Chapter 20
Dark Heart
Several months later, on a night much like any other, the Queen of Saturn felt her womb constrict, and laid down upon her bed, fully prepared to labor on her own to have her child until death found them both. She did not realize that far away on the moon, Queen Serenity's senses were tuned for just such a signal. The very instant the first pain passed over Lady Saturn, Serenity knew that the time for her mission of mercy had come. At the time, she had been on her way to the throne room. Immediately, she changed her course, heading instead in the direction of her daughter's chambers.
"Who is there?" Young Serenity called when a knock sounded at her chamber door.
"Your mother, love." Serenity replied, keeping her tone carefully neutral. She could not afford to raise suspicion, not even within her own daughter. "May I come in? Are the Sailor Guardians with you?" She prayed not, for she knew that her daughter's protectors would be inclined to ask questions—questions that Serenity would not be able to answer.
"Enter, my mother," the princess called back. "I am quite alone." Serenity opened the door, but did not cross the threshold. The princess was seated upon her bed, and it seemed she had not been doing much of anything. Serenity did not dwell upon this, of course. She had far more important matters on her mind.
"I have urgent business to attend to on one of the outer planets," she told her daughter. "I do not know when I shall return, but it is quite possible I shan't be back until morning. Will you kindly inform Luna and Artemis of my absence?" The princess nodded shortly.
"Yes, Mother, I shall," she agreed, and Serenity thought she detected a hint of impatience in the girl's voice. Of course, it could have just been her own anxiety that had caused her ears to detect what was not truly there. Managing a small smile, she blew her daughter a kiss, and closing the door behind her, took off down the hallway, heading for the Crystal Tower.
Upon reaching the tower, Serenity quickly told the guards what she had told her daughter, saying that she would transport herself to the necessary location immediately after sharing a prayer with her celestial mother.
"Please let no one into the Crystal Tower until I return," she commanded.
"Yes, Majesty, of course," the guards answered, bowing as they held open the door for their Queen.
Serenity was careful to lock herself within the Crystal Tower before anything else was done. Any soul who knew the Queen's intentions would surely move to stop her. They would call it blasphemy, and perhaps they would be right. Perhaps Serenity's actions were indeed profane; she could not be sure. All she could be sure of was that it felt right. It was something she knew she had to do, and she would not be convinced otherwise. But the Queen still loved Selene dearly, and genuflected before the goddess' shrine to pray before continuing.
"My celestial mother," she whispered, "please know my love for thee, and forgive me if this act I am about to commit be a sin. If thou see it fit to do so, send me thy blessing, that I may pass this night in safety." With that, Serenity stood, and turned her back on Selene's shrine. The action sent her heart splashing into her stomach. Shame stirred within her, but she could not bring herself to turn back to the shrine. To perform the action she was about to while facing her celestial mother's shrine would be akin to spitting in the goddess' eye. She simply could not do that. So, with her back to Selene's most sacred shrine, Serenity let down her customary bunned-topped pony's tails—"dumpling tails" as her mother had called them—and shed her silver-white gowns. In place of her gown, she donned a garment of rags that sagged about her delicate frame. Serenity winced. The rough cloth would surely leave her skin chafed and raw. Is a disguise truly necessary? She wondered as she raised the hood of her costume over her silver head. All people upon Saturn now slumber. There would be none to recognize me. On the other hand, Serenity wanted to be certain that none would stop her in her quest. She did not even want Lady Saturn to recognize her at first. Gathering all the resolve she could muster, Serenity tugged down the hood of her costume so that it covered the Mark of Selene. Again, she felt the hot prick of shame, but she ignored it. She had to do this. She just had to. Summoning her power, the High Queen disappeared from the Crystal Tower.
Serenity arrived on Saturn directly outside Lady Saturn's chambers. Already she could hear the doomed Queen moaning in pain as she labored. Serenity shuddered, her stomach churning dreadfully as she listened to the wretched woman's agony. I must do this. I must. Gathering her courage, the High Queen opened the door, slowly and gently as she once had when she had looked in on her sleeping daughter in her younger days.
Within, the room was dark. Not a lamp had been lit. Yet Serenity could still make out the writhing, bucking form upon the bed to be Lady Saturn. Great wheezing breaths burst from her body, mingling with the moans filling the air. Serenity trapped her lower lip between her teeth, feeling the utmost sympathy for the traitor in spite of herself. Poor woman.
