A/N: Hey everyone. I can't believe that this is almost over!! I only have one more chapter left and I am having a hard time writing it. I love every one of you reviewers and I really don't want to end it but all good things have to come to an end. Anyway I hope that you love it.
LadyKnightSusan: Good I'm glad I redeemed myself; here is a little more fluffyness and a different kind of fluffyness, friendship fluffyness.
Grace of Masbolle: Thanks I hope this one lives up to me apparently wonderful previous chapters. I can't believe it's almost over.
Theknightofkonaha: I know it was short and this one isn't much longer but packed with emotions.
Psylocke2216: Wow, I can't believe you reviewed for every chapter. Not that I mind I just can't believe you sat down and read the whole thing at once! Just a couple comments on your reviews… I don't practice with Brogan anymore I don't need anymore scars. No I wouldn't let you die of boredom. The Ganiel thing I did make a mistake with that. I actually realized that like two weeks ago when I was rereading The Realms of the Gods. I was considering going back and changing it but I haven't. Stan Lee, the comic book guy?
Mrs. Dom Masbolle: You totally stole the idea right out of my mind. Witch, get her! Just kidding. I actually wrote it a lot like what you said so I'm sure that you will like it. So upon your insistence here is a new chapter.
Tearainy: Ohhh, a new reviewer!! You made me so happy, umm yah here is another chapter so hope you enjoy.
Pie of Doomeh: I know I am so mean to Neal but I'm like Peachblossom, I love to hear him squeal.
Blackwidow12: I think it fit really well into what I had planned on writing I'm glad that it won. I still like the others but it just fit so nicely.
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Kel had been wondering aimlessly through the palace for hours. It had taken her some time to slip out of her rooms but she had finally succeeded. Kel told her family about what happened in the chamber and what Enan had told her about the week she went missing. She held back the part about Joren though; she wasn't sure how she felt about it.
The lunch bell had wrung about an hour before but she didn't feel like eating or being around so many people. Soon after the lunch bell she had found a long forgotten garden surrounded by high hedges. It was just of off a dirt path that was on the outskirts of the royal gardens.
Kel inspected the hedges and saw that the garden had once been cared for meticulously. The tall hedges had been trimmed in a circular shape with only one opening cut into them. Within the small garden chipped marble benches were placed around the inside of the hedges all the way around. An overgrown cobblestone footpath was placed in front of the benches. Grass and weeds sprouted between the stones uprooting some of them and completely covering others with thick green moss. In the very center of the garden was a single rose bush.
Kel stepped in closer to inspect the roses. Her soft leather boots crunched on the dead grass and leaves and she noticed how brilliant the rose colors were compared with the rest of the dead things in the garden, they were the only things that thrived. Kel lifted one of the thriving roses and reveled in the brilliance of the colors. The roses started out with pink tips which gradually became yellower towards the middle. There were about fifteen roses on the bush and each one looked exactly alike and were about the size of her fist. Kel leaned in to sniff the roses and hit her foot on something hard on the ground before the bush.
Kel bent down and noticed that there was a marble ring around the base of the bush and that she had kicked a two foot piece that was raised up higher than the rest. Moss had grown over it also and in order to read what was written on it she had to use her belt knife to scratch off the moss.
Only one word was chiseled into the marble and Kel read it out loud. "Thom?" She didn't recognize the name so she got up from her knees and went to sit on one of the benches. She had been sitting there for some time when she heard the crunch of dead leaves at the small gardens entrance. Kel looked up and saw Alanna standing there looking at the rose bush. She seemed reluctant to come into the garden but finally entered.
"The last time I was here was three years ago." The shorter women said coming over to sit next to Kel on the bench. "I used to come here every day I was at the palace but things have changed so much over the years." They sat in companionable silence enjoying the garden. "George made this garden for me the year after my brother died." Alanna said quietly.
Now I remember why that name sounded so familiar Kel thought remembering the stories she had heard concerning Thom of Treebond. She was trying to think of something to say that would break the silence when she remembered Faithful. "While I was in the umm, chamber," Kel said struggling for the words to describe the world she had been in. "I met an old friend of yours."
Alanna looked at her puzzled. "Who might that have been?" she asked.
"Faithful." Kel said noticing the smile that crossed Alanna's face. "He was with Enan, the god who rules over the chamber, as a representative of the council of gods. He gave me a message to tell you. He said that he was proud of you and that you made all the right choices even without his help."
