Note to Betas: I'm sorry I didn't send this chapter to you, I was just desperate to get it out, send me an email if you're still interested in beta-ing, because it has been a long time since I last spoke to you, which is entirely my own fault.

Conscience

            "Will you do me the honour of being my wife?"

            Joren could barely keep the smug smile of his face. 'That was pretty damn impressive.' He eyed Kel, the expression on her face made his skin prickle, she looked mischievous. Keladry of Mindelan, the stoic, practical minded lady squire looked positively impish. It was hard not to notice the flash in her usually emotionless hazel eyes and the dimple in her cheek. She looked so…alive and young.

            Warm hands grasping his, brought him back to reality. He realised she was talking, "-father would disown you, and the close relation you once had with him would be destroyed. In time you would grow to hate me for it, and the pain that would cause me would be to great a burden to bear." She spun away from him and he knew it was his turn to reply. Absently answering Kel's speech with one of his own, Joren continued his observations. Actually, now he looked twice, she was nothing special. Her hair was an ordinary brown, those eyes were just as emotionless as ever and the dusting of freckles across her nose was incredibly unattractive. No, definitely nothing stunning. 'Then why did you bother looking twice?' Remarked the nasty, logical part of his brain. Kel was speaking again, his eyes widened in surprised. That girl was really eloquent, perhaps a bit too flowery, but still, her speech was impressive.

            As she drew her speech to a close, he found the brunette pressed close to him, arms around his chest. In the silence that ensued he prayed that nobody could hear the loud thumping of his heart, this was a pivotal moment in this whole façade. Joren breathed out deeply when the crushing silence was lifted and Kel pulled away from him. He watched as everybody swarmed around them, giving congratulations and demanding that a celebration be held. Despite his protests, the piano was dusted down and some poor unfortunate youth was pulled into playing. The room filled with the stench of ale, and the sound of thumping feet swirled round Joren's head as the people began dancing.

            Soon, he wasn't quite sure how, he found himself dancing with Kel, before either could say much he was whisked away by another women and another and then another until his focus blurred and the faces became one big mush. Stumbling slightly, Joren staggered to the edge of the room. Regardless of the fact that he hadn't drunk anything, Joren found that the world was spinning, the constant dancing and the overpowering scent of alcohol had confused his mind. Closing his eyes, the dizzy blond waited for a few seconds before opening them a crack, the world wasn't spinning, sighing with relief, he opened them fully and looked round the room.

            His eyes flashed when he caught sight of the Lump flirting with somebody. A feeling of slight panic rose in his stomach when he saw the man gently brush her cheek, she couldn't ruin the entire thing, not now.  The squire hurried over to Kel, whisking her into his arms he swooped off towards the corridor.

            The sounds of laughter and voices was dimmed in the cool, dark of the corridor. Joren pushed Kel up against the wall, trapping her with is arms. Kel looked at him with over-bright eyes, "What're you doing?" She murmured drowsily.

            "More to the point, what were you doing?" Joren hissed at Kel, his eyes narrowed and his teeth clenched.

            "Having fun, is there anything wrong with that?"

"If it jeopardizes the mission, then yes, something is wrong with it."

"How is talking to somebody endangering the 'mission'?"

"Talking? More like shameless flirting. Engaged women don't flirt with other men, unless they're sluts." Kel pouted, "But I got so lonely." She pushed herself up against Joren, gently sifting his hair through her fingers, apparently she hadn't caught the barb he'd thrown at her. "Won't you keep me company?"

Before Joren could utter another word, Kel pulled his mouth to hers. He allowed himself to ease into the kiss, pushing her hard against the wall, bringing a hand down to rest possessively on her waist. Moaning, Kel returned his attentions eagerly, gently trailing her hand up his chest and slipping it behind his neck. Frowning, Joren jerked away. When had Kel become seductress? It wasn't right. But Kel was persistent and very hard to resist, with her hair slightly mussed, her cheeks flushed and her lips swollen, as he leaned in to kiss her again, something inside rebelled, he didn't want to kiss her when she was like this. From the bar he heard the shuffling of feet coming towards the corridor.