Sensing another presence in the room with her, the former goddess struggled to sit up, quite a difficult task due to her swollen belly. In what little light she had let into the room by opening the door, Serenity could see that Lady Saturn's face was shining with sweat, and her dusky eyes glittered wildly. No doubt she had been driven half-mad with the pain.
"Who is there?" Lady Saturn demanded breathlessly. "Who dares disturb me in my labors? Whoever you may be, be gone from my sight, lest I be forced to throw you out!" The woman's threat irritated Serenity.
"You are hardly able to raise yourself from your pillow, yet you think that you could throw me from your bedchamber?" she snapped. "Calm yourself, my elder." The title by which Serenity addressed Lady Saturn stopped her cold. Elder? Lady Saturn was no longer a goddess, but a mortal woman. Why in Selene's name would she have referred to her as "my elder"? Yet, even as she asked this, she knew the answer. I can never think of her as anything except a goddess, she thought, somewhat sadly. Why can I not let go of such an image of her?
Lady Saturn's eyes widened as the figure standing in her doorway lowered her hood, exposing the golden crescent birthmark upon her brow.
"Serenity?" she exclaimed, incredulous. Serenity took her recognition as permission to enter, and did so.
"For heaven's sake, you should light a lamp!" the High Queen said briskly, doing so herself. "Gods above, why any woman should wish to labor in the dark is beyond my realm of understanding!"
"Your Majesty," Lady Saturn gasped as Serenity went to close the door once again. "If I may inquire, what in the name of the gods are you doing here?" Serenity turned toward the woman, her eyes cold and determined.
"I am here to see that your child is born," she explained. "I am no midwife, but I shall help where I can. Lie back, elder." Lady Saturn obeyed, but the look upon her face clearly showed that she disapproved.
"You should not be here, Majesty!" she protested, even as Serenity took a seat beside her bed.
"I know," Serenity replied, "but I simply could not let your child die with you." At that statement, Lady Saturn's lips parted in a wide smile, and her eyes filled with tears of love and gratitude. Weakly, she raised a hand, and cupped the side of Serenity's face.
"Dear child," she whispered, "may the gods bless you. You are as kind and benevolent as Selene herself. Showering such mercy upon a traitor such as myself." Hot anger boiled within Serenity. Harshly, she pulled away from Lady Saturn's tender display of appreciation.
"Do not misunderstand my intentions, elder!" she said in her frostiest tone. "I have not come for your sake. I am hoping to spare the child your fate. She should not have to suffer for your sins. You, my elder, deserve whatever punishment the gods bestow upon you." For a moment, Lady Saturn looked hurt, and Serenity felt a stab of guilt, but her expression was quickly replaced by a look of resignation.
"You are right, Serenity," she whispered. "Let it be as the gods will." Her sentence went flat as another wave of pain swept over her, releasing a pitiful moan. Serenity swallowed nervously. As the gods will…she thought. Please, let this path lead to prosperity, and not destruction.
The night passed slowly. Lady Saturn labored tenaciously, and Serenity grew increasingly distressed as she tried to assist her, wishing with all her might that she could remember the princess' birth more clearly. It might have helped to remember what the midwife had done, so that her unpracticed hand could be more of a help and less of a burden. Of course, according to the midwife, the birth of Serenity's daughter had been relatively easy, or as much so as childbirth could be, and quite early in Lady Saturn's labors, it became clear that this birth would be a long and difficult one. Lady Saturn was dogged at first, but after several hours of what Serenity knew must be unbearable pain, she was soaked in sweat, trembling with exhaustion, and ready to give up.
"Let it be, Majesty," she whispered. "It is clear to me that the gods want the both of us dead. You are truly a kind woman, but please do not defy them on my account."
"Your child will live!" the Queen insisted stubbornly. "And she will grow into a healthy woman under my care!" Even as she said this, though, Serenity wondered if Lady Saturn could be correct. Did the gods truly want the child dead?
When she thought that, Serenity almost gave up herself, but the thought of the child dying cold, hungry, and alone hardened her resolve. She spoke soothing words to Lady Saturn, and mopped her brow with a cool cloth. Hours later, Lady Saturn's daughter was born, a sickly, skinny little thing with violet eyes and wild black hair matted with the blood of her mother's womb. Upon seeing her, Serenity was struck by the resemblance the girl bore to Rei of Mars. If my own heart did not know so certainly whose child this was, she thought, I would have guessed that she was Princess Rei's sister, and not Setsuna's. But the child was Setsuna's sister. The same father had conceived them, but neither would ever know. They could not know.
