Reunions

"What's with all the noise?"

Tanadia, High Priestess and Royal Healer of Stormwind, looked over to the Magister and head of Stormwind's Council, smiling at her. The same smile she had always given family and friends. It was warm, loving and made the receiver of such a smile warm inside and tells them they will have a nice, pleasant conversation no matter the subject. "Did we wake you up from your nap, Thal'ena?"

"It wasn't a nap." The Council Head told her. "It was a quick energy break because I have to deal with your entire family, minus your parents, day in, day out, throughout the year. For six years straight now." She walked over to the High Priestess and pressed her head against her shoulder, letting out a long sigh when she felt Tanadia hug her. "When are your parents visiting again?"

"Well, Talanas graduates from the Ranger Academy in three days, so they should be here tomorrow." Tanadia told her, patting her on the back. "Sylvanas will try to push for a morning visit, but knowing my father, they might get here by lunch, maybe closer to dinner."

"Athrodar still as lazy as ever I see." Thal'ena muttered, getting a light chuckle from the High Priestess.

"Can we continue?" Liadrin asked, looking over to Thal'ena and Tanadia. "Please?"

"What were you all doing anyway to make so much noise?" Thal'ena asked, looking around the throne room and counting four others with them. Tanadia's youngest sister, Cedani. The Ranger-General Cyndia, head of Stormwind's knights and chief strategist on the Council Turalyon and Tanadia's older brother and Scout Captain Tahnir. "Well?"

"Tahnir wanted to know what we were going to do when our parents arrived and we tell them about the good news." Cedani told the Magister who looked confused.

"What good news?" Thal'ena asked, looking over to Tanadia as she saw her as the only one who wouldn't lie or exaggerate the truth.

"The Dragon Isles have appeared and we are now accommodating several ambassadors who were on that island for who knows how long." Tanadia told her. "They appear to be dragon people."

"Dracthyr." Liadrin said, leaning forward to correct the High Priestess.

"Right, thank you." Tanadia said, smiling at the Paladin. "The Dracthyr, as they are called, are staying in Stormwind for a week or two until we're ready to leave for the Dragon Isles."

Still waking up from her nap, Thal'ena began to rub her eyes with one hand whilst trying to understand what they were talking about. "Do we even know what we'll be doing over there? Or are we all just excited to go to a new island that we'll make up something to do the moment we step foot onto this new land?"

"At the moment, we are going to come up with a plan when we get there." Turalyon told the Magister who let out a sigh. "We are going to try to have the Dracthyr working with us and the rest of Azeroth. The Warchief will meet us there to discuss the situation with them when we get there."

"Vol'jin knows already?" Thal'ena asked them.

"They visited Orgrimmar first." Tanadia told her, watching her brother Tahnir stand beside the Magister and shifting uncomfortably the closer she got to him.

"Can you stop trying to stand as close to me as possible, please?" Tahnir whispered to her, making the Magister grin and step closer again.

"You've been avoiding me lately." She whispered back to him, smiling at Tanadia who was watching them closely. "Scared what your parents will say when they realise you've not dropped this thing between us?"

"There's nothing between us." Tahnir snapped, keeping his voice low though some of those around them could hear him.

Thal'ena chuckled and shook her head. "Explain to me all the times you dragged me away or didn't stop me from dragging you away over these last five years." She began to grin a little wider when he said nothing. "You can't, can you?"

"Excited to see Alleria when she returns with our parents?" Tanadia asked, knowing it would be best to ignore whatever he brother and the Magister were doing and instead changing her attention to her youngest sister Cedani.

"I am." Cedani told her. "I get to show dad everything I have learnt, get a tight hug from mom and I get to be their little girl again."

"At the age of nineteen." Cyndia said, grinning at the youngest Windrunner daughter. "Your brother is graduating from the academy and becoming a ranger in a few days, you do realise that he is younger than you, right?"

Cedani smirked at the Ranger-General. "True, but I think we both know what I can do with dad's Death Knight powers."

