Hi there! Aheh... okay, so admittedly this isn't EXACTLY a new chapter. That comes LATER... after I make about 500 revisions to it because it absolutely sucks. ._. I do promise a bit of fan service, of course, as I was getting a little annoyed with the lack of slashy goodness. Keep in mind, however, that the romance itself is going to have to come slowly for it to be believable (I mean, come on. This is Squall and Cloud we're talking about here). As much as I would love to skip all the angst and head right to the wild monkey sex, my pride as a writer won't let me do so.

However, my pride as a writer also won't let me disappoint my readers, and myself, by letting this story peter off into nothingness without finishing what I started.

That said, my pride as a writer won't allow me to disappoint my readers, and myself, by letting the quality of the story drop simply so I can finish it all on time. That's why I'm taking so long. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to read A Stray Child, and want to make it as good for you as I possibly can.

So yes, there may be a longer wait before Chapter Three is added. The chapter itself is finished, I just need to finish tweaking it before I post. I've already had quite a few people beta read for me, and they've given me the clear, but I'm not posting until I'm completely satisfied with it. However, I promise that it won't be a long wait. After all, now whenever I listen to the song A Stray Child I suddenly start feeling guilty. ^^;

There are a few other fics I'm going to start working on soon: An Orphen x Magic story, a Hartia x Lai story, and a short series of Saiyuki one-shots (Sanzo x Goku, Gojyo x Hakkai, Kougaiji* x Yaone). But for now, A Stray Child is my main priority. Besides, if I don't finish it soon, Rumi's gonna kill me. O_o

Also, while a lemon scene won't be coming until one of the MUCH later chapters, I think I should go ahead and say this now. Most of you are aware of Fanfiction.net's ban on NC-17 fanfiction. This means that, as much as I want to post my lemon chapter here, I'll have to resort to other means of getting it across. So, if you want to read the lemon chapter when it's ready, put your e-mail address in your review. Or, if you don't want to write a review, you can e-mail me/IM me, at:

ChouHakai@aol.com

ShougoKawadaBR@aol.com

* - Microsoft Works keeps changing Kougaiji to Kuwaiti. XD