Thanks to everyone who reviewed, there were a lot of you. I forgot to
look and see who had reviewed (though I *did* read all of them), but
thank you just the same. You know if you reviewed or not. By the way,
everyone go out and get the new Harry Potter. Heh. I have to get mine
tomorrow (stupid 'rents--even though I have my *license* now they
won't let me go get it because they want to go to the mall...), but those
who get it today should be reading that instead of this fic.

"When I die, bury me with her picture, as I don't want to feel alone and
forget her face..."

*cries* This is the final chapter of Free Falling. I'm so sad! I really
thought I would never see the day when Free Falling met its end. I really
didn't. Starting this back in September of 2002, I thought it would only
be seven chapters long. Now it's twenty-two chapters longer, and a lot
better than the original plot. Oh, and apologies are dispensed for my "a"
key sticking. If there's an "a" missing somewhere in a word, it's because
my "a" key is sticking. Also, if you copy-paste this story as-is (without
taking out the extra spaces, keeping it on font Times New Roman size 12)
without the author's notes, as of chapter 28 it's 341 pages long. Now, that
is one DAMN long fanfic, don't you think?

All right. This, regardless, is the final CHAPTER chapter of the story.
There's still the epilogue and the Deleted Scenes (funny scenes from the
original story that were deleted because they had no place in the final
version).

Now, I'm sure you're all dying to find out whether or not I killed off Neal.
So, I'll go into the list of people to thank for reviewing...eh? What? You
want to know whether or not I killed Neal? Oh. Sorry. Go ahead. Go
on and read. You don't want to be acknowledged. Not my problem.
Heh. I'll put the...oh, right. Neal is dead, true or false. Right? Gotcha.
Go read.

**Chapter 29: The Price of Victory**

"NEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAL!" Kel screamed, distracting Joren from the
spell long enough for it to wear weak. In a hurry, Kel grabbed Griffin and
ran, slicing Joren in half and kicking the body away. "Neal, Neal!" she
cried, dropping her sword and crawling over to him quickly. There was so
much blood...

Heedless of it all, she craddled his head in her lap and stroked his hair,
listening to his wet, gurgling breathing. "Neal..." she whispered.

"Love," Neal said softly. "Love, I want to you listen to me." He turned his
eyes up at her. He was getting so cold and tired and he didn't really even
feel the pain of his wound anymore, even though the Sword was sticking
straight up out of him. "Kel, I want you to go back to Queenscove. I want
you take care of my mother and our fief, and...and..." he wheezed, stopped
breathing for a moment, and struggled to talk again. "And I want you to take
care of our child as best you can, all right? I...I want you to...to marry
someone else, love, and...and be happy. I...I love you. Always have. I will
love you from now into the next life, but..." he coughed, blood trailing out of
the corner of his mouth. "But don't keep loving me. Love someone else.
Find...happiness. I...love...you..."

Shaking, Kel kissed his mouth, not caring about the blood. "No," she
murmured against his still lips. "No..."

While she wasn't watching, Joren had pieced himself together again. "Kel, you
know, I just love having the magic of the Scroll of Abscador at my disposal. It
prevents me from dying like that. As long as there's pieces of me left, I'll just
come back together, like a jigsaw puzzle."

"You..." rage bubbled through Kel's blood. "You! You *bastard*!" With a look
of apology to Neal, she drew the Sword of Abscador from Neal's body and ran
forward with it. It pierced Joren through his middle and in her fury, Kel ripped
it up and sliced him in half from the belly button up. As Joren fell, so did the
Immortal Blade, and Kel looked back at Neal. "Oh, gods..."

A groan drew Kel's attention away from the dead body. "Lianne?"

Her answer was another groan. "Ugh..." Lianne opened her eyes and looked
around, an expression of horror growing on her face. "What...what happened
in here...?"

"A lot. You're safe now," Kel said lifelessly.

"Lady Knight?" Lianne asked softly.

Kel didn't answer, simply dropped to her knees beside Neal and laid her head on
his still chest. No longer would she hear his heartbeat when she lied like this.
The days were gone when she would hear his lilting, jokester voice call her "love,"
tell her that he loved her. She would never see his eyes light up when talking
about her or talking with her again. As well, she would never, ever see his grin,
his smile, his beautiful smile, again.

