The Swan and the Witch
Story Summary: Once upon a time, there was a castle with a curse upon it that belonged to a fearsome beast-sorceress. A young woman ends up trapped at the castle with its inhabitants. What will she discover about this strange place, it's odd residents, and it's even more mysterious mistress? Can she break the curse? Beauty and the Beast re-tell, Swan Queen
Disclaimer: I have a number of very nice, new Christmas presents and yet none of them are the rights to OUAT. So sad.
A/N: I am beyond sorry for the long delay between this chapter and the last. To make up for it though, it's the longest chapter to date so please don't kill me.
-/-
Chapter Ten
The two women were sitting at the dinner table the next day, quietly eating as each was lost in her own thoughts. As she thought, Emma fiddled with the cuff of her new shirt, the seamstresses having come through with a startling amount of well-made and comfortable sets of clothes for her—and not a single dress, per her specifications. She had watched David in the mirror, saw him show her letter to Mary Margaret at their own dinner that night. She was relieved it had gotten to them and knew she had done the right thing for Pongo too. David and Mary Margaret still seemed worried about her, which she expected, but at least the fear that she was dead or being tortured or some other gruesome fate had lifted.
Meanwhile, Regina was preoccupied by how much Emma was beginning to occupy her thoughts. How obviously pleased the blonde was about her little letter… the warmth that spread through her at having been the one to make Emma happy. It was disconcerting and inconsequential—everyone left in the end.
Per usual, it was Emma who felt the need to break the silence, the constant curiosity she had about the sorceress unable to be silenced. The success of her first experiment giving her more confidence than she'd had before. "So, what exactly do you do all day?"
"Hm?" Regina looked up, half of her mind still on other things as she lightly fingered the bandages that were still wrapped around her arms absentmindedly.
"Well," Emma hedged, suddenly unsure before remembering that in order to convince the Queen to free her, she needed to befriend her and learn more about her. Her resolve firmed. "I mean, you've gotta be doing something, right?"
"Indeed," Regina acknowledged, pausing briefly until Emma fidgeted in her chair before answering her, "It has varied over the years. In the beginning of the curse, trying to gain control over my new shape and the way it had warped my magic occupied most of my time. Those years passed in a bit of a blur. Then I spent the next span doing a great deal of magical research—attempting to figure out if there was any way to break or lift the curse."
Emma was about to ask if she'd found anything, but realized if she had—they wouldn't be here. "What did you used to do? Before, I mean."
"I used to have more duties that came with running a castle and a kingdom. Trade, balancing nobles, paperwork, managing relationships with other kingdoms—that sort of thing. However, between the isolation, the magic, and the way it's impacted my people, most of that isn't necessary anymore or isn't possible."
Emma considered that, it made sense, but she'd never really thought of all of the work ruling entailed before. "What about for fun?"
The queen's whole head tilted to the side in confusion, "'Fun'?"
"Yeah, you know, stuff you do because you enjoy it—not because you have to? Fun?"
"I—," Regina paused, as if she needed to think about it. "I did not have much time for, fun, after I married, nor when I became queen or during the war." She paused again, to the point Emma thought she wasn't going to say anything else, but then her mouth opened once more, "Riding. I used to love taking my horse for long rides, whenever I could."
Emma worked to keep her surprise to herself, surprised that they had something in common, although it actually sounded like Regina enjoyed riding even more than she did. That certainly explained the magnificent stables, but… "Then how come I never see you there? I'm at the stables every morning, riding Juane…"
The queen straightened, her voice turning brittle, as if trying to cover how much her next words truly bothered her, "I can't ride. Not anymore. The horses are frightened of me. And my form is ill-suited for it." Regina heaved a large sigh and stared off into the distance wistfully. "I used to love to ride. It was something I excelled at and truly loved. There's nothing quite like riding over the hills, bare-back, nothing to hold you back."
Emma noticed the change in the sorceress's voice as she spoke of riding, how much younger and…human it made her seem. The longing in her voice something Emma felt close to. She tried to move the conversation in a more casual direction though, it was all getting a bit heavy—making her think about things she couldn't have either. "Bare-back? Doesn't sound very queenly. Shouldn't you ride side saddle or something?"
