Chapter 3: "What time is it…?"

Akiba Aoyama was tired… and pissed. He grit his teeth in frustration as his feet carried him swiftly and silently through the deep woods. The sunrise had brought with it the empty promise of warmth, and had ruthlessly reneged, leaving him muttering curses about the harsh winter chill of New England. He'd be more than happy to return to the Nevada desert heat when he finished his mission. That thought made him furrow his eyebrows in a regretful moment. "Junko…," he muttered.

"Hm? What was that…?"

His thoughts snapped back to the present moment, and he focused on his Weapon partner's voice in his head. "Oh… my apologies, Anna…. I was just thinking…."

His partner, a heavy leather gauntlet with tiny iron platelets at the knuckles, named Anna Tenniel, nodded. "…About your sister?" His partner spoke with a gentle tone. She knew that he had to be experiencing some inner turmoil. That's why she couldn't for the life of her understand the logic behind Lord Death's order that it be him, of all people, to come out here and make the arrest…. Sure, Akiba was strong, one of the strongest two-star Meisters at the Academy…. But, to send him out to arrest his own sister…? Not that Akiba would ever question the orders of Lord Death…. His family was originally from Japan; he had been sent to America to study at the DWMA under the direct supervision of the Reaper, at the request of his father, a teacher at the East Asian branch. He had been raised with one tenet stressed above all others: the order of Lord Death was absolute, and was to be obeyed and carried out at all costs. He'd more than proven his loyalty on mission after mission….

She was going to ask him a question, but he suddenly stopped, narrowing his eyes and lifting his head. She knew he was sharpening his senses, and she was often surprised at the most subtle sounds and scents that he was able to detect when he stood still, until he almost disappeared into the background. He sniffed, then curled his lip. "Someone's close," he whispered, and she could sense him go immediately on-edge. She also tensed in her weapon form, reaching out and connecting her soul wavelength with his. It was almost second nature, and she felt his stronger wavelength rush into and instantly begin to resonate with hers.

"Is it a-?"

"Not sure…. Doesn't feel like a Witch, but there does seem to be a touch of madness to the wavelength…. We'll have to get closer. Stay sharp, and stay quiet." She nodded, taking no offense to his orders. She respected him far too much as her Meister to argue.

Akiba moved with ghostlike silence, his feet barely whispering even in the thick blanket of snow, as they approached their quarry. She felt his hand grow taut into a fist, and then he leapt out from behind a tree with a liquid speed that his size belied. She gasped, and they said together,

"Theo…!" "Theophilius!"

Curled up under a gnarled section of tree roots and shivering wildly, was the DWMA Weapon known as Theophilius Carter, usually known as "Theo" by his friends. He was known for taking the form of an ornate fencing sword, which his partner, Tetsuo Fujawari, used with precise lethality.

Theo had a bit of a reputation for being a class clown, a layabout, and a nonconformist… which was exactly why Anna had no difficulty seeing him as being the type to break the DWMA's new law against engaging in combat with Witches. Granted, that law had drawn a great deal of ire and indignation, but with a Meister like Akiba, Anna's position on it had never been in doubt. What the pair saw before them, though, barely resembled the easygoing Weapon they had known at the Academy; it barely resembled anything human.

Eyes glazed over in shock and near-madness looked out, unseeing. His hair was a ruffled mess, and full of twigs, dirt, and insects. His clothes were soiled in what Anna hoped, but didn't believe based on the smell, was mud…. His clothes were in tatters, and his teeth chattered noisily. While Anna covered her mouth from within her weapon form, Akiba warily approached, his head swiveling about on his neck as he constantly kept vigilant for approaching threats.

"Theophilius… Theo!" Akiba hissed. "What happened…? Where is Tetsuo? Where is… where are the others?" Anna winced when her partner could not bring himself to utter his sister's name. She supposed he was still reeling from the idea… that his sister was now an outlaw and a criminal in the eyes of Lord Death.

Theo's pinpoint pupils started dancing from left to right, focusing on nothing, both missing and noticing nothing. He shuddered, and Anna realized he was silently chortling. Despite his criminal status, her heart went out to her fellow Weapon student. "Theo…."

Finally, his lips started to move, and his voice was soft and brittle, like dry twigs being rubbed together. "Dead… all dead. Killed by… by them."

