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	The ever-determined Lyrah did not shy away from walking through the knee-deep pool to make her way for the half-hidden Soren.  Initially, she'd simply felt intrigued by the fact that he'd shown up in the secretive glade at all, but the closer she got, the more... frustration she felt.  "Hey!" she called out somewhat sharply and waved a hand at the gray-furred bull.  "What's up?"

	Soren had been half-floundering at the hidden entrance to the glade, but as he heard Lyrah call out, his wide-eyed look said volumes before he ducked into the thick vines and leaves.

	"Oh no you don't," Lyrah rumbled and strode straight out of the water to close the distance between them.  As she passed the outer edge of the glade, a wave of her hand caused the ground to tremble around her, and the resultant earth quaking somewhat gruffly tossed Soren from his hiding place and flung him against the nearest cliff wall.  "What on Azeroth are you doing?  Aren't you gonna see your mom?" she asked outright, her brow furrowed as she planted her hands on her hips and stared at him accusingly.

	Soren grunted as he hit the wall and brought a hand up to rub his head, the male tauren shrinking just a bit beneath Lyrah's gaze.  "And why's that [i]your[/i] concern?" he shot back, though his tone wasn't nearly as firm as he'd wanted it to be.

	"Because Shele's my friend.  A good friend," she returned.  "And, not gonna lie, you looked weird peeking in on a bunch of hidden druids like that."

	His eyes went wide at this.  "I wasn't [i]peeping[/i]!"

	"Then spill it!"  The earth beneath the two of them calmed as the curvaceous shaman strode within a foot of him to stare Soren in the eye.  "What were you doing, and why'd you sneak away?"

	Soren tried to steel his gaze, but Lyrah's eyes were more intense than he'd expected, and more than that, it was difficult for him to maintain eye contact with the curvaceous tauren.  "Alright, alright!  I was just... trying to work up some courage, okay?"

	Lyrah's gaze softened just a bit.  "What do you need to do that for?  She [i]is[/i] your mom, right?"

	"[i]Yes[/i], I know that much.  I just... I dunno, this is all kinda weird," he admitted, a bit of color touching his gray cheeks.  "My dad and I don't live with anyone else around.  It's... it's weird seeing other tauren here.  Everywhere I go there seems to be [i]someone[/i] looking at me, and I tried really hard to get in here without being noticed, but... clearly I failed miserably," he huffed in frustration.

	This set Lyrah back on the heels of her hooves.  "So... it's not about your mom?"

	Soren shook his horned head fervently.  "I told you, I love my mom.  I just... hate people."

	"You seemed to get along alright around Drenan and I," she prodded.

	"Yeah well... I was expecting you guys," he insisted.  "I was thinking about how I was gonna handle Gadgetzan for weeks before I got there, but I didn't really think about Moonglade.  It... it sounds so stupid when I say it out loud."

	Lyrah's intensity waned, replaced by sympathy.  "No, I get it," she admitted in earnest.  "When I was a kid, my dad and I lived way out in the middle of nowhere for ages.  Well, I guess we weren't [i]that[/i] far from Orgrimmar, but I remember being [i]mortified[/i] when I had to start training around other students.  The very first class, I ended up hiding in a totem closet for half of it."

	Soren, to his own surprise, met Lyrah's gaze.  "You're serious?"

	"Every word," she admitted with a laugh.  "But I got used to it, kinda.  Made a few friends, went out and did my own thing for a while, then came back home and never had a problem with it again."

	"You make it sound easy," he shot back.  "Try being isolated for decades."

	"Well, how about if I come with you?" she suggested with an innocent smile.  "You seem alright talking to me.  We'll go one step at a time, and you can back out if it gets to be too much.  Sound fair?"

	Soren bit his lip nervously.  "I can back out at [i]any[/i] time?"

	Lyrah shot him a sideways look.  "You can, but I think your mom would like to see you, and she's a bit too busy with Dad to drag her over here."

	The younger bull's eyes drifted to the ground in thought for a long moment... then suddenly went wide as he looked back at her.  "Drenan's your dad?"

	The shamaness felt her throat go dry in an instant.  Her mouth opened as if to respond, when a long, deep chime of an ethereal-sounding bell rang out throughout the secluded glade.

* * * * *

	Shele had grown quiet with Drenan's last words, but she did appear at least a bit more relaxed with his encouragement.  Her smile returned as her gaze lifted across the pool just as Lyrah had reached the other side, and she couldn't help but chuckle as she watched her back Soren into a corner.  "Your daughter's up to something, it would seem."

	"She is," he agreed, smiling as Lyrah disappeared from view behind a vine barrier.  "We have been through so much.  I am thankful she has remained by my side, but in turn I worry every time she leaves it."

	"You have always been protective of her," Shele observed and touched Drenan's hand tenderly.  "And she is better for it.  But she is growing more and more by the day, I swear."

