So, yes. It is I! Long gone writer of a fanfic that is dragging forever on! This time a good 6 months since my last update. But I've done longer right? Ok, I've got more A/N to say at the end, but go ahead and read this chapter that people have been waiting for.

AND THANK EVERYONE OF YOU WHO BOTHERS TO WAIT FOR IT! SERIOUSLY GUYS I DON'T DESERVE IT AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO REALLY MAKE IT UP TO YOU! Y'ALL ARE AWESOME. And my reviewers, I love you I do. Please don't stop encouraging me, you guys are pretty much the reasons I try to make myself speed up this process at all. Please tell me if you want me to continue to respond to your reviews here in the chapters, or if you'd like me to PM respond cause I love you all and would love to answer any questions and submit myself to any verbal abuses that I deserve. But only deserved abuses of course.

7/6/2013


53: A Difference

I walked along, holding two pieces of fruit in my hand. I wasn't hungry, and truthfully I wasn't sure how to eat these things. Was the skin edible? Did you have to peel them? Did they even taste good? Why couldn't Egypt just have normal fruit? Like oranges? But then, I didn't like oranges anyway. Not that I'd even gotten this food for myself. But oranges were really good for you. Maybe they should import them. Where did oranges even originate from? I don't think it was Florida.

Anyway, it was time to stop rambling about oranges in my head and think of something to do. I couldn't just keep walking around the market and surrounding streets like I was. That was a sure way to get into trouble. Looking like you're lost or have nothing to do is a good way to get you mugged or dragged off. Always look like you're paying attention and have some place to be and things to do.

As I looked around, still somewhat distractedly, I noticed two young boys crouching in the entrance of an alleyway. They were peeking around the corner, where there was another food cart. They too looked skinny and hungry, but what really caught my attention was the look of mischief and trouble in their slight smirks.

I grinned to myself and acknowledged that in the back of my mind, I had hoped that I would come across more kids to give this food too. Of course, these kids looked like a little more fun.

The boys' had their backs to me, and very quietly, I snuck up behind them. I stood just behind the boys, and mimicked their positions, leaning out and peeking around the corner.

"What are we looking at?"

The boys jumped at the sound of my whisper and ended up smacking into each other. I tried hard not to smile, but I don't think I succeeded very well. They boys turned quickly to look at me in surprise. "Who are you?" one of them asked wide-eyed.

I stood up, putting my hands on my hips and grinned at them. "I'm Kiara. Can I ask who you trouble-makers are?"

"We have done nothing wrong." the other boy said glaring at me. I took a moment to look at them.

I figured they were probably brothers, as they looked pretty similar, but it was their eyes that were dead give-away. They both had the exact same honey colored, almond shaped eyes. The one who was currently glaring at me was taller, and probably the older one of the two, but I don't think they could have been more than 10 or 11.

"Oh but don't even try to tell me you weren't going to." I said raising a brow at the boy. He didn't answer; he just kept glaring at me. The other boy shuffled around on his feet seeming nervous.

"And just so you two don't go causing any other trouble, take these." I said still grinning but speaking a little more softly as I held out the pieces of fruit.

The boys just stared at me wide-eyed. Then the older one quickly snatched both fruits from me, and handed one to his brother before biting into his own with hungry abandon. The younger brother looked at the food that was now in his hands, then at his brother, then back to me. He watched me carefully, as he slowly raised the food to his mouth, and took a bite, but after that first taste, he was eating just as quickly as his brother.

They both devoured their food pretty quickly, and then they looked back at me with sticky hands and faces, and wary looks. The older one stepped forward and crossed his arms glaring at me.

"So what is it you want?" he demanded.

I raised an eyebrow at him. For some reason, I was reminded of General. I'm not sure why, but this little kid just standing here, challenging me like this, made me think of that arrogant pig. Hopefully, that wasn't a sign about how this kid was going to grow up. Oh, like I would let that happen.

I reached out, and slapped the kid on the back of his head.

Startled, he jumped back, putting a hand on the 'injured' area and looked at me shocked. I put my hands on my hips and looked down with a scowl.

