Chapter 4: Don't Trust Me, Please!

Clair's PoV

"Uh...this is not what it looks like." The anxious words came rasping from my parched mouth, voice shaking horribly as Ed gave me the shocked glare of the century.

After a few moments, however, the anger dulled enough for me to see a mix of complex emotions behind those golden eyes. And as he spoke, his gaze began to show more certainty. "I had some doubt," he started, voice low, "but now I can see the truth. Give me your Philosopher's Stone!"

My head practically jerked backwards at the sudden question; I gave him a sharp look of bewilderment before breaking out laughing, which caused Ed's expression to turn to bafflement as well. I giggled, shaking my head. "Oh, Ed, geez. I'm sorry, but I don't have a Philosopher's Stone. If I did, I woulda gave it to you without hesitation. You deserve it more than anyone."

His eyes widened, now more suspicious. "But h-how is that possible?"

Al trumped over, having gotten up from where he'd been the middle of the street. "I'm with brother on this one," he half-agreed, voice hesitant. "It only makes sense if you have a Philosopher's Stone. You can't just randomly heal otherwise...can you?"

I sighed at the Elrics. Of course they would think that... I pinched my nose and rubbed my face in exhaustion before speaking; this situation felt wrong. "I understand... I-I don't know what to say." I bowed my head and sat down where I stood, which was a small log was conveniently placed, huddling my knees like a small child trying to beg forgiveness.

Ed and Al mumbled a few words to each other before glancing at me, like they both wanted to say something...

Suddenly, Ed strut over to me, ripping my mood necklace from my neck on what seemed like a daring impulse. I watched as he held it in his hands, the color beginning to alter to one I had never seen in all the time I had worn it: a radiant reddish-orange color, like a sunset dying below the horizon. "This isn't a Philosopher's Stone either, is it?" Ed asked suspiciously; I shook my head. "Damn! Where is it!?" Ed grabbed me and began searching fruitlessly inside my pockets. My face began to redden with uneasiness, knowing he wouldn't find anything; he stopped when nothing was found. "Aren't you going to help search, Al?" he growled, frustrated.

Al glanced between us briefly, then he sighed. "Brother, I don't think..." he trailed. "Well, I think there's something I need to tell you. Clair?" He looked at me, and I nodded obediently; he began to explain. "Do you remember when you left me and Clair on the front steps of Headquarters to speak with the Colonel?" Ed nodded carefully. "Well, Clair kind of...had a mental breakdown, and she told me what's been happening to her, why she can perform alchemy but not...be an alchemist."

"What? And you didn't tell me? Al!" Ed shouted sharply at his brother, but his irritation slowly died. He sighed and turned to me, still talking to Al. "I guess this explains why you were defending her so much. And why you weren't bothered by her alchemy..." He paused, then turned to Al. "So what did she tell you?"

Al began to explain the Pure Stone, telling about how it gave me my alchemic powers - he didn't say anything about my side of the Gate or Truth though because I hadn't had the time to tell him about it. I hadn't told him about how it could heal me, either, so that was why he'd been surprised.

I shouldn't have told him about the Pure Stone in the first place, really, but what else was I supposed to do in a nervous breakdown? Scream?

Ed sat beside me on the log while Alphonse explained, eyes darting between his brother and the ground. (Not surprisingly, some of the plants were dying from my alchemic catastrophe.) Ed didn't believe the explanation at first, but since it was his brother explaining it instead of me, he caught on a bit easier, and without asking too many questions. "So you've known Clair had this 'Pure Stone' thing for a week and never even thought of telling me?"

"I wanted to!" Al insisted. "I begged Clair for days to let me tell you, but she always refused me." He sighed.

I spoke up. "You shouldn't argue with him, anyways, Al. This is all my fault," I sniffled, scooting off the log so my back was facing Ed. "I found this the other day," I murmured and slipped my sapphire coat off, pulling the collar of my shirt down a bit to show the back of my right shoulder. On it was a small, blue circle with two infinity symbols interlocking across it; a cross hid behind a dove in the center. The dove's wing jut out from its body, showing the universal symbol for spirit, hope, and freedom. "I didn't have this before the Pure Stone came into my life." 'Or my stomach.'

