Author Notes: I've been gone for far too long and I found myself with plenty of time while waiting at he airport for my flight that was delayed for FOUR HOURS. So, I wrote roughly half I this in that time and finished the rest of it when we had bad weather. This is also written on my iPod, so, uh, if there are any words that don't belong I have complete right to use the excuse known as: Autocorrect's fault. Here's Chapter 7, Ski Date.

We've been driving for the past two hours, and all I've seen outside for that time is a whole load of nothing. Any sort of change would be a welcoming sight to my eyes, but no. It's just the same, snow covered rolling hills, stretching on for miles on end.

I look at the clock integrated in the truck's radio. 6:14 AM. I groan and turn my attention back to more important matters, like staring out at the repetitive landscape. What a day to forget one of my books.

Yang's driving the vehicle, has been since we left. She's wearing a yellow coat with her signature blaze orange scarf, yellow and black gloves adorning her hands. Attention guided towards the road in front her, Yang hums some sort of tune with a definite rhythm. It sounds a little familiar to me.

I decided to put on my thicker black coat, coupled with fuzzy black mittens, a dark purple hat and ski pants. Wearing black is best if you prefer to remain warm.

Weiss is in the back seat with Ruby, occasionally attempting to make small talk with the young girl to try and bide her impatience. Speaking of Ruby, that little red and black devil has been gruesomely annoying this entire trip.

"Are we there yet?" She asks in a whiny voice, making me hit my forehead lightly on the glass in front of me. Good thing I have my hat on. This has got to be, at least, the sixteenth time she's asked. I give Yang a sidelong look, one tainted with mild fury. Yang cringes visibly after my silent plea for solace.

"Ruby, if you ask again, you aren't getting any cookies for a week!" Yang calls sharply into the back of the truck. I take a peek behind myself and see Ruby tense up, her body becoming stiff as a board. She chuckles nervously and swallows.

"Got it Yang," she replies meekly, looking over at Weiss for some sort of comfort. Weiss take her left arm and wraps it around Ruby's shoulder, pulling the young girl close. Ruby rests her head upon Weiss' shoulder and the two of them talk about something that I can't quite make out over the music coming from the radio. If I didn't know better, I'd assume that they were a couple. But, they aren't. They do seem quite content in one another's company. It could happen. After all, Yang said this would be a double date.

Weiss has her hair let down, just like myself and Yang. Ruby's hair is the same as always. Black, red, hanging over the left side of her face more than her right. I wonder why she wears it like that.

My thoughts become interrupted by Yang, who's bouncing up and down excitedly in her chair, pointing out towards the horizon.

"Ooh! Ooh! There it is!" She exclaims happily, eyes lighting up in anticipation. I turn my gaze from the back of our transport to the front windshield and notice small peaks, dotted along the horizon, as if they were a row of jagged teeth. I turn to Yang who gives me the biggest grin I've ever seen from her, and, as always, I'm unable to resist complying with her joyous attitude, my face casting away its normally reserved tendencies.

After a solid hour, we reach the border of the mountains, and I come face to face with the biggest things I've ever seen in my life. I've never seen mountains before in my life, aside from this moment and in books. I could only imagine how large they could actually be, and the reality trounced my imagination. I stared at them in wonder as we weave through in between them, occasionally driving through a tunnel embedded in the rock.

After a good half hour into the mountains, we finally arrive at our destination. Which, of course, has Ruby feeling very happy and excited. We all get out of the car, stretching out limbs and sighing with relief. Looking around the rest of the parking lot, I quickly realize that we're the only ones here.

"Yang, what time is it?" I ask tentatively. Weiss and Ruby walk over to my left side, Weiss shaking her head about something Ruby had said.

She turns quickly and faces me, "It's exactly 7:45 AM Blakey!" I sigh.

"Remind me again how you managed to convince me to leave with you at five in the morning again?" I ask, annoyance entering my voice a tad, even with my attempts at suppression.

Ruby pipes up, saying, "Well, Yang told you that if we got here early enough, we'd have no line-ups for anything, and we'd have tons of fun skiing!" I shake my head and cast a sidelong glance in Ruby's direction, rubbing the bridge of my nose in annoyance.

"Not helping Ruby," I deadpan. Weiss makes a quick move to get in between us and pull Ruby's attention elsewhere, when I notice a detail that catches my eye. "Weiss, why are you wearing a skirt when we're skiing?"

