OMG it's so long! Feel free to break before finishing this one. I'M SORRY I MADE YOU ALL WAIT SO LONG! I have plenty of excuses in mind, but all of them aren't worth the breath of day. I wanted to write SO MUCH for this and yet wrote SO LITTLE in the time I thought of it! But enough remorse, full apology at the end. Enjoy!
"Freedom! Could you help me in the kitchen?" Mrs. Dahwe called from the other room as her daughter came in with Timmy and Rickie. Freedom groaned loudly for her mom to hear, trying to emphasis her mood before she made any actual contact with the higher authority.
Trying to maintain two elementary students all the way home was hard, especially when they wanted Freedom to make up a story for them so they wouldn't get in too much trouble (apparently, her excuses were legendary in the two boys' opinions). When she had flat out refused for the 8th time, they decided it'd be fun to run ahead and behind for her to try and catch till they got home. To sum it up, Timothy was greatly reducing his chances of living a long and prosperous life.
Rickie and Timmy now both seemed to realized this, as they rocketed up the steps before a certain older sister could initially tattle tale out of spite (the thought that Mrs. Dahwe could ask something of them as well and get them to come within eye contact of her also helped them up and out of sight).
Lucky for them I'm feeling generous. Freedom heatedly thought. Her older brother merely glanced at their dirty appearance as they ran past with no more than raised eyebrows before allowing himself to be immersed by some news about a massive fire in the western states.
With a pang Freedom realized that if Mrs. Dahwe had heard her warning groan, she was ignoring it. "Unfortunately for you," her mother continued from the kitchen, as apparently she hadn't stopped talking before. Great, I have no clue what she said earlier. "I'm making Down-Home Meat Loaf, and I need someone to work on the salad."
Freedom ears twitched suddenly as they comprehended her mother's vocabulary. Meat Loaf? That's beef, right? Oh boy, BEEF! "Meat loaf? Sounds great!" She could just imagine the beef, bright red and juicy, tender to the touch, giving off the most tantalizing scent…
It took her a few moments to realize that the entire house had gone weirdly silent. Scott even moved his immobile head from the TV news to look at her like she was crazy. "Honey…?" Mrs. Dahwe called from the kitchen. "…I thought you didn't like meat loaf?"
"You've hated eating cows ever since you were born." Her brother emphasized.
Freedom looked blankly at her brother. Oh my gosh, their right! What's wrong with me?! Cows stink! They're dirty, sloppy… Quick Freedom, think up one of your amazing excuses! "I… was joking!"
Great excuse.
Freedom scoffed good-naturedly at Scott's now furrowed brow. "Jeez you guys, can't you tell? I hate meat loaf, you know that! Its just… well, maybe I should try it, you know, just… cause…" It appeared that Scott thought that an alien had walked into his home, and he was contemplating whether or not to attack it and ask where it had taken his real sister. Freedom tried to ignore her brother's shrewd gaze as she called toward the kitchen. "But anyway mom, I can't stay." Time to change the subject, fast! "Remember? I signed up for that job this weekend, which I'm missing right now."
Freedom listened in as her mom mumbled a surprise 'shoot!' before raising her voice back to her daughter. "I had completely forgotten that!" I thought so, the mew smiled pleasantly, her plan working out just as she had wanted. "Alright, sorry about that sweetie, we'll see you tonight!"
"'K, later!" Freedom turned and hurried out the door, with a wavering, "See you Scott!" As her feet began pumping her back to the café, she kept feeling sick as her mind fought between her mood being disgusted at the thought of eating cow, or finding it absolutely relishing.
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"Where have you been?!" Ryo hissed accusingly at his employee, trying hard not to draw his customers' attention. "My wife has had to ask orders and bring the food out, and that's your job."
"Don't you think I know that?" Freedom whispered just as harshly, "I had to pick up my little bro, know why? For being late getting home on Friday, since after all I couldn't very well tell my mom that a giant purple rodent attacked me and a random guy who is now my boss turned me into a cat-thing! And by the way, I HATE cow! But now I can't get the thought of eating it out of my mind! Anything I do wrong now is your fault!"
Ryo groaned. I forgot what a pain teens could be. "Yeah, okay. Head to the back and get in uniform. Don't forget that you have to stay later tonight to help clean up."
