Would you look at that? Two chapters up in the same day!! (You can't count the last one as yesterday because I wrote and posted it this morning!! … yes it was this morning…after midnight counts as "this morning" right? Yeah.) Actually, the only reason I'm getting this one out right now is because my evil sister took over the Internet and won't get off because she's "talking" to people, even though she isn't at the computer right now! Ugh. Evil computer hog. So…here we are! I'm just sitting here staring at this sad little computer screen, wishing I could be online…but since I can't…this is the next best thing (right???) Ah! My pop-tart! It's gone! I need to go get another one. Can't write without munchies, right? Two most important things: munchies and music… ^__^ can't do anything without music…so I'll pop the soundtrack to Moulin Rouge in and grab another pop-tart because it seems to have gotten up and run away without me noticing. Those pop-tarts. Sheish. Ah, yes, and this chapter, again, is dedicated to Ernie (ERNESTO!!) …ignore that, ok? … also dedicated to Pinkerton, who is my friend's pet waffle. (the name of the above waffle is owned by my evil devil sister and my friend Stevo the Magnificent…so please don't steal it…you won't like the consequences, I promise.) And now…on with the show!!!

Just a little side note (now that it is the next day and I haven't been able to post it because I couldn't get onto ff.net all day …how frustrating) I would like to thank my 30+ reviewers (thank you thank you thank you!!!) I can't believe I got 30! Wow. Anyway, one of the most recent ones caught me on a little mistake…(guess I didn't know the books as well as I'd thought) Turns out that Tyra is a merchant republic and so would not have barons. Oh well. My mistake. (me bad) So what do you think? Should we make poor Darryn (who isn't even going to show up in the story anymore) have to suffer the name of "Baron Darryn of Maren" … or should we just rescind his baronly title and make him just a foreign diplomat type? And does it even matter since he isn't here any more? These, and other questions will be answered in the next episode of The Twilight Zone (j/k) ^__^ Anyways: enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything…I don't own the characters, I don't own the setting, I definitely don't own Pinkerton…the only thing that is remotely mine is the plot…so don't steal it.

~ Rather than make this really confusing (like my last couple of chapters) the formatting is as follows: Kel's diary (or thoughts) is in italics and everything else (flashbacks included) will be regular. Simplicity is awesome, isn't it? ~

Chapter 8: All Is Well

August 13, 461

Maybe everything isn't as ruined as I'd thought it would be. I woke up unusually irritable (which makes sense, from my point of view, seeing as I got much less sleep than I usually do and the fact that I believed that I had just ruined everything). After exercising and doing a short pattern dance that I didn't get to do last night (err…this morning??) I went down to the practice courts to take a few runs at the quintain again before going to the city to see Lalasa… although… I never did get that far. I had just finished my second or third run at the ring target when who should pass by but Meathead, my best friend and finder out of secrets, Sir Nealan of Queenscove (commonly known as Neal or the aforementioned Meathead). He, of course, knew something was wrong…

He walked into the courtyard by the stables. There she was, charging on that monstrosity of an animal … I mean that wonderful little horsie, thought Neal to himself, unconsciously sticking his hands in his pockets to protect them. He had come out here looking for her, since neither she nor Dom had shown up for breakfast in the mess hall. He was worried about her. The woman on the horse jammed her lance through the ring at the end of the field and turned around. She spotted the tall figure sitting on the fence and led Peachblossom over setting her mask on her face. Upon seeing the carefully blank look she wore, Neal winced. This was worse than he thought.

"Hey Kel, missed you at breakfast this morning. Is something wrong?"

Oh boy, here comes the grand Inquisition. "No, everything's just fine, Neal. Should something be wrong?" she asked, attempting to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"Alright, you can say that as many times as you want, but I know something's wrong. You have your Yamani look on."

"Oh." Kel thought for a minute or two. It was obvious that he wouldn't be leaving her alone until he had found out what was wrong, and if she tried to think up something to tell him, he'd spot the lie far too easily. He's known me too long. I guess I can't get out of telling, so I might as well make this as painless as possible. And so Kel gave in and told Neal everything.

"…and so now he knows and nothing will ever be the same again!" finished Kel miserably.

"Not to mention that you're avoiding him confronting you about it by sneaking around and hiding out here all by yourself," Neal countered with a know-it-all look firmly affixed to his face.

"Yeah, that too," conceded Kel, looking glummer by the minute. "What would you have done in this situation?"

"Well, hypothetically, I'd leave it alone for a little while…wouldn't bring it up and just act normally."