I almost jumped when Edward touched it with his cold gloves, sending a shiver down my spine. The fangirl in me started leaping for joy, and I kept a secret smile secluded to myself as he touched my shoulder. I noticed it was his automail hand, too, and after feeling it for a few moments, I realized his arm didn't feel anything like how I'd imagined it; the metal was rougher to the touch. I thought this as he continued to move his scruffy stokes across my back, and for once the hustling beats in my chest weren't because of the Pure Stone.

"I've never read anything about this," Ed murmured, moving his hand away and turning his head to Al.

I let go of my dolphin shirt, tossing my cozy jacket over my shoulders to hide it from the chilly fall weather. Strangely, after telling them the truth, my stomach ache vanished. Maybe the Pure Stone wasn't causing it. Maybe it was...me?

"Yeah, me either," I agreed, turning my head. "So...are you still going to teach me? You might be the shortest guy I know, but I don't know anybody as strong as you mentally or physically."

"WHO YOU CALLING SHORT!" Ed blared, the glare from earlier returning.

"If brother doesn't want to teach you, then I will," Al chimed in, stepping forward so his brother wouldn't murder me. "It's not everyday we find someone like you. It would be a waste of potential to ignore, and you're nice, anyway." A genuine smile appeared on my face.

Ed gave Al a good long stare, an ugly look of disapproval etched across his face, before throwing his arms up. "Fine! I give. We'll train you. But first you need to fix what you've done."

"Fix?" I tilted my head in confusion for a moment, but then I realized what he meant; after looking at the dried, yellow grass and wilting flowers, I knew this was my fault. "Oh..." I breathed. "How do I fix it?"

"You're the one who stayed up late studying. Why don't you show me?" Ed smirked, obviously just testing me again. I noticed that my necklace still dangled from his hand. It remained its orange tint; Ed remained vexed at me.

"Okay!" I chirped, clapping my hands together. (Wait- Why did I do that?) Then, as I laid my hands against the circle, I tensed, afraid of what would happen. Don't blow up. Don't blow up. Don't blow up...! I chanted silently, squeezing my eyes shut tight. My mind flooded with ideas; some were explosions, others were more along the lines of making the water underground cooler so it wouldn't kill the plants. The latter happened; it sounded best after all. 'How extreme could it get, anyway?'

The dried up ground quickly became swampy, and the watery surface froze into a frigid, black ice. It spread a few yards in radius around me, touching Ed, Al, and some of the road. Suddenly, an old, black car raced by and got caught on the ice; it swerved to the side directed at the now-panicking Elrics. The man inside the vehicle was...Mustang? My mind raced; I had to fix this before he crashed!

"No!" I screamed, raising my hands to face each other. "Come on, I will do something right today!" I yelled in frustration. I didn't realize until after the fact, but both me and Ed clapped hands at the same time, pushing them down against the icy earth. Our alchemy intertwined then to create a mixed, nuclear catastrophe. The explosion burst my eardrums, throwing me back, rolling me down a slippery slope closer to town. I finally stopped when my head smacked into an elm tree beside the road.

"Ed. Al. Ow..." I groaned quietly, looking around for them. I felt a warm liquid dribbling down my lip as I sat against the tree. When I rubbed it with the back of my hand and brought it up to my face, I saw that it was covered in my blood - or, well, the strange pink stuff inside my body anyway. But I'm not healing... Why isn't my stone working...? I groaned again. This is what I get for relying on it so much... The blast must've knocked it out. Wait-

Finally pinpointing the source of pain, I glanced down at my leg; it had a broken piece of wood the size of a small chicken poking through and sticking out of both sides. Did that tree blow up? The stone seemed to have actually healed everything around the wound, but apparently it couldn't get rid of a stick. "What!" I cried, only now feeling the brunt of the pain. I grimaced. "...Damn. I have to pull it out before someone sees me!" I hollered in a frightful tone. My voice shook with the words, and I found myself grunting with the agony that filled me when I took hold of the branch. Though in pain, I didn't hesitate to yank it out in a swift motion, trying to hold onto my screams - but I wasn't able to. "AACH!" My voice cracked, and a few sparks danced across my leg before fading.

After the pain subsided and the blood on the side of my mouth began to dry, I closed my eyes, waiting for someone to come searching for me. I was too tired to move now.

