For Shay-na-na (Sorry it took so long!)

"Take that! And that! And…. Urgh, THAT!"

Jester heard the angry young woman's voice, and decided that if he was going to investigate, it had better be from a distance. He turned the corner, ran up the stairs, and watched the fiery twig angrily attack her practice dummy.

"So, Jane, what has you so angry?" He inquired from the balcony. She stabbed into the spinning, clanking thing once more, and turned to look up at her friend.

"What..." Jane nearly bellowed, then took a breath and started again. "What makes you think I am angry?"

"Typically, you do not actually try to bring death to your practice dummy. Today is one of those days I am entirely grateful you did not take me up on my offer to stand in for him." Though his tone was light-hearted, they both knew what he really meant: Instead of facing your problems, you are taking them out on the dummy, which does not solve anything. Tell me what the problem is, and we can fix it together.

He walked to the stairs and they walked to the courtyard together. Jane sat on the swing of the cherry tree and placed her face into her hands. "It's Gunther. He has a lady friend, and he is taking her to Prince Cuthbert's coming-of-age ball. I wish..." She looked up at Jester, and he could see her eyes light up as she stumbled across an idea. "Perhaps you will escort me?"

For a moment, Jester could only stare. "Why on earth do you need an escort? There was one ball you refused to go to simply because you had to wear a dress! And how does Gunther having a lady friend affect you anyhow?"

Jane avoided his eyes as she spoke, which bred a small bit of painful suspicion in the young man's abdomen. "I simply will not be shown up by Gunther, even in court behaviors. So, are you coming with me or not?"

"Of course. What else are best friends for, dear lady knight?"

That night, Jester woke up to the sound of footsteps echoing above his bed chambers. He tried to cover his ears with his fists, but he could not sleep like that. Clad in his sleep clothes, he made his way to Jane's room and knocked timidly on the door.

"What could you possibly want?" the maiden screeched, ripping her door open. Jester was very worried; Jane was not acting anything like herself. He looked at her with a quizzical gaze and she slumped against the doorframe.

"Sleep. All the pacing is keeping me awake." The young man answered her, questioning look fading away to a one of concern.

"You could not hear me speaking to myself, could you?" She asked. When he said nothing but shook his head, Jane began rubbing her temples. "Jester, I think I've gone mad. I think of the oddest things, and cannot focus on my tasks. It's the blasted ball. I want to go, and going with you should be exciting, but I am certain I am not going to be prepared. I've not gone to a ball with an escort since I was 9, and the formalities and wardrobe are all so different now. I have not the slightest idea whether or not I shall make a fool of myself."

"Darling Jane," Jester began sweetly, intending to simply reassure her, but noticing her unhappy look decided to make her laugh instead. "You needn't worry about that. For as you are being escorted by the fool, there should not be a worry in your mind of looking foolish. Even if you do muss something, everyone's eyes will be on me."

A small giggle escaped the red head, followed by an enormous yawn. "I shall take a brief walk in the garden to calm myself, and sleep. And since you will not hear the pacing, you will sleep as well." Jane said, giving her best friend a hug before clomping down the stairs.

Jester returned to his own room and dreamt.

Jane was dressed in an elegant gown; it was dark blue with silver embroidered stars. Her hair had grown long and was pulled into an elegant knot on her head with a silver hair ornament. She had no powder on, but her eyes shone brilliantly, her face flushed with excitement. She walked into the ballroom on Jester's arm. He could not have been happier, for he was not attending the ball as the jester, but as a lord with his lady on his arm. They danced the first 3 dances together, stepping towards each other, then away, spinning in circles with the other attendees, laughing and having choppy conversations.

"Hello, my dear! How-"

"And then Lavinia nearly-"

" -her husband brought-"

"and that's how they-"

After Jane declared she was as dizzy as a one winged sparrow- though Jester had nary a clue what that was supposed to mean- the teens sat in their seats by the fire.

Pepper joined them, and they listened to all of the ridiculous gossip she had gathered from her cousins, who had come to the castle to help her prepare for the ball. It was the largest ball in any of the lives of the young castle inhabitants, and more people were present than Jester thought could ever fit inside one ballroom.

As the happy melodies slowed into gentler music and the ballads of adventure slowed into those of love and loss, the young man looked at his love. She was drowsy from the warmth and the slightest bit drunk from how much mead she'd had. Instead of sitting up, straight and proper, as she generally did, she slouched onto Jester as a good friend was wont to do. He looked down at her fiery up do, the twist far more beautiful than she could have meant. Suddenly, the red of her hair melted into…

...the warm pinkof the sun on his eyelids. He awoke unhappily, desiring to go back to the dream where he could love Jane and presume she felt the same, instead of this rubbish feeling that she was using him.

He did not want to assume the worst, however, and chided himself. Looking out the window, he realized how early it was.

Groaning, the blond went to find out about breakfast.

