Me: Aw, Flaming Soul, why didn't I think of that? Okay, I'll put a situation like that somewhere in here…
This is the second half of the fic, and then it's over. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: "InuYasha" is property of Rumiko Takahashi, Sunrise, Viz, and all those other people who bring this series to us!
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Part 2: The Solution
Kirara and Sango flew up the side of the mountain, taking the risk of being blind-sided in order to get to their destination faster. On the way, they came across various youkai the likes of which Sango had never seen before. Some would look familiar, yet not precisely fit her knowledge of youkai. They also came off as being particularly more dangerous than the usual run-of-the-mill youkai.
When they reached the top, the area was still surrounded in fog. Sango dismounted Kirara and stepped towards the center of the mountaintop, Kirara following suit. Making their way slowly, Sango began hearing a peculiar noise. It sounded like… bubbling? As the sound got louder, the outline of some figures came into view. The fog seemed to dissipate as they got closer, and now their surroundings could clearly be seen.
All around them were youkai remains, and in the middle of it all was a large pot. Whatever was being boiled inside smelled horrible. Somewhat reluctantly, Sango approached the pot and looked inside. Her assumption was correct, as she saw various pieces of youkai being simmered together.
Sango grimaced. "Who would do something like this?"
"Someone like me!" a voice rang out across the mountaintop.
Sango jumped back at the voice, Kirara lowering her head and growling warningly.
A figure wobbled into view. Sango squinted to make out who it was. Out of the fog came a young person who looked slightly older than her. He looked pretty ordinary, wearing village clothes and all. Sango knew better though and continued to keep her guard up.
"I'm surprised you made it all the way up here," the boy said casually. "What is it you want?"
Sango frowned and thrust her katana out at him. "I want the antidote to this youkai's toxins."
"Ah! Love-bug!" the boy's eyes widened with surprise. "You killed him!?"
"Of course I did!" Sango snapped indignantly. "It attacked my friends and I – uh – did you just call it 'Love-bug'?
"Yes!" the boy retorted. He then paused for a moment, and then smirked. "You must know why if you came here for an antidote."
Sango was taken aback by this comment.
"So all your friends came after you, huh?" the boy continued to jeer. "I wish I had seen that – must have been quite the sight."
He started getting on Sango's nerves. "Grr… look, you!"
"It's not, 'you' – it's Mikisa."
"Fine, then – Mikisa, are you going to give me the antidote or not?"
Mikisa shrugged. "You see, the problem is that I never came up with any antidotes."
"Then make one now!"
"Why should I? You come barging up here and start demanding stuff from me, after killing off one of my creations."
"Which reminds me; why would you do something like this?"
"Humph…" Mikisa smirked. "It's just a hobby of mine. I come up here whenever I can to make youkai out of parts I find lying around."
"But why?"
Mikisa's face became downcast. "Hmph… I was never good at making friends. That's why I make youkai as pals of mine. Since they're my creations, they don't hurt me. It's all thanks to the help of my special utensil."
"Special utensil?"
"This," Mikisa held up a large wooden spoon in front of him, "is my special utensil."
Sango examined the spoon. It was special alright – because embedded in it was a Shikon shard. "You have to stop this."
"What? Why should I?" the man pulled the spoon in close to him.
"Because what will happen if these youkai you make get out of control? They could go down and hurt innocent people!"
"It wouldn't happen because they're my creations!" he shouted back at Sango.
"You don't know that for sure! What if they decide to join the other youkai?"
"Go away!" Mikisa started heading back to wherever it was he came from.
Before he could leave, Sango ran up and grabbed his arm. "No, I want the antidote for my friends!"
"I told you to leave!" Mikisa turned around angrily, a horde of youkai suddenly appearing behind him.
Sango let go of him and stepped back, Kirara bounding up to help defend her. Sango eyed the youkai as they gathered round. "Listen, just because you don't have friends up to now doesn't mean that you should stop trying and make artificial ones!"
"What do you know?" Mikisa spat. "You have friends!" At that, one of the reproduced youkai lunged at Sango and Kirara. Kirara leaped at it as Sango blocked the assault of another youkai coming at her from the side.
"I know because I was alone before too!" she shouted, pushing the youkai back.
"Huh?" Mikisa directed his agitated eyes at her.
