Author's Note: This is just a one-shot. I had fun writing it and I hope you would like it. I don't own One Piece. (Sorry for the grammatical errors). I also don't take credit for the cover photo.
Enjoy!
~At The Park~
Today's weather wasn't as sunny as the meteorologist said it would be. In fact it's been raining all day. Everyone was rushing, putting books over their heads, and trying to get to their destination. Except for one person that is.
Luffy sat on the swings at the park, rocking it back and forth. His whole body was completely soaked, but he didn't seem to care. He continued to slowly rock the swing, earning an eerie sound from it. People passed by him, left and right, giving a quick look and walking away.
Sabo had just finished work and wanted to get home quickly. He didn't have an umbrella so he had to use his jacket. He had ran past the park where Luffy was, hearing the strange sound that came from the place.
Sabo quickly stopped running and turned back around. For some reason he was drawn to sound. As soon as he turned around he spotted Luffy on the swings with his head dangling down. Without realizing it his legs started to move towards him. It was as if he was drawn to him. Approaching Luffy, he sat down on the swings next to him and began to rock it as well. Not a word was said.
Luffy was surprised to see that someone had approached him. With his head still hanging down, he managed to sneak a peek at Sabo. He then took both of his hands and rubbed his eyes. Putting on a fake smile, he turned to Sabo.
"Hey, what brings you here?" Luffy continued to smile.
"Please don't do that." Sabo said with a blank expression suddenly changing the subject.
Luffy looked at him with a confused look, "Do what?"
"Put on a fake smile, that's what," Sabo said putting on a frown, "I can tell that you were crying, don't pretend to be happy.
Luffy didn't say anything and continued to stare at Sabo. His smile slowly turned into a frown and he suddenly started to cry. It was as if he was holding back more tears this whole time. Luffy quickly wiped his tears and apologized to Sabo. He tried to stop the tears but they kept on coming and coming.
Sabo put his right hand on Luffy's shoulder giving him a reassuring gesture. Wanting to know why he was crying he simply asked. Sabo found it weird though. He had no idea who this person was exactly, but was interested in his story. After a long while Luffy was ready to tell his story.
Luffy told Sabo how he had an older brother named Ace. He told him how his brother had moved to New York for his job, and how he would come and visit once in a while. Then he told Sabo out the bad news, he received from his brother's friend. A police officer had spotted Ace near an ally on the floor dead. He had received four bullets to chest.
Sabo felt bad for him, he watched as Luffy started to cry again. He got up from the swing and stood in front of Luffy with a hand stretched out. Luffy looked up at him and then at his hand. He continued to stare at his hand before slowly taking it. When Luffy had grabbed his hand, he pulled him into a hug. Luffy was surprised at first but didn't pull away. He was surprised to see that Sabo was actually really warm even in this rain. Not a single word was said between the two. Luffy had shivered, causing Sabo to give him his jacket.
After a while, Luffy had pulled away. Looking up at Sabo he gave him a small smile, causing him to blush This time the smile was really. Luffy felt at ease thanks to Sabo. Maybe he just needed someone to talk to.
"Thank you," Luffy said as he continued to smile.
"No problem, I'm glad that I came," Sabo gave him a huge grin, "Now you better get home you're soaking wet."
Luffy gave him a small nod before waving goodbye and running home.
Sabo continued to watch Luffy, until he was out of sight. He had then realized something that came to attention. He had spent a small amount of time with Luffy and not once did they exchange names. The whole thing was just weird.
~line break~
The next day, Luffy is at the park on the swings again. This time there are other people around him. The weather this time is actually sunny, and so was Luffy. In his hands was the jacket that Sabo had given him. He decided to wash it before giving it back. Luffy didn't exactly know where Sabo lived so he was hoping he would come by the park again.
Luffy continued to wait for Sabo. Lots of people had entered the park, but not a single one was Sabo. Not having any more patient he decided to move back home, maybe he would see him tomorrow. As soon as he got up, he spotted Sabo entering the park. Happy to see him, he had ran towards him with a smile on his face.
"Hey," Luffy said smiling as stared up at Sabo.
"Hey, you're not sad again are you?" Sabo asked as he chuckled a little.
"No, I just wanted to give your jacket back," Luffy hands him the jacket.
Sabo reached out and took the jacket, "You washed it, thanks."
