Chapter Text
The next morning, Jaina was roused by the morning sun streaming through her window. She lay still for a moment, thinking on the previous day. With the help of the Kirin Tor and Varian’s men, they had been able to successfully defend Theramore from the Horde forces. While it had been a miraculous victory, they had sustained heavy losses -- many good soldiers had been lost and the wall surrounding the island was badly damaged. If they were going to be prepared for the second attack that Tervosh suspected would come, preparations would have to be made. She sighed as though mentally preparing herself before sitting up and swinging her legs over the edge of her bed and into her waiting slippers. Today’s activities would start with her speaking at the mass funeral being held for the fallen, an event that Jaina was not looking forward to. Funerals were never fun, but when they were for soldiers passed in a pointless battle and for innocent families -- families she had sworn to protect -- caught in the crossfire, she knew it’d be even worse.
She lit candles in the hallway with a sweep of her hand as she passed through, dragging her feet a little. Her sleep the previous night had been fitful, filled with dreams recounting the battle and of Garrosh Hellscream himself infiltrating Theramore in the night. She shook her head as if to physically shake the thoughts loose as she pushed through the door into the kitchen. When she looked up, her heart stopped at the sight of a man sitting at the table, silhouetted by the window in front of him. In an instant, she had conjured ice tendrils around the occupied chair, trapping the intruder, and waited for a reaction.
“Jaina!” a voice protested. “It’s me!”
For a moment, Jaina couldn’t place the voice. Then, flushing with embarrassment, she hastened to free the man. It was Kalecgos, who was now giving her a sheepish look. “Kalecgos, I am so sorry,” Jaina said, one hand over her mouth and the other over her heart, still racing with adrenaline. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here.” She looked down, not meeting his gaze.
“Jaina, it’s quite alright,” Kalec said softly. He stood up and approached her, tilting his head down in an attempt to catch her eye. “I should’ve let you know I was coming.”
She raised her head shyly, feeling much like a child who’d accidentally broken something. “You know you will always be welcome here,” she said sincerely. She took a deep breath and relaxed her posture in an attempt to appear unbothered.
Kalec regarded her with an expression of either concern or pity -- which one, Jaina couldn’t tell -- and reached for her hands. He wrapped them in his own and squeezed gently. “My apologies for scaring you, my lady,” he said.
Jaina, realizing her hands were shaking, pulled away from Kalecgos and turned to busy herself with setting the coffee to drip. Why, she wondered silently, was he here? He had retrieved the artifact days ago, and she couldn’t imagine the former aspect needing her help with anything further.
As if to answer her unspoken question, Kalec spoke from behind her. “I wanted to apologize. I should have been there for the battle, I shouldn’t have left like that. I should have been here to support you.”
She thought for a moment before speaking. “You have no need to apologize, Kalecgos. You needed to be there for your flight, for those who needed you more. Besides, it would not have been fair of me to ask you to take sides in a fight between the younger races. I understand why you had to go.”
“That’s the other reason I’m here, Jaina.” Kalec’s deep voice seemed almost bashful as he spoke. “That’s not why I left. I left because I knew that if I stayed here any longer, I wouldn’t be able to keep my thoughts to myself.”
Jaina turned to face him, abandoning the cup of coffee she’d been about to pour milk into. “What thoughts?” she asked, her brows furrowing.
“I seem to have...developed feelings of a romantic nature for you.” He paused, acutely aware of Jaina’s eyes on him. “Of course, I do not expect you to reciprocate. I did not think I should tell you at all, but Tyrygosa thought it best if I did.”
Blinking slowly, Jaina searched for words. “Kalec, I…” she trailed off, debating whether to ask the question she desperately wanted to. Why?” she finally asked, looking at him. “I don’t understand.”
Kalec’s eyes met hers, an intensity in his gaze that surprised her. “I wish to know the answer to that, as well,” he said truthfully. “But, Jaina Proudmoore, you are not only an immensely powerful mage, but an accomplished diplomat and a fantastic teacher. You are a beloved leader and a valued friend to many. You are also, most importantly, my friend. You have shown me kindness that I did not deserve and you came to my aid in my flight’s darkest hour. You are, without a doubt, the brightest person I have ever met -- both in intellect and in personality.”
Jaina was stunned. Of all the ways she’d expected her morning to go, this was not one of them. She’d never even suspected Kalec had felt that way about her. Indeed, she had found herself missing him when he left and thinking about him often, but those didn’t have to mean anything...did they? She felt safer with him than she had with any other man since Arthas, but she attributed that to Kalec’s humor and easygoing nature. These feelings were surely just those that she might feel for a close friend -- they had to be. And yet, she found herself hesitating over her response. As the seconds dragged on, she felt Kalec’s eyes burrowing into her as though he might be able to read her thoughts if he tried hard enough.
She took a deep breath. “Kalec, I...I don’t know what I feel.” The words almost surprised her as they popped out. “I care for you, truly, but I don’t have room for those thoughts right now. So much has happened and I have so much to attend to-”
Her words cut off sharply as he embraced her. “It’s alright, Jaina. You don’t have to answer me right away. Let’s just focus on everything else for now. I’ll stick around for a while and do what I can to help -- with your permission, of course.”
She pulled back and smiled warmly at him. “I would like that.”