Pausing at the edge of a large cultivated field, Annemarialana took off her hat and wiped her forehead with a handkerchief. Sighing, she squinted against the glare of the afternoon sun and surveyed the field in front of her. The directions at the last village had been vague and the landmarks had not been as reliable as she would have liked. On the other hand, she didn't remember there being much by way of habitation on this part of the continent.

In the distance, she could see a collection of huts, most of them small and placed close together. Nearer to the field were some larger structures, probably for storing the harvest and work animals. Annemari sniffed the air but couldn't smell anything but the cloying smell of the jungle. The mass of rotting leaves that covered the jungle floor created a constant taste in the back of her throat. Shaking her head, Annemari tried to remember why she had ever wanted to live in a place like this.

Movement in the field caught Annemari's attention and she shaded her eyes with the brim of her hat, peering into the faint mist created by the moist heat of the place. She saw a small figure working alone in the field. It appeared to be having trouble with the farm equipment it was using, a hoe of some sort, and Annemari wondered why there were no adults around. The others she had seen in fields had always been strong and robust. She had never seen one so small and unattended working so hard.

Stepping out of the shadows of the jungle, Annemari quietly made her way across the field, moving with a sneaky grace that she wasn't even conscious of anymore. She was right next to the worker before it noticed her. Even then, when she cleared her throat softly to get its attention, the way that it tripped backwards and yelped made Annemari wince.

"Pardon me, but cou-" Annemari started to say, but stopped abruptly in shock when the child looked up. A pair of dark blue eyes, tinged with a hint of lavender, stared out at her from a face so like Aldus's that she was struck speechless. She gaped at him for several long moments.

"Ma'am?" The child asked politely, his voice soft and melodic, even with the common words on his tongue.

"Jairenthalas?" Annemari whispered softly, sinking to her knees. Tears came to hear eyes and fell down her cheek but she ignored them. She stared at the child, at her child, and felt something warm bloom inside her. It was a feeling she had not thought she would experience again. Having come to collect the remains of her loved ones, she instead had found the child that she thought lived on only in her dreams.

"Jairenthalas." She cried softly and leaned forward to gather him into a hug she had been wanting to give him for too many years.

When Jairenthalas didn't move away from her, Annemarialana scrambled forward to close the gap between them and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Her heart was singing and she felt near to bursting with joy and at the same time, she felt as if she still had so much grief left, she would never stop crying. For the first time in many long years, Annemari did not worry about her appearance or about keeping her emotions to herself.

She held her child and let herself just be.

It took her a moment to realize that the child-her child-was talking to her. She let go and leaned back on her heels to look at him. His hair and his eyes, mixed with Aldus's beloved face, left no doubt in her mind as to who the child was.

"Jairenthalas? Don't you-" Annemari felt a leap of hope that died as quick as it game. Of course he didn't know her, or who she was. If Aldus had been alive, certainly they would have come to the Vallenwoods by now, or he would have at least known who she was. "No.. I guess.. you wouldn't." Sighing heavily, she wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to sort out her thoughts.

Jairen took a cautious few steps backwards, nervous of the elven woman that appeared so strangely and fell crying at his feet. He had never in his life seen anyone act so strangely and he had always pictured his first meeting with an elf differently, some how.

"My name is Jairen. How do you know that?" He asked.

"Will you remove your hat?" Annemari said simply, ignoring his question. She did not think he would believe her yet, and she still had to be sure. He removed it quickly, as if he was used to taking orders. Annemari suppressed a frown and a flash of anger at the village for this and asked him to push his hair, black like hers, away from his ears. He did so, revealing a pair of elven ears. Annemari looked back to his eyes, blue tinged with lavender, and knew they were her own

At the sight of them, tears welled up in her eyes once more and she closed them.

"It is you.." Annemarialana whispered softly.

Confused, Jairenthalas shook his head and peered at Annemari. "I am who? Ma'am?"

"Jairenthalas.." She whispered, taking delight in the feel of his name once more on her lips. She had never thought to speak it again. "Do.. Do you know how you came to live here? Did they tell you?"

