Sorry I haven't updated in a very long time. Life as been busy.

It had been another long day. I'd taken up the throne while Anduin and Connie were on their honeymoon. They planned to only be gone for a month, but Jaina and I were able to convince them they could take a longer trip, since I was there to hold down the fort. It was a surreal change of events, since I was the one being left behind to keep things running while the king was gone.

I had spent the entire day and most of the evening with a handful of noblemen, discussing a land dispute. For some reason, they were having a hard time deciding their property lines. Apparently, the youngest grandson of the family patriarch was hunting on the neighbor's land, though the patriarch was sure the youth had still been on their own property during the hunts. The neighbor wanted the grandson charged with poaching.

The whole mess was really outside the responsibility of the crown, but since the fight impacted two very large extended families and the fight between them could actually start a small civil war, they came to Stormwind to get the ruling of the king.

There had been a time when squabbling like this would have triggered my temper, since trivial matters such as this weren't important during times of war. Fortunately, the land was finally at peace, so I didn't feel the same irritation as I would have in the past. It was just further evidence that I was a changed man. Though, I had a feeling the nobles were a bit calmer with me in the room, rather than my son. When they'd asked for an audience with the crown, I doubted they meant me.

I'd dined with the noblemen. I'd asked Vala if she'd be interested in dining with us, but she'd passed on the offer. I couldn't really blame her. I'd have passed on the invite if I'd had the option. Fortunately, the nobles were still relatively careful around me, afraid the Varian of old might show himself, if they didn't tread lightly.

The meal itself was wonderful and I'd only drank a few mugs of ale, but I still found myself mildly buzzed and sleepy walking back to my chambers. I had to walk past Vala's chambers on the way to my own. I paused outside her door, thinking something was off. It took me a few moments to realize I didn't see a light coming from below her door. It was starting to get very cold at night, meaning I should have seen the faint glow of the fire burning in her sitting room. Even if she was sleeping in her bedroom, both the fire in the bedroom and the sitting room should have remained lit, to keep the temperature up in the chambers as a whole.

I knocked on the door, not expecting a response. When I heard none, I opened the door slowly, just in case Vala was in the sitting room. I didn't want to scare her. The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the room fully was just how cold it was inside. The outside temperature was below freezing and the temperature within the room couldn't have been much warmer. I looked to the fireplace and it was indeed out.

There were lamps around the room which were still lit, so the room wasn't completely dark. I looked more closely at the fire, finding it had been extinguished, it hadn't burned down on its own. I started to head to the bedroom, but stopped when I saw a form sitting by the wall at the far side of the room.

"Vala?" I asked, approaching her slowly.

She didn't reply, but she was definitely awake, sitting against the wall with her legs pulled up to her chest, with her arms wrapped around them. I sat down slowly next to her, placing a hand on her arm. It was ice cold and she didn't respond to my touch.

"Light, Vala, you're freezing? What's wrong?"

I didn't really need to ask her what was wrong. This was the first time since she'd been in Stormwind that the temperature dropped well below freezing outside. Even with the fires, she must have felt the cold and was taken back to her time in the cave and the gatherings. Instinctively, she did what she had done dozens of times to survive over the years. I turned to her, so I was facing her. She barely looked at me. I could tell she was terrified.

"There's no gathering, Vala. You're safe in Stormwind. It's just getting to be close to wintertime. I'm going to go relight the fires and get you a blanket, alright?"

Vala didn't reply, but I hadn't really thought she would, considering her state.

I stood, walking over to the sitting room fire. I lit it quickly, the supplies to do so being on the mantle of the fireplace. I then headed over to Vala's bedroom, finding her bedroom fire extinguished, as well. I relit the fire, then grabbed one of the heavy blankets at the end of her bed. When I returned to the sitting room, Vala hadn't moved at all.

"Come on, let's get you warmed up."

I pulled her to her feet, guiding her over to the front of the fire, so she was on the floor, leaning against the sofa directly in front of the flames. I wrapped the blanket around her, tucking it in so she was cocooned within the warm fabric. I sat down next to her and pulled her to me, rubbed her arm through the blanket, trying to warm her up.

We sat quietly in front of the fire, watching the flames bounce around.

"You must think I'm terribly foolish." Vala said quietly, breaking the silence.

I pulled her closer to me, basically giving her a one arm hug.

"Of course not. You spent five years doing exactly what you just did to survive. I'm not even surprised your brain went in this direction the moment it started getting cold outside. I'm just happy I checked when I saw there was no light from your fire shining under your door. You'd have pneumonia by morning if you'd sat there all night."

"I guess I'm not as settled as I'd thought." Her voice was barely a whisper and she took a deep, shaky breath.

I turned her so she faced me. She almost looked like she was near tears.

"You're doing fine. Better than fine, really. You were stranded with no one but demons for five years. Getting your brain out of fulltime survival mode will take time. Don't sell yourself short."

She finally lifted her eyes up to meet mine. I put my free hand on her cheek, rubbing the soft skin under her eye. Without really thinking about what I was doing, I leaned in and kissed her. It was soft and gentle and she actually kissed me back. I pulled away, shocked at what I'd just done.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly, though I didn't remove my hand from her cheek and, if I were being honest with myself, I wasn't really sorry I'd kissed her.

"Why? It was nice." She replied. The kiss seemed to have pulled her out of her stupor.

She smiled up at me, pulling her arms out from her blanket cocoon and wrapping them around me. I took her action as permission and kissed her again. This time, the kiss was a bit less gentle. Vala moved her hand from my back, to my chest, then snaked them around my neck. I'd removed my hand from her cheek, using both my arms to pull her into my lap, all without either of us breaking the kiss.

After several minutes, we broke the kiss, but kept our foreheads touching. "I'm not cold anymore." Vala announced.

I laughed and she laughed with me, sitting in each other's arms.

To Be Continued...