DISCLAIMER: Don't own it. Don't like it? Don't read it.

This is supposed to be sort of like a prequel to Love Her For That. A lot of people asked me to give a reason for what happened, so this is what might have happened. That story is sort of a standalone, so you can treat this as a standalone if you want, or as a prequel. If you had imagined something else, I'm not trying to convince you otherwise, this is just for a few reviewers who wanted to know.

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Keladry of Mindelan sighed with relief as she passed through the gates of Corus. The Scanran War was beginning to draw to a close, and she was returning to the palace for the first time in nearly six years.

She couldn't wait to see all of her friends again, and a certain blue eyed sergeant. They had all been sent back periodically on leave, but Kel had never wanted to leave her refugees.

New Hope had become a large enough town, no longer the small refugee encampment it had once been. The King was even considering naming it, and the land around it as an independent fiefdom. All of the lands near the border were not part of any fief.

Kel rode her big gelding into the stables, and dismounted, leading him into her stall. She started as she saw the nameplate. It read Keladry of New Hope.

She realized with a laugh that it must have been a joke. Her friends, when they had written to her, had referred to her by that name. They had said that she spent so much time there, that she had become like their overlord.

Entering the palace, she walked quickly to a scribe.

"Hi there. Are there any knights here from my year, the one below me, or above me?" The scribe named her a list that included Neal, Merric, Seaver, Esmond, Owen, Faleron, and Cleon.

As it was around midday, and she hadn't eaten yet, she made her way to the mess hall. Grabbing a tray and cutlery, she scanned the room for her friends.

They were sitting together in a corner, oblivious to the fact that their favorite Lady Knight had just entered the hall. Kel walked quietly over, hidden by a group of knights, and slid into a chair beside Esmond, before any of them could register who she was.

It took them a good five minutes before Owen looked over, and launched himself at her, hugging her tightly, shouting.

"Kel! You're back! How have you been? We've all missed you. It's been too long. What have you been doing? How long have you been here? How-"

"Owen, do you ever know when to shut up?" Neal had walked over and pried the young knight off of his best friend. The green eyed healer looked her over for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her.

One by one, the rest of her friends greeted her warmly. They sat around the table, chattering about old times, until a voice reached her.

"Hello, Keladry. Missed me?" Kel turned to look into a pair of blue eyes. She was surprised. She no longer felt a spark between them. She no longer felt the same giddiness when Dom looked at her. Sighing she realized how fickle she really was. This was the same thing that had happened with Neal, and with Cleon.

"Hey Dom! How long are you here for?"

"Actually, we're leaving tonight."

"Oh, that's too bad. First time we get to talk in four years, and you have to leave. Anyways, come sit." she moved over to give him a place on the bench. Neal glared at his older cousin.

The green eyed knight continued what he had been saying. "Well, Yuki and I-" The table collectively groaned. Neal had been going on about Yuki for the past half hour, and they were all sick of it. Kel spoke up.

"Neal. Shut up already about Yuki. We all like her, but you just don't know when to be quiet." Neal looked at her with a stony glare. Kel was surprised. She had expected him to simply brush it off. Neal had never been annoyed by this kind of stuff before. She began to realize how they had drifted apart. She no longer knew anything about him anymore.

Neal didn't stop with the glare. "Well Keladry, you would talk about your loved one if you had one. Wait, I forgot, no one has ever liked you like that." Kel was getting annoyed. What was he going on about? The table had fallen silent.

"Well, Nealan, maybe that's by choice on my part." She spoke calmly and evenly, not betraying any of the anger and hurt she felt inside.

He laughed harshly. "Who are you trying to convince? Me or yourself? You've never felt that way about anyone, because you know that no one would ever feel that way about you."

At that point, Kel's Yamani mask shattered. Her face showed all of the rage she was feeling towards Neal. He voice was becoming increasingly louder. "I don't need anyone else, Nealan. I have everything I could ever want, with the exception of a best friend who is there for me." She calmed a bit, "But who could ever expect you of all people to follow through with a friendship."

Neal was all but shouting now. "What are you going on about? Who was there as your page sponsor? Who offered to skip the big examinations to help you find your maid? Who came after you six years ago when you wandered into Scanra?"

"I had wanted to explore the palace on my own as a page, and you did me no good as a sponsor, being at the bottom of Lord Wyldon's list and all. I didn't want your help with Lalasa, and I don't believe you would have followed through with it. You had just spent four years as the oldest page, and you would have run to the examinations so as to not have to repeat the years. as to the 'wandering into Scanra'? Actually, it was Dom, and the King's Own, who first followed me."

Their argument continued, until Kel, angrier than anyone had ever seen her, stood up, and walked over to him. She slapped him as hard as she could, and ran off.

Neal turned to the others, touching his face with a green glowing hand. "I know that you're going to take her side. You always do." He stormed from the mess hall.

Esmond, always the calm one, spoke first. "I don't think I've ever seen them fight before. They've been best friends for as long as I've known them."

"If they're friendship is at an end after nearly fifteen years," Cleon spoke clearly, standing up to leave, "Then there's no hope for any of us." He left, intending to talk to Kel.

In the stables, Kel herself was furious. What on earth had gotten into Neal? He was never like this. She saddled Peachblossom, intending to go out for a ride. Tears blurred her vision, and she was having trouble tightening the straps, until a pair of hands finished the job for her.

"Kel, I know that Neal was a bit of an idiot there, but cut him some slack." Cleon turned her to face him, and spoke softly. "He's under a lot of stress, and he probably just snapped. He'll regret it soon,"

"I know, Cleon, I just need to get out. I just got back to the palace after six years away, and I have a fight with my best friend. I'll see you in a bit."

Kel rode out quickly into the Royal Forest, intending only to relax. she had her sword at her waist, and was carrying a few Yamani throwing stars just in case.

The Forest was calm and quiet. Kel looked around. It wasn't usually this quiet. She pushed her doubts to the back of her mind, and continued to trot down a path.

Suddenly she heard a whistling in the air. She half turned before pain exploded over her side. Peachblossom reared and turned, and Kel saw an archer in a tree, hastily reloading his crossbow.

Right arm hanging limp by her side, Kel grabbed a razor sharp throwing star and flung it at the assassin. As it entered his throat, she blessed her Yamani trainer for insisting that she throw with her left hand as well as with her right.

The man fell to the ground, as Kel's vision began to blur and darken. She slipped from her saddle, before the world went black.

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That was just for those of you who wanted an explanation for Kel's injury. To everyone else, just treat it as a standalone.

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