"What kind of 'thank you' is that? Don't I get any gratitude?" I asked with a raised brow. Both of the boys just stared at me in shock. "Now, we're going to try this again. Let's see if you boys can come up with the proper response this time, huh?" And then I marched off around the corner, to the vendor they had been about to steal from.

I bought some more food, and gave the vendor a big smile as I thanked him and headed back to where the kids were. I felt a little weirdly smug and snickered as I thought about how I had saved the poor vendor from being robbed by two small boys, and was now buying food for those boys to eat. There was a weird symmetry to it, I thought. Or maybe just an irony.

The boys were still staring wide-eyed when I came back, with more food for them. I figured they almost expected me to have handed them in and told someone about what they were planning to do. But luckily for them and me, I hadn't done that, and they were still here to take the food I had bought for them. Much more graciously this time, I might add.

I felt much better, having gotten these kids some real food to eat. Not only that, but they hadn't run off scared of me afterwards. For whatever reason they had stayed, like I told them too. The small bit of hope they had that I would be good to them, made me feel better. Hope is a good thing to have, no matter how bad things seem. And I was glad to see that these kids still had it.

"So, where do you guys live?" I asked after they had finished eating. They looked at each other for a minute, and again I got the sense that they were very close by the fact that they seemed to know just what the other was thinking without saying a word out loud. Finally, the older boy shrugged a little carelessly and turned his head to look away almost as if he were bored now. The younger boy looked back at me with curiosity burning in his eyes.

"We live in an orphanage closer to the river. Why do you want to know?" he answered my question and asked his own.

"Because I want you to take me there." I said smiling at him. The kid looked like he had almost expected that answer, and he turned back to his brother who looked back at him again. They had their little silent communication, before the older shrugged, and then turned and began to walk away. I frowned when he moved off, and opened my mouth to call him back, but stopped suddenly when I felt a warm pressure in my hand. I looked down, and the other boy had taken my hand in his and began to lead me somewhere. It was not the same direction that his brother had gone in, but I knew that he was taking me to the orphanage like I had asked.

"Wait, there's some things I want to get first." I said with a laugh as I pulled the boy back over to the market.

It was sometime mid-afternoon when I found myself wandering into a little open yard that was surrounded by small, beat-down looking houses. The younger brother, whose name was Seuku, stopped walking slowly beside me as he had been previously and ran ahead shouting out.

"Raku! Raku, she has brought more food!" he proclaimed. His older brother stood leaning against one of the house walls, but he straightened up once he heard and saw his younger sibling running towards him. I smiled when I saw not only the older boy going to greet Seuku, but when other children emerged from the buildings and came out as well. I had figured that the older brother had gone by a short-cut back to their home to warn the others about my arrival, and it looked like I was right. But whatever the boy had told them about my coming, they were certainly happy to see me. They were also very happy to see the basket of food in my arms, and the similar basket that Seuku was carrying.

There were about 30 children who came out of the houses. They crowded around the two brothers talking excitedly, gesturing at the baskets and at me as I continued to slowly approach. I saw an older woman also exit one of the old houses. She wore a shawl around her head as I did, and the lines and wrinkles on her face bespoke her older age. But she still seemed able enough as she ambled through the children to stand beside Seuku. And she seemed kind enough as she patted the children on the head as she passed and smiled at them with warm brown eyes.

I waited a little on the edge of the group, not wanting to crowd them or make them uncomfortable with my presence since I was a complete stranger to them. It seemed that my caution was unnecessary though, since after a moment of more jabbering among themselves, both of the brothers separated from the group of excited children and came to stand beside me. Seuku, reached up with one hand—the other was still clutching the basket of food we'd gotten—and grabbed a hold of my hand.

"This is Lady Kiara, and she has brought food for us!" he said to the other children. The others got even more excited and crowded around me now.

"Be careful however. She is a mean woman who will hit you." Raku said with a sidewise glance at me. He kept his arms crossed over his chest which was puffed out with all the arrogance of an older child among his younger peers.

