Of Rocks and Yuki

A/N: Inspired by HONEY's avatar. Thoughts are in italics. If you're wondering what HONEY (Hands Off Neal, Evil Yuki!) and YAS (Yuki Appreciation Society) are, they're societies at the Dancing Dove ). Basically, HONEY members don't really like Yuki. Reviews and CC are appreciated.

Dedication: To HONEY members

Warning: Yuki bashing. If you can't take it, hit the back button

Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderful characters. They belong to the wonderful Tamora Pierce

Neal held a gray rock, the same shade as the dreary sky, and stared at it for a while. Then, suddenly, his eyes began to sting. "Rocky," he whispered hoarsely. "This can't go on. I'm a grown knight now. I've outgrown you. Good-bye, I love you." He sighed and threw the nondescript stone out the opened window.

Kel straightened, muscles flexing as she lifted a heavy box and settled it onto her floor. Cleaning out her closet was taking a lot longer than she'd expected. Wiping a calloused hand across her forehead, she cleaned the box's contents until she came upon a gray rock. "Funny," she muttered, "I don't remember putting a rock in there." Kel promptly picked it up and tossed it over her shoulder and out her window.

200 feet below, Yuki was strolling through the palace grounds, in the stable area. As she walked past the knights' quarters, she bent to examine a weed and a gray rock suddenly dropped from apparently nowhere and struck her squarely at the base of her skull with an echoing crack! She dropped, sprawling across the dirt path.

..................................................................................................................

A blood-curdling shriek aroused Kel and Neal from their supper. They exchanged looks before abandoning the meatloaf and rushing to the source of the scream, the new court lady. She was sobbing into a lacey handkerchief, standing next to a lump spread over the ground.

What—or who—is that? Kel wondered, stepping closer. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no! Kel panicked, paling and breaking into a sweat as she saw Yuki's body and the object lying next to the corpse. Crap, crap, crap! I just murdered my best friend's fiancée! He'll kill me, she thought, glancing over at Neal's widened eyes.

Wonder who it is...hope it's Oakbridge, serves him right for—Mithros's chamber pot! It's Yuki! Neal's emerald eyes widened when he saw Rocky lying innocently on the ground near Yuki's broken neck. Sweat formed upon his brow as he realized what had happened. Quickly, he glanced at Kel to see her reaction: though her Yamani mask was on, he could see the sweat on her brow. I better not tell her I did it. She'll kill me, Yuki was one of her best friends, oh Mithros, Yuki was my fiancée! I JUST MURDERED MY FIANCEE! He stalked off to ponder what to do.

Kel watched Neal rush off. Oh Goddess, now he's all upset. I can't tell him, she thought desperately. He'll hate me!

..................................................................................................................

During the funeral, Kel saw Neal mouth "Meet me in my rooms after this." She nodded, trying her best to look innocent. He knows, he knows, he knows, he's going to kill me, the voice in her head groaned, speech getting progressively higher.

..................................................................................................................

On the way to Neal's rooms, Kel felt the guilt riding heavier and heavier upon her shoulders as she trudged towards Neal's rooms. Finally, she could take it no longer. She would have to tell him, and take the consequences. Just thinking about what he would do made her brow dampen with sweat.

Neal paced nervously, waiting for the inevitable knock on the door. The guilt had driven him mad the entire week. He had to tell, no matter how painfully he was going to die. The three solid knocks seemed to seal his doom, reverberating throughout his chambers. Gulping, he opened the door slowly and seated Kel on his chair.

"Listen—"Kel began as soon as she'd settled herself in the chair. "I have to tell you something."

"Me too, but you go first," Neal stalled, trying to find the right way to say the words.

"You go ahead."

"No, you!" Bickering ensued and they finally decided to say it together. Kel took a deep breath, and plunged in.

"I killed Yuki," two voices chorused at once. They stared at each other in confusion.

"I threw my pet rock out the window," Neal mumbled.

"I was cleaning my closet and I threw a rock out the window," Kel said slowly as she unconsciously moved towards Neal's window and peered out. Neal was only a step behind.

Neal frowned thoughtfully as he surveyed the scenery below. "Wait, that's the garden below my window..."

"And my room's two doors down from yours." The realization hit them like a blow from Raoul's lance.

"If she was found murdered near the stables—"Kel continued.

"We didn't kill her," Neal finished.

"Then who did?" Kel asked. A slip of parchment fluttered down from seemingly nowhere. Neal plucked it out of the air as it drifted towards the ground and read aloud:

"Blood is red
Bruises are blue
Yuki is dead
Dropping that rock was fun, too

-Love, HONEY"

Kel and Neal stared at each other, bewildered, as giggles sounded from above.

A/N: If you're still wondering what HONEY is, again, it's a society of people that don't really like Yuki. If you want to join, go to the Dancing Dove )