Kel spent six months at Mindelan, waiting for her baby to come. At nine months and four days, a girl was ready to come out.

Kel had been through excruciating pain in those six months, not just from the child, but she wasn't alone. Her mother was always there, and her sisters-in-law could finally understand what she was going through.

Kel was not ready for motherhood, she knew that. But she wouldn't leave her child to fend for itself, she understood that some things were more important than fighting.

She was ready to take the world on again.

* * * * *

"My lord! We're under attack!" A scout ran came running into the mess hall where Raoul, Dom, and Neal were eating.

They immediately jumped up and ran to put on their armour.

Five minutes later, they were atop the wall. Dom took out his spyglass. "They're almost here."

They stood at the wall, prepared to fight. Dom saw a black flicker out of the corner of his eye.

"Sir permission to retrieve a weapon from my room?" He said.

"Affirmative. But hurry."

Dom ran down the stairs and sprinted to his room, which was hard, in armour. He rummaged through his trunk. "Where is it?" He said in exasperation. Finally, he found it, and ran back to the wall, tying Kel's griffin feather band on as he went.

When he got there, he could see a mage.

"A black mage! Give me a bow!" Raoul nodded, and Dom was handed a bow. He prepared to shoot, but was paralyzed by a burst of light.

Out of nowhere, arrows flew. Dom felt a piercing pain in his shoulder directly after he let his arrow fly. He ignored it, watching his arrow. It hit the mage in the chest. Another flash of light.

Dom fell to the ground in pain. Neal ran over to him. "Hold still." He put his hand over Dom's wound, and a steady green light came from his hand. Nothing happened to the wound.

After a few tries, nothing happened. "Neal! The mage I shot! He did this! Something to the weapons, but it stopped when I killed him. Go help people you actually can help, I'll be fine!"

Surprisingly, Neal nodded. Dom handed him the griffin band and he ran off, leaving Dom to stagger to the infirmary without fainting.

He found the infirmary and collapsed on the first bed.

By the time Neal came in, he was already unconscious.

* * * * *

The next day, Dom woke up in excruciating pain. He looked at his shoulder; it had stopped bleeding, but it was bandaged heavily.

He tried to get out of bed, but Raoul walked in and stopped him. "Dom! You're awake!" He said as he came in.

"Good morning, Raoul." Dom said weakly.

"Morning? Ha! It's almost sundown! You've been out for a while." His tone became serious. We don't know exactly what they did. We think that black mage put a spell on the weapons so that the wound's wouldn't heal. When you shot him, it went away, thankfully. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't survive another one of those fights. Good job."

He paused. "There is one problem: you won't get better. At least, not for a while. According to Neal, your wound is healing more slowly than it normally would, even without magic. It could be up to a year and a half before you can fight properly. Thus, I am relieving you of your duties to the crown until you are healed. As soon as you are well enough to, you will go home. I'm sorry, Dom." He said, his tone changing completely again. "We can't afford to house and feed men who can't help."

Dom didn't say anything; he just nodded dumbly. Home? That would take almost two weeks. Masbolle was on the other border of Tortall.

Neal walked in and sat down on Dom's bed. "You're not going all the way back to Masbolle, are you?" He asked, reading Dom's mind.

"I don't know. Do I have a choice?"

Neal shrugged. "You can't stay here, but you could probably find someone to stay with. I just wish I could help you find someone."

Dom looked at him quizzically. "Surely you haven't forgotten her already? Neal, I don't even know what time of day it is, and I thought of her."

Neal looked angry. "What are you talking about?"

Dom rolled his eyes. "Kel, meathead."

Neal's eyes grew wide. "That's brilliant! But. . ." He trailed off.

"Neal, I didn't tell you, but I knew about it all along. That's why I went with Kel."

Neal nodded. "Right." He looked quite shocked.

Dom laughed, but stopped when it sent sharp pain through his body.

* * * * *

"Kel!" Kel's sister-in-law, Marissa, (A/N I don't know if they were named in the books, so I made it up) came into her room the day after her daughter was born. "a messenger came yesterday, but I forgot to tell you. An injured sergeant is coming to stay. He'll be here today. The messenger said you wouldn't mind."

Kel looked up from her chair by the window in her room. "Thanks."

She sighed. "Of course I wouldn't mind." She said sarcastically after Marissa left.

"With my luck" She thought out loud, "It's probably someone I hate!"

"Come now, Lady Knight, you don't really think that way!"

Kel turned around. "Dom!" She jumped up as fast as a woman who had given birth the day before could, and ran to Dom.

He threw his left hand up to stop her. "No hugs. I'm injured."

Kel stopped right in front of him and nodded. Instead, she reached up and pecked him on the cheek.

"What are you doing here? What's been happening?" She asked quickly, before she could blush, but her face was bright with excitement, and she could feel her heart beating faster.

"Hold your horses! You're quite obviously not pregnant anymore, and I think I need some information!"