Serenity washed the babe, and swaddled her. Moments later, she stood before the window, looking out into the night. Lady Saturn lay in her bed, delirious from a childbirth fever. The child in the High Queen's arms squirmed, whimpering hungrily. Lady Saturn was far too weak to suckle her daughter, and Serenity's breasts had been dry for years, so the poor girl had not yet eaten. Serenity might have left in search of nourishment for the child, but that she could not bear to leave anyone to die alone, not even someone toward whom she bore as much resentment as she bore toward Lady Saturn. So she stood before the window, humming softly to the child to sooth her, and trying to concentrate on the fireflies winking in the trees, and not on Lady Saturn's harsh, shallow breathing. How pretty the fireflies look, Serenity thought as the tiny creatures that were native to Saturn floated through the night, piercing the darkness with brief pinpricks of golden light. Serenity had oft heard tales of the common men of Saturn, who went out at night to hunt their nocturnal game, with only the fireflies to guide them through the night.
"Yes, little one," Serenity murmured. "Perhaps you shall be as a firefly, the only bit of light to come of this darkness surrounding my kingdom." I only hope you shall not be as the firefly that guides the hunter to his prey, an accomplice to the destruction of innocent lives.
"Oh, my little firefly," Serenity sighed. "Poor little firefly. Torn from Mother before you can even taste her milk. Never will you know the woman who bore you…nor the man who sired you, nor even the sister with whom you share blood. Poor, poor creature." Some disturbing noises from Lady Saturn interrupted Serenity's one-sided sympathies.
"Elder?" Serenity asked, turning to face Lady Saturn's bed, her eyes wide with alarm. Pain was etched all over the woman's face, and her skin had taken on a deadly grayish cast. Lady Saturn wadded up the sweat-soaked blanket in her fist, stretching the other toward Serenity.
"H-H-Hota-taru…" she rasped. "My…Hota…S-Serenity…" Serenity felt her anger melting away, replaced by cold fear as she hurried to kneel at Lady Saturn's bedside, taking the woman's frail hand in her own.
"Elder, what is it? What is the matter?" she asked in a quivering voice. Lady Saturn's eyes fluttered open, and focused on the Queen. She opened her mouth as if to answer, but a tortured cry cut off whatever she had been steeled to say. Serenity's heart twisted with fear.
"Be at peace, my elder," she murmured soothingly. "I am here. Tell me what you need."
"Serenity…" Lady Saturn barely whispered, her breasts heaving with each excruciating breath, "Please. Take care…of…my…Hotaru." With that, her chest fell still, her dark eyes closing forever. Her hand slipped from Serenity's falling toward the floor. In a daze, Serenity stood, wrapping her arms more tightly around the child, who had begun to cry.
" 'Hotaru'," she whispered. "Why, I do believe your mother has named you, Firefly. That, at least, is one gift from your mother that will live forever. Your name will be the living link between you and your mother, Hotaru of Saturn." Serenity kissed Hotaru's brow, and felt warmth upon her own. Realization struck her, stinging like the blow of a knife. Slowly, she turned her eyes upon Lady Saturn. Sure enough, the sign of Saturn flared upon the dead woman's brow as her soul slowly slipped from her body. The Mark of Selene upon Serenity's brow had grown warm, reacting to the death of the royal woman. The natural way of things would dictate that Serenity should now bless the body of Lady Saturn in the name of Saturn and Selene to ask that Lady Pluto look upon her soul with favor. Once again, Serenity felt anger rising within her. She had been as good as told that her former brothers and sisters in the life beyond would not meet Lady Saturn with favor. To bless her body would be sheer blasphemy. She may have been able to defy the gods to save the traitor's innocent child, but she simply could not bless her body. Without a backward glance, Serenity turned on her heel, and left Lady Saturn's chambers, letting thoughts of the former goddess leave her mind forever.
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Yayyyyyyyy! Chapter 20 is done! Only four chapters left! I'm so excited! I probably won't be finishing this before I go off to camp after all, but keep those reviews coming, and I should be done before you know it!
