This story: Alyss and Will visit the Ward where they once grew up

"Is that him?" was the question of the day at the orphanage. Baron Arald got the question over and over and over again that morning, sometimes by the same person twice; word spread quickly through the Ward kids. Every time he laughed, and answered, "Yes, that's him." And the kids gasped. It was adorable.

Will and Alyss saw nearly a dozen pairs of eyes locked on them when they walked into the orphanage, but it felt more like a middle. Will shook hands with Baron Arald, who then dropped the formal gesture and clapped him on the back laughing. The kids couldn't tell what they were saying, but they could guess from the gestures what was going on. Alyss and Arald hugged, being just as friendly with each other.

"I can't believe it," one of the kids whispered. "Why would he be here?"

"Ranger business," his sister replied. "It's gotta be."

"Kalan, wouldn't the Baron have said something if he knew Ranger Treaty was coming?"

Seb and his sister, Sabrina, looked over to their friend Kalan, who had stuck his head out farthest from their hiding space behind the door. Kalan didn't look back; he was still still studying the conversation between the three adults, yards away from them.

Kalan was a slightly darker skinned, slightly taller, slightly older boy than the twins Seb and Sabrina. He was also quite a bit more serious, and didn't mind being a sort of role model for the twins. He was only two years older, but two years was a big difference for them when they were that young.

"I think he would've," he answered Seb. "Also, why would Ranger Treaty want to bother visiting an orphanage if not for some Ranger thing?"

"What if one of us is working for the bad guy?" Seb gasped.

"I doubt it. The oldest kid here is me, and I'm eleven. Why would bad people hire somebody that young?"

"What if it's me?!"

Seb was being completely irrational, but Sabrina couldn't miss an opportunity when it was so temptingly laid in front of her. "It's probably you," she replied. Seb's eyes widened.

"Don't fall for it, Seb," Kalan said, still refusing to take his eyes off Will and Alyss. They were done greeting the Baron, now talking to the younger kids in the main room. There was an even lesser chance of them being there for business. Everything was way too… casual.

Not to mention, why would both Alyss and Will be there if it were for Ranger business? Alyss had her own stuff to do. Unless they were here together because they were on a mission together, which had happened before…

This was just so unusual, Kalan couldn't help but obsess over it. He was smart for an eleven-year-old, too, so he thought he could figure it out from the context clues.

"You'd know if you were working for the enemy," answered Kalan. He was only half paying attention to Sabrina and Seb's conversation.

"Maybe not," Seb replied. "Maybe I was brainwashed like the Kalkara."

"The Kalkara are dead. You'll be fine," Kalan muttered. He wished he would stop talking.

"What's Ranger Treaty doing now?" Sabrina asked. She moved to the side of Kalan, to get a better view herself. Seb tried to squeeze in between them two like an awkward third wheel.

"He has Alec in his lap…" Kalan said, "and he's bouncing him on his knee." Definitely not here for a mission, Kalan thought.

Alec was the second youngest of the Ward kids, only having learned to crawl a day or two before. The youngest was too young to crawl, and was taking a nap at the time in another room. Alec was also very outgoing, and crawled up to Will as soon as he saw him. Will absolutely adored babies. The ranger picked him up, sat down in a chair, and bounced him on his leg. Alec laughed every second of it.

Beside his chair, Alyss watched and rolled her eyes. "The legendary Will Treaty, everybody," she introduced sarcastically, to no one in particular.

Will was too giddy to say something smart back. Besides, he knew Alyss was being a hypocrite. As she teased him, she was carrying a six year old girl named Jaden on her hip, who was trying to chew on and play with Alyss's hair and Alyss wasn't doing anything to stop it. "He's so cuute," Will cooed. Alec reached up with his chubby hands and took ahold of Will's oakleaf necklace.

"He's going to eat your necklace," Alyss warned him.

"Let him. He can do what he wants." Sure enough, Alec put the pendant in his mouth and gnawed on it. Will kept swaying him and singing to him.

Alyss beamed down at her husband. He would be a perfect father.

Then something else caught her eye. There were three kids she hadn't seen yet, out of the six that lived in the orphanage, hiding behind a door down the hall. As soon as they saw her staring, the two younger kids gasped and retreated back into the room. The older one stayed.

Alyss decided to bring them into the fun. She walked over, still carrying Jaden, and approached Kalan with a smile on her face. Kalan looked up at her almost defensively, and planted his feet in the ground.

"Why're you hiding?" she asked, kindly.

"Why're you here?" replied the boy.

That took Alyss completely off-guard. She hadn't expected him to be so hostile. The other two kids, who were so similar in their facial features that they could've been- and probably were- twins, started to show themselves again behind him. "We're just paying a little visit," Alyss said. "My husband and I used to be Ward kids too, you know."

"Ms. Mainwaring, that's… Will Treaty, right?" the younger girl asked. She nodded towards Will.

"It is." Alyss chuckled. Will sure was a legend around here. Everybody knew him.

"Why's he wasting his time coming here?" Kalan asked.

Alyss frowned, for the first time since she got there. Wasting time? Was that how he saw it? "Why would this be a waste of time?" The boy was silent. "What're your names?" she asked, adjusting Jaden further up on her hip. The girl was falling asleep in her arms and losing her grip.

"I'm Sabrina, and this is Seb and Kalan," the girl introduced. Alyss looked at each one of them carefully, matching their names with their faces. She nodded.

"Are you two twins?" she asked Seb and Sabrina.

Sabrina nodded. "I'm older, though."

Seb glared at her. "No you're not!" he exclaimed. "We don't even know our parents, how could you know that?!"

His sister grinned. "I just know. I look older than you!"

The twins got into a more involved, verbal fight over who was older despite having no information to back either of their claims up. They looked exactly the same age.

"Come on out here," Alyss said, to Kalan. "Don't be shy."

"We're not shy," the boy countered. He sounded offended.

"Then prove it."

Times like these were exactly why Alyss and Will thought it was a good idea to visit the Ward kids. They remembered all too well what it felt like to not have a mother or a father. Even though Ward kids almost always amounted to something because of how they got apprenticed at the certain age, it was hard to believe in it. Especially for someone like Will, who was bullied. Who knew how many kids there were going through the same thing?

Alyss wanted these kids to have some sense of hope; of a future; of a mother or father figure, more than just Baron Arald. She remembered how Pauline was like a mother to her.

It was possible.

Kalan didn't reply, at first; he looked away as if he were debating what to do in his head. Finally, he walked out into the open and convinced Sabrina and Seb to follow him.

"I can't wait to meet Ranger Will," Seb gushed. "I wonder if he's as cool as he sounds in the stories!"

"I know!" Sabrina said. For all the times she teased him and outsmarted him, she was just as excited as he was, and totally onboard with his enthusiasm. "He doesn't even sound real!"

But, when they finally faced the legendary Will Treaty, they found him bouncing a giggling baby on his knee and singing, "Who's the best ba-by ever, ever? It's Alec, Alec!"

Sabrina and Seb's grins dropped into confused frowns. "Hello, Ranger Will," Kalan greeted, his tone as solid as a brick wall.

"Hello," Will replied in a sing-song voice. "How're you kids today?"

"We're okay… Don't you have some important Ranger stuff to take care of? Like, saving the country, maybe?" Kalan asked.

Will didn't respond. He just kept grinning and admiring Alec. His smile was so high it reached his eyes, and for a few moments he was off in another world until he snapped back to reality and looked back up at Kalan. "Huh?" he said.

Alyss rolled her eyes. What a great father he was going to make someday.