"Well... A fraction of that power." Liadrin told her, making a confident looking Cedani begin to reel in that confidence she was showing. "So instead of clearing out an entire town by yourself, you might be able to freeze over a couple of murlocs."

"Ouch, that's mean." Cedani said, looking away from the paladin. "Just because I no longer hug you, after that incident at Lakeshire, doesn't mean you can be mean to me... You brought it on yourself for squeezing me too hard."

Tanadia smiled and shook her head. The last five years since her parents last visited properly had been a downwards spiral for their family in terms of closeness. Talanas was visited often by their parents at the academy because he was their youngest, though they would stay for a day or two then leave again for a month. Tahnir was, as Sylvanas put it, tainted goods because of his affiliation with Thal'ena and his constant sleeping with her. Cedani was still their overall favourite child, but with how little they visited and how often she returned home to be with them, she quickly became the most hated of the siblings because of her closeness to their parents.

Little Alleria, their eldest true born Windrunner daughter, despite trying to get closer to the rest of her siblings, was actually the most distant as she focused on her work as a ranger and was actually the highest ranking Windrunner. She was a Lieutenant in the Stormstriders, Stormwinds version of the Farstriders, and only beaten by her aunt and the woman she was named after, Alleria, who was still her company Captain ever since she joined them after the Legion's defeat. She also had an increasingly unhealthy attachment to their father ever since the eldest Windrunner child, Victoria, was killed as she tried to fill the hole in her father's heart that she had left with her passing.

Tanadia however was the sensible, level-headed one out of the five of them, the one they would all come to with their problems whether it was something simple like not knowing what to do for the day, or something complicated like Tahnir trying to come to terms with his on again, off again relationship with the Magister. She was also greatly loved by their parents too and would arguably be their favourite if Cedani have a way with people that made her look a whole lot more innocent and sweet than she actually was. Not that the High Priestess minded as she got to spend a lot of time with all of her siblings throughout the years.

"How was I meant to know you would throw up on me!?" Liadrin cried. This felt like the same conversation they had had several times in the past, but the Paladin still couldn't understand that squeezing Cedani despite her protests that she had a full stomach was a bad idea at the time.

"I told you I was going to!" Cedani yelled for the thousandth time it felt like, letting out a long sigh and shaking her head. "I'm not having this conversation with you again, Liadrin. It's all we seem to do whenever the topic of me hugging you comes up."

Liadrin pouted and looked away, ignoring the smile on Tanadia's face as her apprentice seemed to enjoy this topic of conversation every time it was brought up as it was one of the few times she would see the Paladin lose an argument without fail. "Younger Cedani was more forgiving and cuter anyway..." She muttered, getting a loud gasp from the elf in question.

"The Liadrin of old wouldn't have been so reckless." Cedani told her, glaring at the Paladin.

"Well..." Tanadia said, joining in for the time being. "I think she would have been more reckless if I'm being honest."

"You're not helping." Liadrin told her, looking over to Turalyon and Cyndia. "Can we have a change of subject?"

"The only other subject is back to the Dragon Isles talk and I think we have gone about as far as we can until we get there." Turalyon told her. "Unless you have anything else to add on, I think this meeting is all but over."

"Finally." Thal'ena said, only being a part of it for a couple of minutes, but after fifteen years of running a city and its Council, she had grown tired of the politics and was just waiting for the next enemy fight. "Come with me." She said, taking hold of Tahnir's hand and dragging him away. Not that he had put up much of a fight.

Watching her brother leave, Cedani rolled her eyes and shook her head before turning her attention to Tanadia. "I suppose all we can do now is wait for our parents to arrive in the city. There's not much happening between now and when they arrive."

Tanadia nodded her head in agreement. "I couldn't agree with you more."

"My baby boy is graduating tomorrow." Sylvanas said, smiling brightly at the fact and looking over to Athrodar who smiled warmly back at her, moving her attention to their daughter who hugged her father's arm. "Ready to see your siblings?" She asked Little Alleria.

"I am." She told her mother, smiling at her too. "It's the end of my holiday as well, so I have to go back to being a Lieutenant, but I had fun and loved being back at home with the two of you."

