Note: Sorry it took so long to update, its been rather busy at this nic of the woods. Hope you enjoy it and sorry for all it's problems. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Evac

Kida spent the entire night staring at the ceiling. She still felt Tristan's kiss and was not too sure if she was completely repulsed by it. She was confused and intrigued at the same time. She had never been kissed before and it was an odd feeling to have someone's lips pressed against yours. What was even stranger was the fact that that was the only thing Tristan could think of to keep their cover. Kida shook her head. Things just kept getting more confusing as time went on.

Tristan stopped outside of his room and peered at Kida's door. What was he thinking? He made-out with her. Was that the best he could come up with? He shook his head and opened his door, but before he went in he glanced at Kida's door. As he was about to go into his room her door opened.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," she muttered back.

They stood there in silence. Obviously she was surprised with the kiss about as much as he was. "Well, good-night," she said and went back into her room. Tristan watched her close her door and then went into his room. He sat on his bed and thought about what had just happened. There was something wrong with Kida; she wasn't yelling at him for doing what he did, in fact she seemed a bit shy around him.

He laid on his bed. It was weird kissing her. She was a fellow knight yet at the same time she was something else. When he kissed her it was strange, for a moment he completely forgot she was a knight. He pushed the memory of earlier out of his mind. He would not fall for her. He would not, he could not, and he should not. For her cover and their lives he had to keep the odd feeling just a memory and not try to bring up a situation at which he could feel it again.

Kida curled up in her bed and tried to sleep. What was wrong with her? Why didn't she just walk up to him and slap him for taking such a liberty. She didn't like what he did, yet she did. She shook her head. She had to keep her eye on the whole picture. She did not need to get involved with someone, least of all Tristan, the man she spent the last year despising. If he tried anything again she would hurt him and make sure he remembered it.

The next day, Kida avoided Tristan. She did not know why but she wasn't sure what she felt and decided to keep things simple until she was ready to deal with it.

Tristan noticed that Kida was avoiding him and made himself scarce, he did not want to have another run in with her temper. He found it rather amusing that such a trivial kiss had caused her to react so. He had completely let the odd feelings he had last night melt away and was back to his usual self.

Another Year

Dag and Bors rode sentry duty together. There had been no signs of Woads for over two years and were wondering where they had gone. As they rode their last sweep of the East valley they heard something. Dag stopped and listened. Bors continued riding. "Bors stop," Dag said. Bors continued riding. "Bors…" Dag started. He fell silent as he heard a distant cry.

"Woads!" Bors cried and they rode back to the fort. Arthur waited for them at the gate. "Woads!" Bors cried and kicked his horse into the fort to get fully armored for the battle. Arthur looked at Dag who nodded. A shadow fell over Arthur's face, he prayed that this bout with the Woads would not be as devastating as the last, but he had a feeling that it would be worse for the Woads had been absent for over two years. Arthur turned and went to prepare himself and his horse for battle.

Kida and Tristan rode sentry duty. Since that time last year that Tristan kissed Kida to save her from discovery, things had calmed down and not another word was said upon the matter. Tristan had returned to normal and Kida tried her best to forget it. As they rode, they ignored each other completely, as they had done since Tristan first rode into the camp two years ago.

Kida scanned the horizon and found nothing. As her eyes scanned she remembered the day when Liam and her two other brothers were taken. She had learned recently that her other two brothers were dead, killed by the Woads as they were trying to evacuate their fort. It seemed that the Woads were leaving all the other forts to attack the ones withdrawing. Within a few months, her fort would begin to evacuate and she feared what that would bring.

Tristan watched Kida as she rode. She wasn't mad at him, he was sure of that for she hadn't killed him yet. He still remembered the kiss he gave her in play but at times, when he was delusional, he thought about kissing her again. He knew that if he tried to kiss her again she would beat him up, and so he made no such attempt.

He missed the other knights at Hadrian's gate. Even though he was quite in their company, he was rather fond of them and enjoyed listening to their pointless babble. He missed the comradeship. He supposed he could have been nice and made friends with Kida but his pride would not allow that. And so he was cursed to solitude until he could return to the other knights.

Lysander sat in his study, at last the order had come for him to start to evacuate. He had been eagerly awaiting this day. He put the evacuation movement in motion immediately, not stopping to wonder why it came so soon, he was not due to evacuate for at least another three months.