One of Joren's worst fears was losing his reputation, and being found in a compromising position would certainly be bad, and having a girl pushed up against a wall with her skirt half way up her leg and her sleeve half way down her arm definitely counted as compromising. Slightly unsure of what to do Joren raised his voice, "Come my love, you're dead on your feet, to bed with you." Scooping Kel into his arms, he bolted up the stairs and straight to their room.

After setting Kel on her feet, Joren sat on the bed and removed his tunic and shirt. There was a loud thunk from next to him, turning his head he found Kel sprawled on the floor. "Oh great," he muttered, the sarcasm evident in his voice. The beautiful squire stalked over to the heap on the floor and roughly dragged her onto the bed. As he let her fall against the pillow with a soft thud, he emitted a low growl. The sleeping girl had effectively sprawled herself diagonally across the entire bed. Sighing wearily, Joren poked the prone figure. "Hey, Yamani Lump, feel like moving?" Exasperated, if not surprised, when he got no response, Joren came to the conclusion that Kel was well and truly dead to the world. "Mithros, how much alcohol did she actually have?" When none of his insults, prodding and jumping around waving his arms like a lunatic roused her, he resorted to his favourite option, brute force.

            Grunting slight from the effort, Joren attempted to roll her to one side. When that failed he tried to pull her to one side, which was just as ineffective. Whimpering, Joren sat on the tiny corner of the bed which was taken over my Kel, "Will you please move?" He begged, gently shoving at her. To his annoyance, she didn't. In a last act of desperation, Joren grabbed her arms and pulled her to one side. As he wiped the hair from his eyes, he gazed in awe at the entire side of the bed now uncovered. In one rare moment of kindness, he wrestled her out of the dress, so that she didn't shift about all night and keep him awake. Sighing, Joren crawled over Kel to his side of the bed and collapsed in an exhausted sleep, one hand still trailing across her stomach.

The first thing Joren noticed when he woke was the absence of the usual warm body beside him. Hearing the murmur of voices at the door, he propped himself up on his elbows. As Kel shut the door and turned, automatically making eye contact with him, using the opportunity Joren smirked and allowed his eyes to wander, she looked terrible.

            His sleep encrusted mind barely registered what Kel said, something about a seamstress and a dress…her wedding dress? Joren suppressed a shudder, the thought of marrying Kel just didn't bear thinking about.

Silently, he slipped out of the bed and padded over to Kel, watching with quiet patience until she had finished dressing. Gently he pulled her to his chest, making some lewd suggestion about her in dresses…or out of them.

"Cut the crap, Joren. Stop screwing with my mind and leave me alone." Kel muttered, Joren marveled at the control present in her voice. Spinning her round, and looking into her eyes, Joren saw instantly that now wasn't the time for mind games. Abruptly, he broke away, and walked over to the window, feeling Kel's eyes burn into the back of him. He felt her gaze shift away from him and heard the click of the door shutting.  He was angry, angry at her for existing, angry at her for leaving but most of all angry at her for turning his life upside down.

Trying to calm down and conceal his emotions,  Joren did 'a Kel' and put on a calm façade. Failing miserable he slammed his fist into the wall. 'Why did this have to happen to me?' Running his hand through his unkempt hair, the troubled squire sighed resignedly. As he dressed, Joren tried to talk himself into a calmer frame of mind.  'What I need, is a really stiff drink.'  Glancing in the mirror before he left, Joren stopped dead in his tracks. For the first time in his life, Joren of Stone Mountain looked miserable. "And engaged men don't look miserable," he muttered before proceeding to spend five minutes in front of the mirror, forcing his face into a believable smile.