Jane had probably gone into the garden to pace, but Jester found her that next morning simply sitting on one of the swings underneath the cherry tree. She had managed to center her body on the swing just so, and was able to fall asleep without falling backwards off of the swing as Jester had done many times. His eyes, so full of concern the night before, were now filled with a ballad-worthy combination of love and sorrow.

Jane began to stir, and Jester took a step back, suddenly realizing just how close he had gotten to the sleeping squire. His bells jingled and Jane shot straight up, emerald eyes wild as she tried to figure out where she was.

"Jester!" She yelled (actually, she shrieked, but Jester would not have confessed it under pain of DEATH) and swiftly covered her mouth with both hands. She tried again, "Good morning Jester, you're up early." Her voice was ragged, and Jester lifted his eyebrows curiously before forming a retort.

"I had little choice. I was-

"Jane? Jane! Where are you?" A shrill voiced called through the courtyard. Jester looked down at his fiery-headed best friend, pity in his eyes, a cheeky grin decorating his face.

"And here it comes; I cannot wait to find out what torture awaits me." Jane said, grinning despite herself up at Jester.

"What do you think she wants?" Jester asked, turning to watch as the Lady-in-waiting came to find her daughter.

Her attention when she arrived went first to him. "Oh, you dear boy! You have managed to convince my daughter to attend the ball as a proper lady! Thank you!" She turned her body and attention to the young woman on her right. "We must get you a proper dress, and corset. What colors? Oh Jane, we've so much to prepare!"

"If I may interrupt, your ladyship?" Jester asked. She looked at him and waited. "Perhaps a dress of dark blue with silver? It would best match my own formal attire." He could see Jane raise an eyebrow; he'd lied about the second part, though such an outfit would be simple for him to procure.

"That would offset your hair quite nicely Jane. What do you think?"Jane's mother seemed ecstatic despite the task that was ahead of her: finding a dress shaped for a young woman, but a young woman who had never worn one. Jane was not as curvy as Pepper, though, so Jester supposed she'd still look ravishing.

The young man was immediately embarrassed by that improper train of thought, and paid heed to the conversation taking place between Jane and her mother.

That was not much better; they were discussing corsets. Jane's face was beet red, and her mother had clearly forgotten about his presence. He nodded goodbye to Jane and headed… anywhere else.

The next two weeks passed in a flurry, with Pepper's cousins coming into town, a massively understaffed decorating committee comprising of Rake, Pepper, Jane, Jester, and Smithy –and also Gunther, but he was doing nothing but telling stories of his lady friend to the group so he did not count- placing flowers, banners and instructions for how to get to the privy throughout the hallways.

Though Jester tried to forget the suspicions that Jane had requested he escort her for less than friendly reasons, Jane did not make it easy. He often noted her clenching her jaw or balling her hands into fists when stories of the fair-haired Diana came about. There was an unbidden anger within him when he finally decided to put the pieces together.

The day before the ball, he could stand it no longer. He approached her door, nearly walked away, then banged thrice on it loudly. When it opened before him, he coldly said "Jane, I need to speak with you."

"She cannot speak with you, I need to figure out how I am to do her hair for the ball!" the brunette before him said. He blinked twice, realizing that like the fool he was, he would not have been able to formulate anything to say anyways. It would have to wait. Meanwhile, though, he hated to see Pepper struggle so.

"Have you tried a knotted twist on the side of her head? Held in place by-" He walked over to where her tools were, and found the piece that looked the most like the one he had dreamt of "something like this?"

"Jester, that's brilliant! Now get out, you cannot see her yet!" the small but strong young woman was pushing him forcefully out of the area, and Jane was guffawing in her chair, bent double.

He lifted an eyebrow and could not keep from laughing himself as Jane said "I would be getting married if that was the rule, Pepper. He's hardly my groom!" and Pepper responded tartly as the door shut, "True, but it cannot be that much longer for that, can it?"

The night of the ball came, and the young man who normally juggled at these occasions was delighted to place his jester's cap on a stool and dress himself for his first ball as an attendee. He still had not worked out a way to address the issue with Jane, and pushed it to the back of his mind. He combed back his stubborn hair, wishing that there was a reason he could have simply worn his hat. Very few in Kippernium had had the privilege of seeing his straw colored hair, though seeing it could hardly be called a privilege; torture seemed more of an appropriate word.

He walked out into the courtyard, where all the young men waited, dressed in elegant fashions-even Smithy, though he seemed as uncomfortable as Jester felt. The quartet comprised of Jester, Smithy, Rake, and Gunther, though the young knight seemed to feel slightly ostracized as the only one who was used to such elaborate finery.

Smithy pointed up and Jester and Rake followed the path of his finger.

"Pepper!" breathed Rake, while at the same time, in the same softly doting voice, Jester said "Jane!"

In his peripheral vision, Jester saw Gunther turn toward the castle's entrance. He little noted it until he saw Jane's expression go from nervous to irritated, then he chose to see what both knights were staring at.

