His Blue Moon Princess
His Sunshine Baby Chapter 116

A long silence follows.

There is always this strange numbness after a battle. As if what had happened was too much of a nightmare for anyone to process it. But no one is going to wake up, this wasn't a dream. There is no end to this, just that horrible feeling that, somehow, we need to move on. Nora and I lay a long moment together. I'm too tired to move, but too shaken up to collapse. I feel horrible...

After the witch's death, the word must have spread around quite quickly. The remains of the battle, even from further away, die down. Either the vampires all died or some ran away, I don't know, I don't care. I just feel the fights stopping, and this strange silence spreads wider on the battlefield.

I feel Nora's aura, spreading like fresh snow around my injury, helping me heal. I hold on to that sensation, trying to not give in to the darkness that calls me. I feel so numb... I just want to lie there and sleep. But we can't...

Finally, Nora somehow manages to get up, and she walks away from me. I know exactly where she is going. My own mate is coming up to me. I feel Nate's fur against my skin, as he lies down next to me. This contact is what finally frees me.

I start crying. I release all of my feelings, my pain, this bottomless despair. Moon Goddess, what happened to us? I'm even too scared to mind-link anyone, replace another one of my friends dead. I just curl up against my mate, looking for any bit of comfort I can grab. I can't believe it... Levi... The reality that one of my best friends died hits me brutally. Chris, William, and so many of my pack... Even Iris... I'm overwhelmed by the sadness. I know I need to pull myself together, but... I just need a minute. A minute to pour out the sadness filling my heart. I can't be a warrior right now. I'm just heartbroken.

Nate patiently waits for me to calm down, in silence.

His presence is the one thing I need right now. To know my mate is here, my mate is fine. I selfishly hold onto that one thought. I take a deep breath and struggle to get up. Even after this, there is so much to do...

It's a wreck around me. I spot Nora, a bit further, her hands on Damian's fur, looking concerned. Her white hair is glowing, but, to my surprise, the tips are starting to turn back to their black color. Moon Goddess, the sunrise...?

I can't believe it. It's really dawn. Far behind the trees, the sky is getting some dark purple tones, far away. It's just the beginning, but... I try to remember the whole fight, or how long Nora and I stayed lying down. It felt like an eternity went by without us knowing. We really pushed this fight until the last minute... No wonder we are all so exhausted, we fought for several hours straight...

Damn, I f*****g love summer.

I chuckle nervously at Liam's words. He's standing, walking slowly to Damian's side. Nate and I walk up to them too.

Are you okay...?

He has several bones broken, sighs Nora. I'll do my best, but...

Nora, save it for other people. I'll heal this by myself.

I can tell she wants to save her mate first, but the King is right. There are a lot of people who need her healing aura more than Damian right now. I share some of my aura with Nora, giving her a bit more strength as she goes on to heal other people.

I walk up to Danny and Bobo, a bit further, both wolves resting together on one side of the battlefield. They are both drenched, and Daniel is whimpering.

My poor babe...

I'm okay...

Okay? Babe, you have half of your bones broken! It's gonna take ages to heal...

I'm okay.

I'm so glad they are fine... Those two were heroes tonight. Daniel is not a fighter at all, but he still stood with us, and jumped in to help Bobo. I'm proud of him. I sit next to Danny, caressing my best friend's fur. I can't help but cry a few more tears again, remembering Levi. My best friend sighs, putting his head on my lap.

Don't cry, if you cry... I'm gonna cry again too...

I nod, but I can't stop it. I don't even dare to go and see his body... I've rarely felt so helpless. I take deep breaths. "Ahem... Excuse me."

I turn around, surprised to hear another voice. It's a human man, looking tired but standing, and handing me his shirt.

"It's just that, uh... I figured you might want to..."

Right, I'm still n***d. I clumsily wipe my tears, get up and thank him, grabbing the large piece of clothing. That guy is pretty tall, his shirt actually covers me down to half my thighs, it's good enough.

"You're the... sort of voice we heard, right?" He asks.

"Yeah... Thank you for coming."

"It's... We should have come sooner. We knew something was coming up, but you know, we thought it was werewolf business again. Then the word spread that the vampires were really getting... Anyway, we all heard your voice at the right time. We picked up whatever we had and decided to come. If we have a choice, we'd much rather pick the werewolves' side than vampires..."

I chuckle nervously. No kidding. The vampires probably would have enjoyed a feast...

All around us, humans and werewolves are helping each other. Some rescue teams are still doing their best to take the victims to the nearby hospitals or give them first aid on the spot. I look around, feeling unsure.

There are so many victims... I start helping, like a robot. We decide to gather the dead together so everyone can replace their loved ones, help identify them. I see so many people I know... I have to stop several times to cry, pull myself together, replace new bodies, gather them, and cry again.