When finally he had fixed his features into a cheerful expression, Joren strode hastily downstairs. Thankfully, it appeared he had overslept, meaning very few people were in the main room. Relieved, the young squire sat on the nearest bar stool. On either side of him sat two drunken loafs. Neither looked up to much conversation, so Joren left them alone in their drunken stupor.

Calling for a bar maid, Joren ordered the strongest alcohol available. Taking a sip, he wrinkled his nose in displeasure at the unrefined taste. The aristocratic youth was use to nothing worse than the finest Yamani wine. Grimacing, he closed his eyes and took a swig from the mug. Joren gasped and wiped his watering eyes before venturing to finish the rest of the drink in one gulp. Slamming the tankard down, he called for another, and managed to down this one much faster. Blinking slowly,  Joren attempted to place the mellow fuzzy feeling beginning to creep into his head. Judging by the other men, this was by no means, 'smashed'  but he was not quite sober.

In fact, he rather liked this state. Nothing seemed so bad, the world appeared fuzzy round the edges, there were no sharp, harsh lines in this reality. Relaxing, Joren listened to the chatter between the occupants of the room. Most talked about trivial matters, like the roads and tax increases. However, near the corner of the room sat two men, having a loud conversation. They appeared to be debating about which jewelers was the best in town. From what he could gather, only two shops were in business. Apparently jewelry wasn't a main trade in Jakan.

Curious, Joren walked over to their table. He waited quietly until they noticed his presence. When both had stopped talking, Joren introduced himself. "Excuse me, I'm Joren of Stone Mountain. I know you've never met me and that it's none of my business but I'm interested in what you're speaking about." The man on the left scratched his head.

"You're the man who's marryin' that young brunette, aren't ye?" His face lit up with a smile when a thought struck him. "I expect you'll be wantin' a nice bit o' jewellery to celebrate the engagement."

Joren faltered briefly, "Er, yes, yes I am. She's so precious to me, nothing but the brightest gem will do." He laughed uneasily as he avoided eye contact. 'That was convincing' The little sarcastic voice in his mind whispered. You really handled that situation well.' Fortunately, both men appeared to be completely blind to Joren's terrible acting.

The second man, a short guy with a ferret look about hi, gestured to a seat. Both waited for Joren to sit before launching into a long tirade about which shop was better. As the argument picked up again, both men got more and more frustrated, until finally, the man who had spoken first slammed his chair back and stormed from the room. When he was out of sight, the ferret man leaned forward. "Go to the one on the west side of town, business has been booming there recently, plenty of variety." Winking, the man left grinning about his victory.

Joren ran his hand through his hair again, it was quickly becoming a habit, and glanced at the bar. He had a choice, blissful ignorance and a hangover afterwards or a visit to a jewellery shop. Shuddering at the thought of anyone seeing him hung-over, Joren headed straight for the door.

Once outside, the lethargic feeling vanished and he strode off into town, pausing occasionally to ask for directions. Every time he told somebody he was looking for a jewellery shop, they gave him a knowing smile. After the sixth person had smiled knowingly, Joren was ready to punch the living daylights out of somebody.

Muttering about stupid townsfolk, he stalked down another street and successfully missed the shop, causing him to curse loudly before doubling back.        He slammed open the door, making the shopkeeper jump. The moody blond glared at him, daring the startled man to comment on his bizarre behaviour.

"This is a jewellery shop, am I correct?" Joren drawled, his tone icy, he allowed the man to nod before continuing, "Then show me some jewellery."

The shopkeeper rolled his eyes, "What type?"

"Huh?" Joren asked, bewildered.

"What type of jewellery?" The shopkeeper drawled in a slow, patronising way.

"A necklace will be fine," snapped Joren, his cheeks a faint pink with embarrassment. He had sounded like an idiot.

