Kenda stretched in the bed, enjoying the soft covers for only a second until she realized that she was in an unfamiliar room. She'd only woken up in such a situation a few times in her life, and thus was unprepared for the minor heart attack she nearly experienced upon noticing that she didn't recognize her location. The morning light wafted in through the blinds, revealing a hotel room key on a dresser across from her bed, though she didn't see any luggage in the room. For a few seconds, she worried where her belongings would be until a hazy memory pushed through her mind, blessing her with images of her hands laying down her belongings in front of one of her friends. Another hotel, maybe...if she was remembering correctly.

"Think, think, think," she whispered to herself while rubbing her eyes. Her clothes were on the floor next to her, and her stomach growled with hunger, but she didn't rush to rise from bed just yet.

Glancing around her, she couldn't find any visual cues as to which hotel she was in. The sounds of the street from outside reminded her of one of the back alley districts of Dalaran - she couldn't explain why, but she knew it was that one street with the place and the guy selling the things - and she breathed easily knowing that at least she wasn't in some far away place in Highmountain or Val'Sharah. Or Tanaris. Which had actually happened to her once.

Smacking her lips as her stomach growled again, she leaned over the edge of the bed to get dressed until a voice stopped her.

"You're up early."

She froze. It was a man. Next to her. In the bed. Only then did she notice that there were shoes on the floor, and her kind didn't wear shoes. Maybe sandals like she did, or two-toed cushioned boots, but not closed-toed shoes.

Staring at the floor and mentally lamenting her folly, she refused to turn around as she desperately tried to remember what had happened the night before. There had been music, dancing, the Elite Tauren Chieftans...karaoke? Why was her head filled with images of her and a goblin woman she didn't even know singing live karaoke together in front of a tauren playing a guitar? What the hell had she been doing?

The man, speaking in accented Common, spoke again. "Are you alright?" the stranger asked with a tone of concern that would have been cute had she not been so afraid to turn around.

Shutting her eyes and accepting that she'd have to accept the consequences of her actions, Kenda tried to build up the courage to turn around. "Please don't be no tuskarr, please don't be no tuskarr...wait a minute..."

A few more intimate memories came to her mind, ones that were guilty but also quite enjoyable. Memories about a firm but gentle hand, albeit with five fingers, and words that were actually sweet rather than lusty. Turning around quickly, she breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that the memories were correct.

Laying behind her on the bed was an elf. Not one of the smaller pink ones, but a purple night elf. The man was long and well built, lacking the brutish handsomeness of a man of her own kind but still carrying the sort of rugged, more earthy nature of a druid rather than the unappealing refinement of the mages that filled Dalaran. Unlike the hated blood elves who'd fought her people so much, the night elf man at least had some body hair, as well as a malachite beard long enough for her to tug on. He looked like the sort of man that could move out to the woods and build a log cabin with her, were it not for the fact that he was still an elf. Regardless, she was pleasantly surprised. She could have woken up next to much, much worse, all things considered.

Realizing that she hadn't answered his question, she sat up in the bed and nodded slowly. "Yeah...sorry about that. Just a bit dizzy is all. And, uh...how you be?" Truth be told, she really didn't know what to say. She typically mocked her friends for waking up next to strangers, and there she was caught in the same situation.

Fortunately, the purple-skinned mountain man seemed to understand her confusion. "Well, I can't say I'm not a tad bit shy to wake up like...well, this," he replied while motioning to his naked self under the covers. Oddly, he began to blush. "But...I'm glad you're the one, if I have to find myself in such a situation. Did that come out right, Kenda?"

He know my name, she thought to herself. Smiling and nodding to buy herself time, she tried to think of what else she could remember. Bits and pieces came back to her, filling in enough of the puzzle for her to decipher the images. His hand on her hip, then pulling his cowl down to introduce himself, but at two different times...she had to know this man...

...oh loa, no, she thought to herself as an image of her ever-present chaperone fluttered through her mind.

"Wait a minute...you in the anger management counseling with my brother...you be...Rynd?"

Her remembrance of his name seemed to please him, though even then, he was humble enough that his ego didn't show when he smiled. "In the flesh," he replied. "My mind is hazy, but I don't think he was at the tavern last night. I don't imagine he'd be very happy if he knew about this, though you know him better than I."

"No, no, we not gonna be telling him," she replied promptly, trying not to think of the last admirer her brother had scared away with an unwelcome interrogation. An unfortunate light bulb went off in her head, cutting their conversation short. "Wait a minute...today be...Tuesday?"

Rynd's long eyebrows raised, practically tickling her for a moment until she saw the disappointment on his face. "Stars, you're right...I'll be late for a group session that he'll also be attending." Reaching out, he gripped Kenda's hand. As different as his hand was from hers, his grip felt nice and firm, and she was sad that he'd have to let go in more ways than one. "I'm late. We'll need to go."

"Yeah...I know he's gonna suspect something if you showing up late a night after I didn't check in with him. He be like that."

Getting dressed in front of Rynd took a lot of willpower; Kenda could hear the little voice in the back of her mind whispering ideas that she knew she couldn't act on for numerous reasons. The two of them paused when they were fully dressed, and she felt his hand slide up her back as they were about to leave. Paused but the opposite of frozen, the whispers took over temporarily. Had he pulled her back to him, she wouldn't have resisted.

Fortunately, he managed to control himself as well despite the way he gazed at her so longingly. "We might want to exit separately," he said in a quiet voice. "My people are reticent, but they're terrible gossips whenever one of us associates with an outsider."

Her heart thumped under the touch of his skin, but the logic of his words helped her take the first difficult step to the door. "I know...I'm gonna be on the next street over. We just be two people going for a stroll."

