Chapter 17 - Are You Really Kendall? (Posted 1 Jun 2011) *Final Chapter*

A/N: Has it really been over a month since I updated this? I feel like I should have just buckled down and written it for you since it's the last chapter. Sorry it's taken me so long. There was a lot of crazy things going down here lol. I even lost my internet a few weeks ago! And satellite tv too! And I wasn't supposed to get it back until like next week or something, so I haven't even been writing. But then I found out I was getting it today so I stayed up all night writing new chapters for all my stories! Yaaay! And I graduated high school on May 26th so I'm going to try to write like a fiend this summer :D and then I start college on August 29th but I'm going to try to keep writing fanfiction at least a little bit while I'm there. Anyway, sorry about the über long author's note. Now onto the final chapter of The Whipping Boy!

Two weeks after James made the announcement that he was engaged, an immense crowd of citizens gathered in the castle yard to be introduced to the lucky princess.

"What if they don't like me?" Kendall asked.

"That's a stupid question." James answered as he dressed Kendall in royal robes. "They're going to love you. And if they don't right away, they will eventually because they'll see how much I love you."

"They're going to be really surprised to find out I'm a man."

"You're a man? !" James pretended to be shocked.

Kendall rolled his eyes. "I mean it! They all think you're engaged to some princess. But here I am, just an average guy..."

"You're not average. You're sweet, talented, and incredibly handsome."

"We need to pick a date for the wedding, you know."

"I know. But I don't want to pick just any date. I want to talk to you about it first."

"James," Kendall looked pointedly at him, "any date is fine with me. As long as it's not too far in the future..."

"Ah, anxious, are we?" James raised his eyebrows.

"Extremely. I can't wait to be your husband."

Suddenly there was a quick, light knock at the door.

"Who's there?" James called out.

"Me." Katie said softly.

James looked to Kendall. They'd tried speaking with her multiple times, but she always avoided them or yelled at them.

"Come in." James told her.

Katie walked in slowly. She looked at Kendall, as if trying to recognize a person you swear you've seen before. "Are you really my brother?"

"Well I'm you're half-brother."

"That doesn't matter, family is family. What I mean is are you really Kendall?

"Yes."

"Kendall Knight?" Katie asked, not really believing him.

"Technically... Knight is really your father's last name... I just started using it when Mom married him..."

"Cut it out!" Katie yelled. "Just tell me the truth. Are you really who you say you are?"

"Yes."

"Liar." Katie accused him with a whisper.

"I'm not lying, I promise, I really am Kendall."

"You're not. You're a fraud. I saw you! I saw you in the Orphan Village."

Kendall's eyes went wide. "When were you in Orphan Village?"

"About three years ago. I'd overheard James talking about it. He said it was where he thought you were. So I went there to look for you. But when I asked around, no one had heard of anyone named Kendall. I came into your shoppe and I saw this." She stuck her hand into the pocket on her apron and pulled out a silver pendant shaped like a leaf. "You said it was one of a kind and I really wanted it but I didn't have enough, so you said I could just take it and pay you as much as I could whenever I could. But I never came back."

"That is from my shoppe. That was you?" Kendall asked confusedly as he inspected the small piece of metal in her hand.

"So you admit it then."

"Katie," James said, "this really is Kendall. The shoppe you went into, it was Pienne Régis's shoppe, right?"

"Yeah, so this guy is a fraud!"

"No, he's not. Kendall was using that name as an alias. He became a swordsmith and changed his name so no one would be able to find him."

"He's lying!"

"He's not!" James insisted. "Katie I'd recognize Kendall anywhere. This is him, I'd bet my life on it."

Katie looked angry. "Well so what if it is him? He left all of us, including you! How can you just let him back into your life like nothing even happened?"

"Because I understand why he left. And I love him." James answered simply.

"How can you love him? You only knew him for a few months when you were a kid. And he's only been back for a little over two weeks!"

"I know I love him because he changed me. I was a spoiled little brat until Kendall came along and showed me how awful I was. He didn't just make me better, he made me want to be better. And I never told anyone this but soon I realized that it wasn't even about the throne anymore, I just wanted to show him that I could be a good person. And when I realized he'd taught me as much as he could, I pretended to still be mean and selfish just so he'd have to continue to stay with me. Back then I didn't know what was happening but once I grew up a little I started to understand that Kendall had become the most important person in the world to me and that I loved him. Your brother is an amazing person and I know why you're angry, even I found myself getting angry when I thought about him just leaving us all behind. But I know that he thought he'd never have any purpose here, and that's why he wanted to go out into the world, so he could accomplish something great. I always knew in my heart that no matter how sad or angry or scared I got without him that as soon as he came back I'd welcome him with open arms because it would probably break both of us if I turned him away."

"James..." Kendall said, stunned.

"I'm sorry." Katie said quietly. "I just... I never knew you. And once I saw you in our apartment I thought I recognized you from somewhere. When I found out you were Kendall, it reminded me of Orphan Village and that's when I figured out you were the guy who gave me this pendant. I was angry because I couldn't believe you'd returned just out of the blue and expected us to be all excited about it."

"I didn't want..." Kendall tried to defend himself but Katie interrupted him,

"I'm not finished you. I always thought of you as a thoughtless and heartless brother because you left your family behind and even though everyone said how wonderful you were I thought they were just saying that because they didn't want to hurt me. But then I remembered the pendant... you were so nice... and you saw that I never had any intention to return to pay for it, didn't you? You knew I was just taking advantage of your kindness. And that's what got to me the most. All of a sudden I couldn't keep telling myself that you were actually a cold person. All of a sudden I couldn't hate you anymore."

"Katie," Kendall said, "I never wanted to hurt you. You have to believe me. I honestly thought leaving would be better for all of you."

Katie suddenly lunged forward and threw her arms around Kendall. "I know. I understand that now. Just please don't ever leave again. I want to get to know you and try me best to be as close to you as Carlos and Logan are."

"I swear I'm never leaving again. Even if I wasn't marrying James, I couldn't bring myself to leave all of you again."

X

"I can't believe how many girls started crying. Actually crying!" Kendall said as they came back inside from announcing their engagement.

James just laughed heartily. "I know. They suddenly realized they never had a chance. I almost feel a little bad about it..."

"Were you at all creeped out by the few that got nosebleeds?" Kendall asked with a hint of cautiousness in his voice.

James continued to laugh as he grabbed Kendall's hand. "You are so beautiful, Kendall."

"Thanks." Kendall said sheepishly.

"So today went well. We made up with Katie. The public seemed to have accepted both you and the fact that we plan on adopting an heir. And now we're going to choose a date for the wedding."

"Have I mentioned that I love you?" Kendall asked with a small grin.

"Only about a thousand times today." James answered. "But I'll never get tired of hearing it."

A/N: That... wasn't exactly as good as I wanted it to be -_- But it's the end! Thank you to everyone who stuck with it for this long and was patient throughout my writer's block and random other obstacles! What did you think? Should I keep writing for this fandom or should I try something new? Tell me what you think in a review :D