"That's your fault too!" She snarled quietly as she passed him to get to the back room.
Good God, I try my hardest to save the world from enslavement to the Cyniclons, and what do I get for it? A cranky Ichigo Jr. Ryo surveyed his customer's briefly before heading back in.
As he pushed open the kitchen doors he was greeted with a bright smile from his wife. She's so gorgeous. Ryo returned the warm smile. "How are the customers doing?" Lettuce asked him sweetly.
"No one's freaking out yet; I think we're doing pretty well." He walked over and kissed her tenderly on the cheek, making her blush. "Oh," he added as he moved some loose hairs from his wife's face. "Freedom's back, she should be here in a minute."
"Took her long enough."
Ryo turned to regard the second mew, Cinnamon. After bluntly refusing to wear the uniform, he had decided the only thing to do (till Freedom convinced her to where the uniform) was for her to work in the kitchen. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, wearing sweatpants and a dark tee that seemed completely out of place in the café. To his surprise (and Retasu's delight), the young Mexican had a natural talent for making the delicate pastries, despite her obnoxious dislike for them. She might even, given a few years of practice; have a chance to be better than Keiichiro.
I should look into how he's doing soon. He mused to himself.
They all turned to the heavy footfalls as Freedom entered the kitchen. In her hurry she hadn't quite fitted one of her shoes on, and her quaint maid hairpiece was in rather silly disarray. "Okay, what do I do now?" She huffed as she tried to hold her foot up and fit the shoe on.
Lettuce came over immediately, before Ryo could snap at his employee, and helped her correctly arrange the headpiece. "Follow me out to the front and I'll show you," She smiled another of her bright smiles at the easily swayed girl. "I'll direct them to their seats, and then you'll take their orders and get them from the kitchen, if it gets too stressful, I'll be right there to help you."
Ryo and Cinnamon watched the two leave. After they were gone he turned to regard Cinnamon. "I'll need you to stay after we close, I think you and Freedom will have to check something out for me."
Cinnamon turned back to her work as if she had only looked at him and never heard what he said. "Whatever."
Ryo left for the basement muttering about 'moody females'.
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"All right Freedom, here come some customers." Retasu vaguely gestured toward the window. "Remember what I said?"
"Yeah." Freedom felt somewhat nervous running around the café in her eye-opening uniform, but Mrs. Shirogane's encouragement were completely keeping her nerves at bay. The two that were coming looked to be a college couple; no doubt the male was forced to join his love out of proof that he would do anything for her. Poor guy.
As they entered she and Retasu acted completely business like, glancing there way but not letting on the excitement. Expertly Freedom turned and walked toward them, grabbing a menu in the process. You got this Freedom, just remember what she showed you. It's all in the bag.
Putting on a big smile Freedom looked up at the couple. "Welcome to Café Mew Mew! Would-"
Before she could continue the girlfriend, who let out a gleeful little giggle, interrupted her. "That is the most adorable uniform I've ever seen!"
That was… weird. "Uh, thank-you. Would-"
"Where was it made? I'm going into fashion design you know." She turned to regard her boyfriend. "Vince is going into the Musical Arts, aren't you dear? Anyway," she turned her focus back on the baffled waitress, "you have to tell me, I'm trying to find what companies I'm interested in, and that uniform is absolutely bubbly!"
Freedom forced a smile. This uniform's not the only bubbly thing here. So much for having it in the bag. "I actually don't know," she added a laugh that sounded a little too nervous, "I just wear what they tell me to. Um, follow me and I'll show you to your seat."
The woman, whom Freedom found out later was named Frederica (now making Esmond not the strangest name she'd ever heard), continued to bug her about the clothes, even after she brought them their orders. Finally, admitting defeat, she called Retasu over to see if the old mew could help her with the lady's questions.
Wearily Freedom trudged back to the front to help two more customers that were coming through the door. What a day. It's not even 5 yet and I'm ready to collapse. She grabbed the menus and walked over to the newcomers, whom she realized were both girls. "Welcome to Café Mew Mew! Would you…" She looked down at the blond girl and her brunette companion in surprise. "Oh, uh, please follow me this way."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Ryo turned from the piece of toast he had been cramming into his mouth to find his computer's lights blinking rapidly and looking for the entire world like it was having a seizure. Lucky for him he'd had soundproof walls installed. One particular light caught his interest. Wow, can it be, already?
