A/N: Okay, here's the second chapter. I don't really think there's enough going on – it got a bit tedious to write after a while but I couldn't find a good place to end it. So here goes.

Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce, the Great Mother Goddess, owns all.

Believe

Chapter two: Dinner and stories that aren't suitable for bedtime

"All right, I officially pronounce you healthy," Alanna announced formally. "Of course, you'd probably curse me if I didn't, so it doesn't actually mean anything. But I'll tell Jon that you're going on vacation. I don't care what he says; you're going to take a break. You too, Daine."

"Jon already said we could take a week off. I figured we'd go to the tower or something." Numair told Alanna, pleased that he could do as he liked again.

"Good. Otherwise I'd have had to slap him. Or, more likely, get Thayet to do it. She's Queen. She can do things like that." Daine laughed, and Alanna chuckled in reply. "I wasn't joking, you know."

"Never for a moment did I think you were," Numair said seriously. "But I've seen you challenge him on the practice courts and drop him on his behind, so I know how capable you are."

"And you're one to talk, oh person-who-hit-Ozorne-last-year-when-he-insulted-Daine," Alanna teased, poking him in the side.

"Hey!" Numair turned red again, and wondered vaguely why he seemed to be doing that so often lately.

"Don't worry. Being in love suits you. I won't spoil it." Alanna turned to leave again, but at the doorway she turned back. "I won't tell for now, but if you don't inform our friends when you get back from your vacation, I'll tell every maid I see."

Daine shuddered. "The news'd be all over Corus by noon. We'll tell soon."

"Promise?"

"Promise. I just want her all to myself for a week or so. Preferably a week where neither of us has to go fight and kill people. Or evil Stormwings, for that matter." Numair wrapped his long arms around Daine and kissed her forehead.

"Okay, I'm leaving! I'll go find George, or someone who actually wants to listen to me and not just kiss." Alanna threw up her hands in mock despair and shut the door. Numair sealed it with black fire.

"Hey! Let me in!"

Numair sighed. "I don't think we'll ever get any time alone," he whispered in Daine's ear, the heat in his voice making her shiver delightfully.

"Hello? I know you're in there, Numair, Daine. Now let me in, before I get Alanna back to blast the door open." Numair raised a hand, but before he could do anything there was a whistling sound. The black fire vanished and the door swung open to admit Onua, followed by a very disgruntled looking Kitten.

"What were you two up to?" The Horsemistress said, suspicion in her voice.

"Just talking," Numair said innocently. Daine giggled.

"Oh, I completely believe you. Not. I think I know what's up, but you don't have to tell me. I'll get it out of Alanna. Judging by the smirk on her face when I passed her in the hall, she knows exactly what happened."

"Well, she doesn't know the whole story, but she knows part of it. We'll tell you at dinner." Daine said from where she sat on the edge of Numair's bed, his hand holding her own.

Onua grinned wickedly. "Oh, yeah, that reminds me. If you're up for it, there's a special dinner tonight in honor of the end of the war. It's both informal and formal, meaning that it'll be a small group of people but you're supposed to dress up," Sure enough, both mages groaned.

"I haven't got anything to wear except this, Onua!" Daine cried, gesturing to the borrowed dress she'd acquired from one of Imrah's daughters.

"That's why Thayet found a seamstress from the city. She has a dress she can alter for you, Daine, and a black robe for Numair."

Numair put his head in his hands. "I hate those things. They're stuffy, uncomfortable, awkward, and they make me feel like a parrot."

"But parrots are colorful," Daine said, surprised.

"Parrots show off. Black robes show off. Same thing."

Daine and Onua just laughed.

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"So, you all know why we're here." Jon began. "To celebrate the end of the war, and honor those who made it possible. Alanna, Raoul, Numair, Thayet, George, Myles, Tkaa, Kitten, Onua, Buri, and of course Daine, to name a few."

"Oh, please, Jon, let's just eat. I'm ravenous, and we all know who did what." The King's Champion begged.

"And you forgot yourself," Thayet added. "After all, you're the only one who can wield the Dominion Jewel."

