Summary: Jake learns how his parents met.
"Dad, can you tell me more about mom?"
Striker thought for a moment, then smiled. "How about I show you?"
They rode Bombproof through the countryside until they came to a beautiful glade, dismounting at a particular spot under the shadow of a large oak tree. Striker untacked Bombproof and patted the stallion's flank, allowing him to go graze nearby. They made a small picnic with sandwiches, drinks and some cakes.
"Where are we, dad?" Jake asked curiously as his father sat down and leaned against the tree.
"This, kiddo," Striker patted the spot next to him, wordlessly telling his son to come to sit. "is our place."
"Huh?"
"Your mother and mine's, I mean. This is where we'd met when we were kids... and..." Striker tenderly touched his lips with the tips of his fingers. "...It was where we had our first kiss."
Jake looked around the place curiously. There was a small creek near the tree and a wide, surprisingly grassy field all around them. Bombproof grazed contently a few meters away.
"Hey, dad... how did ya meet mom? I've been curious about that."
Striker sighed forlornly as he placed his half-bitten sandwich back on the plate. "I guess it's time for you to know, my boy." He took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. "I was 'round yer age. Yer grandmother had sent me for groceries. I was on my way back home when I came across a group of older kids pickin' on a girl."
"...Mom."
I" didn't even think about it, I stood up for her."
"And you kicked their asses, right?"
Striker rubbed the back of his head, chuckling awkwardly. "I wasn't that strong yet, so it was actually the other way 'round. It was yer mother who kicked their asses and sent them runnin' with their tails between their legs." Jake laughed a bit. "She tended to my wounds and took me home. He, yer grandma gave me a big scolding for gettin' into a fight. But it was worth it... I didn't know it yet, but I had met the woman with whom I'd want to spend the rest of my life with.
"Since that day, we'd spend time together and we became friends quickly. We lost touch after I was sent to an orphanage in Dis when yer grandma passed, but we met each other again when I returned. It wasn't long before we got married, though..." he ruffled his son's hair. "You wouldn't come till much later, though."
"How was she like, that? She sounds like a tough girl."
"You have no idea, kiddo." Striker laughed. "Yer momma was perhaps the bravest, toughest bitch in Wrath. There was no changin' her mind once she made it, and yet she had a tender side I was fortunate enough to have seen. She had my back and helped me deal with... demons from my past. But perhaps the happiest I ever saw her was when we learned you were comin'."
Striker smiled forlornly as he recalled the hours Jane would spend in the rocking chair, rubbing her stomach and humming a lullaby for their unborn child. How she'd knit little socks, hats, and even a baby blanket even if she didn't get to finish the latter.
"You did lots of things together, didn't you?"
"Sure we did, my boy. Sure we did."