She was beautiful, with long, loose golden hair that curled. A rose was pinned into her locks behind her left ear, and she looked around timidly, carefully avoiding dragging her deep red gown in the dirt. She looked up happily as Gunther approached her, several roses in his hand for her.

Jester heard Rake say from behind him "He did say his lady friend liked roses. He still should have asked though." Clearly, the gardener was not going to put up a fight. He probably was as afraid of the dirt as Diana, albeit only because of the fine clothes he was wearing.

Also from behind, Smithy said "She looks like you, Jester. Quite a bit like you."

"I imagine there's probably a reason for that." The young man being addressed said, "and I'd wager my left pinky she has blue eyes like mine." Jester was no longer thinking in the present, but far back into his memory, before Kippernium and before his parents left him as a court Jester, but was brought back from his 5th year to his 17th by a gentle tug on his left arm for which an impatient redhead was responsible.

During the dancing and throughout the speeches about Cuthbert's childhood antics, Jester contemplated the two young women Jane and Diana, recent memories fighting for attention in his head with the much older ones, the two kinds of love filling his heart but warring for his focus, paying only enough attention for the occasional wisecrack. During the queen's speech about how Cuthbert was no longer a child, he leaned over to Smithy and whispered a joke about the childish tendency the prince had to squeal when he did not get his way.

After the meal was over and everyone had broken apart for more dancing and socialization, Jester asked Jane if she would accompany him to the garden.

He gestured for her to sit on the swing and walked around, unable to focus. His head was reeling; he did not want to have this conversation. What man ever wants to know if the woman he loves is in love with another? But it had to be done... "Jane, I've wanted to talk to you about tonight…"

She looked up, eyes shining in the moonlight, clearly bewildered. "Yes? What is it?"

"Why did you-?" His voice cracked, for the first time in a long time. He began again, running his fingers through his loose hair in a feeble attempt to calm his nerves "Why did you really ask me to the ball? More than wanting to just show up Gunther, was it not? I mean, I've had great fun, but you keep watching Gunther and Diana in a way that hurts me to see."

The blood drained from Jane's face, and she immediately looked genuinely apologetic. "I am so sorry, Jester. I should have.. But I could not, you see, because it was not just.. I am so sorry." She bit down on her lower lip and would not open her eyes. She looked troubled then, as though reflecting on the night. The anger faded out of the young man, but his jealousy remained. His best friend continued quietly, "I had no idea how to react, you see. I know that I do not fancy Gunther. The mere idea still does not seem logical or sane. I become angry and envious when he talks about his lady friend, and I think perhaps I do fancy the idea of a relationship, but I do not want to be near him or interact with him other than sparring. He's still a big-brained idiot. I think, perhaps, I am jealous that he can find someone, because as a knight, he is the attractive hero. I am just an oddity. It does not help that he tells me those stories and insults me. Despite my infernal breasts-" Jester felt his face flush and quickly looked at the ground as she continued "-it seems I am not feminine" She spit the word "enough for any man."

The she looked up at him, expression hardening "and you made it no better! You stared at the girl all night, making Gunther's argument so much more valid! I asked you not only to show Gunther that I could find an escort, but also to be sure I would have one with me I enjoyed being with!" Jester blanched, realizing that he had not only accused Jane of a dreadful thing, but had made her think Gunther was right about her lack of femininity.

"Jane! Let me explain two things to you; firstly, I was not admiring Diana or staring at her for any reason other than recognition. I think that she might be my sister whom I lost touch with 2 years after I moved into Kippernia Castle!" Jane's eyes popped open and her jaw dropped at the declaration.

"And secondly, and more importantly, Gunther is most certainly a bog brained idiot, and stupid, and foolish, and moronic and any other insult to his intelligence that you can think of. You are more beautiful than any other woman I have ever seen, even... no, especially when you are fighting and running and dressed in a tunic and leggings instead of a dress."

Jane looked up at him, hand fisted in her hair and jaw clenched. He knelt at her feet and took her hands in his, emboldened by the realization that he had been wrong, that she was not in love with Gunther.

"And there is no other woman in the entire world with more appeal. What is more attractive than a woman who can care for the people she loves? Even if it is not that typical mothering care, you can still protect those you care about, albeit in your own brilliant way."

Jane's eyes were overflowing, but she did not seem to know, or care. As a tear trailed down her round cheek, Jester removed it gently with his thumb.

"Tonight," He said resolutely, "I talk to your father tonight."

"To my father?" Jane asked, as though she was a step behind it all.

"Yes. And perhaps Sir Theodore as well; though you shall have to explain the situation to him. He frightens me."

And for the first time, Jester smiled the smile of a man in love at Jane and saw the recognition and welcome in Jane's returning smile.

If you catch any errors, let me know! Tell me what you thought.

(Except if it's about corsets not being around in the 9th century. The word "hello" wasn't either and that's in JatD plenty, so I took a few artistic liberties)

Reviews, please!