Smiling wickedly, the shopkeeper brought out a tray of shimmering necklaces. Each oozing with jewels and each screaming expensive. Joren gulped, this would be costly. He cast his eye over the selection in front of him. Every one was jewel encrusted and gaudy, raising his eyebrows and sneering slightly in disgust, the young man waved aide the array of necklaces. "Please tell me that you have at least one tasteful item. Show me your other necklaces." Flushing angrily, the disgruntled shop keeper pulled out a different tray. Instantly, Joren's eyes was drawn to a small pendant hidden in a corner.  It was a black opal with a vein of sapphire running through. It was spherical and surrounded by a small white-gold cage which held it tightly in place.

Something inside told him that this was the only thing worth buying in the entire shop, but black opals were very expensive due to their magical properties. Joren cast his eye over some of the other pendants, making a few snide comments about them. It was essential that he didn't seem too keen on the opal, in case it drove the price up, idly he played with a thin gold chain round his own neck. After observing the necklaces for several more minutes, he nonchalantly picked out five necklaces, including the opal. Once he had inspected all the necklaces, he requested the shopkeeper to tell him the price. To his surprise, the opal necklace was not the most expensive. He obviously didn't have a clue about its properties. Keeping a close eye on the shopkeeper for any kind of reaction, Joren choose what was obviously the man's favourite. "I think I'll take this one," he murmured.

The shopkeeper wrung his hands, "Wouldn't you considered any other necklace? This is very expensive, maybe you'd like something else, I can assure you there are beautiful things for a cheaper price."

"Maybe I'd take that one," Joren conceded, pointing at the opal. "If it was 10 nobles less, but as it is, I'd rather pay more for something as beautiful as that other necklace."

"That's easily done, 10 nobles can be knocked off, that's definitely a bargain. Do we have a deal?"

"I suppose so. Put it in a box quickly. I can't hang around all day," snapped Joren. The man scuttled off to do the waspish squire's bidding, obviously not realising that Joren had just got the opal for virtually a 1/7 of its actual value. As the man stumbled back to him, Joren calmly pulled out the right amount of gold and placed it on the counter. "I think you'll find that this is the right amount," he said, holding out a hand for the box. Bowing, the man handing the box over to Joren and snatched the money up.

Nodding curtly, Joren left the shop, leaving the man alone to mutter about the 'stupid nobility who have worse manners than a pig.'  He had been in the shop for less than half an hour, but it had taken him a long time to actually get there. Feeling decidedly pleased with himself, Joren set off at a leisurely pace, breathing in the clean air and listening to the shrieking of children playing. His mood was ruined however when he saw two little girls running done the road, brandishing sticks, yelling at a tiny boy to, "come back, you cur! And meet your fate at the hands of Alanna of Trebond and Olau and Keladry of Mindelan." Why did nobody ever pretend they were him? Planning on skirting round the children, Joren crossed to the other side of the street, but to no avail. The little boy was looking desperately for cover, and Joren was it. Darted behind Joren, the tiny child wrapped his arms round the blond's legs and refused to let go.

"Excuse me," began the irritated Joren, but he didn't get to finish, the tiny boy looked up at him with enormous brown eyes, tears beginning to brim.

"Don't make me go back there, mister. They'll hit me with their sticks again. I don't like it when they do that, I get all black and blue. Mama says that they're only playing, I say that they're mean." Rolling his eyes, Joren bent over and detached the little boy. Then, he knelt down so that he was facing the child.

"You're going to let yourself be beaten by a girl? Come on, stop crying, get a stick of your own and fight back," he talked in a direct way to the little boy, with a stern edge to it.

"But I can't fight, I jus' get my fingers hit," said the brown haired child, a sulky pout appearing on his face.

"Well that's not my problem," growled Joren, as he stood up and began to walk off. He got an entire metre before the thin, plaintive wails of the boy started. Sighing, Joren turned round and walked back. "What is it?"

The boy snivelled miserably, his wails dying to soft hiccup sobs. "I don't have anyone to play with, they jus' hit me. Pwease, mister, won't you just play stick fights with me?"