"Your welcome," Luffy said.
Sabo was going to say something, but Luffy was first to speak up again.
"Do you want to hang out with me," Luffy asked he cocked his head to the side, with a grin on his face.
Sabo nodded at Luffy. He couldn't help but think about how cute Luffy looked. That smile of his did something to him. Not that he was complaining.
They decided to hang out at the new cafe that opened a week ago. They talk about their interests and their pet peeves. Luffy talks about the times he spent with Ace. His voice gets softer at first, but he puts on a soft smile on his face. Luffy than asks about Sabo. Where he is from; does he have any siblings? Sabo chuckles, but decides to answer the question any way. He tells Luffy he was born in France, and this was going to be his second year here in Europe.
Luffy continues to drink his cappuccino as he listens to Sabo talk about himself.
~line break~
It's been a week since Sabo had came to the park. For the past few days Luffy would come hoping to see Sabo, but the blond never came by.
The next morning Luffy spots in a store buying a new camera. Luffy walks in the store and calls out his name. Sabo turns his head behind him, and sees Luffy walking towards him. He smiles and waves before giving the store clerk the camera.
"Hey, nice meeting you here," Sabo says as he takes his new owned camera from the clerk and walks away.
"You too," Luffy smiled.
"Were you going to buy something?" Sabo asked as he tipped his head to the side.
"I just wanted to say hi," Luffy pulled out his pockets, "plus I have no money."
Sabo asks if Luffy wants to hang out at his place, and Luffy looks happy to go.
~line break~
The next day, Sabo decides to go the cafe in the morning. Not much people is there which makes him easier to spot Luffy behind the counter.
"You got a job?" Sabo asked as he walked up to Luffy.
"Yeah," Luffy said cleaning the counter, "I want to pay back my college loan. So I actually got two jobs."
Sabo says nothing but a simple "Oh".
Luffy asks what Sabo would like and points at the new special they have, hoping he would buy it.
Sabo wants to say "I would like you", but saves himself from the embarrassment. Instead he orders a special and leaves it at that.
"Would you like to see where I work," Sabo asks as Luffy received his Galao. He was hoping Luffy would find interest in what he does and would like a job there.
"Sure, how about next Tuesday? That's the only day I'm completely free." Luffy says to Sabo.
Sabo smiles and tells Luffy to meet him at the park at 2:00 p.m on that day.
~line break~
Luffy comes to the park at 2:05 p.m and sees Sabo at the entrance. He waves at him, getting his attention.
"Sorry I was late," Luffy said as he walked up to him.
"It's ok," Sabo said smiling, "we should proably get a move on."
It didn't take that long for the bus to arrive. They arrived at Sabo's work place 20 minutes later.
Luffy loved at the large office building. This place must have at least more than 10 floors. His face looked more astonishing as he entered the inside of the building.
"You work here?" Luffy asked Sabo.
"Yeah, I'm an art director," Sabo said chuckling a bit.
Sabo guided him to the elevator, and pushed the 6th floor. Luffy face was amazed as he saw many people scattering from one place to another. The beautiful arts on the wall intrigued him.
"This place is too much," Luffy chuckled nervously.
Sabo gave him a reassuring look. He was going to say something but a colleague of his had came up to him.
"Oh, hey Koala," Sabo says waving at her.
"Sabo, where have you been?" Koala asked with a serious face.
"I was waiting for Luffy," Sabo points at Luffy, and Luffy waves.
Koala was surprised to see him standing there. Why didn't she notice him from before. Now that she thought about she remembers Sabo talking about a guy named Luffy. He looked exactly like Sabo described him.
"Luffy, the guy you talk about." Koala stats as he gave him a confused look.
Sabo and Luffy both blushed. They both really wasn't expecting that.
"You talk about me?" Luffy asked as he looked up at Sabo with a soft smile.
Sabo gave Luffy a smile, before turning his attention back to Koala.
"Y-yeah, that's him. I'm giving him a tour of where I work, but also I want to see if I could get him a job."
Luffy gave Sabo a reassuring smile, "It's okay, you don't have too"
"I want to," Sabo said.
Koala looks at Luffy and tells him about the different jobs that are wanting new workers. Luffy stops Koala after he hears the word journalist. He explains to them both that he used to be a news writer in both his middle school and high school. He thought the job would fit him perfectly. He was always interested in the things around him and the people.
