Colin open his eyes, a cracking pain running through his back as it fell into the ground. His eyes now just opened, the bright sun hit him, just underneath the shadow of a figure, standing above him with a sword in his hand. Colin had no feeling to resist, even once the man, his eyes just bright enough to break through his shadow, lifting his shapely sword toward Colin's neck.

"Checkmate," came a dramatically deep voice, just before the sword pulled back away from Colin.

The man sheathed his weapon and leaned down, taking Colin's arm and quickly pulling him to his feet, leaving him with a quick word of advice, "That's why you don't ever expose your calves. I'll punish you for it every time."

Colin reached to his back to massage it, finding the aching pain to remain, "Yeah, got it. Why did you have to knee me in the back though?"

The man shrugged, "Sorry; that one was an accident. It's not too bad, I hope."

"An accident?" Colin questioned, though the man simply grinned.

Seething underneath the man Colin had come to know over the course of this week, Nylfallas, he shook his head, "Nothing I don't need to get accustomed to, I suppose."

Nylfallas nodded as he patted Colin on the back, rather forcefully, "Hey, you get knocked down seven times and you get back up eight. It's a great trait to have; it'll get you farther than any skill you could have."

"And I've got little of that," Colin grinned.

Nylfallas tossed Colin his own sword, turning to grab another, "You have more than you know. You say you've had to be scrappy; just keep that in mind."

Colin examined his sword appraisingly, "Yeah, that usually involves me talking my way out of things."

His opponent shrugged, "How far will that get you with the dragonflight eyeing you?"

With a gentle sigh, Colin held up his sword, "How far will this sword get me?"

Nylfallas chuckled deeply, "Not much more, but you've already encountered moments where words have no meaning. The silithids don't speak, at least not any of our languages, so we cant exactly convince them otherwise. All we have are our weapons."

Colin sighed again, carefully approaching the man, slowly, "Okay, so pretend you're a silithid… Got it."

The elf grinned before also assuming his stance, though much more confidently than Colin ever could have. His human counterpart was as uncomfortable as ever behind his blade, harkening Nylfallas back to his own early days, learning swordsmanship from his father. Kelaeth wasn't particularly interested in the finer parts, but Nylfallas relished the grace that could be had between a man and his blade. His father was much the same; Eldris may have held his life right in time with his fellow Illidari, but much like the Silverwings and their nightsabers, his best friend on many occasions was his own sword.

Despite the nostalgia, Nylfallas also knew Colin would learn nothing if he were to go easy on him, so as Colin approached and clumsily swung at him, he quickly dodged and pulled his sword up toward Colin's neck. Suddenly, however, before he could make it, a flame burst through the air as Colin's hand waved toward him, forcing Nylfallas back a few steps.

"I forgot you knew some spells," the elf commended, impressed, "Why not combine the two more often? You could make it a while new thing: "the battlemage". Catchy, isn't it?"

Colin sighed lightly, "And here I was under the impression that you were some serious Cenarion Circle, battle-hardened veteran of centuries."

Nylfallas grinned, but his head turned toward the trees as a loud voice shot out, the unmistakably authoritative shout of a former head of Teldrassil's entire collection of Sentinels, "What on earth are you two doing?!"

Colin immediately raised his sword to point toward Nylfallas, "Hey, he's the one who practically dragged me out here!"

Kyra stared at her brother with droll eyes, though he only shrugged with a smirk, "He seemed interested in wanting to learn to fight."

With a groan, Kyra slouched her shoulders, "We don't need any of that anymore. Not anymore; we're more than happy just having a home here in the forests of Stonetalon, going on peaceful adventures to see the world…"

She looked at Colin as though waiting for his confirmation, though he only shrugged back, "I still need to make sure I'm able to protect you."

Kyra covered her face with her hands in exasperation, imagining some event where Colin might just fly off the handle and get killed for her sake. Her face rose up from her hands and her eyes peered back at him as he mentioned toward Nylfallas.

"I mean, look at him; he could probably protect Esaria from a major silithid with one arm tied behind his back."

Nylfallas grunted to himself, turning to Colin with dismay, "Believe me, a human couldn't live enough lifetimes to stand next to a Cenarion soldier. I respect your admiration, and your dedication to my sister, but truly, if there were any adversary with which she could not handle, it may not be worth attempting yourself."

The man heartily slammed his hand over Colin's shoulder with a grin, "Unless you have a death wish or something."

Colin sighed deeply, "Some would say I've already persevered through such things, but no, I don't."

Nylfallas nodded approvingly, "Ahh, yes. I don't mean to nail you down or discourage you; I'm just making sure you understand the facts is all."

"I like you," he approved, patting Colin's shoulder further, "I'd hate to see you bit off too much and die, that's all. Especially considering the gift you've been given."

Kyra's face grew cold as she muttered, "You, uh, aren't going to tell anybody, right?"

Nylfallas laughed as he spun toward her, "About the human that will be seen alive a thousand years from now?! No, of course I won't!"

Kyra groaned as she rubbed her face, Nylfallas turning to leave as he bent down to grab ahold of his weapon, "Now, speaking of Esaria, I do believe my poor hostess of a sister has left her inside, alone, so we should be getting back."

Kyra smirked, pointing a thumb over her shoulder, "There's our druid in the shed; she's far from alone."

"She's quiet, not stupid," Nylfallas shot back as he began toward the house in the distance, "It's time we wrapped up this session, anyway. Maybe next time, kid. Until then, I believe you wanted to be party to a ceremony of Elune, correct?"

Colin nodded, "I mean, I figure it is the least I can do."

Nylfallas smiled as he went on, leaving the others behind him. Kyra she turned back toward Colin, who distantly trudged on toward their home himself, only stopping as Kyra reached over to block his path, watching his far-off face. He didn't turn back to her, but she spoke up anyway, more at him than to him at this point, given his mood.

"I love you."

Colin sighed, surrendering his frustration, turning to Kyra and wrapping an arm around her, "I love you too."

She eyed him as they began walking, "I don't ever say that just to have you repeat it; I sincerely want to remind you."

"The same reason I reply," Colin noted, though his face remained distant, "That, and I truly enjoy the silence that sometimes occurs when you're not expecting it, and you look up at me in surprise."

Kyra's face turned a twinge of scarlet, though she wasn't embarrassed much by his words but by how observant he had been. Even she wondered why it surprised her, sometimes, to hear those words from him, though it still would excite her upon turning her head only to see Colin watching her from afar as though absolutely mesmerized simply by her appearance.

Kyra smiled as she began walking in time with him so as to clutch around his body as well, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked, "This last year has been the greatest time of my life."

"Really?" Colin questioned with a smirk, "Certainly you're not talking about rebuilding after than knoll pack came through and tore down our storage room!"

"No, but after that, rebuilding it together; it was fun," Kyra admitted, whimsically, "I'm not talking about the storm that nearly took the roof of, either. I meant the many nights you've held me close, those times making food together, and you swipe some ingredient on my face just for an excuse to lick it off. You know, the magical times."

"Magical?" Colin questioned, sincerely, "I think your definition differs from mine."

Kyra smiled, "The magical thing being that, everything good that we have, we'll have for many, many years."

"Yeah," Colin nodded, leaning over to kiss her forehead, "I wouldn't trade it for anything."

The two walked slowly, step-by-step together, until they found their way back home. It was a modestly sized little cottage of a place, built up by and around the many dense trees of Stonetalon, further up the mountain that even the lumber-seeking Horde wouldn't venture. The nights were dark and whispy, akin to the darkly purple hues of Teldrassil, but the days still brought sunlight, and in that cycle, Kyra had come to feel more like a human. With time moving along, visibly, each day felt more precious –more worthwhile- and she had begun to think in terms of how to make each day special.

Colin did much the same, though the two still managed to have something of a fun time. They would still go off and wander along the world, visiting some friends, or simply just to travel around. Most all of Kyra's family had managed a visit, save for her parents, Kelaeth, and her second-youngest sister, Syheath, but the two had managed a trip or two up to Hyjal, once again, to visit; the three still recovering from their hellish encounter a year ago atop that peak.

Kyra turned toward the open door of their storage shed, scanning over the large stack of hay from within, always expecting to see it begin to collapse as the man within the small stood up, though, as it had been for the last year or so, it hadn't ever happened. Colin caught her stare and emulated her, though his own glare was accompanied by words.

"Still not awake, huh?" he asked, "You just know it'll happen when we least expect it. Maybe when we're gone or, you know, some dragonkin will be attacking our home and he'll burst out, magic blazing."

Kyra grinned, "He'll understand if we're gone. I'm just worried about him wandering off on some ill-fated adventure. I've hardly spoken to him and I'm still somewhat worried."

"Well, cutting hair will do that to you," Colin acknowledged as the two continued toward the door of their home, "I'll start talking to him, too, while I'm in there. I think I was looking for something, even, and started asking him where it'd gone to."

Kyra nodded as she pulled away, allowing her to open the door, the two entering to see Nylfallas standing in the middle of the room, looking around in awe as he stared up toward the ceiling, "You know, I'm still surprised by how big you managed to make this place. And this vein of wood here…"

He pointed to a blueish streak of wood that ran through many of the boards that composed the house, Colin's eyes following his finger, "Yeah, we managed to procure some wood from Teldrassil itself."

Nylfallas looked at him suspiciously, making Colin laugh, "No, it's not as sketchy as it sounds. Tyrande was more than happy to offer a sliver to the Sister who reclaimed one of their most promising druids from the clutches of Fandral."

