Chapter Two: Returning Home

They walked to the docks in an awkward silence, neither knowing what to say. What could they say? He was leaving her for one of her best friends, for Mithros' sake.

The morning was cold and foggy, dull and grey. It fit both their moods perfectly. Neal was agonizing over what he was going to say to Kel when he returned, not to mention what he was going to say to Yuki when he left. He felt horrible about doing this to her. And he felt horrible about being glad that he got to go home.

Yuki, however, felt awful for very different reasons. She wasn't agonizing over what she was going to say. She had already said her piece. She was heart-broken that he was leaving. Yet she knew it was right. She loved him, and for that reason, she had to give him up. He deserved to be happy, and if he would be happy with Kel, fine. She still felt dreadful.

The ship would leave any second. The two stood on the dock before it, unsure. Finally, Neal leaned over to her and quickly kissed her cheek before whispering, "Thank you so much, Yuki." The captain threatened to leave without him, so Neal quickly boarded, throwing one last smile to her.

"I love you, Neal, and always will." She whispered as the ship sailed away into the horizon. She watched it grow smaller and smaller. When it finally disappeared from her view, she walked slowly back to her parents manor, thinking dull thoughts. Dull thoughts that matched the dull morning.

Neal threw himself onto his bed. He was sick of this bloody cabin, of the bloody ship, and of the bloody ocean. He couldn't wait to get home. To get back to Kel. There was one problem, however. He still hadn't decided what to say to her. He didn't know. He knew how bad he must have hurt her, and didn't know what to say to make it right.

He had to figure it out, and he had to figure it out soon. They had four more days before docking in Port Caynn. From there, it would take two days to reach the palace. And he had as much planned out to say to her now as he had on the night he found out he was coming back, that they could actually be together, almost two weeks ago. What was he to do?

I know, very short. But, if the next chapter goes according to plan, it will be both very long and have lots of action. Or it should. Well, it will be long.

Okay, i dont have time to answer reviews now, so i will in the next chapter, i swear!