Weiss whirls around, appalled. "This is a skiing skirt!" Ruby bolts to Weiss's side.

"Yeah~!" She proclaims triumphantly, placing her hand out beside Weiss and the two of them high-fiving without breaking eye contact with me, or making eye contact with each other. Makes sense, considering that they're both wearing the same thing, just different color.

Yang hops up into the back of the truck on starts pulling all of the different equipment out of it: two snowboards, one is yellow which goes to orange and one is red with a single black stripe running down the middle. Two pairs of skis are handed out next, one pair ice blue with white snowflakes, and another that is black at the front tip, and slowly turns purple as it reaches the bottom tip. Among the rest of the skiing/boarding equipment are two pairs of poles, four helmets, four pairs of goggles, and two pairs of ski and snowboard boots.

"My helmet's the one with the purple stripe," I inform everyone, making sure that I get what belongs to me. Weiss hands over my helmet and I take it from her graciously. I have to make sure I get my helmet, it's made so that my cat ears can fit without being squished, because that is not a fun feeling.

"Welp, we'd better get in there!" Yang proclaims, holding up her snowboard. Everyone nods in approval and we make our way to the front reception desk. Waiting there are two girls, twins from the looks of it, who are busy bickering about something.

"I told you, you put the green with the green, red with the red, and blue with the blue! Not any other way!" The one in white shouts angrily, making the one in red visually tense up and back away slightly.

Yang walks up to the window the pair are behind and she pokes her head in. "Not to be rude or anything, but I think customers are first priority," Yang calls in at the two. The one in red quickly directs her attention towards us and she hops over.

"Yes, of course!" She decidedly directs her attention away from the other girl and towards us, making said girl stomp her foot angrily.

"Militia, I am talking to you!" She shrieks angrily. 'Militia' ignores the girl and instead greets us.

"Welcome to Bear Mountain Ski Area, do you have a pass today?" She asks timidly, her voice being quite quiet. Yang nods vigorously.

"We sure do!" She replies, presenting four passes and presenting them barcode up. Militia takes them and scans them all. Seems as though we have three adult and one youth. I smirk a little. Haha. Yang was even kind enough to buy my pass for me, she was completely adamant on her decision.

"Thank you very much, have a nice day," she tells us near silently before the other girl whirls her around. We all visibly of cringe from the force of the turn.

"Sis, we've got to get this right before Junior gets back!" The taller girl exclaims angrily, shaking the smaller girl a little bit.

"Please calm down Melanie, we can fix it," Militia attempts to soothe Melanie. Melanie just throws her hands up in the air, her expression incredulous. She storms away a little, but quickly comes back.

"You're right. Let's get to work," Melanie demands warily, going into the back room hastily. Melanie turns to us, quickly realizing we're still there. Yang sighs happily.

"Sisterly bonds," she says with a goofy smile on her face, and she walks away, the three of us remaining behind, but quickly changing our minds and following Yang.

Yang stops beside the ski rack, setting her snowboard on the ground and putting her boots into the buckles. Ruby follows suit while Weiss and I place out skis down beside the sisterly pair.

"So, what runs are we doin' first?" Ruby asks curiously, Yang stands up, already having finished buckling up.

"We'll I'd prefer to get used to skiing again before we do anything big," I tell everyone, making sure that my opinion is fully known. Weiss nods her head in approval.

"If you haven't gone skiing in a while then you should get used to the feeling again," Weiss backs me up, in a sense. Yang pouts a little, but remains inflated with happiness.

"We'll that's fine; back to the bunny hill for you Blakey!" Yang teases me happily. I arch an eyebrow at the statement, looking up from my ministrations of ski boot buckling. Weiss and I stand up and put our boots into our skis, rewarded with satisfying clicks. We collect our poles from the ski rack, turning to our respective 'dates.' After all, Yang claimed that this was a double date, but I doubt that's what was explicitly told to Weiss.

"Of course, like a good girlfriend to be, you'll be with me the whole time, right Yang?" I inquire suggestively. Yang opens her mouth to respond, but closes it and starts to ponder my question. Does she actually need to think about this? Didn't she hear what I said? Her faces lights up excitedly.

"Wait, girlfriend to be?!" Yang exclaims happily. I shrug.

