Water

The Impending Storm: Part 2

"Ugh!" Katara flopped back into the snow, sending up a spray of downy, freezing fluff that whipped across Zuko's face. "Why is this so hard?"

Zuko had to wipe his whole face off with his sleeve before the melting snow could drip into his eyes. "I did try to warn you that the last few days before battle might not be the best time to try learning firebending."

It wasn't like there was any shortage of free time at the moment—now that the fleet was only two or three days out, Katara's teachers were apparently too busy to dedicate time to her lessons. Outside of the short periods every afternoon that she spent helping in the healing huts, she'd been spending most of the day out on the ridge with him. And though he was enjoying it—a lot—this probably wasn't the best time for either of them to concentrate on anything too heavily.

"Yeah, but I've done a little firebending before. After we fell in the lake, for one thing. And then I made sparks to show Master Pakku. I know I can firebend. It's just stupidly hard to figure out how to do it again."

Zuko frowned. "I think there's a difference between firebending when you're freezing to death and trying to learnthe whole element."

"Ugh." Katara sat up again. "I'm not trying to learn an entire element. Yet. I just want it to be possible to do a few things."

Zuko gave her a small, lopsided smile. Then after a second, he asked, "What things do you want to be able to do? There's only a few days left."

"I know." She smoothed one of her loops of hair back away from her eyes. "And if you don't want to teach me anything, that's fine too. I just—I sort of want to have every possible option when they fleet gets here. And if I could warm myself up too, that would be nice."

It took a moment for him to realize why she might think that he didn't want to teach her—he certainly wasn't the best teacher she could ask for, and this wasn't exactly the best time to start training, but he would still help if he could. Hadn't that always been the case?

No, he supposed it hadn't been. Their first sparring match had been just a few weeks ago, and he remembered the mistrust he'd felt all too well. He remembered thinking that Katara was taking advantage of him and using their proximity to gain the upper hand in some future fight. He remembered thinking that they could never be anything more than moderately civil to one another.

Agni, all of that felt like a whole different lifetime.

He looked down at his hands. "Honestly—I'm not sure that anything I can teach you is going to be much use. Not in the few days we have left. I mean—I could try, but your waterbending is what's going to make the real difference. Nobody else in the Fire Nation will know what to do with that."

"I guess that's fair," Katara said. Then, after a moment's pause, she peered at him from the corner of her eyes. "What if I don't need it to be helpful for the battle, though? What if I just need something to focus on so that I don't lose my mind before they get here?"

A scoff. "Is that what you're coming out here for? A distraction?"

"Are you complaining about that?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. I can try to teach you."

She grinned and scooted just a little closer. "So what do I need to do first?"

Zuko gave her his gravest expression. "The first thing you need to do," he began, almost mimicking Uncle's tone, "is to focus on your breathing and meditate until you find a connection with your inner flame."

Her excitement faded, and she dropped her head into her hands. "Zuko. That's not very helpful."

He couldn't help it. Though it was small, though it was short, though he bit it back as quickly as he possibly could, a laugh escaped him. "Sorry, but I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to tell you. That's what Uncle taught me. It's how everybody has to start."

She peered up at him between her fingers, gaze lingering just long enough to almost become uncomfortable.

His face warmed. "Uh—what are you looking at?"

"I just—I can't remember ever hearing you laugh before."

His heart skipped, and he looked away. "Sorry." He could hardly remember the last time he'd laughed either. It didn't happen often.

Slowly, Katara shook her head. "It's not—" she swallowed, and when Zuko risked a glance in her direction, he thought he saw her reddening just the tiniest bit. "It's a pretty nice laugh."

"Still." If not for the fact that he was wearing mittens, he would have been wiping his palms against his thighs to wipe away the sweat. "I shouldn't—I didn't mean to laugh at you."

"I didn't think that you were." Though she was still smiling, there was also something uncertain in her expression.

Zuko couldn't decide whether he wanted to decipher the look or not.

"What I was going to say," she resumed after a pause, "was that meditation sounds a little difficult right now. You know—with the battle coming up and everything. Getting relaxed enough to focus could be hard."

"Yeah. It definitely can be." He drew in a deep breath and tried his best to ignore the fluttering in his chest. Whatever that feeling was, it wouldn't help him right now. "What usually helped me was the breathing exercises. I didn't have to relax so much if I had something else to focus on." A pause. "But don't tell Uncle I said that. He'd never let me hear the end of it."

