AN: This is going to overlap a lot with the final pages of Lioness Rampant so some of it is the same as that in the books. And I'm thinking one more chapter after this. Just so you all know. Feel free to protest. And thanks for the reviews!

Halef Seif was not surprised when she appeared one morning in July. Of course, Alanna wasn't expecting him to be. After all, as Coram had once pointed out, it is useful when the King is also the Voice of the Tribes. Halef said nothing, but his eyes told her that he was worried about her; the shadow of grief had yet to leave her eyes and she was much thinner than he remembered. Alanna, however, felt rejuvenated. She was thrilled to see her friends, to see the progress Kourrem and Kara had made. The tribe was buzzing with new energy and filled with the promise of the future, of Jon's rule.

Life moved on, as Alanna always knew it would. As Thayet had promised, Alanna received numerous letters, updating her on the goings on at home. She was happy to find out that Thayet had been able to reassure George and help him to see Alanna's point of view. It had helped that Thayet could draw on her own experiences to make him see clearer. Now he was doing well, they all were. Thayet kept many of the major occurrences out of her letters since she didn't want to trouble her friend, instead amusing Alanna with court gossip or some story she heard from Myles. Alanna was particularly tickled when she wrote that Raoul had jokingly picked Buri up and dropped her over the side a bridge into a lake because she was teasing him. That letter now had tear marks on it since Alanna had been laughing so hard, picturing the feisty little K'mir picking through reeds at the lake's edge, soaking wet. She wondered what Buri must have said to warrant such treatment. It was nice to know that her friends had not grown up too much and that their scars from the coronation did not run as deep as Alanna's.

Jon's coronation had been on the day of the July full moon. Alanna left for the Bloody Hawk a week after the burials. It wasn't until the end of July that she discovered that the hollow feeling in her chest came not from grief but from missing George. It was the same sullen ache that had plagued her when she left his house on Dog Lane after Midwinter. Thayet's stories were not enough. She needed to hear from George himself, to be able to hear his voice in her head as she read his words. And so, without having to battle the cowardice she had been anticipating, she began her first letter to him.

Dear George,

I'm sorry about how I left things at home. I hope you can understand that I wanted to come back to you during all those long nights. Everything is always easier with you around. But I didn't want to complicate things, not when I knew I wasn't ready to be anything more than friends. I hope you'll forgive me for any pain I caused you. I certainly have felt my share this past month. Everything still hurts. I wish you were here.

Thayet tells me that things are really starting to get complicated back home and so Jon has put you to work finding the last of the coronation rebels. I'm not surprised. It is very quiet here. Tell Myles I have enough sleep at last. I miss you. Every day. I can't bring myself to come home just yet but I promise I won't stay away too long. Things are getting better. Slowly.

Give my love to everyone and please don't worry about me,

Alanna

The months passed and Alanna was content. She hunted with the men, practiced her weaving, learned from the mages at the university, and spent long hours speaking with her friends. People travelled from all over to come meet the Woman Who Rides Like a Man and then to travel north, many seeking positions in the King's Own or seeking their own knighthood. Many in the tribe, especially the young children, begged her to tell her story of the Dominion Jewel over and over. Alanna didn't notice at first but every time she told it, it became easier to talk about Liam and Faithful. Even her grief for Thom seemed to become more manageable. At last, in September, she no longer woke up in the middle of the night to her own screams, covered in sweat from her nightmares. Instead of needing to curl up and cry, she often only needed to take a deep breath to control her grief. Alanna could feel herself healing and she began to enjoy life again.

In October, Buri and Thayet came to visit, staying for a few weeks. Buri tested herself against Bazhir youths as Thayet spent days working up the courage to ask Alanna about Jon. Alanna was more than happy to assuage all of her friend's fears about Alanna's continued relationship with Jon. After all, Alanna had hoped all along that Thayet and Jon would find happiness with each other. Finally, it seemed, something had gone right.