Making their way through Stormwind, Sylvanas stopped in the middle of the Trade District and span on her heel to face her husband. "Who do we want to go see first?" She asked him, extending the question out to their daughter when she looked over to her shortly after.

"I am going to go find Tana." Alleria told her, smiling at her mother. "No doubt you'll both try to find Cedani first, then Talanas."

"It's a good plan." Athrodar said, placing a hand on his wife's cheek. "Cedani and then Talanas?"

"Deal." Sylvanas said with a bright smile, looking over to their daughter again. "We'll come find you later if you're still with Tana, okay?"

"Okay mom." Little Alleria said, hugging her mother and receiving a kiss on the cheek from her, letting go and hugging her father afterwards, holding onto him tighter and longer. "Love you." She then said, letting go of Athrodar and making her way to the Cathedral Square.

Sylvanas and Athrodar both watched their daughter leave them, allowing Sylvanas to hug Athrodar's arm tightly against her body and tiptoeing to kiss him on the cheek. "Finally alone after almost a month." She purred, kissing him on the cheek again and working her way down his neck. "I love her, but she rarely left us alone."

Athrodar chuckled and turned to face his wife, moving his hands town to her thighs and picking her up, feeling her wrap her legs around his waist. "She has become increasingly clingy over the years, but I suppose it does make these moments so much better when we get to be alone."

Sylvanas closed her eyes and moaned when he began to kiss her. "Mmm... That's so true." She whispered when they pulled back from the kiss. "Can I ask you something that's been on my mind lately?"

"Of course." Athrodar said, placing his wife back down and having her hug him and press her ear against his chest. "As long as you're not telling me off for something."

Sylvanas chuckled and squeezed him a little tighter. "Of course it's not going to be that." She told him, pulling back and looking up at him, keeping her chin pressed against his chest. "Do you think we did the right thing with having no more children after Talanas? I know we discussed it at great length a few years ago, wanting to have more... But a big part of me is happy we didn't add to our army of children."

Athrodar chuckled this time, shaking his head. "Army of children... We have five." He kissed her on the nose and smiled warmly at her. "But to answer your question, I think we have done the right thing. Like I said, we have five children. Four if you don't want to include Tanadia as she isn't yours, but I know how much you love her so I am going to include her either way." He smiled when she squeezed him and pressed her ear to his chest again, knowing she had always loved to hear his heart beating in his chest, even after all these years. "I was thinking about starting up the ol' baby factory again when Talanas is at half a century. It gives us just over three decades to explore the world, watch our little ones do something with themselves and make us proud from our home in Pandaria."

"I can live with that." Sylvanas agreed, pulling back from the hug for one final time and taking hold of his hand. "Let's go find our little girl. She should be in Stormwind Keep as my sister Alleria likes to keep her close to her when she's not out in the forests." She pulled on his arm when she began to walk backward slowly. "Ready to see our little girl again?"

"It's been almost a year since she visited, so yes." Athrodar said, walking with his wife towards Stormwind Keep.

"How was the month away?" Tanadia asked, smiling at her sister when they pulled back from their hug.

"Loved every second of it. I was allowed to rest, got to sleep beside mom and dad under that big tree in their village a few times and spent the rest of my time having their undivided attention." Little Alleria smiled at her sister who looked a tad envious of her time off. "They'll be coming here later today if we just stay put, they're just visiting Cedani and then Talanas."

Tanadia began to laugh lightly at the one missing name on that list, shaking her head a little. "Still can't bring themselves to see Tahnir?"

"Not right away, no." Alleria said, laughing with her sister. "They'll visit him and tell him they still love him, even if he is a corrupted Windrunner."

Tanadia laughed again, taking hold of her sister's hand and looking over to Liadrin on the other side of the Cathedral. "Go say hello to Li Li, you know she's been waiting to see you all week."

Little Alleria let go of her sister and made her way towards the Paladin in the distance, sneaking up behind her and hugging Liadrin from behind tightly when she was within range. "Hello, Li Li." She whispered, smiling brightly at the Paladin when she turned around to look at her. "I'm back."