He quickly rolled his chair over and started rewiring certain components of his computer, munching way vigorously at his toast. There were already two lights steadily illuminating the bottom right of his computer, and one of the remaining three was telling him that his café had just attracted the attention of his newest future employee.
The 3rd Mew.
After muting his alarm system he bolted up the steps to pinpoint the next hero, just at the last second remembering to act as though nothing was wrong. With a certain air of dignity he walked out to the café customers.
Unfortunately, because he muted it, he failed to notice the other two dots that were now within the café limits as well.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"So, what will your order be?" Freedom tried to keep the sly grin off her face, but she couldn't stop the words from wringing in her head. This is Timmy's crush, this is Timmy's crush, this is Timmy's crush, HA!
The brunette, or rather, Bonnie's best friend Colette spoke up first. "Can I have the Creamy Lemon Square? With a water?"
"Sure thing," Freedom turned back to the little blond, "How about you? Anything you have questions on?"
In comparison to how the little thing had appeared at the school, she was completely opposite now. The best words Freedom could think to describe her as were pouty, sulky, and sad.
"Do you happen to have anything on the menu that doesn't have sugar?"
Oh, Freedom raised her eyebrows in realization, oh my gosh, how does she live?! This kid is so deprived…
"What can I do for you ladies?"
Freedom spun around to face her boss in surprise. What's he doing up here? "Uh, Mr. Shirogane, do we happen to have anything on the menu… not involving sugar?"
He gave her a look that told her What are you thinking, no sugar in a sweet shop? But instead of acting on these obvious thoughts he turned and immediately regarded Bonnie. "Well, if you're alright with it, you can follow Freedom to the back and see if the cook has anything special in the recipe book."
What's he trying to pull? Since when does a customer get to go in a café's kitchen? A thought immediately sprung to her mind, but she dashed it. She gave an encouraging smile to Bonnie. "Would you like to?" A now excited nod told Freedom all she needed. "Follow me, then." She glanced back at Colette, who looked happy that her friend might enjoy the café as well. "I'll bring your Creamy Lemon out when were done, 'kay?" Freedom took one last look at her boss (who intern gave her a look that said 'get going!'), before heading towards the obnoxious doors. Nah, he must just have a soft spot for sugar-deprived adolescents. No way she's the 3rd mew.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
THERE IS YET HOPE!!
Bonnie wanted to bounce on all the walls and then do it again, at last! A sweet shop that might hold non-sugary sweets!! Well, it was technically a café, but what did it matter the title? She knew it embarrassed Colette when she could eat but her best friend couldn't. But maybe now it won't have to be like that anymore! Maybe I'll come every night and eat whatever not-sweet sweet it is. And then I'll be a regular customer! And they'll know me by name! And they'll say, 'the usual, Bonnie?'. OH! That would be sooo much FUN!
As they passed through the doors to the kitchen, Bonnie's eyes interlocked with two other ladies. One had dark brown hair and a rather scary stare, while the other had green hair and bespectacled eyes that looked rather surprised to see Bonnie. "Freedom, who is this?"
"This is Bonnie, Shirogane asked me to take her back here and see if we had anything… non-sugary."
Bonnie turned her eyes in wide wonder on the waitress. "How'd you know my name? Are you telepathic? Can I be telepathic?!"
The black haired waitress looked at her in alarm. "W-what? Uh, no! I'm not telepathic. I, uh, heard your friend call you that." She laughed nervously as Bonnie kept staring at her.
She MUST be telepathic, Colette never said my name! Or did she? Maybe I didn't notice because I got all excited about the idea of non-sugary sugary food. Sugar tastes so good, I wish I could eat it... Bonnie slumped her shoulders in self-pity. "Okay…"
The waitress seemed to cave under her sad face. "Well, who knows, I might not be telepathic, but, uh, you never know, maybe you have that special something…"
Bonnie glanced up at her with a huge smile. "Thanks lady!"
The green haired woman came over. "So your name is Bonnie? It's a pleasure to meet you my dear." The woman held out her little hand, which Bonnie shook enthusiastically.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too! So what's your name? And who's the sour lady in the back?"