I scoffed at his words and reached out and slapped him upside the back of his head again. "I only discipline those children who need it. And who need to learn better manners." I scolded lightly, but I kept my smile. Raku scowled at me and rubbed his head, but I saw the smallest amount of a blush on his cheeks.

The older woman smiled and moved forward. She reached out and clasped my hand in between both of hers. "You are most welcome here, Lady Kiara. The children and I are very grateful for what you have brought us. If there is any way we can repay you, please do not hesitate to ask."

I smiled even more. "Well, I guess you can help me hand out the food to these youngsters." At which the woman beamed even brighter, and the children all cheered.

I spent hours there with the kids. After the food was handed out, all the children wanted to show me all around the place they called home. So I ended up on a tour that showed me the all the places these kids ate, slept, and played. To say that it was depressing was a little of an understatement. It was only made more clear to me how little these kids had, and what was worse, was that they were so proud of these few things; which meant that they obviously thought they had it fairly well. So while I was inwardly cringing over the holes in the walls, the dirt encased floors, thin and threadbare blankets, and the overall rundown appearance of everything, I had to smile and show the proper awe that these kids were all looking for from me.

After the little tour, I wanted to do nothing more than find a way to ease these kids' hearts for a little while. So I settled for the old fallback. Play-time.

There wasn't much in the way of toys or anything to play with, but you don't grow up in the country and not learn how to play without toys. I taught the kids all the normal games: tag, freeze tag, Mother-May-I?, Red Rover, and then we took a few scraps of fabric and played capture the flag. After all that, the kids were well tired, but happy. I sat in the little court yard area, with one little boy in my lap, and all the other kids sitting around me. They were all talking enthusiastically to each other, and occasionally to me and I tried to hear and respond to them all. Raku and Seuku were here as well. Raku was on the outer edges looking like he was having fun, but considered himself too mature to admit it. Seuku was sitting by his brother, but he was participating much more and talking with the other kids. Raku looked at me then, and caught me staring at him and his brother. He lifted his chin up again, but this time he didn't frown at me. This time, we continued the lock gazes until I winked at him, and with a smirk, he finally looked away first.

"Lady Kiara! Lady Kiara!" one of the younger girls called from near the center of the group. "Lady Kiara, do you know any of the stories of the gods? Can you tell us one?"

Now all of the children were looking at me expectantly, and I felt a flush rise to my face. I didn't know any of the old stories. Well, I mean, I knew some things. General and mentioned some stories, and I vaguely remembered hearing some Egyptian myths back when I was younger. But there was no way I knew enough about anything to tell these kids a story and have them believe it, or think it was right. I'd probably accidentally throw in something that came from Harry Potter or something. Not to say that those weren't awesome books, but I don't think they fit the story here.

"I'm sorry kids, I don't really know any of the old stories." I said with a small smile. The kids looked surprised.

"You do not know the legends? Did your mother not tell them to you?" one of the boys spoke up.

"Um, no. She didn't, and neither did my father." I replied not bothering to inform them that my mother had died when I was far too young to have listened to her tell me anything.

"They did not? How odd!" the kids all seemed shocked and I started to inwardly panic. Were these kids all taught old myths and legends from their youth and expected to believe and remember them throughout their lives?

Well duh. Old civilizations like this; their stories and pasts are everything to them. That's why some of those legends got preserved enough that we know them. I scolded myself. Great, now how was I going to get out of this one?

"Lady Kiara where are you from that you do not know the legends?" Raku asked sharply from the group's edge. I found myself flushing even more. I was turning tomato-red again probably. The kid was smart; he'd cut right to the problem. I was definitely not from around here.

"I'm from a place far, far away from here. So I'm sorry that I don't know the stories." I said hoping that that answer would satisfy them. But of course not.

"Where are you from Lady Kiara?"

"What is it like where you are from?"

"Do they have legends there?"

"Why are you here?"

That last question was asked by Raku. Once those words had been spoken, everyone else became very quiet. Raku stared at me, suspicion and curiosity in his eyes.

The question, may have seemed simple, but not the way he asked it. And not in the truth it represented for me.

Why was I here?

