Pieces

YuriYaoiHet_ILoveEmAll

Chapter 8

A/N: Thank you again for all of your reviews and support! (not capsing that anymore as it looks wrong, but it is still no less important to say) Sorry for the lateness! And just after I'd promised too. With the approaching holidays, life is getting even more hectic and my brain is weird. More on that later, but for now, we shall press on!

Read on, loves!

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When Jasper and Amethyst stepped into view together, she could see surprise on all of their faces. No one said anything however and the warp back to the beach house was silent. Garnet immediately carried Steven up to his bed. Cat-Steven, who had been curled up on the couch, purred a greeting at them as they passed.

"Rest." The fusion ordered as she laid him gently down.

He only nodded sleepily and rolled over onto his side. Garnet covered him with a light blanket at the foot of the bed. He was already snoring when she got to the bottom of the steps.

"I need to check on something. I'll be back later." She told them all.

Her voice sounded strange to Jasper, but she remained silent as the fusion walked to the gem studded door behind the warp pad and disappeared inside. Pearl waited for the door to reset and did the same. Jasper was left standing in the house with Amethyst and Peridot.

Cat-Steven mewed at them as she stretched herself on the couch. She jumped down and padded her way to them. Jasper couldn't fight a smile as the furry creature butted her head against her boot. She knelt and began stroking her softly. Cat-Steven arced into her hand, purring loudly. After a moment, she batted Jasper's hand away with her paws and walked away. Jasper grinned at her sass; she gotten what she'd wanted and just enough thanks.

Dark, navy eyes flashed through her mind. Her smiled faded as her heart made a strange movement in her chest. One moment, she was fine, but the next, she felt suffocated.

"I'm going outside." She told them and started towards the door, forcing herself to walk at a normal pace. For some reason she suddenly wanted to run.

"You know, Jasper. You're welcome to stay inside too." Peridot told her softly.

Jasper's surprise outweighed the strange sense of fear for a moment and she glanced back to see the green gem watching Amethyst, as if fearing her reaction. Amethyst only shrugged. "I feel more comfortable out there." She told them honestly. The confined space inside the house made her uncomfortable and the sense of fear was growing stronger. She wasn't sure why. "I can keep watch." She added as an afterthought.

Peridot shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"C'mon, Peri. Let's eat!" Amethyst said enthusiastically as Jasper turned back to the door.

"Or," Peridot drew out the word. "I can just watch you eat."

"Eh, you're missing out."

"Strangely enough, I'm okay with this." She said sarcastically.

Jasper stepped out and shut the door behind her. She could hear them continue their conversation, but as she stepped to the railing, the words were muffled enough that she could tune them out. Her heart was racing and she had no idea why. She felt numb, like she wasn't quite sure she should feel anything at all, but she could still distantly feel fear hiding behind the numbness. What was happening?

She'd been fine only moments ago, but now she was shaking. Her head was swimming. She looked out at the clouds that always seemed to calm her, but they did nothing. The sky was dark, clouds a heavy gray and completely blocking the sky. Those angry looking clouds seemed to move closer, like they were falling toward her. She tore her eyes away from the dipping clouds. She began scanning the horizon for anything that needed her attention; searching desperately from something to distract her. It was somehow important that she find something outside herself to focus on. Even the waves seemed agitated, rough with the coming storm. Her breathing was ragged, as if she was choking. She didn't even need to breathe, so why was the sensation of not being able to so bad?

Something huffed from her left and she reacted instantly, leaping sideways with a shout away from the sound and rolling to her feet in one swift motion. She was in a fighting crouch, ready for anything, when she finally took in that the thing that had made the sound was Lion. The great, pink beast was standing, fur ruffed and looking at her wide eyed, as if she'd spooked him.

He had come to greet her and her reaction, born of a fear that wasn't even real, had spooked him. His wide eyes haunted her. Gems had looked at her like that for most of her life. The Kindergarten Quartz Who Could. The 'Perfect' Gem. The terror of her diamonds. Their weapon of destruction and fear. But look at her now...

She didn't know what was happening. She didn't know why the thoughts were suddenly roaring in her head. She felt trapped beneath the angry clouds and the usually gently lapping waves seemed to crash right in her ears. The wind was blowing but the air still felt stagnant and heavy as she tried to breathe.

The door opened and Peridot and Amethyst came out. "Jasper?" Peridot said her name like a question. "What happened?"

