a/n: I've wanted to write something along these lines for this pairing for a long time (because there's so little on them), so here it finally is- if there's any errors in the lore, don't kill me. We're allowed, uh... creative license, right?
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Kael'thas could still remember the very day he first laid eyes on Jaina Proudmoore. Funnily enough, it had been a chance meeting, both just happening upon the same place at the same time.
Part of the princes' morning routine at Dalaran was to take a walk in the morning after meditation to make sure that any distracting thoughts were clear from his head, as the art of practicing the arcane required more than just a passing concentration- that much he could be sure of. For Dalaran, it was a particularly warm morning to say the least and it appeared it would only grow hotter as the sun was just barely peaking over the top of the mountains in the distance, a portent of things to come. As the sun slowly rose during his stroll, the sky began to set alight, darkened embers giving way to long, fiery flames spanning the entire horizon, a sight the elf had never grown tired of seeing in all of his years here. For some strange reason, it reminded him of home.
He took the same path every morning, timed exactly right so that he might be able to see the sunrise (if one happened to occur) - out from the dormitories, down the winding stone path circling around the library that was situated right in the center of Dalaran, past the meeting hall of the Kirin Tor and then through the immaculately tended gardens. It was just as he had been passing one of the sitting areas, mostly fenced off by hedges for privacy that he happened upon the girl would begin to change his life more than he'd feel comfortable admitting.
At first he had thought that perhaps he was seeing things, as it wasn't often he met someone else out this early, but on second glance he realized that she was very much real and had yet to notice his approach. On the contrary, she seemed to be absorbed in thoughts of her own, hunched over on the bench she was sitting on so that her flaxen hair obscured her face from view. From co-existing with the humans for longer than he cared to remember, he knew enough about body language to deduce that something was probably troubling the female and his curiosity got the better of him. Finding his legs moving of his own accord, he neared her slowly and the girl still failed to realize that he was there. Kael began to wonder if this was such a good idea after all- but he was surprised to hear his voice speak out without his consent.
"Are you quite alright, milady?" He found himself asking, voice suitably quiet as not to startle her. Of course, decorum in conduct dictated that he should inquire.
At Kael's question, the woman's head shot up and she looked more than a little shocked, having thought that she was alone; blue eyes wide, mouth open slightly in an 'O' of surprise. As realization slowly dawned on her, however, her cheeks began to tinge a lovely red in embarrassment and she quickly closed her mouth, trying to erase the previous expression.
There was a slight pause as the prince was momentarily lost for words, something which didn't happen to him often- in fact, he prided himself on his eloquence and charisma. For some reason, though, he had nothing he could say.
He'd never seen anything so beautiful.
"I-I'm fine, thank you. Just a little preoccupied with my thoughts." The vision stammered at first- and then, added an afterthought. "I'm sorry for troubling you."
The ability to form words appeared to have returned to Kael, for which he was inwardly relieved. However, now there was both his curiosity to satisfy and… something he couldn't quite describe. "I assure you, it's of no consequence. Would it be too bold of me to inquire as to what was absorbing you so?"
The young blonde shifted slightly on the bench and looked a little uncomfortable, making Kael immediately regret his decision to ask- but much to his surprise, the corners of her lips eventually quirked upwards in a wry smile.
The prince held his breath.
"Ah- to tell the truth, it's my first day attending here," She explained slowly, the red of embarrassment still flushing her cheeks slightly at her folly. She had no idea who this man was, but there was something about him that told her that she probably should. "I'm just worried I'm going to get a little… lost. This place is so big."
Now it was Kael's turn to smile warmly, a hand extending slowly towards the mystery woman as he took a short step forward.
"Say no more. Might I be so privileged as to give you a quick tour to help you with your bearings, Miss…?"
She looked uncertainly at him for a second, her brow creasing for the briefest moment before she carefully got up from her bench. Finally placing her own lithe hand on his outstretched palm, she gave a small smile.
"Jaina. Jaina Proudmoore. And you, sir…?"
Now, that was a surprise. Proudmoore? Then… of course, the daughter of the Admiral? He'd no idea.
