Part Three: Remembrance

Chapter Twenty-Two: Time Change

It was nine o'clock.

Yumi laid her head down on her flimsy pillow, thinking of all that had happened recently. Ulrich's mom died, her parents got a divorce, Aelita admitted she loved Odd… Ulrich asking her to the autumn dance, she almost turned him down, he still being nice to her after all that…

She felt a bit drowsy, so she closed her eyes, hoping secretly that sleep would come. Instead, all she thought about was the peaceful and motionless face that was once William.

The events played out in her mind. It was last year in the spring (before the incident) when Yumi brought William home to eat dinner with the Ishiyama's. It was the last time she had ever seen her parents be civil with each other.

William was every mother's dream: good-looking, polite, smart and good to his girlfriend, her daughter. Yumi's father, on the other hand was a bit harder to please. But after a fun game of Chinese checkers, Mr. Ishiyama was impressed to know that his only daughter had found someone decent to have a relationship with. Yumi's brother, Hiroki, liked having William as a playmate that evening. This not only pleased Yumi to see him as a potential father figure, but it convinced the older Ishiyama's that William was genuine and a dream come true.

When William had to go home, Yumi walked him to the door slowly so he wouldn't have to leave so soon. She shut the door behind them as they walked outside and into the driveway where his car was waiting. He stopped abruptly and grinned at her.

"I'll call you tomorrow, okay? By the way, I had so much fun tonight," he said.

Yumi figured she was blushing. She smiled up at him and didn't say anything.

He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. Her first kiss! It was the most amazing thing she had ever felt in her entire life.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that he was waving good-bye and getting into his car. "Bye, Yumi!" he shouted.

All she could do was wave.

The next day, William asked if she would like to spend the summer with his family in Italy. His cousin Catherine was getting married in Tuscany, and his mom wanted to know if there were any other guests besides the family coming.

After a long discussion with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama finally relented into letting her go for a five-week vacation courtesy of the Dunbar family.

There were two weeks until Catherine's wedding. Catherine Dunbar was just nineteen years old, but her fiancé was the wealthy Jonathon Hamilton III; because he was rich and powerful, the two lovebirds could do whatever they wanted.

Yumi was in paradise. Since William was an usher, Yumi was able to participate in all of the pre-wedding activities. The two weeks went by in a flurry.

The wedding was even more of a blur, but there was something so magical and romantic about it all. At the reception, which was held in the most prestigious ballrooms in all of Italy, Yumi and William danced so close for so long… she began to wonder what it was like to be this close to a boy all of the time.

The remaining weeks were spent with William and Mrs. Dunbar in a cheap hotel on the outskirts of the city. Inside the hotel, the teens watched strange cartoon shows and swapped stories of Kadic. Outside, the teens toured the historical city, sipped sodas in the cafés, and browsed the marketplace for interesting souvenirs for her family back home.

And the vacation was over sooner than she had hoped. But the magic was far from ending.

Summer had come and gone, but with the new year at Kadic, Yumi could hardly wait until fall had begun. Kadic meant more time with William, and there was no way she could refuse the offer.

Yumi spent that school year balancing her heavy school load with visits to LYOKO, hanging out with her usual gang, and maintaining her relationship with William. It was difficult, but she was focused and it went on without any difficulty.

Except there was the spring formal. She thought Ulrich had gotten over her by now, but he hadn't. William had already asked her, and she said yes; it was also assumed that because they were "going out," they would be going to the dance together.

Aelita went with Ulrich- as friends, he made it clear. Odd was going with one of his many girlfriends (Charlotte or Carina, she couldn't remember). Jeremie decided to stay behind to watch for any sign of XANA.

Things were going well, Yumi thought. Ulrich wasn't angry with her it seemed, but she could never be too sure. However, Ulrich loved dances as much as William hated them. Perhaps William asked her so she didn't go to Ulrich looking for a date?

The date of the dance approached quicker than the year went by. Jeremie became more and more tense and paranoid as the days zipped by. Yumi and Aelita bought dresses from downtown, while William received dance classes from Odd. The thought of Odd waltzing made Yumi laugh even as she thought about it now.

But still, there was a lot to do before the dance.

On LYOKO, Franz Hopper and XANA met in sector 5. It was agreed that all monsters would be frozen, no towers would be activated, and no attacks issued until the meeting was over.

