To Hold in Your Heart

Author: Kayaara

It was a night like any other; peaceful. Azuremyst Isle always had that sense of serenity, a sort of calmness that Kalaru just couldn’t get anywhere else in Azeroth. Of course, Azuremyst had been what Kalaru has had to call home ever since the crash, but despite that, the place almost reminded her of her old home in Shadowmoon Valley.

The only thing missing now was her sister.

That isn’t to say she wasn’t missing her girlfriend equally as badly, because when the realisation dawned on her that Kayaara was nowhere to be seen as soon as they landed, the sole thought of ‘I’m never going to see her ever again’ ran through her head hours after her search which came up empty handed. No Kayaara and no Korena.

But the love she held so dearly for Kayaara never came close to the bond she had with Talaru. They were the only two left of their family upon setting foot on Draenor, their parents vanishing (or so Kalaru told her sister) before they had a chance to land. So being the elder sister, Kalaru had to bear the responsibility of taking care of not only herself, but also of Talaru all on her own. Talaru was just becoming an adult by this time, but that did not make the situation any easier on her.

Kalaru was only young when the responsibility was taken upon her – that much was true. Sure, she was classed as an adult by this point, already following in her mother’s footsteps in training to become an anchorite, yet all of this meant nothing to her when her parents left them. She was lost. It was a new planet - unknown to her people – and everyone was scared. Because they were running away and what was once their home was no longer.

For now however, she felt safe under the shimmering night sky at Azuremyst Isle. And to say that after having the one thing you cared about most snatched away from you as though it were just a toy, well…

To move on was to be strong. And for Talaru, Kalaru was the strongest person she ever knew. So that’s what Kalaru tried to do, for the sake of her sister. She stood up from a small rock by the lake residing at the bottom of Azure Watch, patting down on her white woollen robe, tightening the neat black bow around her middle. She tucked a loose strand of hair that fell between her eyes behind her ear, and walked up towards the village.

Kalaru had visited the place many times before, especially recently, for the residents to know her well enough. As she walked through the village, Fateema turned her head from the clutter of the table towards Kalaru, and offered her a smile. It was a sad smile; sympathetic – the anchorite knew all too well what Kalaru had gone through recently. Kalaru returned the smile with a small wave, walking over to the other draenei.

“Kalaru, it’s nice to see you again. Are you here to see her?” Fateema greeted Kalaru, but returned to clearing the space on the table.

Kalaru nodded, once. “I am.” She turned around to look behind her shoulder, and Fateema followed her gaze.

“Well, could I request you to bring these to her? I would myself, but… I wouldn’t want to intrude.” From under the table, the anchorite brought out a bouquet of blue flowers and handed them over to Kalaru across the table.

Kalaru took the flowers from Fateema’s hands, staring down at them for a few moments, before looking back at Fateema with a warm smile. “I will. Thank you, Fateema. She’ll love these.”

Blue was Talaru’s favourite colour. A night under the perpetual starry sky in the fields below Elodor was when Kalaru found this out. “We’re blue skinned, and blue-blooded. It’s what distinguishes us apart from those that live on this planet. And the sky is blue too - the stars illuminate the grass and the trees in a pale blue. It’s such a pretty colour, don’t you think? And the fact that we’re here now, that we’re living to see such beauty. Well, it’s awfully wonderful to me.” Is what Talaru said as she leaned back on the fields of Elodor, keeping herself up with her hands in the grass behind her.

Tightening her grip on the bouquet of flowers, she offered a goodbye to the anchorite, and continued following the path until she made her way towards the small graveyard set hidden from the main area of the village.

It wasn’t full of very many graves – the stones made for those not so lucky from the crash of the Exodar were still back in Ammen Vale, so only a few graves were actually here at Azure Watch. The one on the very left was the one Kalaru sat herself beside, placing the flowers delicately on top of the small mound.

Talking to Talaru was often done at a shrine, much like talking to anyone who has passed away, although for the purposes of today, Kalaru didn’t want to talk to a shrine. Talking to the small grave made for her sister almost felt more personal. So Kalaru took a deep breath, and put her hand down on the stone.

“Fateema wanted you to have them. I think she wanted to pay you a visit personally, but I was coming, and… She didn’t want to interrupt us. I’m glad, in a way! I haven’t actually had a chance to speak with you properly in a long while. I feel I sort of owe it to you to visit alone – we never really were getting along in your final days, were we?” She let a quiet laugh escape her lips as she moved to lie down beside the grave, looking up at the sky.

“I… I wish I would have known that that was your last day. I wish you told me of your troubles, of what was going through your mind when you decided that you wanted to give up your own – when you died, all for the will of a demon. Talaru, I have a lot of regrets. But I know you already know my feelings on the matter, so I won’t bore you with those words anymore. Instead, I want you to know that I’m not sad. I’m not upset about what you did.

“What I am most upset about, is that I wasn’t a good enough sister to realise what you were going through to stop it before it was too late. And; I may not understand why that human was so dear to you, but I do know that she was. And I forgive her. I want you to know that.”

A familiar warmth seemed to envelop the draenei, and she sat up, closing her eyes. She took a slow, deep breath in, then exhaled just as slowly. And as she kept her eyes closed, she could almost pretend the warmth surrounding her was her sister once more.