She had no idea how long she stayed there and not the vaguest idea how long
Lianne had tried to get her attention. It registered, however, when someone
placed their hand on her back. It was Merric.

"Kel?" he whispered.

"He..." she got out before tears claimed her right to speak. It hurt so much to
even *think* about the possibility of any of this being a reality. She kept
expecting to wake up back in the Yamani Islands at nine years old. She kept
expecting to open her eyes and find a familiar ceiling. This was all just a
dream. It *had* to be. There...there was no way...

Slowly, Merric drew Kel away from Neal's body and onto his shoulder. He made
sure to keep stroking her hair and whispering soothing words to her. Because
of that, Kel didn't notice when two of the braver servants came down and set
Neal's body in a white sheet, covered it, and carried it back up to the castle.

***

For the next two weeks, Kel did nothing but cry and go through normal everyday
functions like eating and sleeping. They took her back to Corus, and rather than
have Kel write to Amaris and deliver the bad news, Jonathan opted to write a
letter to her instead.

Finally, someone knocked on Kel's door, trying to stir her from her pit of despair.

"Go away," Kel said hoarsely.

There was the sound of metal scraping against metal, and the tumblers of the
lock falling into place. The door swung open. "Um...your Grace?"

Kel raised her eyebrows and turned her eyes to the doorway. "...What do
*you* want?"

Thom shuffled into her room, careful to leave the door open. "I...I wanted to
offer my condolences," he said quietly. "I know I really don't have the right to,
but...I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened to Neal."

"Condolences accepted," Kel muttered. "Go away."

Slowly, Thom turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him. A few
moments later, someone was at the door again.

"Kel?"

Raoul.

"Come in," Kel murmured.

Amazingly, Raoul heard. Carefully, he made his approach to her, perching
on the bed behind her. So heavy was he that Kel fell backwards into his lap.
"Hello, Kel."

"Hi, Raoul."

"Don't you think this is a little ridiculous?"

"What?"

"Pouting like this."

Kel fought back a pout. "I'm not pouting. Excuse me if I feel like half of my
soul was ripped out of my body because Neal...Neal...died."

"Kel, it's been three weeks. I don't think Neal would have wanted you to sit
around like this all day, crying and hardly doing anything but that."

She averted her eyes from Raoul. Although she knew he was right, Kel didn't
want to admit that to herself, or to Raoul. Her heart felt as raw as her eyes
did from crying so much, but...could she honestly move on?

"You can," Raoul assured her. She hadn't realized she had spoken aloud.

"I'll need help," Kel muttered.

He smiled, ruffling her hair and giving her a big bear hug. "What do you think
you have friends for, you silly girl? Nobody says you have to go to Queenscove
yet. Neal had a steward, so you don't have to be there to supervise everything.
Besides, I heard Jon say something about your mother-in-law coming here to
sort everything out with you."

"Amaris is coming *here*?" Kel repeated.

"In fact, if memory serves, she should be here today. Probably in a few hours,
I'd guess." Raoul shrugged.

"Good Goddess!" Kel cried. "Why didn't anyone tell me?!"

"No one wanted to disturb you," Raoul told her as she scrambled off of his lap.
*It worked,* he mused to himself. *I can't believe it worked, but it did. Why
didn't anyone try this before?*

Kel had taken to searching her room for the things necessary to make herself
look decent. "Get out, Raoul! I need to get dressed and draw bath for myself."

Nodding, Raoul got up off of the bed. "You're welcome, Kel." He ruffled her
hair again, winked at her, and walked out of the room, careful to shut the door
behind him.

***

"How is she?" asked Owen, part of a group of worried friends that had collected
down the hallway from Kel's room.

"She'll be all right. Right now, she's taking a bath and preparing to come
outside to meet her mother-in-law."

"Neal's mother is already here," piped up Merric. "Right now, she's in the
infirmary, inspecting where Duke Baird used to spend all his time."

"I'll go get her," Raoul told them. "Don't all swarm on Kel at once, though. She
still hasn't quite got all of her bearings back yet, and all of you on her at one
time may overwhelm her. Why don't two of you closest to her stay here and
the rest of you can come to the infirmary with me?"