Joren couldn't keep the despairing look off his face, 'Stick fights? Mithros have mercy on me.'  The boy looked dangerously close to tears again. "Alright, alright! I'll play your stupid game," Joren threw his hands up in surrender.  A smile lit up the little boy's face, taking Joren by the hand he led him up the street, babbling happily about everything.

"My name's Aidan, what's yours?"

"Joren."

"Joren…that's a funny name. I like it, I have a cat called Rikku, she's ginger and I love cuddling her…" Joren just tuned out after that, he had no desire to listen to some foolish little boy talk about pointless things like cats. Suddenly a stick was thrust into Joren's hand. "We have to play now."

Moaning, Joren took the offered stick and moved into a side stance, the little boy giggled and hit Joren in the shins with his stick. "OW! Mithros, that hurt." Aidan's bottom lip trembled again. Refusing to listen to some evil little child crying, Joren decided to help the boy. Gently he positioned Aidan's feet correctly and then proceeded to talk him through a series of simple moves, a few blocks and thrusts. Gradually, after more shin hitting, Aidan began to get some of the moves right.

Relieved that Aidan would no longer be hitting him in the shins, Joren agreed to have one last match. As the tiny child thrust viciously at his stick, Joren forgot all plans of letting the child win. Joren easily parried every clumsy blow, allowing Aidan to get some practice in before flicking his own stick to send the Aidan's stick flying. Aidan's usually tear filled eyes lit up with awe. "Wow, mister Joren, you're the bestest I've ever seen." Joren smiled condescendingly. 'I'm probably the only one you've seen.'

"Nice meeting you, Aidan," he replied coolly, before walking off down the road. Unfortunately, Aidan didn't look like he was going to just let him go as he skipped along beside Joren.

"Will I see you again, mister Joren?"

"No."

"Next Monday?"

"No."

"Tomorrow?"

"Look, kid, I said no."

"B-b-but why not?"

"Because I have better things to do then play with annoying little children."

"What does annoying mean?"

"A pain in the arse."

"What does a pain in the ar –"

"Aidan, get back here at once."

"Yes, mama," sighing, Aidan trotted back towards his mother. Stopping only once to wave at Joren, "I'll see you next week, mister Joren."

Almost screaming in frustration, Joren hurried on, back towards the inn. The 'stick fighting' had taken an entire two hours, add that onto the hour before that whole ordeal and it made a total of three hours. The afternoon was late and he was dying for a bath. Hopefully, Kel was still out which would leave him free to have one, without things…heating up.

Once inside the inn, Joren called for a bath to be run. He walked upstairs to see if Kel was back, he sighed with relief to find their room empty. He didn't want to talk to her at the moment, granted he never wanted to talk to her, but that was besides the point. Stripping down, Joren eased himself into the newly run bath, letting the water run over his body, washing away the grime which dared to marr his perfect skin. Quietly, he washed himself, reflecting on everything that had happened recently. He allowed his eyes to slide shut and his muscles to relax, this was the side of him that nobody saw. If somebody saw him like this then they might actually believe that he was an angel. With his eyes shut, nobody could see the usual icy, hollow numbness of his startling blue eyes, melt into a lake of calm and tranquillity. Allowing himself to drift, it was only the growing numbness in his limbs as the water grew cold that brought him back to reality.

Shivering, he rose from the bath and changed into breeches and a loose shirt. Glancing at the mark on the candle, he was surprised that Kel wasn't back yet. Curious about her absence, he went back down to the common room in search of her. Nobody in the inn had seen her and as the sky outside turned a inky blue, Joren began to get frustrated. "Where the hell is she?" He muttered as another hour went by. Then two very attractive women came over and were quite happy to distract him for a few hours by which time the inn was beginning to empty again as people drifted to bed.  Hoping that Kel would eventually turn up, Joren went back to the room and slid into bed, completely exhausted.

But as daylight flooded the room and Joren opened his eyes, Kel was still not there.