During their visit, Alanna had also met the Shang Wildcat, Liam's former teacher, who had presented Alanna with Liam's goodbye. She could hear his voice in her mind, ordering her to continue to practice and rub the balm he had given her into her hands. She could also picture his eyes and that blue green shade they reserved for her as she read how he wanted her to forgive herself and look to the future. Alanna had often thought that the fact that they were so alike had been to blame for much of the problems in their relationship but now, reading his letter, she realized that it also allowed him to know what was in her heart. He knew about guilt, grief, shame and doubt just as he had known about things like betrayel, and being afraid, and the looks on people's faces when they know you did something they thought was impossible. If anyone else had told her not to blame herself for his death, she would have ignored it. But he knew her heart because it was like his own and coming from him, the words carried so much more weight. She was grateful to him for leaving her this last goodbye, though he never said the word. It helped her to heal, to let him go. She kept the note, vowing to carry it with her always so that she never forgot his voice or his eyes and so that she could remind herself that none of it was her fault.

Thayet and Buri left a few days later and Alanna soon decided to start her own journey north, before the winter rains and snows made the roads difficult to travel. She decided to finish the blanket she was making for George's Midwinter present before setting off and it was during this act that the thief himself entered her tent. Alanna felt her heart swell. She felt complete again, just being with him.

Alanna put down her shuttle. She could feel her heart drumming. It took an effort to say lightly, "I was sort of hoping you'd come before this."

He sat beside her, eyes examining the cloth on the loom. "I'd hoped to come before this, too," he admitted. "Truth to tell, givin' up the Rogue and turnin' respectable—it takes gettin' used to. Some days I get out of bed not knowin' who I am. Jonathan kept me busy, like I wrote you. Too, the castle down at old Pirate's Swoop had to be fixed up proper before I brought—" He stopped.

You! He was going to say you! She thought to herself, heart pounding in her chest. He wants me to go with him. I want to go. I want to be with him. I want to have his arms wrapped around me and be surrounded by the smell of him for the rest of my life.

"Jon's announced he's to marry Thayet," he said abruptly. "The Bazhir would have told you."

"It's one of the advantages of having a King who's also the Voice." His face would be easier to read if his back wasn't to the light!

"Thayet says you gave your blessin',"

"I did." She curled her hands around her elbows to hide their trembling.

"You're not sorry for it? Had you wanted , you'd be Queen."

"I didn't want it."

He reached out to toy with the emberstone. "What do you want, Alanna?"

She caught his hand and met his eyes, smiling. "I want to be yours. If you're still interested." Please, she begged, please be interested. You are all I want. Deep down, you are all I've ever wanted though I never knew it. Please want me too.

His fingers tightened around hers. "Why?"

Alanna looked down, "I love you." Those words left the sweetest taste in her mouth.

He made her look at him. "Enough to wed with me? Enough to give up roamin' and settle down and be the lady of Pirate's Swoop?" She looked at him quizzically, and he blushed. "Well, to roam with me along." Alanna nodded. George took a breath. "Enough to bear my--our -- little ones?"

She was hearing all of her dreams come true. Except that she had never known them to be her dreams. In fact, coming from anyone else, these words would have meant a waking nightmare. But with George she could have everything: knighthood and a family. She could be a woman and a warrior, just as Liam had said. And she had found the one person who she could raise lions and lionesses with. Someone who loved all of her, even her Gift, and her independence, and her stubbornness. You were right, Liam, She thought. Thom had told her that she should marry George. He gave her his blessing. Faithful wanted her to choose someone who wasn't as noble-minded as she was, someone who could cheer her up when she couldn't solve all of the world's ills. If ever there was a person who could cheer me up and make me laugh, it is George, She thought. He could always make me laugh, even when my heart was filled with nothing but sorrow.

And then she was betrothed. A new future stretched in front of her feet, with new challenges and dreams. She had lost much but George managed to heal her. Her heart felt whole again and she couldn't stop smiling. It felt wonderful to smile, to laugh. The tribe celebrated their union, making George a member of the tribe. By winning the heart of their Woman Who Rides Like a Man he had won himself a place in their hearts forever. They rejoiced at seeing their grieving friend glow with happiness. A week later, the couple said their goodbyes and turned their horses north, to home, family and their future.