He seemed reluctant when he let her go, but there was a glimmer of hope in his eye that she knew she'd sparked. Mentally kicking herself, she forced herself to leave first, trying to think of ways to explain to a being much wiser than she that what had happened at the inn would stay at the inn.

Outside, she waited near a covered market around the corner from the hole-in-the-wall place they'd spent the night at. Many of the shops in the ultra-compact floating city hadn't yet opened, and Kenda found herself alone practicing a breakup speech for a man she'd been with for only one night. It was an incredibly lonely feeling, and it strangely didn't leave her even when Rynd rounded the corner and approached. The two of them walked side by side in silence, she a ball of tension and he the epitome of calmness. Everything about the situation felt unfair, more so than the other times in her life where she'd had to break someone's heart.

Displaying no awkwardness as a man of almost any other race would, he pretended to 'accidentally' brush shoulders with her as they reached the street upon which the counselor's office was located. "You have a lovely voice when you finally open up to those around you," he said as they slowed to a halt at the end of the street. There were a handful of people at a hawker's stall directly opposite Finklesnap's office, some of whom were night elves.

Stopping when he did, Kenda was given yet another reason why she had to do what she was about to do. Folding her arms, she tried to lean in close and speak as apologetically as possible.

"Only when I be around my friends."

Had he been another troll, whether forest, jungle, or ice, the message might not have penetrated his head. The way that Rynd looked down when he smiled, however, signaled that he understood the message loud and clear. Kenda almost felt like she was more hurt by the message than he was; Rynd was the first man who hadn't reacted with anger to such a rebuff, and for a moment, she began to have second thoughts.

Once again, his maturity prevailed for both of them. "I see," he replied, a little more reserved than before but certainly not resentful. The two of them basked in the melancholy feeling for a few moments, knowing there really wouldn't be any going back to that night.

Though he didn't appear vulnerable in the way her exes had, he did appear curious. "Is it my age?" the Long Vigil-era druid asked.

Pursing her lips as she tried to find the right words, she did her best to explain without opening the topic for discussion. "No, Rynd...it be my age. I almost been living on this Azeroth for twenty five summers...in twenty five more, I most likely gonna be dead, or going that direction. My people got strong hearts, strong passion, but our flame be burning out fast."

He reached for her hand, running his little finger along hers as he held on to her for one last time. Somehow, she knew he wasn't going to cling, and she let him hold on for as long as he wanted. "You're...saving me from being a widower. I understand...but I need some time." He looked up at her again, the sunlight allowing her to actually see the details of his pupils for the first time. "You're a very special person, Kenda."

Come on, don't be making me cry now. "You too, Rynd...and I mean it."

One of the night elves down the street, also a druid judging by his robes, glanced in their direction. He might not have been able to see the details of their faces at that time of day, but his glance was enough for the two of them to let go of each other, physically and otherwise. Kenda's hand hadn't felt that cold since Northrend.

Pulling his hood over his face, he winked at her one time before his eyes were obscured. "Go in peace...and please be safe during these troubling times."

She smiled and nodded, taking the safe route of keeping her mouth shut rather than risking hearing what her voice might sound like. She watched him walk down the street, almost reaching the door of the office before he looked back. She would have been sorely disappointed if he hadn't. Only when she was sure that the people at the stall across the street had forgotten about him did she begin to walk, taking her time until she reached a bench to sit on. Her brother would likely be complaining to the anger management counselor that she was putting undue stress on him via lack of communication, and she chose to wait outside the door until his group therapy session was over.

For the better part of an hour, she tried different food at the hawker's stall, bought a gazette and briefly argued with a few members of the Alliance (and even one of the Horde) about politics. Eventually she realized that arguing about politics was a waste of time because people kind of hate evidence and facts, and she resigned herself to leaning against a lamp post outside of the door. She didn't know how long she'd waited before the military gait of a person who sounded angry even when they walked stumbled next to her.

"Gah!" gasped the voice of a chain smoker merely a few feet away from her. The hoarse sound was followed by the clanging of aluminum, a screeching stray cat, and murmurs from the people across the street.

Since Dalaran was supposed to be a conflict free zone, her normal awareness had been left at the metaphorical door, and it took her a few seconds to realize that the weirdo had stumbled away from her. Unarmed, all she could do was ball her fists when she realized that someone was banging around on a garbage can on the curb.

A figure in a black cloak had almost tripped and fallen just to avoid walking near her. Lithe and sleek, the person grabbed onto a railing on the side of the road in a flash, sort of like a normally graceful person who'd lost their bearings. Everybody was staring at them, which Kenda frankly didn't give a damn about but which seemed to cause the apoplectic figure to flail around even more.

"No! Stop!" the dark figure yelled, and it took the forest troll a moment to realize that the comment had been directed at her. Only then did she notice the familiar horns poking out from under the hood.

Snapping her head this way and that as if overwhelmed by all the stares, Neruda tried to pull the cloak evennmore tightly around herself. "Stop looking at me! I was only inside for a friend!"

Illegally igniting green fel fire within city limits, Neruda fel rushed down the street, frantically running away in embarrassment at having been seen exiting a shrink's office. The night elves who'd been across the street pointed and whispered, and Kenda even heard one of them mention the demon hunter's name.

Speaking without thinking, Kenda yelled back at the odd creature. "Hun, if you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have been knowing it was you!" she said, feeling pity more than anything.

Neruda continued running until she'd disappeared into a smaller side road, leaving everyone to forget and move on with their daily business. For her part, Kenda just tried to imagine how she'd bumped into the nutjob yet again, on that morning of all mornings, in that place of all places. She even wondered if she'd have to encounter Neruda again seeing as how she was the one who'd recommended anger management in the first place.

She hoped she wouldn't regret it...

A/N: she will. She totally will. Now for the last installment...