"It depends on how I think about after today," I reply half-heartedly, seeming to have my attention guided towards the mountain more than Yang. I can see out the corner of my eye that Yang is visibly flustered, seeming to be torn between multiple things in her mind. I can't help but smirk. Obviously, I'm gonna keep her. I mean, how many hot blondes come around that take an interest in you?

"Well, how about you Ruby?" Weiss asks, curious for her opinion. Ruby's face lights up cheerily, her eyes shining with excitement.

"Avalanche Run here we come!" She shouts excitedly, grabbing Weiss' poles and pulling her along to the ski lift. Weiss and I exchange a glance, Weiss noticeably indifferent and shrugging. Yang and I look at each other, a strange vibe passing between the two of us. Yang's face lights up similar to Ruby's.

"Bunny hill?" Yang asks tediously, pointing over towards the tow rope that takes skiers and boarders up to the top. I nod in agreement, and the two of us make our way over.

As we reach the base of the rope, it quickly dawns on me that there's absolutely no one here. I look at the man sitting within the small booth at the base of the rope, obviously containing most of the gears and such to make the rope move. His expression remains blank.

Yang goes ahead of me and grabs the rope. "See ya at the top!" She shouts behind herself. She slides up the hill effortlessly, rope in her hand. I saddle up beside the rope an look at it for a few seconds. Grab the rope, the rope pulls you up. Easy enough. I reach out with my hands and grasp the rope, sharply being yanked forward immediately.

Hey, this isn't so bad, kinda relaxing even. Yang's already reached the top? Wow, short trip. A few seconds pass and I find myself at Yang's side, a broad grin covering her captivating face. I still find myself being lost in those purple irises of hers. She bonks me helmet a little, trying to grab my attention.

"Earth to Blakey! I dunno what you're thinkin', but it's gonna have to wait 'til later!" she informs me heartily, her eyes now laughing at me. I grumble a little, giving an inaudible verbal jab at Yang. "What?"

"Nothing!" I reply certainly, turning my attention to the barely sloped hill before us. "So, I probably shouldn't trust you to tell me how to ski, huh?" I ask teasingly. Yang just huffs, placing her orange tinted goggles upon her face.

"If you want boarding lessons, I'm your number one," she tells me matter-of-factly. "But I know next to nothing when it comes to skiing technique." She hops her board up to the edge of the hill. "Don't worry though, I'll make sure to stay around to catch you when you fall," she says with a childish smirk.

"Ha. Ha," I reply sarcastically, placing my own yellow tinted goggles on. I take my poles and plow them into the ground, propelling myself forward and down the small lip.

Woah, okay, so point your feet together to make the pizza wedge. 'Kay, got it. Uh, now weight down on your... Right leg to turn left? Oh, yeah, that's right. I mean left. I mean... Augh, Yang's rubbing off on me already.

Yang is following close by, her board fluidly crisscrossing across the snow is if she were gliding on thin air. Her arms are folded together, looking at me nonchalantly, almost with a bored expression.

"Takin' it quite slow, ain't cha?" Yang calls out playfully. "Maybe you should, uh... Be a little more aggressive... You know, take a risk." She winks. My god that sounded SO suggestive. We aren't girlfriends yet Yang, remember that. She's right though. I remember that I was able to do parallel turns at one point. Turn both skis in the direction you want to go and... Oh wow, this is a lot easier than I thought it'd be!

I quickly find myself picking up speed, snaking through the snow and kicking up some powder as I go, my turns rapidly becoming tighter and cleaner.

I see Yang clap her hands together enthusiastically, celebrating my recent breakthrough. I joyously wave over to her in response, feeling a great sense of pride and accomplishment. She gives me a thumbs up and a wink before she literally leaves me in her powder. Show off.

We reach the bottom of the hill, Yang waiting for me eagerly. "So Blakey, how was that? It almost look liked you've been skiing for forever!" She told me enthusiastically, a grin splayed across her face. Infectious as always, my own face cannot resist complying.

"It was great, exhilarating, even," I reply mildly enthused. " I can't wait to get onto some of the bigger runs now." Yang looks at me warily.

"You're sure? I mean, this is you're decision." She is just so considerate, it makes my heart flutter with gratitude. I nod firmly in response.