"Great, I guess your going to go talk the boss," Koala said looking for happy, "you two will soon work in the same building."
Sabo and Luffy hadn't gave that thought. They could now see each other inside and outside of work.
~line break~
For the past week Luffy has had fun working as journalist. Writing interesting stories about the people and environment, and taking wonderful pictures.
It was Saturday, and Luffy started walking aimlessly on the streets. He held a camera looking around as if he was going to find an interesting story.
This was hopeless. Luffy wasn't going to find an interesting story by tomorrow. Tired Luffy decides to just stop and sit on the bus bench.
A few minutes later, Sabo had approached Luffy.
"You looked troubled," Sabo said sitting next to him.
"Writing is troubling," Luffy said letting out a long sigh.
Sabo chuckled. He had other journalist friends that dealt with the same problem. Not every day of life was going to be interesting.
"You just need to relax," He says sliding down on the bench.
"How, this thing is due by Sunday," Luffy holds up the camera.
Sabo didn't say anything. He just stood up and took Luffy's hand, dragging him up with him. Luffy was even more perplexed when Sabo started walking to, well, wherever he was going.
"Where are we going?" He asks
"You'll see," Sabo didn't say anything but that and continued to haul Luffy with him
Luffy's face was filled with disappointment when they finally reached their destination. He was expecting something cool, but maybe Sabo thinks forest are cool.
"It's a forest! This is so amazing," Luffy says sarcastically.
Sabo rolled his eyes, "This isn't where we are stopping."
Luffy looked at him with a confused look. He watched as Sabo seperated the vines away from each other as if they were curtains.
Now this what Luffy was expecting. The place behind the vines was something extraordinary. There was a huge waterfall coming from the cliff in front of them and over it was a rainbow. There was also a huge lake and it was surrounded by the trees in the forest.
"Beautiful huh," Sabo says as he watched Luffy's expression.
"It is," Luffy says with he puts on a grin on his face.
"I like to come here when I want to relax," Sabo says as he sits on the ground closing his eyes.
Luffy didn't say anything. He just sat on the ground and relaxed. Then he started to get distracted by Sabo's face. Every time he stared at it he couldn't bypass the thought that his face was really soft. Seeing that Sabo's eyes were still closed Luffy slowly reached his hand out to touch Sabo's cheek. Sabo's eyes fluttered open as soon as Luffy's hand came in contact with his face.
"You're face is soft," Luffy says as Sabo looks his way.
Sabo's face turned completely red. He didn't expect something like that from Luffy. He was just so straight forward. Maybe that was one of the things he liked about Luffy.
"Thank you?"
A few minutes passed without the two saying anything to each other. Next thing they knew, they fell asleep. Luffy had unconsciously feel asleep on Sabo's shoulder, but Sabo allowed it.
They woke up to a sound of rustling coming from the bush in a far distance. Going to check it out they found a "dead" body in the bushes. Luffy's face turned pale when he saw who it was.
"Do you know this person?" Sabo asked giving Luffy a concerned look.
The body in the bushes was that of a male. He had blond hair, curly eye brows, and wore a suit. He had two bullets entered in his left arm and 3 on his body.
About to cry Luffy vigorously shook the body, "Sanji, Sanji, Sanji!"
Sabo watched as Luffy started crying. Who was this person to Luffy? Showing care he pulled Luffy into a hug calming him down. Luffy quickly pulled out his cell phone and dialed for help. As he stared at his injured friend, he just suddenly started getting angry. He was going to fucking find the person who did this.
~line break~
Sanji was able to get out of the hospital a day after the incident. There were times where Luffy would visit Sanji to make sure he was alright. During those days Sabo would get rather resentful.
Luffy and Sanji were currently drinking coffee at the park. They were talking about how long it's been since they've seen each other. 3 years ago Sanji had decided that he wanted to learn more about Japan's food style so he decided to travel there.
"I kind of find it hard you got a job as journalist," Sanji said chuckling.
Luffy lightly punched his arm, "Shut up! My friend Sabo helped me get it."
Speak of the devil. Sabo had just walked into the park and sat on the bench beside Luffy.
"Hey Sabo," Luffy says as he sat down.
"Yo," Sabo gives him a heads up.