Drooping his head, Jairen sighed. "My parents died." He said quietly and it seemed to Annemari almost as if he was ashamed to admit it. Anger at the village welled up again. Had they told her son it was his fault? "I've been here as long as I remember.." Jairen continued, unaware of Annemari's rising anger. "Why?"

"Have you ever looked in a mirror?" Annemari asked gently, still ignoring his questions.

"I know I'm an elf." He said with a nod. "With ears like yours.. but I've never seen another elf."

"Your eye color.. it is not common among elves." Wanting to work up to the revelation, so as not to shock him into denial or anger, Annemari decided to be indirect at first. She couldn't be sure he would be as accepting as she. "Did they tell you your father's name? Was it Aldus?"

Surprised, Jairen whispered his response, and immediately wanted to know how she could know his father's name. Again, Annemari ignored him and persisted.

"Your mother. Annie?" She remembered fondly the name Aldus called her, the name she could no longer bear to hear another use.

"I don't think I ever heard my mother's name." Jairen admitted after a moment of thought. "Whenever I asked, they just talked about how she looked and things she did." Annemari encouraged him to continue with a question and a faint smile. "She was tall and elven... I haven't asked for so long." Wondering whether he didn't ask because he was resentful or because they discouraged it, Annemari was fearful she would lose him again.

"They told you she died?" She asked and he responded with a nod. Chewing her bottom lip for a moment, Annemari asked whether Aldus had died from fever.

"They said my mother went to do something.. and my father stayed here with me. But my mother didn't return." Jairen sighed and Annemari's heart broke at the pain in his eyes. How could she have caused this in her own son? She hated herself more than ever before and wondered if she should leave him to find happiness in his own life, rather than turn everything upside-down and return with him to the Vallenwoods. "My father.. they say he didn't survive long after she left."

"Your mother isn't dead, Jairenthalas." Annemari said, as shocked at herself for saying it as Jairen was upon hearing it. She had not decided what to do until the words had come, unbidden, to her lips. Now she had no choice. She would have to tell him, even if he hated her.

"They said they were surprised I lived..." Jairenthalas had started to say, when Annemarialana's outburst interrupted him. He trailed off and stared blankly at her for a moment. "What?" Was all he could demand.

"She.. She went to make way for you. With her family." Annemari began to related the painful tale once more, thinking all the while how stupid and cowardly she had been. "You and your father were supposed to follow, but you both contracted the jungle fever."

The sound of Jairen's hat falling to the ground from suddenly limp fingers distracted Annemari for a moment before she could continue. She avoided looking at him, afraid of what she would see, and focused her eyes on the hat instead. "He had traveled with you both some distance from the last place where you all had been together. He sent a message, but did not tell her where to find him."

Annemari paused again, marveling at her own idiocy. How could she have abandoned them? "By the time she.." Giving herself an internal shake, she revised her statement. She could not hide it from him forever. "By the time _I_ started to worry... I thought it was too late. That you were both dead."

"My mother isn't dead?" Jairen said after a moment of silence. Annemari looked down at her lap, ashamed.

"No.. she isn't dead." Annemari waited quietly. Wasn't it time for judgment? She wondered. Would he hate her? But Jairen wasn't looking at Annemari. He was staring more through her than at her now, his eyes unfocused. Overwhelmed by the revelation, he couldn't know what to say.

"You look just like him. Like your father." Annemari said, breaking the long silence. "Except your eyes. You have your mother's eyes." At this, Annemari looked up at Jairen and he shook his head again, as if to clear his vision, and looked into his mother's eyes. Annemari just barely smiled, feeling hopeful for the first time in 20 years.

Jairen took a stumbling step backwards and fell down. Even as sat in a heap on the dirty ground, he did not take his eyes away from Annemari's face. "Are you...?" He asked, letting the question hang in the air, not even able to finish it himself. It was too big to face. And yet, without even waiting for Annemari to answer, he could answer it himself. "Yes." Yes, she was his mother.