Nodding approvingly, Nylfallas turned to sit behind his wife, Esaria, who'd been sitting, cross-legged, in the couch, listening to the others. Colin made his way toward another chair while Kyra grabbed a bowl that had been sitting, quite prominently, atop the small fireplace they'd managed to construct. She carefully laid it upon the small table which all the chairs had circled, before sitting down herself, slowly pouring water into the unassuming bowl.

"Ahh," Nylfallas nodded, reverently, "Esaria, dear, Colin hasn't had a chance to see many of our elven rituals, but he's very interested. Would you mind helping with the shan'dora?"

His wife nodded gently as she made her way onto her knees in front of the table as her husband followed along beside her. Colin watched, intrigued, but also slightly worried by the cryptic sight, his eyes looking up to Kyra, who smiled back.

"It's just a small thing," she confirmed, lightly, "It's to purify water in case there aren't any moonwells available for healing or prayer or whatever."

Nylfallas nodded, "Indeed. We employ many priestesses simply to perform this act. Esaria was one of them, actually, who followed along to Silithus."

"Yes," Esaria confirmed through a quiet, crystalline voice that seemed would shatter were she to speak much louder.

Her hand just barely sunk into the waters as her husband reached over to hold the bowl in place. The water hadn't filled the bowl, giving it about half of the vessel's volume to move as the still water began to move, swirling gently around Esaria's motionless hand.

Colin was so fixated on the suddenly moving water that he hadn't even noticed the priestess' eyes until he suddenly noticed them brightening from the corner of his own eyes. Her delicate lips spoke silently, as if speaking into the beyond, her eyes as still as her hand as they stared off into that same abyss. Suddenly, the water slowed to a stop, the same ghostly property from the moonwells seemingly transitioning into the, what used to be, unpurified water. It lacked the tiny wisps bouncing across its surface, but just by staring at it, Colin could tell that his hand could run throw the water, uninhibited by any resistance water normally took into its properties.

"Wow," Colin muttered in astonishment, "I mean, I didn't doubt it could be dome but, seeing it like this… It's very, uh, mystical, I suppose."

Kyra grinned as she stood to collect some jars to capture the moon-like water, "We're all so closely tied to it from birth, we sometimes forget how astonishing it can be to others."

Nylfallas spoke up as well as he pulled his hands back, helping his wife dry her hands off on a small handkerchief, "So long as it's done for some use. Cenarius and pretty much any of our deities don't want our magic debases to the level of parlor tricks. In this instance, you'll have same for your journey to Teldrassil, should you need it, and my sister mentioned using some to help acquaint you to some of our customs or rituals."

The man smirked as he rubbed his beard, "Believe me, we know our rituals. That comes with the territory; your mother a Shadowleaf and your father a former Illidari."

Kyra knelt down at the opposite end of the table, carefully pouring the ghastly water into a collection of small jars while Colin replied with a chuckle, "Well, it must have already rubbed off on me, then."

Nylfallas eyed him critiquingly, "Hey, now don't sell yourself short. Despite anything I said earlier, you've more than earned a spot at my sister's side, and within my family. Regardless of whether or not you have that print on your cheek there."

Colin had surmised as much once the ritual had begun that, perhaps, his cheek had lit up, though by now, he'd been used to it enough that it failed to bother him at this point. Esaria stood and took the now-empty bowl and, with the same handkerchief, dried it out.

"You're strong-willed," Nylfallas noted, "And these days, that's worth much. Plus, were we to object anyway, my sister would assuredly, uh, "raise hell", as it were."

"You're damn right," Kyra smirked, "So you two are heading out?"

"Yes," Esaria replied through the same crystalline voice.

Nylfallas stood beside her and gathered what few bags they had brought, "A job is never done for two of the Cenarion Circle, especially now with this renewed interest in those sands. I'd hate to imagine why a faction's flag is so important to be hung there, but I digress."

Colin smiled as he stood as well, the two giving their goodbyes before heading out the door, though Nylfallas halted himself, raising a finger in pause, "Now, about that druid…"

Kyra stared at him with a grimace, nearly groaning before he could continue, "Make sure he has fresh hay before you leave. It'd be a shame for his roost to be insulting to him were he to awaken."

The two sighed in relief as Nylfallas smiled, "But you didn't hear that from me. I'm not even aware of a druid here."

He held his wife around her shoulders as they went on through the door, disappearing behind the wooden door, allowing Colin a moment to dry the sweat at his brow, "He needs to work on establishing context earlier."

Kyra frowned, shaking her head, "The guy is always by the book; I'm shocked he even visited while we were harboring a fugitive. If not for his wife's assurances, I would still be frightened of him letting the word out!"

She carefully collected the four jars and took them over to a small chest of drawers, laying the out gently, bending over the wooden piece of furniture as she spread out an area for them. As she stood up, her back met with Colin's torso, who had made his way over quietly enough, his arms wrapping around her midsection as his chin fell to her shoulder.

