Note: I can't for the life of me remember if I killed Peachblossom. I know I killed Jump, but I really don't have time to check. So, if you know, please tell me, and I will change this if I have to.

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She packed quickly. She didn't quite know where she was going, or how she was getting there, she just knew she was leaving.

By the time Dom got back from breakfast, Kel was gone forever.

She took both Hoshi and Peachblossom, all of her armour and weapons, and as much clothing and food as she could carry on Peachblossoms back.

She rode far, and she sailed far. Far across the land and sea, until she came somewhere that no one expected her ever to go. She travelled to somewhere that didn't really exist.

Kel had heard of a place that was too far for Tortall to trade with or visit. It was called Chatra, and it was a large island very far west of Tortall. The boat ride there took Kel almost two years. It was secluded from everything else, too far to trade with anyone. It was large enough to grow food for all it's people, and it worried of nothing else.

No Tortallan had been there for a hundred years.

She set out to make the journey that would take two years of her life.

----

A two years later, when she arrived in Chatra, Kel was no longer Kel. She was Ahndraya, a noble from Tortall who wished for a new life. With that name, she would never forget where she had come from. She would never forget her home. But Tortall was not her home any more, she knew that. It could never be her home again.

Her life was by no means difficult in Chatra. She worked in the palace, teaching the king and princes about Tortall. She taught them lessons in the common tongue every day, and did her best to show them technology that she knew about. She would give them lessons on religion and culture, and explain as best she could the countries surrounding Tortall.

She made friends in Chatra as well. But her friends were not the same as the friends she had back home. They were people who invited her to their parties, and chatted with her in the halls of the palace. But there was always a language barrier between them, and many people avoided speaking to her, for fear of looking silly. None of them were friends that she would dare tell a great secret to, none that she would cry for.

She kept everything about her secret, which could have been part of it. She changed her name to Ahndraya, told no one of her history, tried to avoid the topic of what she did in Tortall.

The first thing she had done when she got there was take off her gold wedding band and place it on a chain around her neck where no one could see it.

The king was pleasant to her, and the princes were charming young boys who Kel liked to work with. She really didn't mind the island. The people were friendly, the food was good, the weather was warm.

But something was not right. It was just not Tortall. Kel practiced her glaive and sword play, but she never met anyone who was good competition for her. she could not practice her religion. She could not go to the temple of the goddess, she could not exchange gifts or pray during the Midwinter ceremonies that did not exist in Chatra.

But Kel could live there without causing problem. She did not go looking for trouble, and no trouble found her. She did not live very quietly, as she was the only foreigner around, and as she worked personally for the king, but no one had a problem with her. She was perfectly inconspicuous.

The king called her to his chamber one day. This was normal for Kel. When he had a question, he called on her, no matter the time of day or night.

"Your majesty." Kel said in the common tongue, kneeling to the ground.

"Rise," said the king. "Ahndraya. This is a sensitive issue, I believe."

Kel looked up.

"As I am sure you know, we are a fairly prosperous country. We can easily make enough food for all of our people and many more, and we have very safe borders. But that is not enough. We are small. One small island that you can ride across in three days. There is not much here. You have taught us much, and we are prospering from it, but I want more. I want you to be the ambassador of Chatra. My sons and I have been studying the common tongue with you for years now. You are not needed as a teacher. I want to promote you to this honoured position, and I want you to go to Tortall."

Kel stared up at him in shock. Go back to Tortall? She thought about it. How long had it been since she had seen anyone she knew in her old life? Easily eight years. There was no way she could go back.

"Your majesty," she said quickly, in Chatran, "I cannot go back there. It would be wrong of me."

He frowned at her. "I ordered you to go." He said. "So go."

Kel bowed again. "Yes, your majesty." She said, fuming. She had to get out of this, somehow. If she ever went back, she could end up destroying everything. Even if she went to Corus for a short while, then came back, she would see her friends. She would never be able to leave then.

She had to stay in Chatra.

- - - -

"Kel?" Dom asked, coming into the room. Kel had not turned up at breakfast, and he was worried about her. Had she gotten so engrossed in what she was doing she did not notice her hunger? He looked around. She was not there. Her travel bags were not there. Her armour and many clothes were not there.

Kel was gone.

He ran out of the room and straight to Neal. "Where did she go?" He demanded.

Neal looked at him, shocked. "Who?"

"Kel!" Dom said quickly.

Neal shook his head, looking confused. "I haven't seen her all day." He said.

Dom ran his hands through his hair. "She just up and left. Her clothes, her armour, even her books. All gone. It's like she never even lived in the same room as me."

Neal took in a sharp breath. "I think we should check the stables." He said. they ran down as fast as they could. They found themselves looking at two empty stalls.

"She's gone." Neal said quietly.

Dom nodded slowly. "Gone."

Stefan walked up behind them. "She took her horses this morning, my lord. Didn't even say where she was going. She usually tells me, just in case something happens."

Neal sighed. "She probably went home for a few days. She'll be back."

Dom leaned against the wall and slid down so he was sitting. "She's gone." He said, his hands on his forehead, digging his palms in. "She is not coming back."

Dom did not get over it. He looked beside him every morning, to see if Kel had come back in the night. He checked the stables every day, and always sat facing the door during meals.

"Dom," Fhire said (A/N: yes, she is still here!), putting her hand on his arm. "She is not going to burst through the door, no matter how long you stare."

Dom nodded. "I am still going to wait." He looked her in the eye. "Wouldn't you?"

Fhire smiled warmly. "Absolutely."

Slowly, people forgot about Kel. They did not mention her, in stories of past battles and wars, they did not mention her or her roles as commander, even when the story called for it. they just called her 'the commander.'