"Everything I knew – everyone I knew including my family was taken away from me!" Sango swung Hiraikotsu out. "You say you have no friends, but that means that you still have family. At least you still have them to care about you!"
Mikisa started at Sango. He lowered his head and moved his arm across, signaling for the youkai to back off. The youkai slowly began to disappear back into the fog from whence they came. Mikisa walked up to Sango and said monotone, "I'll make your antidote."
Sango nodded. "One more thing though. May I have that Shikon shard embedded in your spoon? My friends and I are collecting them to defeat Naraku."
"Naraku?" Mikisa repeated the familiar name. "Well, if that's the case… then sure, you can have it. It's not like I'll need it anymore. On one condition, though."
"What is it?"
Mikisa pointed at himself. "Can I have a kiss?"
BONK!
"OW!" Mikisa tended to his bumped head. "Is that any way to treat someone who's doing you a favour?"
"That's a ridiculous condition!" Sango shouted, flustered.
"No, it's not! I've never kissed a girl before!"
"And I've never kissed a boy before!"
"Then it'll be good for the both of us!" Mikisa grinned.
"Mi-ki-saaaa…" Sango voiced threateningly.
"Okay, okay," Mikisa put his hands up in defense. "Then…' he said sheepishly, "will you be my friend?"
Sango blinked at him. "You don't have to ask me that. I would be your friend nonetheless."
Mikisa smiled. "Oh, by the way, I didn't find out your name."
"It's Sango."
"Wow, such a pretty name…" Mikisa went all sparkly-eyed.
"Uh…"
"I think this calls for a hug!" Mikisa lunged at her but she side-stepped out of the way so he landed flat on his face.
"I've been though enough harassment already today thank you very much," Sango muttered. "So what about that antidote?"
Mikisa lifted his face up from the ground. "Ugh… o-okay…"
Sango and Kirara watched as Mikisa went about gathering up carefully inspected youkai remains. He picked up a few extra items on the way and tossed it all into the great boiling pot.
"You're making a youkai as the antidote?" Sango found this solution to be rather unreliable.
"Don't worry. One more won't hurt," Mikisa assured her.
Sango was still dubious of the idea, but seeing as how she needed a cure for the others and Mikisa was sure this was fine, she decided she would have to go along with it.
Mikisa dipped his Shikon-embedded spoon into the pot and began stirring. Slowly the components inside began to melt together and light shone out of the pot. In a dazzling array of lights, a small youkai similar to the 'Love-bug' came out, but this one was yellow in colour instead of blue.
"Alright!" Mikisa clapped his hands together. "Sister to Love-bug, I name thee… Split-sect!"
"Split-sect?" Sango raised an eyebrow at this dubbed name.
"Well, what would you call her?" Mikisa asked her pretentiously.
"I don't know."
"Then it's 'Spit-sect!" Mikisa grinned triumphantly. He picked up a piece of thread from inside his clothes and tied it around 'Spit-sect', handing the other end to Sango. "Here you go."
"Is this really necessary?" Sango started at the thread.
"Well, in case she decides to fly away."
"Fly away?" Sango thought the youkai would simply follow her back to administer the antidote.
"Okay, all you have to do is get Split-sect to sting your friends and they'll be cured. It's as simple as that. Oh, and don't forget this." Mikisa gave Sango his spoon.
"Thanks." Sango took out her now youkai-free katana out and dug the Shikon shard out of the spoon, handing the utensil back to Mikisa. "You can keep that as a memento."
Mikisa smiled. "Thank you, Sango. I hope you and Kirara have a safe journey back."
"Don't worry." Sango pocketed the shard and climbed aboard Kirara, holding onto the thread connected to the 'Spit-sect'. "Just don't forget about us." As Kirara took off, Sango added, "And go back to your family!"
"I won't forget! And I'll go back!" Mikisa waved from the mountaintop, watching Sango and Kirara disappear into the fog.
- - -
Sighing, Sango looked up at the Split-sect, buzzing softly beside her. 'I hope this works…' Kirara flew on with Sango aboard, the youkai following like it was supposed to. They were nearly back at the village now, so they didn't notice that they happened to fly over three arguing figures down below…
"OSUWARI!"
"ARGH!"
BAM!
"I told you, it's not my fault she ran off!" a female's voice rang out.
