The Guardians

Will This Be The Last Time?

                                  March 9
                        The Land of Wind
                     (The Sitorian Manor)

Days quickly turned into weeks, though Sebastian kept his word and spent everyday with his son. He knew things of him he hadn't known before. Each day with his son brought him happiness he realized he could have felt much earlier. Nolen was the one he needed, the one he had unconsciously carried on for. He had thought it impossible to ever love again after the death of his wife, but from the first time he gazed upon his child he instantly had understood what it was to love so deeply, so unconditionally, he had loved his wife with a fierceness but when he held his son he realized that he'd do it all over again. He was away for far to long and coming back was one of the best decisions he had made in a long time.

They sat in the drawing room on a piano seat together. The mellow tone of the piano resonated throughout the room. Nolen didn't know how to play the piano and never paid much attention to the room it was in but Sebastian had told him that he played while growing up and the boy became ecstatic. Any activity him and his father did brought him great joy, though Sebastian had only just began teaching him a new chord, he was trying his best to follow along but could already feel his mind wandering.

Nolen had begun to notice how tired his father seemed. He would wonder if he was getting enough sleep or if their daily activities together was tiring him out.

"Nolen?" Sebastian called softly, looking towards his son with furrowed brows. "What's wrong? You stopped playing." He hadn't even noticed that his hands had been hovering over the black and white keys.

"Dad, are you getting enough sleep?" He asked as he looked up at his father.

"I've been sleeping well, what about you?" He replied with a small smile.

"Are you sure? You can go rest now if you'd like. I don't mind. I'll just... I'll be okay by myself..." he said quietly while fiddling with the necklace that hung around his neck. He needed to let him know that if he was tired he could sleep and he'd have to be fine without him. Before his father he had spent most days alone with his caretaker, but he had gotten used to his father being around and would be sad if he left him even if it was only for a few hours.

"I'm fine, Nolen. I just want to spend more time with you." Sebastian said. Nolen watched him closely and slowly moved his hand towards his father's hand that was resting on the piano stool. He could never tell what his father was feeling or if he was lying or not, not unless he wanted him to, so he tried to sense his emotions through touch, one of the abilities Guardians inherited from the werewolf race, but even then he couldn't tell what he was feeling.

"If you say so." He whispered, giving up trying to figure out what his father really felt. "But let's do something else.

"Okay." Sebastian smiled. "Whatever you want."

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Sebastian had spent the rest of the day with Nolen and stayed by his side until he drifted off to sleep, though Sebastian had one more thing to do before he could finally rest. It had been dusk when he began his journey and almost dawn when he arrived at the edge of the town of Windermere, located south of Anemone.

He entered a small clearing in the dark forest, it had been untouched by the snow that covered Anemone. Stretching his aching limbs he observed the area, his eyes scanning the quiet forest. His gaze shifted as he sensed something approaching and his eyes landed on a large black wolf slowly emerging from the forest. It ceased it's movement a few feet away from him, it's scarlet eyes watched him with surprise that quickly turned into annoyance he didn't quite understand.