'A.N.' denotes 'Author's Note'. There are several references and explanations that you can find at the end of the fic.

This fic does not follow the plot of either the manga or the anime.

'Wake from your sleep, the drying of your tears.
Today, we escape, we escape.' – (A.N. I)

As sun rose to the peak of its ellipse, the very Gothic church on the top of the mountain became a crowded place for another fortunate couple to unite as one later on. The locals had always respected this church regardless of their own religious belief. Its tall white wall and large, pointed windows, built with 15th century Western European style, was a famous scenic spot for people to wed or simply to visit. A perfect place for any faithful servant of God to hold her lover's hand.

Today, the people in town grew curious as to the large crowd of strangers they saw motioning to the sacred place. Surely, they had seen many weddings throughout their lives in this relatively peaceful town, but to witness also jet planes, helicopters and limousines racing back and forth the place was quite a sight.

Maybe they would be less surprised if they knew the son of the richest family in China was going to hold his wedding in this very place. After all, money was what kept the world moving.

As the town citizens gathered and gossip about it, in the church the two families of the day were busy preparing everything for their respective son and daughter. They did not have much time left, and for the dignity of both families imperfection, no matter how slight, could not be tolerated. This was the biggest day of their lives, as the two families would seal their tie and become the greatest partnership the world would ever see.

In the middle of the church there stood a tall woman in dark green cheongsam (Chinese style long dress), which matched her hair perfectly. She was frantically ordering the servants of her family to do their jobs more properly when the wedding was three hours from now. As the person-in-charge of the floor, she grew more anxious as every second passed by, upon seeing yet another misplaced item on the table. She sighed. She never volunteered to do this job, but for the sake of her little brother (and mostly her family) she wasn't given much of a choice.

In a small room behind the main settings, a blond concentrated on combing a young girl's hair. For minutes neither spoke a word, as both knew too well what the other was thinking. The young girl placed herself comfortably, physically at least, on a neat chair and let the other woman took good care of her long silvery hair. They looked at their reflection in the mirror: both did not have the usual curve on their faces that one would expect the bride and the bridesmaid to have.

'Meene,' the bride whispered and the blond paused, 'am I an evil person?'

The girl named Meene blinked and stared. It was hard for her to give a satisfactory answer to a question she wished to avoid so dearly. Being the bridesmaid and her cousin, she knew she was supposed to be supportive, say the most inspiring and encouraging words to the young lady sitting restfully (A.N. II). Yet she could not even mutter a positive response in this situation. Why, she was the one who was most against this marriage in the first place. As a sister figure to the bride, she knew well enough the nature of this bonding with the Tao family. Yet she was in no position to comment on that.

'I consider this a very selfish act,' the bride pressed on the subject, 'I understand I am doing for the sake of father and mother, for my family,' she gulped, 'but by doing this, I am hurting people around me…' she trailed off, and Meene needed not to add two and two to get four. She knew perfectly well whom she was referring to.

'Jeanne, what matters is that you're here now,' she tried to reason without betraying her own thought. 'Remember that Ren-kun does not want this to happen too. This arranged marriage,' she put down the brown comb, 'hurts him too.' After this, both went silent for a while. Meene refused to meet Jeanne's begging eyes, as she knew it was her job to present the bride to the audience in her finest form, and one more glance at the charmingly helpless red orbs would cause her to have a mental breakdown. 'Just remember Jeanne, you've made a choice,' she turned away to get her stuff, 'we can never know if it is a good choice, but we have to live the consequence of it.'

With one last plead in vail, Jeanne closed her eyes.

"I could be wrong, but what am I to do?
Guess God thinks I'm Abel." (A.N. III)

'Ren-sama, here's your suit.'

'Put it on the chair. I'll wear it later.'

The servant, frightened by the murderously quiet tone from his master, quickly put down the white suit and left the room swiftly. One knew better than to anger a pissed bridegroom.

Ren was never the type to obey authorities. He challenged, took them down and mentally tortured them slowly. So far he had been perfect on that.

Minus his family.

Vividly could he recall when his father informed him of the family decision, in the presence also of Jeanne, her family, and his friends. His eyeballs nearly parted from his face and his mind went blank. A fiancée? He had not even had a girlfriend before, and his father was not asking him to marry. He was ordering him. More than that, he's asking him to marry one of his best friends.