"What's wrong?" Amethyst asked a second after.

Jasper was shaking again, gasping for air as a scream ripped though her mind. Her entire being rebelled against them seeing her like this. They couldn't see her like this. She had to get away. The thought rang like a bell inside her mind and it took ever single iota of her self control not to give in to that thought.

She stood up straight, muscles tense and jaw locked. A lie danced on her tongue, but she would not stoop to that. She would not run and lying was just another way of running. She took a deep, shaky breath. "Lion startled me."

"Dude. You look shook." Amethyst said quietly. They were both looking at her in concern.

At that moment, she had to make a decision: Do what she had always done, which was hide behind an unshakable facade and lash out against those seeing a side of her she didn't even want to exist, or let down her guard and really do what Steven had suggested and be the her that she had never allowed herself to be; not even to herself. She opened her mouth, to do which she didn't know, but before she could do either another, third option blazed in her mind and she went with it. Because it was so unexpected and so new, she couldn't even think it to fight it and she found herself giving them a abashed grin.

"Go on, laugh." She told them. "I got scared by a pink lion." She joked.

For a moment, there was dead silence as they stared at each other, and she wondered for a terrified moment, whether or not she'd done the wrong thing. And then Amethyst's lips pursed and she snorted and Peridot started a nervous chuckle that grew into real laughter as Amethyst fully broke out into a fit of giggles.

"Big scary Jasper, scared by Lion!" Peridot guffawed, slapping her knees.

Lion seemed not to enjoy being part of the joke because he leaned close to Peridot's face and huffed. She looked up and startled to see him so close, her laughter gone in an instant. He looked into her eyes from inches away and she began flinching back, even though he hadn't done a thing. He huffed again and she jumped with a squeak behind Amethyst, who began laughing harder. This time, Jasper joined in. Peridot looked from them, to the obviously smug lion and began laughing too.

Jasper stood with them, surrounded by laughter, when moments before she'd felt like the world might be about to crush her. The thought to laugh it off came in an instant and she had never thought to do it before. Laughter had been another way of hiding. In a way, it still was, but it was less shameful somehow than ignoring it or being angry about it. She was acknowledging the embarrassment and shame. And it felt... good.

The fear was washed away in a tide of laughter and she felt her trembling cease. She took a deep breath and looked back up at the sky. The dark clouds were still there, but they were high above her again, more like a blanket than a net. She looked out at the crashing waves and was again able to see the beauty in their curling and splashing forms. She felt herself fully relax as she stared out at the power of the agitated sea.

"You like the sea, don't you?" Peridot asked her.

She looked down to see the both of them standing beside her. Peridot had one hand on the railing, Amethyst was curled over it on her elbows on Peridot's other side. "I think I do." She answered honestly. "I spent... a lot of time there." She couldn't keep a slight darkness from her voice as the words slipped out. The sky above them rumbled, accenting her sudden mood perfectly. "It was all I knew for a long time." She looked over to see the two of them staring up at her with wide eyes. She wanted to ease the sudden tension so she shrugged. "I still like looking at it though. Just from up here now. No more bubbles." She affected a smile.

Peridot's eyes narrowed. "Lapis never talked about it much, but... what she did tell me was... bad." The last was a whisper.

Jasper clenched her jaw and looked away. "It was. It was bad."

"I thought you liked it. The power you got being... her." Peridot said quietly.

Jasper shook her head. "We were powerful, but..." She sighed and decided on a whim to tell Peridot a piece of her life. She had spent time with Lapis and would be the one who would understand what she was trying to say. "Did Lapis ever tell you about me finding her on the boat? With Steven?" She looked back at them.

Peridot's eyes looked so wide it seemed they'd pop from their sockets. Amethyst was looking from one to the other, eyes wide as well. "No." Peridot's voice was very careful. "She didn't."

Jasper looked away again, staring out at the waves. "I did. I'd been trying to track her for months in the sea. I didn't know she was away from the ocean. I thought she'd be there, because she was a Lapis Lazuli. Even while we were..." She trailed off and changed track. She did not want to talk about the bad parts of their fusion with anyone else. Steven already knew and had promised not to tell. "Using it as a weapon was hard for her. I saw where she tried to steal it once. She took the ocean and tried to make a bridge back to Homeworld."

"Really?" Peridot asked in shock.

"I remember that." Amethyst murmured. "She made us fight copies of ourselves. Even though she was already holding up the entire ocean, she was still able to make us fight copies that moved and fought like we did. We were actually losing before Steven went up."