Kael almost forgot that a question had been posed to him, having been so distracted by the feeling of her small hand in his- even the very touch sent an electric shiver up through his arm and down his spine. Remembering himself and the decorum that was appropriate for a lady of –now he knew- status, he inclined his head slightly in her direction.
Never before had he encountered a human woman that had affected him so in such a short period of time.
"Kael'thas Sunstrider," He informed her, amusement glinting in his eyes as he watched the surprise spread across Jaina's face. "But my friends and colleagues call me Kael. If you pardon me, milady, I can't stand formalities."
… and before the fact that she was being led through the grounds of Dalaran by a prince could sink in, he had whisked her past the bench and down the path, thoroughly intending on fulfilling his promise of a tour.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
A year had passed since that fateful meeting- one excruciating, exciting and lengthy year.
Over the time that had slipped away, the young mage and Kael had become close friends through their shared love for magic and zest for the arcane, spending a great deal of their spare time with each other either buried in books in Dalaran's massive library, or engaged in heated arguments about a particular aspect of their studies.
Slowly, Kael had grown to treasure every moment he spent with the girl- no matter how often they got hot-headed with each other over their disagreements or how much they rejected the validity of the other's opinion.
In fact, it had been a cold day in September when he had been waiting at their usual alcove in the library, only to look up and see Jaina run towards him- flaxen hair mussed, cheeks slightly red from the temperature and her chest heaving from the exercise she'd just gotten- that he suddenly realized.
Jaina wasn't just a friend.
She wasn't just a colleague, either.
He had fallen in love with her.
Desperate not to show any weakness to her friend, she had merely run her fingers through her hair a few times to flatten it and mumbled an apology for being late as she'd overslept, but Kael could do nothing but stare. This caused Jaina to frown slightly at him as she slid into the opposite seat, dumping her books on the table with a loud 'thump'.
"What, do I have something on my face?"
The notion quickly dawned on him that staring was, in fact, rude, and the prince quickly averted his eyes back to his textbook in some miniscule hope that the words might distract him from the rather flooring epiphany he'd just experienced.
"Not at all," He murmured, deciding not to look up should he be unable to stop himself from doing it again. "You just made a dramatic entrance."
"Kael! Don't tease." Jaina admonished, flipping open her own book and leaning over it. Obviously, nothing seemed out of the ordinary to her. "Sometimes you're sluggish to rise too. I remember that one time—"
The prince merely raised an eyebrow as he pretended to ignore her. He couldn't look up. Couldn't look up.
Exasperated, Jaina resigned herself to her work. "Oh, fine, then! Today must be your reclusive day-of-the-week. Forgive me for bothering you, your highness."
Then silence fell between them as they leafed through their respective texts and made notes, though work was only the foremost thought in one of their minds. Their exams were fast approaching, giving them even more cause to be in this library day after day- along with most other students at the academy- but Kael'thas knew that he was now distracted beyond repair. Nothing would be able to settle in his mind today but the visage of his friend.
Only when he was certain that Jaina was absorbed in reading (and he knew that once she got interested in something, the rest of the world around her dissolved as she concentrated) did he let his eyes dart upwards to look at her.
There was the slightest frown on her face as she studied her page, though her beautiful hair was now perfect even after the Olympic dash she'd just run. Jaina chewed her lip slightly as long fingers ran down the scriptures on the book and it was all Kael could do to restrain himself from reaching right across the table and taking them in his own hand- just like he had done a year ago.
The perfect curve of her face, her bright blue eyes, her feminine figure- he was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable in his seat for a number of reasons, including the fact that he felt a little guilty for thinking such things of his unsuspecting friend.
She was young. So young.
But, even knowing this, he couldn't help himself.
Such a wide gap between them… nothing could ever come of any sort of affection he held for her, but yet he still found her occupying his thoughts more than she should. It was irrational, and completely unsuited for a prince to not be in control of his faculties.
"What now? I really do have something on my face, don't I?"
Having been so absorbed in his own inner monologue, he hadn't realized that Jaina had stopped reading her book and was now looking straight at him, the small frown on her face once more.