He glanced at Jeanne, and noticed her usual calm countenance was totally gone. What was there? Pure shock. Disbelief. Feelings of betrayal. Chaos in mind. Paranoia. Her family just basically sold her to the Taos. She blinked and blinked in the hope that someone would announce this was just her dream, or that she had officially gone mental. Did she just have an episode of hallucination? The silvery-haired girl found her body shaking. Tension spread to each of her muscles and her heart vibrated vigorously. Rage started to take over her consciousness.

She wasn't the only one whom he had his eyes on. He quickly glimpsed through the whole room. Only the parents dared to put on a grin, congratulating them on the grateful bonding of the two families. His friends, whom he had invited for dinner originally, were at loss of words. Each face told the same story that he did not stop scanning them until his golden eyes locked on the green-haired teenager sitting next to his future wife. His face was paler than a cloud on a sunny day. Their eyes met and Ren, at that instant, avoided looking into his green orbs. If only he had known how accusing and hurt those eyes were.

At present, the Chinese could just sigh, not giving a damn where his servants were. Walking aimlessly around the room, he fell into his own dismay.

'We're barely eighteen, father,' he maintained his composure and spoke to the head of the Tao family, in his best effort. 'We are just about to go to college.' Heck, he deserved an Academy Award for projecting such a calm image.

Why did he not persist?

'Perfect age for marriage, don't you reckon? School can wait, Ren.'

Thinking back, he wondered why he did not kill him at that instant.

'And Jeanne…Jeanne is...'

Could he not have managed to make a better statement other than that? He knew very well about Jeanne and Lyserg's secret relationship, and stealing the girl of a friend was not his way of doing. Where was the usually persuasive Tao Ren who would not even flinch a hair when the sky fell on him?

'Ren, I have discussed this with the Vendroux family already,' Tao En, the richest man in China proclaimed, 'and we believe this is of the best interest for both families, with a strong and promising young man like you and an elegant girl like Jeanne tying the bond of the two families.' Seeing his son's stunned look, he went on, 'The Vendrouxs here,' he nodded to a foreign couple standing next to him, 'had agreed so and have already given their blessing.' (A.N. IV)

Family. Money. Power. Vice. He did not know how to distinguish them anymore.

He knew it all along that his family were trying to find a fiancée for him, so as to 'protect the purity of Tao's blood and ensure the descendents were outstanding beings since birth'. What he did not expect was to marry that soon, and the person was none other than his best friend's girlfriend.

He had not talked to him since that night, a month ago.

Rather, he felt ashamed to talk to him. What right did he have? As a man of principle, there were certain things in life he could not accept. As the heir to the Tao family though, he had every reason to obey his father. The Taos did not take disobedience as a good trait of their men, and he knew too well what happened to people who ignored the Taos.

The purple-haired boy finally stopped in front of a mirror and looked at himself. He could no longer see Tao Ren. A disgusting being. Shameless. Traitor. Monster. Vampire. He laughed.

He laughed.

What really was he thinking? A political marriage cost him basically everything now. His best friend left him. Jeanne became static. His sister pitied him but said nothing. His friends…they did not even know how to act around him anymore. Well, what did he expect anyway? He would be stupid to expect things to go on as they had always been. He understood why they kept on wearing that nervous look on their faces. He dared not say he would not have done so should he be in their shoes.

He gazed out of the window and found a lone figure standing there, looking at the boundless ocean intently.

'I see god come in my garden, but I don't know what he had said
For my heart it wasn't open, not open' (A.N. V)

When the world was against you and people you trusted could not help you, what would you do?

Lyserg Diethyl observed his surroundings carefully. Right now he was standing on a rare grassland by the cliff, listening to the rustling sound of wind dashing through the grass and the seawater crashing onto rocks hundreds of feet below him. He had been taught as a child that the best way to calm oneself was to listen to the sound of nature. His father always reminded him that human heart was full of lusts, but nature would embrace all kinds of dark traits that mankind possessed.

The view in front of him was stunning, with the sun held high and birds flying freely in the sky. He always admired birds: the feeling of floating ten thousand feet above thrilled him. As they moved spread their wings and departed from the grass near him, they would dash to the sky, where limit was nonexistent.

