Chapter 14: Summer's Honey Breath

"'Think how you love me,' she whispered. 'I don't ask you to love me always like this, but I ask you to remember.'

'You'll always be like this to me.' [he said.]

'Oh no; but promise me you'll remember.' Her tears were falling. 'I'll be different, but somewhere lost inside me there'll always be the person I am tonight.'"

-F. Scott Fitzgerald, Magnetism

Sure. Come on over!

Naruto pushed the button on the side of his phone, and the screen went dark. There was a numbness in his thumb from the countless times he had done that in the last hour. He shoved his phone into his pocket and jogged out of his yard. A light drizzle fell from the overcast, and he pulled his hood up as his legs pumped against the soaked sidewalk.

He raced past the parked cars along the curb, windshields painted by the rain while the dusky streetlights cleaved through the scarred, felled drops on the glass. Naruto focused on the rhythm of his steps, so he could drift away from Sakura's text; it had stolen too much of his time already. The late spring showers were known to not persist for long, but that evening the pace of the rain hastened. By the time he reached the campus, Naruto was drenched.

He rushed quickly to the dormitory with the downpour giving no sign of subsiding. Water trickled down the pipes and brick walls of the building, and he heard the streams percolate as they formed small pools by the front door. After stepping into the dry hall, Naruto found her room.

And he stopped.

Sakura's door was in front of him, and he only had to knock. But his brain wouldn't let him complete the action. What was he doing? He abhorred it when his impulse dominated any form of wisdom or caution he had stubbornly constructed over the years.

But she was in there.

The air grew stale, and his breathing was shallow, as if the water had suddenly flooded the hall and was rising to silence him. It would be so easy to just walk away now, or maybe go somewhere else to think over his options. There was no certainty in that moment; he could do anything at all because there were so many possibilities and opportunities remaining. But as soon as he plunged into the decision, he'd be eradicating those chances.

The looming, regretful flood seemed to engulf all thoughts. It was the hardest right before his hand rapped against the wood.

He'll drown, he told himself. He will drown. The water was too violent, too spiteful. He was so positive he would drown and…

"Naruto!"

He took a deep breath. "Hey."

Her eyes surveyed his figure. "Oh no; you're soaked, Naruto. Did the rain really get that bad? Come in. I'll get you a towel."

She retreated into the restroom as he seemed to float into the dorm, and his lungs expanded with the redolent aromas. He had been in that room a few times before because of Ino, but it was still a rare occurrence. Ino didn't like to spend too much time there, and they had usually decided to hang in either his dorm or some other location.

But in those few incidents, he had never experienced this fragrance before. It silenced any sense of drowning, and there was a savory flavor to the florid, enriching samples that blessed the air.

Sakura stepped into the main room with a bath towel in her arms, and Naruto took in her presence. She was wearing make-up—more than he typically saw her using—and that fact didn't mollify his frazzled mind. Her hair spilled across her shoulders, and the amusement in her eyes heightened when they locked with his own.

"My, you're dripping all over my room," she said, smiling.

Naruto ran a hand through his wet hair. "Er, sorry."

Sakura took the towel and dropped it onto his head. "Dry up, OK? I hope I don't have to run your clothes through the dryer…"

Naruto was thankful for the towel that concealed how red his face must have been. "—Um, no thanks, Sakura. Just give me another towel, and I'll be fine."

She tapped her chin with her finger, as if she was contesting the idea. "Hmm. All right. I just did a load earlier this morning, anyways."

He sighed with relief as he blotted his wet hair. "Thanks, Sakura."

A smirk surfaced on her opulent lips. "You didn't drive here, huh?"

Naruto didn't match her gaze. "I felt like running…"

Genuine laughter bubbled from her, and she shook her head incredulously. "You're unbelievable. Well, I hope it was worth it."

To him, that laugh alone was worth it.

Naruto returned her smile and inspected the room. It seemed emptier with Ino's side left relatively bare, but Sakura's side was just chromatic and vibrant enough to make up for it. She had layered a collage of photos and pictures to hang on her wall comprised of places she had visited and friends she had made throughout her life.

As Naruto noted the art, he discerned an odd conclusion—in every picture of Sakura, her smile seemed off. It was different from what he had witnessed in previous exchanges, more fabricated, as if someone had drawn it by hand.

