Hello Again! I am back, with another update. This is my sappy attempt at fluff. Normally I wouldn't even try, but it was, unfortunately, necessary for the plot lines I had in mind. Well, enjoy reading, and please review when you are done. Thanx…

Chapter 10: (double digits baby!!!)

Female Bonding

"But-"

"I've had it up to here with you Narmer." growled the woman in black, motioning to her sergeant with her hands, completely fed up with him and his mistakes. "This will not do. Not at all. I've discussed it with the Circle, and with Him, and they decided that we can't have any more slipups. We…we're letting you go." she stared at the table, not wanting to see the horror on his face.

She snapped, and two other men came up behind him, grabbing his arms and started to drag him away. He fought, kicking and screaming. As soon as they got out the door, he broke away, and they of course they gave chase. She could hear Narmer running and shouting for anyone to come to his aid. She listened, grimacing as she heard them wrestle him to the ground, and his screams pierce the night.

'Shame too. He was really a good sergeant.' she sighed. 'But I knew this was coming. At least now I can bring in the new man.' Just as she thought that, a large shape stepped into the door, filling the frame and blocking all light from outside.

"Good. You're here." He growled in response. "You know what is expected of you, right?" He growled again. "Your troops are behind this building. We call it Headquarters. I am the only one allowed in here unless I bring you in. Understand?" He growled yet again. "Good, now go around and I'll be there to introduce you to your subordinates in a moment. I just have to take care of a little issue." She saw his huge, block-like head nod and his form move from the door. Light refilled the small, roughly built room.

'This will be a good thing.' she thought, trying to cheer herself up and to drown out Narmer's screams which echoed in her mind over and over. 'Now the last part of all of this shall be done a few days time. Then He'll be happy, They'll be happy, and I can go home.' She tiredly rubbed her face and neck, stood up, wincing at achy joints, a product of old age, and searched for the trapdoor to the Room. After she found it, and started descending down into the dark hole, she looked around the room and shook her head, more homesick then than any other time she had been in the hell-hole country that Tortall was.

Not long after Bowen fainted, River had gathered all of the stable hands around where he lay, and they all looked to Kit as the second in command while Stefan was away. Unfortunately, all they could do was wait until he came to, as there was nothing else, even if they could get a healer down there. He would have to sleep, and then rest. That's all anyone could do. Even worse was the fact that they couldn't move him, and someone would have to stay with him. Everyone decided to take shifts, like sentries, to stay awake while he slept. Kit had the first shift, from then until the Midnight watch was called. Willow said she'd take the next, and then, at sunup, Brock would relieve her.

For the longest time, Kit sat and watched him sleep. After a while she talked to his sleeping form, partly to amuse herself, and also to say some of the things to him that she always wanted to but were too embarrassed to say them while he was awake.

"I just…never know what to do around you anymore, Bo." she confessed, using the nickname she gave him when they were very young. "I don't know how long I've felt this way, but I know that I feel very strongly." She sighed and kept going, feeling better with every contained word freed at long last. "I'm in love with you Bowen. I think I always was, ever since the day at the pond- you know, when I was in the willow tree and you climbed up and sat with me instead of going swimming with Brock and his brother, remember Connar? Yea, I will always remember how they teased you and called you chicken, but you stayed with me anyway.

"I never told you, but I am afraid of that pond. When I was little I slipped on a rock and cut the bottom of my foot on it. I just never had the courage to go back in. That's why I always sit out, no matter what you guys say to me. Well, anyway, I just needed to tell you that. You mean so much to me, to everyone actually, and I know you care about us as well, and these stables, so you have to wake up and help me run them. You know the most about this place, what being born here in Corus and working with your Da since forever. I need you here to do this. You can't stay asleep. I love you too much to have you slip into one of those long sleeps. And…I know you have a girl here too. She loves you, I can see it, Stefan can see it, and so can everyone else, except you. You don't realize how she feels, I guess like I do, and I know you feel the same for her. You love her.

"And I guess since you do feel that way, and your happiness matters more than anything, I hope you both can see what each other has for one another. You and-"

At the moment a figure stepped from the shadows, not being able to listen anymore.