"XANA, get out of LYOKO now, before things get out of hand!" reasoned Franz in the form of a white, wispy cloud.

The large red cloud laughed menacingly. "Why should I? This is my home too! And besides, where should I go- Earth?"

"Leave quietly; never show your face again," Franz threatened.

"I'll make a deal with you." A pause. "We shall see who is mightier. We shall have a duel."

"Now?"

"No! When you are ready, give me a signal, Franz Hopper. Can you do that, or are you too good for that?" the evil-doer taunted.

Franz growled. "A duel, then. I shall destroy you once and for all!" With that, the cloud vanished into LYOKO's cyberspace.

Jeremie read a magazine while he received a call on his mobile. The article, even though it was about the stock market exchange, was definitely more interesting than any stupid old dance. However, he wanted the company, so he answered his phone quickly.

"Jeremie speaking."

"Hi, Jeremie!" said Ulrich on the other end. "How's it going?"

Jeremie laughed. "I'm keeping busy. Why aren't you dancing?"

"Jim won't let us in for another fifteen minutes."

"Ah." There was a pause, a girl's voice in the background, and a shriek.

"Jeremie!" yelled Ulrich, as if the phone were miles away from him. "Something's gone terribly wrong!"

The blonde-haired boy checked his computer. There was, of course, an activated tower. "Go figure- XANA's attacking!"

Ulrich breathed heavily on the other end. "Call Yumi- Aelita and I will be right there."

Jeremie hung up his mobile and bolted from the dark, empty dormitories.

"So, thanks again, William, for taking me to the dance. I know you don't like dances-"

He interrupted her. "It's okay," he chuckled, "I like spending time with you- whether in Tuscany or in the school gym."

It sounded as if there was a bomb dropped on the gym; girls were screaming and boys were shouting. The teachers who chaperoned the dance were trying to get the situation under control. Another explosion sounded, but there was no sign of smoke or flame.

"What's going on?" William asked Yumi at the top of his lungs. The exploding sounds kept getting more and more frequent. Yumi could see it in William's eyes that he was truly frightened.

"I don't know!" she cried. A young freshman standing next to Yumi screamed and pointed at her date; he was lying rigidly on the ground, his eyes wide open as if he were experiencing some sort of unspeakable horror. His mouth was open and gasping for air. The color was draining from his face; he appeared to be in pain.

Yumi ran for the young redheaded boy. He was ten meters away, she assumed, but she could only run for seven. There was some sort of barricade around him. His Indian girlfriend was screaming and crying his name for all to turn and hear.

Yumi scooted all around the barrier, never taking her eyes off of the boy's. They were such a bright blue; they appeared to shine in the setting sun's reflection. His eyes seemed to get bigger as the moments dragged on.

Time was slowing down. Yumi couldn't find an entrance to get around this invisible fence. The boy's breathing became more labored until his chest heaved.

There was the inhale, but where was the exhale? His body shook violently once; she heard a bunch of students yelling "Turner! Turner!"

The border lit up as if a flash of lightning had struck it. Time sped up; the border was gone- and so was Turner.

Yumi was the first one to the boy's side. People started to crowd around him. She touched his face and it was already cold. His eyes were still open, still bright, still blue- but now cold like the rest of him. They stared at Yumi; he was an innocent victim accusing her of bringing on death intentionally.

"No… no…" So this is what death was like. She ran out of the circle before the pretty Indian girl could point a finger at her. William called her name, at least she thought he did, but she couldn't stay there.

Not with Turner gazing at her like that.

Yumi's cell phone rang as she was running into the forest. It was awfully hard to run in high-heeled shoes, so the ringing mobile was an excuse to pause- just for a second.

"Jeremie!" Yumi gasped, trying to catch her breath.

"Yumi, come to the factory- are you panting?" he asked incredulously.

Yumi looked around to make sure there were no unwanted visitors. "There was- XANA killed one of the students!" She could hear him cringe on the other line.

"Which one?" She knew he was thinking of Aelita and Ulrich and Odd.

"A freshman boy named Turner." There was an awkward pause.

Jeremie gulped. "Do you know if there are any other casualties?"

Yumi avoided the topic. "I'll be at the factory in a few minutes."