Her joke seemed to fall a little flat though, for all it did work in changing the mood. "Yes, very unlady-like," Regina confirmed, her voice a bit monotone. Suddenly she too wished to steer the conversation in a new direction—one far away from her. "What activity do you enjoy most?"
"Reading," Emma answered quickly and without hesitation.
"You like to read?"
"Yeah, although it was a lot easier in the city. The bookstore in town doesn't really have a lot. They have most of the well-known or popular books, but I'd already read those. I was starting to have re-read when, um, David left," Emma finally settled on.
"I see," Although Emma couldn't really tell what exactly she saw. She was getting better at deciphering the queen's facial expression, but the fur made it hard. "That's too bad."
Emma just bobbed her head, "Yeah, well, I didn't mind too much. I like re-reading my favorites but after a while I'm not sure what I was gonna do. Well actually," she corrected herself before pausing, unsure. Should she confide in the witch? She turned the thought over before deciding that yes, she would. After all, who could she tell and it wasn't so much a secret as rather personal and if Emma really wanted to befriend the queen, it would have to be a two-way street. The other woman certainly wasn't going to start that process—she was locked down tighter than, well, than this castle.
Regina had noticed the pause, but Emma continued before she had a chance to raise a brow in question. "Actually, after David and Mary Margaret were settled, and the baby was older, I guess, I was going to leave." Regina gave her a look that Emma took as a silent request for her to elaborate. Maybe her face was being particularly expressive that day or maybe Emma was finally learning how to read the queen. "That town is too small, I know David's happy there but I'll never be. I moved with him because he needed someone he could count on and to, er, put some distance between me and some people in my city that were rather displeased with me."
Regina smirked at that, but Emma pointedly ignored it. "But now that he's more or less settled, and has Mary Margaret to look after him…" Emma trailed off as she shrugged. "I want to get back to a city, somewhere new—not my old one—a whole new place. I've always wanted to explore and see new places, but before I didn't have enough money or means to support myself and I was too young and it was too dangerous and there was David to think about. Now though, I've got plenty of skills to survive with, saved a decent amount of money to start on and pay David back for Juane. The baby is a surprise, but once he or she isn't a baby, I'm gonna finally go out and see what else is out there, with my own eyes—not just in the pages of books."
She gave the biggest smile Regina had seen yet, her eyes shining with her plans. It was enough to make Regina forget just about everything except for Emma. Until her eyes dimmed and the smile faded. "Or at least, I was going to," Emma corrected, so caught up in having someone to fully explain her plans to she had forgotten that in actuality she was further from ever achieving her dream than ever before.
Regina too seemed to realize that as she frowned. "Sounds exciting," was all she said though, "What does your brother think of your plan?"
Emma kept her eyes on her plate as she shrugged, "He's not, like, thrilled, but he used to sail away for months at a time himself and he knows I'm not suited for the town. If I had found someone—a friend or spouse—he probably would have tried to persuade me to stay but he knows he can't keep me here and he won't try. He knows how I feel about being trapped," that last part was said pointedly, but Emma's refusal to meet the queen's eyes highlighted the note of genuine panic in her voice that she couldn't quite hide, Emma flashing back to the night she'd tried to leave her room.
"Would you come back to visit him?" Regina asked instead of commenting on the sudden down turn of her guest's mood.
"Yeah, of course," Emma said, surprised, the implication in her tone being that her answer should be obvious, "Just because I don't want to live in the same town as him doesn't mean I never want to see him again."
"I see." Then the queen's chair scraped on the stone as she pushed it up abruptly. "I need to attend to something," she said as she stood. Emma blinked up at her. "Come here tomorrow for lunch, please." Then she vanished in a puff of smoke.
Emma didn't think she would ever get used to that. And had Regina just said please?
-x-x-x-
As Emma brushed Juane down, she thought over her lunch plans. Henry was doing something else today—probably something with that Aunt Jeanna he always talked about—and so she was using the quiet to get her thoughts in order. Regina had asked her to come to the main dining hall for lunch—something she had never done before. On top of that, it was clearly a request—not a demand like diner was.
The question was, should Emma oblige her? Should she go to show that she would listen to Regina even when it wasn't an order, to make up for the West Wing debacle? Or should she keep to her usual routine in order to show her that she would do as she wished whenever she could and not give in to Regina's whims?
