Going Back Home
Athrodar sat down in the corner of his bedroom in Windrunner Village, breathing heavily and looking around at the destruction he had caused. Sure the windows, bed and one dresser was left intact, but everything else was practically destroyed. He looked around at all the splintered wood and thought it was probably a good idea to clean up what he had destroyed.
By the time he had cleared half the room of the destruction he caused, he ran into Sylvanas who saw the cuts on his hands and sighed a little. "Even after we have killed the final threat on this planet for the time being, you still hurt yourself."
"But I got all my frustrations out. My anger and sadness at the loss of my friends... again." Athrodar placed the broken wood into the fireplace he had lit, turning back around to clear up the rest of the mess he had made. "I want to remove Dael'thaelas and then just hang up my bow and swords forever. I no longer want to fight, I no longer want to put myself in danger. I just want to stay here, live that quiet life that we spoke about and stay alive as long as possible."
Sylvanas followed him into the bedroom and saw how much he had destroyed and how little they had left, but she didn't care. Not in the slightest as there was something else on her mind. "You know I can't do that too, right? We had this discussion before and I said I wanted to keep fighting to keep our family safe, to keep you safe." She helped him with the splintered wood and threw it into the fire. "We're going to need a bigger fireplace at this rate." She joked, looking over to Athrodar who kept his head down and headed back to the bedroom.
When they both returned to the bedroom, Sylvanas placed her hand on his shoulder and turned him around slowly. "What's wrong?" She asked him, getting nothing but a sigh. "What happened between killing Kil'jaeden and now?"
"Something the Deceiver said to me... That I have a shadow inside of me, a darkness in my soul." Athrodar picked up some more broken furniture and walked passed Sylvanas who followed him closely. "It got me thinking about everything... Maybe my soul hasn't been redeemed after we were brought back to life. Maybe everything I done as a Death Knight has forever tainted me." He threw the wood into the fire and span back around to clear up what little remained in their bedroom, almost walking into Sylvanas who stopped him from going any further.
"I don't believe that for a second. With how much you have cared for this family, looked after all of us when we've been sick and how you want to stop fighting just to be with our family." She placed her hands on his face and turned his head to look at her. "If judgement day was to come tomorrow, your sins would be ignored because of how pure your heart has been since we started our family." Her face saddened a little. "Me however... I have been selfish my entire life, especially since you entered it. I have done everything by one rule, to make sure I had my family."
Athrodar looked into her eyes and saw the sadness in them, slowly smiling at her. "Yes you have."
Sylvanas hit him on the arm and glared at him. "You're supposed to say that my heart is pure too! Idiot!"
Athrodar laughed and kissed her on the forehead, though she didn't even try to reciprocate the action. "Thank you, for making me laugh."
The anger inside Sylvanas began to fade when she felt him hug her, closing her eyes and leaning against him when he continued to let out a laugh or two. "I hope it distracted you from those thoughts."
"It did." Athrodar muttered, pulling back to look at his wife. "Where are our children?"
"Our girls are looking after them for an hour before I return to Stormwind, I told them that I wanted to be alone with you until then." She looked over to the fireplace and smiled a little. "I didn't know it would be doing this."
"There's almost nothing left to clear up. A couple of minutes left if that, then we can be alone for an hour."
Sylvanas smiled and walked her fingers up his chest. "Then why don't we do that?"
Tanadia helped Liadrin with one of the many injured, looking over to the Paladin who was concentrating on helping the wounded. "I need to ask you something." The priestess said, looking down at the soldier before them. "And I want an honest answer, not a Li Li answer."
Liadrin rolled her eyes. "There's no such thing as a Li Li answer... All my answers are honest."
"No..." Tanadia smiled a little. "Most of your answers are the Li Li side of you, the part of you that obsesses over me and not the part of you that will gives good advice."
Liadrin knew what she was talking about and sighed, nodding her head slowly. "Okay, little one. Fire away."
"I'm stuck." She told the Paladin who quickly began to frown at her. "I want to go home and be with my papa. He's the only parent I've got and he promised to keep me safe and I want to keep him safe." She sighed and slumped her shoulders a little. "But I also want to go to the Netherlight Temple and learn to be a better priestess. I could do that back home in Quel'Thalas, but the Naaru Saa'ra sees something in me and said I have a lot of potential. I'm sure I can unlock some of it back home, but I have a feeling I will learn more there." She looked back to Liadrin who was just staring at her, waiting for the little priestess to finish. "What should I do?"