There was a quiet rustling sound a moment later, and my eyes snapped open to find a little squirrel coming toward me. It stopped at my stomach. I smiled uncomfortably at the animal, trying to act warmly toward it. "Uh...hi?" The squirrel made a little chittering sound and threw multiple walnuts from its cheeks at my head one after another. "Ow. Ow. OW. What did I ever do to you?" I muttered at the creäture.

The squirrel shot its nose into the air and began to strut away, running up a nearby tree as soon as it reached it. So, so weird... Stupid squirrel, anyways.

Ten minutes passed after the grey squirrel left, and I thought of the brothers. Ed was probably dying to scream at me, and Al most likely would...understand me, a little at least. I needed to find them and Mustang to apologize.

What the heck was Mustang doing there, anyway?

I got up, finding my leg had healed, which still amazed me. I climbed to the top of the hill to find Mustang's car frozen in a glacier of ice in the middle of the road. The oak tree had been completely ripped to shreds by my recklessness. I sighed, shaking my head. "Of course. Every time I used this stone it's taken to the extremes. I should stop using it before it kills someone I care about..."

I thought that nobody was around me as I spoke, but a moment later found Al storming out of the bushes with sticks and tree limbs poking from his armor. "Clair," he started in a stern voice. "if you give up, then that Stone wins. Alchemy is what holds it together. You just need to utilize its power and use it to your advantage, otherwise...who knows what it could do?" Al's tone had been serious then, but it quickly turned nervous as he added, "Have you seen Ed?"

I gasped. "No! You haven't either?" My mind leaped to attention. If my leg was stabbed, who knows what happened to him? We frantically searched for his body through the weeds and across the road; we found him a few minutes later next to the other side of the street near a little cave-like place on a tiny hill, blood seeping out of his head...

Ed's PoV

Ed yelped as he was thrown across the road against his will. His whole body hurled into a stone wall; he almost feared his spine had cracked. His neck popped as his skull bashed against the wall in a whiplash. Blood poured from his head, but his heart kept a consistency of speeding up and down. Ed had felt worse pain in his life, but this time it was a girl a year younger than him that had caused it, without even meaning to. Pathetic...

"Brother! Are you okay?" came a concerning voice. 'Al.' Ed forced his eyes open in a squint to find his brother standing over him. He blinked, then noticed certain explosive maniac behind the suit of armor.

"Clair!" Edward roared, scrambling to his knees and scowling directly into her abnormal eyes. "Don't ever use alchemy again until we know what we're dealing with, alright?" Clair didn't say anything, so Ed growled, "Okay?" Her eyes widened drastically and she nodded. Ed nodded back and forced himself to stand up, wobbling from the head injury for only a moment before purposing his scowl. "Good. Now here." Ed threw her broken necklace on the ground; she instantly snatched it.

Ed began to stomp off then, but Clair rushed forward to stop him, holding up the necklace. "Can you fix it?"

The alchemist sighed and clapped his hands, almost instantly fixing the snapped chain. Clair's mouth hung open in amazement for a few moments, then she grinned. "Thank you."

"What's so special about this necklace, anyway?" Ed grumbled, handing it back to her.

"It's a mood necklace," Clair provided, fingering the emerald star. "Whatever the color it is, that's what your mood is. Since it's green, it shows that you're uncomfortable around me." She paused. "...I wouldn't blame you..."

Ed huffed. His mood was something he wanted to keep to himself, and that necklace would just show it? But, he realized, he wasn't doing a very good job of hiding his emotions with or without it. So, instead of being more mad at her, he just sighed, shoving his curiosity about how it worked to the back of his mind. He looked away. "Whatever."

"Um..." Clair started, "you need to fix something else, too." She pointed down the road to where the car was now trapped in a...giant glacier?

Ed's eyes widened. "What the hell? I don't remember doing that! See? This is why you're banned from using alchemy!" he repeated angrily. His eyes flickered at Alphonse as the suit of armor shifted back, and he could tell his brother didn't agree, but he also knew Al wouldn't protest.

They all made their way over to the car's driver-side window to find Mustang frozen inside the glacier, a slightly comical look upon his face. Ed almost laughed, but his irritable attitude made it come out as a growl. "Can't we just leave the bastard in there?"

Al's helmet lowered. "Ed."

"Fine," Edward grumbled in compliance, clapping his hands together. He pressed them against the nearest chunk of ice and it began to melt, eventually leaving a slightly rusted car on the side of the road as the liquid absorbed into the muddy ground.