"Yes, it is! You were the last one with her!" a gruff voice yelled back at her from the ground.
"She was already acting strangely before. If anything, I think it was you and Miroku-sama who scared her off!"
"Us!? I think you mean only Miroku here!"
"I object, Inuyasha! Sango is the one I care about, and I know she feels the same way about me – there's nothing wrong with us being together."
"Except that you always go off asking some other girl to have your kids! She should be with me!"
"WHAT!?" Kagome suddenly shouted loudly. Inuyasha cringed at her voice, sensing that the girl was quite angry right about now.
He turned around very slowly. "Er… Kagome…" Inuyasha started hesitantly. "I'm sorry, but…" he looked downwards in shame. "I think I want to be with Sango."
"What!?" Kagome repeated again, though it wasn't a loud as before. "What are you talking about!? What about Kikyou?"
"Hm…" Inuyasha glanced to the side. "I… decided to forget about her. It's just too hard to be with her if she hates me that much.
Kagome stared at him. She closed her eyes. "Well, Inuyasha, I'm sorry too."
"Huh?" Inuyasha had a feeling she was probably going to say something really hateful to him now.
Kagome snapped her eyes open and looked defiantly at both Inuyasha and Miroku. "Because Sango is going to be mine!"
"Wha… WHAAAAT!?" Inuyasha's eyes boggled out while Miroku blinked. "What are YOU talking about!?"
"I told you, Sango is going to be with me and no one else!"
"Bu-but you can't do that!" Inuyasha stuttered. "Y-you're both girls!"
"So?" Kagome put on an air of boldness.
"S-SO!?" Inuyasha couldn't understand what was going on. "So you – huh?" Inuyasha sniffed the air.
"What is it, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked the hanyou.
"I smell…"
"I could have told you that," Kagome mumbled.
"GRR! I was GOING to say that I smelt Sango, and –"
"Sango-chan?" Kagome's demeanor suddenly changed. At that, Miroku unexpectedly dashed off towards the village. "Ah – Miroku-sama!" Kagome ran after him.
Inuyasha started to follow. "Hey,w-"
"Osuwari!"
"Argh!" Inuyasha pulled his face up from off the ground. "Kagome! That's not f-"
"Osuwari!!"
"Argh!!"
- - -
Kirara finally landed on solid ground once again. Sango tiredly slid off, still holding onto the thread tied around the Split-sect.
"Sango! Kirara!" Shippo came running up to the two as soon as he saw them.
"Hi, Shippo." Sango smiled.
"Uh!" Shippo stopped when he saw the youkai. "What are you doing with that youkai?" he pointed at it.
"Oh…" Sango glanced up at the yellow insect. "It's what's going to cure the others."
"Cure?"
"Mm…"
"Oh, I wish you told me about that earlier!" Shippo lamented.
"Hm? Why?"
"When you left, Kagome came out asking where you went. I told her you went back to the mountain and she got all worried and ran off to get Inuyasha and Miroku."
"Oh, no!" Sango sounded anxious. "I hope they didn't go looking for me… Hm?" She looked round at the forest, as did Shippo.
A strange noise was coming from there. First it was a low rumbling… then it began getting louder… and now… there were… voices? Three figures came into view… three very… familiar figures…
"Forget it, Miroku!" Inuyasha snarled. "She's going to lose faith in you one of these days!"
"I believe our bond is the strongest – Ouf!" Miroku tripped as Kagome stepped on his robes.
"Sango-chan!" Kagome called, stepping over Miroku's fallen body. "Osuwari!"
"ArGh!" Inuyasha… once again fell flat on his face… of course…
Miroku stuck his staff out and tripped Kagome this time. "A-ha – Augh!" To which Inuyasha pulled Miroku backwards to make his way towards Sango. This skirmish seemed like it could take a while, the three of them each trying to get to Sango first before the other two could.
Sango paled at the sight of her three friends coming at her.
"Sango," Shippo stared up at the taiji-ya with panicked eyes, "what's going on!?"
Sango gulped and nervously looked down at the kitsune. "Don't worry. With this youkai we can get them back to normal." Sango held her hand with the thread up.
"But… it's not there," Shippo said weakly.
"What?" Sango whipped round and indeed what Shippo said was true – the youkai was no longer there. "Ah! Where did it go!?" Sango searched around frantically for the Split-sect.