"Ski lift?" I ask nonchalantly. As if I need to ask. Yang beams, happy to have me at her level somewhat. She grabs my hand eagerly, pulling me along to the non-existent lineup at the lift.

We quickly stride up to the wait line, awaiting instructions to step forward from the attendant. His looks at us joyously, a smile on his face.

"Decided to come early, did ya?" He asked to strike up conversation. Yang nods in assent.

"Yep, that's when it's best! No lineups and no one to get in your way!" Yang is just absolutely thrilled to be here. Can't say I'm not. The man grins gaudily.

"I like the way you think there, Miss. Alright step forward please," he gestures with his hand for us to approach. "Okay, I'm sure Blondie here can explain everything to you beautiful." He looks at me, but I just roll my eyes. Only I can call Yang Blondie. "Just be careful, don't need you two pretty ladies getting hurt." My, my what a charmer. Unfortunately, my heart's been stolen by another.

The chair comes up behind us, the two of us sitting down on it in tandem, and it takes us up and off the ground. Yang pulls down the bar from above her head and places it above our legs. Wait, this thing is our only safety measure? This is slightly unnerving.

"Well, it's gonna be a long ride up, a couple minutes or so," Yang says aimlessly, probably in an attempt at conversation. She's probably gonna ask me a question now. "Hey I've got a question." Called it. Totally called it.

I just shrug. "Shoot."

"Have you had your first kiss yet?" My eyes widen. Uh huh... Right... How to respond...? Truthfully is the best way, I guess.

"I... I have not, no," I reply shamefully. I'm definitely a little tedious about the whole subject.

"Ah, I see..." Yang replies thoughtfully, her gaze resting upon my own face. I turn away quickly, allowing my attention to be guided elsewhere. We continue our ride in silence.

After a while, we get about ten feet away from our exit point, and Yang pipes up saying, "Oh, so when we reach the exit, keep your tips up, and when your skis to flat on the ground, push off of the chair, mkay?" I nod affirmatively. Doesn't sound hard.

We make our approach and I do as Yang says, placing my ski tips up and bringing them down when we have the nice, solid ground underneath us. After a second, I push off the chair and I glide, riding off to the right side, out of the way of the chair. Yang follows close behind, the both of us stopping at the edge of the hill that we just climbed up.

"So, first one down gets a kiss from the other?" Yang challenges boldly. Hmph. I just started skiing again today. My chances of actually winning are abysmal. My better judgment loses to my want of her lips upon my face.

"You are so on Xiao Long," I reply heartily. I ready my poles on the lip of the slope. Yang saunters up beside me, a certain and cocksure expression riddling her face. "Three, two, o-" I get cut off by a speeding bullet of red and black.

"One, GO!" Ruby calls out eagerly, jumping the gun and getting a head start on us. She speeds down the hill and Weiss comes out of nowhere, weaving between the two of us and catching some short air off the lip. Yang and I lock eyes with each other. Can't get distracted... I pull away forcibly and push off with my poles.

"See you at the bottom Blondie!" I call confidently behind myself, leaving a stupefied blonde behind. She gives her head a quick shake and she, too, kicks off and down the slope.

Ruby and Weiss are ahead of me, the tow crisscrossing between each other, but trying to stay ahead of the other. I decide risking a look behind myself to see where Yang stands in our little competition. Oh~, crap she's gonna grab me in a sec. Her arms are literally spread out in an effort to grab my body. Ugh, that's cheating. Uh oh, she has a hold of my arm. Yang pulls herself over to my side and she wraps her arms around my waist.

"Just what're you doing?" I demand, mild annoyed at the fact that Yang just might win because she cheated. And it's gonna leave me livid. Yang just winks nonchalantly, her arms firmly remaining ensnared upon my body. She isn't letting go? But, why? I'm tempted to ask these questions, but I feel as though Yang wouldn't comply.

A minute or so passes as we reach the bottom, Weiss receiving a kiss on her cheek from Ruby. Heheh, it seems the confident youngster lost to Weiss after all. However, Yang and I make our abrupt stop beside the pair of them, Her arms staying in place.

"Well, it looks as though we tied, didn't we Blakey?" Yang whispers quietly into my ear, sending a mild chill down my spine. "I guess that means we have to kiss each other," she finishes slyly. Ahh, so that's what you had planned all along. I bring my mouth up to her ear.

