A/N: This is the last chapter so please enjoy.

Disclaimer: Tortall and its residents do not belong to me, they belong to Tamora pierce.

Chapter 3: Peace at Last

They had found him there, holding her body and weeping. Everyone assumed that the captors had killed her, no one would ever believe that it had been him. On the road back to Corus he was carefully watched, food was forced on him. Once they had reached the capitol he was put in Neal's care. Everybody figured that if anything went wrong the young knight would be able to handle it not only because of his status in the realm, but also because he was a healer and Dom's cousin.

Neal was grieving too, he had lost his best friend and no one could find a good answer as to why. They couldn't seem to discover why she had been kidnapped or by who. There were no answers and that was infuriating everyone except Dom who was too wrapped up in his grief to notice anything. He didn't regret his actions though. He did what he knew was right, if he had allowed Kel to continue living a broken life he knew that she would have killed herself anyway. At least the way the events played out allowed her a moment of joy before the end, instead of the endless despair she would have lived with instead.

He could tell that the others were becoming irritated with his silence. He hadn't uttered a single word since he had been found. Neal was always watching him, most of the time with a curious looking in his eye, something that resembled pity.

He knew what was coming when Neal approached him that night. The time for the truth was here and there was no way he would be able to avoid it. He was actually relieved that the time was here because that meant he was that much closer to the end. So instead of waiting for Neal to ask the first question he started the conversation. "You want to know what happened, how it is that Kel died and I survived right?"

Neal was taken aback by Dom's forwardness and decision to speak. He had initially thought that he was going to have to fight, possibly even have to force his cousin to give him answers, but it appeared that instead Dom was going to just tell him. Who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth, he wanted those answers, wanted them desperately so he could get revenge on whoever was responsible. "Please, Dom, tell me what happened."

He could see Dom pull himself together; prepare himself for the ordeal of relinquishing his knowledge. "It was me Neal, I'm the one who killed her." Neal was too shocked to respond so Dom just continued, "They were raping her and beating her and she was, she was broken. She told me that she wanted to die. And the tears, they just kept coming. I just loved her so much. I loved her so I had to kill her, I had to release her from the hell that she was going through."

Neal just sat there, he didn't know how to react to the statements his cousin had just made. He registered that Dom had gotten up and he knew what the man was going to do, but didn't move to stop him. He understood why.

Dom didn't know where he was going, but he understood what he was going to do. It wasn't much of a shock to find himself at the top of Balor's Needle. The sun was setting on the horizon, turning the sky brilliant shades of pink, red, and orange. Purple was creeping into it as well. He didn't spend much time contemplating the sight, but he did think it oddly right. The sun was setting on an old day just like he was leaving his old life.

He didn't even look over the edge before he stepped off. His mind was consumed with thought of Kel and then she was there, standing in front of him. She reached out and took his hand. He looked into her eyes and saw that they were no longer dead, they were alive and beautiful. They were also filled with love and understanding.

Together they walked back to the Realm of the Dead holding hands and sharing hearts.

Fin

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A/N: I couldn't bring myself to end it without at least a little happiness. I hope you liked my little story. Please review and tell me your thoughts. All reviews are much appreciated.

Wind to thy Wings!