Shippo helped to look too. "Ah! There!" Shippo pointed at the retreating insect, flying off to who knows where.
"Okay! Kirara, let's go after it!" At Sango's words, Kirara growled in understanding.
"I'm going, too!" Shippo jumped up onto Kirara's head.
Sango was about to get on as well when Kagome, Miroku, and Inuyasha came rushing at her. Her eyes widened in alarm as it looked like they were all about to pile-drive right into her.
"Sango-chan!"
"Wait for me!"
"You have to answer my question!"
"Gh-! Kirara, hurry!" Sango clambered onto Kirara's back. Just when she took off, the three left behind missed them at the last minute.
They flew through the trees, the three of them looking around the Split-sect.
"Ah! There it is!" Shippo pointed at something yellow hovering up ahead.
Kirara sped up to try and catch up to it. Coming in closer to the youkai, they prepared to grab it by the string. Sango reached out to catch it, just when she heard those oh-so-familiar voices coming from behind.
"Why are you riding on me if we're competing for her?"
"Just move it, Inuyasha!"
"I'll get to her first before either of you!"
Sango glanced back. 'What in the world…'
"Duck!" Shippo shouted.
"What?" Sango turned back around only to find a protruding tree branch smack her in the chest. Her arms hooked over it, and she let go to fall with a thud to the ground. "Ah…" Sango put a hand to her head. "Stupid!"
"Sango, are you alright?" Shippo doubled back with Kirara.
She looked up at them. "Don't worry about me – go and get the youkai."
"What? But -"
"The others are going to be after me as long as they're induced by the toxin. I'll only slow you down." Sango stood up. "You go after the youkai – it's the only way to stop this."
"Mm…mm!" Shippo nodded. Kirara turned around and went off again with Shippo clinging on.
Sango sighed with exasperation. "Hm?" She turned around to hear that thundering sound again. The others came into view, as noisy as ever. Sango's immediate reaction was to run out of panic. So she did. She rushed over to the side of the path, swatting away whatever got in her way. Sango couldn't remember ever having to run this fast before. Wanting to catch her breath, she took refuge behind a nearby tree.
She leaned against it, and slid down into a sitting position. Breathing heavily, she carefully peeked around the tree trunk for any signs of her pursuing friends. Seeing nothing there, she turned back around to relax, yet kept herself on alert just in case. Her eyes shifted around for any strange movement among the surrounding greenery.
'That's odd… I thought for sure they would have been able to catch up to me by now.' Taking one last look, Sango closed her eyes as a cool breeze managed to blow though the forest. 'I hope Shippo and Kirara come back soon…' Suddenly, she snapped her eyes open at the feeling of someone's presence. Looking back at her was a pair of amber eyes.
"Ah! Inuyasha!" Sango leant up against the tree.
"Surprised?"
"N-not really." Sango got up on her feet. "I thought you out the three of you would be able to find me with your nose and all."
"Hm." Inuyasha smirked. "Nice to see you think so much of me."
Sango sidestepped away from him. "So, where are the others anyway?"
"I ditched them," Inuyasha retorted without remorse. "I wouldn't have been able to find you as quickly with them on my tail."
"What tail?"
"Funny." The hanyou stepped closer to Sango.
"I-Inuyasha, stop! You don't know what it is you're doing!"
"Yes I do," he said glassy-eyed. "I'm following what my heart tells me to do."
Sango looked taken aback. She glanced to the side. "Oh, look! Kagome-chan!"
"What? Where?" Inuyasha whirled around in case Kagome tried to yell 'osuwari.' The thing was though, Kagome wasn't really there.
"Sorry, Inuyasha!" Sango whipped out her scented beads and threw it and his feet.
"Huh? Argh!" Inuyasha pulled his sleeve up to his face, Sango taking advantage of the moment to run off.
Again through the forest she ran, going past several trees and shrubbery lying about. She wasn't sure how far she had gone, but kept running in case Inuyasha recovered from her surprise attack. It wasn't long however until she was forced to stop. An arrow came whizzing across her path, Sango skidding to a halt.
"Uh – what?" Sango looked for the source of this assault. "Uh – Kagome-chan." Sango took a step back.