	The aging paladin softly slid his hand into hers to return her touch.  "She is.  She has been an adult for almost seven years now, but still she amazes me.  In times of crisis, she charges headlong into danger without a thought.  When the sun has fallen and we are alone, she becomes the most tender lover I could imagine... and through it all, she still has that impish sense of joy, of almost childlike wonder."  Drenan paused for a long moment, simply watching Lyrah excitedly gush about the upcoming fireworks to complete strangers.  "She is so much more outgoing than I ever have been.  She's better than I ever could be."

	Shele's gaze flitted up and down the seated Drenan, her smile gaining a wisp of sadness to it.  "Is that not what we all hope for our children?"

	"It is," he agreed with a soft rumble.  "All I want is for her to be happy."

	"You don't think she is?" Shele asked suddenly and tilted her head to one side.

	Drenan hesitated at this.  "I feel she could be happier," he admitted quietly.  "I fear... being with me is holding her back."

	"Perish that thought, you dumb bull," Shele returned more curtly.  The druidess stepped squarely in front of the towering tauren and stared him down without a lick of fear.  "I am certain this is not the first time you have had this very conversation with her, and I do not doubt that she has not changed her tune even in the slightest."

	The paladin sighed weakly.  "I am sure she would be happier with another mate."

	"Why?" Shele shot back even more curtly.  "What could another mate possibly give her that you cannot?"

	Drenan closed his eyes as he said simply, "A child."

	Shele let out a long sigh of her own, her sparkling eyes seeking to meet his.  "Drenan... years ago, I gave you that potion, not to stop you two from reproduction, but to give you peace of mind until the time was right.  I know you would not have asked for it either unless you were certain you were still potent, and if you were fine then, a healthy male like you will be fine well into his hundreds."

	The paladin raised an eyebrow at this.  "And our blood is... irrelevant?"

	The druidess held his gaze pensively.  "If you two love each other as deeply as I am to believe, what else matters, Drenan?"  Her slender arms reached up to drape over the tall male's shoulders and pull him into a soft embrace.  "You and I both know she'd sooner die for you than leave you.  If you both want a child, then, as grown adults, I know you're both well-versed on how it's done."

	Drenan tenderly returned his friend's embrace, his shoulders shivering slightly as he exhaled.  "We... had a discussion before we came here," the paladin murmured quietly.

	Shele paused and drew back to look him in the eye again curiously.  "Tell me what's really holding you back, Drenan."

	"You remember that day over twenty years ago," he returned and closed his eyes.  "Kinah...."

	"Shh," Shele stopped him, her hand shooting up to press a finger to his muzzle.  "Listen to me for just a moment."

	Drenan kept quiet as she lifted her finger, thankful he didn't have to relive Kinah's death and Lyrah's birth for the second time that day.

	The druidess did not back down as she searched his saddened gaze.  "You need to be honest with yourself, if only for a moment.  Do you love Lyrah?"

	The paladin wanted to feel anger at the question, but he knew better, recalling he'd asked her the same of her own child before.  "More than anyone else on Azeroth."

	"Did you feel that way about Kinah?"

	"I did," he agreed without hesitation.

	"But would you give up Lyrah to have Kinah back?"

	Drenan wanted to freeze at such a horrible question, but no matter his conflicting feelings, he knew his answer immediately.  "I could never."

	"But you loved Kinah no less," Shele stated simply.  "The risk you took with her was greater than either of you realized, but you took it anyway because you loved each other.  We all have the choice to take such a risk.  I can't speak for either Lyrah or Kinah, but from what you've said, it sounds like Lyrah wants to take that risk with you.  And I can tell you want to take it as well."

	Before Drenan could reply, the deep bell chimed a single time throughout the hidden glade.  The paladin looked out upon the glade in confusion.  "What does that mean?"

	Shele simply smiled and slowly rose to her hooves, her arms lifting slowly above her head toward the full moon.  "Our ritual begins.  It is nothing complicated, but it is sacred to our order.  I would hope you will follow suit."  The pale-furred druidess inhaled deeply, and slowly her arms drifted back down to either side of her, then slid back up to hook her thumbs into her leafy robes.  With a single, swift gesture, Shele's robes flung open and fluttered to the mossy ground, leaving her completely nude amid the peaceful glade.  One by one, every druid in eyesight repeated her gesture and relieved themselves of their robes in kind, until one and all stood in the nude.  As if nothing had happened, many of the druids returned to their previous conversations with one another, while some even began to embrace and cling, among other things.

	Drenan looked to and fro somewhat awkwardly, but without much hesitation he pulled his sun poncho up over his head to stand nude with the rest of them.

	Shele turned toward him with a surprised smile.  "Why, Drenan, I didn't think you'd be so... willing to join us."

	"It has been too long since we've spoken, then," he retorted as he stepped over to her and placed his hands on his hips.  "This is not the first time Lyrah and I have been naked with [i]other[/i] naked people."

	The druidess arched her brow, clearly intrigued.  "You have my attention."