Well, this was originally a one shot, but I've decided to add some more chapters. You'll have to excuse any long periods between updates, I'm just gonna write as they come into my head. If anyone has any suggestions for the direction of the story, please voice your opinion. Since I probably not be writing anymore until the holidays are over, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas! Hopefully life is going better for you all than poor Gilan and Jenny...

Gilan heard soft footsteps of two horses behind him. Blaze nickered a greeting, and the other horses responded. The other riders, however, did not. Gilan sighed to himself. He knew it was Will, and that he was mad at him. Gilan didn't blame him, though. That didn't mean he liked it.

After ten minutes, he heard one rider canter ahead and come level with him. "Hello, Gilan."

"Hey, Halt." Silence.

"Nice weather out."

"It's alright." More silence.

Halt studied his old apprentice. It was very strange for him to doom and gloom like this. Usually Gilan was smiling and cracking jokes; now he just sat there, miserable. He shook his head. All this over a girl,he thought to himself. He thought it was ridiculous. Sure, Will and Jenny were close, but so was he and Gilan. One breakup shouldn't come between two best friends. But intervening wouldn't help matters. He knew it was best to let them work it out on their own. He sighed quietly to himself. It would be a very awkward gathering.

At the gathering grounds, Halt found their usual camping spot and started setting up. Will, he noticed, set up his as far away as possible from Gilan's. Stupid boys, thought Halt, always creating unnecessary drama.It was getting dark, so Halt set about making dinner. Gilan, however, took over dinner. "I'll do that for you, Halt." he offered. Halt looked at him, than handed him the carrot he was slicing. Gilan usually avoided cooking whenever he could, be Halt could tell he could use the distraction.

Just as the stew finished cooking, Crowley came by. "Hey, Halt. Will, Gilan." There was the general mumble of hellos. Halt definitely felt the tense atmosphere, but Crowley didn't. "Just got done chasing down an apprentices horse. Apparently, it's terrified of snakes, and one managed to slither into a saddle bag. It took ten of us to finally catch the poor thing and calm it down. Ah well, it's all better now. That smells delicious, by the way." Halt offered him a bowl, and Crowley accepted it gratefully.

About halfway through it, Crowley looked up and noticed Will wasn't eating. He nudged Halt with his elbow, nodding towards Will. What's up with him?his eyes said. He had only started to noticed the tension. That's what made him look up in the first place. Halt looked at him, then to Will. Noticing he wasn't eating, he inquired a little too casually, "Not eating, Will?" Will only shook his head, glared at Gilan, and went back to studying the fire. Halt sat there for a minute, Don't interfere, it's best if you let them work it out.But on second thought, he was at his wit's end with this ridiclous behavior. "For god's sake, Will. Just because you're mad at Gilan doesn't mean you shouldn't eat because he cooked it." he snapped crankily, "Why can't you just get over it?"

Will replied snappishly, "Its not that. I'm not hungry." Halt huffed once, then went back to eating. Crowley sat there awkwardly. He didn't know what was wrong between the two younger men in the group, but it must have been bad.

Alyss finally finished reading the letter from one of the neighboring fiefs, complaining that Baron Arald was taxing a farm that was in his fief, even though it was most obviously part of Redmont. In fact, the only reason the other baron was upset about it was because the farm had recently started flourishing. That meant it could pay bigger taxes. She decided to leave it for tomorrow. Instead of going straight to bed, she went down to the inn for dinner. Jenny was still really upset about the breakup. Alyss knew she could use a comforting friend. Despite her close relationship with Jenny, she couldn't bring herself to hate Gilan. Sure, she was angry with him. But from the times she had met him, she knew there was a reason he broke it off the way he did. What that was, she didn't know. But she felt Gilan still loved Jenny. That wasn't the best thing to tell Jenny at the time. What Jenny needed was to forget the ranger; and focus on herself.

"You know, all this dooming and glooming isn't going to make you feel better." Alyss took a sip of cider. She was one of the last customers of the night, so Jenny had the time to sit and chat. "What you need to do is forget him."

"I know, I know. It's just not easy. I was so sure he was the one." Jenny fiddled with the hem if her apron. "I just don't see what went wrong."

"You know it wasn't anything you did. Gilan's a ranger."

"Yes, well that true. But you and Will have been pretty steady for a while now, and he's a ranger."

"Good point, but we grew up together. You and Gilan didn't."

Jenny nodded at that. She knew she would never win with Alyss. It did feel good to try. "He is human, though. He has human emotions."

"Rangers are strange. Anyway, there's no way me and Will could take things a step farther. Sure, Halt and Pauline did, but Halt will probably retire soon. You know you want a man you can settle down with. Gilan just isn't that man."

"I suppose you're right." Jenny said with a sigh. "It still doesn't mean I like getting over him."

"You mean you like being miserable?"

Jenny smiled. "No, I don't like breaking up with him."

Alyss smiled back, glad Jenny was getting better. She knew Jenny would still be a little down, she at least was smiling.

Jenny switched topics, asking "So, how's work going for you?"

"Pretty good," Alyss replied, taking another sip of cider, "There's the usual complaints, but I haven't found a serious threat for the Baron in over a week now."

"Well, that's good." Jenny grinned. It was a joke between the two girls. There was always a few crazy people who would write letters to the Baron, threatening to do various forms of torture to him. Most could be ignored, but if it was anything more than the ramblings of an old lunatic, action would have to be taken. It may sound bad, but some of the threats were slightly amusing. One old man was ranting about the Baron's hygene, and said he was going to wash him with rose soap until he smelt like the Queen of Flowers. He was then going to file and polish his toe nails until they sparkled like stars on a foggy night.

"In fact, I got a complaint about an infestation."

Jenny frowned. Infestations usually meant an entire crop would die, and sometimes spread to others. "That's not good." She looked confused when Alyss kept smiling.

"Oh, yes, indeed. A whole bunch of purple gnomes were killing off all his grain."

At that, Jenny started laughing. "Oh, oh yes. Can't have, pur-purple gnomes!" She laughed. Alyss laughed with her. "You know, that reminds me of a joke Gil told me once about a-" Jenny stopped. Talking about Gilan still made her sad.

Alyss gave her friend a look of sympathy. Getting over him would take a while yet.

"Well, its getting late. We should probably get some rest." Jenny said.

Alyss nodded her agreement. They were both busy. "All right, I'll see you soon. Good night, Jenny."

"Night, Alyss."

Well, tell me what you think. Again, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!