Liadrin placed her hands on either side of Little Alleria's face, inspecting her closely and slowly smiling at her. "It's about damn time." She said, hugging her tightly. "I have missed my second favourite Windrunner child."

"Second?" Alleria asked, hugging her back. "Tanadia isn't a Windrunner, so who's first?"

"Obviously Talanas." Liadrin said, pulling back from the hug. "He's the youngest, why not? Cedani has abandoned me, Tahnir is damaged goods and you... Well I have nothing bad to say about you, other than I love you and I hope you can forgive me with placing you second."

"Of course I forgive you." Alleria said, smiling at her. "I'm ahead of Tahnir and Cedani. Granted, if you listened to my younger sister, she would probably be first, but you made her throw up on you and she can't look at you the same way, so... I am happy I'm second!" She said with a bright smile, looking over to Tanadia who made her way over to her. "Then again, if you add this one, nobody holds a candle to how much you love her."

"Which is why I didn't. Being third doesn't sound as good as being second." Liadrin told her, pulling Little Alleria into a tight hug once again. "Now stop talking and let me just hold you."

Athrodar stood beside Tahnir as they both watched Sylvanas hold onto Cedani as if her life depended on it. "Mom missed her that much, huh?" Tahnir asked, getting a nod from his father.

"Cedani mentioned that she has thought about coming home permanently a few times these last couple of years, so your mother has been trying to make it a reality." Athrodar looked over to his son and began to smirk at him. "So a little birdie told me that Thal'ena is still sniffing around you and you're reciprocating her advances."

Tahnir sighed and slumped his shoulders. "I'm stuck in an endless cycle with her, dad. I tell her no, she continues to flirt, I cave and then I have you all reminding me that I'm damaged goods."

Athrodar's smirk turned into a grin which made Tahnir sigh once again. "If you just admit your true feelings for our little Magister friend, your mother won't tease you so much. She might even stop all together if she knows how you feel about Thal'ena."

"But I don't feel that way for her." Tahnir said, looking over to his father once again and noticing on his face that he wasn't buying it. "At least... Not fully?"

"That won't convince her." Athrodar said, laughing and looking over to the entrance of the throne room and looking at Thal'ena who was trying to hide. "Speak about her enough and she just appears." He then said, beckoning the Magister over.

"Daaaaad... Don't do this." Tahnir whined, holding onto his father's arm whilst Athrodar had a huge grin on his face, watching Thal'ena tentatively make her way over to him.

"What has he been saying?" Thal'ena asked, looking over to Tahnir and catching a glimpse of Sylvanas and Cedani making their way over to her. "Oh come on... I don't need a family intervention. Next thing I know, Tanadia and Alleria will be here and I'll be surrounded."

"There she is." Sylvanas said, narrowing her eyes at the Magister. "The woman I gave everything to and she goes behind my back and corrupts my son."

Both Cedani and Athrodar looked away to hide their smiles whilst Tahnir slumped his shoulders and Thal'ena let out a long sigh. "I didn't have everything..." The Magister muttered, folding her arms and looking away from the glare Sylvanas was giving her. "I didn't have someone I could call my own."

Hearing the Magister's confession, Cedani and Athrodar, along with Tahnir, looking over to Sylvanas who kept the glare on her face. "You could have with anyone else other than my family." Sylvanas told her.

"Dad, can I talk to you?" Cedani asked, pulling on Athrodar's arm and smiling at him when he looked down at her. "It will take a couple minutes and then you can go back to watching Tahnir squirm and mom making Thal'ena feel terrible."

"Alright, you've got my attention." Athrodar said, walking with his daughter to the other side of the throne room. "What's on your mind?"

Cedani took a deep breath and held onto her father's hand tightly. "It's... This is hard to say." She looked up at him and smiled, trying to calm her father down before she said what was on her mind. "I want to tell you that you're going to be a grandpapa." She told him, moving her free hand to her belly. "I don't know what it is yet, but I do know who's it is."