When Yumi stepped off the elevator, she noticed Jeremie furiously clacking away at his computer, muttering to himself. Odd was frantically punching numbers into his cell phone; he was desperate for not only news of this latest deadly attack, but also on the state of his dance date. Aelita was fast asleep with her head on Ulrich's lap. He was stroking her head to comfort her, but he himself looked as worried as ever.

Yumi met Ulrich's glance and she nodded. "Jeremie, I'm going up to the scanners right now."

Odd raised an eyebrow at her. "He won't let us go up there. Well, he was going to, but you called and said Turnip died."

"It's Turner, Odd." As she said his name, it sounded as if she was that pretty little Indian girl shrieking out his name in fear and worry. Those eyes… why did she have to look in his eyes!

Odd shrugged and went back to trying to reach his girlfriend. Yumi met Ulrich's eyes and pointed at Aelita, mouthing, "What's wrong?"

He shrugged and whispered loudly, "She's so shaken up by this; she's trying to calm down." Ulrich just stared at Jeremie while waiting for his signal.

Jeremie didn't look anywhere but his computer screen as he systematically said, "Until I figure what were up against, no one is going into the scanners!"

It seemed hopeless. "There are more kids out there- we're just going to let them all die?"
"Would you rather the entire world be taken over by XANA? I can have that arranged!"

Yumi growled. "I killed an innocent person out there."

Odd looked up from his cell phone. Aelita woke up. Ulrich dared not to move. Jeremie whipped his head around. "You did what?" his eyes grew large and frightening.

"Or should I have Odd call up on his cell phone and ask Charlotte or whatever her name is to see how many other people I killed?" Yumi's voice became more frantic; she could see the horror build in Jeremie's eyes. She approached him slowly. Every word she spoke was another step closer to Jeremie's shaking body, another step closer to letting the others live.

"Or maybe it would be correct to say that because you wouldn't let us go in the scanners, Turner died. Others are dying as we speak, I bet, Jeremie."

Ulrich couldn't move but he chimed in loud and clear. "Just let us go, Jeremie!" Odd had to add, "Why not, Einstein?"

Jeremie rubbed his temples and avoided Yumi's menacing glare. "I have this feeling that this is no ordinary XANA attack. Who knows what will happen if you die out there? There will be no one to protect LYOKO! XANA's playing a game that's meant for the big boys- not us little babies!"

Yumi stormed off to the elevator with Odd in her stride. "I'm going up to the scanners, Jeremie, whether you like it or not!" Odd didn't say anything, but Yumi knew that he was thinking the same thing.

Ulrich nudged Aelita awake. She didn't say anything, but she was on the point of tears. Her eyes were puffy and red, like the color of her dress, but her silence said all.

He got up slowly (his back hurt from sitting in that position for so long) and noticed that Odd's cell phone lay near the elevator. "Huh, look at this, Jeremie!"

Jeremie slowly turned around. "Oh, the traitor's cell phone. Go on, call Charlotte and ask her how many more people have died. Go on, make me feel bad," his voice dripped with sarcasm.

Ulrich rolled his eyes and pressed the "call-back" button. There was an older boy's voice who answered, "Help!"

"William?" Of all the people to answer!

"Ulrich?" William seemed even more surprised. "Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine-"

"Is Yumi with you?"

Ulrich paused. "She is here. We are… hiding out." There was a long pause and more screams could be heard in the background. "I guess there's not going to be a dance tonight."

"Oh my God," William interjected distractedly, "Priscilla's under a rock now!"

"William- how many people have died so far?" He tried to sound compassionate, but turned out sounding like a nosy news reporter.

There was static. "William!" Ulrich shouted, meeting Jeremie's concerned eyes. "William! Answer me, William!" He slowly hung up the phone and shook his head. "No signal."

Jeremie cricked his neck and nodded in Ulrich and Aelita's direction. "Ulrich, you take the princess. We have a world to save."

The gang was virtualized into the Desert region, along with their vehicles and heavy hearts.

"Jeremie, just tell us what tower needs to be deactivated," Yumi begged, the vision of Turner's blue eyes haunting her incessantly.

Odd hopped aboard his over-board, Ulrich his over-bike, and Yumi her over-wing. Aelita was about to take a ride on Yumi's vehicle when suddenly she became hypnotized.

