A/N – I struggled with this chapter, mostly because of the way my story was going. I've gotten feedback from more than one person about the conflict between Faith and Sylvanas, and yes, I know I might have put a lot of it in there. It was intentional. From now on, it should be smoother, assuming my imagination doesn't run away with me again.

She was gone. I had banished her. She had screamed when I'd pushed her through the portal, but I hadn't paid attention to that. I couldn't.

She was right. I did love her. And my love for her had caused me to make questionable decisions as of late. Her killing Shaladyn to save my life had showed me just how much she loved me, although I'd already known that.

I couldn't afford the distraction. Too many people already had called me soft for having agreed to release the druid, when I should have executed her right away, at least for trespassing. When it came to what she had done to Faith, something told me I should have left that alone.

With Faith gone, I could focus on running my city the way it was supposed to be run, and I was free to focus more on the Scourge.

They were far too active. All of us had heard the rumors about Arthas being in the Eastern Plaguelands, and it was making us antsy.

It's not just rumors, either, I thought. You hear him.

I did hear him. My mind sometimes was flooded with his thoughts, to the point that it nearly drove me crazy. It was during those times that I wished I had Faith with me. I missed her, and she'd always been able to ground me, even though I'd been close to seriously hurting her last time I'd seen her.

I shook my head, turning around when I heard someone enter my office.

"Lady Sylvanas, we have reports from the Eastern Plaguelands. Apparently, death knights have been attacking the Scarlet enclave. Almost everyone was slaughtered there."

"And the Argent Dawn?"

"They're working on it, but there aren't many of them there. Even with their new recruits, I think that their numbers are less than a thousand."

"Not enough," I muttered.

I had no love for the Scarlet Crusade, who viewed us in the same light they viewed the Scourge. But I wasn't sure I wanted to see all of them slaughtered and brought back to bolster the ranks of the Scourge.

"Faith would want us to go help."

"Please don't tell me what Faith would want us to do!" I snapped at Rotvine, who backed away slightly. "Besides, we don't have the numbers."

We didn't. Even if I emptied the whole of Undercity, there wouldn't be enough of us to make a dent in the Scourge in the Plaguelands. Especially not if Arthas were there.

But Rotvine had said the words that had given me pause. Faith would want us to. I could already imagine her fighting them with the Argent Dawn. I saw her body beaten down and broken, raised into undeath to serve Arthas until the end of time.

Stop it! Stop thinking that Faith is going to die!

But it was a possibility, wasn't it? She was so reckless that she could very well jump into the fray and be killed.

"Ready the Magi Corps," I told him. "And send someone to Hearthglen to warn them of our arrival."

"My queen, they're not in Hearthglen."

"What are you saying?"

"They've relocated to Light's Hope Chapel."

Fear went through me like a fork of lightning. In the two months I'd sent Faith away, I'd forced myself not to think about her too much. But she'd stolen into my thoughts regularly. How was she? Had she gotten over me? Taken a new lover? Was she still reckless?

I hadn't once thought about her actually going deep into Scourge territory.

"It will take us a week to reach them," I said. And by then it might be too late. "Go. Just go. We leave in an hour."

I outfitted myself in unusual armor, one that actually covered my entire body for once. Everyone else did the same, both living and undead alike, all of them wearing the Undercity colors so as not to be confused with members of the Scourge.

We rode hard for a week through the festering remains of what had been Lordaeron. It had been beautiful, I remembered that, having ventured there several times. But absolutely nothing remained of its former beauty.

We fought the Scourge every step of the way. They practically came out of the ground at us, and during one horrible moment as we passed by Darrowmere Lake, they came from the churning waters, dripping with ichor and what seemed to be poison.

I lost count of just how many of them we killed. I spent my arrows more than once, and had to make more as we took small rests so that the living members of our troops could have some much-needed sleep.

Finally, after a week of riding through lands that were too tainted even for my taste, we reached Light's Hope Chapel, and right into a nightmare.

An enormous battle was raging around the chapel. The Argent Dawn, completely outnumbered, was fighting hard. I spotted Faith immediately. Her blonde hair was in a high ponytail, and there was a long bleeding scratch on her right cheek, but she looked all right, if thinner than I remembered her.

She saw me, and our eyes locked. I saw her mouthing my name, just as she performed a spell that took out five Scourge minions at once.

But I didn't have time to watch her. Already, the Scourge had caught on to the fact that we were there, and were beginning to fight us. I lost all track of time, aware only that the Scourge kept coming.

I didn't know how we were going to get out of this. The situation seemed lost until I saw Tirion Fordring use the powers of the Light to defeat the Scourge commander, whom I later learned was Darion Mograine, and kill every member of the Scourge in the immediate area.

The fighting came to a halt as Mograine knelt in submission. Faith came to me, limping a little, and I looked at her briefly, wanting to hold her.

