Snowforest Taiga how can you ever learn what isn't shown

more than anything, his entire life had brought him more grief than happiness. it was not a subject that he often reflected on. he believed that if he were to allow himself to wallow in pity, he would have only been creating a monster out of whatever remained of him. the taste of his own bitter emotions was like swallowing chalk. he had learned his own ways of coping with the heavy fog that had settled in his lean frame. he had learned how to continue living in spite of the misery that had washed over him.

he appreciated what she was saying about his need to share, but he also believed it was entirely unfair to her. after all, illidan had asked her an array of questions about her life before she had arrived in the teekon wilds. he had pushed a little too far and had caused something of an emotional break in the first time that they'd even met. if she was going to offer him answers to his questions, he should have been able to do the same.

it was the thought of opening himself up that caused his skin to rise with goosebumps. the ghost looked to her with a forlorn expression and frowned. “thanks,” he offered her in response. it was the best he could do under the circumstances. with all of the thoughts that swam around in his head, it was a surprise that he hadn't sputtered something foolish and then further infuriated himself with his own idiotic jabbering. illidan was not sure that the day would ever arrive when he wanted to talk about his missing brothers. he could not imagine how different his life would have been in that moment if they had never vanished. the longer he festered on it, the more it pained him to think about.

your father would be alive. your family would be whole.

the voice didn't seem to belong to him, but it echoed through his mind like the sound of the waves echoing in the caverns of the sound. he hated it; he hated to imagine what might have been if tragedy had not devoured his home and his family. the ghost could not help but to wonder how much better he would have been if they were together. even the small reunion he'd shared with his mother and raleska and svalinn had been enough to inspire some change of character in him.

“wouldn't your mother miss you? you're her kid, after all,” illidan asked of her with a tilting of his head. even though you made a mistake, even though you left to be on your own, you're still her child.