"How are your parents doing, Naruto?" Sakura asked, pulling him back from the images.

Ordinarily, that question would have dropped him into a dismal state, but it was Sakura asking. "They're all right. I'm watching over my mom when my dad's not around, so I get to spend some time with her." He shrugged. "Not a bad summer."

Whenever his mother was mentioned to the people aware of her situation, their countenance would usually lower, and they would attempt to assuage any feelings they felt had emerged within him. Naruto was starting to dislike that because those reactions felt almost forced and unwarranted. He preferred it when the individual was presenting their authenticity rather than a comment based off obligation.

But Sakura didn't force anything—just like she had done on their car ride back when he lied. She simply nodded and flashed a smile. "Good, you should be with her as much as you can. Of course, I'd enjoy it if you kept me company as well. The college is so dead right now."

"Absolutely," he added, his body suddenly lighter. "You can come by my place any time, too, if you want. My mom would like that."

Sakura seemed to be startled by the invitation. "Oh, really? Well, that might be a tad intrusive, you know, and it's not like they know me..."

"I've told them all about you, actually," Naruto admitted with a bright grin. "You'll be more than welcome!"

Any surprise that may have been present in her expression was then replaced with gratitude…and something else—something he hadn't seen from her before. It was similar to a look Ino had exposed to him once.

"Wonderful," she said as she pointed to the little TV in the corner of the room. "You wanna watch a movie or something?"

Naruto looked at the TV—expecting to see a simple entertainment system—and he immediately recognized the console stationed underneath it.

"No way!" he cried. "Is that a Nintendo 64?!"

He saw a smirk crease against her lips. "I thought you might like that. You wanna play?"

He didn't even answer her, instead he ran to the shelf the console was on and began sifting through the games she had. "You've got GoldenEye! Holy shit! Do you know how much fun this game is? And Ocarina of Time? I had no idea that you were… Fucking Mortal Kombat too!"

She giggled and knelt behind him. "Yeah, I got all these when I was little. I've played all of them countless times. Although, it's been some time since I used it last. My other consoles are back at my house in Japan. I didn't think I'd find the time to play them, but I just couldn't neglect this baby. Too nostalgic."

A playful glint flashed in Naruto's eye. "Think you're still any good?"

"Better than you," she teased.

"You're on." He slammed the cartridge into the console and turned on the TV. The opening screen reading 'GoldenEye' appeared on the screen and that characteristic music Naruto recalled from childhood began playing.

For the next hour or so, they played multiplayer against each other with most of their matches ending up even. By the point where Naruto's luck ran out and Sakura kept winning the rounds; however, the blond paused the game and abruptly fell onto his back.

"Are you a hustler?" he asked gravely.

Sakura laughed and reclined next to him. "No, I just finally hit my stride is all." She seemed to stare at the ceiling then, and a quiet moment drifted through them. Her thoughts silently settled on the fact that she had a chance now. A thief was an expert at taking advantage of a situation. But was she an expert yet? She wondered if hoping to be one was a bad thing. She was sure she was asking the wrong question there, and she had the doll to thank for that.

"How's Ino doing?" she asked. "You talk to her recently?"

Naruto glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Yeah, actually. I just called her this afternoon. She said her family's happy to have her, and they've already taken her on vacation to their beach house."

Sakura grinned. "So, she left the beach for another beach?"

His chuckle made her grin ease into something more heartfelt. "Yeah, I guess she did," he mumbled.

"Do you miss her?"

Naruto could feel the room tilt around him. That was a dangerous question. "Yeah, of course," he lied.

Sakura nodded and stared at the ceiling. On long nights of restlessness, she would look at the same ceiling and dwell about the man next to her. But unlike those nights, tonight she would try a different approach to her feelings. "Let's do this as much as we can, Naruto. We have all summer, don't we? We should plan stuff to do! Will you be working a lot?"

Naruto shrugged. "Not really. A few more hours than I normally do, and I'll be closing a lot, but I should still have plenty of free time."

Sakura's eyes lit up and extended her hand out to him. "Let's make a promise, then—we will spend the whole summer together. Just the two of us!" She winked when she uttered the last sentence.

Naruto sensed a sudden discharge of heat across his body as he reached to grab her hand. His head was befuddled as he realized their hands were intertwined. "OK," he muttered.

