Disclaimer: I don't own em. Actually I own Neal. He's my husband. So there, Jelena! Grrr... YES! I OWN NEAL!!!!! DON'T ANYONE FORGET IT!!! Heh... the sad thing is that whenever anyone says Neal is theirs, or Neal is married to them, I get incredibly jealous. Obsessed much?

A/N: OMG. I just typed f**k into the computer and on the thesaurus, it came up as fuddy-duddy. Ack.

Thanks go to:

Rae: Well. That was nice. You could at least tell me HOW that sucked so I can possibly improve it. *shrugs* Oh well. Whatever.

Midnight Maiden: I think I actually read that fic and it was good! I usually despise K/C but I remember it being good in yours. Sorry if it was similar, but the thought actually never crossed my mind. I actually got it from a really sappy K/J that was... erm… a bit disturbing, but oh well. Thanks for reviewing!

Keita: Of course it's not over! It will never be over, knowing me... Thanks for beta reading! And thanks for reviewing, but my gratitude is sorta a given, ne?

Chachachica: HI!!! Here ya go. It's not an epilogue though, cuz I've decided it would not be the last chapter. So... heh... go read!

Kate: Hope you liked your cameo. Put it in there just for you. ^_^ I would go through our hot guys list, but I DO want to finish this tonight. Hurry up with S4tS!!! It's taking a loooong time! ^_^

White-wolf: *sigh* That would be cool if he jumped off a cliff... heh...

Tris McGraw: Heh, thanks! K/R would probably never last anyway. Ack, why am I saying this? Oh well. Whatever.

Ndblue123: Well. There you have it.

JUDIE!!!!: Lol. Do NOT do something mean to my Neal. I mean it. I will do bodily harm to you if you do. ^_^ And yes, you are a strangeling. And you should still really lay off the caffeine drinks.

Min: OMG!!! THE EPILOGUE WAS SO GOOD!!!! I FEEL SO SPECIAL THAT I GOT TO READ IT!!! Heh... lol. I have to go... take a sedative or something now...

Camp Writer: See? I continued. ^_^

Lady Arianna: Well, it ended up having 2 more chapters instead of just a epilogue. Aren't you happy?

Jishoshojo: I just emailed you so I have nothing to say. ^_^

Clarylissa: heh... I fixed that fluffy thing this chapter... or at least I think so...

Tigerlily: No need to get upset! You people have given me such a guilt trip that I HAD to write more. Heh... thanks for reviewing!

The Pen Mage: Wow. You reviewed a lot of chapters. Wow. Thank you so much! It would have been nice if Cleon jumped off a cliff, but just plain unrealistic. And then I would have to deal with everyone's emotions about his death (wild drunk raves till 8 in the morning) and it would be very time consuming. Heh... thanks again!

Lady Arabian Knight: Heh... I am writing more, as you can see. Thanks for reviewing!

Queenofilangees: Yes. I have been known to write different things. Wait till my next fic... *evil grin*

Jelena: Like I said on my profile, I'm not putting the rest of your name. It simply isn't true. Ah, Neal is so cute. And I'm not ending it like that, don't worry. See? The whole thing with this chapter means that there is more to read! Heh... not going to get into our little weird routine cuz it'll take too much space. ^_^

RoseGoddess9: Yeah, it was a bit fast. I realize that when I look back and read it. Oh well. Thanks for the review!

Kenta Divina: HIYA! Heh. I'm glad Neal won too. Imagine Kel and Raoul trying to live together as a married couple. No. Just... no. Heh… thanks for reviewing!

Thekeeperofthewords: Thank you for YOUR reviews. I realize that about your story now, although it would have been cool to have another psychopath doing a K/R. *sigh* Oh well. Bye!

The One Who Dreams: Thanks about the angst and romance. Ahh, imagine me as a romance novelist? Eek. Kate would most likely kill me. And when I'm 40 or something and my mom's reading it, she'd be like... Stacey? What is this about NC-17? Heh... babbling. I have to stop doing that...

Arctic Princess: Thank you so much! Oh, I have yet to email you back, but I will do so after I finish posting this.