This was the question I had asked myself, often, every day since I got to this time. Because I hadn't just taken a trip to a different land as these kids might assume. I had been dragged through time and places that I never knew, and should have never known. I hadn't done this to myself I was sure. So why, why was I here? What purpose could there be in my being here. A place I did not know, and was helpless in.

I stared at Raku, and he stared back at me and the children surrounding us looked back and forth between the two of us in silence. They probably did not understand the importance of this question, but they seemed to follow Raku's lead and they could feel the tension he was giving off now.

"I," I started to say something then stopped. This kid was damn smart, and perceptive. And even though I really didn't know how to answer this question, I couldn't, I wouldn't just bullshit some answer to get out of it.

"I am here, because I need to be. Because I was brought here. And I'm here to help."

As I said the words to him, I saw the truth in them myself. I may not know what had brought me here, or why. But I had to believe that there was a reason for it. There had to be a reason for all this to be happening to me. This couldn't have just happened to me. Whatever fate, or destiny or god had done this to me, it had to mean something.

And while I may not know what I was supposed to be doing here, I knew what I would be trying to do. What I had been trying to do, and would continue trying to do until the day this all ended and I was back where I belonged. I would try to help. I would help these kids, just like I'd helped the people in Byblos. Just like I'd helped the sailors who were drowning. Just like I helped protect the castle during the fight. Just like I'd helped take care of and protect the crown prince. I may not do a very good job, and I may not be nearly enough, but I would try to help, as best as I could for as long as I could. And for me, that had to be enough of a reason to be here.

Raku stared at me, and then I saw his eyes flicker over me, so quickly that I wasn't sure it had happened but his gaze had lingered on the shawl around my head. Then, ever so slightly, he nodded and turned away.

Instantly the tension cleared, and I let out a big breath I didn't know I had been holding once all the children struck up their conversations again.

So, I'd discovered a purpose to follow and made a promise to do so. Now I'll just have to keep it.

When he found the girl he was going to have her whipped.

Selca had come to him early in the day and told him that Kiara had disappeared from the mansion. He'd dealt with the woman, making it seem both as if he hardly cared about Kiara's disappearance, but yet that he was displeased with Selca's inability to keep her in check. He had had to spend the rest of his day, finishing his business—which was taxing enough with all the scandal in intrigue going on—while worrying about what that girl might be doing out on her own. Suppose she started another party? Suppose she started a riot? Suppose some of the trouble that seemed to follow her around happened and yet another disaster befell the poor town and people around her.

He sighed. That idea was harsh he knew. The woman did nothing to attract the trouble on purpose, but he had noticed the obvious coincidences that every major bad thing that had happened lately had happened in Kiara's presence.

Which perhaps could be another thing she had in common with the Hittite queen. Ramses sighed at that thought too.

Once he'd finished his business for the day, he had left the mansion on his own—no small task to accomplish either, convincing his guards and the mansion people that he did not need them for a night—to go look for the troublesome woman. Naturally the first place he'd looked was with Kel. Kiara and the old military man had seemed to have gotten on well when they first met, and Ramses assumed she would go back that way. It turned out that he was correct. Kel said he had seen her earlier that day, but that she had left after a short visit. He didn't seem to know where she'd gone, or what she planned to do for the day. In fact he seemed fairly uninformed about the whole visit in general, which left Ramses to believe that the visit did not go well.

After he'd left Kel's house, he really wasn't sure where to look for her, but he doubted she'd have gone back to the mansion. It wasn't dark out, and there was nothing scheduled to happen in town. But apparently, the woman didn't need something to be planned for her to start something. So, he wandered through the town's streets and common areas. He tried to stay inconspicuous and out of sight as much as possible. No need to start more rumors and questions than there already were.

And based on the reports he'd gotten that morning, there were plenty of rumors.

In truth, it was luck when he finally found the woman. He'd thought to check around the taverns and places where there were would be music and dancing, but she hadn't been in those places, and he'd doubted she would be. Dancer though she may be, she obviously was not the type of woman to go through the taverns and bars with the other, much less innocent, women. Upon further reflection of the woman, he decided to check the orphanages in the area. The woman had seemed to have an affinity with the young Hittite prince, and with the other children she had come across.