"I…" Kael opened his mouth, fully intending to come out with a perfectly good explanation for why he couldn't take his eyes off of her, but instead he could only trail off. How could she do this to him?
Jaina looked expectant for the answer that was supposed to follow.
"I," The prince started again, his expression unreadable as his hands shut the book he was reading. "… have to go. I'm sorry, Jaina."
Confusion flickered across the girl's rosy face as Kael excused himself from the seat he had been occupying and exited the library, a complaint dying on his companion's lips.
What had gotten into him?
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
He had hastily made his way back to his quarters in the housing wing of the Dalaran campus, not stopping once. After he had unlocked the door and let himself in, he paused for a moment, leaning against the heavy wood. What had just happened? Was he suddenly unable to spend any time in Jaina's presence, now?
But it was probably for the best- after all, should she suspect his feelings for her, then she might sever the connection between them altogether. Still…
A weary sigh escaped from Kael's lips as he righted himself and placed his books down on the armoire near the door, thankful to get rid of the extra burden. Now not only the upcoming exams were weighing on his mind (not that he was all that worried about them, as most of the magic was so easy to him it seemed like child's play), but also the situation with his best friend.
Moving slowly over to the window next to the bed, he reached out and slid it open, leaning forward on his arms to view the grounds below. Fresh air usually helped him sort out thoughts that disagreed with him as the atmosphere of Dalaran always seemed heady with the arcane with so much student practice going on- but it didn't seem to help now, as many deep breaths as he took and as much as he tried to reason with himself.
Jaina was just a girl- a child by his own races' terms- and also the daughter of one of the most prominent figures in their allied society. How could he justify trying to initiate a relationship with her when there was such an obvious age gap between them? Outwardly, in appearance, they both looked young , but the fact that he was at least 5 times her age was a nagging doubt at the back of his mind.
Not only that, but she had also been such a close friend over the past year that Kael wasn't sure that he was willing to risk what they had for something more, as much as he'd yearn for it. Perhaps he'd only just realized all of this- or maybe he had known for longer, and chosen to ignore it- but even so, he couldn't get her out of his mind.
Everywhere he turned, he saw Jaina.
Jaina smiling, Jaina laughing, Jaina scowling at him for saying the wrong thing.
Jaina running, Jaina studying her oversized textbooks, Jaina leaning forward ever-so-closely to…
With a growl, Kael pushed himself away from the window frame, aggravated with himself for being so out of control. It was his duty as a future leader to his people that he should be able to deal with whatever should come his way. That he couldn't even keep a solid grip on his emotions towards this human irked him more than a little, his emotions torn between what he should and shouldn't do.
However, had he been paying a little more attention to the scenery he had previously been viewing, he would've seen a disturbingly familiar figure jogging down the very path that he had taken himself just a while before.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
The nerve! She was very well versed in Kael's behavior and knew that he could be incredibly stuck-up and full of self-importance at times, but she hadn't expected him to just up and leave her in the library without an explanation. As he had exited hurriedly, several heads had turned to her as if she had done something to make the prince leave- and after that, she had found it impossible to study with all the judgmental eyes that constantly turned her way.
No, the study session had been ruined. It was one of the consequences of befriending one of the more 'higher-ranked' students of Dalaran, though the fact that she herself had a status made it even more gossip-worthy. Jaina didn't have a clue what she had done to make him leave as if the very fires of hell were licking at his heels, but she looked a little like the devil's advocate herself as she purposefully navigated her way down the path she was almost sure Kael had taken.
He wasn't one to sulk in public, especially when there were always people of import that popped up at the most inopportune places in Dalaran, so the number of places where he could be hiding were limited to very few.
Normally, in these situations, he went and locked himself in his rooms. It wasn't as if this hadn't happened before, oh no. They were both naturally hot-headed people when they had their disagreements, tempers flaring to rival each other's. Whenever he got particularly angry, he just turned around and left without a word, whilst Jaina would be quite happy to continue the argument. The thought had occurred to her that he might do that because he was afraid he'd do something if he got pushed too far, but she couldn't even see why he had left her alone this time.
