Some Head Canons...for Everything

Ranger's Apprentice ~ Come Back

A/N: Hey! @TheWarlock2101 thanks for following me! I decided to dedicate a head canon to you as a gesture of my gratitude! You are the right person, right? You DO like Ranger's Apprentice, correct? :D

The moment Will woke up, he was hopeful. Maybe it was all a dream...just a terrible dream. Yes, that was it. He rolled over in his bed to Alyss. "Alyss, I just had the worst dream..."

But Alyss wasn't there. Once again, he felt that deep, stinging sadness in his heart. It hadn't just been a nightmare. No, Alyss was really dead. Gone. He would never feel her in his arms or kiss her goodnight ever again. The tears came, warm and salty, but they were bitter, and full of anger. Alyss didn't have to die. She had a choice. Why hadn't she thought about him when she made it? Wasn't he more important to her than a stranger?

He rubbed his hand over his face. Nope. He wasn't going to get out of bed that day. In fact, he might never get out of bed again. Slowly, he drifted back into a dreamless sleep, where he was free of the burdens of the world.

A few hourse later, Will woke the sound of someone rapping on his door. He sighed. He would just pretend to be asleep; that would get them to go away, wouldn't it? Apparently not, he thought as the knocking continued, getting louder and louder until the person finally just yelled, "Will, get your sorry self out here now. I know you're awake!" Muttering curses to himself, Will rolled out of bed, stomping to the door angrily and yanking it open to reveal his best friend.

"Horace?" he said. "What are you doing here?"

Horace fidgeted uncomfortably as Will looked him up and down. "I've got something to show you."

Will snorted. "And what is it?"

Horace rolled his eyes and turned around beckoning for Will to follow him. "Hold up," he said. "I need to grab a flask of--"

"No, you don't," Horace said sternly. Sure, his best friend's wife had just died in a fire, but he wouldn't let Will start drinking. If he drank his sorrows away, he would undoubtedly become an alcoholic, and Horace would not see his friend sink to that level. "Just get Tug and follow me," he commanded, mounting his own horse as Will rolled his eyes and got onto tug. They rode into town, and as soon as Will realized where they were going, he stopped Tug.

"No," he said, face suddenly becoming pale. "No, Horace. I'm not going back there right now. I can't." Of course, Horace hated to hurt his friend, but Will had to go. "Go, Will. This Will help. You have to trust me. We've done something there to make it...less sad."

He only shook his head in response. Horace rolled his eyes. "Will, come on! You've fought in battles. You've saved countries. If you can't walk to the spot where your wife died, then--" He suddenly realized what he was saying and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry."

Will only glared angrily at him. "No, you're right," he said. "But I don't want to be there with you. You don't understand, Horace. You've still got Evanlyn--Cassandra--whatever her name is. You still have a wife, and a daughter! Just leave me alone."

With that, Will rode right past him, and he could see a tear glistening on the ranger's cheek. But still Horace nodded to himself. He had succeeded in making Will go there.

• • •

Will sat among the ashes of the burned building, the tears streaming silently down his face. They had placed a carved tablet of stone nearby in memorial of the dead. It pained him to look at it. At the top was listed, Alyss Treaty, who died risking her life to save an innocent child. May she rest in peace.

Two men sat nearby, discussing Will. They didn't know he could hear them, but he was listening. And he didn't like what he heard. The first man said rudely, "Ah, Jimmy, look. It's one of them Rangers. What do you suppose he's doing here?"

Jimmy, the second man, said, "Cut him some sack, Bill. That's Will Treaty, that is. His wife was killed in that fire."

"I dunno," muttered Bill, stroking his beard thoughtfully and narrowing his eyes. "I don't care what he did for us; all them Rangers are shady, even Treaty. I bet that poor woman he was married to was a slave. He probably bought her for money. Their whole story was probably and act. I bet he threatened her. Who knows what he did to the poor girl when they was alone?"

Faster than anything Jimmy or Bill had ever seen, Will was at Bill's throat with a dagger. "How dare you speak of her like that? How dare you speak of me like that? Rangers have keen ears, Mr. Bill, a fact that you would do well to remember," he snarled, pressing the blades into the man's skin.

He backed up, realizing that he was causing a seen, and spat at both of them, "Now crawl back to whatever hole you came from." They sprinted as fast as possible in the opposite direction.

Still breathing heavily, Will sank to his knees in front of the memorial. He ran his fingers over the letters: A-L-Y-S-S. Even now, it was slightly odd to see the name Treaty after Alyss. After all, he had known her for most of his life as Alyss Mainwaring. More tears flowed as he whispered softly, "Alyss." He whispered it again and again, and before he knew it, a whole speech came tumbling out of his mouth.

"Alyss. I miss you so much already. I miss your smile. I miss the way your golden hair sparkled when the sun hit it. I miss your laugh. I want you back. Why did you do it? Why? I know why. Because it was the right thing to do. You were always big on doing the right thing." He sighed, looking around at the people walking past, going on with their lives. They hadn't just lost their dearest companion.

"Our room feels so empty at night without you beside me. The way you made me feel, Alyss, was magical. The things you did for me, even when we were younger...they were miracles. I ask of you just one more miracle." He hated to say it, because it could never happen. Magic wasn't real. Happy endings didn't exist.

"Don't be dead. Come back to me, Alyss." He put his head in his hands and said softly again, "Just come back."