I see the end of a dangerous and perilous journey, on which each and every one of your companions will eventually be lost. First to fire…then water…then air…then earth…then love…then lust…then anger…then bunny rabbits. After all of your companions have fallen, and you are left alone, you will find your one true love dangling under your nose. It will be up to you to acknowledge your feelings, and choose a life of happiness, or fall into eternal misery. – Emma the Fortune Teller to Neal.

So, that was how I came to find myself striding alone through the woods, wandering resolutely on to rescue you, Kel, from the clutches of whatever wicked peril you were in. If you even were in peril, that is.

As I walked, my mind dwelled on the last part of the...well, the prophecy, I suppose you could call it. Find my one true love, eh? Didn't sound too bad. Except that there didn't seem to be many people in these woods. Unless, of course, my one true love was a bunny rabbit, there didn't seem to be any other option other than…but no. That was impossible, I told myself resolutely. Perhaps there'd be some campers around here somewhere. That had to be it.

I dwelled on this thought rather than on the idea of seeing you again. For some reason, I was feeling inexplicably nervous. I whistled a random tune to cheer myself up, the sound punctuated by my footsteps crashing down hard on undergrowth.

Five minutes into my solo journey, and I passed a pair of beavers building a dam together, brushing playfully as they passed each other in the water. Another ten minutes and I passed two bluebirds, singing a slightly off-key duet. Twenty minutes later and I thought that I'd escaped the chance of seeing any more happy animal couples, when I saw two frogs, croaking smugly at each other. Scary.

"You be careful now." I told the bullfrog. "One of these days she'll spy a slimier frog than you, and she'll up and leave you. She'll tell you that you weren't sensitive enough to her needs. Then where will you be?"

He belched at me. I walked off in disgust, contemplating the fact that if even a bullfrog could find true love, mine couldn't be too bad.

It wasn't until I bumped into a tree that I realised that I'd managed to take a deceptive looking wrong turn back by the pond, so immersed had I been in my disgust. I set about trying to find a route back to the beaten path, since I couldn't remember in which direction I'd been walking.

I stumbled between two large tree trunks, jumped over a small stream, and looked up to find a…a skeleton hanging from a tree. It crossed my mind then that the signposts which I'd encountered telling me to stick to the path, had probably been put there for a very good reason.

I lifted foot to step forward and-

"Stop!"

I glanced around, my foot still raised. I'd recognised the disembodied voice, and hoped very much that it wasn't coming from the skeleton.

"Kel?"

"Neal?"

"Where the hell are you? I've been looking for-"

"Stop! Neal, we can talk in a minute…just-"

I lowered my foot at that moment, as a wave of sudden relief washed through me at finding you. It turned rapidly into panic as my action caused me to crash down with a yelp into the inevitable trap pit, which was cunningly disguised (as usual) with leaves and foliage.

Someone caught hold of my arms as I fell, and pulled me against the wall. I waited, dangling, whilst wood and bracken and a few large flailing beetles fell past me, only to find themselves firmly speared on the sharp wooden stakes lining the bottom of the pit, some twenty feet down.

When the dust swirling upwards in thick clouds through the air ha thinned somewhat, and my pulse had slowed, the arms began to haul me up, over a sort of ledge into a large niche in the wall. I helped, kicking against the wall to find footholds, and crawling into the small cave and pressing my back firmly against the wall when I was up, keeping my eyes averted from the dark depths of the pit. It was you, I saw, looking at the person sitting next to me, just as I'd expected.

You looked up at me and your expressive face seemed to hold so many messages all at once, exasperation, relief, concern, that I wondered if perhaps one of those messages could be…if perhaps it was possible…

Dangling beneath my nose. Well, you'd certainly been beneath my nose. Literally, as well as figuratively.

"Kel?" I asked, before you could speak, "Were you dangling?"

You looked at me as if I was mad.

"Did you take a bump on the way down Neal?" You asked, your voice strangely thin, scooting over and reaching for my head, ready to feel for bumps. I caught your arms and pushed you gently away.

"No Kel, this is serious, I just-" I paused, and looked you over a little more closely. "Have you shrunk Kel?"

You coughed in embarrassment, as I sat back, waiting for you to explain yourself.

"I had an allergic reaction to some strange blue soup in the town back there, and, well…" You coughed weakly and I reached for my small water canteen, having noted how dry your voice was. "Well, the healer wasn't really very strong, and he did have the rest of the town to watch over, so instead of using up all of his energy to heal me, he just…used mine. And, well, it had to come from somewhere." You accepted the canteen gratefully.

"He shrunk you!" I asked incredulously, as you swigged down water in huge gulps, and I reached out to steady you. "Of all the amateur mistakes…"

"Only by about an inch Neal. And he did manage to do it quite evenly."