Akiba's face became like stone, and Anna's stomach turned leaden. Akiba's voice was quiet and each syllable was strained. "What do you mean…? Where are… where is Junko, Theo? Where is… where is my sister?"

Theo's madly dancing eyes finally sharpened and focused on Akiba's face. Tears immediately welled up in the corners of his eyes. "…Akiba…." He shuddered, and closed his eyes as the tears started to fall. "I'm… I'm so sorry, Akiba…. They… they…." He drew in a shuddering breath. "They ate her. A-a-ate… your sister."

Anna's heart wrenched, and her weapon form dematerialized from his right forearm and she reappeared in human form next to him, catching hold of his shoulders when he suddenly stumbled forward and almost to his knees. She turned from his miserable expression to Theo's twisted visage, and spoke harshly. "Who…? Theo… who ate Akiba's sister? Were they Witches?! Answer me, Theo!"

Theo lifted his torso upright, leaning back on the tree with his face slack. He looked upwards, at the bare branches atop the tall trees surrounding them. "It was… they were… Witches…? Yes, and no…. More like… those who should not be… anymore."

Anna gently released Akiba, now back steady on his feet, and stalked over to Theo, grabbing him roughly by the collar and lifting him to eye-level as she snarled in his face, "God dammit, Theo! Start making some sense! Was it the Witches? Did the Witches you fought kill them? Was it someone else? Are they still in the area? Speak!"

Theo gasped, but then started laughing. Softly at first, then with increasing volume. Finally, his face went slack again, and he hiccupped. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "It wasn't them…. No, these ones came after…. It was the ones who came after…. Not human…. Never even saw them coming…. Never… never…. Say… what time is it…?"

Anna was so taken aback that she almost dropped him. "…What?"

His eyes shone. "I asked you… for the time…."

She chanced a quick look up at the sun, and took note of the shadows on the ground and where the moss on the trees grew. "I'd say… about six o'clock."

His eyes danced with unvoiced laughter. "I see…. I see…. You don't know it, but it was six o'clock when I found this place… six o'clock when they struck and killed everyone… six o'clock that I'm found again…. In this place," he muttered as he brought his hands up and grasped her wrists, startling her into dropping him again, whereupon he fell back onto his posterior, "it's… it's always six o'clock." This threw him into another hopeless laughing fit, and he didn't quiet back down for a long time….

It was slow-going getting Theophilius back to the Academy in Death City, Nevada. Akiba had been silent, but inconsolable. He refused most of his food and water, and rarely spoke, if at all. He had dug graves for Theo's Meister, Tetsuo, and Junko's Weapon partners, Fu Tao and Shuang Gou, with his bare hands, not voicing any pain when blisters formed and exploded and his fingernails split in the process. For Junko, he had erected a makeshift funeral pyre, and burned what little there was left of her body, praying silently the entire time until there was naught left but ash and cinders.

Anna for her part wondered whether her sanity would remain after the trek. Between Akiba's cold silent stare and Theo's ravings, she felt like her mental well-being was dangling at the razor's edge. When she finally beheld the sight of Death City, she swore nothing had ever seemed like such a welcome sight.

Their report was befuddled, at best. What little information they had could hardly be called concrete evidence: a few partially-washed away footprints, the description of the nature of the dead's wounds, and the ravings of a madman. No one, not even Lord Death, had been able to make sense of his rambling. Eventually, Theo was hauled off to a maximum security wing of the DWMA's prison, in a straitjacket and ankle shackles. Akiba had stalked off without a word as soon as Lord Death had dismissed him, and Anna's attempt to follow him had proven futile when he'd decided to leave her behind. Anna felt helpless, and was completely unable to abide by Lord Death's order to her and Akiba: Tell no one of this. Isolated and heartbroken, she didn't last the night before she confessed to a confidant.

Word spread like wildfire through a dry bush. Rumors quickly reached every ear that Mabaa's execution squad had murdered DWMA students who had broached the new anti-combat law, in clear violation of the terms of the young treaty. Tensions mounted to near-breaking point in a matter of days, and without clear direction from Lord Death or DWMA professors, a sentiment of hostility took sway among the citizens of Death City, and whisperings of secret militarization followed soon after.

