Jaina Menethil
By: LinkGirl
— — —
Jaina wandered out into the cold night. She had been crying again. She gripped her arms and shivered. Even though the chill seemed to run right though her, she had to get out of the stuffiness that collected behind closed walls. She had always liked it outside. He had liked it outside too . . .
Jaina shook her head and gave a weak sob, "Stop it. Please . . ." She fell to her knees and let the tears come in another wave. "Why? Why, why, why!" she repeated through sobs. She gripped at the ground, digging through the grass and pulling up dirt. "WHY!" she screamed and threw the dirt at the air. She pounded the ground and continued to whisper the word until her voice faded and her tears dried up. She wiped her eyes and cheeks with the end of her sleeve, and then rubbed her cheeks. "What are you doing Miss Jaina Proudmoore, get up," she ordered to herself. She took a deep breath and got to her feet, wiping her eyes again. She took another deep breath, taking a moment to look up at the maze of stars.
Two cold hands settled on her shoulders and a deep voice whispered into her ear, "Jaina."
Jaina screamed. She swung around but lost her balance and fell to the ground. She looked up and found her breath catch. It couldn't be. "Arthas?" His long golden hair had turned to dull grey and his once bright blue eyes now icy and harsh. He stared down at her with those eyes and Jaina felt her heart wither up and tears welling up again.
No, she would not cry in front of him.
She opened her mouth to say something but her voice would not come. It wasn't until he offered his hand out to her that she finally found her voice.
"What are you doing here?" she said harsher than she meant.
He didn't say anything, evidently waiting for her to take his hand. When she did not he replied, "I have come to take you with me." There was something different about his voice, a hollowness, something Jaina could only describe as a taint.
"What?" she mouthed. She stared at him, as if trying to find a reason.
"I've come to take you with me," he repeated, "I don't want to have to leave you again."
She slowly stood up on her own accord; she would not give him the satisfaction of her hand. "You killed your people, Arthas. And then you killed your own father! He cared about you, he who trusted you!"
"And your point?" he tilted his head and gave a cold haunting laugh that made Jaina cringe away from him. "I didn't have time for a fool like him."
"If you would kill your father, why would you want me," it was more of a statement than a question. She wanted Arthas to go away and for her to wake up from this horrid nightmare.
"Jaina," he said almost kindly. He stepped toward her, extending his hand again toward her, this time reaching for her face.
Jaina shied away from him, taking a step back. But Arthas moved faster and grabbed her chin. His touch was as cold as his eyes and Jaina felt goose bumps run up and down her arm. She tried to jerk away, but he held her chin tightly and forced her to look at him.
"Jaina," he said again, this time in a barely audible whisper.
She began to shake uncontrollably and it was getting harder and harder to hold back her tears.
His hand tilted her chin up slightly and she saw his face moving closer. She tried to look away again, but his grip was too tight. She felt his cold cracked lips against hers. It almost felt like Arthas. The Arthas she had known on a cold Winter Veil eve, who had been beaten by the cold and frost, but brightened and melted in her arms. Despite herself, she found herself leaning forward and returning the kiss with the man she had once loved.
"Stop it!" she screamed and pushed away from him. "Stop it," she cried again, the tears now rolling down her cheeks. Her hands gripped her head and she desperately wanted to pull at her hair, at her skin, until everything went away. Until he went away. "Stop it, just stop it, just stop it," she brokenly sobbed.
She felt his hand on her shoulder. "You're crying again," he said softly.
She sobbed and shook her head, "Just— Just go away."
"Not without you," he whispered again into her ear, and this time she could feel the chill of his breath on her neck. It sent Jaina into another sobbing fit.
Arthas wrapped his muscular arms around her shoulders. "Please stop, Jaina," he said in that eerie unnatural voice.
Jaina continued to sob, but Arthas would not be moved. After a while he began to rock her back and forth and slowly Jaina's tears began to subside to sniffles and then to silence.
"And what if I don't want to come with you?" she finally asked, although she feared she already knew the answer.
"And why not, Jaina? You said once you would never abandon me," he said in what sounded almost like a patronizing tone.
Jaina did not answer. But she hadn't abandoned him. Had she? No, no, no. He abandoned her long before she could have ever abandoned him. He had stepped out of the light and hence stepped away from her. She had to keep convincing herself that. But even so . . . why did he have to be here now, holding her in his arms like he had dozens of times before.
"Please Arthas," she whispered, "Just, just let me go." She placed her hand on his. "If still love me, you'll let me go."
Everything was still for a moment, then, not believing it herself, Arthas removed his arms.
She stood there breathing into the cold night air, too afraid to move and too afraid to turn.
"I'm sorry, Jaina," Arthas said. And then there was a pain in her body like one she had never felt before. She looked down and saw the fiery blue blade, Frostmourne, sticking out of her chest.
"Ar . . . thas . . ." she said before she collapsed onto his sword.
Arthas lowered her down onto the ground, removing Frostmourne from her limp body. He sheathed the sword and turned her over. He pulled the hair from her face and let his fingers caress her still warm cheek. Jaina's eyes gazed lifelessly up at him, questioning him, asking him, "Why?"
"I won't let you break your promise to me, Jaina," he said and picked her up. "You'll be by my side . . . forever."