She hadn't said anything controversial to him- in fact, she couldn't think of anything she'd done wrong recently, except being initially late to the library. Surely he wasn't so unpredictable now that even that could set him off?
Looking a little perturbed, she let herself into the residence of lodgings and stole up the stairs, absorbed in her own thoughts the whole time. It wasn't until she got halfway through the list of everything she and Kael had ever had an argument about that she realized she was standing in front of the large (locked) wooden door that was the entrance to his quarters.
Time to find out just what the devil is going on, then.
Raising a hand, she knocked loudly on the door so that he'd be able to hear it even if he had shuffled his mortal coil – which Jaina highly doubted, but she did it just to make sure- and then waited.
No reply.
Banging even louder this time, Jaina could feel her already tenuous patience slipping away as her knuckles bit into the polished wood.
"Kael! Kael! I know you're in there!" She called inbetween knocks, refusing to give up. "Stop being such a child and open the door!"
Still no reply.
Kael regarded his door, which was shaking a little with the force in which Jaina was pounding on it, thinking that perhaps it would be a good idea if he answered lest it get destroyed and he be devoid of privacy until it got fixed. Though, something was still stopping him. He couldn't see her until he figured out just what he was going to do about th-
"Kael! If you're not going to open this, I'll open it myself!" Jana's voice called angrily from the other side of the door, and there was silence for a few moments, blissful silence. No knocking, no yelling.
It was then that Kael realized that he could see a faint red glow from under the crack between the bottom of the door and the floor, which could only mean that she planned to break her way in by force, using her magic.
Hurriedly, he strode over and yanked open the object which Jaina had been bent on getting past, one way or another, and glared down at her. His expression was angrier than he had intended, green eyes flashing dangerously, which was probably why she looked a little surprised when he appeared. The incantations of the spell died on her lips and the red glow faded from her open palms.
"Are you trying to burn the academy down?" Kael hissed, part of him fuming whilst the other part tried to silence it, tried to stop it digging itself into a hole.
However, Jaina merely put her hands on her hips and met Kael's gaze every bit as angrily, a scowl on her own face.
"No," She replied, as the prince realized that her hands had, in fact, clenched into fists. "I'm trying to find out why you left without an explanation, only to see that you're just locking yourself in your room and licking your imaginary wounds like you always are."
"What? I-…" Kael started, taking a step forward as his voice rose in fury. Something seemed to catch him though, his sentence trailing off before he got to say it. "I don't have time for this."
"Time for what?!" Jaina cried, blonde hair jumping slightly as she took her own step forward, not intending to be one-upped by her petulant friend. Really, what was the world coming to? Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself and her temper, even though Kael was doing a good job at fueling the fire of her anger. "Look."
Kael looked.
Putting herself aside for a moment as she considered the chance of there really being something wrong to cause the prince to act in such a way, Jaina attempted to reach out. Literally. A thin hand extended and took one of Kael's own, just like that day over a year ago- and if she noticed him flinch, she didn't say.
"Kael," She started, her voice a little quieter now that she had let her rage drain away. "I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong. We're friends, aren't we? So why can't you just say what's bothering you instead of acting like this?"
'We're friends' echoed inside Kael's head like a maniacal laugh, making his features darken a little.
"Friends," He repeated bitterly, though not taking his hand out of Jaina's grasp- and then he sighed again, looking away. "… don't worry. Nothing's wrong, I'm just having a bad day. I apologize for my actions."
What an awful liar, Jaina thought to herself as she regarded him with skepticism, not believing a word of it. "You're obviously n-"
"Nothing's wrong." Kael said again, cutting her off. Reluctantly, he drew his hand away from her warm grip and turned. "I'll rest to cool my temper and perhaps see you in the library tomorrow. Good morrow to you, Jaina."
And with a flick of flaxen hair and a hand to the doorknob, he had disappeared back into his rooms, leaving Jaina standing outside, just as confused as she'd been before she had tried to destroy them.
Nothing's wrong? Her inner monologue asked as she made her retreat, for now. Pigs would fly, first.