Naruto later grasped how that simple promise evolved into something far more convoluted than he had expected. It was as multifaceted as the concept of virtues and the morality of desires. It was so easy for matters like love and hope to twist and mangle into the darker sides of themselves. They normally started with such good intentions, but it was just effortless, almost painless for them to change. And it didn't take long for aspects of guilt and sorrow to slither in and break what was originally an innocent promise. After that, was it really fair for people to start blaming others for the pain? Was anyone really at fault for making an honest mistake?

Would she forgive him?

Outside, the stormy, drowned wind wailed and rattled against the worn eaves of the building.

A few days later, Sakura visited Naruto's home. And when she met Kushina Uzumaki, she almost cried. If she had, then her tears would not have been a sign of pity. No, nothing like that, because seeing Naruto's mother sunken-in like she had reverted into the dried shell of herself did not elicit a surface-level response from her; it simply made her sad. Kushina was wearing a red wig that was styled into a bob and almost appeared as natural. Sakura surmised that before the diagnosis, she would have easily been labeled as a beauty. Even after, there was a wiser clarity to her, like a wilted petal watered by affliction. The woman's milky, bloodshot eyes seemed to accept Sakura. She could tell there used to be more vivacity in those eyes and in some ways, there still was. It was just muted, as if someone had simply placed a warm blanket upon them and asked them to be quiet for a little while.

"Welcome!" Kushina greeted with a warm smile.

There was a universal charm to mothers that seemed to carry across cultures and continents, and Sakura could tell Naruto's mother wasn't too different from her own based off that gracious, affable demeanor she wore.

"Hello," she replied. "You have a lovely home."

Kushina's smile widened. "Why, thank you, dear. Are you two hungry? I could make something…" She motioned to move off the couch, but her son was quick to protest.

"Mom, you don't need to do that," he said.

Sakura waved her hand politely. "Yes, we already ate, Mrs. Uzumaki. We're fine."

Kushina observed the young girl with a growing sense of admiration. "I bet you wanna change that to san, don't you, sweetheart?"

Sakura blinked. "Ah, maybe. But we're in the wrong country for that, I believe."

Hearing a sweet spring of laughter from the woman made Sakura's cheer heighten. "I guess so. But it'd be nice to hear it again. It's been an awful long time." A faint glint surfaced behind her clouded eyes, and that was when Sakura wondered if there was also a likeness between the two of them. "You have the attitude, you know—that pleasant poise our people carry so well. You're welcome to call me whatever you like, but I'd prefer Kushina."

Sakura bowed her head. "Absolutely, Kushina. Thank you for having me."

Naruto grinned and rubbed his neck. "You kidding? Mom was practically begging me to invite you over."

There was no embarrassment in his mother's smile when she said: "He's exaggerating, of course, but I'm so glad to finally meet you. Now, you're Ino's roommate, right?"

Sakura tried her very best to not wince at the mentioning of her friend's name, but a fierce, involuntary muscle pulled at the last second. Kushina's eye would have noticed it, too, if it wasn't already analyzing her own son's similar reaction. "Yes, that's me," answered Sakura.

Kushina motioned to the sofa next to her. "I see. Well, please, sit down."

They took a seat on the couch adjacent to the identical one that Kushina was reposing on. Sakura regarded the numerous blankets, tissues, and empty water bottles that littered the woman's area.

Kushina caught the glances and brandished her best carefree smile. "Sorry for the mess. I've been sleeping here for a while now, and I tend to let things get out of hand."

Sakura flushed, ashamed. "No, I—I'm sorry, Kushina. I believe you have all the excuse in the world to do whatever you like. I honestly can't imagine what you're going through."

Kushina beamed, her wig tilting considerably to the side of her head. She adjusted it, assiduously. "Now, that's hardly fair, sweetheart. Misfortune should never be a reason to disregard good company. I've been on the other end of that issue myself, and I just hate the very idea. I certainly don't want to put my son's friends through that."

Sakura proceeded to giggle at seeing the transparency from the mother of the man she adored. "I appreciate that. I really do."

"I knew you'd like her," Naruto commented.

"I'm sure you didn't expect us both to get along, though, sweetie?" Kushina asked with a buoyant lilt to her voice. "You could only be so lucky."

Naruto's eyes landed sincerely upon Sakura. "I am. I'm very lucky."