"Willow! What are you doing? Your shift isn't for another half hour!" Kit was caught completely by surprise, saying some of the most personal thoughts she'd ever had. And the other one person she really didn't want to know these things might have heard it all! Kit could only pray that she didn't.

"I'm sorry Kit. I…couldn't sleep, so I decided you might want to be relieved a bit early. Plus I felt bad that I was the cause of all this. Nitwit just had to heal when his gift doesn't do that…" she mumbled the last bit to herself mostly, but it was loud enough for Kit to hear. Unbeknownst to Kit, however, Willow also heard some things intended for deaf ears. The young Shang-in-Training could no longer look her fellow hostler in the face, as she was too embarrassed.

"Oh, well, I'm not tired yet, but if you want to join me until the watch calls the Midnight hour, I, uh…would enjoy the company." She tried her best to seem sincere about the offer and she actually managed slightly genuine. Willow smiled at her attempt to be civil when she otherwise would have mumbled profanities and walked away, staring at the ground. She joined her on the hay-strewn floor, sitting tailor style. They had a good ten minutes of silence before Kit said something, not long before Willow would have.

"So, um, how was your day?" She asked, making her companion laugh at the lack of conversing material.

"Well, all in all, it was ok, I guess…aw who am I kidding? Worse birthday ever, if you don't count the one I spent in a dungeon, held by the Red Legion because I was out after slave curfew, but you know, that hardly counts." She left her cohort speechless, having nothing to say that could match that. Kit just nodded.

"Are the Shang Masters nice?" she changed the subject.

"Well, they are kind in the sense that they ask if were ok when we do our exercises. Guess they don't want to have to deal with one of us passing out." She grimly smiled, hoping to lighten the mood. After a few minutes, she pulled her legs up to her chest, as she had started her monthly bleeding again two nights ago, and her stomach ached.

"Are you ok now?" Kit was actually serious, so Willow told her the truth. "Oh, well, I have a tonic for that, if you would like some. I found it works best when you have to ride and do all kinds of active stuff with pains and cloth pads." Willow was taken aback. Sometimes she forgot that Kit was a girl too, and had to go through all the same stuff she did. The funny part was, Kit had never given it a second thought either, that Willow was a girl and might be in need of a pointer or two on riding with her bleeding.

"Wow, you know, this is really great of you," Willow called quietly, as Kit rummaged through her packs, which, by chance, were almost right above where they sat. Kit came down with a clay bottle in one hand, and a small jar in another.

"It's no big thing. I always keep some around, ever since I started. It comes in handy. Bowen's aunt makes it for me, and I go help her around her house with her horse, Starwind. Got a star on his forehead and runs like-"

"the wind." they chorused.

"I know Helena well." Willow explained when Kit looked confused. "She never mentioned you, I don't think. Of course she didn't mention she was a Groomsman either." she laughed quietly.

"Anyway, you take a spoonful of the tonic at breakfast, and two at dinner. If the cramps really bother you still, rub a bit on your abdomen, right where it hurts most. It will make it feel one hundred percent better, I promise. Here, you take these. I have more upstairs."

"Golly, thanks. This is super great of you."

"I am just a super great kinda gal." Kit teased. Their laughter was cut short by a loud tone sounding, and someone called the hour.

"Well, I guess it's your shift. See you in the morning. Try not to fall asleep." Kit climbed the ladder by Bowens' hay bale, up to her cot. As she lay there in the dim light of her lamp, she could hear the murmurs of Willow to Bowen. A tear ran down her face as she listened to Willow speak as she spoke- as a girl in love.

"Hey Bowen. I'm not going to yell at you again. Sorry about that. You just scared me, is all. I don't know what I would do if I lost you. Your so special to me- to all of us." Kit laughed at how similar that was to her speech. "You have to wake up, you just have to. I…need you. I've never felt like this--it's as if I don't say something I'll burst. I, I love you, you know. You have no idea how you have affected me- affected everything about me, how I do things, how I perceive things, and how things affect me. You influenced me in so many ways. I love you, and you just have to wake up. I need you with me, to hold me and tell me to keep going, and tease me when I want to stop. I love you and I need you to be my spirit, like you always have been. I need you to be my life. I need you to love me too." That's when Willow collapsed on his chest, sobbing.

