...

And so it begins...

Another Time...

Another Place...

As she stood on the cliff and looked at the ocean in front of her, the woman took a deep breath and sighed. Such a beautiful day. Far too beautiful to say goodbye. She knew that there was no other choice. They had talked about it many times. Everyone had agreed on this, even though no one was truly happy about it. But sometimes you just had to do things not because they felt good, but because it was the right thing to do.

"A storm is approaching." she whispered to herself as she looked at the clouds in the distance. It would be here soon. As the huge creature approached her from the jungle behind her, it didn't even try to hide its presence. It would have been pointless anyway.

The huge Protoss stopped a few meters behind her and didn't say anything. He didn't even need to use his psionics in order to know how she was feeling right now. For a long time, neither one of them spoke a word. He remained silent out of respect. She remained silent because she didn't feel like having a conversation right now.

But after a while...

"Is she gone?" the woman with the long, red hair asked and looked over her shoulder. The Protoss lowered his gaze and nodded.

"Yes. I sent her off myself." he told her and she took a deep breath when she heard that.

"Did she say anything before she left?" the woman wanted to know.

"That you should not be worried. And that she can handle it." the huge Protoss declared. It put a smile on the woman's face.

"If only that were true..." she whispered. She looked back at the ocean and wiped a tear from her cheek. When the golden drop landed on the grass, it turned solid immediately.

"And where did he go?" she asked after a while.

"He went to his private place. He told me that he has an idea, one that he needs to turn into reality."

"He sure as hell has the worst timing ever." the woman with the red hair sighed. "Guess that means that I won't seem him for the next couple of, well, centuries." Her voice carried both equal amounts of frustration and amusement. Everyone dealt with issues differently. If she would tell him that she needed him, that she wanted to talk to him, that he should just hold her in his arms, then he wouldn't even hesitate one second and do just that.

But...she didn't.

No, right now she wanted to be alone. It would probably not last long, but this place wouldn't be the same with the Little One around. And there was another thing. It was something that she hadn't even told the man she loved...

She was scared.

She wasn't scared about the Little One. She was scared of what the Little One would see. Everyone had told her that this would be hard, but why did it have to be this hard?

"I'm not certain that we are doing the right thing here..." she mumbled after a while.

"We all knew that it would be tough. For her. For us. For everyone." the Protoss explained. "Besides, it is too late to do anything about it now. It is in her hands. You should not worry, though. She is clever. She will understand."

"I can only hope that you're right..." the woman mumbled. The Protoss sighed and stomped over to her. He placed his huge hand on her shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze.

"You should not worry. She will endure." he told her and she looked up at him.

"You think so?"

"I know so." And then he did something that not many Protoss would do: He gave her a thumbs-up. "She will understand. She is a lot smarter than you, me, or the other ones. So have faith in her." When she heard that, a sad smile appeared on her face.

"I hope you are right." she whispered and looked back at the horizon where a huge storm was approaching. She took a deep breath and then she said one more thing...

"I already miss her."

The Protoss didn't say anything else. He turned around and stomped away. What would he do now, now that his pupil was no longer around? Who knew. He was resourceful, he would find something to occupy himself.

As for the woman...

"...leavin' on a jet plane..." she started to hum her favorite song.

"...dunno when you'll be back again..."

And then a warm smile appeared on her face.

"...but I hope it will be soon."