Katara's smile warmed a bit. "Noted. Never tell the general that his advice works."

"Not unless you want to hear even more nonsense proverbs every time he opens his mouth." Zuko exhaled and squared his shoulders. "If you want to try this, then—"

Straightening, she nodded. "Of course I do."

Sokka was getting used to the trek out to the ridge past what used to be the lake. He was making the same trip with the others pretty much every day now—now that the streets were more closely guarded, Zuko couldn't really come into the city to meet them, so his campsite had turned into an odd makeshift meeting area.

Sokka didn't particularly like it. The ridge was a long way off, and it made for a long trek just to visit a guy who just annoyed him practically to death. And recently, he'd had to make the trip at least once every single day. Which seemed excessive. Sokka wasn't lazy, but walking that far through shin-deep snow was a lot more difficult than walking across solid ground. Difficult enough that he wouldn't do it unless all the others were going along to make the trip worthwhile.

But today, Sokka was making an exception to that rule. And an extra trip out to the campsite on the ridge. Because today, Sokka actually had something important to discuss with Zuko. Something that had to be discussed in private.

He reached the ridge while the sun was still relatively high in the west, long before any of the others would be out here. Early enough that if Zuko was going to get up to anything weird or suspicious, now would be the time for it. Not that Sokka really suspected anything of the sort anymore.

Sure enough, when he crested the ridge and overlooked the campsite, he found Zuko running through firebending drills, just like he said that he usually did—a lot like Katara used to when they were on the road and she didn't have anyone to train with.

Sokka waited at the crest of the ridge until Zuko eventually turned back around mid-sequence and let out a surprised noise.

"What are you—where's everyone else?"

Sokka rolled his eyes and marched down into the snowy bowl. "Not here yet, obviously. It's barely past noon. You know as well as I do that they've all got stuff to do."

Zuko scowled. "And you don't? Believe it or not, I don't actually want to talk to you."

Sokka stopped when he was half a dozen paces away and crossed his arms. "And I'm not crazy about talking to you either, but here I am. Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do."

"Really? Because you really seem to savor the opportunity to annoy me whenever you come out here."

Jerk. Sokka set his jaw. He wasn't here to pick a fight. This was much more important than that. "Believe it or not, I do have other things to do back in the city. Important things. It just so happens that this is a tiny bit more urgent." He took a deep breath. "I actually need to talk to you. For real. And—not just to argue like usual." He hoped that the sarcasm had faded from his tone enough to convey the fact that he was serious.

With a sigh, Zuko crossed his arms right back at Sokka. "I'm not sure you're capable of that, but by all means, try. What is this about?"

"About Katara."

Zuko stiffened visibly. His face reddened, and he wouldn't quite look at Sokka. "What about her?" His voice dropped far enough that it was almost hard to hear.

Though his arms were still crossed, Sokka's hands clenched into fists. He didn't like this. He didn't like the fact that Katara was so close with Zuko, he didn't like the softness in Zuko's voice or the expression he wore whenever Katara was mentioned. And Sokka hated the fact that, right now, he had no choice but to deal with it. "We've only got a few days left before that Zhao guy gets here."

"Yeah. I've noticed."

"So—" Sokka sighed. "You know the masters are all trying to keep us out of the fight and everything, right?"

Zuko frowned. "Shockingly, I remember. What kind of idiot do you think I am?"

A great, big one. Sokka had to stop and shake himself to keep from blurting it out. He wasn't here to fight. "Shut up and let me finish. I was saying that the masters are going to try to keep us from fighting. And—y'know. That's pretty annoying. But I don't think any of us are actually going to let that stop us." He paused for effect. "Especially Katara. I doubt she'll even wait for an opening before she jumps into the fight."

There was a long, weighty hesitation before Zuko nodded. "Yeah. I know that."

"So," Sokka resumed, "that's where you come in."

"What are you talking about?"

For a few seconds, the words got lodged at the back of Sokka's throat. He really didn't want to be here talking to Zuko about any of this. It was almost painful. "Katara. One way or another, I think we both know that she's going to get right in the middle of the invasion. And since she's not supposed to be there, no one will be looking out for her, and—"

"Do you want me to stop her from fighting or something?"