"Well..." Liadrin placed a blanket over the injured soldier they were just attending to, walking around the makeshift bed and taking hold of Tanadia's hands. "I think you should do what your heart wants. I know how much it means to you to become an amazing priestess, but if it comes at the cost of being homesick all the time, missing your father and the rest of your family? I don't think you should do it. If you think you can balance both however, going to the Netherlight Temple and visiting your family, I will back you all the way. Because your mother and I, ever since you were a cute, adorable, chubby little baby..."
Tanadia snapped her fingers to get Liadrin's attention when she drifted off and began to remember those days. "Hey, finish what you were saying."
"Right, sorry." Liadrin smiled at the priestess in front of her who rolled her eyes. "Ever since you were born, basically, we both believed you would achieve great things and you're already well on your way to doing that. I mean, just turned eighteen and you have a Naaru talking to you personally? I have only had that a few times and that was when I was well into my first century." Liadrin smiled a little wider at the priestess and placed a hand on her cheek. "I think you should go home to your father, spend a week or two with him and the rest of your family, then if you want to go back to the Netherlight Temple, tell me and I will come with you."
Tanadia hugged the Paladin who quickly slipped back into aunt Liadrin mode and hugged her back tightly and practically squeezed the breath out of her. "Okay... Th-that's.. Enough... Li Li!"
Liadrin loosened the hug, but kept her arms around her. "So what have you decided?" She asked, refusing to let go of her.
"I'm going home for a few weeks." Tanadia said, smiling when she felt Liadrin hold onto her a little tighter again. "Preferably alive and in one piece." She muttered.
"Okay, okay." Liadrin let go of the priestess, placing a hand on her cheek. "Go find your sister, I'm sure you can convince her to come home with you. She is a little stuck at the moment on what she wants to do too." Liadrin grinned at Tanadia's surprised look. "Thal'ena told me. We talk a lot about your family when we can. Sometimes it's to vent, other times it's to tell each other how sick we are about how perfect you all are."
"You know you're part of that family, right? You may not be related by blood, but you're my aunty Li Li." Tanadia smiled at her. "My one and only aunty, my favourite aunty."
Liadrin's eyes began to water, hugging the priestess tightly once more. "You made a huge mistake, little one. I am never letting go of you again."
Victoria looked at the remaining arrows in her quiver, counting them for the hundredth time today just to make the day go by quicker. "I think I may need to go home." She said, looking over to Thal'ena who sat nearby to keep her Queen company.
"We're going home?" Thal'ena asked, sounding a little hopeful.
"I think so, yes." Victoria stood up and placed her quiver on her back. "I've done some thinking and It's probably best I go home for about a month just to be with my family. After that month, we'll return to Stormwind for a month and then I will make my final decision once that month is over."
Thal'ena smiled and stood up too. "Good choice, my Lady. I'm sure your parents will try their best to keep you at home."
Before the Queen could respond, Tanadia had entered her tent and almost ran into her. "Oh, you're up."
Victoria smiled at her sister. "I am. I'm actually going home for a while, I was just telling Thal'ena that I was going home for a month, then returning to Stormwind for a month and, after that, I will make a decision on what I will do in the future."
Tanadia frowned at her sister. "You're thinking of no longer being Queen?"
There was a short silence from the Queen before she nodded slowly. "I am. I have lost a lot since I became Queen and I am getting tired of losing friends and family."
"So am I..." Tanadia muttered, shaking her head to clear her sad thoughts and smiling up at her sister. "I came by to see if you wanted to come home with me, but clearly you are so... Let's go?"
Victoria smiled at the huge smile coming from her sister, taking hold of her hand. "Okay, Thal'ena is coming too, so a portal shouldn't be hard to come across." She looked back to her Royal Magister. "Ready?"
"I'm ready." Thal'ena said, conjuring up a portal to Windrunner Village and following both sisters through it.
When they arrived in the village and walked into Windrunner Manor, Victoria was the first person to spot her mother sleeping on the sofa with her daughter Alleria in her arms.
"About twenty minutes." Athrodar said when he saw both his daughters return home, along with Thal'ena. "Literally the moment they returned home, Sylvanas collapsed of the sofa and Alleria joined her."
Tanadia placed her staff down beside the door, stretching her arms into the air and yawning. "I think I'll do the same, is my room still my room?"
"Yes and no." Athrodar said. "Alleria shares with you, I hope that's okay?"
Tanadia smiled and looked down at her sister. "Of course it is. I love having my little sister around."
"And my room?" Victoria asked, looking back to Thal'ena for a second before looking back to her father. "Unless this is where you'll tell me it's no longer mine."
"It is." Athrodar told her, looking back to Thal'ena too but seeing her less than enthusiastic look at being in Windrunner Manor with six others, including Victoria. "Though, Elaria and Luna's house opposite is now empty..." He looked back to Victoria and smiled a little. "You can have it if you wish."