Maka walked through the halls of the Academy, slowly making her way to a dorm room. She caught herself midway through the motions of knocking on the door, and seemed to hesitate. Finally, she lowered her eyebrows, her expression one of strict determination, and she let her knuckles rap on the door three times before she turned the knob and walked in.

Soul was lying on the couch, his mouth worrying at a thin straw as he contemplated the ceiling. His eyes shot over to the door, and to the intruder of his peace and quiet, and his expression softened a notch when he realized it was her. "Yo…. You're late." Maka gave a noncommittal grunt, to which Soul raised an eyebrow. "S'not like a goodie-two-shoes like you to be late for curfew; any longer and I'd have had to go looking for you."

Maka shot him a dull look. "If you'd done that, you would have been violating curfew, too. Don't worry about me so much and try minding your own business."

Soul snorted and leaned back to rest his head on the arm of the couch with a contented grin. It quickly faded as he seemed to reflect on something. "Things are getting pretty weird out there…. All everyone seems to be talking about is this stuff that went down in New England. They're saying it was some Witch Execution Squad or whatever, that the old lady Mabaa was secretly behind it, and that Lord Death needs to re-declare war on all the Witches…."

Maka sighed and plopped down on the sofa opposite the one Soul occupied, pulling out a book and turning to a dog-eared page. She didn't seem too intent on reading it, however, and Soul continued.

"Kid's been MIA for two days now; not even Liz and Patti know where he's been, which is all kinds of suspicious…. And Black Star just keeps spouting off nonsense about how trivial matters like this are beneath gods like him, which when you think about it is pretty par for the course for him…. The only thing more suspicious is the way the teachers are behaving, acting like everything's hunky-dory and that nothing's out of the ordinary at all…."

Maka closed her book and leaned back, giving Soul an irritated glare. "Is all this supposed to have a point?"

Soul grunted as he sat up, crossing his legs beneath him. "C'mon, Maka. You have to admit, it's just a little too weird. You have to have some kind of opinion about this…."

Maka closed her eyes, recalling a conversation she'd had with Professor Stein the day prior….

(She'd met him at his regular spot, on a balcony on the upper levels of the Academy, absentmindedly smoking a cigarette while looking out at Death City sprawling below him. She'd come to him, of course, as she always did when troubled. He'd turned and looked at her, his eyes distant, cold and hard. That look… she hadn't seen that look in his eyes in a long time. Not since they had been underneath the Academy, and were facing off with Medusa in their ill-fated attempt to prevent her from reviving the Kishin with black blood. The way he'd looked at her, eyes steely and bitter, lips pursed together, a calculated hate… that was the expression that she suddenly found turned on her….

And then, as soon as she'd seen the look, comprehended it, it was gone… replaced with Stein's cheerful mask of a smile. "I'm sorry, Maka; I must have been off in my own little world again. Did you want to ask me something?"

She couldn't… couldn't gather up the nerve to ask again. So… you're in on it, too…? Professor Stein… what is it? What is it that you won't tell us…? She dismissed her thoughts with a wave of her hand, and softly laughed nervously before saying out loud, "Oh, it's really nothing, Professor Stein…. I just remembered the answer myself; it was just a question about your lecture in class this morning. I'll… I'll be going, now.")

She opened her eyes, and regarded Soul. "Nothing…," she whispered.

Soul perked up and leaned towards her, turning his head so that his ear was directed at her. "Huh? Come again?"

She tsk-ed. "I said it's nothing. I don't have an opinion on anything, and I don't know what you're talking about, besides. If something were going on, the teachers, or Lord Death himself, would tell us about it. The students are just making stuff up to amuse themselves since it's been so quiet lately. They should keep that kind of rumor-milling to themselves. So should you."

Soul was unable to restrain himself from jumping up to his feet. "That's a load of bull, Maka! You're not some dumb sheep, and you don't get to go through life with blinders on all the time! Take a look around; people are sneaking out and having secret meetings, there's talk of setting up ambushes against Witches, and suddenly orders come down from the top that there's a new curfew, and violators will be punished harshly, up to and including total expulsion from the Academy…! All the while the teachers tell us that nothing's wrong, and just pile on the homework like crazy, like they don't want us to have any time to think about anything else…. It practically reeks of a cover-up, you know. Not to mention, that two-star Meister Akiba Aoyama and his partner Anna Tenniel just suddenly up and vanish… the two who just happened to be the ones who were sent to investigate the fight between the renegade DWMA students and Witches…? It's plain as day… something big went down, and mum's the word from the chain of command." He bit down on his thumbnail, his eyebrows drawn down over the bridge of his nose.

