Like The Sun, Like The Moon

Chapter Nine

"The weather's nice today, isn't it?"
"'Tis hot."
"Oh, c'mon, at least it's pleasantly hot – still way better than freezing in the snow!"
"…"
"And it's much more relaxing than stomping through the rain!"
"…"
"Or being blown away by a storm!"
"…"
"Or getting –"
"Just what are you trying to tell me?"
"The weather's nice today, isn't it?"
"'Tis hot."
"…"
"…"
"There's no need to play NPC anymore, you know."
"Then stop worshipping the weather."
"…"

Once arrived at Costa Del Sol, the little group of people commonly referred to as AVALANCHE had decided to split up for the time being. After all, it had been a rather exhausting boat trip, and all of them wanted to get their well-deserved rest their own way.

Sephiroth, however, would have preferred continuing their journey right away. Yet as he'd have to wait for Avalanche either way, he could as well do it here. There was a nice little bar just around the corner, one that was rumoured to offer the greatest drinks.
He would have liked to check the place out; he really would have liked to do so. Yet apparently, Yuffie had had another idea. Claiming that they could have a drink later on, she had forcefully dragged him towards the beach, insisting upon 'enjoying the sunshine as long as it lasted'.

Albeit not exactly approving of her idea of "fun", he had grumpily complied and taken a seat on the deckchair next to Yuffie's.

Back then, it had been eight o'clock.
The sun had set ten minutes later.

"C'mon, we've hardly settled down and you already want to leave?" she had persisted stubbornly, "Let's at least stay a little while longer!"

Back then, it had been ten past eight.
Now it was ten.

The little while had turned out a tiny bit longer than he would have preferred. What was the girl enjoying about this place? Salty air, sand practically everywhere and horribly high temperatures?

She might like such an atmosphere – he certainly didn't.

So hot… so bothersome.

"How's the arm?"

Tilting his head to the side, Sephiroth arched an eyebrow at the noisy girl practically shattering his eardrums with her shrill voice.

"There's no need to scream like a banshee," he informed her while turning his head back to watch the sea.

Now it was Yuffie's turn to arch an eyebrow. "So how's the arm?" she finally whispered in an almost inaudible voice.

"It is alright," he responded and lazily raised his right arm. Much to Yuffie's surprise, it had 'regrown' completely by now. "How's that possible?" she asked, staring at it with wide eyes.

"I told you about my ability to transform," he answered dryly.

Her mouth formed an 'O' and he went on, "The real arm has gone for good, though."

At this, Yuffie coughed uneasily. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?" she inquired with a frown and went on a little hesitantly, "I mean, back on the ship, you told me this –" She gestured in his general direction, "– isn't really your body, but Jenova's, whoever this might be…"

He didn't even falter before answering firmly, "A threat to be eliminated immediately."

"They mentioned she was your mother earlier on…" Yuffie remarked at a quiet voice.

"Considering I can control her body, we can be considered somewhat…related. But I certainly wouldn't call Jenova my mother," he informed her with a dismissive wave of his hand.

At least, or let's say, especially in Sephiroth's case, such an answer meant as much as "topic closed". However, Yuffie wasn't willing to give up just yet. "But just how are you related to her?" she inquired persistently.

"Who knows?" he countered mysteriously.

She eyed him sceptically. "You don't?"

"Of course I do," he stated as he tilted his head a bit, "but that doesn't mean I'm telling you."

Grumbling in disapproval, Yuffie started pouting.

Not that Sephiroth would mind. A silent ninja girl was so much easier to deal with than a nosy teenage brat.

So quiet… so pleasant.

"She must've committed a really evil crime, huh?"

Sephiroth sighed.

"After all, you want to kill her," Yuffie remarked as she finally lay back as well since he wasn't returning her gaze either way, "That's what you told Spike and the others, isn't it?"

He didn't respond. Instead, unbeknownst to Yuffie, he was starting to wonder just what weird phenomenon the whitish being moving trough the deeper waters might be.

"But if you want to kill her, and you are currently in her body, then…" She hesitated, glimpsing at him out of the corner of her eye.

He didn't react. Looks almost as though someone's drowning back there…

Sighing, but hoping he was still attentive, Yuffie went on, "Then you're planning to kill yourself… or at least this body, aren't you?"

Still no reply. Just who would go swimming with the towel in tow?

"But you're gonna return to your original body before that, aren't you?" she asked tentatively.

