Zekhan kept a close eye on Kali as Khadgar prepared the portal back. It had been a whirlwind week and now...well they were dating. Kali had explained that Na'vi didn't really do the whole marriage thing. They just mated and had family units, and while largely monogamous as a people, sometimes there...were fertility rituals. Now though, he looked at this woman he was courting and wondered where the furious ascendant shaman had gone. It was like she was a different creature entirely from the one that killed Quaritch.
The Pandaren fire spirit on her shoulder was also a major source of curiosity for him. How had she grown so close to one if what little life she had lived was solely on the Echo Isles? "Kali...how do you be feelin' today?" He finally asked.
She sighed, the ghost of a smile brushing at her lips. "I be feelin' fine." She gently mocked him. "Zekhan, relax. It's been maybe eight minutes since the last time you asked me that."
"Ya used a lot of power." Bwonsamdi remarked from her other side. "Zappy simply be worried. And curious."
As she had been all day, Kali changed the subject. "Tell me about Orgrimmar again, Zekhan. Why don't we start on the Echo Isles if that's all trolls? It would be less culture shock that way, wouldn't it?"
"Perhaps." He let it go. "But Kali the Echo Isles...It be..."
"Why, because that's where I died?" Kali's nonchalance shocked him back into silence. "Why should I be afraid or display trauma? I do not remember my death, nor the pain. Nor even who did it or how." Before either Zekhan or Bwonsamdi could remark on this, she was speaking again. "Do a lot of people show fear at the idea of death on Azeroth?" She glanced at Bwonsamdi. "I at least...am unafraid. It means an end to any suffering and one day everyone I love will be there with me. It's just life, round two."
Bwonsamdi chuckled. "Ya be a rare soul indeed, Kali."
"That reminds me." Kali had perked up. "What did my name use to be? Do I have any living family on Azeroth?"
Bwonsamdi simply shook his head. "All that stuff...It lies on the other side of the veil from ya. I not be open to sayin', not anymore than I be with details of ya death."
The portal flickered into focus and Kali glanced at Khadgar. "It's open, but there are a few things-". Kali let out an excited whoop and charged ahead, sounding all the world like an excited young Darkspear charging into battle. She was about to go right in when Saurfang gently grasped her right at the edge.
"Let the mage speak, young one." He pulled her close, protective aura leaking from him.
"I just wanted to say that Turalyon has played the part of steward in king Anduin's absence. He wrapped up the events you left behind, and has since kept peace between the Horde and the Alliance." His eyes flicked to where Kali vibrated to go through the portal. "Sylvanas remains uncaught. We all rather thought Saurfang dead."
"Good." The old orc rumbled. "Let Sylvanas keep thinking she's done me in."
"Do you get queasy?" Khadgar asked Kali. Zekhan watched her thinking before she answered.
"Not really?"
Khadgar smiled. "Let her go through." Saurfang released her and Kali surged forward, but this time Zekhan grabbed her, his fingers lacing through her own. "Wait for me, spitfire." They shared a deep dive into each other's eyes and then stepped through.
x
Bwonsamdi had to hurry. He feared if he wasn't there before Kali was, the shock of portaling might knock loose memories that were supposed to stay locked firmly away. It was strange be floating unseen on Dalaran, but...he did it anyway. He had to keep looking out for her, until he was sure. He got to Dalaran in time to see a slow smile spreading across her face. He decided to stay hidden for the time being and watched her. Kali didn't seem to be exhibiting any twitchiness or nerves. Well, no more than he was expecting. He drifted invisibly behind Zekhan. "She should get back to da Horde territory. She be needin' time to adjust, Zappy Boi."
Acknowledging his words, Zekhan turned to Khadgar and thanked him, then Anduin. "It be nice to be back and I enjoyed our time on Pandora. But...I be needin' to show Kali around. She has lost heritage to relearn."
Saurfang looked up at this, seemingly coming out of the funk he'd been in since waking up. "To Ogrimmar then. Are you coming, Thrall?"
"I want to make sure of something. Take her home."
x
Kali was treated to a tour of the house Zekhan had been given in Orgrimmar. It was...different from sleeping under trees, that was for sure. She did notice however that she didn't have to stoop to fit herself in. "Zekhan, why is the ceiling so-" She turned around to see he had stood up straight and was now eye-to-eye with her, looking fondly into her eyes. Unseen in her black nest of hair, Kali's fire spirit chittered; giggling quietly.
"Kali..." He leaned closer and gave her a lingering kiss, lips barely touching her own. "Welcome home." She accepted it, her newly minted shaman sense tingling at the feel of the literal electric energy meeting between them.