"No, dumbass. I told you to let me finish!" Okay, so maybe he'd been a little too optimistic when he'd claimed that he wasn't going to argue with Zuko this time. Still, minimal arguing wasn't so bad, was it?

"Then what? What do you want?"

"I want someone watching her back, that's what," Sokka snapped before he had time to think about what he was saying and let the words get stuck again. "And I fucking hate this, but I've been thinking about it for days now, and I can only think of one person who might be able to do that."

Zuko stared at him.

"That's you. I'm talking about you, moron."

Zuko's jaw hung slack, and he blinked a few times in quick succession.

Sokka took the chance to inhale and steel himself before carrying on. "Listen, I'm not an idiot. You're a halfway decent bender. You know more than the rest of us about what the fleet's going to get up to. And—I really don't understand it, but for some reason, the two of you seem to get along pretty well. If anyone stands a chance at keeping up with her and keeping her safe when the fleet gets here—it's probably you."

For what felt like a long time, Zuko didn't answer. Not for a lack of trying, by the look of it. He wouldn't look in Sokka's direction, but his mouth kept opening and closing until at last he managed to croak, "You know the whole reason I wanted to come here was to protect her, right?"

Sokka gave a halfhearted shrug. "Yeah, I got that impression."

"So why would you think that I'd stop when Zhao gets here?"

He almost wanted to be sarcastic. He almost wanted to remind Zuko that while he had pulled Katara out of danger a few times, a lot of that danger had been Zuko's fault in the first place. She wouldn't have needed to escape the exploding ship if Zuko hadn't kidnapped her, for one thing. And the time that she'd fallen into the lake had sort of been Zuko's fault as well.

But Sokka couldn't bring himself to say any of that. Not when he remembered how Katara had described the explosion and its aftermath. Especially not when Sokka could remember how intently focused Zuko had been on pumping out extra heat to warm her back up after the lake. The guy made stupid decisions sometimes, but when he did, he tended to go stupidly far to make things right again.

Sokka rubbed the back of his neck. "What makes you think that I'm willing to pin my sister's safety on an assumption?"

Zuko's mouth pulled to the side. "Nothing, I guess."

"See? Told you I wasn't an idiot." A pause. "I've come way too close to losing her before. I'm not leaving it up to chance again."

For another few seconds, Zuko was silent. Then, "Outside of my uncle, she's probably the first person who's cared about me at all in years. I'll do whatever I can to keep her safe."

Sokka wrinkled his nose. "I won't lie, it's a little gross to hear you talking about my sister like that."

"Shut up."

"Fine. But—you know, if you keep your word, I might stop trying to pick fights with you quite so often."

Zuko scoffed. "Right. I'll believe that when I see it."

Frowning, Sokka scrunched his nose and looked up at the sky. "Yeah, that seems like too big a promise to me too. Maybe I could just stop making fun of your hair—actually, no, that's not gonna happen either. Give me a day. Don't worry, I'll come up with something better."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "I really don't care. If you could stop making everything ten times more difficult, that would be great, but I'm not sure you're capable of that."

"Hey! I don't make anything ten times more difficult. Maybe—three times harder. But I guess I can try to stop that too."

There was a near deafening squawk from the tent, and Zuko groaned, glancing back that way. Frog Face poked his weird, fluffy head out around the corner, then hopped behind one of the stakes and crouched down behind it like the stake was big enough to conceal his entire body. Which it definitely was not.

Sokka snorted. "How does motherhood feel when your kid's an actual bird brain?"

That earned him an impressive scowl. "Shut up."

"It's a serious question."

"I thought you had important things to do back in the city."

Damn it. Sokka had said that, hadn't he? Well, he hadn't lied, but he didn't exactly have anything to do right now. Or for the rest of the day, for that matter.

Sokka stuck his nose up in the air. "As a matter of fact, I do. But first, you've got to promise me that you won't tell Katara that we talked about this."

Zuko made a face. "Believe me, the sooner I can forget this whole conversation, the happier I'll be."

"Hey! You're not gonna forget what I asked you to do, though, are you?"

Zuko gave an irritated sigh, but when he looked at Sokka again, his expression was solemn and steady. "Of course I won't. I swear."