"You let Steven go up there alone?" Peridot asked, still shocked.

Amethyst sent her a look. "Of course we didn't let him! He went on his own while we were fighting. We tried to stop him. She was so powerful and we were afraid she'd hurt him."

"But instead he healed her and she gave back the sea." Jasper finished for her.

Peridot looked down. "She never told me that." Her voice was very quiet, barely discernible under the sound of the rough sea and strengthening wind. "So that was what Connie meant that day. I asked Lapis about it later, but she just said it was a long story."

"I only saw it through her memories. Even when she took the sea, she tried to make sure she gathered as many of the animals with it as she could. She didn't care in the front of her mind, but later she knew why she'd done it. She didn't want to hurt Earth. Even after being prisoner here for so long, she didn't want to hurt it. I didn't understand it then." She sighed heavily. "But I think I'm starting to."

Peridot was looking up at her with an almost haunted look in her eyes. "You... really got that from her?"

Jasper didn't understand the look in her eyes or what it meant, but she got the sense that Peridot was sad. She didn't understand why. "What?" She asked, blinking at her.

Peridot blinked back. "It's just... she never told me that. And … we were together a long time. I even tried to talk to her about it." She sounded... sad. Pained.

Jasper still didn't understand why Peridot was sad, but she felt the urgent need to clarify something. "She never told me. I was connected to her mind." She said, trying to make sure Peridot was actually listening. "We couldn't see all the way inside each other, but strong thoughts came through. No matter how much we fought against the melding, it would happen in stages until one or the other of us pulled away. The more I saw in her, the more she saw in me and I had, and still have, no intention of ever sharing some of the things that were shared between us. It was never intentional. She got to choose what she told you. The way it's supposed to be." Her thoughts had taken a dark turn as she spoke and she wished she could take back a few things she'd said, but it was too late.

Peridot looked up at her and there was a fire in her eyes that Jasper had never seen before. "All Lapis ever got from you was bad." She said through gritted teeth, almost growling. "She would start awake at night, screaming your name and be terrified for hours. Sometimes she flew away, screaming that you were there, chasing her. She'd stand for hours and cry because of what you did to her and would never even tell me what was wrong, even when it was your name on her lips and I already knew. She was destroyed after you. Broken. I know because I had to try to help her put herself back together again. And I couldn't even see all the pieces to do it right, because she never let me in. But always your name on her lips. But yeah, it was so bad for you." A flash of lightning made her face seem superimposed with that dark and angry expression.

Jasper felt as if she'd been slapped. Peridot was looking up at her as if she were staring up at evil. Lapis had truly never shared what had happened between them as Malachite. She suspected it before, because of Steven, but as she'd learned of Peridot's relationship with Lapis, she had assumed that Lapis had at least told her the truth. She had known it had to have been as bad an experience for Lapis as it had been for her; worse even; and now she knew.

Lapis had been just as broken as she was, but Lapis had had Steven and Peridot while she'd had nothing but her shame. No one to turn to except for the one who had broken her. She felt a hint of resentment, but was... glad that Lapis had had someone to turn to. She wanted to be mad that Lapis had been able to move on, but she didn't want to wish the time she had spent alone after on anyone, much less her. Those had been her darkest days. For a moment, she wondered if things might have been different if she had had someone to turn to. Even if Lapis had never talked about her trauma like Jasper had.

Jasper hadn't been defected for a single day and she had already talked about it. She was ashamed of herself for breaking so quickly, but it had happened and she couldn't take it back. She couldn't believe that Lapis had talked to no one about it. It didn't seem right. Why would she not talk about it even though she had the support she had needed to let it out? But that was Lapis' business, not hers.

And now, she had to deal with these gems who all saw her as the aggressor in her fusion with Lapis. She could see how they would deduce that. She could tell by the way they were looking at her that they had no true inkling of the incredible power inside the Lapis Lazuli they knew so well. Even if they had both seen her fight, they had never been truly at her mercy when she was at her strongest. They had no idea of the darkness with in her; because Lapis had never given them a chance to experince it.

If Lapis had decided not to share it, then she would honor that decision. Even if it meant telling a lie, though she really preferred being honest. In a strange sense, Lapis had trusted in her secrets remaining secrets and it wasn't her place to hand them out like gifts. They were Lapis', not hers.

