Disclaimer: The world of Tortal and most of it's inhabitants belong to the wonderful Tamora Pierce. I, and my fellow writers, just like to...borrow...them for a while. We usually return them unscathed... The plot is from my twisted mind...
A/N: Just as a warning...I've always had this penchant for writing angsty stories meant to make people cry...so it seemed fitting that the first thing I finish in TP's fabulous world would be filled with just that. Don't say I didn't warn you. And it's not that I have anything against these three in particular, in fact they're my favorite characters of hers...but hey...you hurt the ones you love and all that...
With everything that she had dealt with in her life, the prejudices, the stress, not to mention the horrors of war, it was so unfair that such a natural thing would be her undoing.
No one had expected this. Every precaution had been taken just in case, as always. It had just…happened. She had been cursing them and all of mankind just an hour ago calling them names they hadn't even heard before. When the time came, she bore down with the single-minded determination that had helped her accomplish so much in her short life, knowing what she must do. It had all been so easy, really.
Neal himself had cleaned the squalling child before handing her over to her drowsy mother. "She has the voice of a future commander, Kel," he had joked as he watched his best friend coo and touch the tiny fingers that were grasping at air.
She smiled sleepily and looked to her husband who was now perched on the bed next to her, his sapphire eyes shining with love and pride at his beautiful family. "Dom, will you show our daughter to our friends? I just," her eyes had started drooping, "I just need a quick nap…"
Dom brushed his lips against hers and carefully raised his daughter into his arms. "We'll just go show you off for a minute. Otherwise Raoul and the others might break down the door." He ducked down for another kiss, "We'll be right back, Mother."
Kel let her hazel eyes drift shut and smiled dreamily, "Love you."
Dom grinned, "Love you," and took the infant to meet the world.
Neal got to work cleaning up, squeezing Kel's hand as he tucked fresh blankets in around her. She opened her eyes just a bit as the corners of her mouth turned up a bit, "Love you, too, Meathead."
"And I you, Mother." He gently laid her hand back at her side and went to fetch a glass of water from the pitcher across the room.
He had just raised the glass to his lips when he heard Jump whimper from underneath the bed. The ancient dog was crying a low sobbing whine and slowly crawling out. Neal crouched down to pet the dog and looked into his small black eyes. Jump let out another cry and turned his head up towards his mistress and let a sad howl fill the room. Puzzled, Neal reached for Kel's hand. If he could get her to wake back up, Jump might stop crying. Kel didn't move when he squeezed her hand. He brushed a lock of her hair away from her forehead and leaned closer.
It was as if the world roared to a stop in that instant. Neal panicked as he noticed that she wasn't breathing. He summoned his emerald Gift into her, trying to find something wrong, but it was of no use. Kel, his best friend since they had met as pages, the only girl besides Yuki to ever see him for who he really was, was gone.
(a/n: I did warn you...)