"Ye do know tha' ye're soakin' my shirt," a familiar voice coughed. Willow looked up, completely surprised. Bowen sat up, grimacing at the headache he thought would leave him in his dreams. "Uh- I am never do tha' again."

"Good!" Willow laughed through her tears. He brushed one away and cupped her cheek. She grabbed his hand and smiled, heart swelling with her feelings.

"If it make ye feel better, I need ye too." She dropped her hands, speechless. "Wha'-ye did no' know? I would 'ave figured yer bigmouth brother River would 'ave told ye long ago! I'll never know how 'e found out either…anyway, I do love ye. I 'ave fer the longest time. Pretty much ever since yer firs' 'hilarious bou' wiv Fall, back when 'e was nameless. Oh, Willow, say something'." He pleaded the silence to end.

"I…well, uh…You have no idea how much I have wanted you to say that. You are my…"

"Yer wha'?" he laughed.

"My…everything. Just my world, Bowen, my world." At those words, a new found strength flooded her veins and she found the courage to reach up, grab his face in her hands and kiss him. He was so shocked at her sudden boldness that he almost forgot to kiss back.

But eventually he remembered to grab her shoulders and hold her in his arms. She just melted into them.

Kit, listening up above, realized what was going on in the silence, and fell into quiet sniffles. She did, however, awaken Brock nearby. He gazed down between the rafters by his cot to see what upset her. That was when he saw what both surprised and pained him. He had known about Willows feelings, and he had suspicions about Bowen, but to see them like that was a huge shock.

They parted, but their eyes never left one another. I can't really tell you how long they stayed that way, but it seems that the time before Willow had to switch with Brock came all too quickly. False dawn shown gray and the nightingales were winding down. The lark was beginning to make itself heard, and the sun finally peaked on the distant horizon.

"I guess my time is almost up. Brock will be awake soon and then, I'll have to go work." Willow sighed, devastated that she had to leave him. She could tell that concentration would be difficult. And bad concentration while working on a horse like Fall would most likely end in a concussion, or worse.

All well. Some things were inevitable. Anyway, they shared one last embrace, only separating when Brock started his decent down the ladder. "How are you two doing this morning? Feeling better now, Bowen? You were looking a bit pale for a while there, you know." Brock joked, sick to his stomach.

Bowen smiled slyly and quickly looked at Willow. "I am doin' better, thanks. I do feel a bit 'ungry, though."

"I'll grab you something from your aunts'. I'm going there now." Willow hurriedly said, walking away, tripping over her own feet as she called over her shoulder.

"That's is one odd girl," Brock mused, watching Willow stumble on a feed pale. "One odd, beautiful girl." Bowen nodded slowly, but quickly shook his head.

"She's well enough," he lied, thinking at the same time 'She's the most perfec' girl, next t' the Goddess 'erself.'

"So, tell me, why did you run yourself down, exhaust yourself, like that? You and I both know that you can't heal. The only other time you did that, remember when Connar got shot by accident with a crossbow, you fainted directly afterwards and didn't wake up until two days later. If you do this again, the gods will punish you. You can't wield a Gift you weren't given!" Brock scolded, waiting for an answer. "Well? Tell me!"

"I couldn't lay by when she was in pain like that."

"But you could when River and Wind were in the same state. You were treating her like a girl, doing exactly what River said will earn you many scars!"

"But I won't. She knows why I did it, an' she doesn't think of it as ye do. We 'ave an understandin'," Bowen vaguely responded.

"Horse shit! Your such a liar Bowen! I know you. I know how you feel about her, and so does she! And…And I know how she feels about you. This will only end in heartache--most likely hers, and I cannot have that!"

"We both know tha'! But yer wrong. I would never 'urt 'er! Never in-"

"Oh hush it! I have been talking to Wind. Do you know what your beloved plans to do this spring? She and her brothers will go with the Shang to train in Galla. She's leaving. Who knows when she'll be back." Bowen said nothing. This was a newsflash for him. Why would she go? Why did she keep it secret? "Oh wait, River told me not to say anything--to anyone. I'm gonna lose my hand for that." Brock added, mumbling mostly to himself, but Bowen didn't hear. He was crushed.

