Yuki dropped off the face of the earth in this fic. The beauty of writing- you can drop people off the earth as you see fit. Something I think we should be able to do in real life.
"YOU WILL BRING ME TO KELADRY OF MINDELAN RIGHT NOW, OR I WILL MAKE SURE THAT WITH EVERY PERSON WHO WALKS THROUGH THAT DOOR, YOU WILL FEEL EVERYTHING THEY ARE FEELING, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"
Kel woke up with a start, jerking up out of bed so fast her head rushed. Neal's unmistakable voice rang through the hallways, and Kel closed her eyes with a moan and tried to go back to sleep.
No such luck. Neal pounded through the door, causing more noise then a giant. As he stormed into her room, Kel glared at him.
"Did I wake you?" He asked. Kel resisted the urge to throw her pillow at him, if only because she knew she wouldn't get it back.
"What do you want?" She moaned. He came over to her, sitting down next to her on the bed and pulling the blankets down.
"Neal!" She cried. She was fully clothed, of course, but it didn't matter. He rolled his eyes.
"Would you calm down? I just want to inspect you myself."
She slumped down. So that's what this was about. His inability to let anybody else do his job.
"Neal, although I greatly appreciate you and even if you are very good, you are not the only competent healer in Tortall. The healers here did a fine job. You do not need to check me yourself."
He, of course, wasn't listening. Green magic glowed in his fists as he inspected the slash she had received during a fight with a Scanran soldier. She had been careless- she would have left the cut, to teach her a lesson about focus. Darn healers, she thought. Always have to fix everything.
Finally, he sat back, frowning at her.
"I told you I was fine," she said. He muttered an agreement. "Honestly Neal, you worry about me far too much. You never pay this much attention to anyone else when they're injured. And here I thought you were one of the only ones who never treated me differently because I'm a girl."
To her utter dismay and astonishment, Neal turned a shade of bright red. Kel narrowed her eyes at him.
"What?" She demanded. He shrugged, attempting for nonchalant.
"Nothing. I just could never forgive myself if something happened to you because I was too careless to see if you were okay."
Kel, taken aback, abruptly closed her mouth. "Oh. Thank you."
An awkward silence floated over them. Neal picked at a thread on the blanket. Kel was suddenly aware of how close he was sitting, and how she could all of a sudden feel the heat coming off his body as he tore the thread into pieces. She shifted slightly.
She had felt like this before when it came to Neal. Her throat tightening- the nervousness, the strange feeling of wanting to be closer. As a page, she had had a fierce crush on Neal- that had gone away though. Hadn't it?
She eyed him, trying to memorize his face. She must just like looking at him. Like with Dom- she enjoyed looking at Dom. She didn't want to be with Dom. Maybe if she looked at Neal enough, these strange feelings would pass.
He lifted his head and suddenly she was staring right into those green eyes. She remembered how Numair had once told her that mage's could entrance people with shiny objects in their hands. Neal didn't have a shiny object in his hands. She was enthralled by just his eyes.
He smiled. She was suddenly released from her prison, free to look around the room as she pleased. She still looked at him.
"Besides. I figure one of these days I'm going to save your life or do something spectacular, and you will be eternally grateful- and entirely indebted- to me."
The words bubbled up her throat and out of her mouth before she could stop them. "I already am eternally grateful to you, Neal. And entirely indebted."
Those green eyes stared at her again, but this time they dropped to the blanket quickly. It seemed she didn't have the same power with her eyes as he did.
They sat there like that for a while, until Neal finally cleared his throat and stood. Kel's right side, from her waist down, felt very cold without his body next to her.
"I should go. A knight- and healer's- job is never done, after all." There was that smile again. Kel found herself smiling back.
"Of course not."
He stared at a spot to the left of her head, eyes so intent she was worried he might bore a hole in her pillow.
"I'll come later. To check on you again. Make sure those healer's are treating you properly."
"Of course. Because you are, after all, the only adequate healer available."
He scoffed. "Of course. Even the Lioness can't hold a candle to me."
Kel smiled slightly evil-like. "Better not let her hear you say that." Neal looked around the room in mock fright, as if expecting the King's Champion to jump out from behind the curtains. Then he smiled and bent down to hug her gently, being careful not to jostle her.
"Next time, don't get hurt, alright? It's a lot easier on my nerves."
She cautiously lifted her hands to hold his arms while they encircled her. "Anything for your nerves, Neal."
He pulled slightly away, giving her a strange, calculating look. She held his gaze, even as his face inched closer, closer, until their lips were almost touching. Then he stopped, his eyes still boring into hers, that strange spell keeping their gazes locked as Kel's heart raced in her chest.
Just as slowly, she inched her face that tiny bit forward until their lips touched. Moving her lips against his, Kel felt his grip on her tighten, just a little, as his lips claimed hers greedily, until he released her and gently pulled away, eyes sparkling with mirth and a grin on his face.
"Were you serious when you said you were entirely indebted to me?" He asked her, a little breathlessly, his breath in her face making her dizzy. She nodded, not trusting her voice.
He laughed. "Oh Kel. You're going to regret that." He pressed his lips gently to hers again before he left, walking out the door, laughing the whole time, leaving her there, her lips still tingling from his kiss, wondering just what he meant.
Settling back into her pillows, Kel realized she was anxious to find out. If only healings didn't make her so tired!
Darn healers, she thought again as she let her eyes close, touching her lips once with her fingers before succumbing to sleep.