As Tirion was about to speak, the voice I'd been hearing in my mind started to laugh. The Lich King materialized in front of us, and I heard Faith give a cry of rage. I felt my own fury swirling within me, and was hard-pressed to keep myself composed enough to stop from going after him.

"Ah," he said, his voice dark and menacing. "Did you really think that you could defeat me?"

"Arthas, you fiend," cried Tirion. "This is hallowed ground! Even with half our forces defeated, you wouldn't be able to kill us all! You sent your precious death knights to their deaths, didn't you?"

Arthas laughed again, his eyes resting on Faith and I, "Could it be? Sylvanas Windrunner and… little Faith. How sweet."

Faith was shaking.

"Faith, don't," I said quickly, putting an arm around her to keep her from doing something crazy.

"I could kill her, you know," said Arthas to me. He raised his hand and Faith gasped, clutching at her throat. Her face went white in less than a second, and I gave a cry, ready to charge, but Tirion sent a blast of Light towards Arthas, who didn't move, except that he released her.

She fell back against me, coughing and breathing hard. Hamu ran to her. Until then, I hadn't even noticed him there. The glare he gave me told me that his feelings towards me hadn't changed a bit.

"I'm okay…" she said. "Help me up?"

We did, holding her between us just as Arthas batted away his commander, Mograine, who had attacked him. I remembered who he was now, son of Alexandros Mograine, who had fallen years previously and had become one of the lords of Naxxramas, a horrible Scourge necropolis.

"I think we can finish this," said Arthas. "I'll make it almost painless if you stop resisting."

"Stay behind me, Faith," I said. "If I fall, Hamu, get her out of here."

"Sylvanas…"

"Stay behind me," I repeated.

I felt her clinging to the back of my armor, but miraculously, she obeyed me as Arthas struck at Tirion, who was wielding a sword I recognized, Ashbringer.

"You cannot defeat us here, Arthas! And you knew that!" He held Ashbringer aloft, and it seemed to glow from within, its light so bright that I had to look away.

The death knights around us turned towards Arthas, their swords raised. I heard a couple of them wonder that exact same thing.

"You are right," said Arthas. "I did send them all here to die." He paused and looked around, "The next time we meet, Tirion, will not be on holy ground. Count on it." The next moment, he was gone, leaving his death knights and the remainder of his army right where they were.

"What just happened?" asked Faith, echoing what I felt. "We weren't supposed to survive this."

"I'm not one to begrudge a good outcome," said Hamu. "But I have to ask that too. Why did he back off?"

"He knew he didn't stand a chance against this sword on holy ground," said Lord Tirion.

"Ten thousand Scourge against three hundred of us and five hundred Forsaken," whispered Faith. "And we made it with only one hundred casualties?"

"Don't question it now, Faith, just accept it."

She nodded and looked at me, "What are you doing here?"

"We were in the neighborhood."

A small smile, "Lucky for us that you came when you did." She looked down for a moment, before her eyes found mind, "How are you?"

"All right." I raised my hand and gently wiped the scratch on her cheek that was still oozing blood, "You should get that healed if you don't want a scar."

"I think other people need healing more than I do," she said, flinching a little at my touch. "But thank you."

"Okay." I began to walk away when she said my name. Oh, please don't be crying, I thought.

"I'm sorry," she said.

I looked back at her, "What?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way I acted. I've hurt you, and I never meant to."

"Are you asking me if you can come back to Undercity?"

She shook her head, "No. That's up to you. I… can we talk?"

Talk. That was long overdue. "Yes. But I'm not sure this is the best place or time."

"I understand." She walked away from me, something she'd never done before. I watched her for a while, before turning my attention to Lord Tirion, who was talking to Mograine.

"What you did was inexcusable, Darion. I should end it right here and now. But you've learned the errors of your ways."

"What do we do now?" asked one of the death knights, his voice underlined with death.

"Join us," said Faith. She blushed when we all looked at her. "Join us in fighting the Scourge."

Tirion nodded, "The Scarlet Crusade is no more because of what you've done, and there aren't many of us left in the Argent Dawn, so I hereby rename us the Argent Crusade. We will take this fight to Northrend, and destroy as many members of the Scourge as possible."

"Since the Knights of the Silver Hand are gone," said Mograine, "I suppose we should be called something else too, assuming that my death knights agree to join you all."

I looked carefully at them, and they seemed to nod.

"In that case, I rename us the Knights of the Ebon Blade, and I state that we would be more than happy to join the Horde and the Alliance in their fight against the Scourge. First, we'll have to clear Archerus," he pointed above us, where a Scourge necropolis was floating. "But after that… I guess we'll go to the capital cities?

"I'll vouch for the knights of the Horde races," I said.

"And I'll vouch for the Alliance," said Tirion.

"You think we'll be accepted? After everything we've done?"