In the end she knew what she would choose, too curious, too desperate for a chance to see the woman inside the witch, inside the queen, to let this chance slip through her fingers. So after she finished in the stable, at her usual lunch time, Emma went into the dining hall instead of the kitchen.
The queen was waiting for her, but she offered no explanation, merely acting as though they always had lunch together as they did with dinner.
They made a brief amount of small talk before focusing on their food until Emma decided to follow their dinner routine nearly to the letter. "Isn't it kinda redundant?" she mused out loud.
Regina looked at her in confusion, what was the blonde going on about now?
Emma continued, "Being a queen, named Regina? Isn't that, I don't know," she made a vague gesture with her hand, "heavy handed?"
Regina blinked in surprise before looking away. "I wasn't always a queen. My mother named me and she had very great ambitions for me, even before I was born."
Emma considered that, "So what did you want for yourself?"
Regina stared at her as if no one had ever asked her such a thing before. Emma started to get the sinking feeling no one had. "Freedom," she said wistfully, but surely, in such a quiet way that let Emma know Regina had long since acknowledged it would never come true.
Emma's heart clenched at that, mind drifting back to certain orphanages she'd been forced into and then onto more recent time. Emma bobbed her head, "Yeah, I suppose the curse sorta ruined that."
The queen made a gesture that for a less regal person might have been a shrug. "I was trapped long before the curse took effect."
Emma had no idea how to respond to that. So she just took a drink of cider before asking, "Why are we having lunch today?"
If Regina thought anything of the sudden change, she gave no sign of it. "Something came up last night and it will require my full attention tonight as well so we will not be having dinner."
"Oh." Honestly, Emma had just thought that the queen had more or less made up the excuse to leave the conversation, although now she wondered why—the queen was the one who insisted on the dinners—surely she could simply leave if she felt like it, without random excuses.
"And," Regina said, bringing Emma's attention back to her, "there is something I wanted to show you."
Emma stared at her warily, "Show me?" Her mind raced as she wondered what it could be.
"Yes," Regina confirmed. "In fact, if you're done with your food, I can show you right now."
"Oh! Sure, yeah. I'm good."
Emma hurriedly stood up as the queen did. "Follow me."
-x-x-x-
At first, the queen had led her down corridors Emma knew, but now they had moved further into the castle than Emma's rooms were and she was starting to lose track of where they were going. She really should take the time to more fully explore this place. It was staggeringly large and actually pretty fascinating. They must have passed a dozen rooms, some with their doors shut and others with them open, revealing dark and dusty rooms with cloth shrouded furniture. She was definitely going to talk Henry into exploring with her. Kids always knew the best way around.
They ended up in a long hall, heading for a set of large double doors that at least looked like they'd been opened in the last decade. "I couldn't use this room for a number of years, not until I perfected my control over this ghastly form." The queen spoke for the first time since they'd left the dining hall. She glared down at her furry fingers and the sharp claws at the ends before she balled them into fists. "My claws are so sharp and they're only semi-retractable. After my first disastrous attempt, I elected to wait until I didn't shred everything delicate in my grasp before I returned."
Emma brow furrowed as she tried to guess what the queen was getting at, something breakable? Something 'delicate'? 'Delicate' always made her think of lace for some reason. Oh no, was she going to try to make her sew something? Claws would rip through that for sure. Come to think of it, she studied the queen's outfit for a moment. How the heck did she get into her clothes? They were far more elaborate and the material fancier than anything Emma had ever worn, not that that meant much, but still… It had to be a challenge.
Emma pulled herself from her strangely wandering thoughts to mentally prepare herself for whatever could be on the other side of those doors as Regina firmly grasped the handles and heaved on the heavy wood. They opened with a slight groan and the queen swept in, standing off to the side as she let Emma enter after her—out of the way so she could get a full view.
Emma followed her in and gasped as the heavy curtains in front of floor to ceiling windows opposite the entrance were pulled back by magic and light illuminated the largest library she had ever seen.
She stared with wide eyes as she turned, more books than she had ever seen in her life lined the walls. Big books, small books, old books, new books. Books with spines of every color, shelf after shelf. "Oh my…"
Slowly her eyes noticed the other features of the room, a large fireplace with a couch and very comfortable chairs in front of it, a large desk in one corner and a few tables along with an odd assortment of other chairs were scattered throughout the room. The light from the window was plenty to see by in the day but she saw candle holders mounted on the walls as well as taller ones standing by the chairs and smaller ones resting on the tables.