The eighteen-year-old found himself a lot calmer than usual. It was as if he had accepted the whole deal whole-heartedly. What could he do though? He had no bargaining powers against the Taos or the Vendrouxs, two of the most commercially influential families in the world. He was just an ordinary person from an ordinary middle-class family. Compared to the business and political background of those two families, he was nothing. They could crush his family easily if he did anything reckless.

That was also why he was grateful yet surprised that Jeanne accepted his confession a year ago. He was well aware of their differences, but they had somehow made it through. Jeanne was not the typical rich but arrogant person one could see in televisions. He adored her shyness, her caring personality and her pureness. She did not judge a book by its cover, and she even enjoyed normal middle-class activities when she had been accustomed to grandiose parties where businessmen socialized with each other to gain more benefits for business. She was the sole bright flower among the dim grasses. Knowing their differences clearly, they agreed on not exposing their relationship to anyone except their close friends. Jeanne knew very well that her parents would not accept him, and people would gossip about it in social events that her parents would find disgraceful. The green-haired teenager knew too, and he was thankful that for the whole year their relationship had been great, if not any better.

Yet that was all in the past now. Today, his goddess would be married to his best friend. His dream of a happy life together in college was shattered by reality. He understood that it was a political arrangement by families, that the Vendroux Corporation was enduring a financial crisis and with the help of the Taos, they could earn at least ten billions more each year and hence clear them off their debts and regained their position as one of the most influential corporate in the world again. Jeanne, to them, was just a pawn to reach their objective, a minor sacrifice to be made for the sake of their vice.

Life was such a joker. A pure girl like her was used by her parents and she did not even have a say in this matter. Lyserg knew her parents and her weren't close, but he never thought they would betray her like that. The same applied to Ren. Consciously, he knew that Ren was not happy with this too, and taking their friendship into account it became a much more complicated affair.

Among their gang of friends, he and Ren had known each other the longest, having lived in the same neighbourhood and attended the same school since six. Since Ren was socially isolated due to his arrogant behaviour, Lyserg was, somehow, the one always around to help him. People avoided them, for fear or for whatever reasons, he had not much idea and did not care. It wasn't until they met the Asakura brothers in high school that they started to find people they could trust. After that, they were always seen together, and were regarded as the hottest and weirdest people in school. For sure, he dared say that all of them in the group were good-looking, but what was more important was that they did not care about each other's background. They helped each other out when one was in trouble and Lyserg admired their sense of loyalty very much as he was probably the only middle-class child in their group but they got along so well that he understood why. They were all lonely people wanting to find some comfort in others. All of them faced similar family problems as Jeanne's and Ren's.

How he wished to go back to the time he treasured so much. They could just talk for the whole night and never got bored. They even all got accepted into University of Tokyo and were planning to attend together, yet a dinner at Ren's place a month ago ruined everything.

Ever since then, he disappeared from public eye. He went to the countryside and stayed alone in a hut, hoping to figure himself out after the Vendrouxs refused his entry in their household on his request to see Jeanne. Hao and Yoh, the Asakura twins, had found him and took him to stay at their place to make a plan. Thinking about that made him chuckle now. He had never seen the usually playful twins so serious about a certain matter. But all their plans failed. Even the Asakuras elders, the twins' grandparents and people whom the Taos and Vendrouxs respected a lot, could not persuade them to change their mind.

He gave a grave sigh. He should have known there was no way to fight back in such situation.

'Lyserg.'

His heart almost stopped beating.

He turned around and saw a Chinese with purple hair standing straight, looking at him with a mixed expression of softness and bewilderment. In other situations he would have grinned. Seeing the almighty Tao Ren feeling perplexed was a sight to remember. Yet he knew perfectly well the reason for his countenance.

'Ren.' He acknowledged. Ren moved to a few steps from him and stopped.

They remained silent for a while, watching the wind playing with their hair. Neither spoke a word to break this quietness. Both were prepared to see each other sooner or later, but when it really happened, it was hard to find the suitable word to say.

'Em…Lyserg?' Ren finally managed to mutter.

Lyserg tittered inwardly and waited for Ren to go on.

'I…' Stupid Ren, where is your usual confidence? He opened his mouth again but could not make a clear sound.

'It's okay, Ren,' Lyserg decided to step in, 'I understand.'

And then no words were exchanged for a while again. They had known each other too well, probably, to talk like this. Words of comfort or sympathy were not really what they were good at. Besides, there wasn't much to say now given their situation.

