Hope in Deep Waters (an AtE story) Ch. 4

Reunion

The eyes were familiar, yet different. The last time Janner had seen them, they had been haunted with pain and sorrow and had been set in the countenance of a deeply scarred creature, out of place like sapphires in a fractured clay pot. Now the eyes showed no trace of their former sorrow and their setting had been restored to its once handsomely fashioned state.

Janner had caught a glimpse of his father in the great golden bear, but now he saw him as he truly was: the caring and jovial man who had held his hand when he had taken his first steps and who fiercely loved him like no other.

“PAPA!” Janner shouted, throwing his arms around his father. His voice cracked with emotion but he didn't care.

His father squeezed him back, and as he did, the Maker's light encompassed them both in a divine embrace. For the first time in what seemed like his entire life, Janner was able to let his guard down entirely and simply lean into the comfort wrapped around him. He didn't have to be strong for anyone, because the Maker and his father were already being strong for him.

He thought back to the days when he had gazed at his father's picture and whispered his name just to feel the shape of it on his tongue, and how he had longed, yearned to see and speak to his father face to face. A sob rose in his throat. I have missed out on so much for so long. Janner felt like his emotions were broken: he should be overjoyed, and while he was overjoyed, he was also sobbing in grief? Esben squeezed him tighter and pressed Janner's head into his shoulder, patting him tenderly on the back.

My dear son….Don't dwell on past sorrows. Focus on now, came the Maker's thunderous whisper.

Janner’s mouth turned up in a peaceful, childlike smile as he relaxed and closed his eyes, losing all sense of time for a while. Though he knew he had died holding that stone on the green of Rysen Hill, Janner had never felt so alive.

Esben's voice eventually broke off the timess state. “Oof. You give quite the bear hug there son!” he chuckled, then added, “No pun intended.”

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Note: I wish there was more description of not-bear Esben in the books 😬