Hello my friends, readers and/or wonderful reviewers and coop.

I know a chapter? From me? Amazing!

I'm the world's worst updater so enjoy this.

Oh and I keep forgetting a disclaimer so here's one; I am not Tamora Pierce, surely you've noticed by now though.

Chapter 4

Upon arriving in her room, Kel discovered her bag already in her rooom sitting on a chair and a clean pair of breeches laid across her bed . "I love Tobe." She told the sparrows as they once more gathered on her window sill. "I don't know what I'd do without him." She fed the sparrows and collapsed onto her bed. She lay there staring at the roof, thinking.

She found her mind kept wandering back to Dom. The moment in the infirmary and his strange reaction to Neal's comment. Kel sighed, "He has been acting very strangely." She said out loud.

"Who has?" a voice in the doorway said. Kel realised she had left the door open and someone had invited themselves in.

"Never you mind, Yuki," Kel addressed the speaker this time.

"Too bad for you, I do mind," Yuki retorted. "Come to my rooms. I have some Yamani tea and we can have a talk."

Kel looked longingly at her glaive, "No" Yuki told her friend firmly, "you know you're not allowed to. Come, I have your favorite green tea."

This perked Kel up some, although not completely. She hadn't had Yamani tea in a long time.

In Yuki's room, Kel sat and spoke with her friend, while Yuki made the tea. "So," began Yuki as she sat down. "Who is this strange acting friend of yours?"

"Actually, it's Dom. He's been acting strange ever since I got here. I heard he was fine before that."

Yuki smiled knowingly. "I thought you'd say that."

"Have you noticed as well?" Kel asked, she didn't think Yuki and Dom were that close, despite being in-laws-to-be.

"No," said Yuki, "I just know that he is sleep deprived."

"Why would he be?" Kel asked naively.

Yuki shook her head, "Haven't you noticed? He hasn't left your side since you came back. He refused to leave the infirmary in case you woke up. Goddess, we couldn't even get him to leave the chair beside your bed for the first three days."

"Why would he do that?" Kel asked, still confused

"My friend" said Yuki softly, "if you haven't worked that out by now, I better give you some time."

This made Kel even more confused.

Yuki changed subject after that, inquiring after Kel's family, yet she noticed Kel seemed to be else where the whole time, presumably pondering over Yuki's words.

An hour later Kel left the room, still thinking about Dom. As she walked past the practice courts, movement caught her eye.

Dom and his squad were running around the court. she watched as they ran again and again, getting faster each time. When they finally stopped she approached them.

"Well well well. Who would've thought my boys would be so devoted to their training." Kel said in mock amazement. The jumped up off the floor where they'd been getting their breath back.

"Kel!" Dom looked a little uncomfortable. "Um…ah…" Kel and the boys of the own gave him a strange look. Then he remembered when they were. " what are you doing here Kel? You better not be training. You know you're not suppose to pick up a weapon for 2 months. Duke Baird said so. I should've know you wouldn't listen, although I thought you respected him enough to obey him…."

He continued telling Kel off until he relished that she and his squad were rolling on the ground laughing. "What?" he asked. "You" Kel gasped. "You've been babbling on for about five minutes about absolute rubbish, it's just so funny" this set her and the others off again.

"Ok that's enough" he said, tired of being laughed at. They ignored him of course. "If you don't disappear right now you all start running again." he threatened. This shut them up. The own ran off as quickly as they could, which set Kel about laughing again. He knew he should be annoyed at her but for some reason he wasn't. she looked so happy, so beautiful. Hold on, where did that come from. He sighed; he needed to stop thinking like that. Kel heard the sigh, stopped laughing and sat up.

"What's wrong?" she asked her face suddenly concerned. "nothing" he assured her. "Need a hand" he offered his hand to her. She took it smiling. He felt his skin go hot as he registered her touch. He had recovered and was starting to pull her up when she yanked him down.

He landed hard on the ground beside her. "Well, at least your fall didn't damage your strength." He joked. This set her off laughing again. She was doing that a lot lately. She quickly calmed down when she realised how quiet he was. "What's really wrong with you Dom?" Kel asked softly, turning her face to look at him lying beside her. "Honestly it can't be 'nothing'"

Lying there with her face only inches away from his own, he almost told her everything; how he loved her, how he had waited in fear by her bedside for days and nights in fear of losing her, how he had held her hand, stroked it and spoke to her the whole time. But he couldn't do it; he couldn't ruin their friendship like that.

"Seriously, it's nothing. I'm just a little tired lately." She seemed to accept this, lapsing into a silence of her own. She was thinking about what Yuki had said earlier. What had she meant? She'd think over it later.

"You should get some sleep." She told Dom.

"It's not even noon!" he condriticted.

"Doesn't matter. You're going to bed and that final." She ordered.

Dom relented, "yes mother." Kel flinched at the name.

"c'mon" she said getting up and offering her hand to him. Roles reversed, he considered pulling her down again, but instead he put his hand in hers.

a/n There you go people. A long chapter. I know try not to die of shock. I'm in a writing mood so I might update soon. Then again I might not. Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers.