Scenario 25- ''I Don't Love You Anymore.''

Conversations felt so flat and lifeless now between them, and it hurt Kel. There was a time when he was the spark that lit up her eye, the smile that extended across her face.

''Hello Kel,'' Neal said.

''Hello Neal,'' she would say.

Then Kalenie and Isannah would follow them, and they would all sit down.

That often was all the said to each other in the course of a day. Dinner time would fall into deep silence.

It was that way ever since Isaac died. Their grief put up wall between them, took away all the motivation from them. Isaac had seemed like both of their reasons for living, and without him... Everything, including their relationship, seemed like it had no point to it.

They should have talked about it; they both knew that. But there seemed no words to say, really. There was only the horror and the shock and the grief, too great and too vast to be expressed.

So they avoided each other, and they tried to talk to each other as little as possible. It was a vain attempt to push back some of the grief, bottle away the feelings that were threatening to eat them alive. Because when they looked at each other, they saw him.

Isaac was six, and he was their only son. He had Kel's eyes and Neal's smile, and so much promise. Everyone would comment on how bright he was for his age, and how much he had to offer to the world.

Every morning, he would go into the stables to see all of the horses. He would give them all treats, and stroke them. There were twenty horses and ponies, and he knew their names and their personalities.

He would ride his pony, Elle, every morning right before breakfast with his manservant. Usually it was just a casual walk, although he would make Elle trot if the weather was nice.

One morning, it started to rain while they were out on the trail. They were turning back when lightening hit.

Elle started to gallop, and the force of it hurtled Isaac off of the saddle. The little boy hit the ground head-first. There was a thud and a sickening crack that his manservant only barely heard in the thunderstorm.

He whistled for help, with Isaac cradled in his arms.

In a wave of hysteria and pandemonium, Isaac was brought back to the house with a healer inside.

Both Kel and Neal would never be able to forget the feeling of leaden, frozen limbs, the feel of a boulder in their throats and of their hearts racing in their chests. Of clutching their fingers and silently begging for a miracle.

It was too late for Isaac. His soul left his body immediately upon impact; for the fall was hard and it snapped his neck upon impact.

Neal remembered hearing Kel scream, and burst out in tears. He was pacing in a separate room, and suddenly he knew.

And then suddenly, he started crying too.

Kalenie and Isannah were there, with him too. Their faces mirrored each other, two sets of green eyes looked in horror at each other. Their identical nine-year-old faces were filled with horror and grief.

''He's dead,'' the healer said, though they all already knew.

Kalenie and Isannah consoled each other, hugging each other and sobbing on each other's shoulders.

Neal couldn't process it, though. It seemed too much that his son, who was here and quite well the night before, was all of the sudden gone. ''No,'' he said, although he knew Isaac was dead. ''It can't be true.''

But it was. And eventually, the fact would seep in. It would ooze through his mind, to his very core. He would wake in the middle of the night, and it would just hit him. It festered in his soul beyond what most would call grief.

He couldn't talk to Kel about it, and Kel couldn't talk to him about it. It was this wall that had been put up between them. Their sorrow was rain that was slowly washing away their marriage.

Neal became more protective of Kalenie and Isannah; it was rare that he would let them leave their sights or be alone.

This was a fact that annoyed Kel tremendously, because she could tell that it was only making things worse for the two of them. It also was a fact that made her get jealous, because she could hardly manage to talk to them or to anyone.

''I want to go out by myself!'' Kalenie had yelled at him. ''Just for a walk.''

''You can't,'' he said. ''I can't walk with you today.''

''It's not that far away, Neal,'' Kel said, her voice hard.

''No.''

''Take Isannah, then,'' Kel said, trying to compromise with him.

''You're still not going,'' Neal said, his voice tight.

''I'm going,'' she said.

''No.''

''Leave me alone!''

She ran out the door, Neal following suit.

Isannah and Kel sat awkwardly at the table, each fuming with anger, sorrow and grief.

As she felt the heat of emotion broil within her, that was when Kel felt it evaporate. That was when she consciously felt their love begin to dissolve.

She began to look into annulling her marriage a year later. When she went to look for a lawyer, she told Neal that she was going to visit her family.

That was the first time she had lied to him before, but the truth was that it was becoming too much to bear to even be in his presence anymore. That it was too hard to keep living a life with him, a life that she no longer wanted to be apart of.

As she left, Kel thought she saw a glint of understanding in his eye. Maybe this is becoming too much for him too, she figured. Maybe it cut him up inside, the fact that the one he had once loved so was now one he could barely stand.

In three months it was all becoming real, the fact that she and Neal would no longer be married by law. And then she had to tell him. There was a part of her that was screaming at her to give their marriage another chance, but the rest of her was determined for it all to end.

''Neal,'' she said, trying so hard to wear her Yamani mask and to keep her voice steady, ''can I talk to you?''

He nodded. A Yamani mask was as good as showing her real emotions. Neal knew that she was about to tell him that upset her, for she knew that was the only reason she put on such a face after such a long time.

''I don't love you anymore,'' she said.

He was not surprised to hear this; he knew what she was going to tell him. He had felt this way too, but it did not shock him that Kel was the one who acted upon it. Still it did not make it any easier to accept.

He turned away, his eyes darkened by the pain that was been simmering within him. ''I know.''

''We're not going to be able to save this marriage, Neal,'' she said. ''I know you don't love me, either.''

''I know.''

''I'm getting this marriage annulled.''

He nodded feebly. ''All right.''

''Custody has been divided.''

He nodded again.

A few weeks later, she left. Neal watched her he could no longer see her, and then went to his rooms.

That was the last time he ever saw her again.

Okay, so this was not one of my better scenarios. I had a huge case of writer's block with this so that's why it took forever to write. Please read and review; I hope the next one will be better.