<82>

Drenan's azure eyes immediately went wide with sheer panic.  "Lyrah, have you lost your senses completely!?"

A flicker of hesitation crossed Lyrah's face.  "N-no...?"

It was Drenan's turn to try and steady his rapidly-beating heart.  "Look... let us suppose that we [i]can[/i] go see your mother in the afterlife:  What would it accomplish?  If she were to find out about, well, [i]us[/i], I fear it would simply break her heart in the next life."

Lyrah's determination returned to her eyes.  "No, dad," she returned firmly.  "I mean, I guess you knew mom a lot better than I did, but I have faith that she'd understand, and I think she could just maybe give us [i]both[/i] some comfort on this matter."

"We can speak to a priest," Drenan returned a bit more fervently.  "Perhaps some magic-"

"No!  Enough with magic!" Lyrah cried suddenly and lurched backwards.  "No magic is gonna heal mental anguish!  I want a baby!  And I know you do too!  And that can't happen until we both [i]deal[/i] with our fucking fears!"

Silence ensued for a long, deathly moment, but the second Lyrah started to move again, Drenan's hand shot out to gently grasp her wrist.  "Wait."

Lyrah froze in place immediately, but said nothing as she looked into her father's eyes.

Drenan felt tears begin to well, but he did not look away from Lyrah's anguished visage.  "I am so... so sorry, Lyrah. I-"

"[i]We[/i]," she corrected him shakily.

A brief pause ensued, followed by a saddened sigh.  "[i]We[/i] have been at an impasse for far too long.  It has not been fair to you, but you will not let me accept full blame for my fears."

Lyrah coughed out a single note of a laugh, and a sad smile returned to her face as she knelt before her father and squeezed both of his hands lovingly.  "It's gonna suck," she added shakily.  "But I think we need to do this.  No one else knows, or understands, us like she will.  I know it in my heart."

"V-very well," Drenan relented, his muscular frame appearing to shrink just a bit.  "I will try anything if it means making you happy.  Tell me what we must do."

"A-alright," Lyrah muttered, sniffling as she hugged her father once again.  "W-well... I don't know much about this stuff... but Shele might."

* * * * *

"Absolutely [i]not[/i]!" Shele retorted firmly.  Her usually-calm demeanor had vanished the instant Lyrah had mentioned the Shadowlands, though even her ferocity seemed not nearly as imposing when stood so calmly in the nude.  Such were the perks of having such a secluded home in the cliffs of the Moonglade, but even then, most druids didn't think much of casual nudity anyway.  "The realm of death is dangerous!  And besides, only greater champions have been permitted to pass through the portal in Orgrimmar.  Both of you would qualify, but I recall Orgrimmar is not the most welcoming place to you two in particular."

Drenan and Lyrah exchanged nervous glances before the latter spoke.  "W-well, that was [i]years[/i] ago, right?  I bet they've forgotten all about that by now."

"I have my doubts," Shele echoed and turned away, her tail curling up defensively as she crossed her arms over her naked chest.  "And danger is the last place either of you need to be."

"Shele," Drenan rumbled evenly.  "This is something we must do one way or another.  If you are concerned for our safety, we need to know what you know."

Shele remained turned away for several long moments.  "I... I will not let you two go," she insisted and finally turned to look at them, clearly distraught, then promptly bolted through a vine curtain deeper into her own home.

"That... that was new," Lyrah remarked, looking up at her father curiously.

"She cares for us," Drenan stated simply.  "We have been living here for a while now.  This may not be our permanent home, but surely you have seen how she acts?"

Lyrah contemplated his words for a moment.  "Yeah... yeah you're right, I don't think I'd ever seen her so happy before," she admitted.  "Between us and Soren, she hasn't been traveling like she used to either.  Plus, the evenings..."  She let that thought hang in the air, the blush in her cheeks telling all that needed to be said.

"Right, and now we tell her we wish to see the Earthmother, essentially.  I do not blame her for being upset."

* * * * *

In the furthest room of Shele's home, the druidess flung herself onto her bed and began to quiver, biting back fierce sobs as best as she could... until a pair of burly arms unexpectedly enveloped her thin, matronly frame.  "I don't think you can stop them, mom."

Blinking back tears, Shele turned and looked up at the gentle smile of her own son.  Soren had been sleeping in that particular morning, but it instantly comforted her to see his face, not to mention have hers smothered in his fur-covered torso.  His time in the Moonglade had been good to him, and while he hadn't changed much physically, he'd really come out of his social shell.  "Why do you think I shed tears?" she muttered back, followed by a soft laugh.  "And how would you know?"

"There aren't exactly doors in the 'house'," he quipped, pulling their naked bodies a bit more closely together.  "But if you can't stop them, shouldn't you want to help them?"

Shele laughed a second time.  "Who's the elder here?"

"I am," Soren cocked back with a laugh of his own.  "One so beautiful like yourself couldn't possibly be older than me."

A soft blush filled Shele's cheeks, and as she regained her composure she uprighted herself and gave her son a passionate, loving kiss.  Her heart fluttered as the kiss broke, and her thin smile returned twofold.  "Alright then."

* * * * *

Despite the immediate rejection, Drenan and Lyrah remained near her door, quietly musing Shele and Soren's state.  Just as they decidedly reached for the vines, however, the still-naked couple appeared from their now-shared room.  Soren's tan-furred hand squeezed his mother's and prompted her to speak.  "I'll help you... but this route is far more dangerous than walking through a portal."