Sakura felt an instinctive song well in her chest, and it soared high into her soul because of the kindness from both people with her then. She cleared her throat and addressed Kushina again. "How's the chemo going, by the way, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, it's been quite effortless," responded Kushina with no hesitation. "You'd be surprised by how simple it is really. And my doctors are so nice. They only have good things to tell me."

"Like what?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, well, I tell my husband and Naruto this every day, but the tumor in my breast has been getting smaller and smaller. My doctor says they'll still need to do surgery in a month or two, but by that time, it should be a cinch."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, Mom's pretty confident about it, so I'm not too worried either."

Sakura gently brushed her hair. "That's just wonderful! Do you ever feel sick, though? I've heard the chemo is real harsh on the body."

"Yes, it is, but it's mostly fatigue for me. Everybody responds to it differently. My immune system is weakened, too, but as long as I'm careful, I'll be fine."

If Sakura had any concerns when meeting Kushina, they had vanished by this point. The woman simply had a potent assurance to her words, as if doubts were mere images devised by the unsure and had no actual impact on reality. That was a sobering thought to Sakura; she felt she could work with that. "Well, sounds like it couldn't be better for you," she added.

"Absolutely." Kushina nodded and turned to her son. "Naruto, you should give Sakura a tour of the house. I'm sure she'll love it!"

Naruto grinned and grabbed Sakura's arm. "Sure thing, Mom." He led her to the stairs and they marched up to his room.

Sakura was a little surprised by Naruto's room; it wasn't as dirty as she had anticipated. It wasn't exactly clean, but it had as much personality to it as the man himself possessed. The rest of the house was exquisite, and she felt like she was allowed to see a true gift. But as Naruto dragged her through the home with an energetic countenance, Sakura felt disordered.

Did he have that same smile when he showed Ino the house? A crawling worm of doubts wriggled into the quieter, murkier reaches of her mind, devouring the contentment she should have been feeling. And when they came back to Kushina, she sensed the constraint. She saw the cultivated joy in the older woman and coldly realized she had been incorrect earlier, after all.

Naruto's mother was nothing like her.

Summer days drifted along with the ocean waves, oblivious to the change. The birds serenaded the warmth and the active life of the season, yet they remained lost in their stolen bliss. They couldn't appreciate the truth through their rosy glass; they wanted to dampen the midsummer calls. Remarkably, nature didn't mind because it could breathe even if no one took a moment to acknowledge it. It was content even without their attention.

Naruto and Sakura tried to spend every day they could together. They traveled back and forth between their places—neither party really caring where they were as long as they weren't alone. After work, no matter how late, Naruto would drive to the college and knock on Sakura's door with the promise of some half-baked plan being suggested. They tried to accomplish as many little goals and ideas they could think up. On sunny days, they would often go to the beach where Naruto would teach Sakura how to surf, or they would go hiking in the hills west of the city. When they weren't outside, they were playing video games or talking endlessly about the many topics that rose between the two. Some nights they would barely sleep and stay through the wee hours joking and laughing.

But despite all this time together, the subject of their relationship was not raised—not until one late evening in July.

They were in Sakura's room that night, chatting about trivial things, and it wasn't long until the conversation neared the inevitable.

"That was my fault, actually," Naruto admitted after unceremoniously collapsing to the floor.

"No way," Sakura remarked from her place on her bed. "There's no way you actually left him there!"

"I really did. I was only on the highway for like five minutes until I turned back to get him. He was still pretty pissed. Acted like I'd been gone for months."

Sakura was failing to stifle her laughter. "Uh, yeah! I'd be pissed too if you left me at a damn gas station!"

Naruto chuckled. "I wouldn't do that to you. Sasuke, on the other hand, is a very forgettable person."

She finally gave up and released a throaty cackle. "Can't argue with that!"

They both started howling after that. When their amusement finally calmed down, Naruto ended up being the one to turn the mood. "Have you talked with him recently, by the way?"

"Um, not for a week or two. He's been pretty busy at the company. What about you? You talk to him at all?"

"Yeah, I called him the other night," he answered. "He sounded super tired, but I was expecting that. He said he was enjoying the job at least."

Sakura's smile wasn't as strong as it should have been; Naruto didn't notice. "Of course. He's got a great work ethic." She paused then, debating whether the next words she said were the best to bring out. She knew a perfect moment didn't exist for anything really. There were only moments that weren't horrible for high emotions. The rest took courage. "I talked to Ino last night."