After a bit of searching through back roads and such, he finally found the correct orphanage. He knew he had found her before he could even see her, because he heard her voice. And not shrill with anger or giddiness like he had so often her. No, it was her voice as he'd only heard it a few rare times. Soft, sweet, and absolutely beautiful in its depth.

Ramses brought his horse around the corner and saw Kiara sitting on the ground, a child in her lap and many more spread out around her. They were all listening with rapt attention and awe to her as she sang to them.

"Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue. And the dreams, that you dare to dream, really do come true."

The song was strange to him, but its melody was haunting and its words uplifting. The children seemed enchanted by it, and he could see why. Kiara sat there surrounded by the children, with the fading light shining down on her. Her shawl was now around her shoulders, and her distinctive brown hair was flowing down around her face in soft looking waves. But more than the lighting and her strange yet beautiful hair, was the way her eyes were lit up. It was the same as that day on the boat into Egypt. Her eyes and smile were soft, but they seemed to shine out from within her. There was so much warmth and care around her, like it flowed out from within her soul.

Ramses shifted on his horse's back as he watched her. He had thought it to himself before even if it was reluctantly, but she was beautiful—in a way. He had meant to find her, and drag her back to the manor and find some way to punish her, but…

He turned his horse back and moved away from the open yard. He would let her be for now. It was going to be dark, and he knew she would be leaving to return soon enough. He could intercept her and yell at her then. For now, he would let her stay with the children and let them enjoy her company.

I pulled my shawl back into a hood and headed back through the alleys toward the manor. It was later than I had realized, and the sky had gotten completely dark and the air much colder. I had been too caught up helping with the children to realize how late it was, and now I was practically alone on the streets. Which was a little disconcerting, but hey, I'm a big girl. I could take care of myself just fine.

And it had been worth it. After singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to the kids—really, what could I sing them? Rap music? Michael Jackson? I don't think so—the kids had actually helped me learn some of their songs, and told me some of their stories. To say it was fascinating is a grotesque understatement. It was pretty darn awesome to learn those old songs and stories, and it wasn't until I could no longer clearly see the children on the edge of the group that I realized how long it had been and how late it was. I'd brought all the children into their house then and the woman who cared for them had already had dinner waiting. She'd tried to offer me some food and although I was hungry, I didn't want to take any of their food away. Instead I'd politely declined the offer and while the children were distracted with their dinner, I'd pressed the remainder of my money into the woman's hand and told her to use it for the kids. Then I'd left. The only person to notice my retreat was Raku. He paused in lifting his cup and stared at me with eyes narrowed. I winked at him and threw up a V-peace sign even though I knew he wouldn't understand it. He rolled his eyes at me, but there was a smile at the corner of his lips. And then I was gone.

I smiled as I walked. Raku was a good kid, and so was his brother. The way they looked out for each other was the special, sibling bond that every single child dreamed of. They were lucky to have each other. And really, most of the kids at that orphanage had seemed to depend on and help each other. Somehow I got the feeling that those kids would be alright. At least, I really hoped so. I had given them all that I could at this point. All of the money I had, an afternoon of fun, and food for the day. Hopefully it was enough to get them through the tough times they seemed to be in now. Who knows? There could always be an economy turn around or something like that.

I was wondering about the possibility of a spontaneous turn of the economy and the nobility waking up and not being jerks when there was a subtle shift in the air, and a sound of ground crunching under feet close to me.

Catching my breath I ducked down and twisted to turn around and also to place the closest building wall at my back. I stared into the gloom all around me, my heartbeat getting faster and adrenaline beginning to pump through my veins.

There. Two shapes coming out of the shadows to my left. Two big bulky shapes that turned out to be two big guys in the soft starlight.

And I bet they don't want to sell me Thin Mints. I thought as I sized them up.

They didn't look very smart if their arrogant, inelegant strut was anything to go by. And it looked like they had knives at their waists but no big swords, spears, clubs or anything that could hit me from faraway.

