Pieces
YuriYaoiHet_ILoveEmAll
Chapter 9
A/N: Thank you all so much for your continued response! Sorry for the skipped week. I won't keep you here and will instead talk about it at the end.
Read on, loves!
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
After they cleaned up the water, they all began doing different things. Pearl was sitting on the couch, quietly playing with an electronic device similar to Peridot's only much smaller. Peridot and Amethyst were watching something on a screen with Steven up the stairs. Garnet sat beside Pearl, arms spread along the back of the couch, legs crossed and head resting back. She was the picture of relaxed.
Lion was asleep in a large ball and Cat-Steven and Pumpkin were chasing each other quietly all through the house. Jasper wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. The storm was still raging outside, thunder and lightning flashing and crashing above them. It felt strange to be in a bubble of safety within the raging storm.
There was one thing that made her very uncomfortable that she hadn't really registered before. It was a large picture of Rose Quartz. She couldn't look at it without all of her negative thoughts towards her playing through her mind. But yet, she couldn't keep her eyes away.
Rose Quartz had been a beautiful gem and there was gentleness about the portrait that she'd never seen before interacting with these Crystal Gems. The gentle expression made her yearn for something, though she wasn't sure what. She felt... lonely, but she was surrounded by the Crystal Gems.
Only Steven had spoken to her about Rose, but she already knew how highly they all regarded her. She had been a leader to them and, studying their relationships, they had probably been very close. What had the rebellious Rose been like outside the battlefield? She wanted to know, but didn't want to break the peace in the house by bringing it up.
"Something on your mind, Jasper?" Garnet asked softly.
Jasper looked away from the portrait and over at the fusion. Garnet was still in the same position, but she was looking at Jasper. The warrior gem couldn't see her eyes, but the knowing curl of her lips let Jasper know what her true expression was. Sapphire's unnerved her and that was a sapphire look if she'd ever seen one. Garnet's Sapphire was much more feisty than those back on Homeworld. That only made it worse.
Pearl looked up from her device and glanced between the two of them. "Something wrong?" She asked, speaking just as softly as Garnet had.
"No. Nothing's wrong." Jasper told her, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
Garnet sat up, resting her elbows on her knees and looked fully at Pearl. "Jasper wants to talk about Rose."
Jasper gaped at the fusion, her heart skipping a beat as Pearl's expression went blank. "What?" Her tone was dark, not matching that carefully blank expression at all. When she looked up at Jasper, there was a glint in her eyes that reminded the tall warrior gem of the deadly blade she wielded.
Jasper put up her hands, not wanting trouble. "I wasn't the one who said it."
Garnet looked back at her. "But you do."
Jasper was about thirty Earth seconds from walking out the door, storm or no storm. "I don't want trouble." She growled.
"It isn't trouble to be curious." Garnet's tone was reassuring, but Pearl's eyes were not.
"Why do you want to talk about Mom?" Steven asked.
Jasper looked up to see that Steven, Amethyst and Peridot had stopped watching the screen and were instead watching them. Jasper sighed, running her fingers through her hair and scratching her scalp. Now she had to talk. And once she started, the words just came pouring out.
"I just realized that I have only ever thought of her in one way. I've only ever seen her as the one who broke my Diamond and the reason that I had to fight. She's always been the reason why, but you all don't see her like that. She was a leader to you. She was close to you in this new Earth way you all do things that defies everything Homeworld is. It... made me wonder what she was like off the battlefield. Did she do this too?"
"Do what?" Pearl asked in that carefully neutral tone, though her voice had a bite to it.
Jasper gestured around at them. "This. Just... be at peace. It's like we didn't even fight earlier. It's like there isn't a huge storm outside. You're all so relaxed. No one is on guard. No one is preparing for the next strike or training. I don't understand."
Peridot raised her hand. "That's what I've been telling you, Jasper. Life on Earth is different. We just enjoy being together without worrying about the next fight. We know it can happen and we know things might go wrong. We do train and we do talk about it, just not all the time. Relaxing is just as important as being ready all the time."
Jasper shook her head. "I still don't get it." She said in exasperation. "It just seems careless. Did Rose do this too? Just let the pieces fall where they may?"
Pearl looked away, body tense. "Not in the way you mean."