The sky rumbled louder, the sound of thunder rolling around them like it had an almost physical force. "If she didn't tell you about Malachite, then I won't say anymore. It's not fair to Lapis."

Peridot stared up at her in shock and then her face transformed into a mask of rage. Her shoulders squared and she stood taller, chin down and looking ready to fight. "Fair?" She asked, her voice a wavery whisper. "Fair!" She spat like she didn't believe what she was saying. She looked up at Jasper and the tall warrior was pinned with her enraged glare. "Fair?!" She screamed, voice shrill. "How dare you talk about fair! I was the one she turned to with tears in her eyes when she had a nightmare! I was the one who had to help her fight back from some edge she was standing on in her own head! I've never seen someone as broken as she was. And I've seen some broken gems." Her voice was sneering and she laughed darkly, like she was making a sick joke. "The archives." She said as if she were saying something profound, though she twisted it to make it a mockery. Lightning flashed again, flickering through the sky like it was chasing something; or running from the sound of thunder which started almost the moment the lightning stopped.

Jasper felt a chill run up her spine as she remembered the archives. Normal gems were never allowed near it and only the higher class gems ever actually glimpsed it. Few, very very few, had access to the data stored in those files and then they only had access to a select few. The history of everything they knew was contained within them. The answer to every question they'd ever thought to ask.

Peridot had been highly ranked, but she hadn't realized she'd been high enough to be cleared to access those files. She'd never even come close. How much did the enraged green gem in front of her know?

"I poured through them for the diamonds, collecting data for whatever they needed. You ever see the archives, Jasper? Do you know how many files you have to search? Endless data. No matter how hard or deep I dug, there was always deeper to go. And here and there, hidden in the mundane data about injector designs and scrapped plans for Diamond cities and structures, were things that were never meant to be seen. And the files would close almost as soon as I would open them and they'd disappear into the programming and I could never find them no matter hard I looked. It would drive me insane, those glimpses and I'd search for them and forget all about the task I was meant to do for the Diamonds. That's why I got reassigned. That's the reason I got transferred to checking on the gem based operations here. I was never a Kindergartner, though I of course knew all of the process, it didn't make sense to assign someone with no actual experience. It's inefficient. There was only one explanation. I was being punished for defying them. And that's what started this whole thing." She laughed, but it wasn't a good one.

"All because I saw something I was never meant to see and wouldn't let it go. I saw things in those glimpses that I didn't understand, but the glimpses stayed with me. And some of those glimpes were gems like Lapis. Broken, broken gems. Gems of all kinds. Pearls. Amethysts. Jaspers. All kinds. I never knew what happened to them. I never knew what had broken them and why." She had been looking out into space, like she was seeing things they couldn't, but now her eyes focused back on Jasper and they were again pools of rage. "But I know what broke Lapis." Her voice was dark.

"Whoa, Peri." Amethyst suddenly said in a fake cheerful voice. "Maybe we should take this a step down."

Peridot shot her a glare over her shoulder. "Don't belittle it, Amethyst!" She snapped.

Amethyst's eyes went wide and she make a disbelieved sound. "Um, what?"

The sky crashed again, lightning flashing more frequently now. It was almost like the atmosphere was reacting to their situation. Jasper didn't have time to contemplate the thought as Peridot made a small sound under her breath.

Peridot was still glaring at Amethyst, but she stayed facing Jasper. "You know what! You always belittle things that you don't understand."

Amethyst's jaw dropped. "What?! Don't understand? Exactly what don't I understand, huh?"

Peridot finally spun to face her. "You haven't seen the things I've seen! You never saw Lapis like she was before! You've never seen a gem broken like that. I have!"

Amethyst crossed her arms and flipped her hair, so that it cascaded over one eye and she looked over at Peridot from behind the thick sheet of it. "I've seen a broken gem before, Peri. I see one every time I look in a mirror!" Her voice had risen until the last had been a scream.

Peridot tsked in exasperation and shook her head, throwing her hands in the air. "You aren't broken, Amethyst." She said in a bored tone, like she'd said it before.

Amethyst snorted and looked away. "Now who's belittling?" She said the words in a disinterested tone. She bit her bottom lip and looked back at Peridot. She shrugged, bumped her cheek to her shoulder, and the seemingly innocent gesture was somehow threatening.

Peridot stomped her foot. "It isn't the same thing!" She cried indignantly.

"How is that not the same thing?" Amethyst cried back, just as indignant.

