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Leo woke to piercing shrieks.
Her manasaber cub scurried under the blankets with a worried mewl, and even Lil’ Bling hurried to hide.
Screams penetrated down through her bones. Leo untangled herself from the bedding to find the leader of the Pantheon had her beloved in a cocoon of strange energies.
"Illidan!!"
Leo tripped over sheets to reach him. Through the swirls of dark magic and fel ripping from his body in thick torn streams, the demon inside Illidan struggled to take control. Clear distinctions between Illidan and his demon came in roars of agony that prickled Leo’s skin. Rage and determination from the demon. Unimaginable pain from the demon hunter she’d given herself to.
The torture in his voice brought a flood upon her face. Crying for her lover, Leo yelled to Aman-Thul to stop. Her voice cracked from the strain. Could he even hear her over whatever he did to Illidan?
Worried and frantic, instinct brought forth the wolf so Leo could protect her small pack. She clawed, tried to bite, tried to attack the Pantheon leader, only for fright and failure to bring a sobbing human to the floor. The weight of not being able to stop his torment crushed her. Through tears and sobs that ached her chest, she tried to apologize for not being able to save Illidan. It was a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from. For hours all she could do was cry and listen to Illidan’s pain shake her to the core. She prayed he would come back to her. They were supposed to be safe! Sargeras wasn’t supposed to be able to reach even their minds from his prison. Why would the Pantheon do this?
When at last the screams faded and the glow dimmed, Leo wiped her eyes and stood to look closer. And her breath lodged in her throat.
… He was gone. In place of the half-demon hovered a night elf. The horns, the fel scars, the burning eyes - the culmination of sacrifice that made him the man she fell in love with - all gone.
Illidan looked at his arms and hands in amazement as he floated in circles. Leo watched him feel his head and a tear slip down his cheek. Illidan felt his eyes with his fingers and cried.
The cocoon dissipated, and bare toes touched the floor. Illidan stood stuck in bewilderment as he looked at his new body.
A hard breath rattled Leo’s ribs so hard it hurt, stealing Illidan’s new eyes. “Leo.” It startled him. He was so used to hearing the demon that his true voice sounded almost foreign.
Leo could only stammer, staring at his entire transformation. “Wha-? How? Why?”
Illidan still didn’t quite believe it. To have his eyes and feet back, to be himself again… It felt like he would wake up any second. “I asked him to.”
“What? How-” Leo couldn’t speak for a moment. “Why would you do that?”
Illidan stood taken aback. He’d thought she’d be happy. Trying to explain only seemed to offend her though. “I... can be the man you need now.”
Leo stared agape, her expression a clear sign Illidan made a mistake. “I needed the man you were when I fell asleep. Illidan!” As if he’d done something unfair. Leo breathed choppy in disbelief. Hard fingers raked her scalp and she paced. “I didn’t fall in love with a normal man, Illidan!” she insisted. “I fell in love with someone so impassioned about having all the power in the universe he chose to save his home. I fell in love with the horns and wings and hooves. I fell in love with your scars! ” Leo turned back with glassy eyes. “I don’t want the man Tyrant-duh dismissed, I want the man who fell in love with me. How come you can’t see that? Why didn’t you ask me first if it was I wanted? This affects us both!”
Illidan was offended he’d changed so much and she didn’t want him now.
Did she not want an elf? Had his horns and wings been nothing more than a fetish? Didn’t she care about the elf he had been inside all along?
It wasn’t long before they were yelling back and forth. So loud they couldn’t hear the other’s words. As if their needs could be met by bellowing over each other whose feelings hurt worse.
That she didn’t turn into the wolf was proof she was hurt, though, not angry.
And Illidan did not want to fight. Not with her. That was not why he asked Aman’Thul to subject him to such pain. Illidan took Leo’s face in his hands and kissed her long and deep.
Leo gasped, rigid, then melted into his hold and succumbed. She held onto soft elven arms with tears leaking through each kiss.
“Dalah-surfal,” he murmured. His beloved. “I want a life with you, not a shared chore I forced you into.” He only wanted to be the man - the elf - she made him feel like. “Every time you looked at me, you made me forget I became a monster to save my home.” He only wanted to embody it. He didn’t want his rebirth to tear them apart. He did this for them. “So I could feel free and not hold you back from the life I want for us.” Longing broke his voice in his throat. “I want to watch you grow our children. I want-” the fact he could now made this harder to speak it “-to love you- to make love to you - as a husband should.” He was still the same inside - every memory, every mental scar, but now he could finally hold her like he wanted to all along. “I am still Illidan,” he promised. Still the Illidan who could not get enough of the worgen huntmistress.
Now, he could be more with her.