Rebound - Chapter 10 - Losing Grip

She could feel herself losing it. He was sliding his hand under her tunic. He was doing it very stealthily, too. So that, when you suddenly found yourself naked in front of him you would sit there and wonder how all your clothes were lying on the floor.

He stopped kissing her and grinned. She looked at him with a scowl on her face. Her frustration, however, she supposed, made him grin even wider before he bent over and kissed the hollow of her throat.

She felt herself shiver. It was never like this before. All the other times had been hard and abrupt. It was never like that with Neal.

Kel found herself whimpering involuntarily. Wanting - more. Hoping for more. Neal always gave her hope. None of the others had done that just by kissing her. Neal made her constantly think of things that were fantastic, yet attainable, and made her work for them. That was what she loved about him...

"Kel." Neal's voice was raspy against her throat. He had stopped kissing her and looked up. Somehow they had managed to lie down on his bed.

'Funny,' Kel thought. 'The last thing I remember was being at the welcome back ball for Shinko. How did we get here?'

"Kel, we have to stop. I swear, if we don't stop now I won't be able to." Neal looked up at her intently, his eyes hazed, breath shallow. "Kel," he said as he rested his head on her collarbone, breathing heavily. Suddenly, the skin of her collarbone looked very enticing to him. He trailed soft kisses on her chest, gradually moving slowly downward. His hands moved like a mage's should: always delicate, but with a precise nature that made them strong, capable. They grazed her hips, her stomach, and finally rested on the sides of her breasts. Kel shivered, and in doing so, came to her senses.

"Neal," she said softly. She touched the sides of his head. "Neal," she said more firmly, raising his eyes up to meet hers. They were dark with passion and lust for her, but she wouldn't give in. "No," she said quietly, but soundly. Neal swallowed, and finally realized what she had said.

"Right." He nodded and rolled off of her, exhaling rapidly at first, then slowly. They sat there for a moment, the candlelight flickering softly in the confines of his bedroom. Everything was silent except for the two of them, everything in the world was gone, void save for them.

It had been weeks since the entire episode with Raoul. All had moved on for the most part. Raoul was happy with Buri, Kel was happy with Neal, and the court gossips were busy talking about Lady Katharine's rather peculiar behavior whenever she saw Sergeant Domitan. She seemed to be always tackling him. (A/N: I put that in for you Kate. You're just so sweet! I needed to give you something good after your pants ripping, messing up your knee in practice, etc.)

Kel had firmly maintained her ideals about waiting for Yuki to come back before having sex. Neal wasn't making it easy, though. Was he always this charming? It made it hard for Kel to resist him, acting this way. She hadn't meant to end up in a tight, heated embrace with him when she left the welcome back party held for Shinkokami. She just had. She couldn't say that she minded all that much.

It was just that nagging feeling of guilt that always overtook her when she was kissing him...

Neither spoke for a long while. Finally, Neal propped himself onto one elbow to look at her. She was facing the ceiling, eyes wide open, as if in a trance. Slowly, she turned her head to look at him. She was a pale white in the dimly lit room. Her hair matted from sweat, hands trembling slightly. Her hazel eyes flicked to Neal. He held her gaze deftly.

She was the one who looked away, back at the ceiling. She continued to look at it for what seemed a very long time, until she sat up.

"Neal," she started. "Did you happen to see Yuki during the ball?" Neal flinched, but it was too dark for Kel to see it. He swallowed.

"At a distance, only. She was - busy. Tending to Shinkokami. She was by her side the entire night. And everyone else was too crowded by the princess to let me slip in and get Yuki off to the side," he explained.

"Oh." They sat there in silence for another moment or two.

"When are you going to tell her?" Kel asked him. Neal pursed his lips in thought.

"I had hoped to tell her tonight to get it over with, but... she was busy. Tomorrow, I hope. I don't think I can take much more of this."

Kel sighed deeply. "Me neither." It was silent again, until Kel finally said, "I better go."

Getting up from the bed, she picked up the tunic that must have come off somewhere along the line. Frowning, she put it back on as Neal watched.

"Do you have to?" he asked. Kel looked at him.

"What if Yuki comes in to talk to you? I don't think you really want her to find out this way." Neal raised an eyebrow.

"As if you do. She's your friend too, Kel. She's going to be angry at both of us, you know." Kel suddenly became livid.

