Scenario 22- ''…She's Dead.''

Kel's mouth gaped in horror as Baird told her the news. ''I'm sorry,'' he said. ''She's gone. There's nothing we could have done for her. She had lost too much blood when she got here.''

''No,'' she said. ''It can't be.''

''I know she was your friend. I'm sorry.''

''How are we going to tell Neal, Baird?''

''I don't know...''

Stone, she thought to herself, as she had so many times in the past. I am a stone.

Yuki wouldn't want her to be showing her emotion so openly. She would have to wait until she was alone until she could cry.

''It isn't something that could be conveyed in a letter,'' Kel said.

''No,'' Baird said, his eyes distant. ''It isn't.''

The invasion was something that no one had predicted. The prince and princess had come to the camp, because everyone thought they would be safe there. And it was attacked. Apparently one of the spies was bribed and leaked the whereabouts of the prince and princess. They came after Shinkokami and Yuki had protected her.

She had paid the price of loyalty with her life.

She would be deeply honored for this sacrifice, deemed posthumously a hero by both Tortall and the Yamani Islands. But this fact did not do anything to lessen the pain, or the loss. Yuki had left behind not only Neal, but their three children.

''What about...''

''The children have all ready been told.''

She wrestled with her urge to cry and her need to become stone. They were all so young; it was unfair that they should be robbed of a mother and learn the cruelties of life at such a young age.

And Neal... He would be devastated. Yuki and their children were his world; without Yuki, his world would have a gaping hole in it.

''I'll give you some time alone,'' Baird said.

All Kel could do was nod. If she spoke, she would cry and she didn't want to do that now.

Silence gave an inaudible boom; Kel's ears were ringing with its emptiness. It gave room for her feelings to crash in around her, and crash they did.

Everything came back to her. The fear and shock that racked inside of her during the attack. The horror of watching Yuki go down an arrow lodged through her. The desperate hope mixed with the frenzied panic as she looked for a healer for Yuki. These were feeling that she was able to push aside then, feelings that she had to put to the side then in order to have a clear and competent head.

Of course, newly forming grief was added to that mixture. And then there was the anxiety and guilt and sorrow at telling Neal. All of that was too much for Kel.

These feelings whirred around in Kel like a hurricane, breaking all of the dams she had ever built inside of herself.

Her face fell into her hands and she started to sob. She didn't even realize it until she felt the wetness in her hands. She stopped for a moment, stunned, and then stared at her hands. It made her cry even harder.

She cried until she had no more tears left. And then, at that point, she forced herself to get up, feeling drained, empty and only half alive.

When Neal came, the first person he went to was Kel. His father was still busy attending to the sick. Also Kel was actually there when the attack occurred; Baird was only called on afterwards.

His knocks echoed in the room frenziedly. Kel woke up disgruntled and confused but when she opened the door…

His face was like a splash of cold water to hers. Fear and desperate hope darkened his eyes and he looked at her like she was his only salvation for… Relief. Good news.

''Where are they?'' he asked, his voice cracking. ''How are they?''

''Neal, I…''

''No,'' he said. ''No. All I got was the letter. It didn't say that they were dead only what happened.''

''The children are fine, Neal. Kuzimi is still healing still but she'll be all right.''

Neal could sense what she had left out. ''Yuki? Where's Yuki?''

Kel couldn't answer. If she did, she would cry and she didn't want to cry in front of Neal. She looked away, and shook her head.

''Where is she?'' he asked, his tears bright in his eyes. He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. ''Where? Where!''

Tears were coursing down his cheeks; he all ready knew, she could tell, but he was hoping she would tell him otherwise. She wished she could tell him what she wanted to here, but she couldn't.

''Neal,'' she said, feeling tears in her own eyes. ''She didn't make it. They came after Shinko and… Yuki took the arrow. She lost too much blood, Neal, apparently, so they couldn't save her. She's dead.''

''No,'' he said, his voice soft with its sorrow. ''No, no, no!'' Each ''no'' increased in volume, and made Kel's throat feel even harder.

''I'm sorry, Neal.''

She hated saying that. It didn't make things any better, didn't change anything. That much was obvious but it wouldn't alleviate any of his grief.

''No,'' he said, his eyes filling with tears. ''She can't be dead, Kel. She's fine. Why would you say that she's dead?''

Kel opened her mouth and then closed it. She didn't know what to say to him; she wished that she was lying and that Yuki was alive, but she wasn't.

She reached out toward him but he turned away. ''No,'' he said. ''Go away.''

She didn't move. He ran away from her suddenly, before she could register what was happening.

Kel flinched, initially feeling hurt. But she knew that Neal needed some time to be alone, so she walked back into her rooms.

Neal knocked on Kel's door, his hands shaking. He didn't know if he was doing the right thing, considering how he had treated Kel yesterday and that his children were all asleep in his quarters. But he needed her now, needed something, because the blackness had began to gnaw at him as soon as it all sunk in.

She opened the door after the second knock. He looked like a mess, and it broke Kel's heart. His eyes were bloodshot with shadows under them; his clothes were wrinkled; his hair was uncombed and greasy.

All she had to do was take one glance at him, and she automatically put her arms around him.

He started to sob against her; his tears soaking through her tunic. She felt her throat grow hard with the metallic sting of tears about to form(tears that she did not let form), for the true weight of this tragedy crashed upon her once again.

''What will I do?'' he asked with a quavering and raspy voice. His voice was so forlorn and pain-stricken that she almost started to cry too.

''We have to stay strong, Neal, and we have to get through this,'' she said. ''We can only let our tears escape when no one else can see them. Your children have all ready lost their mother; they can't lose a father too.''

''How will we do that?''

''I don't know.'' She hated this answer, but she didn't know what other answer to give.

Neal let himself cry on her shoulder until he felt the need to do so no longer. His mouth didn't need to say thank you; she nodded as his eyes told her. She squeezed his shoulder as he left.

The worst of what they had to face was yet to come, Kel knew. There would be plenty of other times like or worse than this.

Okay, so I tried to get this through the best I could.. Some bad news: I'm going to be out of town for two weeks and where I'm going doesn't have Internet access(although it DOES have a computer so I will be able to write). I'll do the best I can though; maybe I can get another scenario in before I go. The updates after that will probably be a lot shorter in wait. Anyway, please review on this one.