(As you all know, Rayla left in the two year gap between seasons 3 and 4. And the way Callum reacted to her coming back broke my brain and made me cry, so I made a one-shot about him reacting so much differently because I need mental help. Fluffy angst? Word count: 683)
Rayla carefully avoided the guards. Would he be the high mage now? Guess it wouldn't hurt to check... She proceeded down the hallways. Stella chirped and emerged from the folds of her hood. "Shh! Stella!" Rayla snapped. The cuddlemonkey retreated into the darkness. Rayla rolled her eyes and continued. She had known where the high mages office from her first... encounter with Callum. She heard an unmistakably voice from inside. "In darkness, gaze upon a Fallen Star." The phrase frightened her, but she couldn't care less, finally hearing his soothing voice again. How she'd missed it.
Without warning, Stella jumped from her hood and darted into the office. "No- Stella!" Rayla seethed quietly in frustration. The purple monkey ran into the office and around the cube. The Star rune lit up, attracting Callum's attention. "What the..." Suddenly, Stella emerged from behind the cube, grabbed it, and darted away. Rayla walked to the doorway to pick Stella up in her Moonshadow form. "Uh, what was that? Where did it go?" Callum saw the strange creature climb the side of something that was not there. Or so he thought.
Callum stared at the figure, hoping soon they might reveal themselves. A Moonshadow elf? He watched in... in almost astonishment as the figure romeved their hood. He felt a strange, old sensation bubble up in his stomach. One he could not mistake, even if he hadn't felt it in over a year. Love. It was a few moments before they- ... before she spoke. "Hey." Callum gulped. That was the voice. The accent, the soft, caring tone, that was her.
Callum breathed deeply. "Rayla? You're... back?" Rayla nodded, hoping she hadn’t hurt him too much, and overall regretting leaving in the first place. Callum stumbled forward, unsure where his legs were taking him. Before he knew it, he had wrapped his arms around her, and tears were streaming down his cheeks. "You're back," he mumbled. She hugged him back. "I'm back," she replied. Something inside Callum made him want to push her away, but it was overruled. She's back. And that's all that matters. Right?
"You're back!" Callum exclaimed. Rayla chuckled. She hugged him tighter. Callum nuzzled his head into her shoulder. He did not make an attempt to conceal his happiness. When he released her, he realized just how much she'd changed. But she was still so beautiful in his eyes. Wow. "D- Does Ez know?" he nearly shouted. Rayla looked guilty for a second. "Uh, well, no. I thought I should visit you first? I guess?" Callum nodded. "No, yeah, no, that makes perfect sense!" To be completely honest, he couldn't make sense of what was going on.
Rayla looked around. Trying to find something, anything, to distract them from the awkward topic of their complicated relationship. Rayla's eyes darted around. "So... you're the high mage now?" Callum nodded, looking around, proud as if he had built the room with just his bare hands. He gestured to a bench in the far corner of the room.
As they sat down, Rayla struggled for a topic other than the past, even though she desperately wanted to be back in it. Her eyes landed on a strange painting of a little girl with a sheep in her arms. She smiled as she remembered the funny memories with that painting. "Are you talking to that painting?" "Pfft. No. Why would I do that? Because it's. Not. A. Good. Time." "You mean because you're with a girl?" Rayla remembered that day so vividly. The day she met Callum. The day everything changed for the better. The day she declared that she and two humans would end the wars and stop the fighting.
They sat in comfortable silence. The quiet made Callum drousy. His eyelids began to sink. He yawned, and soon, he was out. Rayla turned to look at him. Her heart fluttered. Somehow, he looked adorable and powerful at the same time. She smiled. Standing, she told him, "I'll be back. That, I can promise." Then, she proceeded to the throne room, hoping to see an old friend.