Immediately, Merric and Owen stepped free of the group. The others seemed
to accept that decision and acquiesced to it, following Raoul down to the
infirmary.

The two knights traded glances, and Merric began to rock back and forth on his
heels. Already, he had been to Hollyrose and back. Now he was primarily
concerned about Kel, one of the best friends he could have ever asked for.
Suffice it to say, he had never quite seen Kel in the shape she had been in for
the first week after Neal died, and her condition had gotten...better? worse?
at least now she was crying and eating a little bit, so perhaps better? It didn't
matter, but he had never seen Kel like that before. She was the Protector of
the Small. Merric had never seen her cry, not even when they were pages and
she fought against Joren for his sake.

"Where is she?" Owen asked anxiously. "Girls. They take forever to get ready
for *anything*."

Merric laughed, though it didn't sound very happy. His own anxiety had gotten
the better of him. "You have no idea, Owen. You have no idea."

A few more minutes that stretched like eternity passed, and finally, Kel's door
opened. They watched her turn towards them and walk down the hall, noticing
she wore a pair of soft brown breeches, a white shirt, and a tunic the emerald
green of Neal's eyes. She must have gotten that out of the clothes Neal left
behind, they guessed.

"Well, good afternoon, Kel," Merric said when she got close enough to hear
them.

"...Afternoon," she replied, puzzled. "Why are you two down here?"

"Thought we might escort you out to see your mother-in-law," Owen told her.
"It's jolly good to see you again, Kel."

She offered him an uneasy smile. "Good to see you too, Owen."

They walked down the hallway, at first in silence, then slowly conversation
began to build. As they turned the corner, Owen and Merric offered Kel their
arms, which she took, feeling a little more like her old self. That was to say,
there was still a gaping hole in her heart, but it had begun to heal at the
edges.

They found Amaris outside in the carriage she had ridden to Corus in. It
appeared as if she just arrived for all plots and purposes.

"Amaris!" Kel called, releasing Owen's arm and waving.

"Kel!" Amaris called back. A footman hurried forward and opened her door,
Prince Roald offering the elderly woman his arm as she stepped down from
the carriage. Quickly, Kel ran up to her and hugged her, Amaris hugging
back just as tightly as Kel hugged her. "Kel, it's so wonderful to see you
again." She leaned back and brushed Kel's hair away from her face, leaning
forward and placing a kiss on the lady knight's forehead. "I'm so sorry,
dear."

With a trembling lip, Kel nodded. Although Amaris hid it well, there were
unshed tears in her eyes, so Kel hugged her again. *Her husband and her
son in a year. Poor thing...*

When Amaris was released, she turned to the men helping unload her things.
"Thank you, your Highness," she said to Roald.

"Roald, please, your Grace," the prince waved it off.

Amaris smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Roald. Can we put my things in a
room near Kel's?"

"I think we can arrange that," Roald replied.

***

When Kel and Amaris retired for the afternoon to Kel's quarters, there was
a knock on the door. With a quick apology to Amaris, Kel opened the door.
"Yes?"

One of the Lord Provost's men stood there. "Duchess Keladry?" he asked.

Nodding, Kel asked, "What do you need?"

"We need you to come identify a body," the man said quietly.

Frowning, Kel threw an apologetic look at Amaris and followed the man to
the Provost's post. The body she was made to identify belonged to Bardev,
the informant from Magistra. "That's Bardev," she said, as soon as she saw
the open, glittering ruby eyes. "He worked with Joren."

"Thank you, your Grace." The man escorted Kel back to her quarters.

"Amaris, I think they've caught most of the people involved in that horrible
man's network," Kel announced. "They just found the dead body of Bardev,
this terrible creature which I thought was an immortal. He...it...was one of the
Master's main informants. I think the rest of them are either dead or have
been captured."

Amaris smiled. "You can call me 'Mother,' you know. You *are* my daughter,
after all."

"Thank you...Mother." It sounded weird to Kel to call Amaris "Mother,"
especially since she already had a mother, but perhaps it wouldn't hurt to
humor her mother-in-law. After all, she called her paternal mother "Mama."