"And, Helena, I just don't know what to do! I mean, I think Brock knows, Kit most definitely knows, I believe Stefan has his suspicions. This could get really bad, pretty quick."

"'ow do ye mean? Didn't ye say ye share feelin's? It should be fine."

"But we're leaving. We'll set off as soon as the pages leave and join the Progress. That gives us about three, maybe four moons. Even if anything…happened, we would have to end it soon enough anyway. This really…well, it's just not fair!"

Helena sighed and summoned her over to sit next to her. Willow plopped by her feet and laid her head on the older woman's knee. Helena rubbed her hands through the girls curls, combing them with her fingers, a lot like a mother would. "Sweetlin', love's rarely fair. Trus' me. I wish I could tell ye tha' everythin's gonna be alrigh', bu' ye an' I both know tha' it may not. This feelin' of total distress and confusion, it'll be passin', I can promise ye tha'. Soon ye'll be so wrapped up wiv yer feelin's fer him, ye'll hardly worry 'bout anythin' else, I swear t' ye." Willow looked up into her genuine face, full of kindness and wisdom of these kinds of things.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." she stood and trudged out of the kitchen, letting Helena get back to work.

'Poor lovesick child. I need t' speak wiv me nephew. See 'ow 'w sees this. Does 'e see a future?' she thought, stirring the huge pot of stew. Well, to say the least, she didn't have to wait long to find out, as her darling nephew was on his was just then, knowing that Willow would forget to grab him a bite, just as she had done.

"Aunt? Are ye 'ere?" he called from around the corner, supporting himself on the wall, as his strength had yet to fully return.

"Right 'ere, Laddy. Wha' ails ye?"

She helped him to sit down while he told her, "Weakness, Aunt. I tried t' 'eal again. 'ave ye any of yer brews tha' may 'elp t' get my strength back?" She thought for a second, and then snapped. She turned and rummaged through a cupboard to reach a jar, way in the back.

"I've been savin' this since the las' time ye did sommat foolish like this. Ye drained yerself of yer Wild Magic, the kind ye get from yer Da, tryin' t' save a 'orse tha' gave a breech birth. The poor thing still died, an' ye almost joined 'er--remember? This will give ye back yer physical strength, until yer magic reserves get restored. Then ye won't need it, so don't keep takin' it. Ye can be come very needful of it, if yer no' careful, bu' I know ye won't. Jus' come t' me twice today, an' probably tomorrow as well, bu' then ye should be fine.

"As fer matters of the 'eart, I can only say tha' ye two need t' talk abou' everythin', an' make sure ye both can 'andle it when she 'as t' leave. Bu', if ye feel anythin' like Miss Willow feels, yer in fer a great thin' indeed." She smiled at her speechless kin. "Talk to 'er ,Love. Ye need t' work this out, then, whatever 'appens, will 'appen. Jus' be smart. Ye an' I know yer Da--If 'e goes berserk over somethin', I will say I 'ad nothin' t' do wiv it." Bowen grinned, albeit rather soberly. He knew she wasn't joking. She had never taken the rap for anyone else before-- she believed that if you dig yourself a hole too deep, you get yourself out. It was a good philosophy, but since Bowen wasn't the most well behaved child, he often got in big trouble while his aunt sat by, smirking at his mess that he made.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." Helena looked confused, getting a feeling that she had just heard that, as he walked away, grimacing at the horrid taste of the tonic.

After a few days of hidden embraces and interrupted moments in the shadows, Bowen stumbled in on Willow in their room that she still shared with her brothers, packing bags. He looked confused. "Wha' are ye doin'?" he asked. She looked up, startled.

"Oh, uh, well, my brothers and me wanted to go camping for a few days. You know, to just hang out with one another, something we haven't done in a while. Just the three of us. I talked to the Masters and they agreed. Fall will come with us, as well as whatever horses they pick. We'll only be gone a few days." she hurriedly explained, shoving spare shirts into her saddlebag.

"Bu'- um…wha' abou' me?"