*Walks on without shield, as every one should pelt me with stones* I'm so sorry that I've not updated for five months. I'm very angry at myself for turning into one of those really annoying people who never actually updates, I hate people like that. But I must just remind you all that this is a hobby, I have other things that I need to do. I have enough trouble trying to do all the homework, let alone a chapter of Conscience. I offer my profuse apologise, I am trying harder to write more often. Hopefully they both stayed in character, Kel was drunk, if you hadn't gathered. And as for Joren with children, I would've written more but by that point I just wanted it finished. Also, the part with Joren just going to bed. Come on, this _is_ Joren, the one who kidnapped Lalasa and had her stashed up an enormous tower. Again, if you'd like me to email you when I update then just leave your email address, I'll add you to the list.

Individualish Thanks. Although I'd be surprised if you can remember what you wrote. Sorry that not everybody has an individual thanks, but I don't want to start sounding like a broken record. Sorry if I write a reply twice for somebody, but sometimes people review with different names.

Arimel, Lady Arabian Knight, anime-girl-lizzie, Violyn, hypergurl307, moongriffin, CrystallineLily, Snipe-950, Albinofrog88, christie, Sulwen of Great Smials, fallen angel, Xue Long, Destinys Secret, Zephdae, Tris, candy4me6, 0, Rose, litesea13, sportsfan,Free2BMe,Queenofilangees, Ti-Ti(you really think it's sensationally good? YAY!), silverthorn, ditzy spacecadets, silverspark, Blade Griffin (*giggles* I liked your review), Intuition (I've always thought Joren was a drama queen, *grins*), jenn, Twitch (*smiles* That was a really sweet review.), KittenFrenzy   .- Thank you all so much for your reviews, I'm so glad that you like my fic so much. I'm also very sorry I took so long to update. *Puppy dog eyes* Forgive me?

Anonymous: I wish you'd left a name, it's easier that way. This was one of the most…beautiful reviews, thank you.

GhettoCapy: *Blushes* Wow. You really know how to inflate my ego, I'm glad you like my fic. K/J is definitely the best pairing, no question about it. Erm, hopefully the long wait hasn't put you off.

Arial: You really think my fic is one of the best you've ever read? *Giggles* That makes me feel all fuzzy. Thank you! *Giggles again.*

Dog Chases Tail: Hmm, maybe Joren is in love with Kel, but he's currently in serious denial ^_~.  Thanks for reviewing!

Keita: *Eyes widen* Meep. That was an ominous note you left, I'm glad you didn't threaten to kill me, it gets me paranoid. Hm, do you still read my livejournal? Because if you do then comments are always welcome, it gets you cookies. *Nods ernestly.* Gah! Must stop bribing people to read journal, must get back on topic. Sorry that this took so long to appear. Thank you soooooo much for reviewing.

cytosine: I should really review more of your fics, I think I've read them all. Gah! I'm terrible at remembering things. ^_^ Keep writing your fics and reviewing mine and we'll get along fine.

Huntress: You think my story's special? Really? *Grins* You may just have become my new best friend. Cookies to you!

FantasyWind: *Grins* You're one of the people who doesn't care if I have flu if I don't update. Thanks so much for reviewing. Ingenious? You really think so? *Beams*

Xanthe: Joren, an overcooked biscuit? …That's just…so right. *Grin* Sorry I took so long to update. Thank you for reviewing.

