The following morning, a small knock on the door had Elunara awake and alert. "Come in?"
Slowly, the door opened and Emaline peeked her head in. "Mommy?"
"Yes, Littlest?"
"If I say I'm sorry, will you not hate me no more?"
"First of all, I never hated you. Second, you have to be truly sorry. A fake apology has no meaning to me."
Emaline halted and considered. "But, I am sorry, Mommy. I didn't mean to make you mad."
"I accept."
She ran over to the bed and climbed in. "Daddy's hair is down!"
"Yeah, isn't it cool?"
Varian chuckled and sat up. "Now I have to find that darned hair tie again."
"You have hundreds of them." Elunara rolled her eyes.
Emaline was busy running her hands through the hair. "It's so pretty. Daddy should leave it down."
"Not a chance, sweetie." Varian snorted, before digging in a drawer next to the bed and pulling out a length of leather strip. "Uh, can you get her out of here?"
"Sure."
"But, why?" Emaline pouted.
"Because daddy's not wearing pants, Little Sweet."
"Why is that bad?"
"Because daddy is a boy and you are not. I'll figure out how to explain it better another time." Elunara pulled up her own pants before reaching for a shirt. "For now, you and I need to get dressed. It's still a bit chilly for you to run around this silly castle without any shoes or socks."
"Can we go to the yard today? I want to watch."
"Today is the day I train Dargek and the others, so yes, you may come with me."
"Yeay!" Emaline bounced down the hallway.
Elunara stuck her head back in the bedroom door. "Thought I should tell you, I'm doing the Grove tomorrow night. After I get Emaline to bed in the castle."
"One of these days I'll go watch that. I bet Gerald is happy, you haven't done one in six months."
"His favorite source of income, I swear. I actually made "Games Master" a title for him. He hates the idea of a title, so I never tried to get him promoted, but he loved this one."
"Figures."
"No one scents blood like the shark."
"No they don't." Varian laughed. "Speaking of blood, don't you have some new recruits to terrorize?"
"Of course I do." She giggled and leaned against the door. "That Ryan is especially fun to poke at. He's from Theramore. One of the few people that survived the blast, but he was just a little kid at the time, was running in the swamp when it happened. He lost his father. Mother kept him until he was old enough to do what he wanted. What he wants is a little bit of payback. Like all that survived that."
"Like poor Jaina."
"She worked so hard on horde and alliance relations, and then that..."
"The old Jaina would be thrilled with our current truce."
"The new Jaina..." Elunara sighed. "I can't say I blame her. After what happened with that druid school in Stonetalon Mountain, I was pretty pissed with the horde involved myself. There were kids there."
"I never knew you cared about that."
"Me either." She sighed again. "You know how it goes with me. I don't know what hurts until after it hurts."
He brushed her hair back. "At least you have emotions now."
"I'm glad I do." She pressed his hand against her cheek. "I love you. You know that, right? That I love all of you so damned much it hurts."
"I know. I love you too." His lips brushed against hers. "Why are you thinking such things?"
"Because I can see you all age in front of me. You've passed sixty, hell Mathias is almost eighty. I just... I don't want any one of you to leave me, and yet I know it's an eventuality I have to face. It... kills me some days." She whispered, her voice barely audible. "I love you so much." Her voice broke.
"Hey, hey, don't start that. Come on now. Your energy shots will have us all going for longer than we should."
Her whole body froze. "You know about that?"
"Sweetheart, you just said I'm over sixty and I have the libido and body of a thirty year old. That just doesn't happen, I don't CARE if I'm boss level."
"I feel so bad, trying to hide that from you."
"I love it, actually. I don't have to worry about doing my duty, because sex with you is so invigorating." He winked.
"Oh, you."
"How old is Grogek and Jordan?"
"Fifties. I met Grogek when he was thirty, and it's been twenty one years since Draenor, and we were there for almost five years."
"See? We're all fine. You keep us in our prime, and we'll continue worshipping you like the goddess you are."
Down at the training yard, Elunara met the children. "Today we have a special treat." She dropped off of the platform and grabbed her staff. Men jumped out of the way. "Clear the yard!" She called. "Would any of my husbands like to join me today?"
"I will." Varian followed her down. Gasps filled the area as he pulled his swords.
"Now we have a REAL treat." Elunara grinned.
"It's been many a year since I faced you. Even longer since I faced real combat. I hope I'm not too rusty to give you a challenge."
"Bring it, Sugarlove."
They launched at each other while the rest of the yard cheered and made bets.