Athrodar's face dropped from a warm smile to panic and then to anger very quickly. "Who's is it?" He asked, letting go of her hand and watching Cedani take a step back. "Cedani, don't you try to hide who it is or try to work your way out of this."

Cedani began to smile and then laugh lightly the angrier her father got. "Man... Alleria was right, you are easy to get riled up when one of us says we're pregnant." She smiled a little brighter when she saw Athrodar begin to realise what was happening. "She did this to you, right? I remember something about her being pregnant and you getting angry. I thought it would be funny and I am glad you reacted like that."

Athrodar closed his eyes and let out a long exhale through his nose. "Sylvanas." He said loudly, opening his eyes and looking over to his wife who tilted her head at him. "I'm going back home. My kids are trying to kill me and I can't do this anymore."

Sylvanas watched Athrodar begin to walk out the throne room, frowning and looking over to her daughter. "What did you say to him?"

"I did what Alleria did on our visit to Stormwind the day Talanas entered the Ranger Academy." Cedani told her, smiling brightly when she saw Tahnir pinch the bridge of his nose and hearing her sigh. "He really doesn't like it when we say we're pregnant, does he?"

"He's..." Sylvanas shook her head and looked back to Athrodar, watching him leave Stormwind Keep. "He still sees you all as his little elves who are still waist high and can't fire a bow." She looked back to Cedani who had a wide smile on her face. "Go apologise to your father. We all know you're his precious gem, even if it was a joke, he won't be himself until you apologise."

Cedani's smile fell from her face and lowered her head a little, nodding her head in the meantime. "I'll go catch up to him."

Watching his sister leave, Tahnir looked back to his mother who went back to glaring at the Magister. "Mom, please stop." He said, stepping forward and placing both his hands on her arms. "I love her, okay?" He looked over to Thal'ena who was stunned by his words. "I have for a couple years now."

"You have?" Both Thal'ena and Sylvanas asked, though it was the Magister who stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. "Why didn't you tell me?" Thal'ena now asked him.

"Because my family constant tease and make fun of me whenever you're near, so I haven't said anything." Tahnir told her, brushing a thumb across her cheek and glancing over to his mother who began to feel guilty. "But I am tired of lying to myself to try and save face. So here I am, telling you in front of my mother, that I love you."

Before Sylvanas could speak, she watched the Magister passionately kiss her son, going red in the cheeks a little and looking away from them when she heard Thal'ena moan. "I'm... I'm going to go find your father." She told them, patting her son on the back lightly and making her way out of Stormwind Keep as quickly as possible.

When she eventually caught up to him, she smiled when she saw Athrodar hugging their daughter and pushing her way in between the two of them to be hugged by both of them now. "I didn't think you would leave the two of them alone in the Keep." Athrodar said, kissing the top of his wife's head.

"Tahnir just admitted that he loved her, then they quickly began to make out, so here I am." Sylvanas smiled up at her husband, looking back to her daughter shortly after when she began to laugh. "So what's going on here?"

"I apologised to dad and told him about this new island we have found." Cedani smiled at both of her parents. "It's the Dragon Isles and I was hoping you two would come with us when we go there." She took hold of her mother's hand when she saw the look of uncertainty on her face. "It will be fine. It's mostly an expedition thing. We go there, explore and help this race of dragonkin that reached out to talk to us all."

"I don't know..." Sylvanas muttered, looking up to Athrodar for his opinion and seeing him smile. "You want to go, don't you?"

"I mean... An island full of Dragons, a new place to explore? Limited threats pointed out, if any." He cupped Sylvanas' face in his hands. "This could be a perfect way to see what our kids can do, especially this one." He looked over to an excited Cedani. "She really wants us to go too."

Sylvanas began to smile at the idea of her family being at the forefront of this expedition, slowly nodding her head and squeezing her daughter's hand. "Okay then. We will go with you and we can explore this place together, as a family." She looked back to her husband. "Just as soon as Talanas graduates, of course."

Athrodar chuckled and nodded his head. "Of course."