Unless they actually know how to throw knives. I thought to myself as I inched my hand towards my pocket where the Swiss army knife was.

"Well, look at this. A young woman out so late at night on her own. That is not a proper thing to do." Said the guy closer to me. He was slightly taller than the other guy though both of them were well a foot above me in height.

"No, it truly is not a proper thing for a proper woman to do. Which means you must not be a proper woman."

Gods, I really hate that word. If I ever use the word 'proper' again, I hope the earth splits open and eats me. I had my knife in my hand, and I was drawing it out slowly while keeping it hidden in the folds of my dress.

"And if you are not a proper woman, then I guess there is no reason to treat you like one."

With that as the apparent end to their little monologue, the first guy ran at me, his big hands aiming to grasp at my shoulder/head area. He didn't quite make it though, as I dropped down slightly, crouching with my knees bent and aimed my own punch directly up into his jaw from below.

Big-guy-numero-uno staggered back from the unexpected hit, and the surprising force behind it. Obviously they had thought I was going to go with the shrinking and shrieking strategy. Hah! Not likely dudes.

Although my knuckles now felt pretty sore. These guys definitely had some muscle mass to them.

Big-guy-numero-duo was headed for me now, and he'd pulled his knife out after seeing me deck his buddy. I swung my own knife open and slashed up to parry the oncoming attack.

Suddenly the first guy reached out to grab me and I twisted out of his way while still avoiding the second guy's knife, but these two were smart and they had caged me against the wall. Maybe leaving myself with no escape had been a bad idea.

The second guy's knife slashed at me again and I twisted to parry it and as I did so, the first guy grabbed for me again. I ducked to avoid him, and thought I had been successful until I felt the pull of the shawl.

The big guy jerked the on shawl wrapped around me, and as it caught my neck and jerked me back, I suddenly realized why I didn't wear scarves or anything around my neck like this. Before I could come up with any sort of protest or counter strike, the guy had used my shawl to pull me back and send me slamming into the wall. Then he punched me right in the face.

I saw stars. What kind of bastard punches a girl in the face? I know I'd punched him first, but that was seriously a douche-bag move. Granted, this guy was ganging up with his buddy and attacking me anyway, so he was a pretty big jackass right from the start. But he'd punched me, hard, and it had been a while since anyone had hit me or I'd had any practice. So the punch, combined with the collision against the wall, I was feeling a little dizzy.

The two guys were saying something to each other, but I wasn't really paying attention to their words. Simply aiming for the big shapes in front of me, I slashed out hard with my knife and then jerked my leg out in a roundhouse kick that destroyed my balance and sent me landing onto my butt. It was worth it though, my knife had definitely cut something, though I wasn't sure how effective a cut it had been, and my kicked had caused a grunt of pain. Both attacks had caused the guys to back up a bit and shout and swear loudly.

"Stay away from me!" I screamed with a definite hiss to the words. The guys laughed or growled at me or something, but I couldn't really tell. Did I have a concussion? I don't think so…I couldn't feel any blood running down my head or anything, but there was cloudiness that I was trying to clear from my brain. I changed my grip on the knife in my hand and blinked to clear my vision.

And then there was a horse. The transition was that fast. I was trying to figure out how to deal with these two bastards, and there was a loud, whinnying stallion very close by. Like right there, close by.

The stallion reared up and kicked the closet big guy right in his gut. He flew away quite a few feet then slammed down into the ground again shouting in terror the whole time. After he hit the ground, he didn't move or speak.

The second big guy—who was actually the first big guy-the one that I had hit and had hit me back—was quicker to move out of the way. He pulled his own knife out and slashed it towards the horse and the figure on it. Cause apparently there was someone riding on the horse that had suddenly just dropped out of the sky. Which I guess makes sense—the there being a person on the horse, not the horse falling from the sky, but hey I came out of the water right?—but in my fuddled state I guess I hadn't thought of it much. To be fair, I was fighting splitting head pain, and also there hadn't been much time to think about things. The horse and rider had shown up in a burst of being, and then started to rescue me. And just as quickly apparently, I realized that the first big guy was down for the count and the horse's rider was standing over me.