Garnet leaned into her, bumping her side against Pearl's. "Talk to her about Rose. Then maybe she will understand." The words were soft and full of a meaning that Jasper couldn't interpret.
Pearl's carefully neutral expression dissolved and a a universe of emotion played through her eyes, before a softer one took it's place. It was the expression she wore when she looked at Steven. It was the expression on Rose's face in the picture. The strange yearning echoed through her. What did it mean?
"Okay." Pearl said simply, her voice warm.
"Pearl's gonna talk about Mom!" Steven cheered.
He stood up and jumped into the main of the house, floating gently down to sit in front of the couch before Pearl and Garnet. Amethyst and Peridot exchanged smiles and came to join him, sitting together at Steven's side. Amethyst sprawled out on her side, head propped on an elbow and Peridot sat holding her knees, leaning slightly back into her. Steven looked over at Jasper with an eager smile and patted the floor near him. They made a nice picture, all together and, for a moment, she felt the sense that she didn't belong in that happy picture. But Steven was smiling at her and Garnet nodded, so she came to sit beside him, crossing her legs and resting her hands on her knees.
Pearl looked around at them all and took a deep breath. "Rose could be careless." She began. "She was serious about Earth and her need to defend it. She was serious about freedom for gems, all of life, really, but she also took the time to enjoy that life." She was looking at Jasper when she said the last. Jasper couldn't keep her expression neutral and leaned forward eagerly. She wanted to know so badly about the careless side of her nemesis, not because she wanted to hear of the late Rose's weakness, but because she got the sense that her carelessness, just like the carelessness of the gems around her, was a piece of why she had been so powerful. "Even the tiniest pieces of life were precious to her. We... met under strange circumstances, but she cared about all life she encountered here on Earth. I didn't understand all that she saw in life. I still don't." Her voice held a great sadness and her expression was etched with profound grief. Tears shimmered in her eyes as she looked at Steven and smiled at him through all that pain. "You do the same thing and it still confounds me." She laughed tearfully. Her watery eyes met Jasper's for a moment and for some reason, Jasper remembered the air weaver. Pearl looked away and dabbed at her eyes. "I'm just a big mush." She joked. Garnet put an arm around her.
"Aw, Pearl." Steven said affectionately.
"I'm okay." The pale gem said shakily.
Jasper felt bad that something she had brought up was so obviously upsetting to Pearl. She didn't like talking about certain things, especially the things that made her emotional. Part of her felt like it wasn't her place to speak, but she wanted to tell her that. "We can talk about something else if it's upsetting you."
Pearl looked over at her in surprise. "Thank you, but I'm okay. Really."
"Talking helps." Garnet said firmly. She was looking right at Jasper when she said it. The tall warrior gem internally cringed from the jab and hid it by shifting her position slightly to settle more comfortably on the floor. She had been talking, hadn't she?
"It does." Pearl agreed, oblivious to the exchange. She took another deep breath and let it out slow. "As I was saying, Rose loved life and all of it's complexities. She showed me a lot during our first few years together on Earth. I became and entirely different gem and so did she. She was fascinated by humans and studied them... a bit too closely at times." She smiled over at Steven, who chuckled. Amethyst snickered and Peridot elbowed her. Garnet was smiling widely. It clicked in Jasper's mind what Pearl was saying and how Steven had probably come to be and felt herself blush brightly at the thought. If anyone noticed, they said nothing and Pearl continued, in slightly darker tone. "We fought in many battles during that time and she was saddened by every loss on either side. We gained allies. Lost allies. Made friends." She smiled at Garnet and Amethyst. "Some terrible things happened and we had to rise to meet many challenges, but even in the most serious of times, Rose always enjoyed the world around her. Every new discovery excited her to no end. And yes it was careless." She looked at Jasper again. "But it made her fight all the harder to protect what she loved." There was an intensity in her eyes that cut Jasper to the core.
There was that word again! Love. It always came back to that. What was love?
She could understand the rest easily enough; she had experienced some of the same wonder first-hand. The tides, crab, the glassing sand, the air weaver- she really did like that name more than spider- were all things she had learned about here. And she might not know the purpose of the crab or air weaver or know why the sand glassed over in reaction to enough physical force, but she knew more about them than she had before, which was nothing.
