arafiel was too restless and delicate to fall in love after first leaving candlekeep, though she was happy enough to let a certain womanizing elf play at courting her for a time. love, though, didn't bloom, and they both moved on. it wasn't until just outside of athkatla's infamous copper coronet that she met the man who would eventually become her husband, though not for many years after and following a long, sometimes tempestuous courtship.
darian antharrna was a stubborn and aloof avariel elf with a shallow and isolationist worldview, and yet he listened to her and heard what she had to say, and as he did, his views changed. the change wasn't always easy or immediate, but being open to change is the most important thing, and he was willing. and as arafiel watched him change and came to understand him, she realized that something in her heart was changing, too. before she knew it, she was so irrevocably in love with him that she knew nothing in her world would ever be the same. on the steps of spellhold, when she was exhausted and empty, he finally took her in his arms and admitted that he loved her too. his timing was unconventional, but well, nothing else about them was conventional, either. it wasn't until after they slew bodhi that their hearts truly became one and she understood that he, too, felt the same sense of unconditional love that she did.
eventually, though, he began to harbor doubts, the closer her great destiny grew. though it was the hardest thing she ever had to do, she gave him the time and space he needed to work out his feelings, even as their first daughter grew inside of her. she refused godhood, knowing that they would only have the chance of a future if she allowed it, and put her faith in him, letting him walk away. some thought it must have been a difficult decision for her, casting aside the mantle of godhood for a love she was not sure she would have, but to arafiel, the choice was always obvious. she had faith in him, and in them, and she believed that he would come back to her.
their daughter was born, and arafiel called her tiriala. hand retreated into the woods she loved to raise her quietly, alone, though sometimes one of her friends would come by, for a time. she was lonely, but her tiri heartened her, and she was as happy as she could be without him. many years passed before her faith in him paid off, and he returned to her some years later, telling her that his life without her had been difficult and that he was ready to start over. sobbing, she collapsed into his arms and agreed. though everything was hardly perfect from that moment, their love would stand the test of time, and eventually, they were bonded and wed, and retired from adventuring to pursue less dangerous advocations, including raising their growing family. anyone who has ever met the couple can attest to the love in their eyes when they look at each other, and their happiness together.