The atmosphere between the three is unpleasant. It's probably because Sabo was there. Than it came to Luffy's attention that he hasn't fully introduced the two to each other.
"Sanji," Luffy gets up to face him, "this is Sabo. Sabo, this is Sanji."
Sanji and Sabo have a brief hand shake.
"It was a nice talking to you, but I have to go." Sanji says looking at his watch, "I have to get back to work."
Luffy waves goodbye at Sanji as he watches him leave.
"Who is he to you?" Sabo suddenly asks Luffy.
Luffy gives Sabo a weird look, "What?"
"Sanji, is he your friend or," Sabo says giving him subtle hints.
"He is my ex-boyfriend," Luffy says in a weird tone. "Why do you suddenly want to know?"
"Well it's just that you seemed really upset when you saw him in the bushes and you just suddenly start hanging out with him." Sabo explained.
Luffy starts to grow mad, "That's because he's my friend!"
"I'm sorry," Sabo says feeling bad for making Luffy upset.
"Yeah, whatever, I have to go," Luffy get's up and leaves without bothering to say bye.
~line break~
Sabo and Luffy haven't talked for two days. Sabo would try and have small talks with Luffy, but Luffy would just leave before he could approach him.
It was night and Sabo was heading towards a Bar. He was feeling stressed and wanted to cool of.
Sabo walks in and see's Luffy talking to the bartender, Zoro. He moves up to Luffy and sits next to him. Luffy looks at him, but doesn't say anything.
"What can I get you?" Zoro asks Sabo
Sabo orders a beer.
"You seem young to be drinking," Sabo says trying to have a conversation with Luffy.
Luckily for him Luffy respnded, "It's not alcoholic. Plus Zoro and I are good college buddies."
The conversation ends when Zoro hands Sabo his drink. The feeling in the air is awkward and Sabo is wishing he didn't come in here.
"Look, I'm sorry for how I've been acting," Luffy says suddenly.
Sabo looks at him surprised, "No don't be, I'm sorry for hating."
"It's ok," Luffy says blushing a little.
Sabo smiled at himself. He was glad that things were returning the way it was for the both of them.
The two sits there and just enjoys their drinks.
Sabo pulls out an envelope and gives it to Luffy.
"What is it?" Luffy asks looking at the envelope.
"Look inside," Sabo says.
Luffy cautiously pulls out a card from the envelope. It was a birthday invite from Koala. Inside the card were three guest tickets.
Luffy smiles and puts back the card in the envelope, "I will be there."
~line break~
Koala's party starts 3 hours later after work is over.
Sabo and Luffy were one of the firsts to arrive. Then three of their other friends. The place is soon packed and the party begins.
of course Luffy would be the first to head to the food table. Nami hits him on the back of his head telling him to save some for others.
Luffy introduces Sabo to his friends and Sabo introduces Luffy to his friends.
The party later gets hectic. There are some drunk bastards dancing around, people are fighting over food (mostly Luffy), and others are playing games like spin the bottle.
Everyone decides to calm down and play a nice game of truth or dare.
"What are we, kids?" Law asks rolling his eyes.
"If you don't want to play, you can leave," Koala says gesturing at the door.
Law doesn't say anything, he justs gives out a huff.
The game begins with Usopp getting a dare. Everyone had to dump Ice on his back, with his shirt off.
The game soon gets lively. There are some crazy dares given to some people. "Oohs and ahs" fill the room and secrets are being spilled. Like the fact Nami and Law recently started dating.
"Sabo, Truth or dare," Robin asks Sabo.
It takes him a while to decide, "Dare."
Robin smirks, "I dare you to kiss Luffy."
Sabo widened his eyes. He looked at Luffy nervously, he could see that Luffy was giving him the same look. The two of them were both blushing.
Soon people start chanting "do it" repeatedly as they waited for Sabo to kiss Luffy.
Tired of waiting, Usopp get's up and yells, "JUST DO IT!" He poses as if he is flexing his muscle.
Sabo decides to lean in and go for the kiss. Luffy eases into the kiss and both are surprised at how sweet their lips were. The kiss lasts for 10 seconds and Sabo slowly releases Luffy's lips.
Sabo and Luffy looks at each other and blush madly. There are some applauses from their friends and people whistling.