'How's Jeanne?' Lyserg couldn't restrain himself from asking. He had not touched, seen, talked to her in a whole month and he felt like going through a grave psychological torture.

'She…well,' Ren scratched his head, 'we haven't talked much after…that.' Lyserg watched as his best friend was trying to make himself sound comfortable. 'You know, we try to fight against our parents' decision, but all they care about is money.' Not that the green-haired was particularly surprised though. He knew that their parents were complete opposite of their children.

'Jeanne still thinks about you though,' Ren continued, 'Jun and Meene-san tried to console her, but she would just cry or kept muttering your name.' Lyserg felt his heart ached painfully. He had a mental image of the silvery-haired girl clinging her small hands to her heart, crying alone on bed while her parents were in their grand living room, announcing gladly to their guests of their daughter's engagement. Thinking of that made him feel sick.

He wanted to see her, but he wanted also to get out of this place. The presence of the church used to calm him, but now thinking of what would happen in a few hours made him nauseous. The large white cross on the top of this sacred place suffocated him. He needed to get out. He needed air.

'Do you want to see her?'

He raised his eyebrows and looked into his companion's golden orbs. Both of them knew the unoffical rule: no Diethyl near Vendroux. There would be no way for him to get near to her when the guards employed by the Taos were everywhere within the church's area. He was not caught yet because he chose a blind spot further away from the building.

They continued to look at each other. Both knew what the consequence would be should he be caught.

'Yes.'

'I wish that I could fly, fly, fly away.
But if I should fall, and you hear me call, would you stay?' (A.N. VI)

She looked at the clock desperately. Eleven Thirty. Two and a half hours from her wedding time. She begged for the second hand to stop, without success, and sighed one more time.

She knew of her purpose in this mission: to unite the Taos and her family, and thus saved her family from the recent crisis that they were enduring. Her parents had never been that caring for her anyway, and what really should she expect from them who dined with her only once a month.

Jeanne was a princess living in her imagination. She pictured her parents were like Lyserg's: caring, joyful, communicative. They treated her not like an ojou-sama but an ordinary person when she ate with them, which was what she looked for. She fancied hanging out with her group in school: the wicked but kind-hearted Asakura Hao and Yoh; the cold but observant Kyoyama Anna; the loud yet innocent Usui siblings; and of course Lyserg and Ren, her best friends. The eighteen-year-old chuckled sadly. Ren…she had always respected him like a brother she never had, and he seemed to enjoy that position of his too. Along with Lyserg, the three of them had nothing much to hide from each other. She did not even feel embarrassed once they all slept on the same bed during a sleepover at the Usuis, as there was a deep unsaid trust among themselves. They laughed and pained together without fear. It was something that made her smile the most during her senior high life.

Reminiscing would not help at all, she decided. Looking around the room, she found a spot on the sofa and made herself comfortable. Meene had gone to get her wedding dress and other make-ups, and she was left alone in this small, trapped room. Not that she minded.

Knock, knock. She heard a couple of soft strike on the door, and asked for the person outside to come in. Meene had finished collecting her stuff, she guessed.

The door opened and closed after two seconds. Jeanne was thinking to herself that she just realized Menne had not come to her.

'Meene what's wrong? Where's my –,' she raised her head to locate her cousin, only to find herself stopped thinking totally. Meene was nowhere to be found.

The person who intruded was standing there in his tidy white shirt and black pants. A loose dark red tie was hanging from his collar and his hand was holding his black stripped coat. His messy green hair was what made him easily distinguishable among a crowd.

'Hello Jeanne,' he said warmly, distantly, but Jeanne could tell from his charming green eyes. She could see the pain.

'Ren-san?' Meene was surprised. 'What are you doing here?'

The Tao heir was standing in front of her way to the bride's room, arms crossed in front of his chest. He glanced at the tall blonde and noticed the wedding dress she had in hand. She frowned. 'You're not supposed to see her until the wedding.'

'Ren.'

The man named Ren looked back at his friend. He took a while to send off his servants near Jeanne's room and now they were walking to their, or his, destination. It wasn't that hard to do, for a young master who was feared by everyone in the house, but he knew if his family found out, he'd be damned.

Well, not that he cared that much now. Family and friends. He helped one side by appearing here today, and helping the other side was just the fair thing to do.