Maka eyed him irritably. "A lot of big talk, coming from somebody who up until a few days ago couldn't wait to be in that chain of command…."

Soul's expression became indignant. "Wha-? What the hell has been your problem this past week? Huh, Maka? You've been biting my head off every other word I say, lately! We're supposed to be partners, you know!"

Maka flinched, and her composure slowly started to crumble. She looked at Soul with a hurt expression. "I do…. I do know it. But lately, I feel like you don't even care about that. You've been moping around here, totally lost in your self-pity and depression…. It's like you can't stand the reality that you're stuck with me as your partner! It's like you'd rather be anywhere… anywhere else than here with me!"

Soul was thunderstruck. All he could do was sit on the edge of the couch cushion and gape at her, not knowing where to start. She looked down at him, and her expression of hurt became one of anger; Soul couldn't tell if she was angrier at him or at herself, but he could guess. "Maka… wait."

She recoiled away from him, took a seething breath in, and turned away, stalking to her room and slamming the door behind her, leaving Soul alone in the living room, dazed and confused. He looked at her bedroom door for a long time, and finally ran both hands through his hair exaggeratedly. Sighing, he steeled himself for what he was sure would be quite the reaction, and stood up and slowly made his way over to her bedroom door. As gently as he could, he pressed his ear to the door, listening intently. Inwardly, he heaved a sigh of relief. Well, at least she's not crying…. He rapped the middle knuckle of his curled index finger against the door. "Maka… I'm coming in."

"Don't you dare," growled a low warning from the other side.

He closed his eyes and sighed again. Yup, this is really going to hurt…. He wrapped his hand around the doorknob and turned, stepping in as he ducked just in time for a hardback copy of the novel War and Peace to go whizzing through the air his head had just occupied. His crimson eyes followed its trajectory. "War and Peace, huh? You're not messing around." He swept his hand through the air, knocking away another hardback novel, this one the unabridged version of Moby Dick, right before it would have connected with his face right between the eyes. As he continued moving towards Maka in the far corner of the room, he dodged and blocked copies of Atlas Shrugged, A Tale of Two Cities, and The Divine Comedy.

Finally, he huffed and caught Maka's arm by the wrist in mid-throw, and a leather-bound edition of Gai-Jin tumbled out of her grip. Her eyes burned into Soul's with an intense defiance at which he might have been taken aback had he not seen that look a hundred times before…. He met her gaze evenly, and let a moment pass before he started to speak. "Maka… I'm sorry. I didn't know that's how you were feeling, but there's a lot more to what's been running through my mind than you know…. I should have thought more… about how my actions would make you feel. And, and I can't stress this enough… and there's no one… I'd rather be partners with. I told you once before, a long time ago… you are by far… the craziest, most stubborn, and coolest Meister I've ever met. And I… I'm proud to be your partner. I'm proud to protect you. I promise…," his eyes never leaving hers, he took her hand and pulled it down and underneath his shirt, finally laying it to rest on the scar running diagonally down his torso, "I will always remember the words I thought, and the feelings I felt, when I got this scar for you…. And I will always live by them."

Maka's eyes were large, and her cheeks were lightly flushed, both at the sincerity of Soul's voice and the words he spoke, and at the feel of his bare skin under her fingers. She almost gasped, but caught it and kept it tightly inside. She marveled at herself for a moment…. She had almost… almost… started to think about Soul in a completely foreign and undoubtedly dangerous way… like a seventeen-year-old girl would about a seventeen-year-old boy. She pulled her hand downwards, but Soul's grip on it was like a vice. She looked up at his face and noticed a sharpness to his expression. "Soul…. You're… too close."

Her eyes were caught and held by his, and he took a half step closer to her. "Am I…?"

Warning bells were screaming in her head, but seemed to be coming from miles away and growing ever more distant. Her free hand rose and grabbed hold of the sleeve of Soul's long-sleeved yellow t-shirt. "I can… smell you…."

One of Soul's eyebrows rose. "Oh…? Do I… smell funny, or something?"

Maka's cheeks flushed a deeper red. "No… it's…. You smell good…."