There is something weird inside of Luffy. It's a feeling that he's getting but it's not a new one. He would always have this feeling when he was around Sabo. His heart beating, there are butterflies in his stomach and there are times when he would suffer. Then Luffy starts realizing he's fallen in love with Sabo.
Luffy looks up at Sabo and smiles nervously. He was starting to wonder if maybe Sabo felt the same about him.
~line break~
It has been a week since Luffy and Sabo had talked about the kiss. Usually when someone would bring up the word, they would usually act awkward around each other.
Luffy couldn't lie though, Sabo was a pretty good kisser. He dreamt of having seconds. His dream kind of went a little to far.
Luffy met with Sabo on his way to work. Conversation between the two wasn't the same like it was before. It was getting hard for them to greet each other normally and Luffy hated it. Actually he was kind of fed up with the whole thing.
"Do you want to go on a date with me?" Luffy asks as the doors to the office building opens.
Luffy does it. He just asks the question like it's nothing, but it is something.
Sabo stops walking and stares at Luffy, "W-what did you say?"
"I sai-"
Sabo cuts him off, "I know what you said, I just... just.."
Sabo stops from there. He's too surprised to say anything. Well, surprised and also happy.
"So, do you want to," Luffy awaits for his answer.
Sabo smiles at him, "I'll be glad to."
Sabo is happy, both inside and out. He could tell that Luffy is happy by the way he just skips in the elevator.
Through out work, Sabo has been getting questions from his co-workers asking why he's so happy. In which Sabo responded, "I've got a date."
~.~
Sabo's stressing out, and he doesn't know why.
Sabo and Luffy had both planned a date for tonight. They decided on where there were going to go and what they were going to do.
Luffy is about to be here (Sabo's house) in five minutes and all of a sudden Sabo starts thinking. He starts questioning if this would last. Really he doesn't know why, and it's like a part of him is trying to prepare for that.
Sabo's doorbell had rang, surprising him a bit.
As he opened the door he was even more surprised to see how fantastic Luffy looked. Maybe it was because was standing directly under the moon. Making his hair shimmer and his eyes shine.
"You look great," Sabo said looking astonished.
Luffy blushed, "Really? I thought I looked pretty normal."
Sabo and Luffy went to an outdoor movie to see a funny movie. Luffy thought it was cute how Sabo would laugh so heartedly. They've been to other places such as the festival and an amusement park.
There final stop was at Sanji's restaurant.
"So, you two on a date," Sanji asked them as he collected their orders.
"Yeah," Sabo and Luffy say at the same time.
The dinner had started off an a good start (well kind of... not really). Everything was just so unsettling between the two. They spent time talking about how good the restaurant was and its utensils. They even complimented each other at least three times. It was just so hard for them to spark up a conversation. Things got even more problematic when Sabo tried to feed Luffy his food.
Weary of it all, the two decided that they should both just go home.
"I don't -" Sabo and Luffy both said at the same time
"You go first," Sabo said.
Luffy let out a sigh, "I don't think we should go on anymore dates. It's just that everything just gets so awkward, and it gets harder for us to talk to each other."
"It's ok, I agree with you," Sabo smiles a bit.
"Bye," Luffy gets on his tippy-toes and kisses Sabo on the cheeks.
They both wave good bye to each other and head home.
The next day, Luffy meets Sabo in the elevator at work, along with Koala.
"How did the date go," Koala asked looking at them excitedly.
"We've decided that we aren't going on any other dates," Sabo said giving her a disappointing look.
"Oh," that's the only thing she says.
"I'll see you guys later," Luffy waves goodbye at them both before getting off on the 4th floor.
The elevator is quiet and non of them say a word.
"You guys are really not going on any other dates?" Koala asked after the long silence.
Sabo sighs, "Yep."
Koala stares at Sabo intensely, making him uncomfortable. She couldn't believe that that was their first and final date. She thought that they would make a pretty good couple. Guess she was wrong.
"Do you still like him," Koala asks him as they got off at the 6th floor.
Sabo looks at her surprised. "Yes, I still do, but maybe we are better of as friends. Things were easier like that," Sabo smiles at himself.
Koala looks concerned. Not all first dates are going to be great, but if that's what they wanted. She kind of hoped the two of them wouldn't move on.