"All right. Me too. I helped in my own little kingly way. Thank you, Thayet. And no, Alanna, I spent three hours writing this speech and I think you can spend ten minutes listening."

Alanna rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.

"First of all, we must honor Lord Imrah for keeping Port Legann safe while it was under siege. Instead of hiding behind walls, Imrah could often be seen up on the ramparts with the archers, risking his life with the rest of them. Good thing he has a son." Everybody clapped. "Next comes Alanna, who is the King's Champion." The knight in question glared at her liege lord. Jon gulped. "I know how much she loves speeches so I'll just shut up now."

"Good idea," Alanna muttered.

"Raoul, Knight Commander of the King's Own, has helped in a thousand ways, as has his Rider counterpart Buri. We couldn't have held against the immortals without them."

It was Raoul's turn to glare. Daine hid a smile behind her hand. Lord Raoul of Goldenlake was infamous for disliking social functions, and she could just imagine how mad he would be about having to dress up. Jonathan, on the other hand, looked unperturbed. "Onua, who helped to train the Riders and took horses from place to place so that the soldiers didn't have to go on foot. Thayet, who fought with the Riders. Myles and George, my spymasters. Tkaa, who traveled along with three others and stopped many disasters. This speech was a lot longer, but someone won't let me say it all," – he shot Alanna a killer glance – "so I'll just honor two more people and let you eat like you so obviously want to."

Alanna nodded vigorously and several people cracked up. "Numair. What can I say. He's a black robe mage and without him, Daine, Tkaa, and Kitten, there probably wouldn't be a Tortall any more. Only three days ago he defeated Inar Hadensra, and kept their magical battle out of the way so no civilians or soldiers were harmed by it.

"And, last but certainly not least, Daine Sarrasri. The Wildmage who was born from the gods, speaks with animals, heals them, saved Tortall countless times, and rid us of that pesky nuisance known as Ozorne, the former Emperor Mage. Daine, we are greatly in your debt."

Daine looked down, her cheeks red and streaked with happy tears. "I didn't really do anything, your majesty." Numair snorted. "Well, not more than anyone else would've done in my place," she amended.

The king's eyes twinkled. "Well, part of the purpose of this dinner is to hear about what happened up in the Divine Realms. So you'd better count on telling us." Alanna shot him yet another glare, and Jon threw his hands in the air. "All right, eat first. Then tell."

The dinner was delicious, and nobody wasted time talking for fear of somebody taking the last bits of a dish they coveted. Raoul in particular went after the potatoes with a menace. All in all, it was a very enjoyable dinner, and everyone was satisfied at the end of it.

"So? What's the story?" Buri urged Daine and Numair. "We had no word from you for five weeks. We thought you were dead, or captured. And then you show up on dragons. This takes some explaining."

"And then some announcing," Alanna said wickedly. Daine kicked her in the knee. "Ouch! I said nothing. Nothing at all."

"Stop it, and start talking. Or else." ordered Thayet.

Numair sighed. "Okay, here goes. No interruptions. As you know, the two of us went to face the Skinners on Jon's orders. They were… horrible." He shuddered, and Daine put her hand on his knee under the table. He smiled at her. "Aptly named, as well. The Skinners operated by removing the outer layer of whatever they touched. For instance, we saw one catch a hare. The fur disappeared from the hare, and the Skinner was covered with fur for a brief time. They could do this to fruit, fields, animals, trees, you name it. Daine shot them, I buried them in a chasm, nothing worked. They survived it all. We would have died had hands not come out of the air and grabbed Daine. I didn't know whose hands they were. I don't know what I thought, all I remember is that I wouldn't let go of her and the hands took me, too. The next thing I knew, we were in the Divine Realms."

Numair looked at Daine for confirmation, and she took over. "I woke up about a week later, I think. I met my da, Weiryn, and saw my ma again. She's a goddess now, the Green Lady." Alanna whistled. "They wanted us to stay a while, but we said that we had to get back to Tortall. The Badger had gotten rid of the Skinners, but – "

"How did the Badger destroy the Skinners?" cut in Jonathan, forgetting Numair's request for no interruptions.

