My boy,
Like a son to me, and it always grieved me to know that one day you would read this letter, and it would mean that I was no longer here. As I watched you grow to a young adult, and you were such a youth from the Kun Lai mountains when you first appeared at Half Hill, I wrote this again, then when you took a wife, I re-wrote one more time. Each stage of your journey, I saw that you would be ready for different words to help you continue without me. This letter the hardest one to write, the loss of your beloved Cecia.
Watching Cecia and you, and I am sorry for I know this memory will bring you pain, but the joy on your faces when Ceren and Rencìa were born was the highlight of this old Pandaren’s life. That you would invite your commander to the birthing, as we sat in the bar at Half Hill, you staunchly not imbibing and me believing there was not enough alcohol in the bar to get us through the nerve-wracking wait. We, who faced hordes of Mantid, Mogu, and somehow maintained the peace betwixt Hozen and Jinyu could not sit with any patience at all to await those births, and I saw true happiness for the first time, and I will always carry that with me, when those darling twins were born.
I finally knew what we had been defending the land and fighting for all those years. And, I saw where I had been mistaken in my own life.
I do not regret not having a family, and never did, but I had not kept those in my command as a family, which I then proceeded to undertake. As a commander, I had watched many young Pandaren of our Order grow into honorable and true adults, watched them leave back to their plows or take on any number of jobs that suited their heart’s content, and still embraced others as comrades that chose to remain in the military life. And I thought I was raising a family. A well-intentioned thought but seeing your new-found joy as you held those precious saplings in your arms, I saw clearly what I had missed in marrying the military and not straying from that path. But that day changed me, and I hope it showed in a softened heart and a willingness to truly become a figure our men and women could be proud to serve under and be as one family together.
And how you managed all your various rolls, being a parent and taking on more tasks as my personal assistant, Order commander, leading men and women onto the field of battle and never once turning back, not even under the assault of the Sha as they erupted from our lands once again when Horde and Alliance crashed into our shores, is more than I will ever know. You were born to lead and born to serve, and I was the envy of many a Pandaren commander for that service. And there were many times, I gloated over that fact with all the Pride and Joy of a parent, mimicking you when you would tell me of how young Ceren swam the length of Cattail Lake without taking a breath or how his sister, Rencìa, first descended the climb down to the Krasarang Wilds, successfully on her own, with you watching anxiously from above.
You taught me love in the purest of forms, and you taught me the greatest sorrow I have ever known. That day you came to me, barely able to form the words, that Cecia had perished in a fall, that you had carried her broken body to the healers, but that it was already too late… It broke my heart, as I know it severed yours in twain. You never drank before that night, and I have never seen you drink again. You took up the mantle to raise your children alone and earnestly continued to work with the men and women that depended on us for their very lives on the field of battle. But that light in your eyes, was so dimmed, and I knew it was time to write the letter you now hold.
For one day, and since you are reading this letter now, that day is here, you are my successor. I would have no other take my place, leading the Order of fine Pandaren that defend the Valley of the Four Winds, that always answer the call of others, whether in Kun-Lai or Townlong, whose martial prowess is due in part to your exemplary leadership, insightful strategies, and courage beyond measure. I hope I passed in battle, and I hope the same for you after many years of peace and harmony. I fear I will not see the end of this war and not see the Vale re-born after what this Hellscream has wrought. If I do, I shall re-write this for peace will have come to our land again. But if not, I can think of no other that will leap into the fray and continue the fight against our land’s foes… and continue to keep a watchful eye on those two saplings, though they already look to start their own families. Perhaps holding grandchildren will help mend that heart of yours. I hope this fervently with my entire being.
And do not be sad for me, for I have lived a full life and I have known love because of you. Ren Stoneheart, you have been a delight in this old commander’s life.
Lead with honor and courage - Live with honor and courage!
Commander of Arms, Order of the Valley, Mei Swiftpaw