It was rarely this cold in Quel'thalas. The sky had lost its brilliance on this most sombre day,however, the sun hiding behind steel-grey clouds that cast a shadow over Eversong Woods and the city of Silvermoon. A cold breeze lifted the hem of a slender figure's cloak, forcing the young woman to tighten it around her body.

Bitsie watched the crowd gathering outside the city gate, amazed by the presence of so many famous faces. Her own leader, Lor'themar Theron was there, chatting with Malfurion Stormwind while the Archmage's wife, Tyrande Whisperwind, spoke with the elderly King Anduin. The half-elf saw her cousin, and best friend, Osynix, standing nearby, looking for her.

Bitsie knew that she would have to join the assembly at some point, but, for the moment, she was content to use her stealth skill to stay out of sight and simply observe her surroundings. A brief smile tilted the corners of her lips as she thought about how pleased her mother would be to see the crowd, all the races of Azeroth coming together in one place, and in peace.

But Braelyn Hawke would not get to see them. She could not see them, for they were gathered here today to say farewell to the hunter who had contributed so much to Azeroth's era of peace. They were to celebrate the life of someone who truly championed the unconditional acceptance of people regardless of race or faction.

When Bitsie had announced that she was going to be a rogue, it was her mother who had been the most supportive, despite her long-standing dislike of the class. Her father had been outraged, but his anger never lasted long in the presence of his beloved wife, whom he'd adored to the very end.

It was an adoration that was very much mutual. Bitsie and her sisters had grown up listening to their Aunt Lorelai and Uncle Halduron tell them about their parents' epic love story, and the love the pair had for each other was obvious in the way they looked at each other, how they spoke to one another, and how they acted in each other's company.

It was also evident in the way Braelyn had fought her illness to the very end, desperate for one last minute with Rommath, one final kiss. Such strength and devotion was also there for her children, and all four of them had vowed that they would never settle until they found the kind of love their parents had.

Bitsie remembered the last conversation she and Andoriah had with their mother. Braelyn was in pain, but she always smiled for her children. She said that the hardest part of her marriage to Rommath was watching him struggle with her short life span, seeing him fight to accept the changes that time wrought on her body while he remained unchanged.

Rommath loved her until the end, and still did, the wrinkles and the swollen joints meaning nothing to him. It was the fact that each wrinkle brought her that much closer to the grave that troubled him, along with the knowledge that he would have to live on without her, possibly for centuries.

The sixty years he'd had with Braelyn were a short, bright streak in his long, long life.

Bitsie admired her mother's strength, especially when she realised how difficult it would have been for the human to grow old among a race that stayed young until the day they died. Braelyn had also outlived most of her friends and family. Bitsie's Uncle Boxer had disappeared when she was five years old, and both of her maternal grandparents had passed away the year she turned 13. Her mother's favourite cousin, Odariah, had been for dead for twenty years, and Bitsie's Uncle Andorien had not survived his wife for very long.

The crowd grew silent, before parting to allow a smaller group to walk through them. Rommath stood as tall and proud as ever, but Bitsie could see the grief swimming in her father's eyes, long since faded from fel green back to their original blue. Andoriah was holding his left hand, her hunter's pets following at a respectful distance, while the mage twins, Lor'elle and Astrylia, were at their father's back.

It was time.

Dropping out of stealth, Bitsie walked forward, embracing each of her sisters tightly before taking her place at her father's right. She slipped her arm through his, reaching up to kiss his cold cheek. "Be strong, daddy," she said, giving his arm a gentle squeeze.

"I will try, Sweetheart," Rommath replied, but his voice was weak and unsteady. It shocked Bitsie to hear it. Her father's voice was always so strong and firm, capable of scaring away the most terrifying of monsters.

Bitsie looked back at the twins and then over to Andoriah. She could tell that they were all thinking the same thing; their father was not long for the world. He could not survive without their mother.

A tear slid down Bitsie's face as she realised that her father would probably hold on just long enough to see his daughters settled. She didn't know whether to feel happy about that, or pained that she was holding him back, forcing him to live on in grief.

As one, the little family unit moved to the front of the crowd, joined by Lor'themar, Halduron, Aethas, and Lorelai, who was already in tears. They walked slowly towards the city cemetery, ready as they ever could be, to bid a final farewell to their beloved Braelyn Hawke.

When Braelyn died, it was like falling asleep. A moment's darkness, then she saw the brightest light one could imagine, hovering in a ball before her. Gradually, the light expanded until it was all around her, and she felt as if all the pain and grief of her illness was burnt away, leaving her whole once more.

The light faded, and Braelyn found herself standing in the Mage's Quarter of Stormwind. It was not the same city she'd visited a few years ago, when she'd first gotten ill, however. Instead, it was the Stormwind of her youth, of the years before she met her husband, when she was a young adventurer.