"You know, it almost feels like I have something of a family now," Colin admitted quietly as Kyra's hands rubbed down his arms until enclosing over his own pair, "I mean, I'm assuming Nylfallas is just being a big brother, what with his no-nonsense stuff."

"And his absolute lack of tact," Kyra frowed.

Colin chuckled, "And his lack of tact, yes. I mean, your family is great; they've all been so kind to me."

"We're you expecting them all to hate you?" Kyra laughed as she turned her head over toward his.

He shrugged as best he could, "I don't know. Nylfallas sort of hinted at it, but I figured I'd have to prove myself to them or something."

"I'm sorry," Kyra began, wryly enough, "Are you saying that resurrecting our father wasn't enough?"

Colin stared off into space, "Oh. Yeah, I guess that would do it."

Kyra grinned as she spun her body around in his arms, wrapping her own arms around him, "Besides, I'd "raise hell" if not allowed by your side, remember?"

"Yeah," Colin smiled, "Funny, Ascal said pretty much the same thing when I first ran into him. I was chosen because, where one of us goes, the other is sure to follow."

Kyra nodded, "And with my family, we may just have some reenforcements."

"Oh good," Colin sounded aloud in amazement, "If you got the whole gang together…"

"Pfft," Kyra scoffed between a laugh of her own, "You wish you had so much power at your hand!"

"I'm only saying!" Colin assured, playfully, "By the way, I meant to ask, and I know it's come up before, but Nylfallas and Esaria are married. I thought night elves didn't concern themselves with that kind of thing."

Kyra shrugged, "I mean, our two brightest stars are married, aren't they? Nothing is set in stone or anything; couples pledge fealty in whatever way they see fit."

She eyed him suspiciously, "Why? Are you planning something?"

Colin laughed, a bit goofily, as he turned his head away, hiding a blush, "N-No! I was just curious is all! I mean, I was just about to joke about our children having large shoes to fill, but that seemed a bit weird to speak of before we talked about everything else that supposedly leads to…that…"

Sputtering into an endless torrent of nervous speech, Colin was only rendered silent by Kyra's eyes meeting his once he turned back toward her. They appeared so very distant, peering off into some far-off future that only she could fathom at that moment- that invariably night elf trait that Colin had come to pick up on. He watched her eyes, returning her stare as if he'd been caught defenseless, especially as a lump grew in his throat.

"Children?"

Colin's eyes shifted away nervously, "I mean, that is a possibility, right?"

Kyra didn't nod, though in her composure, Colin could tell that she'd been caught speechless, probably meaning that he was correct. Without looking, his hands found her arms, running down their length behind him until he found her own two hands, her fingers just barely able to open up, allowing his own fingers to entangle around hers.

"I mean, we've given ourselves to each other with no though of it; I just figured it was more complicated that or some- You know what, if this is too awkward, we can just move on to something else! I need to prepare dinner and, you know-"

He was suddenly reduced to silence as Kyra's lips gently picked at his neck, burning his skin from surprise, her voice stern, but still in a whisper almost, "No, it- It's possible, I just…hadn't really thought about it is all. Like, ever."

Colin laughed nervously, gently pulling away to alleviate his nerves, "I-I mean, I didn't mean anything by it; it was just a joke, so- I mean, I really should get to dinn-"

"Would you like that?" Kyra wondered aloud, distantly, as though not knowing he'd been speaking again.

Colin sighed lightly, reaffirming his grip along her hands, "Of course. I mean, as long as you're fine with it. Not right away or anything. I mean, I honestly was just curious whether or not, you know."

Kyra gave barely a smirk, "It's a bit more complicated, but yeah, I know."

Her head fell gently against his chest, allowing him to release his grip from her hands and, instead, find her shoulders, carefully rubbing her back as he lowered his head onto hers, doing his best to cover as much of her as he could in his embrace.

"I mean, we have next to forever," Colin noted, sweetly.

He felt the slightest of nods against his chest before the two simply remained there, held together by one another. Their visitors had been there for almost a week, and more so to save Colin from embarrassment, these two hadn't done much in the way of affection. They'd tried, but Esaria had them caught in a curious stare, and that was the end of that, Colin figured. In that time, they'd missed each other's beating hearts, their bodies, their whispers, their touch. Though, given the recent revelations, their embrace felt warmer than usual, and not simply due to Colin's red cheeks.

A/N: We're back! It was great to write other stories, but I've long been obsessed with this story and its ending, so it's great to finally return to it and start again :D I hope you all enjoy this story from here on out- it will certainly be more 'worldly' than the previous two parts, but I hope I can keep it as 'personal' as I think the first two parts were as well. In any case, I hope you all love these characters as much as I've come to love them as well!