Victoria stepped forward and placed a hand on her father's arm. "How are you?" She whispered, knowing how close he was to Elaria as they both saw each other more as brother and sister than best friends. "I know it won't be easy for you. I will tell her parents of her sacrifice, if you want?"
Athrodar just nodded slowly, having Victoria hug him and moving his arms around her slowly. "I'll get there." He whispered. "I just need to not think or talk about her for a good year or two and I'll move passed this." He joked, getting a smile from Victoria though it was more sympathetic than he would have liked. "I have your mother and sisters as a distraction, I'll be fine. And if it does begin to affect me again, your mother will almost certainly be there."
Victoria looked back to Thal'ena who smiled at her, but then nodded towards the outside. "We'll take their home. Someone has to make use of it and if I find anything that belongs to them that I think you would want, I'll bring it over."
Athrodar smiled and nodded, kissing Victoria's forehead. "Okay. I'll inform your mother if you're still over there by the time she wakes up." His ear twitched when he heard Cedani begin to cry. "I need to get her, before she wakes them up."
Night had fallen in Southern Quel'Thalas and Victoria stood on the balcony of Windrunner Manor, looking out at the ocean and taking a sip of wine from her goblet. "It's weird." She said, looking over to Thal'ena who sat down on the bench behind her. "We've been at war for... How long?"
"About a year now. Maybe longer." Thal'ena said, crossing one leg over the other whilst taking a sip of her wine.
"Right. And we haven't exactly had a lot of time off. So standing here, knowing I don't have to worry about being called to the front lines or to fight any more..." She laughed a little and looked back out towards the ocean. "It's nice."
Thal'ena stood up and placed her goblet of wine down on a nearby table, making her way to her Queen and hugging her from behind. "We're safe here, my Lady. We're going to be safe for a long time." She looked up at the planet of Argus looming overhead. "Until that becomes for a threat."
Victoria looked up at the planet too, leaning back into her Royal Magister. "I hope that we won't be needed if it is. If they're going to infiltrate a planet, they will need as little of a force as possible I'd presume."
"You know we will be asked now that you've said that." Thal'ena pointed out, laughing lightly into her Queen's ear and pressing her cheek against her shoulder. "I forgot how naturally your parents fall back into this life. Watching your father look after Cedani and your mother play with Alleria made me smile brighter than I thought possible."
Victoria span on her heel and faced her Royal Magister, keeping the goblet of wine in her hand and grinning at her. "Trust me, you've seen everything now. They don't look like the famed rangers we know them as when they return to domestic life. I suppose they did have roughly five years of practice for that and Athrodar basically needs this life now. My mother however... I'm scared she will never want to fully settle down."
Thal'ena tilted her head. "Won't she commit to this life if she sees Athrodar has?"
Victoria shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Athrodar told me she can't settle down just in case another Arthas happens. But with how united the world is now, I can't see it happening."
Thal'ena took the goblet off her Queen and placed it beside hers, moving her hands to Victoria's arms and smiling at her. "Can we not talk about Arthas or anything similar? The topic only makes me angry and sad at the same time and that would kill the mood."
"You're right, I'm sorry." Victoria looked towards the bench behind the Royal Magister. "Come with me." She said, taking her to the bench and sitting down on it, moving to a laying position when Thal'ena sat down beside her and resting her head on her lap. "I hate that Elaria and Luna are both gone. I'm going to miss the rude jokes from that Night Elf and then watching Luna hit her and tell her off when she overhears them."
Thal'ena stroked her Queen's hair, chuckling lightly at one of the many times she witnessed that scenario. "They were also fun to be around when Elaria decided it was time to annoy your father."
"She did know how to push his buttons..." Victoria said, being distracted by the Royal Magister who's light touches on her head became very comforting. "Keep doing what you're doing, this feels really nice."
"Okay." Thal'ena said with a small laugh, feeling happy at pleasing her Queen from just a simple action. "I can do this any time you'd like, my Lady. If it keeps you happy, then I will do most things."
It was Victoria's turn to chuckle now. "What won't you do?"
"I won't have a child for you, that's for certain. I like my body too much to ruin it by having a child."
Victoria laughed a little louder now. "And here's my mother pregnant with her fourth." She closed her eyes when the pampering on her head began to feel really good, keeping the Queen calm and most of all, lulling her to sleep quickly. "Two different people I suppose." She said, yawning shortly after.
"Apparently so..." Thal'ena said softly, moving the hand not stroking her hair towards her Queen's hand and taking hold of it. "Feel free to sleep here, my Lady. I will watch over you and keep you safe."