"That's why we're on this journey, isn't it?" she inquired uneasily.

"You won't really die, will you?" she pleaded hoarsely.

And still, he didn't answer. Have I already fulfilled today's good deed?

And then she sniffed. "Please don't tell me you're gonna commit suicide," she whispered quietly, almost desperately.

Maybe I should really rescue this person?

"Sephiroth!"

He frowned. "Couldn't you at least all me by my pseudonym?"

"But you didn't react to anything!" she called out in frustration.

He shrugged and nodded towards the sea. "I was contemplating whether someone is drowning there or not."

"I'm talking about serious matters here and you –" Yuffie yelled, but stopped in mid-sentence. "What?" Squinting hard, she, too, recognized the white something struggling with literally overwhelming waves in the far distance and, without any warning, the girl shot up to dash towards the water. Yet when she noticed Sephiroth wasn't following her, she stopped abruptly and whirled around. "What do you think you're doing!" she yelled, waving about agitatedly, "We've got to help!" With that, she turned back and ran into the sea.

Sighing, Sephiroth got up. "Don't go any further!" he calmly called after her, in a quiet voice but still loud enough for her to hear his words, "You'll get caught up in the waves as well."

Whirling around once again, Yuffie glared at him, yet her stare was full of indecision. "But.." she mumbled, knitting her eyebrows while watching his approaching form, "We can't let this fellow die…"

"Get out of the water," he commanded with a curt nod towards their deckchairs. "I'll take care of it."

Her eyes widened. "Of course!" she yelled excitedly, shocked at her lack of common sense, "You can transform into a dolphin!"

He frowned at her while overseeing her retreat from the knee-deep water. "Why should I transform into a dolphin…"

He stepped onto the water.

Not into it, but onto it.

He smirked and concluded, "…if I can simply walk there?"

As he swiftly passed her, moving gracefully over the darkening ocean's surface as though it was nothing, Yuffie couldn't help but gape after him.

Apparently, this man always had a surprise in store – he never ceased astonishing her.

Meanwhile said man, having long arrived at the white figure, was experiencing a surprise of his own. The identity of the person currently fidgeting at his feet seemed so hilariously ironic that he felt a barely suppressible urge to laugh.

But he was Sephiroth – he wouldn't laugh. A mere, evanescent signal of schadenfreude would have to do.

Thus he simply chuckled evilly as he crouched next to the drowning man who, due to his current misery, hadn't even noticed him yet. However, the sudden movement above the water's surface finally caught the person's attention. Looking up at Sephiroth, or rather Leon, he stared at him with a critical frown while battling the waves, which, strangely enough, had become less intensive since his potential rescuer's arrival.

"Who would have thought…" the quite literally superior of the two men snarled with an evil smirk, "Despite all your genetic improvements, you obviously still can't swim, Hojo."

Immediately, the professor's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

Ignoring the so called scientist's request, Leon went on in an even haughtier manner, "But probably, as you are such a genius, you must be here due to an extraordinarily important research. Hence I shall not disturb you any further." Rising again, he added with a weary grin, "Can't risk getting fired because I hindered your studies, can I?"

He was just turning on his heels, when all of a sudden an unusually huge wave washed the professor away. Ironically.

Frowning, Sephiroth wondered whether Hojo's death was really such a great, unbearable loss that he'd feel any kind of regret if he didn't exactly bother helping him. Nevertheless, he wearily scanned the area for any signs of a white lab coat. At least nobody could blame him this way.

He himself hadn't been hit by the wave for he was able to control his surroundings to a certain extent – probably not due to Jenova's powers, she was more of an illusionist, but rather because of the mako treatments he as well as Jenova had been receiving regularly. Either way, he had been spared – Hojo, on the other hand, had not.

Oh, how regrettable…

And there was still no white lab coat in sight. Why would anyone go swimming with that thing anyway? Sephiroth grimaced. Probably, his dearly beloved father didn't even have any other clothes besides a wide variety of lab coats…

And then he spotted it, out of the corner of his eye: a flash of white, re-emerging at the surface. Yet obviously, the professor had lost his consciousness, or else he would still be struggling, at least a bit.

Yet he wasn't moving at all.

Sephiroth sighed.

In times like these, he really wished there was some kind of flower in the nearness. But there weren't any blooming plants in the ocean, at least not on his current position.