You leaned back, cheeks flushed as I regarded you critically again. It was even, and the difference wasn't huge. Unnoticeable unless someone knew you well. Instead of being an inch shy of six feet, you were now just over two inches shy, and still retained you prominent figure. They wouldn't be taking your newest cruel nickname in Corus – 'the giantess' - away any time soon.

"Neal." You interrupted my examination.

"What?"

"Why are you here?" You croaked, clearly fatigued.

I scanned you face, debating what exactly to tell you. Finally I leaned back against the rock with a sigh.

"Yuki and I have parted ways. We broke up. Or rather, she broke up with me." I was surprised to hear no note of bitterness, and only resigned weariness in my voice. When your hand didn't pat my arm comfortingly, I glanced around at you. You shrugged.

"We all saw it coming, Neal." My surprise must have shown on my face, because you tried to explain.

"Come on Neal." You said, quite gently, "You're both so similar. Stubborn. Attention seeking." I snorted and I could feel your smile without looking up. "It was never going to last."

We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before I continued.

"Anyway. I realised suddenly then, that no one had heard from you for about two months, so we all set off to try and find you. I should really be asking where you've been, and how you ended up in here." I gave you a pointed look. You blinked back wryly.

"I fell sick from that soup about a month ago. Then I was confined to my bed from about two weeks. And then I wandered into the forest and fell into a pit." You gestured around us.

"Two weeks ago!" I asked, aghast. "You could have died!"

"And what," You pointed out coolly, "has happened to stop that?"

I hesitated, realising that when I'd fallen stupidly into the pit, her only chance of help and survival had been snatched away."

"Mithros, Kel, I'm sorry."

You smiled crookedly.

"Don't worry. I'm sure that between us we can find a method of getting out of here. But Neal, when you said 'us' earlier, whom did you -"

"Hello down there!" Merric's familiar voice came filtering down, from the surface.

"Merric!" I yelled, "Don't step -"

"I know, I know." He called back. "Some of us actually listened when Wyldon taught us about moving in a forest and how to avoid big pits which have been dug in the ground. Hold on, we're just getting the rope rigged up"

There was a pause as we heard hum murmuring to someone else. Then he called again.

"I suppose it's too much to hope that Kel's down there?"

"She's here!" I yelled, realising that your throat was probably too dry for you to attempt a yell. A small, ragged cheer arose from some of the people assembled up at the top. We could see their shadows bustling around on the opposite wall of the pit.

"Who else is there?" I called up.

"Just Iden and Fal and a few of the locals. We decided that we couldn't abandon you. Knew you'd go and do something like this Neal, so when Iden finished with his…lady, and Fal came and apologised, we thought we'd better come along." Another brief pause. "We're chucking the rope down now!"

"Did Fal get rid of the bunnies?" I yelled up, not really hearing the reply, riding on the wave of sudden euphoria sweeping through me. We weren't going to die!

You grabbed the end of the rope which slithered down, and offered it to me. I declined with a gesture, and you began to knot it about your thighs, creating a loop for you to sit on.

You glanced over at me when you were done.

"There's something which we need to talk about, Neal." You told me seriously. "I've…I've had a lot of time to…think down here and…and…" You broke off and stared at me, obviously hoping that I'd been about to interrupt you. I didn't. I stared back, not reading anything in your face, not seeing anything in your eyes, but knowing, all the same, what was pulsing in your mind.

I thought of the pathetic crush I'd had on you five years ago, and how I'd hated it, of how differently I felt now, of how strong our friendship was, and how I really didn't want to ruin that.

And then I leaned over and kissed you.

Sensations glowed through me, so dry, so fragile you were, but I pulled back whilst you were still surprised, never taking my eyes from yours.

"All set." I called up. You stared at me as though you'd never seen me before, as the rope began to lurch upwards, carrying you with it.

"Oh yes." You muttered, in your hoarse voice, so that only I could hear, "A long talk Neal."

Well gentle readers, that is all that you're going to get for today. This was meant to be the final chapter, but I decided to leave it there, and give you the ending in a few weeks time.

Someone pointed out to me that there aren't always spaces where there should be some. I'd like to beg forgiveness for this, and state that I do try to scan my documents for mistakes, but some always invariably slip through.

Also apologies for more OOC, fast-pacing (I'd only intended this entire story to be a chapter long originally) and etc. I couldn't help it. Feed this humble author with your reviews, please? And Sammy, just for you, the cybercookies being offered are indeed chocolate chip.

Thanks incredibly to Lady Angelique of mystiqu, Lynsi, Wake-Robin, Grey rain, Dom's lover, Jeweled Rose, Enchantress Sun, philippa, gray eyed fighter, mustang gal, HeartLioness, Dominion Jewel, Sammy in all her many forms, PsychoLioness13, Lady Smoothie, Ethuiliel, Annmarie Aspasia, CrystalLili, and chibigirl626.

I really do want to respond to your lovely reviews, but am prevented from doing so by revision. Next chapter, I promise.