At least he tried to convince himself that.

'Thank you.'

This startled him. He wasn't quite expecting that from his mouth.

'I know this must have been a hard time for you too.'

Sometimes he wondered how they could even be friends in the first place. Their personalities were so different that they could not be put in the same equation. Of course, they'd changed, and for better or for worse Ren had found himself fonder of the kindness around him. Ren needed friends: he knew it. An arranged wife would not make his life better, but a group of trusted peers would.

'I'm not,' he replied shortly, 'but he is.' This confused and frustrated her more.

'Who are you talking about –' then she caught a slice of green hair on Ren's shoulder. There wasn't anyone in town except for one family that had green hair. Her expression tightened and she moved closer to the bridegroom.

'You do know what will happen if he got caught,' she whispered.

'Lyserg, here we are.'

The Englishman found himself standing in front of a white Gothic door. The sign that marked 'BRIDE'S ROOM' was hard to miss, and he gulped. His best friend and his girlfriend, about to marry each other today, this very afternoon. He still found it hard to swallow that idea, but logically he knew there wasn't much he could do.

'I'll be around to guard the door. There shouldn't be anyone but herself only now in the room.' He motioned him to go inside, and turned around that the Brit could not see his face.

Before Lyserg put his hand on the cold metal knob, he heard the Chinese's voice again.

'Lyserg, I'm sorry.'

'Yes,' he answered calmly. The two of them looked at each other for a whole minute until Meene broke the silence.

'I'll keep the servants busy,' she murmured, 'but I don't guarantee anything.'

'Fair enough.'

She took one last glance at him and left, giving orders to other servants nearby.

He looked at the floor. Somehow, he knew he did not have the courage to say these to him eye-to-eye.

'For everything. Things are not supposed to be like this.'

He was frowning and giving a tiny, melancholy smile, Ren thought.

'I'll try to find a way to break off the marriage, that I promise.'

'Ren…' Lyserg was at a loss of words. Just as he had accepted the fact that he's about to lose two people he loved so much, Ren seemed to pull him back to optimism, the feeling that he had lost touch of for so long.

'I will not touch her until this…' he said with clarity and disgust, '…thing ends. I assure you that.'

Feeling a grab on his shoulder, Ren turned and golden orbs gazed into the other person's green ones. Without breaking eye contact, Lyserg stepped forward and embraced his best friend. For a brief moment, the ever-self-conscious Tao Ren was startled, but soon returned his emotions.

'You're a good brother, Ren.' He heard him murmur into his ears, and he smiled for the first time in a long while. How he missed this feeling of carelessness. And love.

'You shouldn't make a lady wait, Mr. Diethyl,' he smirked at the green-haired boy, who returned a warm smile. 'Now go.' He earned a nod in response and saw him approach the door. Not intending to disturb their privacy, he leaned on the wall for support and gave out a long sigh.

Ren looked at the ceiling and sighed. He was a man of principle, and he hoped, at least, he could do something good for his best friends.

Lyserg did not have time to react as Jeanne jumped into his arms, wrapping his shoulders him firmly with tears forming in her eyes. He stumbled and took a few steps to regain his, or their, balance. Hesitant for a while, he decided to return the embrace, putting his arms on her waist and took in her scent which he favoured a lot. Bringing her closer to his body, he closed his eyes to ignore the existence of his surroundings.

It felt different holding her. Having not seen each other in a month, both parties were in agony, begging for the torture to end. The Englishman felt Jeanne's arms tightened around his neck and her muscles contracting in rhythm. Reluctantly releasing his grip, he positioned her in front of himself, frowning upon seeing her tears. He moved his hand to cup her cheeks and whip off her teardrops. It pained him to see her cry.

'Lyserg, I…' she whimpered, catching her breath, 'I thought I'd never see you again…' her sobs prevented her throat from vocalizing any more words. Lyserg just bent his body towards hers and gently pressed his lips on her forehead, while caressing her cheeks and shoulders. 'Please, I don't want to see you cry…'

It took a while for her to calm down, putting her lacrimal glands at rest. Her ruby orbs now observed her companion more carefully: he looked fine, but she noticed his face had gotten thinner. His features displayed a sense of melancholy and regrets that she was intimidated by. Such gloominess did not fit him. Her eyebrows tightened. Both of them knew that there would not be much chance of seeing each other again after today, as after today she would become Mrs. Tao, and the Taos did not take the female's relationship with other men lightly.