Peridot's hands flew into the air again in an angry gesture. "I don't know! It just... is!" She cried, shouting over the rumbling of the sky.

Amethyst turned away, flipping her hair back over her shoulder. "Whatever, Peri." She waved it off with one hand. The gesture came across as dismissive.

Peridot trembled with anger for a moment and even though Jasper couldn't really see her face, she knew the expression was mad. But Peridot, surprised her by taking a deep breath and, as she exhaled, she calmed slightly. "Amethyst, I didn't mean it like that." She said in a placating tone.

Amethyst shook her head, hair drifting in waves down her back. "No. It's okay. I get it. Your stuff was more traumatic than mine. Of course it is." She said the last in a leering tone.

"No." Peridot said firmly, her voice tight. "That's not true. Your trauma was just different. That doesn't give it any less validation." She sounded like she was quoting something.

Amethyst looked up with another small shake of her head. "Ugh, I hate it when you talk in that tone. That stuck up, know-it-all-tone. Like you know everything and no one else knows a thing." Lightning crackled into the air, arcing out with a boom of thunder so loud that it rattled Jasper's bones.

Peridot seemed not to notice as shook a finger at the purple quartz, though of course, she couldn't see it. "I did not say that." She said defensively.

Amethyst hissed a laugh. "You didn't have to. You act it all the time."

"Amethyst. What are you talking about?" Peridot asked her in an almost snarl. "I was trying to apologize and you started in with this. What is this?" She asked, speaking each word individually and separate. She gestured with both hands as if she was gesturing to some invisible object.

"Um, you're the one that started this." Amethyst shot Peridot a glare over her shoulder. "All I asked you to do was calm down. And then you started talking down on me."

"That's because you always make jokes when we're being serious!"

Amethyst spun to face her. "Well, excuse me for trying to stop you from making a fool out of yourself! She's gone, Peri, and she isn't coming back. You can't keep clinging to this. To her." Her voice cracked and her eyes shimmered. Her long hair was drifting violently in the wind, but a tilt of her head kept it out of her eyes.

Peridot was utterly still for a moment. "I am not clinging to Lapis." She said firmly. One of her hands lifted, as if she wanted to touch the gem before her, but she drew it back to her chest when Amethyst narrowed her eyes. "I still care about her, Amethyst. I will always care about her and I can't change that. But defending her and being angry on her behalf is not clinging."

Jasper had remained silent long enough. Whatever was going on between Amethyst and Peridot was her fault and she wanted to fix it, even if it meant sharing a small piece of her pain. "You don't have to defend Lapis to me." She spoke firmly, instantly capturing her attention; they seemed like they'd forgotten she was even there. "Lapis did nothing wrong. We were at war. We all do things in battle that we regret. And Malachite was one of those things." She looked down from their silent and shocked faces and decided to finish her earlier point. "When I found Lapis on the boat... I asked her to take me back."

Peridot gasped. "You didn't!"

Jasper looked up with a pained grin. "I did. I promised her it would be better and that I could change. She turned me away, but I meant what I said to her. I was willing to change then, but it was for the wrong reason. I'm willing to change now, for what I hope is the right one. And I never would have had the chance without the Lapis Lazuli that I underestimated from day one. Even though I know I wouldn't have had the chance to try this time if she'd been here, I don't hate Lapis, and I don't blame her for hating me." She looked Peridot right in the eye as she said the last.

The green gem held her gaze for a long moment. She opened her mouth to speak and then shut it again with a shake of her head, cutting off whatever she was about to say. She stayed silent for a long moment.

She opened her mouth again, a strange look in her eyes, when rain began pouring down in sheets, instantly drenching them. The wind lashed harder than ever, sending it flurrying in all directions. Lion leaped for the door and began pawing at it frantically.

"Everyone inside!" Peridot yelled.

She and Amethyst dove for the door, but Jasper hesitated. She had seen storms like this with Lapis and while she was alone. Lapis had known the terms for them, but not the reason behind them. They had never hurt her, though she instinctively got the sense that they could be dangerous and had always taken some form of shelter. For some reason though, being entirely enclosed in the house was less appealing than taking whatever the storm could dish out. She did not know why; it was roomier than most of the ships she had had to spend far too much time in for someone her size.