"Don't you think I know that? She's going to hate me, because of something I can't even control. It wasn't exactly my choice to fall in love with you, you know," she snapped at him. Neal frowned and sat up. Standing, he took her hands in his and gently fingered them. Then, he smiled.

"Don't worry. Everything will work out in the end. You'll see." He kissed her soundly, then grinned. "Did I ever tell you that you worry too much?" Kel gave out an exasperated sigh and shook her head.

"Are you ever going to grow up?"

"Not if I can help it," he murmured into her ear. She shivered again, and Neal smirked. Pulling her into his arms, he pulled his lips over hers; tongues flicked in and out of mouths when a sharp knock on the door overcame them.

Kel let out a whole string of Yamani curses. Neal did quite well himself, too. Kel patted Neal's hair down and straightened his tunic. "Now, whoever it is, act perfectly normal. Don't do anything stupid. I know that's hard for you, but deal with it," Kel told Neal as she straightened herself up.

Neal feigned a hurt look. "Me? Do something stupid? How could you think that of me, mademoiselle Keladry? When have I ever done something... dare I say... stupid?" Kel raised an eyebrow, which only made him laugh. "Now quit fussing. Let me answer the door." Kel sighed. Neal was indeed hopeless.

Neal walked to the door, Kel right behind him. She ended up pulling the back of his tunic straight just before he opened the door.

"Yuki."

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

Yuki, being a Yamani, had their trademark calm composure. She was able to contain her feelings into a small, tiny bubble, where no one would ever be able to see them. When she had saw Neal after months she had barely batted an eye. She had her duty to Shinko, first and foremost. She needed to help her fend off the bloodthirsty gossips that had surrounded her the minute they had set foot on Tortallan shores. They could be rather pushy, after all. During the ball, she had glanced at Neal, to find him staring at her rather peculiarly. She had smiled at him, but he had just given her that same, strange look before turning away to talk to some of his friends. She had found that he was doing most of the talking with his best friend, Keladry, and Owen of Jesslaw, who was to be knighted in three short months. He had avoided her gaze for the rest of the ball, and had left with Kel before she could approach him.

It had taken Yuki and Shinko much of the night to conveniently stray away from the sights and sounds of the party. Yuki had walked Shinko to her room and bid her goodnight rather shortly. Shinko had noticed her abrupt nature and had given Yuki a sly grin before turning in.

She had walked to his rooms with barely contained anticipation. How many times she had fiddled with her kimono and fixed her hair along the way she could not remember. All she knew now was that Neal was standing in front of her, Kel behind him, smiling almost nervously at her.

"Yuki," Neal said breathlessly. Yuki gave him a small smile of things to come before she turned to Kel.

"Kel," she said before embracing her old friend. "How good it is to see you after so long."

Kel returned her embrace almost jerkily. 'Odd,' thought Yuki, 'that she would be uncomfortable. It's probably just the unnatural heat in this room. Yes, that's it.' (A/N: blame it on the English papers! That, and CHIPMUNKS! MOOHAHAHA!!!)

Kel withdrew from Yuki and gave her a tight smile. For a moment, the three of them stood there in bitter formality until Yuki broke the silence.

"Well. Perhaps we should go inside and you two-" she grabbed Neal and Kel by the elbows and pulled them into Neal's rooms "-can tell me what's happened in the past few months." Sitting herself down on a couch, she watched Kel and Neal space themselves as far apart as possible, Neal on a chair on the left of the room, Kel on a sofa on the right.

'Aren't they acting peculiar. I hope they didn't have a fight,' Yuki thought. She smiled at them. "So, what's been going on lately?"

Kel and Neal exchanged nervous looks. "Well," Kel began. "You know war with Scanra has been declared." Yuki nodded her head solemnly. News had reached the Yamani Isles just a couple of weeks ago. From what she had heard, it wasn't looking the best for the Tortallans. The king had hoped for a raised in spirits through the royal wedding. So far, it had seemed to work.

"Are you going to be called away?" Yuki asked, suddenly troubled. She was looking at Kel, but you could tell that her question was directed towards Neal.

"The king hasn't assigned us so far," Neal answered. He met Yuki's gaze evenly, void of emotion. Yuki would have almost said he was looking at her coldly. Then again, that just wasn't the Neal she knew.