Dark Heart
Several months later, on a night much like any other, the Queen of Saturn felt her womb constrict, and laid down upon her bed, fully prepared to labor on her own to have her child until death found them both. She did not realize that far away on the moon, Queen Serenity's senses were tuned for just such a signal. The very instant the first pain passed over Lady Saturn, Serenity knew that the time for her mission of mercy had come. At the time, she had been on her way to the throne room. Immediately, she changed her course, heading instead in the direction of her daughter's chambers.
"Who is there?" Young Serenity called when a knock sounded at her chamber door.
"Your mother, love." Serenity replied, keeping her tone carefully neutral. She could not afford to raise suspicion, not even within her own daughter. "May I come in? Are the Sailor Guardians with you?" She prayed not, for she knew that her daughter's protectors would be inclined to ask questions—questions that Serenity would not be able to answer.
"Enter, my mother," the princess called back. "I am quite alone." Serenity opened the door, but did not cross the threshold. The princess was seated upon her bed, and it seemed she had not been doing much of anything. Serenity did not dwell upon this, of course. She had far more important matters on her mind.
"I have urgent business to attend to on one of the outer planets," she told her daughter. "I do not know when I shall return, but it is quite possible I shan't be back until morning. Will you kindly inform Luna and Artemis of my absence?" The princess nodded shortly.
"Yes, Mother, I shall," she agreed, and Serenity thought she detected a hint of impatience in the girl's voice. Of course, it could have just been her own anxiety that had caused her ears to detect what was not truly there. Managing a small smile, she blew her daughter a kiss, and closing the door behind her, took off down the hallway, heading for the Crystal Tower.
Upon reaching the tower, Serenity quickly told the guards what she had told her daughter, saying that she would transport herself to the necessary location immediately after sharing a prayer with her celestial mother.
"Please let no one into the Crystal Tower until I return," she commanded.
"Yes, Majesty, of course," the guards answered, bowing as they held open the door for their Queen.
Serenity was careful to lock herself within the Crystal Tower before anything else was done. Any soul who knew the Queen's intentions would surely move to stop her. They would call it blasphemy, and perhaps they would be right. Perhaps Serenity's actions were indeed profane; she could not be sure. All she could be sure of was that it felt right. It was something she knew she had to do, and she would not be convinced otherwise. But the Queen still loved Selene dearly, and genuflected before the goddess' shrine to pray before continuing.
"My celestial mother," she whispered, "please know my love for thee, and forgive me if this act I am about to commit be a sin. If thou see it fit to do so, send me thy blessing, that I may pass this night in safety." With that, Serenity stood, and turned her back on Selene's shrine. The action sent her heart splashing into her stomach. Shame stirred within her, but she could not bring herself to turn back to the shrine. To perform the action she was about to while facing her celestial mother's shrine would be akin to spitting in the goddess' eye. She simply could not do that. So, with her back to Selene's most sacred shrine, Serenity let down her customary bunned-topped pony's tails—"dumpling tails" as her mother had called them—and shed her silver-white gowns. In place of her gown, she donned a garment of rags that sagged about her delicate frame. Serenity winced. The rough cloth would surely leave her skin chafed and raw. Is a disguise truly necessary? She wondered as she raised the hood of her costume over her silver head. All people upon Saturn now slumber. There would be none to recognize me. On the other hand, Serenity wanted to be certain that none would stop her in her quest. She did not even want Lady Saturn to recognize her at first. Gathering all the resolve she could muster, Serenity tugged down the hood of her costume so that it covered the Mark of Selene. Again, she felt the hot prick of shame, but she ignored it. She had to do this. She just had to. Summoning her power, the High Queen disappeared from the Crystal Tower.
Serenity arrived on Saturn directly outside Lady Saturn's chambers. Already she could hear the doomed Queen moaning in pain as she labored. Serenity shuddered, her stomach churning dreadfully as she listened to the wretched woman's agony. I must do this. I must. Gathering her courage, the High Queen opened the door, slowly and gently as she once had when she had looked in on her sleeping daughter in her younger days.
Within, the room was dark. Not a lamp had been lit. Yet Serenity could still make out the writhing, bucking form upon the bed to be Lady Saturn. Great wheezing breaths burst from her body, mingling with the moans filling the air. Serenity trapped her lower lip between her teeth, feeling the utmost sympathy for the traitor in spite of herself. Poor woman.