Although…

A fake flower would serve this certain purpose as well, wouldn't it? Grinning idly, Sephiroth materialized a simple, five-leaved flower in his hand and began removing its petals.

"Save him – don't save him – save him – don't save him…" He frowned as he detached the last petal. "Save him." Sighing, he disposed the flower's remains and lazily made his way to the unconscious scientist, pulled his soaked form out of the water and threw it carelessly over his shoulder. "Next time, I believe I should really take a flower with six petals."

"Why did you take so long?" Yuffie all but screamed when he reached the beach and unceremoniously dropped his half-dead cargo onto a deckchair nearby.

"You, too, would think twice about this little rescue mission if you knew just what kind of fish I've caught here," he informed her whilst watching his so called father in dislike.

Frowning at his words, Yuffie finally took a closer look at the soaked man lying motionlessly between her and Sephiroth.

"Huh?" she eventually exclaimed in utter bewilderment, "He isn't really wearing a lab coat, is he?" Taking his lack of an answer as a yes, she kept staring at the apparently unconscious professor until she eventually realized how ridiculous her constant gape had to be looking. Hence, she redirected her attention to her friend and inquired with still knitted brows, "Shinra?"

"Hojo," he responded with a curt nod.

Immediately, Yuffie's eyes widened.

Immediately, a small smirk crept onto Sephiroth's face. "I see you've already heard of him," he remarked wryly.

"You are the one who told me about him!" she countered with a frown.

He tilted his head to the side. "Am I?"

"You mentioned him," a suddenly hesitant Yuffie answered rather quietly as she averted her gaze from her friend, "just before you went to Nibelheim."

"I see." The voice he was answering her in, even more monotonous than usual, informed her that he didn't "see" it at all. Hell, he didn't even remember their last meeting! But, as Yuffie realized with a weird kind of relief, there were more pressing matters than her companion's indifference right now. Gulping down that indignant lump of frustration, she finally looked back up at Sephiroth, ready to speak again.

However, he was faster. "By the way," the ex-General remarked in a somewhat casual manner, "He is awake."

For what felt like the millionth time that day, Yuffie's jaw dropped to the ground. "Really?" she mumbled as she eyed the person lying in front of her doubtfully. The short, skinny man clad in a lab coat didn't appear to move at all. She wasn't sure whether he was even breathing – undoubtedly, Hojo was unconscious, maybe even dead…wasn't he?

How could Sephiroth assume this person could be awake?

"C'mon, let's go."

Yuffie blinked. "Just like that?" she addressed her travelling companion with a frown.

"Just like that," he responded before and turned to leave without any further ado. "But of course you can stay behind and chat a little," he remarked while watching her out of the corner of his eye, "However, I'd advise you to get a good night's sleep. It's late and we shall get up early in the morrow." Turing back towards the town, he started wandering off the beach. "Either way, I won't hinder you." And with that, he was gone.

Unsure whether to follow or stay, Yuffie's undecided look shifted from her friend to her foe and back. Stealing a last glance at the possibly dieing professor, she finally chose to go after Sephiroth. He was the more pleasant of option after all.

However, once she had done her first step out of this rather unpleasant situation, a creepily twanging voice sent shivers down her spine. "I know you, girl…"

Whirling around, Yuffie discovered the very same man she had formerly assessed as dead sitting calmly on his deckchair, watching her with sharp eyes.

Even if she hadn't been completely dumbfounded by his sudden comeback from the dead, Yuffie wouldn't have been able to think up with an answer to his words. What did that old, greasy man expect her to say?

Apparently nothing.

He didn't give her much time to breed over a possible reaction as he went on in his deductions. "You are that Wutainese girl…" he mumbled gradually, more to himself than to anyone else, causing a frown to creep onto Yuffie's face. So he had recognized her heritage – what a great accomplishment on his part.

However, while his first conclusion hadn't exactly done much to unsettle her, his second one caught her totally off guard. "…the one Sephiroth liked to play with."

