"But how did you know to come here?" Thane asked after a moment, looking puzzled.
"I knew you would try to see your mother when I heard about all of the crazed Vepar that the Council had started to put into this facility. A large group of them tried to invade the Council building this morning," Lanton continued. "As soon as I heard that, and none of you had checked in with any of us, I knew I needed to make sure you were all right for myself."
He pulled Thane in for a tight hug. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you," he said, his voice swelling with emotion. “I’ve never recovered from what happened to your mother. But losing you would be my final breaking point.”
Thane looked up suddenly. “We need to check on her,” he said worriedly.
“I already sent in some of my men to make sure she was safe. She didn’t even know anything was happening.”
Thane nodded, looking relieved.
“Let’s get out of here,” Lanton said, looking around in disgust at the carnage around us.
“We need to bring her with us,” said Thane, moving to walk to his mother’s room.
“I’ll be taking her with me. You aren’t really in a position to be moving her around with you right now,” Lanton said.
That made sense to me, but by the look on Thane’s face, what Lanton had just said surprised him.
“You’re taking her with you?” he asked, sounding concerned. “Are you going to be alright seeing her every day?”
Lanton cleared his throat, resolve shining from his face.
"She’s still my wife," he said in a gravelly voice. "I can still picture her as she was, every memory that we shared runs on a loop in my head. I guess I’ve just been a coward since everything happened. It just felt too hard to see her as she is now when I can remember so clearly how it was in the past. But I still love her, I’ll love her until my dying breath. And maybe someday she'll come back to me."
He cleared his throat. "Until then I'll keep her safe." He clapped Thane on the shoulder and walked away. Thane looked like he was holding back tears. He had shown more emotion today than I had seen from him ever.
I suddenly felt exhausted. I knew it would probably take a very long time before the images from today left my own head. I just hoped that we would get the chance to replace them with the good memories that Lanton at least had of him and his wife.
A pair of arms encircled my waist, and I whirled around, knowing who they belonged to immediately. Derrial was up. He looked tired but healed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and began to sob. It seemed like all I did nowadays was cry.
“Shhh, it’s alright, pet,” he whispered in my ear. The sound of his voice only made me cry harder.
“You almost dieeeed,” I whimpered. “You all almost did.”
He didn’t say anything, just continued to hold me in his strong grip.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said after a few minutes. I pulled away, trying to wipe his shirt discreetly as I was sure there was a bucket of snot and tears covering his shoulder after the cryfest I had just engaged in.
Derrial surprised me by picking me up in his arms.
“Are you sure you’re strong enough to hold me?” I asked, trying to get out of his grasp.
He looked offended at my question. “I feel better than ever,” he said. I looked over his shoulder at Corran. “Have I told you how much I love your big, beautiful brain?” I asked him.
The guys threw back their heads and laughed at me. The sound of their laughter was a balm for my soul.
“What?” I asked, pretending to be affronted.
“You like my brain, do you?” Corran asked with a smirk that set off way more fireworks inside of me than was appropriate in this situation. “Are you sure there isn’t something else on my body you like better?”
"I happen to find your brain the sexiest part of you," I replied haughtily, my cheeks flushing under their teasing. The fact that they could tease me at all, however, had my soul soaring.
I pressed a firm kiss against Derrial’s cheek, and they laughed again.
"Looks like we need to have more near-death experiences so that kitten can retract her claws for a minute or two," joked Thane. I stuck my tongue out at him but squeezed Derrial tighter. I didn't want to experience anything like what we had experienced today ever again.
"Let them joke," Derrial whispered in my ear. “It's the only way that we’ll get past the fact that we almost lost you forever." I pulled back away from him.