My hero. Apparently. A knight in shining armor to ride up and save the day as I played the damsel in distress. A role I vehemently disliked, but that didn't mean I wasn't grateful to the poor sap who'd helped me.

"Must you always get yourself into troubling situations?" my 'hero' asked with a somewhat exasperated sigh.

I blinked for a moment, at the familiarity of the voice and the vaguely insulting words, and my vision was suddenly much clearer. "Oh it's you. Well it's ok to vehemently dislike you I guess."

General looked at me with his usual cool aloofness, and out of the corner of my eye I could see the prone forms of both bastard men who'd been attacking me. General looked over at them for a moment. "I will be informing someone about those. It will be taken care of." He said with his usual cool, "I'm above you, be grateful I'm speaking, or doing anything for you" voice.

"Well that's very kind of you I suppose. Just about as kind of you to rescue me. Must be a horrible inconvenience for you." Somehow, even though he'd just helped me out in a big way, I couldn't seem to stop with the passive-aggressive attitude that always came out around him. Except for the times when I was being just plain aggressive.

"Are you injured?" was his only response. I realized then that I hadn't, in fact, moved throughout the entire conversation.

"Um, I might be in shock. Not really sure. Hence the shock. But I hit my head." I said the last sentence in a vaguely sing-song way and the tune I used brought a hazy memory to mind of a green cucumber singing about how he loved his lips. Or perhaps that was a result of hitting my head. With me, it's hard to tell sometimes.

I heard a sigh again, and then suddenly, there were arms and a chest, but there was no ground.

"Hey, you've picked me up again." I felt like I should be a little startled, but I really just felt this vague sense of indifference and a little bit of…safety maybe?

"We should be on our way, and you do not seem to be in the position to move yourself." General replied as he carried me to his horse.

"But you've picked me up before. And you always do it so easy. Like I'm a flower. A delicate flower. I'm not though; I'm heavy. Because I have muscle. But it's heavy."

I thought I heard a very faint chuckle, but I think I was imagining it. Then I felt myself sitting on a horse. I love horses. They are strong, majestic creatures. I am too. What wonderful things to have in common. The horse shifted under me, and I felt a hard body slide into place behind me. Oh. We were going to ride together then. Well I suppose that's what the knight and fair lady do after the rescue. They ride off together. We'll just have to replace the blazing sunset with the dim starlight and call it good.

"Let us return before yet another disaster befalls us." General said, but his voice was lacking its usual snark. Or maybe I was imaging it. Yes, that's probably more true.


So...yes. Can I offer the excuse that I was out of the country for this late update? No, since I did in fact have internet access and my laptop in the hard, cruel world of England (majorly awesome place) I have no excuse. I'm terribly sorry, I really am. So this prompts me to give forth some confessions.

1: as should be obvious, I have lost the burning drive to write this. Probably because I read this manga, and began this fanfic, what? 5 whole years ago? Way back in 2009 guys. That's was seriously like a majorly different point in my life. I was a homeschooled, high school student then. I'm a second year college student who has spent a semester abroad now. I seriously love other fandoms, and while I do still love Red River and hold that Ramses is a sexy beast who was denied a better ending, I am too carried away by other sexy beasts that I am imagining stories for. That being said, I STILL PLAN TO FINISH THIS FIC AS SOON AS I CAN KICK MY OWN ASS AND GET IT DONE!

Which leads to 2: this fic is like, only halfway done. And that's not even counting the sequel I've already got mostly planned out. Honestly, this thing goes on forever; I'm one of those writers. The ones who not only take forever to update, but the kind who can't bear the end the story cause look! Look at all these plot twists I can put in it!

So...we're getting to a point here where I can split this fic into two parts. Do people want me to get to my-halfway and then start an "Under...Sun Part 2"? Or to just keep posting them in here. Cause I for one, would feel intimidated to start on a fic that's got like, 150 chapters in it. But I also kinda feel like it would be silly to post things in a "Part 2" fic. But, what does everyone else think?