Earth worked in mysterious ways and so did the gems and creatures who lived here. And if the Earth had been turned into a colony, none of it would exist. These experiences she was having and the good things she was learning would never have happened. It all would have been washed away in a tide of destruction and Homeworld would have yet another completed colony to use for resources.
There would be no crabs or air weavers. There would be no tides. No ocean. She would never have met Lapis to be broken by her. She would have never known about being truly honest or the happiness that laughter could bring. She would never have even existed if not for Rose Quartz!
Her heart felt broken and her mind swam. The only good that had come out of her life had actually come from the same source that had caused her another lifetime of pain and fear. How had she not made the connection before now? Her soul was in turmoil. She hated Rose Quartz for the life she had been forced into, and yet... she now also felt grateful.
These new experiences were hard and the lessons painfully learned, but each one felt good in a way she had never experienced. She wasn't sure yet how she felt about all that she was learning, but she was actually learning instead of being trapped in the same terrifying task like she was before. And she felt grateful, but there was still a deeply buried resentment that she couldn't, maybe even didn't want to, uproot. She had still experienced a lot of bad because of the decisions made by her and some of the gems sitting around her. She didn't hold it against the ones still here, because they had been following Rose and her decisions had dictated them all.
But now there was a new way to think about it. Rose had been the first, to her knowledge, to ever look beyond her task and find a reason to break from it. She had been the first to look outside of their world and get a glimpse of the life outside of it. And she had been the first to see the wonder in it.
She wondered now if Rose had seen the stars like she now did. They weren't just points to map, they were beautiful. Had she seen the great creatures that moved through the ocean of this tiny planet that were bigger than the Diamonds themselves? Had she stood beneath a raging storm and dared it to strike her down where she stood and instead been awed by it? Had she ever looked out at the great rolling waves of the sea and felt small?
Even though she still resented her, she suddenly got the feeling that she would have liked to meet her, just once, to ask. The thought settled into her mind, shedding new light inside her. This was another side of things she had never thought about.
She'd never thought of her enemies and what they were like. She'd never taken the time to truly get to know another being except to discover their weaknesses. She had never thought of anyone else at all. Her life had been... lonely. And even though she still enjoyed being alone, she found she did not mind being around these gems.
She was more comfortable around them in one way and more tense in a different one, and it didn't necessarily feel bad. Just confusing. There was still a lot for her to learn. And she wouldn't be learning it all without Rose Quartz.
Lapis had seen it before she had, though Lapis had focused mainly on Steven without associating him with Rose. Peridot had seen it too. Many gems had. She had a sudden guilty thought.
How many gems had stood between her and Rose during the war? How many gems had she struck down for seeing it while she had been blind? How many lives had been lost and creatures destroyed and landscapes flattened in the name of Homeworld and its refusal to accept defeat?
How many worlds had been destroyed before and after this one? How may planets and lives had she demolished in her rampage for the Diamonds who she despised even as she worshiped them? How much destruction had she caused in the name of a cause she had been too afraid to stray from? She was crushed under the weight of her guilt.
Rose had had the courage to defy the Diamonds and even if Earth had suffered and gems had been destroyed, she had still won in the end. Even if she was no longer here now. She had truly given her life to live on Earth and embrace it to it's fullest. And Steven, strange and kind Steven was a result of her devotion.
She was moved and awed by this new knowledge. She felt as if she understood so many things, and yet she still had so many questions; so many things she wanted to ask. It was as if she had fully come alive and seen the world though new eyes. Her heart was pounding as a new urge came to life inside her. She wanted to know more. More about everything: life on Earth and all of it's mysteries.
"You okay, Jasper?" Steven whispered from beside her.
She blinked and glanced around. The rest of the gems were talking quietly, but Steven was looking at her. She smiled at him. "Yeah. Yeah I think I am." She whispered back.
He smiled back. "Good. I'm glad." He looked back at the others and watched them for a moment. "They're kind've great, aren't they?" He asked, still whispering.
Jasper agreed in a way, but her happy made her want to joke about it. "I don't know." She whispered, sounding unconvinced. "The green one makes me nervous."
Steven burst out laughing. She was grinning hugely as the others looked around. "What's so funny?" Peridot asked in a testy tone.
Steven stopped laughing for just a moment and looked at Jasper with eyes full of mirth. She tried to fight the urge to laugh at Peridot's response, but with that, combined with the look on Steven's face, she couldn't even try. Laughter burst from her and Steven laughed with her.
