This story is dedicated to my beta reader and best internet friend, Mar!! Thanks for helping me with this!

It was Valentines Day. The one day of the year that Keladry hated the most. Why may you ask, did Keladry hate this holiday? Because she had no one to share this special day, no one to hold hands and take walks with and she was always lonely...poor Kel. She was over her crush on Neal years ago, and Cleon, her former sweetheart, had to leave her to marry an heiress. I say it once again—Poor Kel.

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Little did she know that there was someone who cared about her. He had just not had the guts to tell her yet. Sure he could fight bandits, enemy soldiers, and immortals without getting scared…but for some reason; Domitan of Masbolle could not tell Keladry of Mindelan how he felt about her.

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This year was different. Dom was going to get this over with, and tell Keladry about his feelings for her. Of course, today being Valentines Day, he would send her a valentine! It was the perfect plan. This way he wouldn't have to embarrass himself in front of her; forgetting everything he was going to say. Yes, that's what he would do. He rushed out of his rooms on a mission to find a palace scribe.

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Kel lay sulking in her room, her face in her pillow. She wasn't going to leave this room all day! She didn't want to step out her door to see all the couples celebrating their love for each other! It hurt too much to see everyone so happy on this day. Every time someone banged on her door she pretended she wasn't there. Eventually they all left, thinking that she was out.

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It was perfect; a valentine and a dozen red and white roses. She would love it! Soon, he hoped, she would be his valentine. (Aww …sweet…right? Well of course...it's Dom!) He told the scribe where her rooms were and walked off, hands in his pockets, whistling quietly.

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Unfortunately, Dom had given the scribe the wrong directions. Those roses were off to... dun dun dun...Neal's rooms! (Isn't my plot uber-fantabulous, Mar?)

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Dom woke up during a nap to the sound of pounding on his door.

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"Dom!—DOM!...." It was Neal. "DOM?! ARE YOU THERE?!"

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"Yes, I'm here Meathead. Settle down!" Dom slowly got out of his armchair, stretching his arms. "I wonder what he wants now" He thought to himself. "What do you want? I was trying to sleep!"

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"Can you explain this?" He shoved a bouquet of roses and a Valentine card under Dom's nose. Dom stared blankly at Neal for 5 minutes until he suddenly realized that those were the roses and card he had sent to Kel. But if he sent them to Kel, why did Neal have them?

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"How did you get those?" He demanded.

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"You sent them to me!" Neal replied, the color mounting in his cheeks.

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"What? I did not send them to you! I sent them to Kel!" He shut his mouth tightly. "That wasn't supposed to come out, Dom!"

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Now it was Neal's turn to stare at Dom. Suddenly he started laughing.

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"What's so funny now, Meathead?"—"Why did I have to say that out loud?"

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"I knew it! I knew you liked Kel!—But just how did you end up sending all of this to me?"

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"I—don't know…" He was very confused right now plus embarrassed because he had just blurted out his deepest and most guarded secret to the one person from his family who he definitely couldn't trust to keep it. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

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"Well I—" Neal began but was soon cut short by Dom.



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"Don't even start. If you tell anyone, and I mean anyone, I swear by the Dark God that you will wish you were dead!"



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"Isn't that a bit harsh?" He squeaked, his eyes wide with terror, thinking about what Dom could and would possibly do to him.



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"Maybe, maybe not, but I'm sure you would deserve it either way." He answered cheerfully. "Now if you'll excuse me, my dear Nealan, I need to get these to Kel" He snatched the gifts out of his cousins hands and shoved passed him into the hallway.

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~Kel was tired of staying in her rooms. She got her practice glaive off its rack and crept toward her only exit. Carefully she put her ear against the door to listen for anyone wandering the halls. Hearing nothing she opened the door and sneaked off to the practice courts.



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As she began the complex twists and turns of a pattern dance, she started to think about her friends and their lovers. 'Neal has Yuki, Raoul has Buri, Cleon has Ermelian, and Dom...Who does Dom have?' Not anyone that she could think of. She often saw him flirting with one eligible court lady or another at dinner parties and balls, but she was sure he wasn't actually with anyone. Ever since she had seen him, she'd had a crush on that handsome, blue-eyed sergeant. If it was possible to be perfect, she was sure Dom would be. He could always make her laugh, and her heart did flip-flops whenever he looked her way. If only he felt the same way about her…

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~~ He stopped outside her door to catch his breath; he'd run all the way here. What would he say to her? He'd been so preoccupied with the Meathead Incident that he hadn't even thought about that. Well, that didn't matter now. He just had to get these to her before the day was over. With this in mind, he took a deep breath and knocked on her door.



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He had no idea how long he stood there before he finally decided she wasn't there. Where could she have gone? Why did this have to happen to him now? So many questions rushed through his mind that moment that he thought his head was going to explode. Where would Kel go if she had nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon? The practice courts, of course!

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~~Kel slowly pulled the bowstring back to her ear. She took aim, and let go, the arrowhead landing squarely in the center of the target.



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"Nice shot"—she turned around quickly and grinned. It was Dom. "I thought that….I thought that I would find you here" He was stumbling over his words. She unstrung her bow and walked over to see him. He looked pale.



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"Are you alright, Dom? You don't look so good…"



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"No, I'm fine. Listen, Kel. I came out here to tell you something." She looked at him curiously. "Well you know how it's Valentine's Day?"



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She snorted, "How could I forget?"



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He grinned sheepishly at her, "Yes, well you might've heard that Meathead got some flowers that he wasn't supposed to get…"



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"Possibly..." Kel stopped short, realizing what Dom was trying to say. She stared blankly at him for a second before gasping.



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He grinned suavishly before reaching a long arm out to curl around her waist, and whispered, "I've waited too long to do this you know." His breath on her neck made her shiver, but she smiled at him as he pulled her into a fervent kiss.

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"Ahem" They still didn't break their kiss. "AHEM" It was Neal, of all the times he could show up, why now? The two didn't hear him, so of course, he was getting annoyed. He walked up beside his cousin and poked him in the back of the head. "Get a room!"



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They broke apart in shock, blushing deeply, and both had scowls on their faces when they saw who it was who had interrupted them.





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"What are you doing here, Meathead?" Dom's scowl deepened.



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"I uh…" Dom's expression was soon replaced by one he often wore when he was planning on doing something to Neal.



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"Did you tell anybody?"

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"No…of course not"

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"Oh, please. I may not have the gift, but I can still tell when someone is lying most of the time, and you are! Remember what I said to you earlier? That part about that you would wish you were dead?" Neal's eyes widened in fright when he heard those words. He tried to slowly back away, but was unsuccessful as Kel had gone to stand behind him. She grabbed his arms and dragged him to a fence post while Dom went to grab rope.

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~~Later that night, Kel and Dom lay together on a sofa, just content sitting there in each other's arms. It was funny for her to think about this morning, when she had thought that Valentine's Day was the worst day of the year. Now she was positive that it was the best day of her life. She snuggled closer to Dom, conveniently ignoring the faint but desperate yells from somewhere around the practice courts.

~~~The End~~~

Hope you liked it!! Kel and Dom forever!!^_^

-Channy