Faith stepped forward, "The Horde accepted the Forsaken into the fold, despite the fact that they had all belonged to the Scourge. You've broken free from the Lich King, so I believe the same will hold true here, for both sides."

"What if they don't?"

"Then I will open Undercity to all of you," I said. "You'll be welcome with us."

They nodded and thanked me. After some time, they began to break away from us and I turned my gaze towards Faith, who was talking to her brother. As I watched, he nudged her and nodded to me. She turned around and I motioned for her to follow me into the small graveyard, which was quiet.

She looked apprehensive as she leaned on a headstone and I imitated her, crossing my arms.

"Last time we saw each other," I began. "It wasn't all your fault. I'm to blame for a lot of what happened. I should have let you handle it on your own."

"I shouldn't have gone behind your back."

"Why did you?"

"Because I thought I was doing the right thing. But I should have talked to you about it first. I… we should have gone together to Moonglade."

I nodded once, "This isn't just about Moonglade, though, is it?"

"No." She swallowed hard, "It's been hard for me."

"Yeah, I know."

"No, Sylvanas, you don't. I lost everything and everyone I loved."

I knew this.

"But the thing is, so did a lot of other people. You see that girl over there with the dark red hair?"

I looked over, making an affirmative sound. The girl, as Faith called her, was a human woman of about thirty years of age, who was smiling and talking to a night elf.

"She was the only survivor of her family too. She lost her parents, sister, husband, and her two children to the Scourge. And she didn't give up."

"Neither did you," I pointed out.

"No. But I guess I milked it a little."

Milked it? "I've never heard you asking for sympathy."

"I didn't. But I didn't know how to let go of the pain. I guess I still haven't, even though I'm working on it. I still have nightmares, and I'm still very scared in general. But you were right. I didn't take the time to take your feelings into consideration before I did anything. Me."

I smiled a little. She had a point there. "I didn't do such a good job at that either. I also should have told you exactly how I felt." I looked at her, really looked, taking in the fact that she was thinner, but more muscled, and that she had cut her hair a little. "I came here for you."

"What do you mean?"

"When I heard that you guys had relocated here, I got scared."

"You never get scared."

"You are the only person who can make me feel any real fear, Faith. And it's one of the reasons I've been so hard on you. I don't like feeling that way. I already disliked it when I was alive."

"You were scared for me when you were alive?"

"I used to sit up at night and wonder what I would do if anything happened to you. If you were to die. That's why when I saw the way you were acting, leaping into things without thinking about it… Faith you scared me to death, if you'll pardon the pun."

She looked down.

"I don't want you to die. I want you alive and healthy. I want you to fight for your life, and for the lives of everyone you care about."

"That's you, Sylvanas."

I smiled, "All right then, fight for me." I moved towards her, placing a finger under her chin so that she'd look at me, "I. Do not. Want you to die."

She blinked, looking into my eyes for a second before looking away. She'd never been able to hold my gaze for very long when she was emotional.

"So… what do we do now?"

"I don't know, Faith." Did I want to start over with her? I wanted that more than anything, but something told me to wait. But could I stay away from her again? We'd been separated for two months, and I'd missed her so much sometimes that my hands had shaken as I'd tried to sign my name to documents.

"I want to come back with you," she said quietly. "But…"

"But what?"

"Should I? I mean, can we make it work? Can we go back to the way things were before?"

"Before I died, you mean? I'm not sure we can get that back, sweetheart."

"But you still love me?"

"I will always love you, you know that." I chuckled a little, "Even if I don't show it the way I should."

"And I love you. I… I would die for you, Sylvanas. You know that, don't you?"

There it was. "And that's what scares me, Faith. That you love me so much that you'd be willing to sacrifice your life for me."

"You did it for me. And please don't tell me that it was your job."

"But it was my job. I wasn't thinking as Ranger-General then, I was thinking as the woman who should have proposed to you, but didn't."

"So why is it… you don't want me to die for you?" She bit her lip, "I know you said that you don't want me to die."

"If it were up to me, I would lock you in my chambers and never let you out again, to make sure that you're safe."

She began to laugh. It sounded painful, but at least her amusement was genuine, "And you don't want anybody to know about that."

"No. They already think I'm insane. This would solidify the notion." I stroked her uninjured cheek, "I missed you. And I do want you to come home. But I also want you to take your time."

"I'll do that. I missed you too, Sylvanas." She pressed her cheek against my gloved hand, closing her eyes for a brief moment. "I will come home. But not right away."

"Okay."

"Can I write to you?" she asked.

I cracked a smile, "Yeah. That'll bring back memories, us writing to each other."

It was a start.

A/N – again – The Battle for Light's Hope Chapel gave me a some pause, and for a moment, I thought I was going to be completely stuck with it. I hope it flowed okay, but if I can, I may rewrite it a little so that it flows better. Let me know what you think, if you've made it this far into the story! And thank you for reading!