No one watched to hope that she was coming. Yuki practiced her glaive with the queen on a regular basis, Fhire went back to her duties as a knight, and Neal and his friends went back to their cheery selves.

But Dom lingered still. He still always checked beside him in the morning; still glanced down the road when he was outside, still checked her stalls, which had now been given away to a green knight.

Everyone and everything reminded him of Kel. It happened with everyone at first, they would see her in village girls, noblewomen in the city for a ball, in paintings on the wall. But slowly, she passed from all knowledge. From everyone's knowledge, except for Dom's.

She was even starting to leave Dom's mind, until the day that a young ambassador from a place called Chatra arrived in Corus.

- - - -

"Your majesty," Kel said, in a quick stroke of brilliance, "I cannot go to Tortall. I am not supposed to go there."

The king stared at her. "Why?"

Kel thought fast. "It was my home a long time ago, your majesty. It would not be right. I cannot show my face there. I am not one of them any more."

The king waved a hand. "Never mind. I shall appoint a mage to conceal you with a powerful disguise."

Kel sighed. "Yes, your majesty." Kel said, frowning. There was no way she could get out of this. Why had she accepted a position so close to the king in Chatra? She should have known that it would come back to haunt her.

She paced the floor of her room for hours, until she was sure she had worn a groove into the carpet. She collapsed on the floor and put her head in her hands. Images came rushing back to her. Getting her shield. Commanding a refugee camp. Journeying far into enemy territory to defeat armies and kings. Being at her best friend's wedding. M meeting his daughter for the first time. Her own wedding. Kissing Dom for the first time.

Dom. That was the memory that held the strongest resonance in Kel's heart. She thought about him often. He was always in her mind, whether she was just thinking about how she wished she were with him, or when his memory was at the back of her mind.

It scared her, though. She often could not remember what Dom looked like. She knew his features well, she wrote them down often, trying to place him in her memory. She remembered the soft black curls, the piercing blue eyes, the tall frame. She remembered the way she felt when she kissed him, she remembered the way he smelled when she fell asleep beside him at night. She remembered his laugh.

But she could not remember what he looked like. Try as she might, all she could come up with was a shapeless body with blue eyes and dark hair, a distinctive smell and laugh.

"Maybe going home won't be so bad." She thought. "How can I cause that much trouble when I am not even me? Besides, I should only be there for a few years. How much can happen in a few years?"

She decided to sleep on it and think in the morning.

Her dreams that night made her decision for her. She was sitting the way she had the night before, leaning against the wall, her elbows propped on her knees, her head in her hands.

An arm snaked its way around her back and rested coldly on her shoulder. "It's okay," it whispered. "I don't mind if you don't remember me. I am still happy."

Kel lifted her head and looked up at Dom. He was Dom as he was supposed to be. He smiled menacingly at her, his eyes flashing. He leaned closer to her and touched her face with his other hand. "It's really not that bad, not remembering someone you loved." He whispered again, leaning in to kiss her.

Kel lifted her head to accept him, but he slowly vanished and Kel was left, outside now, looking up into the sky, to curse the gods.

She woke with a start. Tears flooded to her eyes as she did. She pressed her palms into her eyes, but the tears did not stop. After letting the tears come for a few minutes, Kel got out of bed. She stood in the middle of her room, her head held high, her back straight.

"I am Ahndraya." She said in a voice not her own. "And I am the ambassador of Chatra."

She took a step back and whispered, "I am still Kel, and I am going to see him again."

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Well, like I always try not to do, I put an entire story into one chapter. I can't help it! I go so fast, because I know what is going to happen later, but I don't know how to write it now! Gah!

Well, it actually turned out longer than I had hoped.

Excellent!

A reader: Hmm.. I think I already answered this... oh well. I will answer it again! Well, if you read my first story, dear reader, you will see, they can! Besides, this is fanfiction. You can bend the rules a bit!

Dreamerdoll: slap! Okay, now that that's done... don't worry about it. Glad you like the chapter

Pinky: I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time! Don't worry, I will resolve it. Someday, somehow. It will work itself out! Well, that's it. I am officially dead. The only way I can be writing this is if I am either a vampire, or zombified. Unless our beloved Pinky (pinky and the brain, pinky and the brain... heehee) is a vampire lab rat, I have been zombified. Oh well!

Laelai: yeah...it isn't lasting too long, is it?

GrapeStarburst: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Excuse me, lost myself there. I am so sorry you disliked it. TOUGH LUCK. Jokes, it will get better, don't worry.

SeaStar: don't worry about it! I am totally happy to talk to people through reviews or email. My email is , if you want it! (but no stalking, please!) and yes, someday, far in the near future, I will have some fluff. Yay oxymoron!

Lady Helada: Aww. I am sorry, but I cannot read your story. I can't deal with LotR fanfiction. Nothing against you, I just like to leave it well enough alone. It is perfect as it is, is what I think. But maybe I will check it out some time.

PsychoLioness13: yes. I agree, it was fairly odd. but whatever. I liked it! I should have kept her in Chatra longer, though... oh well.

Wake-Robin: abrupt? yes. Guilt? Yes. Great chapter? Absolutely! Heehee.

Lady Crystaline of Jewel Cove: really? Because I didn't think of it until near the end of the chapter. The idea just sort of pounced upon me. Well, that's not quite true. The way of getting her out of there came to me in the middle of the chapter. I have been toying with the general idea for a while now. I actually am never very happy with the way my writing turns out when Kel is somewhere other than Corus, but I am always really interested in the way life is for her after she gets back.

Well, that's it for today. I've already almost finished the next chapter, it should be up tomorrow, maybe the day after!

"Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis."

-unolimbo