Kagome hopped off the rock she was standing on to join Sango on the ground. She was carrying her quiver of arrows and bow in hand. "I'm glad I found you, Sango-chan."
"Well, you weren't the first…" Sango gazed off to the side.
"What?" Kagome walked briskly towards her, stopping abruptly right in front of Sango. "Who was it? Did he do anything to you!?" she demanded rather sternly.
"N-no." Sango was surprised at Kagome's reaction. "It was Inuyasha, but he didn't do anything. I took care of it, don't worry."
Kagome closed her eyes and sighed. She opened them again to look Sango straight in the eye.
Sango became apprehensive at this. "W-what?" Kagome suddenly flung her arms around Sango, causing her to stumble back. "Kagome-chan!"
"Sango-chan," Kagome said in a muffled voice. "Don't run away again."
Sango froze at Kagome's words. Running would have been the preferred thing to do, but… she couldn't help feeling sorry. Even with the knowledge that the youkai's toxin was running through her… just because it was Kagome… Sango put her arms behind Kagome's back.
"I won't run," Sango replied softly. "But Kagome-chan," she gently broke their embrace. "I have to tell you -"
"Wait," Kagome stopped her. "I want to show you something." She took Sango's hand and led her away to a place she found beforehand. She brought Sango to a small clearing surrounded by bushes.
"Um… Kagome-chan…" Sango felt uneasy as she looked around.
"Over here." Kagome tugged her hand over to the side of the clearing. "Look." She bent down and touched something. In her hands, Kagome was holding a small flower. She smiled and carefully picked it. "Isn't it pretty?" She handed it to Sango.
"I can't believe something like this is growing here." Sango started at the delicate flower she held.
"I knew you'd like it," Kagome beamed. She sat down on the soft grass, Sango joining her. Kagome tilted her head. "Sango-chan?"
"Hm?" Sango looked at her.
"Um… back at Kaede's village… when we were alone together…"
Sango was taken aback. "Kagome-chan, wait -"
"Hang on; I need to get this out." Sango stopped. She nodded her head and waited for her. "I think I may have… realized some feelings for you. I'm not what to do about them, but I know they're strong…"
"Kagome-chan, listen." Sango leaned in on her hand. "The reason you're feeling that is bec – ah!" Someone hiding in the bushes grabbed Sango underneath her arms and started pulling her back.
"Sango-chan!" Kagome lunged forward and grabbed onto one of Sango's legs. "Who's there!?" she shouted into the greenery. Taking a better look, she saw the top of some sort of staff poking above the bushes. Frowning, she climbed over Sango, giving the other girl a close-up view of her school skirt.
Sango heard a loud slapping noise before she fell back, Kagome's lower half of her body flattening her face. She pounded the ground to try and tell Kagome to get off. Instead, Kagome sat upright on her chest, glaring at the intruder. Sango tilted her head back to see who it was.
Sitting on the ground with a hand against his swollen cheek was Miroku. "Ah, Kagome-sama… that was nearly as hard as Sango's…"
"Miroku-sama, what do you think you're doing!?" Kagome fumed from atop Sango.
"Taking my fiancée back with me of course."
"That doesn't mean she can't break it off."
"Why would she want to do that?" Miroku held his hand up to exemplify his face. "I'm the good-looking Houshi whom every woman loves!"
Kagome bent down and cradled Sango's head protectively up against her chest. "All the more reason why she shouldn't be with you." Sango twitched at being in this position with Kagome, also finding that it was getting difficult to breathe.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha suddenly leapt from the trees. "What are you doing to Sango!?" He stomped over to her. "Get off!" He grabbed Kagome's arms and tried to pry her away.
"No! Let go!" Kagome tightened her grip on Sango.
As Inuyasha pulled, Sango found that she got dragged across the ground as well with Kagome, feeling all the more uncomfortable. She slipped away by pushing Kagome off, gasping for air when she was finally free. Sitting up, this time she found Miroku hugging her from behind.
"Sango, let's go!" he advised her, but instead she slammed her palm in his face so that he had to let go of her.
Standing up prominently, she shouted, "Alright, stop!" Everyone froze to look at her. "Okay…" she huffed. "Listen, because I need to tell all of you something."
Inuyasha dropped Kagome. "You'll stay by my side?"
"You'll finally have my child?" Miroku chimed from behind.