The Colonel gasped, taking in a huge, greedy breath; the rest of his body fell limp on the steering wheel. But he was alive at least, so Ed didn't worry about his well-being, instead opting to reach through the open window and slap him on the back, a grin on the younger alchemist's face. "You should be glad I saved you, Colonel. Now you owe me."

Mustang gave him a dirty look, but Ed didn't care. The older man, voice rough from being frozen, growled, "Fullmetal, what the hell are teaching this girl? I thought I would come check on you, but it looks like you need a better handle on the situation." He paused, sighed, and slumped his head against the steering wheel in exasperation. "I can't believe the Fuehrer gave you this position in the first place," he groaned, some desperation straining his voice. Ed noticed his breathing was getting a bit steadier, though.

"No, no, no," Al waved his hands. "I promise you, Colonel, we're doing fine. It was just a little accident."

Clair stepped in nervously. "I'm really, really sorry for freezing you. Please for give me; it's hard to get the whole alchemy concept right now." The girl gave a shy smirk-like smile and bit her lip anxiously.

The man sighed and tightened his grip on the steering wheel, apparently still perturbed by his frozen experience. ('Heh-heh.') "Well, I hope you can get the hang of it soon, otherwise I'm going to have to do something about you." He glared, then frowned at the dashboard. "Maybe the Fuehrer is actually on something, though. You might know next to nothing about alchemy, but how you have so much power regardless..." the Colonel trailed off thoughtfully, then he looked at them again. "How about I give you a ride back to town? I think you've all had enough training for one day."

They all agreed and piled into the car. Ed got the front seat, while Clair and Al got the back; supposedly, he didn't ride in the front seat of Hawkeye's car before because she still considered Ed a kid. But Mustang knew he was a child too, and Ed knew that he did - though it pissed him off a bit - so he was just polite enough to let the other two have some elbow room this time.

Everyone remained mute until they made it back to Tucker's house. When they arrived, before Ed could get out of the car to follow the others inside, Mustang grabbed his arm. "Listen," he started sternly. "I'm not trying to act like Hughes, but I'm not a stranger, Fullmetal. If there's something...wrong with that girl, then tell me." He narrowed his eyes. "I know she's different."

Ed broke out of the Colonel's grip, muttering irritably. "She's perfectly normal, Colonel - apart from her habit of blowing things up. But we'll fix that." He smirked to hide the lie, then, that being said, he headed inside, effectively cutting off anything Colonel Bastard might've had to say. When he reached the doorway, he glanced back and watched as the car drove away from the Tucker residence.

After that ordeal, Ed, Al and Clair sat in the library for days doing research. Once and a while Ed would glance over Clair's shoulder to see what she was studying; usually it was either math or chemicals related to a pure element on the periodic table. However, none of it was about the Pure Stone. Of course, if Ed hadn't heard about the Pure Stone from his own research, she probably wouldn't find anything either, so he never really expected it...

Still, somehow, deep inside his gut, he felt glad that Clair wanted to learn.

"Hey!" Clair shouted a few days into it, jumping up from her cross-legged position on the floor. She held up a book. "It says something about the Philosopher's Stone!"

The Elrics came running as though all their hopes and dreams were being answered... But then they got there and Ed narrowed his eyes at the paper. "This says the 'Philosophy of Sulfur'."

"Oh," Clair deadpanned. Then she scowled. "Well, screw this!" She threw her book on the floor in frustration. "I've staring at these words for too long. I give up. I'll never learn all this in a month for that stupid test!" She stopped ranting to yawn, her eyes falling half-closed. She was obviously tired, but Ed went and slapped Clair on the back of her head. "Ow," she winced, glaring at him confusedly. "What was that for?"

"For giving up," Ed growled. "It took Al and me years to learn alchemy, but we never gave up in the face of a lit-"

"You guys are prodigies!" Clair yelled, her voice shaking. Then it mellowed, "I'm not. I'm not you guys, I'm not a prodigy." Ed glanced over and caught Al's glowing gaze; they really couldn't sympathize with her. "Look," she continued. "I'm sorry. I'm smart, but not this smart. "

"How about we test you?" Al suggested quickly, a smile hiding behind his soft, soul eyes. Ed could tell he was desperate to help.