She heard a growl, and a large furry body pushed against her legs. She looked down to see her very first pet, Growly, rubbing himself affectionately against her legs. An owl screeched and flew past, not stopping, but flying into a building that Braelyn had not been to in decades.

The Blue Recluse.

Braelyn laughed, bending down to scratch Growly's head. With a start, she noticed that her hands were not gnarled and wrinkled with age and arthritis, but smooth and youthful. She grabbed her ponytail, and laughed again to see it free from grey.

She was young again.

"Hey, toots, ya just going ta stand around laughin' like a loon or what?" a voice said behind her.

"Boxer!" Braelyn screamed, gathering the little goblin her arms. "You're here!"

"Of course I am, B," he laughed. "It's the reunion of the afterlife, and I always swore I'd get ta see ya dance."

"Does this mean... ?" Braelyn's voice trailed off, unable to complete the question. It wasn't important; Boxer knew what she wanted to know.

"They're in there, waitin' for ya," he said, pointing to the Blue Recluse. "Better hurry, toots, gnome girl is gettin' impatient."

Braelyn ran over to the pub, barging in... only to come to a halt when she noticed who was waiting for her. Sitting at their favourite table, Andorien and Odariah sat, as young as Braelyn was, wrapped up in each other's arms. Besides them, making faces at the overly affectionate couple, was Bitsie.

"Bitsie!" Braelyn cried out in delight. The gnome turned to her, her pink pigtails bobbing up and down with the movement.

"It's about time you got here, hunter," Bitsie said, then huffed as Braelyn swept her up in a tight hug. "Oooph! Yeah, girl, I missed you, too."

Braelyn could only keep laughing as she sat the gnome down, and moved on to hug her cousin and Andorien. "I wasn't expecting this," she said.

"It's a lovely surprise, isn't it?" Odariah said, passing Braelyn a tankard of ale. "It was a great comfort for me."

"It was boring for me 'til, 'Riah showed up," Bitsie grumbled, as Boxer sat next to her. "Although your parents kept me company for a while."

"But now that you're here, there's only one more person to wait for," Andorien said, gesturing to an empty chair beside Braelyn. "Then we can all move on together."

"Move on?" Braelyn questioned.

Odariah nodded. "Life goes on, cousin, in a cycle of death and rebirth."

Braelyn smiled. She had many questions, but they could wait. Right now she wanted to enjoy the feeling of being young and free again, and enjoy the solidarity of her friends. She turned and looked at the empty seat beside her. She knew who it was for. She had no doubts at all.

Rommath.

She thought about her husband and children with love, finally free of the guilt and grief she'd carried for them over the last years of her life. She wished them well, praying that her daughters got to experience the kind of love their parents had. She hoped that Rommath's grief wouldn't prevent him from enjoying the rest of his life.

She was anxious to see him again, though, and wished he could hear one last message from her.

In the cold solitude of the library, Rommath sat mourning in private. His daughters were tucked up in their childhood beds, hopefully lost to dreams of happier days. Their mother's funeral had been so hard on them.

He held a glass of silvershard wine to his lips, but put it down without drinking. He closed his eyes, wishing that for just one second he could be free from the weight of such terrible grief. He frowned when the window blew open, causing a cold draft to waft over him.

Rommath froze as the smell of Braelyn's favourite perfume filled his nostrils. He opened his eyes, and almost screamed when he saw his wife standing in front of him. She was not the crippled husk she'd been the day she fell asleep in his arms and never woke up, but the bright beauty she'd been on their wedding day.

He reached for her, but his hands went straight through her. He cursed his mind for tormenting him with such a vision, but his thoughts were lost when he felt her hand on his cheek. She smiled, the same warm smile she'd given him every day of their life together, as she leaned forward to brush her ghostly lips across his.

Before Rommath could speak, before he could tell her how much her family missed her, she began to fade away, and he was surprised to feel that some of his grief went with her. The last thing to disappear were her beautiful blue eyes, and they bored into his as her voice echoed in his head.

I'll be waiting.

AN - I know that I said my next post would be about Jack, or the what-if story, but I woke up this morning with this idea buzzing around in my head. Because it is so sad (it almost got me teary eyed), I hesitated writing it straight away, thinking to leave until after the what-if story. After thinking about it, I decided it would have more of an impact if done before the what-if. Mainly because it is really the end of Braelyn/Rommath, a pairing that is not going to be in the what-if.

I am not a very religious/spiritual person, but this is kind of how I'd like the afterlife to be if it exists - hanging out with your friends and loved ones before moving on to something new, whether a new life or a fading into nothingness.