"I don't get it." Amethyst said, confused.
Steven sobered slightly and wiped a tear from his eye. "It's nothing. I'm just not used to Jasper's sense of humor yet."
She smirked. "It's my new secret weapon." It was true. Laughter was quickly becoming one of her favorite things and making others laugh was fun. She'd never really had fun before, not in this way. It was … freeing.
"Erm, how can it be a secret if we all know about it?" Peridot asked.
Jasper looked over at her, still smirking arrogantly. "You might know what it is, but you'll never know when it's coming."
Steven stood with a cheer. "Surprise attack! Yah!" He punched at the air.
A blinding flash of light and an almost simultaneous and deafening crash of thunder followed the action, as if on queue. The lights in the house winked off. Peridot squeaked and the lights flickered back on for a moment, before going dark again.
"I got this." Pearl spoke from the darkness. Her gem shone blindingly bright as she materialized a strange object from it. Jasper heard a click and then a low, somehow warm looking light shone from it.
Pumpkin suddenly tackled Peridot and the green gem fell slightly sideways with the impact. The orange creature curled into her lap, shivering. "Aw. Is my little Pumpkin Spice scared of the big storm?" Peridot cooed at her.
Amethyst snorted. "It amuses me so much that you use that as her nickname."
Peridot cut her eyes at the purple quartz behind her. "You're the one that picked it. I think it's cute."
Amethyst was grinning hugely at her. "It is." Her tone was soft.
"Well." Steven sighed. "What do we do now?" A strange digital tune filled the air and the boy jumped, before reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a device that looked similar to the one Pearl had used. "It's Connie!" He sounded very excited as he tapped the screen and held the device to his ear. "Hi, Connie!" He paused for a minute. "Yeah. It's pretty bad. We lost power." He paused again. Jasper had been momentarily confused, but now realized that the device allowed him to communicate with someone. She remembered him mentioning this 'Connie' before and wondered exactly who she was. "Actually, hang on a second." He pulled the device from his ear. "I'm gonna take this upstairs." He told them. He stood and put the device back to his ear. "I'm back. You were saying?"
"Well. Steven is occupied until his phone dies." Amethyst said dryly.
"Shush!" Pearl hissed. "Don't tease him. They are adorable."
Amethyst shrugged. "Yeah, you're right. How long does the battery in that thing last?"
Pearl glanced down at the light in her hands. "I'm not really sure. I can't even remember how long I've had it."
"There are some candles in one of the kitchen drawers." Garnet offered, standing.
"I may have a few flashlights or some more lanterns and batteries in my room." Amethyst said with a yawn. "Might take a while to find 'em though."
"I'll help!" Peridot chimed in. She stood, scooping the still shivering Pumpkin into her arms. "Let's go find some light sources, yeah?" She cooed at the creature.
Amethyst joined her and together they walked to the gem encrusted door and disappeared inside. Garnet was rummaging around in the 'kitchen' as she had called it. Steven was talking softly into the 'phone'. She thought the terms to herself firmly to remember them. Pearl was quietly staring at the light in her hands and thunder still raged outside.
"Maybe I should call the human authorities and report the outage?" Pearl asked, looking up at Garnet.
"They already know. We'll have power at 10:36 A.M." She said matter-of-factly.
Pearl hummed and pulled out her phone. "Thank you." She called. She tapped the screen to turn it on and began tapping it as if she were typing something.
"And who are you texting?" Garnet asked teasingly.
Pearl blushed brightly and put the phone to her chest. "No peaking inside my head!" She scolded. Jasper hid her smile at Pearl's indignant tone. So Garnet did it to the other's as well. Living for an extended period of time with the fusion must be an interesting experience.
Garnet chuckled. "I don't have to. Your face says it all."
Pearl sent her a scathing look. The phone made a ringing noise in her hands and the pale gem jumped, before putting it to her ear. "Hello?" She paused. "Oh, he's on the phone with Connie." Another pause. "We've lost power but we're fine. Garnet says the power will be back on by mid-morning." She paused again. "Of, course! You know you're always welcome."
"Ask him to stop by the Pizza's and pick up a few for them to eat. They'll be free if Kofi doesn't see him."