It would have been a romantic idea to elope, to a faraway place where no one could disturb them. They would spend their time together, maybe they would both work hard enough to maintain their living in a small house. She never fancied a materialistic lifestyle anyway. The house of hers gave her nothing but feelings of emptiness. If they made enough, they would raise a kid or two and enjoyed the peaceful countryside as they aged. Her face reddened at the image of a green-haired boy and a silvery-haired girl running around in the grassland, while she and her lover would watch from a distance and smile. Having kids with Lyserg…that idea never quite popped into her head. Although now that she gave some serious thought about it…

What a lovely dream it would be.

Her consciousness was laughing hard at her; she recognized that inaudible screams of sarcasm. There was no feasible way for them to escape without Ren's family and hers knowing. Both of them needed not a totem to divide dream from reality.

The air remained tight in the room. Lyserg knew time was running out and Ren could not hold too long. Breaking from her locked eyes, he started to explore the warmth of her mouth. It took her a bit by surprise, but the French girl gladly obliged. She missed his warmth. She missed his skins. She missed his lips. She missed his touch. She missed his presence. She missed his soul.

It didn't quite register to their mind until they found themselves lying on the sofa, passionately ignoring their position for the mean time. Supporting his bodyweight, he trapped Jeanne's head in between his elbows, looking at her intimately. He had not even realized his tie was now resting by the door, his shirt unbuttoned, and her white dress was almost torn in half, showing her well-developed curve to him with only one more layer covering her bare, milky skins. His hands were holding her waist firmly as if not to break her. Her eyes were half-open and she gave a soft, delicate moan upon his finger touching her bare skins. Such an erotic image occupied his mind and he felt his whole body heated.

'Jeanne, I…' he was stopped when Jeanne put her hands on his cheeks, holding them firmly, begging him not to let go, asking for him to continue on such ungodly act.

'Lyserg,' she stated without hesitation, looking at him with such intensity that he could not bear any longer.

How he admired her ruby orbs. He had always adored the determination in her eyes, and this time was no exception. He was mesmerized. Her eyes were the most addictive drug he had ever tasted. Just one glance and he could lose his mind. Now he found himself struggling between his id and superego. Logic and reasons were constantly being cast away from his mind but they came back quickly. He wanted to scream.

The magic she casted on him was unspeakable. There was no escape.

He leaned down and gave her one last deep, tender kiss.

The End

A.N. I – lyrics from Radiohead's Exit Music (for a film)
A.N. II – in this story, Meene was set as Jeanne's cousin. Meene is the only female member of the X-LAWS in the manga/anime
A.N. III – lyrics from Oasis' Guess God Thinks I'm Abel
A.N. IV –I don't think Jeanne is given a last name in the manga series, hence I randomly pick 'Vendroux'. In case anyone is wondering, Vendroux is the last name of Charles De Gaulle's wife
A.N. V – lyrics from Coldplay's Cemeteries of London
A.N. VI – lyrics from Travis' More Than Us

I haven't written a Shaman King fic in a long time…and upon recently reading the new chapters (Kang Zeng Bang) again I grew addicted to this series again. I still have a real problem with Lyserg and Jeanne not together (and Jeanne somehow got married to Ren…my first reaction remains WTF till today) BUT…I'll respect that and continue to explore my LysergXJeanne fantasy in this website. Sigh.

I've typed this fic for a week and hopefully you'll enjoy reading it. Approximately 5200 words isn't really the word count I expect when I first started writing this fic (12 pages in Word!). This is also the first LysergXJeanne-focused fic that I work on, and somehow the idea of Ren being the best friend figure sounds interesting to me. I've wanted to include more characters in this, but do not really want to make this excessively long to read (5200 words for a one-shot is a breakthrough for me). As to what really happen in the ending, on what they really do afterwards, I'll let you interpret it. I have a few ideas on how to end this more precisely but prefer to leave it this way in the end.

If you check my profile you'll see I have some other ideas of Shaman King fics, and hopefully I'll have time to materialize them. I always have ideas but no time…

Anyway, hope you'll review and let me know what you think about this fic. Criticisms are also appreciated. Hope to see you all next time!