"Momma is the best." Emaline bounced. "But I've never seen daddy fight."
"I've seen him fight momma before." Lydia nodded. "They're evenly matched."
After calling a draw with Varian, she tossed her staff back on the rack. "And that, my babies, is what you can do with a staff.
"You're so cool, Grand momma!" Dargek bounced in his seat.
"Let me see your leg, my baby."
"Yes, Grand momma."
Concentrating, she held Dargek's leg in her hands, rubbing up and down the muscle. "It still won't turn right. No matter what I do. I think we should try something a little more extreme."
"What do you mean momma?" Lydia wrung her skirt in her hands.
"Surgery."
"WHAT? NO!"
"Hear me out, little kitten." Elunara sighed. "The muscles of his leg are attached at the wrong point, it's why he hurts and why I can't shift his leg anymore. It's pulled too tightly as it is. I can open the leg and detach the muscle, fusing and healing it to the right location. Since it's me, I can heal it instantly, instead of waiting and seeing. He'll be much better off."
"No, I forbid it. You're not carving into my son."
"But momma!" Dargek clung to Lydia's legs. "Please, I beg of you. I want to run normal like you."
"But..."
"Let her." Darguni interrupted. "Baby, you've got to let her try, it may be Dargek's only chance at a normal body and you know it."
"I..." Lydia sighed. "I can't risk my baby."
"This is me, my little kitten." Elunara took Lydia's hands into her own. "Trust me with this. Please."
"I can't watch." Lydia whimpered.
"Then don't. Let me take him to Ina, and we'll get him fixed."
"Thank you, Momma." Dargek climbed up and hugged his mother. "Thank you for letting me." He picked up his staff and leaned against it. "I'm ready now, Elunara."
"Good man." She took his hand. "Let's go see Ina."
"You want to what?" Ina blinked up at Elunara.
"It's simple in word, but complicated in practice, this I know."
"It's actually quite brilliant." Ina eyed Dargek. "Get him on the table." She climbed up on to the chair.
"Right." Elunara lifted Dargek on to the table and had him lay back. "Time to sleep my little one." She tapped him on the forehead and nodded to Ina. "He's all ours now." Summoning her knife, she eyed the leg. "My knife is the cleanest tool to use for this. I'd like to do the work, if that's fine by you."
"Of course. These old hands aren't what they used to be."
Elunara cut into the leg in two directions, exposing the muscle and bone. Carefully, she cut the muscle free of the bone and repositioned it. Then she repeated the process with the upper leg. Sealing the leg, she poured her energy into healing the muscle to the bone, and when she was satisfied with her work, she healed her cuts to the skin of the leg.
Time seemed to creep by as she poured her energy, working on both parts of the leg. Focus shifted and she prayed for Elune's assistance as she lengthened the muscle and the bone underneath. The leg began to straighten and lengthen under Elunara's efforts, and soon both legs matched in appearance.
"That's... all I can do." Elunara sat down hard in a chair she hadn't seen before. "He... is healed. What I must do, is train him to use it. After a bit of rest for the both of us." She laid her forehead against the table and promptly dropped off to sleep.
She awoke on the platform. "Guess I used all of my energy in that one go." When she sat up, she stretched.
"Dargek is now RUNNING in circles." Lydia had tears streaming down her face.
"Stop him. I don't want him to tear something." Elunara held her head. "No weight on that thing until I clear it."
"Of course. I'm sorry. DARGEK, baby, come back here."
"MOMMA! Don't call me baby." He crossed his arms and pouted.
"Get up here." Elunara shook her head. "I know you're thrilled and I know it feels good, but I don't want you on that leg until I am satisfied that it healed properly."
"I miss my mother all over again." Lydia sighed through watery tears. "How she must have felt when you healed me the same."
"She soaked through two of my shirts. The first when I healed you, the second when you danced at that party. I embarrassed her when I changed my shirt in front of her without a hitch."
With a laugh, Lydia swiped at the tears on her face, smearing them across her cheeks. "You."
"Me." She shrugged. "Is what I do."
"Momma! Grand Momma did you see me? I bet I can run faster than the other guys now!"
"Not for another few days you can't." Elunara crossed her arms. "Not until I'm satisfied the healing has taken."
"Awwwwww."
"You heard me. Sit your little butt down." Looking around, she noticed the lurker she was looking for and flagged him over. "Gerald, I'm moving the Grove to tonight, let everyone know I changed it. I need the energy."
"Can do."