"I take it you like it?" Regina asked rhetorically, she was unable to hide the amusement in her voice nor the fact that she was clearly pleased Emma was so impressed. "I would have mentioned it earlier, but not many enjoy reading for the pleasure of it."
Emma belatedly nodded as she walked over to one wall and began to run her hand along some of the spines, "Yes, it's….perfect… How do you ever bring yourself to leave?"
That startled a real laugh from Regina. Tthe sound caught Emma so off guard it drew her gaze away from the books and back the other woman. Even before, Regina's laugh had not been so genuine—the sound was magical, like nothing she had ever heard before. The sound faded, but the look on her face stayed. With a jolt, Emma realized this must be what Regina looked like when she was happy. "Yes, I often ask myself that very question. As I said, for years I could not handle any books, at least not with my hands. After the time I had accidently ruined my favorite book, I vowed not to touch another until I was sure it would survive the experience. Holding and turning the pages with magic becomes tiresome very quickly and so I only did so when it was absolutely necessary."
"Once I mastered the use of my own body once more, I returned to my library quite happily. You asked what I do with my time," she gestured to the room, "here is the real answer. Much of it is spent in here."
"I can see why," Emma said reverently as she turned back to the books.
"The books cover every subject, in multiple languages, as well as fiction. Feel free to sit anywhere and read anything. I only ask that you be careful with them—it's not as though I can go out and replace any."
"Of course," Emma looked horrified at the idea of damaging them.
Regina seemed to know that as her eyes had that twinkle in them that Emma really was starting to believe meant she was teasing her. "Good, then I shall leave you to it. Matters will most likely take me away not only this evening, but tomorrow evening as well. I shall tell Sidney when dinners are to resume and he will pass the message on to you."
"Okay," Emma agreed turning before she paused and turned to meet Regina's purple eyes. "Is everything alright?"
Regina had not been expecting Emma to ask after her. She mentally shook her head, the blonde was asking after the situation, not the witch herself. "Yes, just some delicate spell work that needs to be done. It happens every once in a while. It's time consuming and requires a careful touch and concentration, but nothing life threatening. The castle is safe."
Emma nodded, "Good." She flashed a brief smile before reaching out and pulling a book from the shelf. Regina began to leave, but just as she was out the door she heard Emma call, "Oh!" She half turned, wondering what else there was to discuss as Emma ran over to stop in front of her. She gave a sheepish smile, "I just realized I'd never thanked you. So, thank you for bringing me here."
Regina seemed utterly unprepared to deal with such sincere gratitude. Then her eyes softened, and her voice was almost gentle as she responded, "Your welcome, Miss Swan." A small but clear smile spread over her face before she swept from the room.
-x-x-x-
"Emma?"
A voice cut through to the blonde curled up in a large leather chair by a fireplace. "Hm?"
"Emma? Are you in here?"
The blonde in question dragged her eyes off the page and up, blinking into the darkness by the door to the library. "Yeah?" She struggled to get her mind out of the story and back into the present. "Ruby?"
The wolf girl walked into the circle of light around Emma, who barely remembered pausing to start the fire and light the four or so candles that surrounded her.
"What are you doing in here?"
Ruby sounded surprised, confused, and a little worried. Emma frowned at the tone. "Um… reading?" she offered, holding up her book a little.
"But how did you get here? This is the Queen's private library. No one else uses it and she won't even let any of the remaining staff come in to clean it," Ruby explained.
"Really? Oh well, I mentioned I liked to read last night at dinner and she took me here today after our lunch," she punctuated that with a shrug to show it was no big deal.
Ruby however raised her brows, "She did?"
"Yeah, why?"
Ruby shrugged, "It's just unlike her to share the things she values with anyone else. Before or after the curse. Everyone knows she loves this library, its where she always takes her meals when there isn't a guest. But as far as I know, she's never invited anyone else in here."
"Oh." There was a glint in Ruby's eyes, a knowing and hopeful glint that was making Emma nervous and self-conscious. She tried to brush off the implication she was special in some way, "Maybe they didn't like reading as much as I do and she was worried they would mess stuff up. She should protect this place—it's fantastic."
Ruby just shrugged again, "I guess." She glanced around, her wolf eyes letting her see clearly in the dark. "They're just books."
