Ranger's Apprentice: The Tantalizing Tales

Coming home

Will stepped away from the shadows, on to the well known clearing and into the fresh spring sun.

One single word. "Will!"

How the ground between them was erased no one would ever recall, but one moment they were apart and the next they were morphed into a single being. The warmth of his body met her cold skin, giving hope like it always did. Will's hands clasped around Alyss's waist and lower back and the following moment she was in the air. They swirled around, Alyss screaming and laughing and Will simply smiling. He pulled her into a tight hug.

Halt's mouth twitched and Will was certain that he was fighting a smile. "Welcome home," the old Ranger said simply.

All the anguish of the past day evaporated like the dew of the morning in the warm spring sun. This moment a small vacation, a blessed relief from all the distress that shoved its way into his brain. For a single moment, the reports and letters that lay waiting after such a mission did not matter. He lost the tightness in his chest. The muscles in his neck relaxed. After all that had occurred, he felt hope.

It was his favourite part of being a Ranger. Coming home.