Within a split second her eyes widened dramatically, yet she quickly realized how stupid it would be not talk her way out of this. Hence, in order to appear as one of Sephiroth's fans rather than a good friend of his, she held her hand in front of her mouth and exclaimed in surprise, "Sephiroth!" She eyed Hojo with a mixture of fascination and disbelief. "The Great General Sephiroth!" she uttered in awe and tilted her head to the side, "Yeah, back then, after the war, he used to come to town rather often." She paused and heaved a sigh of dissatisfaction. "But he never paid any attention to me," she complained, underlining her words with accordingly disappointed facial expressions, "Wish he would have, though – I've never seen anybody quite as captivating as him before." As she tapped her chin with her forefinger whilst dreamily gazing at the horizon, Yuffie meant to mimic a devoted fangirl rather proficiently. However, as Hojo's face tended not to betray any emotions – at least not the ones providing any useful information – she wasn't sure whether he was actually buying her acting or not.

Finally he responded with a simple, ambiguous "I see", his watchful gaze never leaving her seemingly romanticising form.

"I wish I could meet him again someday," she went on with a tiny smile on her face that turned into a saddened grimace as soon as she voiced her next words, "But they say he's dead – what a sad fate. He was so young!" She sighed heavily and slipped back into the role of a swarming fan girl, continuing her speech in a more optimistic way, "I wonder whether he would have liked me? Maybe he would even –"

A low chuckle interrupted her daydream, drawing her attention back to the creepy scientist sitting only a few metres in front of her. "I believe your boyfriend's reaction might not be a pleased one if he heard you in this very moment," he informed her.

For the briefest of moments, Yuffie wondered whether the way he was talking to her – neither interested nor bored – meant, he was still suspecting and therefore interrogating her right now. But either way, the best choice was to simply keep playing along. Hence, Yuffie placed a fake grin on her face and chattered on, "Oh, he knows I'm not serious about this. And he accepts that there are other guys beside him, so…"

"But I assume there are not many 'other guys beside him' who are able to walk on the water's surface," Hojo remarked in a rather indifferent manner. By now, he indeed looked somewhat uninterested – but, as Yuffie finally noticed, he only pretended his boredom to mask an increasing interest in this matter. And realizing that she was in fact being interrogated didn't exactly assure her. Better end this soon, she mentally scolded herself, before I mess up completely.

"Yeah, he is a special man," she told Hojo with a genuine smile, "He regularly manages to surprise me with his astounding qualities!" Then, a light frown crossed her features as she directed Hojo, "However, as far as I know, walking over the water's surface is something he definitely can't do. Nobody can, right?" Apparently deep in thought, she paused for a moment. "However, you were almost drowning out there. Maybe you only imagined things?"

He opened his mouth to respond, yet Yuffie was faster. "Anyway, I hope you're better now," she pressed with a poor imitation of a sympathetic look, "But, as you might have noticed, my boyfriend has just left." She nodded towards town for emphasis. "And I really have to go after him, so if you would excuse me…" Without any further delay, she turned on her heels and sped after Sephiroth, leaving a rather amused Hojo behind.

Whole minutes passed until his gaze finally left her retreating form and he leisurely lay down on his deckchair.

"This is indeed an interesting development," he told his good ole pal, the night, with one of his infamous trademark smirks, "I'd never thought you'd grow affected to her again, Sephiroth…"

Dammit.

Dammit, dammit, dammit.

That guy, Hojo, had undeniably suspected something. Both of them had covered their real emotions, but Yuffie wasn't naïve enough to assume he had not been able to see through her excuses. After all, he was one of Shinra's rather well-known scientists, wasn't he? So he had to be capable of putting two and two together.

Dammit.

She really shouldn't have hesitated so long. Not only would this have kept her from revealing rather secret details to a mad scientist, but also from losing track of her best friend again.

Although…

A mere minute ago, she hadn't been referring to him as her best friend.

But her boyfriend.

Of course, back then she had been in Yuffie Undercover mode and tried to act the way a common girl with a boyfriend and an additional crush would.

And after all, it had been Hojo who had started with the whole boyfriend affair, and, as Yuffie knew for sure that Sephiroth wasn't exactly a fan of close relationships, she had simply humoured the professor as a means of distraction.

If ' Leon' was considered her boyfriend, he would never be suspected to be 'Sephiroth'.

Because Sephiroth wasn't a fan of close relationships.
'Sephiroth' wasn't someone to fall in love easily.
'Sephiroth' wasn't someone to ever be considered as anybody's boyfriend.

He was simply too unapproachable for this to ever happen, wasn't he? Too introverted, too chilly, too dangerous.

And yet he had proved often enough that beyond his stony façade, his real character, not cruel at all, but righteous and even compassionate, lay hidden. It was this concealed nature of his that made him appear even more lovable, even more desirable to her.