At some point, when I'm on the verge of tears again, someone pulls me away from the gathering of bodies. "Hey, hey, come here."

Clark takes me away a bit, and takes me in his arms, soothing me a bit. I didn't even notice my godfather was near me until then. I don't know where everyone is. I've just been going back and forth, helping whoever needed and trying not to think... "It's okay, it's okay..." he whispers.

I just let go and cry again, sobbing loudly. I've been collecting so many bodies from our pack, I can't hold it anymore. People I grew up with, and some young ones I trained... How do we keep going after that? All of the Clans have collapsed. Alphas, Betas, fighters... so many people have died. I mumble my worries to Clark, unsure if I make any sense with all the sobbing.

"Don't worry. We will take it one step at a time... The pack will be okay. We will decide with the King what happens from then on..."

"Clark, Chris is... I think he... sacrificed himself."

"I... I heard what had happened with Iris. I think so, too... That kid... He probably thought he wouldn't make it in this war. He also... He had some regrets about his sister. Chris was too good. He probably thought this would be the best way to help us. To help you..." I cry again, thinking about my cousins. I can't believe they did this... Even Iris redeemed herself, in a way.

"Xavier is..."

"I know."

I don't know when my uncle died. I didn't realize until I saw him among the victims...

Clark hugs me until I can calm down.

"Have you seen a doctor yet? Your back..."

"I'm okay," I sigh.

I know my back probably looks ugly at the moment. It's been stinging for a while, and I feel the fabric sticky with the blood. At least Nora healed my biggest injury, for now. It's probably going to take a while before it stops being so painful every time I move my abdomen...

"You're really pale. Maybe you should... Hey, hey! Elena!"

I don't know what happened. I feel the earth move under me, and my legs become numb. Someone catches me before I fall on the ground. Voices gather around me. "Okay, time out for you babe."

I wake up on a couch.

It takes me a moment to recognize Clark's house. It's full daylight too, I probably slept a while... I'm feeling very weird, a bit... numb. Did they give me some drugs? I push away the blanket that was covering me and struggle to sit up.

"Oh!"

In front of me, in the kitchen, Liam noticed me, and almost drops his sandwich to run to my side. He has a medical eye-patch and a lot of bandages covering half of his head, but at least he looks fine... "Selena? How are you feeling? Nate, she's awake!"

Liam gives up his spot, and my mate, coming down from upstairs, back to his human form with his jeans on, replaces him, crouching down next to me. I frown, seeing his bare shoulder... And no arm attached to it. Nate holds my hand, looking worried. "Are you okay? Clark said you collapsed..."

"Nate, your arm..."

He shakes his head.

"Who cares about my arm. How are you feeling?"

"Like crap. I wish I'd forgotten... Do you have any news on Estelle? And... everyone? How long did I pass out?"

"She's okay, all the kids are. They're still at Nora's house with William and Neal's wives. You just slept for a few hours, Sunshine, you can rest more... Nora is resting upstairs too, she tried to help everyone as much as she could, she's exhausted." "Nate, what about the others? Your brother, Danny, Boyan?"

"Damian and Boyan were taken to the hospital, they needed some x rays, but they'll b fine. Daniel and Tonia went with them to help the medical staff, the Emergency Room was overwhelmed. Clark lent us his house for you to rest..." I nod. "What about Sylviana?"

"She went to her house, she said she needed to be alone for a while," replies Liam.

"We agreed to gather at Nora's house in a couple of hours."

"...Okay."

Nate sighs and sits next to me on the couch. I'm only too happy to be able to cuddle with him a bit. All of the events from last night feel so... I don't know, impossible. Even as I'm resting like this, I can't get those images out of my head. Nate only has one arm to hug me with... Liam looks to tired to joke around, and I hear many people outside, doing whatever needs to be done...

I can't believe it's over. I'm still on edge as if something was about to happen. My body is tired, but my mind won't relax. I thought I was a fighter, but after the fight is over, what am I supposed to be?

I miss Reagan... I know she would have found a way to get me back on my feet, whip me into replaceing the willpower to do something. It was already hard to have lost my mentor, but now... A part of me died with Levi. Losing my cousins, my uncle, too, it's like I barely have any roots anymore. Somehow, learning the truth about our parents' death didn't close any wounds, it just made the scars more meaningful for Nora and me. So, where do we move from now on...? "...I love you", I whisper to Nate.

His fingers stroke my hair lovingly, and I feel his lips against my temple.

"I love you too, my Sunshine."

I close my eyes, enjoying those words like the best medicine in the world. I'll be okay... I still have my family. I have my mate, my baby... I have Nora, Danny, Boyan. I still have a family, in my heart. "Nate... I want to see Estelle."