Pearl nodded. "Garnet says there are free pizzas at Fish Stew Pizza. Avoid Kofi." She paused. "Drive safely. We'll see you when you get here." She pulled the phone away and tapped the screen. Then she looked up at Garnet. "Why are you still looking? You know where they are."
Garnet smiled at her. "You haven't finished your text that you don't want me to see."
Pearl blushed brightly again. "I hate it when you do that." She grumbled.
Garnet's grin got wider. "We don't know who it is to and we won't look. We promise." Her smile had faded to a serious expression.
Pearl blinked at her. "Thank you."
Jasper had been lost for most of their conversation, but she knew how Pearl felt. "Sapphire's." Jasper joked, affecting a shiver.
"Tell me about it." Pearl agreed with a small laugh. She blinked and her eyes went wide with surprise as she looked at the warrior gem.
Jasper grinned. "I like jokes." She told her.
Pearl said nothing, but her lips were curled in a small smile as she went back to her typing. They sat in silence for a little while, but it wasn't awkward. Jasper still felt the burning in her heart, the urge to know everything and find her purpose, but she was content at this moment. The house no longer felt suffocating. It felt... warm.
She glanced up at the picture of Rose Quartz, now almost hidden in shadow. She had never thought to think of her in any other way. She had never known that there was another side to the story. She had been selfish and angry and too caught up in her own head to ever consider anyone else. Somehow she felt that even if she didn't learn another thing, that one lesson would have been enough.
The gem door flared and Amethyst, Peridot, and the once again happily prancing Pumpkin came back into the main of the house. "Success!" Peridot yelled, holding up a few devices and what Jasper assumed were power cells for them.
Amethyst had a long, cylindrical device in her hand and she pointed it at Jasper and Pearl. "Check this out!" She clicked a button on it and Jasper was suddenly and painfully blinded.
Jasper turned her head, shielding her eyes. "Amethyst! Why would you do that?"
Amethyst was snickering as she turned off the light. "Why would I not? That was hilarious! This thing's got some serious power!" She pointed it towards Steven's room and clicked it on again.
Steven was still on the phone and was lying on his side, turned away from the rest of the house, so the light was harmless to him. "Nice try, Amethyst!" He called.
She pouted and turned it back off. Jasper glared at her. "I don't think that was funny."
Amethyst flipped her hair. "Eh, don't be a stiff. That's what we have Pearl for." The pale gem sputtered. "Anyway." Amethyst continued. "I got us some lights. I don't know how much life the batteries have, but with these and the candles, we should be fine." She looked at Garnet.
"They'll last." The fusion agreed, holding up a few 'candles' Jasper assumed.
"Especially if we don't use them all at once. Two should suffice and one for the bathroom, as needed." Peridot said, putting a few batteries in one of the lights they had brought.
"That should be fine, yes." Pearl agreed. A knock sounded at the door. Jasper was immediately on her feet and facing it. "Wait, Jasper. That must be Greg."
"It is." Garnet spoke loudly.
"I'll answer it!" Amethyst shouted, running for the door. She swung it open to reveal a hooded figure carrying a few narrowly rectangular boxes. It was a human.
"Oh, thanks! The pizza is getting wet." A male voice said urgently, before the human rushed inside. His long coat dripped water everywhere.
"Dad!" Steven cheered, sitting up on his bed and turning around. "Let me call you back, Connie." He spoke into the phone. He tapped the screen and jumped from the bed.
"Heya, kiddo!" He smiled up at the happy boy as Steven rushed down to hug him. "Careful, you'll make me drop the pizza!"
"Yum! Pizza!" Amethyst said, letting drool flow from her mouth. She made to snatch them, but Garnet was suddenly there, taking them from Greg.
She held them up high. "These are for Greg and Steven."
"I'm hungry too!" She protested.
Garnet rose an eyebrow and stared at her for a moment. "It's okay, Garnet. I got one for her too." Greg suddenly spoke.
He had taken off his dripping coat and was holding it awkwardly as it dripped. He was slightly overweight and balding and Jasper relaxed fully as she watched him futilely try to stop the water from hitting the floor with his hand. He obviously meant no threat and was important to the others. Pearl stood and came to take the coat from him with a grimace. She hung it on a hook by the door as Greg took the boxes back from Garnet. He pulled the bottom one free and handed it to the eager, purple quartz.
"You da man, Greg!" She cheered.