Arthur and his knights stood ready for battle and waited for signs of the enemy. They saw nothing. After waiting a few minutes, Arthur gave the signal to begin to enter the woods. Slowly, they fanned out and entered the forest, keeping an eye out for blue demons. When they came to a ravine, they drew their weapons ready to fight, but stopped as the looked into it. In the ravine was a river, and in the river were bodies. They were not Woad bodies, they were Roman. Quickly, they made their way down the cliff side and began to catch to bodies and search for some form of identification.

Dag found the body of the commander and Arthur confirmed that it was the commander of the third post between theirs and the farthest western post. They were supposed to have been evacuated; obviously they did not make it to the coast.

Gravely, the knights gathered what bodies they could and burned them. They had to find some way to warn the Eastern forts before they left. Once they were back at their fort, Arthur held a conference.

"We must send a rider out to warn the Eastern most forts, they are scheduled to be evacuated soon."

"Why warn them?" Lancelot asked.

"Have you forgotten?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, yes," Lancelot said and fell quiet.

Liam looked at Lancelot and then Arthur. "What do you mean?"

"I suppose we can tell now," Dag said.

"I suppose we must," Arthur agreed. "Kida and Tristan are at that post."

Liam looked at them then said, "Then I will go."

He began to stand up when Dag grabbed him and said, "No, I will. If you go you might scare her away, she think you are there to baby her again. I will go and warn the fort and bring her back with Tristan."

"No, I insist I go," Liam complained.

Arthur looked at them both and decided on Dag. "Dagonet, are you sure you want to do this?"

Dag nodded.

"Very well, you will go. Liam you shall stay here and wait for their return." Liam glared at Arthur but said nothing more. Dag nodded and left to make preparations, his mind racing with images of Kida. He had thought that two years would wear away the odd feelings he got when he thought about Kida but they still persisted and he did not know what to do to stop them.

By night fall, Dag was prepared to leave and the other knights rode with him till the end of their perimeter. Dag rode on alone, ready for the worst.

Within two days, Lysander had the entire fort ready to leave. On the morning of the third day, the entire Roman force marched out of the fort leaving behind the villagers, who happily stayed behind. Tristan and Kida rode at the end of the train.

Kida thought it was rather odd that they were leaving so soon. They would not leave for at least another three months. Silently she rode beside Tristan, every thing in her being screamed that something was not right but she did not know what it was.

That night, she could not sleep and spent the night staring into the shadows. Tristan found her and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Something's not right about this evacuation."

"What do you mean?"

"It's too early."

"Perhaps the Romans decided to evacuate sooner."

"It could be, but if that's so, why do I feel like there's something wrong. I can feel it in the air."

Tristan looked at her; she continued to stare into the shadows. She was not pretending what she was feeling, he knew that. "Perhaps you are just tired?"

"Perhaps," she mumbled. Tristan sat next to her and watched as she watched the shadows as if looking for a sign of some sort. She was certainly an odd girl and for some odd reason he was drawn to her.

"There's nothing to worry about. Soon we will be back with your brother and Lysander will be gone."

"Watch what you say, the trees have ears," she whispered and got up. "I'm going to take a look around, something is not right." She walked away and disappeared into the darkness. Tristan watched her go. Should he follow her? He did not know, he felt that nothing was out place.

Against his better judgment he got up and followed her, to make sure she didn't get into trouble. He found her not too far into the woods. She sat on a log thinking. He sat next to her and asked, "What's on your mind?"

"Everything, what is going to happen now that Lysander is leaving Britain? Am I supposed to go with him or report to one of the reaming forts? I want to go back to Liam, I want this entire nightmare to be over."

Tristan looked into her eyes, the usual spark in them was absent. "You are tired of this life?"

"This life, as a knight, yes. The freedom this life offers, no. It's just so confusing. I hate killing but I love the freedom it brings."

"Everyone feel likes that. No one likes killing."

She looked at him shocked. "What?"

"We all feel like this at one time or another. It's natural," he told her.

Their eyes met. She jerked her head away. Tristan smiled as she looked at him again. "What is wrong with me?" she whispered.

Tristan leaned forward and kissed her. "Nothing, absolutely nothing."