"What'd she just call me?" The brown-haired girl turned threateningly towards her. "Did you just call me a agrie grump viejo?"
Bonnie looked at her wide-eyed. "I don't even know what you just said! I said sour lady, so what's your name?" Wow, her eyes are HUGE! I wonder if she know's that she's not as pretty when she clenches her teeth…
The waitress, was it Freedom? Firmly grabbed the little blonde's shoulders and positioned herself in front of Bonnie, cutting her line of vision from the other girl. "Well, Bonnie, this nice lady with green hair is Mrs. Shirogane, and over there's Cinnamon. Now let's look in those cook books over there, 'kay?"
As Bonnie was ushered farther away from the scary cook towards the books (and Mrs. Shirogane went over and tried to soothe the gangster's pride), Ryo barged in.
His eyes immediately scanned the room until it hung on Bonnie. "Alright, what's your name?"
"I'm Bonnie!" Bonnie vaguely heard a sound of disgust come from the corner where Cinnamon was.
"Okay, Bonnie. I was wondering, has anything strange recently-"
"WHAT?!" Everyone turned to look at Cinnamon's flustered face, her brown eyes glaring fiercely into the little girl's. "Oh no, oh Cristo no! There is no way! No way that she's a mew!"
Freedom looked at Ryo in shock. "Really? Her?"
Shirogane nodded. "90% positive. Bonnie, do you have any strange marks on you that you don't remember having before?"
Bonnie looked at him wide eyed, "What's a mew?"
Ryo rubbed the back of his neck somewhat agitatedly. How does he explain this to someone her age? He never had to tell Pudding, the other girl's had done that for him. "A mew… they're a secret super hero. And I'm pretty sure your one of them. It's… like that one cartoon… superman?"
The little blonde's mouth formed a perfect 'O' of astonishment. "Superman?! Really? I get to be superman? No, wait! Supergirl?"
Freedom leaned down, gesturing loosely for Bonnie to be quieter. "Not exactly, a mew's… like, a normal person who gets to also turn into some kind of animal."
"Really? Can I be a cat then?!"
"I'm a cat…"
"Colette can be a cat too!"
"No, she can't, Bonnie." The girl turned to look at Mr. Shirogane again. He folded his arms and looked sternly down at her. "Only you are a mew, and no one can know that about you. It's a very important secret."
Bonnie frowned. But, Colette would think this is so cool, I don't know… "If Colette can't be a mew, I don't want to be one either."
Ryo suppressed a loud groan. Why couldn't they just say 'Sure boss, whatever you say!'? "You don't really have a choice, we can't unmake mews."
Cinnamon groaned mournfully somewhere behind Bonnie.
No! This isn't fair! "But I don't want to be a mew! Not if Colette can't be one!"
"Bonnie," The green haired lady spoke up, "I know this is hard, and little girl's like you shouldn't have to do things like this, but we need you on the team. Without all the mews, our chances of beating the Cyniclons-"
"What's a Cyniclon?"
Shirogane placed a gentle hand on his wife's shoulder. "The point Retasu is trying to make, is if you don't join, people like Colette might get hurt because they can't fight the bad guys."
Colette would get hurt?! This is bad, mommy would get worried about me, but I have to help them if I don't want Colette to get hurt… But wait. This is just like an adventure, right? Wow! If I really AM a super hero, I'll get to have LOTS of adventures!! "Okay! I'll be a mew."
Ryo nodded, glad he had gotten through to her. "Well, you're not a mew until your DNA reacts, but good. Remember, this has to be a secret, and we'll need you to come around here a lot. Will you be able to do that?" After some rather cute pondering looks, the girl eagerly nodded her head. "Good, here." He handed her the pendant. "You're not a mew yet, but you never know."
Freedom bent down and showed her own pendant to Bonnie. "I have one too, whenever you're in trouble, you hold on to it and say 'Transform!', 'kay?"
Bonnie looked back up to Freedom. "So you're a super hero too?"
The girl looked taken aback. "I… guess. Yeah, I'm a super hero," she smiled at Bonnie again, "and so is Cinnamon, and so are you, come back sometime and we'll look into that non-sugary sweet for you."