And for twenty minutes, she did. Thal'ena stayed awake, gazing at her Queen who slept peacefully on her lap and both hating and loving every second of it. She got to be alone with Victoria and was free to stare at her for as long as she wanted, until she woke up of course, but hated that this was as far as she could take it. She wanted to lay down with her and hold her tightly, to be much closer to the Queen than she was, but couldn't as she promised to respect her wishes. "This is making it difficult though." She whispered to herself under her breath, moving a few strands of hair from Victoria's face and watching her long, elven ear twitch after pushing those strands behind it.
"This is the first time I think I've seen her rest." Sylvanas whispered, standing by the door and looking down at her daughter. "Since this war started, I mean. She just didn't stop for anything and worked so hard to do as much as she can without collapsing."
"She never admitted it, but Cyndia and I could see." Thal'ena leaned down and kissed Victoria's temple. "She pushed herself so hard to make up for Sera's death and to make sure you and the rest of your family never lose another member."
Sylvanas watched the Royal Magister closely, tilting her head a little when she saw her gaze never left her Queen. "You really do care for her, don't you?" She asked, looking at only Thal'ena.
"I do. She's been the only friend to me since I joined you all and, apart from the small hiccup in the first year, I have been growing closer to her." Thal'ena smiled and stroked her hair again. "I don't know if it's love, but I do feel something for her. A deep feeling in my gut and my heart whenever I look at her."
Sylvanas continued to watch both women, her daughter sleeping on her Royal Magister's lap. "I'll admit, I never warmed to you in the first few years. After you slept with my husband, my daughter and tried to corrupt her shortly after. I thought of you as more of a hindrance than an ally." She smiled at the Royal Magister who turned her head to look at her. "Of course, that opinion of you has changed. Especially after what you just told me. I think she needs someone by her side, someone who cares for her deeply and after Sera, and you might be it."
"I hope so." Thal'ena muttered, stroking Victoria's hair once again. "She knows about my feelings for her, but she doesn't want to start anything yet. All I can do now is wait. Wait for her to be ready to start something."
"Give her a week." Sylvanas said, smiling the moment Thal'ena looked at her again. "She is young, we both know that. She won't get over Sera any time soon, but she will want to start something the moment she gets comfortable with this life again." She let out a small laugh. "Trust me, I know exactly what that's like. We're not related by blood, sure. But she takes after me in a lot of ways."
"I want to believe you. In fact I think I need to believe you. Like I said, I have no idea if it's love or not, but I have never felt this way before." She leaned down and kissed Victoria's temple once more. "I can't take not being with her, but I will wait for as long as it takes, even if it hurts."
"Well," Sylvanas began turning around to walk back into Windrunner Manor, "I am going back to my husband. Stay here as long as you'd like, I won't force you to leave."
Returning to Athrodar, Sylvanas sat down beside him and cuddle up as close as she could to her husband. "Is it what we think?" Athrodar asked, kissing Sylvanas on the cheek and taking a deep intake of breath when he pressed his nose to her hair. "You know, I think you know I love that shampoo, since you use it a lot."
Sylvanas giggled and nodded her head slowly. "I know you love it." She whispered, turning her head to face him and kissing her husband on the lips lightly. "Just like I know you love cuddling up to me at night, just like I love cuddling up to you. Both staying awake for as long as we can, staring at the fireplace down to the dying embers." She kissed him again and burying her head in his neck. "But we always fail, sleeping on this sofa together with me in your arms and you holding onto me to keep me safe."
"One of the few things outside of our family and war that you love." Athrodar rested is head on top of hers, the pair of them closing their eyes and cuddling up to each other. "Tanadia is sleeping with Alleria in her bed, apparently our little one didn't want to sleep alone when her big sister was in the same room as her."
"She always loved being held whilst she slept. Tanadia is the perfect output for that as she wants nothing more than to make everyone happy. Plus she loves everyone so she will do it regardless." Sylvanas laid down on the sofa to get comfortable, mimicking what Victoria was doing outside and getting the same treatment as Athrodar began to stroke her hair. "I love you, so much." She whispered, looking up at him.
"I love you too. More than I can put into words." Athrodar whispered back to her, leaning down and kissing her forehead before shifting around and laying behind her on the sofa, both of them just about fitting on it but also both knowing that means they get to hold onto each other closely. "Don't get too comfortable, I am almost certain we will be woken up a lot by Cedani's crying."
Sylvanas just smiled and buried her head in Athrodar's chest. "Good. It wouldn't be home without that."
Athrodar chuckled. "No it would not."