"Oh," Yuki replied. They sat there stoically for a few moments before Yuki spoke again. "Has anything else noteworthy happened while I was gone? Surely, something."

Neal gave a weak but mischievous smile. "Kel and Raoul had a tryst," he said smoothly. Both Kel and Yuki looked at Neal in shock and abhorrence, before he laughed shakily and held his hands up. "Hey, just kidding. I'm only kidding. Never mind."

Yuki shook her head at her lover's maturity. Or lack there of.

"Anything else that's actually true?" she asked.

Kel and Neal glanced at each other before looking at Yuki nervously.

'Damn it,' Kel thought, angry at herself. 'I didn't expect Yuki to come so soon! I thought that Neal and I would have at least had time to make sure everything was perfect before we had to tell her! Well, as perfect as it could be, considering the fact that we were going to tell her that her lover is in love with her best friend,' Kel mused sarcastically.

Yuki looked at the two with confused eyes. What were they so nervous about? Did something happen?

"What's wrong? Kel? Neal? Is there something I should know about?"

Kel swallowed hard. She saw Neal run lean fingers through his hair out of the corner of her eye. 'He always does that when he's nervous.' She smirked inwardly. 'That, or when he's flirting,' Kel thought, bemused. Mentally shaking her head, she turned to face Yuki. 'It's now or never.'

"Yuki, things have changed since you left." Kel was surprised to hear Neal's voice. She glanced at him, but didn't interrupt. "You were gone for a long time. Certain - emotions that I have - they've changed."

Yuki suddenly pulled back in the couch she was sitting on. 'What is he talking about? I hope nothing is too wrong.'

"Neal?" she asked, eyebrows furrowed deeply.

"Yuki - I've had a lot of time on my hands lately." He paused.

Yuki crossed her arms together, frowning. 'What is he getting to?'

"And I've had time to think. About us. About our relationship. About what you mean to me-"

"Neal." Yuki abruptly got up. "Don't you think we should discuss something like this in private?" she asked almost angrily.

"No Yuki! I have to say this now! Do not dismiss this and say that we'll talk about this later!" Neal raged at her.

Yuki, clearly taken aback, sat back down on the couch. She looked from Neal to Kel, then back to Neal, then to Kel again. She pulled away quite rapidly, eyes never leaving Kel's. Suddenly, they narrowed.

"Gods," she breathed. "Of all the women out there, I never would have thought I would have lost him to you."

Kel stood up in one rapid, fluid motion. "Yuki, if I knew this was going to happen-"

"Shut up, Kel." Kel sat back down and looked at her feet shamefully. Wordlessly, Yuki stood up and left the room, heels clicking on the stone floor after her.

A/N: Heh... I'm making this short, just so I can get something out. I like it. The beginning part was... erm... interesting. Obviously, I've decided to write more than one chapter. This'll be chapter 10. Then they're be a chapter 11, where hopefully (HOPEFULLY!) everything will be wrapped up. I know it's short, and I could have probably finished the entire story in a couple more pages (well, a little more than a couple), but I really wanted to get this out to you. I felt so bad, not giving you, my faithful reviewers anything. ^_^ It's so messed up. I've had writer's block for about... 2 or 3 weeks now. And then, as a lot of you know, I wrote a K/D songfic (TOTAL FLUFF!) which got rid of it. That was Sunday. Since then, I have gotten 16 hours of sleep in the past three days because I had a HUGE English report due today. And now it's done and I don't have to worry about it. Heh... Now I can write more! Yes! Lol. Anyways, what did you think of it? This beginning part might have been a bit confusing to some, but basically, Shinko has just come back from the Yamani Isles and there was a ball in her honor. Kel, Neal, and Yuki attended, but Neal wasn't able to talk to Yuki because she was busy with Shinko. Kel and Neal leave, but somehow find themselves in a passionate embrace (Heh...) on the way to Neal's rooms. They enter his rooms, make out a lot, and the rest is history. ^_^ Anyway, I have to go send this to someone to beta read now, so I'm gonna let you stop reading total jibberish. ^_^ Love ya all, and please forgive me for making it so short!

Much love,

Stacey (since practically everyone knows my real name anyway.)