Naruto's head rose from the carpet. "Really? What'd she say?" He had called her a few nights ago, but it had been a short chat.

"She said she misses us." Sakura wasn't looking at him. "She's a little worried, you see." Naruto said nothing and waited for her to continue. The air in the room felt thicker, as if it was trying to compensate for the lack of integrity. "She wonders if you miss her as well, Naruto."

Naruto closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. His perception wasn't dulled by that statement, but his conscience flared hotly. It wasn't pleased. "She said that?"

Sakura slid closer to the edge of her bed. "Yeah." She then repeated the same question she had asked that rainy night a lifetime ago. "Do you miss her?"

Naruto turned his head to look up at her. She was watching him closely, warily. "I—" His words were caught by her judicious and mossy gaze. For some reason, he didn't want to lie to her again. He felt he would be restraining himself then. And that wasn't something Sakura deserved. He had to be different with her. He closed his eyes again and summoned those wizened virtues of his.

"Not really."

When he didn't hear Sakura's response, he opened his eyes and saw her smiling at him.

"It's hard to live a lie, isn't it?" she asked softly.

Naruto gawked at her and sat up. He couldn't believe she was accepting such a harsh statement like that. "I—I don't...um…"

Her melodious laughter lifted the mood around him. "Don't revert back to your shell now, Naruto. You're doing so well. I want to hear it all from you."

"Even the stuff about Ino?" He felt like a child asking that, as if he was requesting permission to use something already designated to be okay to use.

To his surprise—and his delight—Sakura reached her hand out from atop the bed and stroked his hair slowly. "Especially her," she whispered. "Tell me everything."

Naruto could feel his heart swell. He stomped on the guilt he had constantly tried to resist. And strangely, it was working this time. It was as if her presence was giving him stability or maybe, to be more precise, she provided the illusion of stability. He thought he could say anything to her. But they both knew he couldn't—not everything.

"I'm scared," he muttered. "I'm so scared, Sakura."

"Of what?" Her voice was tender, beguiling.

"Of myself. I feel like I can't ever be myself anymore. It's like I'm a different person all the time now. It's an awful feeling, Sakura. It's this feeling of pretending I'm some great guy who cares about others, but I'm only hurting them in the end."

She kept the smile, but it was milder now. It was comforting. "Why are you doing that?"

"Because I'm scared." That word was growing in his mind the more he used it. "I'm scared of what will happen. I'm running away from the immediate pain and settling for the longer kind because it doesn't hurt all at once. I know it's actually worse, but I can't help it. I lied to Ino about loving her because I thought I was helping her. But in reality…" He felt the truth get stuck in his throat, and he mustered the bravery to release it. "I was just being a coward."

Sakura stopped brushing his hair. "That's okay, you know. It's quite normal to be a coward."

He shook his head. "That doesn't make it right, though! I'm hurting her. I'm hurting myself."

Sakura hung her head limply from the side of her bed. "And I think everybody does that, you know. I think we're constantly suffering by our own hands. The only difference is between the ones who are aware of it."

"Oh, I'm aware of it," he stated dryly.

"Good," she added as she beckoned him with her fingers, "that makes it real, then. That means you acknowledge it, and that's the first step."

He stared at her with pleading eyes. He approached her and leaned against the bed. He needed more. "The first step?"

"Of forgiving yourself."

Naruto's swelling lessened, and he could feel moisture surge to his eyes. But he prevented any tears from emerging. This wasn't the time. Not yet. "Have you ever really done that, Sakura? Have you ever had the courage to forgive yourself?"

If his respect for her could have multiplied, it did when she said: "Nope."

"Huh?"

Her eyelids lowered like fallen leaves on a forest pool, floating faintly on its emerald waters. "I've tried, but I can't do it. I'm really a terrible person, you see. I've done some nasty things and probably won't ever stop. Not everyone is as tenacious as you are, Naruto. You can step up from your past self and learn from it. You want to do better, but most of us don't. We're quite fine with who we are, and we hate that. We hate it enough to hate ourselves. And that makes us terrible."

"That's not true—" he started.

"It is, though. It really is."

"But how? How are you so terrible?" To the best of his knowledge, he couldn't conceive of a scenario where she was as immoral as she was declaring.

