Float


Lunge. Block. Swing. Lunge. Pivot. Kel increased her speed, her wooden practice glaive a brown blur, concentrating on nothing other than her dawn exercises. Block. Swing. Thrust. Dom.

Dom?

She sighed and dropped her weapon in defeat. It seemed that nothing could take her mind off that one kiss. As much as she might not like to admit it, the kiss meant a lot to her, and she wanted badly to know if it meant something to him, too.

Even as she thought this, she realized that it could never happen. As a sergeant, he would not be allowed to marry, and she would never ask him to quit the Own. She shook her head slightly at her own foolishness. It was too early to think about something like marriage.

But isn't it more foolish to pursue something that will never be?

Kel sighed. Unanswered questions plagued her mind, and she felt her Yamani mask slide on to cover her confusion, though there was nobody else in the room. She felt, for the first time in Goddess knows how long, that she would explode if she didn't have someone to talk to.

As if reading her thoughts, Neal appeared at the half-open door almost by magic. "Kel?"

"Neal," she got up. "How's everything?"

"I think I should be asking you that question, Lady Knight," Neal pointed out.

"Yeah?" He was not helping her confusion. "Why would that be?"

"Look in the mirror." He advised, green eyes kind and slightly worried.

Kel obeyed, and sighed. She was wearing her best, most meaningless Yamani mask without even realizing it. Even then, a sense of concern drilled its way through her hazel eyes. Someone else might think she was only mildly concerned with something miniscule, but Neal knew her well enough to know that something was really wrong.

"What's wrong?"

"I kissed Dom. Well, he kissed me, but I kissed him back." The words felt so odd on her lips, as if someone else was speaking them.

Neal bit his lip slightly. He had heard the story from his cousin, but wanted to hear his friend's point of view. The young knight was willing to help his best friend in any way he can.

Kel quickly retold last night's events, her story echoing Dom's in uncanny detail. The two even thought alike. When she was finished, she looked at him with her large hazel eyes, and for what seems the first time he saw uncertainty in them.

"What should I do, Neal?"

"What do you want to do, Kel?"

The question caught her by surprise. She'd spent too long on what she should do, what she could do, that she hadn't thought to ask what she wanted to do. "I don't know," she finally answered, "I know I like him, but...." She turned to stare Neal in the eye. Neal, who had been thinking of a witty remark to respond to that with, was shocked by the amount of emotion seeping through her Yamani mask, until she abandoned the blank face completely.

"I don't know what to do," Kel confessed, her voice low. She hated herself in that moment, with her emotions open and pouring out, completely vulnerable. "I know—I'm pretty sure—that I like him. I think I know that he also likes me. But he's in the Own, and you know that they can't marry. It'd be stupid to get into a relationship now, when we both know nothing would come of it."

"That's usually the case," Neal nodded slowly, "but...noblemen court all the time, even knowing that the ones they court won't be the ones they marry. In the end, they'll be able to rejoice that it happened, not mourn that it finished. Think about it." He nodded briskly and left.

Kel stared nimbly after him. Not only was Dom confusing her, Neal seemed to have matured. She sighed. It gets better all the time.

Hadn't she loved Cleon, even when they knew it would never work out? Hadn't they tried? It didn't work out, but that did not mean nothing ever would.

"Kel?" A hesitant male stood at her door. She glanced up, and her heart caught in her throat. It was true—she was very attracted to Dom. "We need to talk. May I come in?"

"Sure," she got up. Dom was more serious than she remember him. The boyish grin was replaced by a cautious smile, and the twinkle in his eye was more alert than flirtatious. The air between them was awkward, though she felt a new kind of connection she didn't know they had. She wondered if he felt the same way.

"Kel, I..." He took a deep breath. "I meant it when I kissed you. Ever since I've known you, I've admired you on some level, for your courage and your heart. You've been a great friend to me, and I think I feel something more."

Kel swallowed a gasp. Those were the words she'd been hoping to hear for more than four years. She'd always hoped, sometimes even suspected, but now, she knew. He returned her feelings.

"Dom..." She took a deep breath. It was hard to say. "I've always had feelings for you. But you know that it'll never work."

"It won't work if we don't try," he whispered, blue eyes full of promise, "and I want us to."

She leant in, and he pecked her lips lightly. "Me too."

It's still all right to dream, right?

)O(

AN: Um. That was mushy and pointless.