Kel smiled and led him into an adjoining room. There, in a small cradle, lay a tiny baby girl.

"She's beautiful." Dom whispered. "What's her name?"

"I don't know yet, she's only a day old."

"Wow." Dom whistled. Kel picked up the waking child and carried her into Kel's room.

Dom explained everything that had happened in the last six months. They'd fought battle after battle, and the Scanran army never seemed to get any smaller, no matter how many men they killed.

Many a time, Kel looked saddened by the fact that she hadn't been there.

"What did everyone say about the letters I sent?" Kel asked anxiously.

Dom sighed. "Neal was really upset that you didn't tell him, but he got over it, after I explained that it would have been hard for you. The others were just surprised, I guess. They said it didn't seem like you."

He paused.

"They're going to look at you differently." He said softly.

Kel nodded. She knew that their perspectives had changed. Hers had too. She was doing something she'd always said she'd never do, and she had to stop fighting to do it. Her body was different. It felt different, she was slower, much bigger, less flexible; everything she had worked so hard to get was gone. She could feel her power draining away.

But she was stronger for it, too. She knew she was amazing, and men couldn't say she hadn't been through pain, and neither could women. She could hold her head high and say she'd walked through the storm.

"So, have you thought of any names?" Dom asked.

Kel smiled. "I promised I'd name my son Raoul, but seeing as she is a girl, I can't decide between Ilane and Domia."

Dom laughed. "That would be nice, I'd bet."

Kel shook her head. He didn't get it. "I'm serious, Dom. The two people who helped me more than anyone else are my mother and you. I want to name her after one of you."

Dom smiled broadly, making Kel blush. "Even after six months, I still feel it." She thought. "Maybe this is more than it was with Cleon."

"I suggest Ilane Domia of Mindelan. I like that."

Kel shook her head, grinning. She'd made up her mind. "Nope. I'm going with Domia Ilane. Much nicer ring to it." She laughed.

* * * * *

Slowly but surely, Dom's shoulder was getting better, but it seemed that the black mage's spell not only stopped magic from working, but it made the wound take an unnaturally long time to heal.

"Hold still." Kel said, as Dom stood in front of her. She slowly pulled back his bandage, revealing the large, red wound underneath.

Kel felt like she was going to be sick, but held it in until she was done.

"There, good as new." She looked at the ground. Looking up would mean looking at his stomach, his chest, his face, and finally, his eyes. Those eyes that could hypnotize her. She kept looking at the ground.

Dom's hand came up to her face and pulled it upward. His left hand was cupping her cheek, his right hanging down limply.

"Thanks." He moved forward and kissed her, lightly and quickly, but on the lips. He blushed after he pulled away, smiling.

"I love you, Kel." He muttered, blushing more.

Kel couldn't say anything. Love- so strong, yet it made her feel so weak. She didn't know how she felt about Dom, whether she loved him as a friend, a lover, or a soul mate.

"I- I- I don't know. I'm sorry." She felt her eyes well up.

Dom's hand left her face and he backed away. He wouldn't meet her eyes, but it wasn't out of embarrassment, as it had been for Kel. "Well, I'd better go get changed. I'll see you later."

He left.

Tears flowed from Kel, she'd never felt more alone. The only person she could really talk to was mad at her.

Just as she collapsed on her bed, she heard Domia cry from the other room.

"Mia, Mia." She said softly to her. "Mia. I like that. Simple." She smiled at the baby.

She sighed. She was so beautiful, and so fragile. She seemed like she would break at the slightest jolt. Kel felt the same way.

After she fed Mia and put her back to sleep, Kel went looking for Dom.

She went to his room and knocked on the door.

He opened it. He was still wearing the pants he had worn before, and he still had no shirt on.

Before he could say anything, Kel had walked in and started talking.

"Dom, when I said I didn't know, I meant I didn't know how I loved you, not if I loved you."

Dom closed the door and sat down beside her on the bed.

"I don't know if I love you as a friend, or a lover, or- or- something more."

She looked down, and waited for Dom to talk.

"I didn't know, I shouldn't have over reacted like that." He said, after a long, uncomfortable silence.

Kel nodded. Was he glad, or angry?

She felt tears in her eyes again and she looked up-

Dom was grinning. "I'm what ever you want me to be. If you decide you want to be friends, I'm fine with that, and if you want more, I'm waiting."

Kel smiled and hugged him fiercely, making him wince, but he didn't pull away.

Kel and Dom became even closer friends over the next few months. They learned everything they could about each other, and they were happy and carefree.

Then they got the letter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ don't worry, the letter isn't a bad letter. I promise!

Fhire: I agree. . . why isn't it Christmas yet?

Pinky: I should've said this at the beginning, but don't worry!

Molly: Very funny. AND MEAN!!!!!!!!!!!! WAH!!!!

To everyone else who reviewed, thanks!

-unolimbo

gah, why is French the most annoying subject ever? I have homework, over Christmas!