And it was this concealed nature of his that attracted her enough to make her blush at the thought of him as her boyfriend…

She had been wandering through town for half an hour now, struggling with her thoughts while seeking the source of her latest quandary. Yet her current train of thought brought her to a halt.

He'd make quite an awesome boyfriend, she acknowledged rather sheepishly as she absent-mindedly sat down on the sales counter of the street stall just behind her, But…

A slight feeling of uneasiness as well as confusion settled in her stomach, as she stared at her feet dangling from the counter with an odd fascination. Just what do I feel for him?

Certainly, I like him. Whenever he was around, she felt safe and comfortable, as though she was meant to be in his presence, not anywhere else. Yes, I like him. A lot.

And I think… Five years ago as well as now, he had always seemed to know everything, and there had never been anything he couldn't master. Always had he been a role model for her, someone to look up to. …I think I even admire him.

Whenever he isn't around… Thinking about the pathetic life she had led for five whole years felt like getting stabbed by thousands of knives simultaneously. She'd never want to return to these days. Never. Without him, I feel lost.

So I am somewhat…addicted to him. Smirking dryly at her choice of words, she kept staring at her boots, but strangely enough she didn't seem to notice they were completely covered with dirt and sand. But does it mean I'm in love?

Do I love him?

Don't I?

Do I?

Don't I?

"Lady, are you alright?"

Turning her head to the left, Yuffie couldn't hide her shock as she perceived the stall's admittedly rather handsome sales clerk watching her worriedly from behind the sales counter. "You are NOT an NPC!" she exclaimed in bewilderment, staring at him with eyes as wide as saucers.

He merely shrugged and politely ignored her rather rude behaviour whilst answering. "NPC vendors are robbed rather easily," he informed her in a surprisingly good-natured way, "Furthermore, they tend not to aid a damsel in distress, even if she happens to sit right on top of the sales counter." He sent a surprisingly kind smile her way. "So how can I help you?"

Immediately, Yuffie blushed. She had got his broad hint and hastily jumped off the sales counter. "I'm sorry," she muttered, grinning sheepishly.

He grinned back. "It's no problem, really," he assured her, "But maybe you'd like to buy something, as a means of indemnification?"

Immediately, her eyebrows shot up. "So that's the way the cookie crumbles," she snarled after a moment of stunned silence, but not without a hint of humour in her voice, "You wanna make me buy your stuff!"

And he wasn't even ashamed of using such a blatant method of luring her into buying something! "You see, purchasing a new piece of materia might lighten up your mood!" the sales clerk told her with a beam so enthusiastic that she felt strangely reminded her of Pierre. "No matter what has occupied you so much that you felt obliged to sit down on my sales counter, a nice little gift can never be the wrong choice – be it for you, or one of your friends…" Suddenly, his beam turned into a mock seductive grin, "…or maybe your boyfriend?"

Yuffie gasped. "I don't," she protested, yet her initially energetic voice shrunk on account her uncertainty as she went on, "…exactly have a boyfriend…!"

"But you wish you did," the sales clerk deduced with a knowing smirk.

Yuffie mumbled a few colourful but thankfully incoherent phrases before readdressing her latest advisor with a frown, "Doesn't anyone?"

"Oh, certainly!" he exclaimed genially, "I've been yearning for a boyfriend ever since I was six. Back then, I realized I was different, but my parents never wanted to accept it and…"

"Oh, stop it!" Yuffie interrupted his joking, but not without a smirk of her own, "You know what I mean – so what if I do want a boyfriend!"

"Why not take me?" he suggested straightforwardly.

By now she had learned to know better than taking his words seriously, hence she simply answered with a halfway apologetic look, "Sorry, you're cute and all, and I really like your charisma…" She paused briefly as their eyes locked. "But you see, we weren't meant to be together… Let's just stay friends, okay?"

Within a second, his hopeful expression turned into a pained one. "But why!" he whimpered in desperation. "Why, Yuffie, why!" Suddenly, his eyes widened. "There's another one, isn't there!" he exclaimed in apparent anger, gesticulating wildly, "Tell me who is it and I'll…"

"Heyheyhey!" Yuffie interrupted him rather forcefully, placing her hand reassuringly onto his shoulder, "It's not what you think…"

"It's not!" he retorted.