Alanna let out a bark of laughter. "Yes that sounds like him." Alanna stayed quiet and didn't speak again as she was lost in her own memories and thoughts. Kel looked over at her and saw that the older women was holding back tears and could sense that she needed to be alone. Kel got up from the bench and silently left the miniature garden and continued down the dirt path. She passed a different small garden every few minutes and each one looked like Thom's or else had an actual grave stone inside of it. The farther along she walked the newer and more taken care off the gardens looked.
There was one garden in particular that drew Kel's attention and she didn't know why until she stepped into it. It was one of the last private gardens in the row. Its walls were square instead of circular like all of the others she had seen. The hedges were made of a waxy looking leaf that came to a point at the end as sharp as a needle that Kel had seen growing in the Islands often. Unlike the other gardens this one had a doorway made of stone. The stones were carved with Yamani blessings for the deceased person's safe voyage to the black god's realm as well as blessings to anyone who entered the doorway. When Kel walked through it she ran her fingers over the blessings and whispered them under her breath. The interior of the garden was set up similar to the others. Marble benches lines the insides of the walls and a stone path ran all the way around the garden in front of the benches. Kel noticed Yamani butterfly catchers scattered around the garden each designed to attract a different kind of butterfly. It was who was in the garden and what was in the inside of it that made Kel stop cold.
Neal sat on a small bench in front of a large flowerbed that was growing in the center of the garden. The flowerbed consisted of dozens of miniature red rose bushes and one single white rose bush at the head of it. Above that rose bush was a stone pillar with words written in Yamani on it. The garden held a sense of calmness in itself soothing Kel even as she thought she was going to fall to her knees. Her own grave was the last thing she was expecting to see today.
Neal seemed to sense someone standing at the entrance and he turned around angrily about to ask for whoever it was to leave. He stopped short when he saw Kel standing there starring white faced at what was supposed to be her grave. His anger gone he quickly got up and went to her. Neal put his arm around her shoulder and tried to steer her out of the garden but she broke away and walked farther in.
It had finally struck Kel that she was really supposed to be dead and what a shock it must have been to her family and friends to find out that she wasn't. They buried me and were trying to get over it, she thought, and then out of nowhere I show up, alive. They buried me, she repeated over and over again inside her mind. Neal guided her to a bench but Kel didn't take her eyes off of the stone at the head of her grave.
Finally she turned to Neal and threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." She kept repeating into his strong shoulder. Kels hysterical crying filled Neal's ears as he held her in his arms letting her get most of her crying over with. He didn't trust himself to speak just yet, not only that but he didn't know what to say. When Kel had quieted down some he pushed her away from him so that he could look into her eyes. They were filled with sorrow and regret, the tears had made the gold fade and what little hazel that was left stand out more. They almost look like they used to Neal thought.
"Kel you didn't do anything on purpose. You didn't know, none of it was your fault and you couldn't have done anything that would have made it any different." Neal said looking at the grave. "Your back now and that is all that matters to me and to anyone else that loves you. We don't blame you, we love you."
Kel leaned her head on his shoulder and wiped her eyes and nose with a handkerchief that she pulled from her pocket. "That doesn't mean that I can't be sorry that you had to go through everything you did. And that I can't be sorry that I wasn't there for you and that you weren't there for me. You missed me everyday and I didn't even remember you."
Kel put the handkerchief back inside of her pocket and felt a something else inside of it. When she pulled out her hand she held one of her Yamani waving cats. This one was white with green eyes and had small black butterflies painted on it. Kel set in on Neal's knee. He looked down and picked it up with the hand that wasn't around Kels shoulder.
"I brought that box with me everywhere I went." He said about the dented box that was in her room. "And I always had one of these inside of my pocket. When I would get nervous or scared I would look down and find that it was in my hand and I would calm down. They made me feel that you were always with me." Neal smiled at the cat then handed it back to Kel. "Guess I don't need it now though because I've found you."
Kel pushed it back at him. "Keep it. We can't be together all the time; I don't think Yuki would like that." She got up and walked over to examine the stone, Neal followed her.
"I doubt my cousin would either." He said in her ear as he walked past her to stand at the other side of the stone. Kel looked up at him in shock. How did he find out she thought. Neal chuckled at the look on her face and explained. "I saw you this morning."
"Oh." Kel said blushing. "He was just happy that I was fine that's all." She stammered.
Neal looked down as if building up courage to ask a question then just plowed through. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked looking at her.
"It wasn't on purpose that I didn't tell you I just didn't know and then everything happened so fast." She struggled to explain it to him. "It's like the moment I realized I liked him as a friend was the moment I realized that I wanted to be with him forever. It's like everything just fell into place. With Dom it's different from anything I have ever felt."