He grinned and Jasper blinked as she recognized the smile as Steven's. "I aim to please." He finally noticed Jasper and his eyes went wide. "Wow, you're tall!" He exclaimed.
Steven smacked his forehead. "Oh, right! You guys have never met. Dad, this is Jasper. Jasper this is-"
Greg stepped towards her and held out his hand. "Greg." He finished for Steven. "Greg Universe. Nice to meet you, Jasper."
She stared at his hand for a moment, before reaching out with her own. He grasped it and shook it firmly. She blinked at him. What had that been about? Steven suddenly laughed. "It's a handshake. It's kind've a greeting ritual." He explained.
"Oh." She shook Greg's hand more firmly. "Nice to meet you too, Greg."
Greg smiled up at her and she again saw the resemblance to Steven. Greg was Steven's dad and Rose was Steven's mom. She wasn't sure exactly what the terms meant, but she knew enough to know that this was the human that Rose Quartz had come together with to make Steven. Her brow furrowed. There must be more to this man that his appearance implied. She would wait and see.
He turned back to Steven. "Well, kiddo. You hungry?"
Steven grinned. "You bet I am!"
Greg laughed. "Then lets eat!"
He carried the boxes to the couch and sat. Steven joined him with a bounce and they both pulled out slices of what she knew must be pizza and began to chew on them. Amethyst flopped on the couch next to them and began taking chunks of pizza out of her own box. So that was eating. Lion and the air weaver had been eating too. She remembered her first moments of being reformed; Steven had eaten then too.
As she watched them chew and swallow noisily, she was a little disgusted. Amethyst was eating hers even more noisily and messily than the human and hybrid. She swallowed hard against a sudden sense of nausea and looked away.
"It's disgusting, right?" Peridot said quietly at her side.
Jasper nodded. "Very."
Pearl was shuddering. "I hate it when they eat like this. At least you could show proper manners!"
"Sorry, Pearl." Greg called around a mouthful of pizza.
"Me too." Steven followed.
"I'm not!" Amethyst crowed. "Manners are for losers!" She took a much larger bite and began smacking loudly as she chewed.
Pearl gagged and turned away. "Oh, I can't take this."
"Amethyst, stop!" Garnet scolded.
The purple quartz closed her mouth and pouted. "You guys are no fun."
"Oh!" Steven swallowed his mouthful. "I forgot something. Hey, Peridot?"
"Yes?"
"I told Connie about Jasper and she mentioned that maybe you could do for Jasper like you did for Lapis and Eyeball."
Peridot gasped. "That's an amazing idea!"
Jasper was suddenly apprehensive as the small gem looked up at her, eyes shining. "What exactly are we doing?" She asked hesitantly.
"We are going to teach you about Earth!"
Jasper's felt her eyes shoot wide with surprised pleasure. "Really?" She couldn't keep the eagerness out of her voice. Peridot was an intelligent gem. She must know almost everything about Earth by now.
Peridot smirked. "Yep! Ready to get started?"
Jasper couldn't fight her responding smile. "I am."
"Then let's get to it!" Peridot cheered. "First. Let's talk about the atmosphere and how it affects Earth's many vast ecosystems and weather patterns." She sat and pointed at the floor in front of her.
Jasper immediately sat and got comfortable as Peridot began speaking. She was actually going to learn more than just the tidbits from Lapis' memories and her own experiences. This was going to be fun!
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Time for Jasper to get her nerd on! First, I want to thank you for your reviews, messages and views. It means a lot to me. I know I say it every chapter, But it's because I mean it. I like speaking with you and hearing from you and writing this story for all of us to enjoy. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I appreciate those of you that do like it.
I have some bad news though. I am taking a longer break between chapters before posting, because with everything that is going on with work, family and home life, I can't keep up 10+ pages a week. I could shorten the chapters, but I'm afraid that would be even more annoying than a longer wait for the next few chapters. If you want the shorter chapters instead of the break though, let me know and I'll do it that way instead. I just really need to write ahead a bit to make it easier on myself. I hope you understand the amount of regret I feel having to say it.
Please don't think I'm going to abandon this story, though. It means FAR too much to me to never be finished and I have too many future scenes already written to not go on. It's just getting from this point to the finished scenes that is taking so long.
Anyway. Feel free to message me, and please stay safe and read on. Until next time, loves! Laters!