"Um…were you "hypothetically" being him or me?"

"You…I think."

"Oh. I was kind of asking what you think his reaction to all of this would be."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh."

They sat on the fence in silence for a couple of minutes. Finally tired of waiting for him to respond, Kel poked Neal in the arm. "You were supposed to be saying something," she reminded him.

The green eyed man jumped a bit, startled out of his reverie. "What was I supposed to be commenting on again?" he inquired with a sheepish grin.

Keladry sighed in exasperation. "what do you think Dom's reaction to all this is?"

"Oh."

…

Silence (again).

…

"Well???"

"Well, um…I think he's a little shocked by everything and could use a moment to figure things out," Neal said finally.

"Oh…"

"But that doesn't mean you should avoid him…talk to him like normal…but just don't bring that up quite yet. If anything, I'd wait till he says something…which he'd better."

"But Neal, what if he decides to just ignore that this ever happened and go on with things as usual? I am so stupid. I should never have said anything. Who do I think I am anyway? I mean, I can't flirt, there's no reason why he'd like me back anyway…Oh I'm such an idi—"

"Kel," Neal interrupted her tirade rather forcefully. "First of all, you are not an idiot. You are the most the most intelligent and capable person that I know, so you can stop calling yourself that. Secondly you can too flirt—"

"No I can't."

"Yes you can," Neal sighed. "Lastly, Dom will do something in response to all of this, I'm going to talk to him about it."

"No! You can't!" Kel cried. "Wouldn't that just confuse things further? He doesn't like me anyway."

"Kel," he said gently, "anybody would like you…and my cousin is an idiot if he hasn't realized it yet." He got off the fence rail they'd been sitting on and headed back toward the palace. Turning around, he yelled back at her, "Now stop avoiding everyone!"

…later that day…

Kel was grooming Peachblossom after her post-dinner ride through the Royal Forest, when who should enter the stable but Meathead and his cousin. She was almost positive that Neal knew she was in here and wanted her to hear this, so she kept quiet. (that and the fact that she really didn't want to face Dom right then) The cousins stopped a few stalls away to give Neal's horse an apple or two, and Kel was able to hear their entire conversation.

"So, Dom," Neal began, "what's with Kel lately? She's been acting very odd."

Dom chuckled. "She certainly has been. We had a little…incident…lets call it…the other day…and she's been avoiding me ever since."

Neal nodded. "Oh good, I was hoping you'd noticed all that, too. I talked to Kel about it today, actually. She's calling herself an idiot, which got us into a bit of an argument because she's extremely smart. She claims she can't flirt either, and I'll admit, she's not the best, but…"

"She does a pretty good job of it though."

"Yeah. So I'm not the only one who knows she can flirt! She's just shy, and unsure of herself…really all she needs is a little more confidence."

"Hmmm."

They stood by Neal's horse in silence for a little while, and then Neal asked, "So do you like Kel at all?"

"Yeah I like her."

Neal chose to ignore the little gasp he heard from a few stalls over. "… 'like' as in what?"

"Huh?" asked Dom, startled by the question.

"Oh, you know what I mean…as in, if she was available, would you court her?"

"Well…yeah, it's a possibility…" he trailed off as a bell rang, signaling the seventh hour. "Mithros! I was supposed to meet Raoul! I'll talk to you over breakfast tomorrow," he yelled over his shoulder as he dashed out the door.

Neal grinned to himself as he followed his cousin at a more sedate pace.

So Neal talked to Dom about it, and his responses were very…encouraging. I still don't know what to say to him when I talk to him next, but I'll definitely stop avoiding him. Perhaps Neal's advice is the best, and I should just let him bring it up when he's ready to talk about it. Yes. That will keep everything from being far too awkward. Its odd…I swear I saw Neal wink as he left the stables tonight. Sometimes he's just too much.

Well…hope you all appreciate my lack of sleep in getting this out…I could have just waited till tomorrow morning…but, oh well. Who needs sleep anyway? But do me a favor and tell me if the sleep loss was in vain or not…really, I want your opinion. Even though I think I'll be ending this very, very soon…but I still need to know what you think. I don't think 45 reviews total for a nine or ten chapter story is asking too much…and you only have eleven left to reach that too! Do you think we can make it? (Please oh please?) Review!!!

Oh yeah, and I do realize that this story makes Kel very OOC…but its mainly her diary, right? And I've always thought that in a diary people let out thoughts and emotions that people don't normally see…so in that context, her actions make perfect sense…well…sort of…

~ Erm the Penguin ~