Sokka stared for just a moment before he gave a single nod. "Good. Then—I guess I'll see you later, Zuko." He paused midway through turning back toward the city. "And, uh—thanks."

Katara had seen the world like this too many times. The sky was blanketed in heavy, dingy gray clouds while flecks of ash and soot rained down, leaving a dark, hazy film over everything. This felt familiar. Too familiar.

Too familiar, and yet far, far different from anything she'd ever experienced before. Because while there was a Fire Nation fleet bearing down on them, while there was a battle almost ready to begin, Katara was nowhere near the action. This time, she and all the others had been herded out of the city and had gathered around Zuko's camp rather than following the evacuation route farther inland. This time, there were enough warriors ready and waiting that things might actually be okay in the end.

That they might all be okay without her involvement.

Katara wasn't sure that she liked that. Of course she didn't want to face down an entire Fire Nation fleet herself. She wasn't even crazy about the idea of fighting Zhao's men with the whole Northern Tribe gathered around to back her up. If at all possible, she would have preferred to avoid the battle entirely. But since the fight was coming regardless, she might as well be down there, doing her part. She ought to at least be close enough to find out what was happening as the fleet sailed in.

But all the waterbenders had explicit instructions to keep Katara as far from the fighting as possible. Sokka, at least, had been charged with looking after Yue, and Aang had orders to keep a close eye on the fight so that he could provide support from the air if necessary. Katara, though, was practically useless.

She hated it. She hated it more than she'd ever thought was possible.

"What is this stuff?" Yue asked, shaking the ends of her braids to knock some of the black flecks out of her hair. On her hair, the bits of soot stood out, but it was nearly invisible on all the rest of them.

Katara tried not to think about how disgusting and dark the water would turn the next time she washed her hair.

"It's ash," Sokka said. He had taken it upon himself to sit so close to Yue that they were practically touching, and she hadn't objected to it. "The Fire Nation ships burn coal, so they put out a lot of this thick, nasty black smoke. Around the poles, it's really noticeable because it turns the snow gray." He paused. "I hope it's so thick out there that the firebenders can't see what they're doing."

"It isn't," Zuko answered. His voice was quiet, and he wouldn't quite look at anyone. "The smokestacks are tall enough that we never even smell the smoke unless there's a strong downdraft."

"Great. So they can see what they're doing. Just what I needed to hear today." With a groan, Sokka rubbed his forehead. "Anything else you want to tell us? Any other reasons we should be worried about losing this fight?"

"Sokka," Yue said softly.

Katara glanced over at Zuko. He'd curled up a bit, knees pulled up to his chest, and shoulders slightly curved inward. Normally, she thought that she would have felt an impulse to reach out, to reassure him. Today, she couldn't find that instinct. Not when she felt like her insides were trying to twist themselves into knots.

And especially not when her mind was overflowing with memories of the other times she'd seen black snow falling from the sky. Not when she could see that old, half-forgotten version of Zuko so clearly in her mind.

She did trust him. She did know that things were different now—that he was different. Still, it was too difficult to push the memories away at the moment.

"I've told you everything I can think of," Zuko said. "Sure, there might be other things, but—I just can't think of anything right now." He looked straight across the circle at Sokka. "What exactly do you need to know? I can't read your mind."

Sokka frowned for a while, then shook his head. "Can't think of anything. I'd just be a lot happier if we knew what Zhao was up to."

A grunt. "So would I. The letter's still in the tent if you still think you can figure out what we've all been missing."

Sokka groaned, but he did eventually stand. "Guess I might as well try."

Katara let out a slow breath. It was difficult to tell whether she felt better or worse knowing that everyone felt as aimless and helpless as she did. They should be doing more. They should be helping somehow, but it just didn't seem possible. It seemed like they were being tossed aside even though this was very much their battle to fight.

She turned to Yue. "Are you still going to be getting updates from the warriors? They've been great about telling us what's happening up until now."

Yue frowned and gave a slight shake of her head. "I don't believe so. Not unless there is information that affects the whole city." She paused, looking downward. "Not unless the walls are breached."

Katara swallowed hard. "That's—that's not going to happen." She wished that her tone could be as firm, as confident as her words. "They're going to stop Zhao. Things are going to be okay."