"Just let me know when me and the boys have to beat some sense into him." Neal said smiling at her and the thought of beating his cousin up, with some help of course.
"So is there a coffin down there?" Kel asked trying to draw the conversation away from her and Dom.
"Yes." Neal answered.
"What's in it?" She asked in disbelief.
"We all put different things in there. Sir Miles wrote up a history of who you were, or are, your mother and father put in memories and things like that. The study group together put in something. The Stump put in a mettle that he got from the King for loyalty and courage. There are other things; I didn't see what everyone put in." Kel nodded her head. "What does the stone say?" Neal asked. "I can't read Yamani yet and I didn't think I could ask someone. I know it has your name and birth and death dates but what does the rest say?"
Kel leaned over the stone and traced every word with her finger as she read them out loud. "Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same." Kel looked up at Neal. "It's an old Yamani goodbye saying." She told him.
"It's fitting." Neal looked around at the garden and stuffed his hands in his pockets before looking back at Kel. He couldn't help but notice that her eyes were once again gold and no longer looked like they used to. "Do you want to go, I'm getting hungry."
Kel smiled at him and thought some things never change. "Sure." She answered.
"Besides," Neal said as the exited the garden. "I wouldn't want to keep my cousin pining for you." Kel turned to Neal faking anger and shoved him into a bush that was growing at knee height along the path. She doubled over laughing when he stood up with dirt and grass clinging to his clothes.
"Kel!" Neal yelled indignantly throwing his hands up into the air. "Look at me!"
"I think it is an improvement." She commented dryly before running off. Neal lunged at her but missed and fell headfirst into a birdbath before he scrambled up again and tore after Kel.
Kel not being fully aware of how to get around the palace soon lost her way but could no longer hear Neal charging after her. She stopped in a corridor to gain her location and her breath. The hall looked well used but at the moment there was nobody about. Heavy wooden doors lined either side of the hall all the way down. Kel was just about to turn a corner when she felt two hands grab her waist. She reacted before she had even heard Neal say, "Ha got you now Miss Shang." Soon she found herself looking at Neal lying flat on the floor his feet having been swept out from under him and the air knocked out of his lungs. He lay their gasping like a fish out of the water as Kel tried to hold back a laugh.
"Sorry Neal but you just shouldn't sneak up on me like that." She said giving him a hand to get up with. He looked at it untrustingly but took it anyway and got to his feet. Kel backed up when she noticed the look in his eyes and turned to start running again. She turned the corner and collided with the chest of someone very large and fell down on her backside. She heard Neal come to a skidding stop behind her.
"Kel?" she heard someone ask. Kel looked up and saw who it was that she had run into. Raoul was standing in front of her smiling down at her his face contorted with held back laughter. Behind him stood about fifteen men in the uniform of the Kings Own one of which was Dom. "Kel?" Dom repeated leaning down to help her up.
"What are you doing down here?" Neal asked Dom.
"We were having a meeting. That is what these rooms are used for. And what about you, what are you doing down here?" He asked taking in Neal's appearance.
"Just chasing your beloved around the palace trying to get back at her for pushing me into a birdbath." Neal said before even thinking about what had just come out of his mouth.
All the men turned to look at Dom who was holding Kel rather protectively in his arms still. When Kel noticed the silence she looked up and noticed the men looking at her. Kel blushed but didn't push Dom's hands away.
"What lies has he been telling you my lady that made you fall in love with him?" One of the men asked jokingly.
"Do not sully my name in my maiden's ears." Dom said indignantly covering Kels ears. Kel lifted his hands off of her ears and bowed to Raoul.
"If you don't require Domitans presence anymore I would like to go teach him some lessons in respect he won't soon be forgetting, at least not until his bruises have been healed." Kel asked Raoul in her best imitation of a court lady.
"Of course, just don't damage him to much, he's delicate." Raoul responded with a bow of his own. Kel bowed again to him and then the men.
"Come on Neal, I'll dunk you in a horse trough on the way." Kel said dragging both Neal and Dom by the arms after her.
"Now that is my kind of women." One of the men behind Raoul breathed. "Where can I find one like that?"
"I doubt you ever will." Raoul told him as he watched his second in command being dragged down the hall and disappear behind a corner.
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O.K. So I know this is kind of short but a lot happened and there was Fluff and Kel and Neal had a 'moment', Emotions galore. Anyway, I hope you liked it please hit that beautiful little button at the bottom lift hand corner of the screen and send me a loverly little review.