Emma frowned at that. "There's nothing 'just' about books," she said with false condescension, looking down her nose at Ruby sternly. They held gazes for a few seconds before they both started laughing.
"Okay, okay," Ruby said, holding up her hands in surrender. "Books are important, got it, my lady. Would you care for any nourishment? That's why I came to find you—it's almost an hour past dinnertime."
"It is!" Emma hadn't realized that much time had passed. Her stomach evidently had as it chose that moment to let out a growl. Emma blushed, "I guess it is. Regina said I could eat in here, so can I have whatever was for dinner brought up?"
Ruby stared at her in shock, had Emma just used the queen's first name when talking about her? She quickly covered up her surprise and delight at this development, "Sure. I can bring that right up."
"Great," Emma flashed a smile. "Thanks," she said before her attention was drawn back into her book.
-x-x-x-
After the strange next two days where she didn't see the queen at all, Emma found herself in a new routine. She would have breakfast with all her friends in the kitchen followed by riding with Juane. Then in the afternoon she would go to the library where she was most often joined by the queen. The pair would read quietly, sometimes with a tea break and other times not, with dinner either in the dining hall or at the table in the library. Lunch varied the most, sometimes she took it with the other servants, sometimes she had a picnic with Henry and other times she would join Regina in the library. It was a surprisingly comfortable life, and while she couldn't forget that she couldn't leave, she was feeling more and more confident in her growing friendship with the queen. For once in her life, she felt that everything just might work out in the end.
-x-x-x-
Regina caught herself glancing at the clock for the fifth time in as many minutes and cursed silently. She was not anxious or waiting for the blonde. She wasn't. She was simply curious as to what could be taking her so long, that was all. They had been spending the afternoon in the library together for the past three weeks and Emma had never come this late before, so it was natural for her to wonder what could have caused the change.
She tried to focus back on her book and frowned, she had no memory of this page, or the preceding page. Damn it. Maybe she was distracted. She sighed and flipped back, trying to find where she'd been when her mind had wandered.
She was only halfway through a page again when she could finally make out sounds of her guest's approach. Unbidden a smile began to grow on her face before she attempted to school her features, trying to at least appear interested in her book like she usually was.
The blonde seemed to be stomping and huffing more than usual. She burst through the door, "Regina!"
"Yes?" she answered nonchalantly, keeping her eyes on the page.
"You need to have a talk with your servants!"
"Something upsetting you, dear?" Regina asked mildly, far too amused by the childish tantrum Emma seemed to be throwing.
Was she upset? Yes, Emma was upset. Emma was angry. Emma was pissed. "How could you tell?" she asked through gritted teeth, Regina's refusal to meet her eyes, as if she had better things to do, was annoying the blonde.
"Just a feeling."
"Yeah, well. I don't know if this is some kind of joke, but it's not funny. You get them to fix this—right now!"
"Fix what?" Curiosity was beginning to overwhelm her, what could have upset Emma so much?
"Well, if you'd just look at me, you'd see what! I can't believe they did this," she added that last part almost to herself.
With an exaggerated sigh, Regina put her bookmark in and closed her book, before turning to look at Emma.
The blonde's hair was slightly mussed, like she'd tried to run her hand through it despite the fact that it was in a braid. Her green eyes were fiery and she was glaring, rather petulantly at the brunette with her arms crossed in front of her. However, that was not the most notable thing about her appearance. Instantly, Regina knew what the blonde was so angry about.
Emma Swan was wearing a dress.
Regina blinked. Gone were the blonde's typical wardrobe of tight brown pants tucked into tall brown boots with a vest over a linen shirt that the seamstresses had made for her. Instead she was in a floor length dress. It wasn't nearly as elaborate as some of the outfits Regina wore now, let alone some of the ones from her past, but seeing the blonde in such a different outfit made the effect almost as dramatic.
The gown was a deep green, bringing out that color in her eyes, with simple white patterns embroidered on the straps and trim. It had clearly been designed with Emma in mind, not only due to the complementary colors, but also because it fit her perfectly.
"Oh my," Regina said as she scanned Emma from head to toe.
The woman in question flushed at the extra scrutiny. "Fix this," she growled, trying to shove her embarrassment into the corner of her mind.
Regina made the face that meant she was slightly confused, "Fix what? You look very nice in that dress."