Clair hesitated, uncertain, then she nodded. "I'm okay with that idea. As long as it's an actual test instead of, you know...using my Pure Stone." Clair rolled her eyes at her own words, suggesting the absurdity notion. Ed's eye twitched at the term 'Pure Stone.' "Of course you wouldn't let me do that after last time..." she corrected, apparently noticing this.

And so, an hour later, Ed gave Clair a non-multiple choice test filled with response questions and tested heavily on alchemy technics and strategy. He would have finished sooner, but he wanted to make the test like the Alchemy Exam; also, he wanted to understand Clair's thoughts on different equations, so he was extra careful i wording the problems.

It took her a while to complete the test, much longer than the time the examiners would've given her. This worried Ed just a bit, but he decided she would get better with time.

When Clair turned it in for Ed to grade, he was quite surprised to find that Clair was...right. At least with most of it. He reluctantly showed her the paper with a grade written at the top: 58% She'd gotten little less than half of them wrong. Clair almost cried as she looked at the paper. "I-I can't believe it. I've never gotten anything worse than a 76% in my life! Especially on an exam! I'm an A student!"

Al sat beside Clair to comfort her, but Ed didn't really see why she needed it; she just needed to study more. It wasn't like it was the end of the world. "It's okay," Al spoke softly to her. "Alchemy isn't something anyone can master without years of experience."

Or seeing the Truth... Ed thought to himself. But this girl hasn't seen Truth... Still not possible.

"But..." Clair sniffled, tilting her head up at Edward with an honest frown. "I either pass this test or I'm kicked out of the country. That's what the Fuehrer told me, anyways." She looked down with a sad sigh.

Ed's eyes widened. "What? Why the heck would he kick you out of the country?"

Clair shrugged. "Anyway, I should get back to studying." Her frown abruptly turned upside-down as she picked up a random book beside her. Her optimistic personality astounded, and slightly bothered, Ed. "How about I take the test again in a week to see how much I've improved?"

"Sounds great!" Al chimed and started helping her study. Ed stood off to the side and leaned on a bookshelf, thinking about how much this girl might get involved in their lives. If she passed the test, would he still have to protect her? I hope not...Then I'll be stuck with her, and I won't be able to research the Philosopher's Stone.

Ed soon went to bed in his guest room while the other two stayed up late studying. He needed shut-eye for the days ahead of him; who knew what would come next with this girl? He hoped he wouldn't have to deal with her for long.

Ed's eyes shot open. 'NO!' He gasped heavily and, sweating profoundly, he shot up, eyes darting around the room as he thought fearfully of his mother, the Pure Stone stuck in the back of his mind...

But he soon realized he was just in the guest bedroom. He let out a remorseful sigh of relief, leaning back. "It was just a dream."

Once he'd recovered from that, the alchemist noticed there were noises outside his window, like playing and laughter. Curious, the boy moved his curtains out of the way and watched as Al and Clair ran around outside with Nina and Alexander at their heels. Snow covered the landscape, crystallized trees, dripping icicles, and snow drifts scattered around beautifully. He accidentally caught Clair's blue and green eyes then and smirked, shaking his head at...well, something. He decided to get up.

But then, as Ed began towards the door to get breakfast, something cold hit his ear. He froze where he stood, unmoving as the cold numbed his face. A moment later, he glanced over at the window and saw that half a snowball was stick to the screen; some of it had sprayed through, hitting him. Clair stood outside with her tongue sticking out. "I bet you can't touch this!" she shouted childishly.

Ed smirked, the childish demeanor catching on. "You're gonna pay for that!"

"Oh, shit," Ed heard Clair mutter. Laughing, he ran and threw on his coat and gloves before rushing outside to greet her.

As soon as Ed went outside, freezing stiff from the chilly air. His jacket wasn't helping in the slightest. Clair took cover in a fort that blended in with the silvery snow. The only reason Ed could see the fort was because his brother wasn't much of a hider in his armor. "C'mon!" he shouted. "This isn't a fair fight when you're hiding from me."

His eyes squinted, trying to see clearly in the snow. Then he felt something pulling on his jacket. "Don't hurt them, little brother," Nina begged. "They're our friends." His nostrils flustered at the insult, but he couldn't stay mad at Nina.