"Well," she mumbled, fidgeting uneasily, "There is another boy in my life, but…I don't think he likes me the way I do…"

"Then why do you leave me!" the sales clerk whined dramatically.

"I barely know you!" she yelled back, "But I've known him for practically all my life!"

Suddenly, within a mere wink, the sales clerk ended their little role play by relaxing completely. "Do you love him?" he inquired in an unexpectedly polite and patient manner.

"I…dunno."

"Then maybe you should find out," he told her wisely, "But don't do it in a rush. More often than not does a good night's sleep help making decisions. Get some rest, let things sink in. And maybe tomorrow, things won't appear so confusing anymore."

"I guess that's not even that bad an idea," Yuffie admitted with a slow nod, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he responded as a grin formed on his face, "And you're sure you don't want to buy anything?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure," she answered with a small wave and turned to leave.

"Sleep well!" he cheerfully called after her.

"You too," she responded – not quite as enthusiastic, but friendly nonetheless – and eventually trotted towards the Inn, looking forward to a well deserved rest.

And all of a sudden, now that sleep was coming into reach, she realized just how tired she was. Really, she had never presumed a single day could last that long.

So tired.

In fact, she was tired enough not to even notice the bed she had chosen for herself was already occupied;

"Hey!" came a muffled voice from underneath her.

"Sorry, Tiff," she responded half-heartedly and rolled off her comrade without actually leaving the bed. Darn those tiny little inns… they should know that a total number of three whole beds would never ever be enough.

…especially not in a holiday resort as popular and crowded as this one…

Lying on her side, Yuffie's eyes fell shut as she gradually dozed off to the land of dreams.

...maybe I should tell Seph that I made him my boyfriend…

…just to mock him, of course…

…or something…

…and if Seph doesn't want to…

…there are still millions of guys more than willing to date me…

…the vendor for example…

…oh yeah, he likes me…

…I know it…

…but I wonder…

…how he knew my name…

End of Chapter Nine

A/N: Okay, guys, I've been trying to think up an adequate apology without sounding utterly pathetic, but ended up finding none. I don't want to spam around with lame excuses here, so if you happen to want to know why it took me three whole weeks to update, just take a look at my profile page.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the delay, especially since I got so many nice reviews :D

Lots of thanks to TOWTWUKER, ChasingEnlightenment, saharasfury, Chaotic Rei, SOMEONE2003, hearts mechanic, Sonicron, souldriven, Dark Plague of the Phoenix Souls, Kit Thespian and dina! You guys are wonderful – you really helped me through a tough time.

Now, let's come to the obligatory part of this A/N we all have been waiting for: the comments to the chapter!

1) Yuffie isn't dumb, hence she is bound realize things quite early in the story - earlier than what's healthy for the overall plot. That's why I left her questions unanswered - for now.

2) Later in the story, Seph's ability to walk over water/physically change his surroundings to a certain degree is about to play a role (not a major one, but it's still going to occur), so I decided to simply introduce it here. I hope it's understandable why he can do this – certainly, Jenova can control other people's minds and so on, but according to my own definition, she cannot do much else (or else she would already have done it). Mako (respectively materia), on the other hand, can do just about everything – summon bestia, fire, ice, status changes and a lot of other funny things that can physically effect its surroundings. That's why soldiers are so strong and also why Seph can walk over water here. At least in this story, of course ;)
So, I wanted Sephy to "show off", and Hojo was just in the vicinity, so… yeah.

By the way, this is certainly not meant to be a "Hojo is the devil incarnate fic". I merely see our favourite scientist as a slightly eccentric man who is so devoted to his work that anything else doesn't really count anymore. I made him send Seph to Nibelheim because he wanted to find out how he'd react to Jenova, which is, in my opinion, the only reasonable explanation to why Seph had to go there in the first place – president Shinra knew of Jenova's whereabouts and certainly wouldn't have sent Seph there, if he hadn't been advised to do so.

3) Where the "boyfriend" came from, I don't really know. But well, it does bring a certain development into the story, so I'm just fine with it :p

Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter. I really do! So please, tell me you opinion in a review!

I guess, I'll be able to resume my usual writing rhythm (a chapter every 1-2 weeks), but I cannot promise anything. That's why I've decided to improve my customer service and put a 'progress bar' on my profile page so you can check how much of the new chapter is already done.

Okay, these A/N have already become much longer than they should, so I'll simply stop here.

Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

Greetings,
Linnya