Just inside the door, Pumpkin was happily playing in the shed water as Amethyst, Peridot and Lion shook it off of themselves and she heard Pearl's voice scolding them. Apparently, she had come out of her room just in time. Jasper stood in the rain as the wind increased and realized she was being a fool. Even if the house was claustrophobic for her, the storm was too severe to justify her staying outside. She gritted her teeth and walked resolutely to the open door.

"Yo, Jazz! Get in here!" Amethyst shouted.

Pearl appeared in the doorway and frowned at her. "Inside, this instant!" She cried.

Jasper fought a smile at the shrill order, feeling like she was back under Holly Blue Agate. She did as she was told and stepped in, dripping water everywhere. She shook herself off and all three of them cried out. Lion gave her a disgusted look and leaped up to lay at the foot of Steven's bed. He began licking himself furiously.

"Towels! We need towels!" Pearl cried, like they were facing a disaster.

"On it!" Peridot called, already headed to the room she apparently slept in.

A loud grunt had Jasper looking to where Steven lay. He groaned and sat up. "What's happening?" He asked, voice sounding thick.

"Oh, no. I'm sorry for waking you, Steven." Pearl said apologetically.

He yawned hugely. "S'ok."

Peridot walked back into the room with her arms so full of towels, she couldn't see where she was walking. Pumpkin happily skipped around her feet, so it was a wonder she didn't fall as she came to deposit them on the couch. She picked up one that was longer than she was tall and began folding it into a usable length.

"Now you can help us clean up!" Amethyst called, leering up at him.

"You don't have to do that, Steven." Pearl said softly. "You just rest and feel better."

"I feel much better now. I can help!" He said, standing and kicking on his shoes, which had fallen when Garnet had put him to bed.

He came down the stairs and grabbed a towel. Amethyst picked up a few and threw one to Jasper. The tall warrior caught it instinctively. She watched them all begin clean up the water together for a moment.

On Homeworld, the lowest ranked gems took care of cleaning except in cases of punishment. Higher ranked gems saw it as a natural thing for the lesser to tend to all of their mundane tasks. It had been a long time since she had had to clean anything but herself.

But, as she watched them all cleaning up the water, she saw again there was no rank here. Peridot was on her knees beside Pearl, smiling up at the slender gem who was telling her something.. Amethyst popped her towel at Steven, who retaliated and they were both laughing.

They seemed so at peace. A weight settled in her chest, but it didn't feel like a bad one. It was more like she'd been given a gift, though she couldn't describe what it was except that she suddenly felt... happy. She felt laughter bubbling up from inside her and she let it out, throwing back her head to laugh.

Amethyst and Steven were laughing with her. After a few moments, Pearl's soft laugh and Peridot's chuckle joined the sounds of happiness. At the back of the room, the large door suddenly flared to light and Garnet stepped into the room.

She stopped short and stared at them all and the water everywhere. They went quiet. All of them were still wet. Pumpkin was still splashing happily, as if silence hadn't fallen over the room.

Garnet shook her head. "I don't even want to know." Her voice was exasperated.

Jasper looked around at the others and for some reason felt the urge to laugh again. She fought it and saw the others were fighting it too, even Pearl. They were all giving each other furtive looks. Steven put both hands over his mouth, cheeks puffing out with contained air. Amethyst was the first to break, laughter bursting out of her as she snorted.

Jasper couldn't hold it in and she laughed too, the others quickly joining. Garnet began to chuckle as they all laughed and laughed. Jasper had never felt this kind of happy. She felt a pang of regret deep in her heart for the life she might have had, but the feeling was drowned out but a stronger sense of goodness. As they sobered, she looked around at them all and saw them all smiling just as big as she was. She could get used to this.

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Laughter definitely is the best medicine, wouldn't you agree? This chapter was difficult in several ways, and it took me a bit longer to make it satisfactory to me, so sorry for the delay. My fascination with the conflicts between characters and the many diverse ways of interpreting almost any spoken sentence caught me up for a while and I found my self rewriting several sections multiple times and seeing what outcomes could come from the same conversation said in a slightly different way.

I ended up doing it for several future sections as well as other stories I'm working on and got lost in the writing for awhile. I made almost zero progress, but at least it was fun. I should have waited until after I finished this chapter to get off track, but I honestly didn't know what kind of rabbit hole I'd stumbled into. Live and learn.

Thank you again so much for your continued support. I do really enjoy hearing from you. Now, I'm off to make some macaroni and cheese and get lost in words again! Yay, for weekends off!

Until next time, loves!