"AWESOME!"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Tyrais and Xakiteu simultaneously teleported out and away from the café. "I can't believe this!" Tyrais's purple eyes glinted with alarm. "They're popping up like daisies! How long before they find the others? Xakiteu, we have our work cut out for us."
The young Cyniclon's eyes blazed red. "What do you want us to do? And why didn't we just attack them in the café?"
"Xakiteu, it'd be a death wish to attack on their own ground with no plan actually made. Besides, Yakuro would of given us one heck of an ear ache if we openly attacked in front of all those other humans." Tyrais played over everything in her mind. They had entered right into the lab room, and were rather shocked at the technology Shirogane had. Not that it mattered anymore, that was all taken care of. She smirked as she imagined the Ryo guy's face as he entered in and found nothing but rubble. If nothing else, Yakuro will be pleased with that. They had peeked their heads in and heard the whole ordeal about the baby human being a mew mew too. Tyrais had recognized Mew Freedom, and the second mew, who looked even more formidable than the first.
That mew Freedom, if she didn't have such grotesque and shrunken ears, she might actually look pretty. Her hair frizzed indignantly at her next thought. Maybe prettier than me…
"Tyrais, the smaller mew is leaving."
Startled out of her thoughts, Tyrais turned to follow Xakiteu's gaze. The small blond human was indeed leaving, with a brunette little human as well. They had heard Shirogane tell her not to tell anything about being a mew, and it looked like so far she hadn't.
"Should we kill her?" Xakiteu's eyes glittered intensely at the tiny figure. You know, he's not much taller than her, Tyrais realized, somehow forgetting the problem at hand.
She looked back down as the two departed, her mind all ready whirring with ideas. "Not yet. I want you to follow her, wait until she's alone, and then kill her. If her mew powers aren't working yet, than she'll be an easy target."
His intense gaze turned to her. "And what about you?"
Tyrais looked at him in surprise. "I stay and wait to take on the other two. It won't take long for them to find their main operations room trashed, and then they'll figure out that we're after them. When they come looking for the miniature twerp, I'll attack them and buy you more time." She caught his indignant air and amended her statement. "If you need it, of course."
Xakiteu said nothing but turned back towards the small departing figure.
"We'll meet up later." Tyrais said as dismissal.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"I had no clue you would be so excited about this Bonnie, they didn't even tell you if they had food that you could eat." Colette looked over at her best friend, feeling somewhat confused at her hyper state.
Bonnie turned and gave a big reassuring smile to her friend, though her eyes looked rather pleading. "I know, I know! But they said they might have one next time, that's why I'm excited!"
"Okay, if you say so…" Colette pressed her take-home box against her shirt for comfort, wishing Bonnie hadn't wanted them to leave so quickly. The girl had a feeling that something wasn't right between them. Maybe she was really disappointed, maybe I shouldn't have dragged her with me to café Mew Mew, but it looked so amazing! It WAS amazing!
"Colette?" Bonnie leaned in and frowned as she assessed her friend's look. "Don't worry! Really, there's nothing wrong! It's, I just can't tell you…"
Oh no! It was something I did! "Bonnie, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings by taking you there! I just really wanted to see it, and I was afraid to go alone… I knew you might not like it, and-" She was cut off as Bonnie placed her hand over her mouth.
"It's nothing like that Colette! Trust me, you didn't do anything to make me sad!" Bonnie smiled encouragingly. "You know me too well, I can't hide anything from you even if I tried."
Colette glanced away, embarrassed by the compliment. "Then what is bugging you?"
Bonnie's shoulders slumped. "I can't really tell you, I promised I wouldn't. It's nothing bad though! In fact, it's really really cool!"
Colette searched her friend for any other sign of a problem. "So, everything's okay then?"
"Absolutely!"
Colette sighed in relief. "Fair enough! Hey, since you didn't complete the project, what are you going to do for it?" Bonnie gasped, and Colette turned to her, already knowing. "You didn't bring home the paper for the project, did you?"
"I gotta go Colette, maybe the school's still open!"
"Now?" The brunette looked to the sky, "The sun's almost gone already! Your parents are gonna worry."
"They'll be more mad if they find out about the project!"
I know she's right, but, it's dangerous for her to do that. She might get in trouble. Colette frowned. "Okay, let's hurry back to the school and try it."