"But this isn't...home as I knew it, is it?" She was gentle, unafraid when she spoke. "Bwonsamdi is on my side. He won't let me remember. So why-"
Zekhan cut her off, pulling her into a hug and making sure not to stab her. "Because Kali, they had their chance. They don't get to have you back. Not yet. Give me two weeks to just absorb this reality?" She nodded into his embrace, her tail wrapping around his leg at the ankle. "Now then, let me cook for you. A favorite from when I was a tiny boy." He started humming as he moved into the next room where Kali could smell potent spices. She leaned back on the colorful cushions on the floor and listened to Zekhan.
There was something haunting and beautifully familiar about whatever he was humming. It tugged at her in the best ways. The movement stopped and Zekhan re-entered the room with her. "Kali...how do you be knowin' that song?"
Kali frowned, aware now she had been humming along. "I'm not sure. Maybe my parents used to do the same before I was orphaned?" She stood and wrapped him in another hug. "Keep doing it. Please. It's so warm and soft, like someone rubbing my back and running fingers through my hair."
He went back to cooking and Kali closed her eyes, scenting the meat as it fried. Whatever he was making in there, she could smell how tasty it was going to be. And his voice doesn't hurt this any...
x
It had finally been two weeks and Kali was proud to say she'd learned enough Darkspear from Zekhan to speak it albeit brokenly to their neighbors. It had taken his community little time to adjust to her strange appearance and soon they started referring to her as the returned one. She didn't miss the glances of curiosity and wariness tossed her way though, and after two weeks she'd had enough. "Ma Zekhan, I appreciate the time I've had with you here, but I'm ready to see more. You seem afraid something will happen to me. So how about this? Take me to see Bwonsamdi's temple and I won't ask to see where I lived yet."
He kissed her forehead. "Kali...I be against leaving just yet...But your soul is a wanderin' one. Give me an hour to pack some things. We might as well have a picnic."
"In the swamp?" She asked, her brow wrinkled.
He paused and smiled. "You've started reading in Zandali. I'm so proud." He crossed the room and gave her a second kiss and then left. Well, it was a book on Bwonsamdi. I wanted to know more. So I struggled through the Zandali. With some knowledge of Darkspear, it wasn't hard. They're clearly derivative.
"Bwonsamdi?" She called.
"Right here, little one." He materialized in his full glory.
"You know what I'm planning, right? Will he be okay?"
"I worry that ya won't be okay, nevermind ol' Zappy Boi." He was silent a moment. "But I not be in the business of stopping ya from livin' this life however you be doin' it."
"Is it a lie?" She asked, her stomach twisting a little.
"No, little one. There be few who will even remember the tale of how ya suffered. You aren't goin' to stir up memories as Zappy Boi fears."
"Do you think I'm ready? Have I practiced enough?" She was getting nervous the more she dwelled on it. "I am going to make a break for his village when I'm done visiting your temple. I will challenge formally for...to...I will ask to be remembered as a young troll. To be inducted. Whatever rites of passage come with it, so be it. We will be officially bonded eventually and I want this done before that."
Bwonsamdi ruffled her hair. "Take it easy, little one. I not be wishin' to see ya in my realm again. So soon." Then he left her with her thoughts. Kali passed the time until Zekhan returned by further memorizing their living space. Her bow sat by the door half forgotten in lieu of her shaman training, which now came at a liesurely pace. Her eyes flicked from the tribal masks Zekhan had on the wall, to the big hammock in the corner where they had slept on piles of cushions for two weeks now. She smiled at the memory of his scent and pulled in a deep, feeling so at home. Then she got an idea and grabbed a pouch of the currency Zekhan had lent her and yelled to him. "I'll be right back, ma Zekhan! I'm going to the market."
He shouted back to be careful, absorbed in his meticulous preparation for what he saw as a major event.
x
"The girl be feelin' better...But she still thinks she be missin' something." Bwonsamdi said to Zekhan as he was packing. "She thinks to challenge the clan you used to live with for the right to be called a Darkspear."
"Of course." Zekhan was unsurprised. "She be lookin' at herself in mirrors a lot, lately. Frowning. I knew there be something wrong inside. I waited. Kali isn't one to respond to bein' pushed to share."
He heard Kali return in the middle of their talk and rotated to see her in the doorway. His jaw fought to drop itself. "You look-" Before him was Kali clad in thin green silks, like a Darkspear belly dancer almost. It just covered a bit more.
She grinned at him. "Ready, ma Zekhan?"
A deep growl started low in his throat and he pulled her in a little harshly, pressing a hungry kiss full to her lips. Startled, she gasped and was surprised when he slipped in his tongue. He tasted of the breakfast they had just shared. Mmm. Sweet man gets sweeter. "Ready as I'll ever be...Ma Kali."