Sakura focused on him, her expression morphing into something complex and deliberate. "Because I'm here," she whispered. "With you."

Confusion colored his features, and Sakura felt pain from that view. She was always confusing the ones she cared for, making them uncertain of her intentions and who she was. "What are you talking about?"

In that still moment—with the lulled sounds of the summer night outside her open window and her heart bashing in her chest—Sakura didn't feel caged. She felt free. "I'm here with you and I shouldn't be, Naruto." She gave him a little smile. "I love you and I shouldn't."

An odd occurrence happens when a man is presented with such an overt and welcomed statement from a female: they end up wondering what the best course of action is. And they always feel in hindsight that they could have responded better if they had only been given more time. But the inherent silence typically troubled the females, so a man knew he didn't have much time to say the best possible thing to encourage them.

With his mind getting hazy and his entire physique weighing down on him, Naruto choked out a reply. "I—I don't deserve that…"

Sakura's head swerved from side to side. "But you do! I know you do. I'm the one who doesn't deserve you, but I want you, Naruto. I'm constantly thinking about how I really messed up this time." There were drips of agony and remorse falling from her mouth; they mingled with her tears. "I'm always so fickle and uncertain of my decisions, so it takes me a while, but…I really fucked up. I need you, Naruto. I can't keep pretending I'm a good person when I'm with you. I can't lie to you anymore."

Naruto felt liberated. For the first time since he met her, Naruto felt like he wasn't holding himself back. Was it all right to be honest now? Was he allowed to have what he wanted?

He rubbed his forehead. "Sakura, wait; this is a lot to take in."

Sakura grabbed his hand. He was still on the floor at the foot of her bed. She pulled his arm and he complied. He was in her bed now. "I know it is, Naruto. But I can't pretend that my feelings don't exist."

"How long have you felt this way?" he asked as he placed both his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm not completely sure. It became apparent when you and Ino first announced you were dating, but I think it was before that. I misplaced my feelings and thought they were with Sasuke. But you two dating kind of woke me up, made me realize what I was really doing. I'm not so good with love, you see. I typically abuse it and act like I know what I'm doing."

There was that sad smile again. It hurt him. It felt like it was tearing into him. "Stop talking like that about yourself, Sakura. None of it's true."

Her sobs grew heavier, and she wiped her face with the back of her hand. "But it is! I'm so terrible, Naruto. You have no idea how awful I am. I won't rest until I get what I want, but I'm never satisfied with it. I always want more! I always demand more of people! I can't st—"

"Sakura!" he cried. She trembled in his arms and stopped crying. He brought her face closer, and she could view the vitality in his blue eyes. "Stop, please. You're missing the point, Sakura. I don't love you because I think you're perfect. It's not all about expecting someone to always do the right thing. It's also about knowing their mistakes and understanding that they can be helped. You're not defined by what you've done. You're not terrible for having faults. All that just makes you more real to me. You're Sakura Haruno, and I don't want you any other way."

Sakura's vision was already foggy with tears, but it was obscured even further at hearing his words. The most notable sentence of his happened to stick out enough to aid her next question. "You love me?"

Naruto gritted his teeth and nodded. A grand uprising of his emotions flowed in him. He knew they had been building up for a long time because of his issues with Ino, the reality of his mother's health, and his affections for Sakura. And finally, they could be freed in this place, for her.

"Yes. I do."

The magnetic force between them—the same pull that had always been there—was strongest then, and it slowly brought them together. Gently, tenderly, the distance lessened. Their lips met, and all the pure sensations of the world opened in that summer evening. All the pain shared between them dissolved back into their bones, and their hearts surrendered by loosening the pleasure of the moment. Passion flew higher and it wasn't long until they were both under the covers, exploring the love they finally unearthed.

Amidst their desire, there was a push of reality trying to break in to remind them of the ramifications of their actions. And they would eventually listen to it, but not before the pain came back from the bones and abated the future.

Tragedy lingered on the horizon, biding its time.

Well, there ya go. This is what you were all waiting for, right? I told you this was a NaruSaku fic. Haha. Sorry it took so long to get to, but it was important that it was like this. There are some minor things I'll need to go back and change when I finish this, but I'll worry about that later. The story isn't over yet, I'm afraid. There's some key points that will be addressed very soon.

I hope you liked the update!

-CM