"Well then, let's not keep ourselves waiting, right?" I reply hazily, leaning into Yang face, aiming for her lips. She leans in as well, her lips awaiting to lock into mine. My lips lock upon Yang's own, the two of us reveling in one another's taste. She tastes like honey. We continue kissing passionately, Yang trying to advance further by roughly mashing her lips upon my own. I relent, allowing Blondie to do what she wishes. We continue like this for a few more seconds before Ruby pipes up.

"Eww! Yang, haven't you ever heard of self restraint?" Ruby asks in earnest, her voice coming somewhere from my left.

"Well, to be fair, it's not like Blake's pulling away, now is it?" Weiss challenges in response. Weiss may be right, but I think I'm gonna have to in a second, my lungs seem to have the need for oxygen.

I pull out of our embrace, Yang's arms still trapping me close to her, gasping for breath. My eyelids flutter open and I come face to face with pure gorgeousness. I stare into enticing lavender orbs, shining with what looks like affection.

"Ready for round two?" Yang asks, raising a eyebrow and leaning in slightly closer again. Ruby coos behind us.

"You two are just way too cute!" She exclaims adorably. I turn and face the two, my head slightly lolling over to the side. Weiss is shifting her feet back and forth warily, Ruby being completely oblivious to this, what with her being too busy engrossing herself in us to notice. I smirk a little. Maybe Weiss does harbour some feelings for Ruby. Maybe a little chat later will help me clear that all up.

"Come on Yang, we can kiss at a later time. We still have the rest of the day to ski, and we should take advantage of it,"

So, we continue to ski, going on progressively harder runs as the day goes along. Eventually, we had done every single run available in the area, and it'd all gone without a hitch. Almost unsurprisingly, Yang grows bored of the 'supposed' easy runs. We decide to take a break at the top of the ski lift, a small distance away and at the base of a small hill, marking the very top point of the entire ski area.

"These runs are too easy!" Yang whines, her figure slumping over slightly. Weiss scoffs at her complaint. Ruby opens up a package of what appears to be cookies. She starts happily chewing away, lost in her own world.

"We'll it's not like there are any more difficult runs here Yang," Weiss informs Yang very matter-of-factly. Yang's eyes light up, as if she remembered something important.

"Actually, that's not entirely true..." Yang mutters mischievously in response. She looks over at me and gives a silent question of confirmation. I roll my eyes.

"Yes, I'll go with you Yang. Someone's gotta keep you out of trouble, and it sure isn't gonna be Ruby." Ruby jolts, looking at me with hurt in her eyes.

"Hey, I can't help it if seventeen years with Yang has caused her to infect me with her own attitude!" Ruby snaps quickly, leaving no room for argument.

I shrug. "Whatever. Lead the way Yang," I tell Blondie indifferently. She gives me a thumbs up and starts climbing up from the base of small hill we made our break stop at. "Catch up with you two at the Lodge later, okay?" Both red and white nod their heads.

"Don't worry, we'll be there. Ruby'll want hot chocolate," Weiss replies in a hushed tone. Ruby bites into a another cookie, an adorable smile adorning her face as she indulges herself. Such a cute sight, like a little child being rewarded with candy.

I bid the two girls goodbye with the wave of my hand and follow Yang up the small hill. She's already reached the top by now, using her snowboard as leverage up. Unfortunately, my skis aren't viable to be used in the same way.

After a couple minutes of unnecessary struggling up the hill, I find myself standing at Yang side, looking over a fairly steep and tree ridden area. I widen my eyes in shock.

"That looks as though it isn't part of the ski area Yang." I state, pointing out the obvious and making Yang huff in mild annoyance.

"I know that Blakey, but this is the only place on this entire mountain that proves to be a mild challenge to me." Yang replies quickly, placing her board back down on the ground and strapping herself in. I arch an eyebrow, looking Yang over worriedly.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, something could happen to you down there," I attempt to sway her headstrong decision. That terrain doesn't look to be very friendly. Yang nods decisively.

"I've done it before, it'll be fine!" She replies indifferently, waving me off slightly. I warily place my skis down and begin to buckle myself in again, the bindings agreeing with the boots and giving a resounding snap.