She could feel Zuko's gaze on the side of her face, and she thought she saw his hand hover just over her shoulder for an instant before he changed his mind and pulled away again. She wished that he hadn't. Even if it was an act, a lie, she wanted someone to tell her that things were going to be okay. Even if it was just to make her feel better.

"It wouldn't be all that bad even if we did have to evacuate," Aang said. He'd brought his staff with him today, and it rested across his shoulders, held in place by his arms looped over the top of it. "After Sokka and I went out on Appa that last time, I flew along the evacuation route. It's a really good road. And with all the new ice sleds that they made, everyone should be able to get out of the city in just an hour or two."

"I'm glad," Yue said softly. "But—I do hope that we don't have to use it. This is our home. I can't imagine leaving it behind, even if it's only for a few days."

This time, Zuko actually did have something somewhat reassuring to say. "There's a reason why the Fire Nation hasn't bothered the Northern Tribe in almost a hundred years. The ice fields are almost impossible for us to cross normally, and your people have an obvious bending advantage up here. It's insane to even try."

Sokka returned from the tent with the letter and plopped back into his place beside Yue. "Too bad that Admiral Sideburns is insane, huh?"

Zuko grimaced and shook his head. "I still don't understand why my father would have approved this. They're going to lose so many good men for nothing."

"Maybe that other general—Bujing had something to do with it," Katara offered. "You did say that that's what he's known for. Sacrificing his own soldiers to win pointless battles."

He scratched the back of his neck. His hair had finally grown long enough that it was beginning to hang down in places rather than all standing up in a layer of velvety black fluff. "It is. It's just—" He sighed. "I have a hard time believing that Zhao would ever agree to work with Bujing like that. One of the reasons he wanted to work with my uncle is because Uncle is retired, and he won't want to take any of the credit. General Bujing—as far as I know, he's still on the war council. If he helped Zhao plan this, my father might give him all the credit."

"Wouldn't that benefit both of them?" Yue asked. "The ability to work together to accomplish something larger is an admirable trait to have."

Zuko shook his head. "Not in the Fire Nation. Relying on anyone else is a sign of weakness as far as my father is concerned. Which is ironic, considering the fact that he's the Fire Lord, and everything is done for him."

There was just a trace of bitterness to his voice, but when Katara glanced his way, he didn't really look angry or upset or bitter. It looked more like he was resigned to this—like Zuko was so used to being on the other side of the world, fighting just to stay afloat, while his father never lifted a finger—that it had never occurred to him to question it.

"Yeah?" Sokka said. "Great, so why is your father having Zhao attack us? We all know that the revenge thing is utter penguin shit."

Zuko stiffened a little. "I'm not sure that my father planned this."

"Oh, come on. A kiss ass like Zhao has got to be working on someone's orders. Unless there's some rank above admiral that I've never heard of, then that's got to be the Fire Lord."

"It's—no. Zhao answers to Father, but this couldn't have been his idea. There's no way—there has to be another reason." Zuko's voice had gone tense, and he sat stiffer, straighter than usual. "He probably—maybe Zhao lied. Maybe he agreed to some other mission and then came here instead. There's no way that my father would have asked him to do this."

Katara felt her brows furrow. They'd all talked about this before, hadn't they? They all knew that the Fire Lord had planned this whole thing. So why was Zuko saying that? The Northern tribe was hardly a sensible target, but then the Fire Nation hadn't been in the business of being sensible for the past hundred years. The North Pole was the last place left untouched, the last land that the Fire Nation hadn't at least begun to conquer. It stood to reason that sooner or later, their focus would turn here.

So why was Zuko trying so hard to convince all of them—to convince himself, apparently—that the Fire Lord hadn't come up with the idea himself?

"Are you okay, Prince Zuko?" Yue asked.

He nodded stiffly. "Fine. It's just—you try going up against people from your own nation. Any of you. It's—even if I'm doing the right thing, it feels—"

When he couldn't seem to find any other words, Katara touched his shoulder. "Your uncle helped you get ready for the trip here, didn't he?"

Zuko frowned. "Yeah, but—what does that matter?"

"Do you think he would have done that if he thought that you were wrong?" she prompted.

"I—" He broke off, and his shoulders slumped a bit again. "I don't know. Maybe. But—I guess he didn't really try to stop me. Just tried to make me come up with a plan."

Sokka looked up from the letter just long enough to smirk. "Yeah, that would've been a good idea. By the way, what's up with this Pai Sho partner he's talking about here?"

