on his cheek. He absentmindedly brushed it away… and stared in shock at the lone teardrop on his finger. Then, as if the walls he had been holding up for the past few years had fallen away, tears silently cascaded down his cheeks.
Cadsuane, standing unnoticed behind the group, deeper in the trees, watched the Dragon Reborn and gave a small sigh of relief. Then she whispered into the wind, "The soul of fire has remembered laughter. The heart of stone has broken and cried. I have taught all I can teach, boy. Now the rest is up to you. May the Light be with you. May the Light be with us all."
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AN: Another short story I found in my notebook while writing the other one and decided to post. Sorry if you were expecting a reunion story; this one is actually focused on the lesson Cadsuane teaches Rand. I know she seems kind of random, but she wouldn't let Rand go off on his own if she knew where he was, so she followed him. Please review and tell me what you think!!