Sensing another presence in the room with her, the former goddess struggled to sit up, quite a difficult task due to her swollen belly. In what little light she had let into the room by opening the door, Serenity could see that Lady Saturn's face was shining with sweat, and her dusky eyes glittered wildly. No doubt she had been driven half-mad with the pain.
"Who is there?" Lady Saturn demanded breathlessly. "Who dares disturb me in my labors? Whoever you may be, be gone from my sight, lest I be forced to throw you out!" The woman's threat irritated Serenity.
"You are hardly able to raise yourself from your pillow, yet you think that you could throw me from your bedchamber?" she snapped. "Calm yourself, my elder." The title by which Serenity addressed Lady Saturn stopped her cold. Elder? Lady Saturn was no longer a goddess, but a mortal woman. Why in Selene's name would she have referred to her as "my elder"? Yet, even as she asked this, she knew the answer. I can never think of her as anything except a goddess, she thought, somewhat sadly. Why can I not let go of such an image of her?
Lady Saturn's eyes widened as the figure standing in her doorway lowered her hood, exposing the golden crescent birthmark upon her brow.
"Serenity?" she exclaimed, incredulous. Serenity took her recognition as permission to enter, and did so.
"For heaven's sake, you should light a lamp!" the High Queen said briskly, doing so herself. "Gods above, why any woman should wish to labor in the dark is beyond my realm of understanding!"
"Your Majesty," Lady Saturn gasped as Serenity went to close the door once again. "If I may inquire, what in the name of the gods are you doing here?" Serenity turned toward the woman, her eyes cold and determined.
"I am here to see that your child is born," she explained. "I am no midwife, but I shall help where I can. Lie back, elder." Lady Saturn obeyed, but the look upon her face clearly showed that she disapproved.
"You should not be here, Majesty!" she protested, even as Serenity took a seat beside her bed.
"I know," Serenity replied, "but I simply could not let your child die with you." At that statement, Lady Saturn's lips parted in a wide smile, and her eyes filled with tears of love and gratitude. Weakly, she raised a hand, and cupped the side of Serenity's face.
"Dear child," she whispered, "may the gods bless you. You are as kind and benevolent as Selene herself. Showering such mercy upon a traitor such as myself." Hot anger boiled within Serenity. Harshly, she pulled away from Lady Saturn's tender display of appreciation.
"Do not misunderstand my intentions, elder!" she said in her frostiest tone. "I have not come for your sake. I am hoping to spare the child your fate. She should not have to suffer for your sins. You, my elder, deserve whatever punishment the gods bestow upon you." For a moment, Lady Saturn looked hurt, and Serenity felt a stab of guilt, but her expression was quickly replaced by a look of resignation.
"You are right, Serenity," she whispered. "Let it be as the gods will." Her sentence went flat as another wave of pain swept over her, releasing a pitiful moan. Serenity swallowed nervously. As the gods will…she thought. Please, let this path lead to prosperity, and not destruction.
The night passed slowly. Lady Saturn labored tenaciously, and Serenity grew increasingly distressed as she tried to assist her, wishing with all her might that she could remember the princess' birth more clearly. It might have helped to remember what the midwife had done, so that her unpracticed hand could be more of a help and less of a burden. Of course, according to the midwife, the birth of Serenity's daughter had been relatively easy, or as much so as childbirth could be, and quite early in Lady Saturn's labors, it became clear that this birth would be a long and difficult one. Lady Saturn was dogged at first, but after several hours of what Serenity knew must be unbearable pain, she was soaked in sweat, trembling with exhaustion, and ready to give up.
"Let it be, Majesty," she whispered. "It is clear to me that the gods want the both of us dead. You are truly a kind woman, but please do not defy them on my account."
"Your child will live!" the Queen insisted stubbornly. "And she will grow into a healthy woman under my care!" Even as she said this, though, Serenity wondered if Lady Saturn could be correct. Did the gods truly want the child dead?
When she thought that, Serenity almost gave up herself, but the thought of the child dying cold, hungry, and alone hardened her resolve. She spoke soothing words to Lady Saturn, and mopped her brow with a cool cloth. Hours later, Lady Saturn's daughter was born, a sickly, skinny little thing with violet eyes and wild black hair matted with the blood of her mother's womb. Upon seeing her, Serenity was struck by the resemblance the girl bore to Rei of Mars. If my own heart did not know so certainly whose child this was, she thought, I would have guessed that she was Princess Rei's sister, and not Setsuna's. But the child was Setsuna's sister. The same father had conceived them, but neither would ever know. They could not know.