They caught up on what had happened, got most of the story of how Neal died
out of Kel (an abrupt "the Master killed him" ended that conversation), and
finally, the topic came to Neal's funeral. The palace healers had preserved his
body, but the preservation spells wouldn't last for much longer. Not past the
next week, for sure. They both decided that it would be better to hold the
service at Queenscove and invite everyone there rather than hold the service
at the palace. The service would take place as soon as possible, and if Kel
asked nicely, maybe the healers would put another set of preservation spells
on Neal, just to get his body through the trip to Queenscove and long enough
to be put in the catacombs.

***

The funeral took place the next week, and Queenscove was almost crawling with
people. Those who had known Neal when he was a page, when he was a squire,
at New Hope and Haven, and when he was at the university had all heard about
the funeral. Before Kel and Amaris knew it, Queenscove became a veritable
center of action.

Everyone who showed up offered their sincerest condolences and then some.
Even those who did not come sent their regards and Kel began to realize just
how much Neal meant to everyone.

It made her proud to be his wife.

After the ceremony and following wake, Kel was approached by one of Neal's
cousins: a tall, handsome man with green eyes not quite the intensity of his
cousin's, but close. "So, you're the famous Keladry," he said congenially.
"I've heard a lot about you, outside of Neal's chatter. Personally, I think it's
rather noble for a woman to take up the sword."

"Thanks," Kel answered, carefully leaving her voice devoid of emotion.

"Name's Travis, Travis of Listern," he introduced himself, offering a hand.
Surreptitiously, Kel shook it. "I wanted to be a knight, but my folks had
already sent two of my older brothers to Corus to become knights. How'd
you become a knight?"

"Went to knight school, just like everybody else," Kel replied.

*Ouch,* Travis thought, biting the inside of his cheek. *I thought I was
being friendly...*

"Do you want me to leave you alone?"

The look on Travis's face melted Kel's expression. "I'm sorry," she told him
quietly. "I'm pregnant and hormonal and just came from my husband's
funeral. I'm a little bit irritable at the moment, but I'll try not to be. Don't
leave unless you want to."

"Ah, it's okay. I have four older sisters, so I know that you be irritated by
someone breathing the wrong way..."

Kel gave him the strangest look.

"Open mouth, insert foot," Travis mumbled. "I just...want to...you know...
talk with you a little bit..."

"I'll ignore comments that you don't mean to intentionally offend me with,"
Kel promised. "Are you the youngest in your family?"

Travis nodded. "Yeah. Are you?"

"Indeed I am. I spent most of my childhood in the Yamani Islands though."

He nodded again.

"Travis!" called a woman from across the emptying banquet hall.

"Coming, Mother!" Travis called back, turning to Kel once more. "Listen quick.
I just wanted to tell you that I don't mind being to if you need someone to talk
to, and I'll be here until Aunt Amaris kicks us out." He turned and started off,
stopped, and turned around. "Matta ne!" he said, winking at her, and ran off
again.

"...Ja ne..." Kel murmured. A man her age, the youngest in his family, looked
sort of like Neal but not too much, fumbling, and available? That was too good
to be true! Shaking her head, Kel admonished herself. *Neal said to move on,
but did he mean to his cousin? No, I don't think so. He seemed like a good
friend, though. I'll settle for friend.*

Two weeks later, most of the guests had cleared out, except for Amaris's sister
and her son, Travis. According to Neal's mother, Travis was absolutely smitten
with Kel, but personally, Kel didn't see it. She didn't want to see it, anyway. It
would her blossoming friendship with Travis more complicated, and she just
wanted a friend nearby. She wanted a friend within a day's riding distance, at
least. Was one friend too much to ask for? Kel didn't think so.

One day on the third week of visitation, Kel and Travis were in the gardens,
steering clear of where Neal had proposed to her. They ended up walking on
the wall walk as the sun was setting. Kel had begun to show that she was with
child a little bit, just enough to where her pants no longer fit. Kel was saying
something about her four years as a page that Travis listened to with one ear
while watching her, and when she finished, she laughed and looked up at him.
He smiled back leaned forward, ever so slightly, to close the gap between their
lips.

Startled, Kel stood there for a moment. Travis intelligently pulled away before
she regained her senses. "Mother and I are going back to Listern tomorrow. I
just wanted to do that while there weren't other sets of eyes on us," and he left
her to think about what had happened.

"Gods...what was *that*?"