To everyone who have been leaving reviews: Thanks so much for even letting me know there are readers! To answer the question about the pool of blood thing: it's up to you to make of it what you will. This is a story, it speaks for itself, and at the same time readers will interpret it in their own way. I can't tell you what to think if it wasn't explicitly stated in the story. :)

Providence

Part Three

Chapter Two

Hanzar opened his eyes and found himself rather comfortable. His leg ached but the pain had dulled since he last remembered.

He jolted his head up and looked around. It was dark, and he briefly wondered what day it was—but more importantly, he wondered where he had found himself this time, and if what he last remembered had been a dream.

Asleep some distance away he saw the human and the long-haired elf. The warrior had his sword on the ground beside him. When he didn't see Garoul, he thought he must have imagined it. He sighed.

"Hello," he heard in crude Orcish. He spun around to see what he was glad and horrified to see: she stood just inside the cover of the trees, her hands at her sides and her hair slightly longer than he remembered. Her eyes and face were still the same, but it looked as if she had aged some. He saw her belly and wondered if the other elf was the father, but decided it didn't concern him when she sat down beside him.

She drew her knees up to her chest and nervously held them there, glancing between him and the ground. "We fixed you," she told him in a quiet voice. The elf rubbed her leg. "How... how have you been?"

It took a moment for him to realize she was still speaking his language. She must have practiced—a lot. It must have been some sick joke from the powers that be, he thought, to bring him here, to her.

"Fine," he replied dismissively. He felt almost... disappointed to learn he hadn't been the only one then. But it was inevitable. There was a surge of jealousy in his chest and he pushed it back. He attempted to close his eyes and feign sleep, but a hand on his cheek made him look up.

She looked so sad, he couldn't imagine what would have put such a severe look on her smooth face. "Oh, Hanzar..." His eyes widened in surprise when he felt a tear drip onto his face. Ashamed she sat back and wrapped her arms around herself. The tears came quickly and he couldn't fathom the reason.

"Why...?" He sat up and felt it surprisingly easy. Realizing that this small elf held considerable emotional power over him, he reached out and lightly touched her cheek with his knuckles, as he had once done. "Don't cry, ridiculous elf."

Suddenly he felt arms around him. She was curled up to him, her fingers digging into his side as she shook with sobs. Her face was hidden in his chest and Hanzar, mystified, patted her head. What she was so upset about he didn't know—but surely she hadn't missed him. It had only been a fling, after all.

So when she raised her head and leaned into his ear, his spine went stiff, and she whispered into his ear, "It's yours."

With that she detached herself and stood rapidly, still shaking, and walked out of the small enclave.

He sat stunned. His mouth opened to form words but none came; instead, he made a kind of whimpering noise while his brain attempted to process what had been said.

"How—but, I mean," he sputtered. Jumping to his feet—and nearly falling when his right one failed to support him—he called, "Wait!" He jogged the way she went, not sure what to think, but knowing at once he didn't want her out of his sight.

Using trees to keep him aloft and hopping unbalanced between them, he hurried the way he thought she went. He could hear the sound of her brushing leaves and plants. "Come back here!" he shouted this time, knowing she had to hear him. He wondered why she kept running, and then he realized it.

"I'm not going to hurt you! Just come here!" Immediately he heard the footsteps ahead of him halt. Gasping with a lack of breath and the pain shooting through his leg, Hanzar finally saw her, leaning on a tree, her whole body shaking. He approached her slowly and paused just before he pulled her against him.

They were silent as he propped himself up against the tree and held the crying elf close against him. It was too much at once, but at once he found himself thinking of her not as a member of the Alliance, or an elf, or as anything but Garoul. Their time together had impacted him more than he had cared to admit. He had spent so long blocking her out of his mind, when it was really this that he needed.

For a moment, he wondered what Banik would say. Probably, "Strange, did not think, elfie and troll." Then he would laugh.

When it seemed her crying had somewhat subsided, he took her chin in his hand and tilted it up so he could look at her. "I haven't cried," she managed out. "I haven't. I didn't... you..." It was obvious she couldn't think of the words to express herself, so he only shook his head.

"You just need to worry about yourself," he told her. He couldn't even imagine what had befallen her, to be wandering the Ashenvale woods in the middle of a war, but he had an idea. The troll ran his hand through her hair and found it as soft as ever.

"After... I stayed at the bay, but when... I knew... it all broke." She cleared her throat, taking a step back from him. He didn't try to stop her. "They take me here. They left, too. We all did." She paused. "But I don't want. They be in Stormwind, or Darnassus, not here, not me. Away from war. Away from me." Hanzar took her arm and drew it away from her, enveloping her small hand in his. "I am selfish." He wondered where she had learned her Orcish—'selfish' was not a commonly used word.

He had no words for her. Instead he kissed her forehead and leaned back against the tree, bringing her with him. Her hands clutched his waist. As a troll, he had one duty; one honor: family. Whether or not he felt something for this woman was now irrelevant. If she told the truth—and he was sure she did—he would have to do something for her. Something to keep her and whatever bastard child she had safe.

"Don't worry," he said into her ear, "I will protect you."