Not so faerie L: Is there much point in writing one for you? I do see you five days a week. ^_^ But it's fun, so I will. You're always one of my favourite people. And yes, Kel is a narna. ^_^

PurpleSakura: *Whistles innocently and tries to hide the fact it's been five months since the last update* That's even worse than two. Please don't hurt me too much, I'm only small. *Grin* Thanks for reviewing and also, who wouldn't want to think about Joren? ^_~

punkpixie87/Sara: Hm. That was a long review. I have only one thing to say, SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. *Giggles* You need much glomping and squooshing. *Giggles evilly* Everybody must like evil blonds, evil blonds will take over the WORLD, with me as their leader….I'll stop now. Thanks so much for constantly reminding me that I really should update. You're still a favourite person. ^_^

Squire Kali: Gak! Gak! The image of Joren in a skirt is just...so…tempting. Must… refrain...from… writing…about…Joren…in…skirts…. *Smiles* Thanks for reviewing so consistently, you've definitely been reviewing for ages. I'm sorry this has taken so long, I'll write something with Joren in a skirt if you'll forgive me…not that I'm seriously intrigued by that idea. *Looks shifty*

Princess Alanna Cooper: *Beams* Thanks for putting me on your favourites list. I'll try and update more frequently. ^_^

The Blind Assassin: You rock! My ego got three times bigger when I read your review. *Grins* Thanks so much for reviewing, I'm so sorry that I haven't updated. *Mutters about own incompetence.* I will get better at this. Thanks again, you wonderful, lovely person.

shivohnsongbreeze: It's really hard keeping them in character so I'm glad that you think they are. Thanks a lot for reviewing. ^_^ There will be much torturing of Joren. *Sniggers at despairing Joren.*

Witchchild: *Scowls and looks amused at same time* You're completely insane, missy.

Orange: Thanks for commenting on my livejournal. I appreciate all motivation. ^_^ You're a wonderful person for being persistent.

Lady Sandrilene: I have actually read your fic, but I never get round to reviewing, I'm completely hopeless. Thanks for your review, I'm really sorry that I never update, I'll try harder.

Lady Claire: Thanks for feeding my ego! I'm going to start strutting soon. ^_^ You're a lovely person for reviewing, cookies to you.

ME: You can write a name in anyway, even if you're not signed up. I'm glad you think I've captured Kel perfectly, I do try hard. Thanks for being such a star.

belac cat/caleb: Are you still checking every morning to see if I update? Because it must be really tiresome seeing that I never update. Cookies to you for giving me such a squishy review.

Keladry Sarrasri: *Smile* Very poetic, hopefully this'll make up for all the times you've been disappointed with my not updating. Thanks for reviewing, I'm really grateful for it.

Glasen Dauthi: You liked the first chapter? Hm. I was thinking maybe I'd change it, but if you think it's good then maybe I won't. I muchly appreciate your praise, you're a truly wonderful person.

marion: *Laughs* I'm not too good at writing steamy, but I'll give it a shot if you want me to, but not too steamy, because it just gets icky after a certain point. ^_^

Nightshade: I tried sending you an email, but I'm not sure if it actually worked. Thanks for your ideas, it really set off a spark in my brain.

Catherine of chaos: Are you the same person as Nightshade, I only ask because you have the same email address. Anyway, thanks for reviewing, I really appreciate it.

Silverhair: I've only written this one fic about K/J, I'm sure you can write K/J, just try! Thanks a lot for being such a great person and reviewing.

Angel of Storms: *Hugs* Yes, I did feel guilty. Hopefully you'll read this, otherwise I'll just feel guilty all my life. *Hugs again*

SailorCheron: You're right, it is pathetic. I should update more often, and I can only offer my profuse apologies. I'm glad that you sent that second review, although the first was nicer. ^_^ Hopefully you won't hate me too much. Thanks for reviewing.

Garnet-Scorpion: *Grins* I've conformed you? YAY! I'm so glad. I have three little words in return for you, You.seriously.rock. ^_^

Em: *Gobbles up offered icing sugar, cheesecake and cherries* Thank'ee. I'm sorry that I haven't updated, please find it in your heart to forgive me. *Puppy dog eyes*

Shadows Flame: Thanks for the compliments, you deserve many hugs and cookies for making me feel so happy. ^_^

Sorry those were rather boring, I'm exhausted and really need some sleep. Just give me a yell if I didn't include you, I'll remedy that next chapter. God I'm tired, sorry if they are loads of mistakes in here.