"Aelita!" Odd yelled as he tried to grab her as she went past him. But whatever was holding Aelita was dragging her so fast that not one of the team members could reach her.

It took many minutes to finally find Aelita, lying like a dead carcass in a merciless desert. Yumi couldn't remember who got there first, but they all came to the conclusion that someone or something was using an invisible force to drag along the helpless girl.

"Well, we could've figured that out about 17 kilometers ago!" Ulrich noted.

Aelita told them that she didn't feel threatened by the force. In fact, it was comforting. She heard the voice of Franz Hopper on her little excursion.

"He said… XANA was going to be destroyed provided we were on the good side. And that this would be the last battle… this would be the end!" That was all Yumi could remember.

The end. It was the end of LYOKO, the end of XANA, the end of fighting, the end of the camaraderie, the end of her secret double life, the end of her youth. It had to end sometime. It had to end if they won the battle. It had to end and never exist if Jeremie entered the very last "Return to the Past." But it was going to be the end for Turner and now Priscilla and others who weren't alive or going to be.

Yumi dragged Aelita onto her vehicle and motioned for the other guys to follow her. "The tower is over there- the pulsations are getting stronger!"

Odd rose above her. "Which tower?"

"The one with the red steam coming out of it? As usual?" Ulrich was amazed at Odd's inability to analyze and remember simple details.

Odd was insistent. "It looks like there's three towers activated now! Which one do we take?" The group halted at the fork with three paths, one for each tower.

Ulrich didn't say anything but zoomed to the right. Odd took the cue and bolted to the right. Yumi rocketed to the center and least guarded tower.

Five krabes circled the tower. Shooting at the over-wing, they did not seem to stop. Yumi zipped to the back of the tower and paused.

"What are we going to do?" asked Aelita.

Yumi had a plan. She was going to zoom from the side of the tower where the monsters least expected her; at the right moment, she would whip her metal fan. With the right throw, the monsters would be sliced in half in just one throw. "Perfect," she smugly muttered as the plan played out in her mind.

"What?" asked Aelita.

Without another sound, Yumi came around the tower to the left. She leaned her vehicle and threw the fan. Just as she predicted, the fan sliced all of the monsters… but the fan kept going.

"Odd! Watch out!" she yelled as she watched the fan hurl closer and closer to Odd.

She could see his head perk up in the middle of his fierce battle with two tarantulas. He ducked, and Yumi watched the boomerang come back to her.

She caught the fan perfectly. She parked the over-wing and let Aelita deactivate the tower.

Odd was coming over by Yumi. "Are you mad at me, Odd? I didn't mean to!"

"Don't worry about it," he batted his hand at her, just as a laser arrow shot past her head and ricocheted off of one of the monsters Ulrich was fighting.

"What's going on?" Odd shook his hand, but thought better of it after the last time he moved his hand. Jeremie's voice interrupted their conversation.

"Okay, guys, two down and one to go. Why aren't you helping Ulrich?"

Yumi just had to wonder, "Aelita's still in the first tower! How could she possibly be in the second one?"

"EVE-10 is taking care of the far left one. Now go help Ulrich!" Odd needed no further goading and raced to help his friend with Yumi not far behind him.

It was a comical sight. Ulrich had used his clone ability to take on the plethora of monsters, which were already destroyed. Ulrich kept yelling, "Fusion! Fusion!" but the clones weren't listening. Instead, they were attacking the real Ulrich himself.

"Hang on, buddy!" Odd yelled as he shot laser arrows at the two menacing Ulrich clones. Yumi noticed that EVE-10 appeared to be flying into the tower that Ulrich was at.

"That's neat," she muttered happily. That meant all the towers were deactivated- that meant a return to the past- that meant things would go back to they way they were!

"I'm afraid it's not that easy, Yumi," Jeremie's voice answered.

Odd retorted, "We need to return to the past, Jeremie! We can't let XANA win!"

Ulrich brushed off his outfit. "Well, then what do we need to do?"

"We wait."

Yumi was incredulous. "We wait? For what? For XANA to come over to us and hand us the keys to LYOKO?"

"Basically, yes!"

"In the meantime, Jeremie, let's go back in time," pleaded Ulrich as Aelita came out of the middle tower. Ulrich abandoned his bike and took a ride on Odd's over-board so the three could go by their stranded friend.

Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi sat around the inactivated tower, waiting for Jeremie to reverse time. Jeremie admitted that he didn't know what the consequences would be if they did reverse time, but he also knew that leaving his friends out in LYOKO could also be dangerous.

Yumi stood up and looked around her. There was neither a monster nor an activated tower in sight. She stared up at the perpetually orange sky, knowing that Jeremie would hear everything she was about to say. "Jeremie, for the sake of all living things on Earth, please reverse time. I will never ask for anything ever again if you reverse time."

Jeremie sighed reluctantly. "Return to the past- now!"

For the first time that night, she saw Turner's burning blue eyes close peacefully.

"Aelita! Don't ask anymore questions! I want you to stay away from the dance- and that's final!" Jeremie slammed his fist on the lunch table. It was the day of the dance, and worry was spreading throughout the group.

The pink-haired girl looked dejected, but she tried to smile. "I guess I can wear my dress another time." She glanced at Ulrich. "And you'll have to find someone else to go to the dance with."

Ulrich bit his lip and scanned the cafeteria. There was no girl he could think of that didn't have a date to the dance. Even the ugliest girl- Cassidy- had a date to the dance!

Apparently, he wasn't the only one. Odd raced to the table, breathless, his purple shirt stained with sweat.

Jeremie had to know, "Did you just get out of P.E.?"

"No- I can't find Charlotte anywhere!" He stared at Aelita, unblinking. "Was she in your class this morning?"

Aelita hummed for a bit and bit her fingernail unconsciously. "As a matter of fact, no. I thought she was sick or something."

Odd covered his face with his hands. "What am I going to do?" He shook Ulrich violently. "What if Charlotte didn't make it back to the return to the past?" he yelled.

Ulrich was too shaken to respond, but the others let out a gasp. Yumi figured it was possible, but would XANA really hit so low? Or was it an accident- or even caused by the gang themselves?

Jeremie reached over and patted Odd on the shoulder. "It's okay, she'll turn up eventually."

But Yumi noticed the look on his face wasn't too convincing.

So Aelita hung back with Jeremie the night of the dance; he read magazines while she stared off into space lonely as could be.

Ulrich was with Odd, not as a date, but looking for Charlotte in the crowd. Nobody seemed to notice the girl was even gone.

Sissy, dressed in a frilly white dress similar to that of a bridal gown put in a high-speed dryer, approached the two comrades with as much grace as a footless swan.

"Hello, Ulrich dear!" she flittered. "I thought you were going with Aelita."

He shook his head. "She wasn't feeling well."

"Oh, that's a pity. Did she see Odd's face or did she try having a conversation with him?"

Odd tried to suppress his anger, but it was difficult. "Well, I thought you were going as Frankenstein's bride!" Ulrich tried to stifle his laughter.

She ignored him. "Ulrich, dear, why aren't you going with Yumi?" And then the final blow- "Oh that's right! She's going with William! Sorry you'll never have her, Ulrich," she mocked in pity.

He clenched his fist and muttered, "Sorry you'll never fall in love, you ugly good-for-nothing-"

Sissy started to sob; and without her flunkies to comfort her (they were with their dates), she ran away to somewhere in the midst of the crowd.

Odd brushed his hands. "Good work, Ulrich! But now we have a Charlotte to find!"

William wasn't answering his cell phone. Yumi left him a message, but he never returned her call. She met him where she told him to meet her, right under the willow next to the science building.

She opened her purse and glanced at her cell phone tucked inside. Five minutes before the boulder would've fallen, and by this time, she should have talked to William. Where was he?

Jeremie was the first one to ring Odd. "Come to the factory- there's another attack!"

"But what about Charlotte?" he whined.

"No time. We'll find her on the return trip."

Odd gulped. "What if there is none?"

There was silence. "I promise there will be a return trip. Now hurry, before anyone else gets hurt!"

Yumi got the phone call next, just as she spotted William. He was meters ahead of her, and she called out his name.

He spun around, looking spiffy in his suit and tie. "Well, hello, Yumi," he smiled and looked into her eyes.

"Why didn't you return my calls?" she tried not to sound anxious. The phone kept ringing in her purse.

He frowned. "I never got your calls. I left messages on your cell phone, too."