~line break~
For a month, Luffy and Sabo have been able to do what friends do. They would joke around, hang out, and prank each other. Everything has been back to normal with them. Sabo knows it's wrong but what makes him really happy is that Luffy is still single. He knows that they said they weren't going to go out anymore, but that didn't stop him from still liking Luffy.
Yeah, sure, Luffy was still single, but maybe not for long. During this week Luffy has been hanging out with the new co-worker, Cavendish. Sabo has actually caught a glimpse of him, and he couldn't lie. He did look pretty.
Luffy and Cavendish would hang out more often and the more they did Sabo would get jealous. He gets even more jealous when he hears that they've been on multiple dates.
"I've heard you and Cavendish are going out now," Sabo says suddenly.
Sabo is it at Luffy's house and their playing a game on the PS4.
"Yeah, he may talk more about himself, but he's a really great guy," Luffy smiles at him.
Sabo feels hurt inside. He's wishing that they would break up already. Not wanting Luffy to see that he's upset, he smiles back and lies, "You guys make a really good couple."
They don't say anything and they get back to playing their game.
The next day, Sabo is heading to work and he sees Cavendish hanging out with some guy with weird looking green hair. He's not wearing a shirt or anything, just a jacket. There is a tattoo on his chest though. Sabo's sees Cavendish getting closer to the strange man and they kiss.
Sabo wants to tell Luffy during work, but he just waits to do it after work.
"Luffy, can we talk?" Sabo asks him as they both leave out the building.
"Yeah, what is it," Luffy stops walking and waits for him to say something.
Sabo starts off by telling him that he shouldn't see Cavendish anymore. Luffy gets angered and asks why. He tells Luffy that he saw Cavendish kissing another man. Luffy yells at him saying that Sabo is just jealous.
Sabo admits it, he admits that he's jealous. He tells Luffy how he still likes him, and Luffy just pushes those feelings away. He thinks that Sabo is making all this up. He's being difficult.
"Yeah whatever, I have a date to go to," Luffy heads home, leaving Sabo alone.
~line break~
It's night and Luffy is heading over to Cavendish's house for their date. He rings the doorbell 3 times, but Cavendish doesn't answer. He's surprised to see that the door isn't at all locked at all. He knows it's not right to look around someone's house without permission, but he does it anyway. Luffy heads up stairs to Cavendish's bedroom, hoping that he'll see him there.
When he opens the door his heart is completely shattered. He sees Cavendish and a strange man having an affair. Cavendish tries to say something, but Luffy quickly runs away.
Luffy is now at the park, and he's sitting on the swings crying hard. What's bad is that it begins to rain really hard. He's not carrying an umbrella with him, and he's kind of surprised when he feels a cloth touching his head.
"Hey," Sabo says as he puts his jacket over Luffy's head.
Luffy doesn't bother to look up, he knows who it is and he starts feeling bad. He is surprised when Sabo pulls him up from the swings and puts him in an embracing hug.
A thought then comes to Luffy's mind. Something about this gesture isn't new to him. He remembers that Sabo did the samething the first time they met. He remembers that they were in the park and setting was just like this.
Then Luffy starts crying harder than before, and Sabo just let's him. Luffy realizes that he's been acting like a jerk, not Sabo.
"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. Sabo, I've been acting like a jerk to you, and you've always been trying to protect me," Luffy tries too keep talking, but his voice just cracks.
Sabo pulls away and he's smiling. He takes both his thumbs and wipes Luffy's tears, "Shh, It's ok. I'm not mad."
"B-but I hur-"
Sabo doesn't let Luffy finish his sentence. He just leans him and kisses the guy.
The kiss is passionate, and makes Luffy's heart skip a beat.
Sabo releases his lips from Luffy's and smiles at him. He then pulls Luffy back into a hug.
Luffy doesn't say anything. He could feel Sabo's heart beating rapidly, and it makes him blush. Luffy likes it like this. He likes it like this. He likes staying in this position with Sabo; it makes him feel so warm. It feels so right to be with Sabo like this. He should have never gone out with that Stupid Cavendish.
Luffy wraps his arms around Sabo, and tightens the hugs, "Sabo, I love you." Luffy smiles.
Sabo looks at Luffy and leans in for a kiss again. Sabo finds it cute how Luffy giggles.
Letting go, Sabo looks at Luffy romantically, "I love you too.
~The End~
Author's Note: Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you think.