Serenity washed the babe, and swaddled her. Moments later, she stood before the window, looking out into the night. Lady Saturn lay in her bed, delirious from a childbirth fever. The child in the High Queen's arms squirmed, whimpering hungrily. Lady Saturn was far too weak to suckle her daughter, and Serenity's breasts had been dry for years, so the poor girl had not yet eaten. Serenity might have left in search of nourishment for the child, but that she could not bear to leave anyone to die alone, not even someone toward whom she bore as much resentment as she bore toward Lady Saturn. So she stood before the window, humming softly to the child to sooth her, and trying to concentrate on the fireflies winking in the trees, and not on Lady Saturn's harsh, shallow breathing. How pretty the fireflies look, Serenity thought as the tiny creatures that were native to Saturn floated through the night, piercing the darkness with brief pinpricks of golden light. Serenity had oft heard tales of the common men of Saturn, who went out at night to hunt their nocturnal game, with only the fireflies to guide them through the night.
"Yes, little one," Serenity murmured. "Perhaps you shall be as a firefly, the only bit of light to come of this darkness surrounding my kingdom." I only hope you shall not be as the firefly that guides the hunter to his prey, an accomplice to the destruction of innocent lives.
"Oh, my little firefly," Serenity sighed. "Poor little firefly. Torn from Mother before you can even taste her milk. Never will you know the woman who bore you…nor the man who sired you, nor even the sister with whom you share blood. Poor, poor creature." Some disturbing noises from Lady Saturn interrupted Serenity's one-sided sympathies.
"Elder?" Serenity asked, turning to face Lady Saturn's bed, her eyes wide with alarm. Pain was etched all over the woman's face, and her skin had taken on a deadly grayish cast. Lady Saturn wadded up the sweat-soaked blanket in her fist, stretching the other toward Serenity.
"H-H-Hota-taru…" she rasped. "My…Hota…S-Serenity…" Serenity felt her anger melting away, replaced by cold fear as she hurried to kneel at Lady Saturn's bedside, taking the woman's frail hand in her own.
"Elder, what is it? What is the matter?" she asked in a quivering voice. Lady Saturn's eyes fluttered open, and focused on the Queen. She opened her mouth as if to answer, but a tortured cry cut off whatever she had been steeled to say. Serenity's heart twisted with fear.
"Be at peace, my elder," she murmured soothingly. "I am here. Tell me what you need."
"Serenity…" Lady Saturn barely whispered, her breasts heaving with each excruciating breath, "Please. Take care…of…my…Hotaru." With that, her chest fell still, her dark eyes closing forever. Her hand slipped from Serenity's falling toward the floor. In a daze, Serenity stood, wrapping her arms more tightly around the child, who had begun to cry.
" 'Hotaru'," she whispered. "Why, I do believe your mother has named you, Firefly. That, at least, is one gift from your mother that will live forever. Your name will be the living link between you and your mother, Hotaru of Saturn." Serenity kissed Hotaru's brow, and felt warmth upon her own. Realization struck her, stinging like the blow of a knife. Slowly, she turned her eyes upon Lady Saturn. Sure enough, the sign of Saturn flared upon the dead woman's brow as her soul slowly slipped from her body. The Mark of Selene upon Serenity's brow had grown warm, reacting to the death of the royal woman. The natural way of things would dictate that Serenity should now bless the body of Lady Saturn in the name of Saturn and Selene to ask that Lady Pluto look upon her soul with favor. Once again, Serenity felt anger rising within her. She had been as good as told that her former brothers and sisters in the life beyond would not meet Lady Saturn with favor. To bless her body would be sheer blasphemy. She may have been able to defy the gods to save the traitor's innocent child, but she simply could not bless her body. Without a backward glance, Serenity turned on her heel, and left Lady Saturn's chambers, letting thoughts of the former goddess leave her mind forever.
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Yayyyyyyyy! Chapter 20 is done! Only four chapters left! I'm so excited! I probably won't be finishing this before I go off to camp after all, but keep those reviews coming, and I should be done before you know it!