Zuko shrugged. "Uncle would spend all day playing Pai Sho and drinking tea if he could. I'm sure he's just been inviting my old crewmen for board games."

"He says that he's got a Pai Sho partner in the North Pole."

"So? He taught Katara how to play it back on my ship."

Sokka frowned and tilted his head a little. "Huh. I almost thought that he was saying—but I guess it could be Katara too." He slouched over the letter again.

"I see that our genius code breaker is just as effective as always," Katara said.

Not looking up, Sokka stuck out his tongue.

"Are you trying to lick the letter?" Aang asked.

Sokka shot him an annoyed look. "I'll lick you if you keep asking—you know what, forget that I said that. It didn't sound the way I thought it would."

Zuko snorted. "How was that supposed to sound?"

Sokka tossed a handful of snow across the circle. "Shh. I'm working here."

Aang popped up from his place between Zuko and Yue and darted around to look over Sokka's shoulder. After scanning the letter once, oblivious to the way that Sokka kept glancing back, obviously feeling crowded, Aang announced, "I still think the fact that they wanted to be here for the full moon is important. That's really specific. Plus, they got here early so that they have time to try to make it into the city before tomorrow. Whatever their reason is, it must matter a lot to them."

Sokka bumped Aang with his shoulder. "Could you not breathe in my ear? And yeah, that's obviously important. But it doesn't really help us if we don't know why."

Yue's brows furrowed, and she reached across to Sokka. "May I see the letter again?"

"Yeah, sure. I've pretty much got it memorized by now anyway."

Yue smiled distractedly as she accepted the letter, then went directly to the middle of it, allowing the rest of the scroll to hang loose as she reread a section from the center. After only a few seconds, she allowed the letter to drop into her lap and looked around the circle, wide-eyed. "I think I know what the admiral wants."

Katara straightened, heart in her throat, and beside her, Zuko tensed so abruptly that she thought he might leap to his feet.

"What? What's he after?"

Yue frowned, shaking her head down at the letter again. "It's—unusual, but with the full moon and all the talk about the spirits—I think he might want to find the moon spirit."

"Is that even possible?" Katara asked. It didn't exactly sound possible.

"Why would he want that?" Aang said almost simultaneously.

"Well—" Yue seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "Because of waterbending, I have to assume. The moon is where you get your power. And I don't know if it would be possible to find the moon spirit, but there is a shrine nearby. It's a place with a very close connection to the Spirit World. Perhaps he thinks that he can—I'm not sure. Capture or damage it somehow, I guess."

"Can we go to that shrine?" Aang asked eagerly. "If we're nearby, then maybe we can keep the moon spirit safe."

Yue nodded, rising to her feet. "Of course. I'll show you all the way. Very few people go there, so we should still be out of the way as my father wished." She paused, turning to face Zuko. "Though—I'm very sorry, Prince Zuko, but it may not be safe for you to go there. The shrine is back in the city. Right now, the streets are very well guarded, and someone may see you."

"I don't care," Zuko said, rising. "I'm going."

Author's Note:

A few chapters back, I remember at least one person saying that they were surprised that Yue hadn't worked out that the moon spirit was involved in this whole mess somehow. Well, here you go! I knew all along that Yue had to be the one to figure that out, but I decided a LONG time ago that it was going to be sort of a last-minute realization like it was in the show - partly for the sake of Drama(tm), and partly because now the kids are the only ones who really know what Zhao is after, so they have something to do even with the adults doing their best to protect them and keep them out of the action.

Also, I'm really happy with the way that Zuko and Sokka's relationship has been going so far. It's so much fun to write these two idiot boys who don't like and don't trust one another for SO long, but then when actual danger is on the horizon, Sokka finally manages to swallow his pride and ask Zuko to help keep an eye on Katara during the battle. They don't agree on much, but they can agree that Katara is the best and that (even though she's definitely capable of looking after herself) they don't want anything bad to happen to her. I'm going to turn these two into bros, and they're going to hate every minute of it, and that's possibly my favorite dynamic for them!

That's all I have for this time! I'll be back for the next update in two weeks (but not before posting my Big Bang fic! Be sure to check out that collection on AO3 when posting starts in September), and as always, reviews are very much appreciated!