"Well, let's go then," I tell her anxiously, my knees quaking a little at the sight of the area ahead of us. Yang quickly pushes off, gliding down the hill and carving up some snow. I follow in short tow, my skis complying my movement, allowing me turn quick and fast, yet keep a good brake system going.

We keep going, quickly approaching the tree line. "What now Yang?" I shout trying it get her attention. However, Yang is unresponsive, if anything speeding up as we make our approach. I'm getting really nervous, slowly beginning to doubt my own skiing capability. I fly past the first tree, missing it by a small margin. However, the rest come flying towards me, unwavering, not trying to get out of the way.

I try to turn, but find that I've hit a patch of ice. My own feet fly out from underneath me, my skis following shortly after. I skid across the patch towards the tree, trying my damndest to stop, but unable to. I see two trunks, side by side coming rapidly towards me, making me panic. There's nothing I can do but shut my eyes and pray for the best. I feel my body twist and contort as it crashes into multiple different objects, mostly thick, solid trunks that don't budge from my weight and velocity, sending shockwaves of pain through my body. Several screams of pain and many crashes into trees later, I come to a stop, skidding along the snow and coming to a rest.

I open my eyes and look down. My leg. I broke my leg. One's first thought would probably be, "This is all Yang's fault." It isn't. I had the choice to not go with her the entire time, yet I did not yield to that choice. Instead, I trusted her, going along with her down the bleak side of the mountain. And now, here I am, my left leg snapped in half, the blood slowly pouring out of the place where my bone punctures the skin. My god, that is an ungodly sight. Well, hopefully Yang will be along with the ski patrol any minute now. Right?

Ten minutes pass. Well, it seems Yang might not make it in time. Life may come to an end early for me. But has it even been good? Loner and bullied through all of grade school, not a single date to any high school dance, not a single boyfriend, or girlfriend for that matter, for all my twelve years through grade school. But, I am in for my English degree. And, I did share my first kiss with Yang, that's a huge bonus.

It's really cold, what with the wind, high altitude, and cold temperature. I hope Yang gets here soon.

Thirty minutes pass. I think. I don't even know anymore. The sun went behind the clouds some time ago. I feel lightheaded, probably due to blood loss. I'll be so lucky to get out of this. I can hear the sound of snow crunching from behind me. There's no way...

"Bla-a-a-a-ake!" I hear a familiar voice call out behind me. The sound of snow crunching is driving me nuts. I have to get her attention.

"Over here..." I mumble, near inaudibly. My voice is failing at the worst possible moment. I hear the crunching stop abruptly.

"Blake?" Yang asks cautiously. I open my mouth to call out again, but all that comes out is a small squeak. Not my finest moment. Wait, have I still got my ski pole? I lift my left arm a little. Yep, I do. I grab the pole in my hand and lift it up, bringing it down on the tree trunk standing talk on my left side. I can hear the crack and the resounding echoes around myself, the sound slowly growing more quiet by the second. My god, I cannot do that again. I can hear the rapid sound of snow crunching, slowly coming closer to my immediate location. I quickly become graced by Yang's beautiful, yet worry and panic stricken face.

"Oh my god, are you okay?!" Yang asks frenetically, concern and worry literally cascading in waves around her. I chuckle a little, but it quickly turns into a harsh cough.

"Been better," I reply dryly. Yang's face becomes wrinkled further.

"This is all my fault," she mutters quietly, looking over my body to see what's happened. I knew this would happen. Grabbing Yang by her shoulder, I yank her down forcefully so that her ear lines up with my mouth.

"Yang, you're gonna promise me three things," I rasp near silently. "You're not gonna blame this on yourself," I tell her, my voice not leaving any room for argument or input. Yang immediately opens her mouth to retaliate, but the glare I give her immediately shuts her down. "Secondly, you're gonna get me out of this mess." Yang nods vigorously, almost seeming to hurt her own neck in the process. "Good. Third, you're going to-" my voice cuts off in a gag and squeak. Oh dear, that's not good. "Going to, ah, going to..." I can't finish the sentence. My voice has given out.

The space around Yang is starting to turn black. This is definitely a bad thing. If its from a loss of blood, I'm definitely in trouble, because I might not wake up again. I black out, leaving poor Yang behind to worry and fret over the mess I created. Oh well. Might be seeing you soon Mom and Dad.

Once again, one thousand humble apologies for my hiatus. Oh, and I'm over my sickness. :D