I know ff.net said not to post Author's notes as chapters, so I'm going to put a poem in here that was written in inspiration of my story (it's sort of in Yuffie perspective, I guess).

I Am Nothing

Nothing

I am nothing in this world of everything

For what is loyalty?

When everyone will turn on you when you least expect it?

What is happiness?

When despair lurks around every corner?

What is peace?

When I am surrounded by the echo of murder?

What is light?

When the darkness has dulled our eyes?

What is empathy?

When hatred is all you have left to feel?

You see, I am all these things,

But in this world,

Despair, murder, darkness and hatred are everything.

All that I am and have come to believe

Is a lie I've been told

To keep others like me deceived.

A lie designed to protect me,

To keep my face to the sunshine.

The sun has finally set,

Casting shadows upon these lies of mine.

All these lies now mean nothing,

Just like me,

In this world of everything.

Right, on to what I have to say…Updates haven't been frequent, although I said they would be. And please, lower your pitchforks; I do have an excuse, though I'm not very happy about this excuse. Akurei is based on a person I actually know. My best friend, truth be told. Over Thanksgiving break, she was killed in a hit and run. She was walking home after we'd had a movie marathon at my house and was hit by a drunk driver. I've tried to write chapters just to get my mind off it, but I couldn't write without bursting into tears. So I tried making another OC, and it didn't work. So for now, I'm stuck. I'll have some kind of chapter up over Christmas break. Oh, and about that poem…wasn't even written by me. I'm not one for poetry. This poem is copyrighted to Raine.

R.I.P. Raine