All righty. Here's 27,enjoy the fluff now, because come 30 you guys are gonna hate me.

Neal smiled to himself as Kel's face gained a shocked, yet pleased expression.

" Oh Neal." Kel breathed. " It's gorgeous."

He grinned outright. " It's a silver chain. The locket's a hollowed black opal. Open the locket."

After searching for the seam for a moment, Kel gently opened the locket. Inside she briefly saw a shimmer, and it shaped into a heart. Then it formed the words to a poem.

Just wanted you to Know
You were the one.
The one I opened my heart to.
I entrust my soul to you,
something few have ever seen.
Very few know,
That I'm a normal person.
That I'm not precisely what I seem.
That my life often seems like a bad dream.
But there you were.
To help through the hard times.
You made me smile when I needed it most.
Hey- You even make me rhyme.
And through it all,
You're always there.
No matter what,
You always seem to care.
So, from the obttom of my heart,
I just wanna say 'thank-you'.
Thank-you for everything you've ever done.
And in my mind.
You'll still be the one.
To make a new day,
out of a seemingly endless night.

" Neal. How did you get this all in here? You can't honestly tell me you wrote that can you?" Kel asked quietly, still in awe of the locket.

" Kel, Kel, Kel." Neal sighed good-naturedly. He took the locket from Kel, and stood behind her, fumbling with the clasp. " You forgot that black opals HOLD power, as well as posess a great amount of their own magic. I simply know a few spells to use some of that power. And yes Kel, I did write that poem." He turned her around to see how the necklace suited her. " Yes, that is perfect. I was right." the last sentence more to himself than Kel.

Kel looked skeptical. " Just happened to know the spells huh? How long did it take you and Numair to work this?" Giving him a look that plainly said she wasn't going to say anything else until he answered her.

" It took about a year to do. We never had more that a quarter of an hour at a time to work on it, and only twice a week at most."

Content, Kel smiled at him. " Your writing has improved. The poem is great." Neal blushed slightly.

She stood up, her skirts rustling pleasantly in the quiet evening air. She was intoxicatingly beautiful. Neal found himself leaning foward to kiss her, and was rewarded when their lips touched, and she kissed him back. It lasted only a moment.

She grinned when the pulled away. " Come on Neal. We've got a Prince to find."