Bonnie looked at her in surprise, "Colette, your house is just around the corner! And I know your parents will be super ticked at you if you're late."
"What does that matter? You need help, right?"
Bonnie smiled brightly. "Colette, you're the best! But I can't let you, go home or I don't go for the project at all. It'll be fast and easy, and if it's locked, then it's locked!"
"Bonnie-"
"I promise to stay safe!"
"… Fine. But be sure to call me when you get home, I can help you with the project."
Bonnie smiled happily. "Totally!"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"Esa chica estúpida! I can't believe this! Por qué es que un mew? El odioso twerp!"
Freedom tried to remain calm as she went back to the kitchen to grab another order. Ever since Bonnie had left the kitchen, now a mew-to-be, Cinnamon had been grumbling and having random out bursts in Spanish the whole night. "Cinnamon, I know she called you sour, but…" What am I supposed to say? That I thought she was a little more resilient to insults than this? That she's freaking out from what a little kid said?
"No me gustan los niños!" She spit out as she shoved the plate in front of Freedom.
"What?"
"Look, I can't stand little cry-baby kids, okay? And that's the perfect crybaby if I ever saw one. And I'm stuck with her! Por qué yo?!" She stomped off back to her delicate pastries, muttering darkly to herself.
And to think I thought she was tough! Freedom passed the plate on to table 13, feeling disgruntled at how she had temporarily respected Cinnamon. If she thinks Bonnie's annoying, I'd like to see her deal with Timmy! Hey, I would like to see that…
Lettuce came out from the kitchen looking flustered. Frantically she gestured for Freedom to come over. Did Cinnamon flip and start breaking dishes now? I didn't hear anything. Lettuce glanced around before whispering to Freedom. "Something urgent has come up, I need to have you tell the customers it's time to close. I'll get the tables over here, and you go to the other side."
"What's happened?" Freedom's stomach did unpleasant flips at the distress in Retasu's voice.
"Not now, when everybody leaves."
Quickly Freedom (in her most pleasant waitress voice possible) asked for the people to go as soon as possible, and that she could get take-home boxes for their food.
Finally Freedom pleasantly waved the last group of customers good-bye and said to come again soon. She carefully turned the 'Closed'' over to face the window and romped for the kitchen. Cinnamon and Mrs. Shirogane were towards the door leading to the hall. "So what's happened? Did the aliens attack?"
Cinnamon turned and regarded her seriously, her infuriation with a 3rd grader gone as if it had never been. "That, only worse."
"Follow me." Mrs. Shirogane stood unsteadily and went downstairs, the two waitresses following her. The sight that greeted Freedom brought forth a shocked gasp. Ryo's computer, and any other piece of technology in the room, was either sparking in a dangerous manner or smoking in rubble.
Oh crap. "That alien Yakuro did this?"
Ryo turned from where he had been kneeling and working frantically to salvage his data. "It looks that way. I had muted the alarm system when Bonnie came in and I went upstairs to find her. They must of come in at that time, and I never realized it." Freedom was somewhat taken aback by the frustrated anger in his voice. That is ONE person I don't want to mess with. I guess this means I can't ask for that raise though…
Something in her mind suddenly clicked. "Bonnie! What if they heard-"
"Exactly." His hands moved about with a frustrated air. "You and Cinnamon go out and look for her, or any alien activity. Your pendants have a communications system built in them, but Bonnie doesn't know how to use hers, it'd be pointless to try them. Hurry and go while me and Retasu stay here and try to get things back up and running." He looked at Cinnamon, "You have your cell on you?"
She raised hers up in reply.
"I'll go change." Freedom bolted up the stairs as fast as she could. Bonnie's in trouble. Bonnie, the little 3rd grader who's good at volleyball and my brother has a crush on, is a target for that stupid alien Yakuro!
I know… so long… and I had wanted it longer. ;) Okay: To all of those whom it may apply, be they those who added my story to favorites or on alert. I now here sincerely apologize for the long wait. I cannot nor will ever promise swift and quick chapters. It's not my style, I like checking things at least 3 times over. Anyway, thank-you, despite my time lapse, for reading my story. You have no clue how happy that makes me, seriously.
If you still have the heart to do so, I would appreciate thoughts on this chapter. Till next time (which hopefully won't be too long like this time!!)
~Ally
