Okay well it has been a very long time and you probably want to get right to the story, but as always I want to give my list of excuses first. Okay well to start my house hasn't had internet since probably September. We do have internet at school, but the only real time I have to write is during Journalism, however, I have to type my stories for the school paper during Journalism. I do however get online to check out books from nearby libraries. Anyway more excuses well I just recently took on two jobs one at a grocery store as a checker and the other as a lifeguard at the local fitness place. I'll have probably 4 jobs in the summer. The 2 I have now and assisting/teaching swim lessons and life guarding at the outdoor pool. I need money to pay for my car and to buy lots of books that I want to read.

Oh this story has also been added to the C2 "Protector Of Small Series" "This C2 is dedicated to the Protector of Small series. Anything involves Kel, and her circle of friends. Excellent choices with all types love, funny, angst... you name it!" and that is the summery of what it is dedicated to.

Now it has been so long since I wrote for this I forgot I wrote chapter 13 so I had to go back and reread it. Anyway I'm going to start now, or try to.

Disclaimer: As always, none of it is mine to claim, except the plot.

Chapter 14

Deciding

If you are reading this I am gone. I do not want you to worry. I have not been kidnapped and there is no foul play in the reason that I am gone. I am leaving because I believe it is time I return home to my family. To my friends I will miss you and please write to me. To Neal, I am sorry things between us did not turn out as we would have wished. I am truly sorry that I hurt you while I was under the spell, and I hope that you find someone else who can love you how you wish to be loved. To Kel, Thank you for being a true friend, I won't forget you. Please tell Shinko I'm sorry to leave without saying goodbye, but that it is something I must do.

With love,

Yuki

Kel looked up from reading the note Neal had handed her to read. Yuki had gone back to the Yamani Islands. Neal and Yuki had fought right before she had decided to leave. Kel could tell by the look on Neal's face that he was blaming himself for her leaving. She couldn't help but blame herself too. She had been one of Yuki's closet friends and she had gone behind her back and taken Neal from her.

"Can we bring her back?" Neal asked in a shaking voice. Kel could tell he was quite pale even through the darkness.

"Neal, you haven't known Yuki as long as I have, but you know her about as well. You should know that once Yuki's made up her mind she is going to hold to her decision. I don't think she'll come back no matter what we do or say. It's up to her to decide if she will ever come back to Tortall, and if she does come back, it is up to her to decide when," Kel said sadly.

"I know," Neal said in a quiet voice. "I… I had just hoped that you might be able to bring her back. You and Shinko have known her longest and are closest to her. I just thought you might be able to do something."

"You know she's probably already on a boat back to the islands right?" Kel asked softly.

"She probably left right after our fight, so I wouldn't try to stop her," Neal replied.

Kel thought a moment before saying, "It wouldn't hurt to check down at the harbor. She might not have been able to find a boat going to the Yamani Islands."

Neal, gaining a little of his know-it-all self back, said, "No she won't be there. She told me, before she ran off with Dom, that she was going to go home see her family before our wedding. I think she knows someone down in the harbor."

The two of them stood in Kel's doorway trying to decide how to handle the situation. There was somewhat of an awkward silence between the two of them, as each one was blaming Yuki's decision on them self.

"It's my fault she left isn't it?" Kel asked in a soft voice. "If I hadn't fallen in love with you, you two wouldn't have split up? You chose me over her didn't you?"

"Kel it's not your fault that Yuki chose to leave. If anything it is more my fault than anyone else's. I'm the one who rejected her. I'm the one who chose to be with you over Yuki. It's not your fault," Neal said, trying to comfort Kel.

"Neal, can I have a little time to think about this by myself? I want to see if I can come up with a solution. Maybe a way to bring Yuki back," Kel said, with a pleading look in her eye that wasn't one of her usual characteristics.

Neal saw the look and knew Kel was struggling with herself. "Okay, I'll be in my rooms if you need me," Neal said, beginning to walk toward his rooms. Neal took a final worried look at Kel before her turned down another corridor on the way to his chambers.

Once Kel was sure that Neal was gone she shut her door and ran into her bedchamber. Quickly she threw on a pair of breeches, a shirt, and her boots. She grabbed her wrist daggers and left her chambers, heading to the harbor.

A/N I hope you like this latest installment. Now I get to go on a three-day weekend. Fun. I am so going to sleep in. I did try to do well on this chapter. I had a little trouble trying to figure out where to go with the plot so I hope you like the new direction.

-Krissy-