Emma's blush deepened, unsure if the queen was teasing or not. She decided to simply ignore the compliment altogether. "That's not the point. The point is that all of my other clothes are missing and this was the only thing left."
That did surprise Regina, "All of them?"
"Every single article of clothing, from underwear to nightclothes—even the outfit I had on earlier was taken away while I was bathing."
Regina brought a hand up to her mouth as Emma's eyes widened, was that a giggle she just heard the other woman stifle? "It's not funny," she whined. "I hate dresses. Too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter. Always getting caught on everything, dragging in the dirt, impossible to do anything in. And I specifically told them no dresses. I just want my clothes back." It was the principle of the thing.
"Well, it's not like you'd really be doing anything else outside today, surely it's not so bad at the moment." Emma huffed but said nothing as she continued to glare at Regina. "But I suppose you're clumsy enough as it is without adding skirts."
"Hey!" Emma protested, but then seemed not to have anything to add beyond that so she simply marched over to the couch across from Regina. She sat down heavily, the petulant look still in her eyes as she crossed her arms to continue to glare at Regina. "Find my clothes," she repeated. "Please."
"Very well, if you insist."
-x-x-x-
Regina rang for Ruby who protested that she had no idea how the mishap had occurred and that there must have been a miscommunication among the laundry workers (who it seems were literally washing bins, boards, and water pumps under the curse). Emma suspected Ruby was not being at all truthful, something about the look Ruby had given her, but she had no proof so she settled for glaring at her reproachfully. Her temper had died down though and didn't flare back up, even when Ruby explained the clothes were still being washed and they couldn't be worn at the moment even if she was to get them.
She offered to try and find some other clothes for her, but Emma had merely given a resigned sigh and told her not to bother—as long as her clothes were returned by tomorrow morning. Truthfully, Regina had made a good point—it was mainly how much dresses got in the way and how quickly they got dirty that made her dislike them and all she had planned for the rest of the day was reading so it wasn't actually that much of an inconvenience.
She was mainly angry about being forced into the dress and having no choice in the matter, so she still stuck her tongue out at Ruby as she left. She tried to make sure Regina didn't catch the childish gesture but the look in her eyes after made her think she had. She blushed lightly but Regina didn't say a word beyond that they would dine in the library today and that Emma could request whatever she wished for supper.
That banished the rest of Emma's bad mood and she settled onto her usual couch with a happy smile.
-x-x-x-
They spent the rest of the evening there, taking dinner at the table and discussing their current books as well as giving impassioned recommendations of books the other had to read. Finally though, Emma decided to retire for the night. She rose from her chair, leaving her book where it was, knowing that if she took it with her she would never get to sleep or, as she stifled a yawn, she would at least not get out of bed the next morning.
She paused in the doorway, but instead of her typical 'good night', she instead brushed a hand down her skirt and asked a quiet question she'd been thinking over in her head recently, "If I hadn't been one of your people, if you had let me leave freely and I had still run into those wolves that night….Would you have still come?"
Regina blinked in surprise at the question. "I…" She opened her mouth to answer, but no sound came out. It was one of the few times the Queen had looked hesitant—though not of what her answer was, just if she should reveal it or not. Emma leaned forward slightly, her own green eyes intent enough that even they seemed filled with magic as they bored into purple ones—as if looking hard enough would tell her Regina's answer. Evidently it did, because she drew back with a shy, but pleased smile on her face. Regina looked taken aback by the reaction.
Emma's smile softened even more. "That's what I thought. Good night, Regina."
She walked out the door, almost missing Regina's quiet response.
"Good night…Emma."
-/-
A/N: Once again, I'm sorry that it's been like, three months (holy crap was it really that long?) since I posted. I know a few extra pages won't make up for the delay but I hope they help a bit-and it was full of good stuff, right? Anyway, i really do hope that the next chapter doesn't take nearly as long to follow, but I don't wanna promise anything. My plan is to do a lot of writing over the next couple of weeks, much of it for this story so that I at the very least have a good amount to work from. As mentioned before, this story will in no way be abandoned and I do have a plot outline (broken down by chapter) and some upcoming parts have indeed already been written. You'll just have to be patient with me (not that you really have a choice). Did I mention I was sorry?
As always, thank you for reading and sticking with the story and favoriting and following and especially to those who take the time to leave a review. :)