Soul's eyes widened and he stepped closer, driving Maka's back into the corner of the wall. She swallowed a growing lump in her throat, and chanced a look into his eyes again. He lifted both his arms and placed his hands flat against the wall at either side of Maka's head as he leaned in….

…and Maka's cell phone started shrilling from her desk at the opposite end of the room. Soul's eyes shot wide open, and his heart skipped a beat in surprise, his head snapping around towards the source of the sound. Maka used the distraction to duck under Soul's arm and escape that intoxicating aroma, and beat a hasty retreat over to the desk, picking up the phone and flipping it open to press the 'Talk' button. She cleared her throat, willing her heartbeat and her voice to stabilize. Finally, she said, a little too loudly and pointedly, "Hello? This is Maka…. Kid…? Where have you been all this time? Liz and Patti have…. What?" She sighed loudly with an exasperated expression. "I can't right now, I'm doing homework and Soul and I…." She looked at Soul, who seemed to be unable to meet her gaze at the moment. She closed her eyes and breathed out through her nose. "Actually, never mind about that. I'll be there right away – what? Soul, too? …Does he have to…?" She groaned. "Fine, fine…. We'll have to sneak out… yeah, the curfew…. All right, already! We'll be there as soon as we can." She clicked her phone off and gave Soul a look that brooked no argument. "We're going out." Soul's eyebrows went up questioningly, and she turned beet red when she realized what she'd just said. Shaking her head violently, she stammered, "…Outside, not…. Just shut up." She grabbed her coat and walked out, leaving Soul speechless for the second time that night.

(One day earlier)

Lord Death stood in front of his full-size mirror, his blank visage staring through it and at the image of a very uncomfortable-looking Sid Barrett. He sighed; he hated repeating himself.

"That's right, Sid; you're going to New England. I need you to conduct a full-scale investigation of the… the murder scene."

Sid's face, decayed though it was, still managed to convey his lack of enthusiasm at the task. "But, Lord Death…. Surely Akiba Aoyama and Anna Tenniel's report should have been sufficient to-"

Lord Death held up a hand, cutting Sid off. "The report of a Weapon girl in shock and a grieving Meister, skilled as they may be, and the testimony of Theophilius Carter are nowhere near substantial enough to warrant any kind of decision on the part of the DWMA. At least, it's not even enough to justify even considering retaliation against the Witches or Mabaa… though, to be honest, it's not so little as to allow us to totally ignore the possibility of the worst-case scenario, either."

Sid was quiet for a moment, to make sure Lord Death had finished speaking. "And by 'worst-case scenario,' you mean…?"

The Reaper's voice darkened. "That isn't something that even you should be saying out loud, Meister."

If Sid had the capacity to feel a glimmer of fear, he imagined that's how he'd feel at that tone. "I understand, Lord Death. When do you want my report?"

Lord Death considered for a moment. "I'll expect a full report within three days' time. Obviously, the usual also applies; if you find anything of significance, notify me immediately."

Sid nodded. "Very well, Lord Death. I'll leave right away."

The Reaper nodded, and the mirror shimmered, and then there was only his own reflection to look back at him. From behind him, Azusa spoke, "Lord Death, I'm still not sure why you wouldn't send me to go with him…. My abilities would be most useful to Sid during his investigation."

Lord Death turned to face her. "True," he mused, nodding, "but I have another far more important task for you to focus on at the moment."

The Death Scythe adjusted her glasses so that her eyes were visible from behind the glare off the lenses. "Yes, sir?"

Lord Death glided over to his table and plopped down onto one of the cushions around it, picked up a cup of tea in his comically oversized hands, and took a long, slow sip before setting it back down. "I need you to leak the information surrounding this case into commonly-hacked unofficial information channels. Specifically, I want the details of the students' deaths, Carter's capture and testimony, and the location of his holding cell released. Also, I'd like the information to include Sid's investigation at the scene of the battle."

Azusa was dumbfounded, and her jaw dropped. "S-s-sir! Are you serious?! Not only is that information highly classified and related to a still-open DWMA investigation, but such a rash act could also potentially put Theophilius Carter's and Sid's lives in serious jeopardy!"

Lord Death listened patiently before countering, "Yes."

Azusa looked bewildered. "Sir…? Yes to which part?"

"To all."