"He turned them to ice and they melted. Now can we get back to the story? You asked for it," Numair growled.

Daine continued. "The Skinners were gone but we knew we were needed here. Since the Great Gods were fighting Uusoae, our only chance to get home was to travel to the Dragonlands and hope that one of Kitten's kinfolk would take us back. Along with Badger and Broad Foot, the god of the duckmoles, we set off. A lot happened, including Numair getting spelled by a Chaos demon, me falling off a cliff, and spidrens, but finally we reached the Sea of Sand." Daine was deliberately glossing over the journey. She wasn't sure how to reveal the change in her and Numair's relationship, but decided to wait until the end and let Numair do it. She wasn't sure how people would react to the announcement that she'd fallen off a cliff, been captured by spidrens, and then kissed by Numair who had just been captured by living rocks.

Numair smiled, remembering what she'd left out. "The Stone Tree nation of Stormwings showed up, headed by Barzha and Hebakh. Rikash was with them as well. They made slings and carried us across the desert. Rikash told Daine about the birth of Stormwings, but that's going to have to wait. We reached a portal covered with fire; the entrance to the Dragonlands. They told us that the true guardians of a dragon were brave, and Daine walked right through the portal." He shot Daine a glance. "Some of the dragons wanted to kick us out, while others wanted to help. In the end we enlisted the assistance of Diamondflame and Skyfire, Flamewing's mother and father. They carried us to Corus and then to Port Legann. You know the rest of my story."

Daine looked down. "I followed Ozorne, in the shape of a hawk," she said, her voice soft. "I was sick of his getting away, and angry because Rikash was dead. We fought. He called up three winged apes to come help him, but I got rid of them all with the help of Leaf and Jelly, two of the darkings. They both died. I was completely out of magic, and Ozorne knew it. He was going to kill me with his wing. But I still had the Badger's claw, the only thing that stays with me when I shapeshift. I killed him with it. He had a stone around his neck, and I threw it against a tree where it broke." The girl shuddered. "Uusoae came out. She put her hands around my neck. I've never felt anything like it – it was the most horrible thing that's ever happened to me. And then it stopped, and I was back in the Divine Realms, in Mithros's court. Father Universe and Mother Flame were there, and they banished Uusoae. But then the gods told me that I couldn't ever cross between realms again. I had to choose between becoming a goddess and coming home. I came home," She said simply. Numair reached out and tucked an unruly curl behind her ear.

Onua, on her other side, placed an arm around her young friend. "I'm glad," she said softly. "We would all have missed you."

Daine smiled at them all. "I would have missed you, too," she admitted. "Even being a goddess isn't enough sometimes. It couldn't replace all my friends, my home, my life."

There was silence for a moment, as Daine wiped the tears from her eyes. Then Alanna said, grinning mischieviously, "Don't you have something to tell us? Daine? Numair?"

Both of them blushed. The others at the table looked on bewilderedly, all except for Alanna and Onua, who both had figured it out. "Um, yes, as a matter of fact." Numair said, resting his arm on Daine's shoulder. She leaned against him. "Daine and I are in love."

"Awwww!" Alanna, Onua, Thayet, and Buri all cooed together with only a touch of wickedness.

"I wondered how long it would take you to figure it out," George commented, eyes twinkling. "Since when?"

It was Daine who answered. "Since I fell off a cliff and got captured by spidrens. Numair killed them, and we… sort of… um, kissed."

"Yes, spidrens are so romantic," Alanna quipped. Numair smiled and leaned down to press his mouth to Daine's.

A/N: I could have gone on longer but I figured I'd leave it there for now. Better or worse than the first chapter? Longer, definitely. Please review – anything's welcome. I know this could definitely be improved and if you can tell me what would make it better I'll do it to the best of my ability. Thanks a ton – I love you all (don't mind me. I'm just happy that I'm done with the chapter and it's making me weird).

Thanks is due to: Narm's Boreas, my first ever reviewer (I'm so sorry! I thought I'd included your name in one of my other fics, not D/N, but I think I screwed up. Apologizs profusely Forgiven?) and Insommniac-Reader for reviewing chapter 1. I really really appreciate it!

Lunaterra