"You're bisexual?" Kagome asked from the ground.
Sango put her hands on her hips. "No, no, and – what!?"
"What's bisexual?" Inuyasha looked down at Kagome.
"It's a person who has an interest in both genders," Kagome replied knowingly.
"Ah, see? I knew Sango liked me," Miroku pointedly stated. "Wait." He gazed up at Sango. "You like females too?"
Sango's face reddened at that accusation. "No, I don't!"
"Hm… too bad." Miroku folded his arms. "If we went to say hello to women together it could be a fun couple's activity. OW!" He fell to the side.
Sango kicked him hard in the side. "Houshi-sama, stop saying foolish things!" Disgruntled, she got back to the matter at hand. "As I was saying before, you three need to know something." She stopped when she saw Kagome with a despondent expression. "Kagome-chan?"
"So I guess… you really don't have the same feelings for me as I do for you…" Kagome muttered sadly.
"Eh – Kagome-chan…" Sango moved towards her. She bent down and spoke to her. "Kagome-chan, I'm sorry, but it's just that -"
"At least…" Kagome gazed at her, teary-eyed. "Let me have this…" Without warning, Kagome leaned forward to kiss her.
Sango's eyes widened, finding that she couldn't move out of shock. Luckily for her, Inuyasha snatched the back of Kagome's uniform, holding her back.
"What do you think you're doing, Kagome!?" he bellowed at her.
Kagome glared at him. "Inuyasha, how can you be so cruel!?"
"What about my feelings!?" he raved. "It's not fair that you get to kiss Sango!"
"Which is something I should obviously do first." Miroku came up from behind and turned Sango around to face him.
"S-stop it!" She slapped him across the face. Poor Sango now found that her poison protection mask could be used for something else as well.
"Ah! Here you – are…" Kirara and Shippo finally came back with the Split-sect in tow. The scene which greeted them was one of Inuyasha, Kagome, and Miroku fighting over getting to kiss Sango, who was busy trying to pull away from everyone's grasp. "Hey, hurry up." Shippo tugged on the Split-sect's thread, signaling it to go to work.
Complying, the Split-sect flew over above the entangled group. Taking careful aim, one-by-one the youkai shot at each infected being there.
Surprised, Sango watched as each of her companions got a stunned look on their face, before falling to the ground. As they lay there, she crawled out from underneath them. Glancing up, she saw Shippo waving at her.
"Shippo, you finally came!" she said with relief.
"Looks like it was just in time, too," he observed. "So that was what they needed to be cured of?"
"Yeah…" Sango sighed tiredly. "Come on; let's bring them back to Kaede's."
- - -
Shippo sat by the side of the room watching Kaede change the towels on his friends' foreheads. They were resting again until they woke up. Sango came in with Kirara. They had been out returning the Split-sect to Mikisa.
Sango slipped Hiraikotsu off. "How are they?"
"Still the same," Shippo mused. "Did everything with you go fine?"
"Yeah." Sango took a seat next to him with Kirara. "Thank goodness this is all over."
"If the antidote works," Shippo mumbled.
"Ah… don't say that…" Sango put her hand to her face.
"Sorry," Shippo smiled.
"Mm…"
Everyone looked up as they saw the three stir. Slowly, they each opened their eyes and blinked.
"Are you guys okay?" Shippo padded over to them.
"Uh… what happened?" Kagome gazed lethargically at him.
"You… don't remember?" Sango got up on her knees.
"Why?" Inuyasha sat up sluggishly. "Should we?"
Miroku propped himself up on his forearm. "Do you mean when we were attacked on the mountain?"
"Eh? Uh, no… never mind." Sango waved her hands in front of her. "I'm just glad you're all fine now."
- - -
There she was; sitting by the river with he arms resting on her knees. She brought her right arm up and leant her head against it. Sango let out a breath of air. Her eyes fell down to the riverbed, watching the water move across in small waves. She lay back onto the grass. The previous events of the day passed through her mind, but she let them go as the clouds above went by. Everything was back to normal now.
Or was it? Watching Sango with affection from behind was one of her friends, a soft expression on their face. Before leaving, this thought went through their mind: 'I remember.'
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Me: Aw… there we go, ambiguous ending and all. I hope everything was okay. Ja ne.