Her Soldier, His Warrior

A Long Way We Came

Prompt: Soren reminiscing about the time he first met Enya. He's still in awe of how far they've come

Setting: Post season 3, several years into the future

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“Daddy, when did you and mama meet?" Sonya ask her father one night as he and his wife were tucking her and Liam into bed.

"Why the sudden curiosity?" Soren asks as he grabbed his daughter's favorite stuffed toy, a banther, from the toy pile by her bed to hand to her.

"Uncle Callum says it's gonna be your anniversary soon. I asked what an anniversary was and he told me." Sonya responds, accepting the toy and tucking it under her blankets to lay next to her. "Said it was supposed to be a yearly celebration for anything important."

"That's true, your father and I are celebrating a special milestone in our lives." Enya says as she kissed Liam on the forehead before walking to her daughter's bed. "We're celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary the day after the Peace Day festival."

"You and daddy got married after the war?" Sonya asks and her parents nod.
"We got married in the early hours of the morning after the war ended, it was just us and some close friends." Soren says as he takes his wife's hands. "Your mother told me in the middle of the fight that if we won and survived she'd marry me."

"Oh please don't remind me." Enya groans. "We weren't even dating at the time!"

"Everyone assumed we were, we kept our little marriage a secret until we had a more official wedding a few years later after our precious baby girl was born."

"That was me!" Sonya exclaims happily.

"And me!" Liam yells, popping out from behind his mother with a goofy grin on his face.

"Didn't I tuck you in already?" Enya asks, bending down to pluck the four year old up. “Back to bed now.”

“You never told us how you met!” Sonya exclaims as her father is turning away from the bed. “You gotta tell or I won’t sleep!”

“I met your mom when we were eleven, I was trying to train your uncle Callum in sword fighting when she came over to help him up.” Soren chuckles as he turns back to his daughter. “I wasn’t in love with her then, but at the time I thought she was the prettiest girl in Katolis at that age.”

“You told me you may have developed feelings for me when I hit you over the head with a wooden sword.” Enya laughs as she walks back over to her daughter’s bed and kisses her husband on the cheek. “And you didn’t realize that until you were thirteen.”

“Oh that’s right, and multiple times I tried expressing my romantic feelings for you, but you just brushed them off as platonic.”

“You giving me a bouquet of sunflowers during a summer festival didn’t strike me as romantic when we were fifteen because even Ezran, Callum and a bunch of other boys were giving them to me, your sister and many other girls.”

“I nearly kissed you on the cheek that time! And I would have if Ezran didn’t yank you away so you could accompany him and Bait to try some sweets!”

“What’s platonic?” Sonya asks, interrupting her parents. “Sounds weird.”

“It’s supposed to be a form of love and affection that’s not romantic. Like...what you and your friends have, you say you love them very much but not the way I love your dad.” Enya explains. “Or what Altair’s grandfathers have, Ibis has a platonic relationship with Ikaros and Zolar.

“Oh, that’s what it is?”

“Yep, it was what me and your mother had for seven years, until I won her over.” Soren says, putting an arm around Enya’s waist and pulling her close. “And though we have been together for a good many years, I’m still in awe over how far I’ve come with your mother. From being a stranger, to being just known as her best friend’s older brother, to being a friend, and finally becoming the man she chose to share her life and heart with and raise a family.”

"A mhuirnín, you're making me blush." Enya says as her cheeks grew warm. "We should let the children sleep now, they have lessons tomorrow."

"I'm not tired!" Sonya protests with a huff.

"Yes you are little sunbeam." Soren laughs as his daughter tries stifling her yawn before his wife pulls herself out of his embrace to pull the blankets to Sonya's chin and adjust her head on the pillow. "Get some sleep, good night."

Whatever Sonya wanted to say came out in a sleepy response before her mother kissed her forehead before following Soren out the door.

"Still in awe, huh?" Enya asks her husband when they shut the children's bedroom door behind them. "I'm not surprised."

"Should you be surprised? I thought you knew me better." Soren says with a playful pout as he stepped close to his wife and gave her a cheeky grin when she wraps her arms around his neck. "So, off to bed? Or..."

"To bed, mister crownguard captain." Enya laughs as she released her husband to gently push him away before he grabs her hands. "Soren you have the early morning shift tomorrow, you need sleep."

"I'm in desperate need of your snuggles, I can't sleep without them." Soren says with another playful pout. "I won't be home nearly all day and I doubt I'll have a long enough break to see you and the kids. And I'm in need of your kisses too."

"Cheeky tonight aren't you?"

"Only when the love of my life is involved. So, snuggles before bed or not?"

"We'll see A mhuirnín, we'll see."