"You can be on my team," Ed looked down at her and grinned. "Don't worry, it's just a game." A moment later the girl nodded and smiled, then picked up a snowball and threw weakly it at the fort. Now that the girl is on my side, they'll have no choice but to be gentle with their attacks. I've already won, he thought evilly.

Within five minutes, the other team was sent running across the yard from Ed's alchemically created snow cannon. Their fort held up for only three minutes. New Record for Ed! Al and Clair soon left separate paths; Clair went around one corner of the building, and Al went around the other...

Clair's PoV

Why did I throw a snowball at Ed? I wanted Ed to have fun, but this wasn't what I'd planned! I didn't want to get killed in the process! I leaped through the snow, almost slipping on the icy surface. I heard Ed's footsteps as he came closer me, stomping widely, ripping up the snow with his boots. I glanced back and saw that his jacket jutted out epically, blown dramatically by the wind like in a Hollywood movie, although I couldn't say the same about his height. As he strutted closer and closer toward me, my heart skipped a few beats, while my breath became tight. My lips started to become chapped from the wind, and I thought again, Why did I have to throw a snowball at Ed?

As the thoughts dashed across my mind, I thought of my home life. This was exactly like what happened with my brother, except he was always the one who hit me first. I usually just gave up within five minutes because I knew he never would.

My hands stiffened in my gloves as I held them up to my face. I fell to my knees, suddenly feeling very much in danger, and begged for the Pure Stone to get me out of this havoc. If Ed could use alchemy to create snow weapons, why couldn't I? Impulsively, I pressed my shaking hands together and let them hit the white snow; millions of bright blue sparks appeared. Then, when they vanished, I slowly bent my head up to see a real-sized snow-horse...staring at me. Wha... What? How's this supposed to help me?!

Unexpectedly, the horse opened its eyes and neighed at me. The eyes inside were a crystalline glowing light, kind of like Al's. I frowned, deciding this must be some kind of snow weapon, and randomly thought, As long as you don't act like that idiot squirrel everything will work out, okay? The animated horse starting spazzing out uncontrollably. Okay, never mind that, just don't hit me! I fell back in the snow, gaping at the thing.

When Ed got there, he wasn't exactly my knight in shining armor. "What the hell is this?" he shouted."I told you not to perform alchemy!"

"I-I don't know!" my eyes flitted between him and the horse. Anyone who saw us or the horse probably thought we were crazy. Then I realized that Nina stood by Edward, moving closer to the horse... I yelped, "No! Don't touch it!"

Nina poked it in the leg before I could stop her; the horse rose up on its hind legs and whinnied, scaring the poor girl to death. "AH!" she screeched and ran behind Ed, crying, "Bad horsie, bad!"

Ed's golden eyes landed at me, more furious than a predator unable to capture its prey. "Get Nina outta here," he ordered. "and tell Al that I need him."

I nodded almost before he was done talking, grabbing Nina's purple gloved hand and yelling Alphonse's name as I ran back toward the house. Al came over; I paused by him. "No time to waste. Ed needs you. Go!" I shouted at him and led Nina inside. Tucker, who had apparently rushed to the door from the screaming, took his daughter out of my hands, smirking.

His grin looked almost evil, and he spoke to me in a desolate tone; it shimmered with a shadowed laugh behind his eyes. "Did you transmute that horse's soul into an empty shell?" My eyes darted around the room to avoid his. What? I didn't say anything, so he hummed, "Hm, I thought so. I may need you to help me with my Chimera Project."

Dun, dun, dunnnn... Is Tucker going to turn her into a Chimera? Or will the Pure Stone save her? Or will something else happen? If you know me at all, probably something completely different.

Nobody did that creative writing thing, so I've decided to do something else instead. Any ideas? Oh! If you have any ideas, any what-so-ever, tell me. Anything from throwing a brownie at Ed's head to, I don't know..., maybe an alchemist name. (Not for me, just in general.) I'm the Sapphire Alchemist, anyways! XP

Question of the Chapter: In general, do you like romance? If so, do like the kind of romance where two people kiss and slam against walls often, hehe, or the fluffy stuff, like going on a date and saving each others lives for each other?

Review! And please don't be that one person that has read everything up to here, but has never reviewed, favorited, or followed. I love talking to you guys and I'll always PM you right away or, if you don't have an account, I'll talk to you in the chapter. Anyways, love ya! *winks* Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday! Soon Cyber Monday, too!