"Okay. We can go now."

"Can I come with you?"

We both turn heads. Nora just got down the stairs, her hair all over the place. My cousin got to take a shower and change into some new clothes. Somehow, seeing Nora as tired as me makes me chuckle. "Hi, Black Luna."

"Hi, White Luna," she replies with a pout. "How are you?"

"Right now, I'm jealous of your clothes... I'll go and take a shower before we go."

"I'll see if I can get us a car," says Nate.

Good, because I'm sure neither Nora or I are in a state to get there with our feet.

I take a welcomed shower, putting the dirty shirt away, and freeing myself from all the dried blood and mud. I guess they just transported me on Clark's couch as I wasn't a priority, but I'm still one hell of a mess. My shoulder's scar looks worse than before, and I have some new ones on my abdomen and back. I guess Nora couldn't use too much of her power on me alone... My skin is dry as hell, and as I wash myself, I discover numerous bruises and little cuts underneath all the dirt.

As I get off the shower and look at myself in the mirror, I don't recognize the woman staring at me. I have a bruise on my lower jaw, and some cuts above my eye... Looks like I went through hell and came back. I did. Somehow, I feel like I'm not the same woman I used to be. I've been through too much, and there's this feeling that I've lost something I'll never get back.

Once again, Levi's face comes to my mind. It f*****g hurts... A few tears escape me, again. It's terrible to say, but his death hurts me more than any of the others. Levi literally died for me. He shouldn't have done that, but he died for me, and that thought his haunting me. I... I don't want to keep holding on to that.

I look at myself again in the mirror. I can't take it... I hurriedly look into all of the drawers and cupboards until I replace what I need. I take a deep breath, and one last look at my reflection.

When I come down the stairs, refreshed and with some clean clothes I borrowed from Isa, I'm feeling much better. Nathaniel and Nora give me surprised looks.

"Selena, your hair..."

I reply with a faint smile. My blonde hair is now freshly cut into a short bob, the rest of it is into the trash bin upstairs.

I walk to my mate, and he gives me a little kiss, brushing my blonde hair.

"I like it."

"Thanks."

No one asks anything else, and we leave Clark's place.

Somehow, driving to the south makes me feel a lot better. Like getting away from the battlefield clears a few my emotions. It's still way too fresh to forget the craziness we went through last night, but at last, it does finally feels like it's over... When we park in front of Nora and Damian's house, the children in the garden. To our surprise, Sylviana was with them. James and Estelle drop the flowers they were playing with to run to us.

"Mama!"

I get on my knees to welcome my baby with wide-open arms. My little star runs into me and, the second I can hug her, I let out nervous laughter of relief. Moon Goddess... She's alright. My baby is alright. It makes it all worth it. "Mommy, your hair... It's like Rapunzel!"

I chuckle, and let her play with my hair, while Nate caresses her face, and kisses her. She frowns when she sees her dad's arm. Nate put on a long-sleeved shirt to hide his bare shoulder, afraid she'd be scared.

"Daddy... What happened to your arm? And mommy, too, you look all hurt..."

"Daddy and mommy had to fight last night, little star."

"You beat the villains?"

I exchange a glance with Sylviana, standing a few steps away. She has some very faint smile on, looking at us. Her eyes aren't smiling at all. While Nate is talking to Estelle, she turns to Nora, and hands her the newborn baby. Oh my gosh, Nora's baby... We walk up to them, and James is already making a fuss, while her mother's attention is all on her newborn. He's so small...

"Nora?"

Behind us, Tiffany Pearl-Blue just came out of the house, her daughter Rose right behind her. Moon Goddess, William's wife... From her expression, she already knows. Her eyes are red, but she's looking very graceful. Nora turns to her with a sorry look, almost as if she's about to cry, but the young woman gives her a smile.

"It's okay, Nora. My husband is a hero. I'm already very thoughtful about how you are honoring him..."

I don't know how she can hold her emotions like that, when William passed only a few hours ago, but my admiration for that woman is endless. Maybe she just doesn't want to show her sadness in front of her daughter, but even I have a hard time not tearing up, thinking about our cousin...

Nora turns to us, with her baby in her arms. The little boy looks already just like his older brother. His eyes are deep blue, and he has hints of black hair. He's awake, looking at Nora with big curious eyes. He's not even a day old...

"His name is William Black," whispers Nora, looking at him lovingly.

I chuckle. It's perfect...

She then turns to Sylviana, who is standing on the side, looking at the baby with a faint smile on.

"Sylviana, do you want to be his godmother? He wouldn't be there if it wasn't for you..."

However, the witch's expression changes into something sour. She shakes her head.

"Thank you Nora, but... I can't."

"Why?"

"I'm... dying," she whispers.