Azusa bit her tongue, shuddered, and re-adjusted her glasses. "Well, sir, while I can't even begin to comprehend the reason why you'd want to do such a thing, I'll do it for you…. But, still, this isn't the kind of thing that needs my level of experience. Stein, or even that idiot Marie, could do something this low-level."

Lord Death took another sip of tea. "Not at all, Azusa. There is a very good reason I need you to do this task…. You see, it would look rather suspicious if one of our most highly-classified files suddenly showed up on a back alley information channel. So I need you to make it look… accidental, let's say…. Some bit of encoding, high-caliber enough to make it believably difficult, but not so much that a skilled person couldn't eventually find a back door. Also, we want to split it up a bit, not have it all in a single file; leave a bit of a breadcrumb trail, leading to Carter's location…. Something to help sell that this isn't something we purposefully put out there."

Azusa's jaw dropped. "I… I see. Now I understand. That level of programming isn't something that many people could do with the right degree of finesse…. But, still… Lord Death, won't you tell me what it is that you hope to accomplish?"

"Hmm," Lord Death began. "Well, I suppose there's not a whole lot of a point in hiding anything from you at this point…. You being so clever, you likely would have figured it out soon enough anyway, and at least this way I'm the one controlling the flow of information." He took another sip of tea and cleared his throat. "You see, there are certain individuals whom I'm hoping will be able to decode this information…. I want to try to smoke out the rat, so to speak…. If we can slowly circulate this information into the right circles, we may yet find our culprit. It's the same with Sid, and even especially so in his case. Our murderers might not feel bold enough to stage a strike against the DWMA directly by attempting to get to Carter, but they very well could try and make a move against Sid, in which case they'd be just as good as ours as if they'd waltzed into the Death Room itself."

Azusa was speechless for a moment, and a large sweat bead rested on top of her forehead. "W-wow, sir…."

Lord Death chuckled. "Yes, I am a bit of a genius, aren't I?"

Azusa adjusted her glasses. "Well, actually, sir…. I was just admiring the amount of respect you must have for the Meister Sid…. To send him out alone as bait… it just goes to show how you hold him in such high regard."

Lord Death seemed appalled. "What? Good heavens, no! That would be suicide! There's no telling how many the enemy number; Sid probably wouldn't stand a chance!"

Azusa promptly face-planted. "I… see."

Lord Death nodded sagely, ignoring her antics. "No, a very highly-skilled team has been dispatched to provide backup for Sid in such an instance."

Azusa regained her composure, and nodded. "I see…. Well, it seems you've thought of everything, as always, sir."

Lord Death grunted in agreement. "We'll just have to hope that our little gambit pays off…."

Azusa turned to walk away, and stopped to ask over her shoulder. "Lord Death, exactly how difficult would you like me to make the encryption?"

Lord Death seemed to consider, then finally said, "Let's make it a nice round three days. For even the best of hackers…."

(23 hours and 59 minutes later)

Two ring-adorned hands crashed down on the polished surface of a desk, rattling the large computer monitor resting atop it. A gaunt form stood, trembling with barely-contained rage as he looked with disbelief at the information displayed on-screen. "Father…. Just what the hell are you up to? Did you think I wouldn't notice…? The Death Scythe Azusa… she's skilled, but so proud that she leaves her fingerprints all over everything she does. It was a mistake using her and thinking I wouldn't notice, Father…." He continued reading through the information, his eyes narrowing and his countenance darkening with every word. "I see… I see…. So that's your game, is it? Well, sorry to disappoint you, Father, but you failed to take me into account. I'll be doing some cloak-and-dagger of my own…." He closed his eyes, thinking about how he would make his next move. "It would be best if I had someone else upon whom I can rely…. Yes… yes, those two should do just fine."

He pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket with a flourish of his arm, and dialed a familiar number. "Maka, are you all right? Yes, it's me. …Never mind that; listen… I need you to come to Joe Buttataki's old lab, right away."

-And the plot thickens, right? I hope you're enjoying the events so far. There's a lot more to come, and I hope it'll keep you entertained! Really, I hope that I can make it an enjoyable story, even for the few of you out there reading. That's the goal above all else, is just to write a story that you can enjoy! So, if there's anything you have comments/suggestions/gripes in general about, please feel free to leave them in the box below! We love to hear your thoughts! Peace out, and see ya next time!-