A/N: It's been a really long time since I've written about Niella, but my new head canon, if it wasn't before, is that Niella was older by two years. No idea what I said before.

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Her eyes shifted from the large window to the baby trying to crawl from the crib. She was so small, yet so strong. The spitting image, so far, of her mother. Short blond hair that wisped and curled, a pale complexion that seemed to glow like moonlight. Her soft blue eyes looked up at the world as if in longing for more.

"How is our baby Clare," a warm voice asks from behind. The woman, Niella, turns quickly to see her sister standing in the doorway, showing a little herself. Auburn hair looked on fire in the dying light.

"She's fine. Healthy."

Udonna could sense the soft, subtle sorrow in her sister's voice and came to stand by her side. "Healthy," she repeated. "Is that all?"

There were small tears that were beginning to form in Niella's eyes and she turned with her back to her sister and face to the fading sun of through the window. "I'm worried, Udonna."

Udonna didn't try to look at Niella's face. When she was upset, she could cry horribly and Udonna didn't want that. She didn't want to make her sister feel trapped. "Worried about what?" She busied herself by reaching down into the crib and grasping her niece's little hands. Clare reached up for her aunt with her pale fingers, trying to hold onto to something to feel, to prove she wasn't alone.

"Your husband. He hasn't come back yet, and he should have returned by now."

Udonna sighed. "Yes, I know. I haven't sensed anything horrible, so I don't believe he's in terrible danger. He would have let me know."

"Or he wouldn't have."

Udonna glanced at her sister curiously. Tears were streaming down her pale cheeks, she looked ethereal. "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't mean to hurt you any," Niella said quickly. "Simply, I mean that he could be trying to protect you."

The baby began to whimper, and Niella was quickly beside the cradle, gently nudging her sister from her place, and offering her pinky for the child to suck on. She wasn't quite old enough to teeth, but Clare craved her mother's touch. It was familiar, more familiar than anyone.

"Protect me from what," Udonna pressed, returning Niella to the present.

Niella didn't turn from her this time. She simply looked blankly toward her child. "He wants you and your baby to be safe."

"From what?" Her voice wasn't raising, but it was gaining in a strange sort of strength.

"Darkness."

"Darkness?"

"Despair. Ruin. Chaos." The short list seemed to swell the worry in the blonde's blue eyes.

Silence descended upon the room and it was unsure if it was Niella or Udonna or their imaginations lowering the temperature. They both had that ability in their blood, but the strangeness in the air suggested tension, not a chill.

"It's been peaceful here," Udonna insisted finally.

"You're too naïve."

The auburn looked slightly offended. She crossed her arms over her chest, slightly above her growing stomach. "It's been nothing but beautiful here, Niella. The forest is just coming to awaken in new light. It's been an age of prosperity."

Niella shook her head. "The inevitable war is coming. You don't understand these things, Udonna. Everyone wishes to protect you, and it isn't healthy."

Udonna bit her lip and looked angrily at her sibling. "I wouldn't be sheltered if you told me."

"I'm telling you now."

Niella didn't look at all like she wanted to argue. She looked sad, actually. She was defeated. "Leanbow doesn't want you to worry about the upcoming war unless it's for certain, but I'm almost positive such a thing is coming, the gates have been disrupted."

"You're sure?" Udonna's blue-green eyes found her sister's and they seemed to freeze in time for a moment. Only Clare, who looked on both of them with a curious look, seemed to move. Niella blinked.

"I'm sure."

There was now a sadness to Udonna as she put her hands together and wrung them. "You're all too kind to me. I'm not sure what to do when this sort of thing happens. I'm not a strong person."

"You know that that isn't true. You're an excellent sorceress, better than I ever was. I may be magical, but my power seems to stem from a limited source: the seal on the gates."

Udonna looked ready to argue, but her sister's gaze stilled her tongue. "You know that you're talented. You have always been. But you were always considered too young. Udonna, I want you to promise me something."

She nodded slowly, a single tear slid down her face.

"I want you to protect Clare should anything happen."

Udonna looked horrified. "I couldn't. I mean, I will. But you don't suggest that something would happen to you? I mean, you're my sister. We are together always, and I can't imagine losing you."

But Niella's blonde hair lost its radiance as the sun finally slid down the horizon. "Anyone can be lost. I can't imagine losing you, I can't imagine losing Clare. But I need to know that you'll both be alright. I need that. Udonna, swear it to me. That you won't try to fight in a war you don't understand. That you will stand with my daughter and your child and they will have a bright future in whatever new or old land you find at peace. I cannot think of you or Clare or my niece or nephew living in fear itself. Be brave, and courageous, but don't lose sight. Don't be a hero. Don't do anything reckless."

The redhead's hands were picking at her nails as tears fell on them. "I'm not reckless." It was a sob. She was trying to stay upbeat, but it wasn't of use. She was crying now. She was just as much a wreck as her sister was becoming. They both cried. They both choked on tears.

"Do- do you swear it?" Niella's soft, warm voice was a whisper among heavy breathing and tears.

Udonna looked on her sister with both a look of fondness and despair. "I swear it."

Their sadness was chilling the room now. Clare began to cry and both women snapped from their desperation and went to comfort the child. The baby's soft cries faded as she felt the love and attention from her mother and aunt. But then Udonna looked on her, clearly shaken.

"She can't know," Niella whispered.

Udonna looked up quickly, yet quietly. "What can't she know?"

"She can't know who she is. If I die, she inherits my power."

The was not a response that Udonna could muster, so Niella continued. "Should something happen to me, you are to claim she was orphaned. That her mother died, and that you did not know her name."

"I couldn't do it."

"Yes, you could. You must."

Udonna was now visibly shaking. "I couldn't. I couldn't."

"Udonna, look at me." They locked eyes again, and they could both, for a second, she each other's soul. The doubt in Niella, the grief she had yet to feel. The stress of being the Gatekeeper and the knowledge that the seal was fading. The fear in Udonna, the newfound view on the world. The sudden anxiety that she would have to go on alone, taking care of a child and masking her identity for years. Her niece, whom she could not be close to or hold when she cried. Whom she would have to pretend was an orphaned girl in the woods, whose mother died in the war, a civilian, not a hero.

"Udonna, please."

Clare cried, and Udonna turned to leave. "Will you," Niella tried again, and Udonna glanced one last time at the baby reaching up for her. For her hair which looked like fire and the smile that had died with the light.

"Anything for you. Just please, promise me something."

Niella took the baby in her arms and held her, the child still reaching for her aunt. Udonna ignored her, for once in her life.

"Promise me that you'll light up our future. Promise me that you'll be a beacon and come back home."

The sadness persisted and Niella held Clare closer to her. She kissed the baby and set her down. Then she turned to the window and looked out at where the moon should be. It wasn't shining tonight.

"I can't," she said softly. There was a silent understanding, and the sky plunged into dark, taking the two women and the baby with it.