"What about you?" she snapped. Why was he acting this way? It wasn't like she was never coming back.

"Wha' am I supposed t' do while yer gone? Sit an' knit?"

"Sure, I need a sweater. Make it for my birthday, for which I got nothing but a concussion from my horse and a half-severed finger from Wind," she said sarcastically, working on shoving breeches and a spare pair of boots into Wind's bag.

He did nothing but grumble for a few minutes, and didn't even offer to help her sort through her arrows and winds when she dropped both their quivers and bolts went sprawling all over the floor. "Why are ye leavin' me?" he spoke at last, all the while she had been separating the last of the arrows and putting them in the right quivers.

She sighed. "Bowen, sweet, I am not leaving you. I am going camping for a few days. We'll be right in the Royal Forest, not too far away, but away enough so we can get some perspective on things, just before we have to go to Shang. I'll be back before you know it." She looked into his green eyes, still shocked at how much love and worry she saw in them. "Listen, your acting ridiculous. You lasted fifteen years before you met me, and now you can last three or four days without me. Brock and Kit are still here. Helena is always in her kitchen--does she ever leave it, by the way?--and if you suspect any trouble, you can go to the Masters for help. They aren't as scary as they're made out to be, and Eda doesn't bite too hard." Bowen laughed, rather forcefully however. She hugged him, and he squeezed back, not wanting to let her go.

"Ye promise ye will come back."

"I PROMISE silly. I will be right back, before you even know it." She smiled and shook her head. "You worry too much."

"No. I worry just enough. You don't worry at all." (A/N: why does that sound familiar?) They shared one last embrace, and then she disappeared out the door, bearing three saddlebags, two bows and quivers, and a smile on her face with a lasting flavor of Bowen on her lips.

Willow raced down to the stables to see Wind holding the reigns of two mares, Nightengale, the horse so attached to Wind since the fist time he stepped into the stable, and Glory, a strawberry with a glint of pure mischief in her eyes, in his hands. In the other, he led Falcon's Fall, who he readied himself and looked incredibly proud of himself, especially with all of his body parts intact. "Bravo, brother mine. I am impressed. Now where is the one good sibling?"

Wind gave her a look. "He's saying goodbye to his dear Ema, Smart Mouth. He said meet us here in a minute. Did you talk to Bowen?"

She sighed and sat on a hay bale, actually the exact one that Bowen lay on a few days earlier. "I don't know. At first he freaked out, then all he could ask about was himself, and then he kissed me and wouldn't let go, hands traveling-"

"Sharing boundaries. Crossing sharing boundaries." Wind interrupted, plugging his ears. "Look, he'll get over it. It just takes time. The protective phase is just that--a phase."

Willow looked at him, shocked. "Wow. You told me something helpful. I am…well awed." she replied, in all seriousness. He beamed. "Unfortunately, by the time that will happen, we'll have to be going with the Shang. I may never see him again after that." she gnawed her lip, wishing things could be different, just as her other sibling cam trouncing through the doors.

"Well, lets get this underway. I need some time to commune with nature. Besides, the sooner we leave, the sooner we can return."

"Ema gonna give you that surprise she was talking about when we get back?" Wind asked, handing Glory's reigns over, as well as Falls, more carefully of course.

"As a matter of fact, yes, and how did you know about that?' he asked. Wind chuckled and walked out, leading Nightengale. River followed, pelting him with questions as how he knew about that. Willow strapped her saddlebag on, and mounted, holding her brother bags. 'This won't be so bad. It'll be like the old days,' she thought happily.

At the same time, however, another remarkable lady was having a few thoughts of her own, as she scoped the troops, preparing them for a move in the next few days. The woman in black scanned the last soldier, sending him to adjust a headpiece gone askew, and then menacingly smirked, the knowledge that the castle would soon be theirs, Tortall in tow.

Ok--I want to stop there. I really want to post today, and I have been rambling about only a certain part of the story for the longest time. A huge part of the plot comes in next chapter. Writers block has gotten me behind schedule. Also, the sequel idea for this popped into my head, and until I took some notes down, I couldn't concentrate on anything else. Well, review, review, review!!

THANX!