"Huh," she replied, while picking up her ringing cell. "Hello?"
"Yumi!" Jeremie yelled. "Where have you been?"

She chuckled. "I'm at the dance, just like everybody else!" William had a sense of urgency in his eyes, like he had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

Yumi listened intently. "There's another attack. XANA's made a two-layer- maybe even more- of this boulder-attack. You have to come back to the factory right away!"

Yumi responded with a mild, "Oh, that's horrible! I'll bring you a tampon right away, Jeremie!" She hung up the phone, kissed a petrified William on the cheek, and ran off towards the direction of the woods.

Jeremie, who had the phone on "speaker" so everybody could hear it in the factory, was simply confused.

Ulrich gave him a funny look and began to laugh.

"Oh, ha, ha. I don't need a tampon, Ulrich!" he retorted while Odd and Aelita chimed in the laughter.

Yumi exited the elevator the laughter of everybody but Jeremie. "You know, Yumi, there are better ways to excuse yourself to the factory than saying that I need a tampon to William," he scolded.

She shrugged and grinned. "I know." She pivoted and went back into the elevator as the three warriors followed behind her.

"But now I can die happy knowing that I embarrassed you completely and entirely." The elevator doors shut and Jeremie's jaw dropped.

"Okay, so we just have to deactivate the tower, right?" Odd said.

"Right," said Jeremie, as the four friends zoomed over the vast mountain region. Aelita squeezed Yumi's waist tighter as the geisha sped up her over-wing to match the speed of Odd's over-board.

"The tower is- you see that big flat rock that looks like an oval?"

Ulrich was the first to spot it. "You betcha. Let me guess, tower's over there?"
"You betcha," came the happy reply. This was going to go smoothly.

Odd came to the site first. He yelled back to Yumi and Aelita, "Go to the tower so I can get back to finding Charlotte!"

Yumi waved at him, acknowledging his plea. But she crashed her over-wing into an invisible wall.

Aelita and Yumi both fell about seven stories with ten points' damage as Jeremie reminded them. They stood at where their over-wing had crashed, but on the flat rocky mountain. Looking up, it seemed as if there had been nothing there.

Odd noticed that they weren't following him. He made a quick U-turn and found them rubbing their rumps and staring into space.

"Lovely ladies they make, don't they?" he mused to nobody in particular. Aelita chuckled.

Yumi spoke up. "There's something up there that I crashed my wing into. But I can't figure it out!"

"Let me see-"

"No!" both girls shouted. Aelita continued. "I bet it's some sort of invisible coating on a mountain. Something of XANA's doing."

"I hope that's the only thing that's invisible," Yumi sighed as Jeremie re-materialized their vehicle.

Ulrich skid his bike into the middle of the stone field. "Jeremie, where are the monsters?"

Jeremie answered, "Oh, they're there. I can see them on my screen!"

Ulrich scanned the field left to right slowly. "Nope, no monsters." He jumped off his over-bike.

"Be careful, Ulrich; don't just run to the tower!" But before Jeremie could finish his sentence, Ulrich ran into the middle of the field.

"Look ma! No monsters!" he smiled and put out his hands mockingly.

Before he could even laugh at his joke, he was attacked and de-virtualized by lasers that came from nowhere.

"Odd, Yumi, Aelita!"

"What, Jeremie?"

"Ulrich's been de-virtualized by the field!"

They rode in stunned silence. "The field?" asked Yumi, thinking how bad this portion of logic was.

"Well, maybe XANA is using the invisible card and messing everything up for the good guys!" said Odd sarcastically.

"Odd!" gasped Jeremie happily. "You're a genius!"

Odd bowed as the trio approached the field. "I know."

Yumi listened to Jeremie intently. There were monsters, invisible ones that would shoot at anyone or anything. And until a monster was encountered, the LYOKO warriors wouldn't know what they were up against. The tower was guarded by three monsters, but twenty more were scattered across the field.

"XANA's getting good or getting smart," Odd replied thoughtfully.

"Or maybe he's getting more evil," murmured Aelita, her face paler than usual.

(A.N.- I am fully aware that this chapter hasn't ended. If you point this out to me in the review, I will think evil thoughts in your general direction. By the way, the chapter was so long that it had to be broken down into multiple parts. Thanks for your patience. s.joann.c.)