Hey guys!

Happy Sunday and as always, thanks for the well wishes, encouragement, all that good stuff. We are still steamrolling down and getting this story knocked out section by section. I'm happy to say that I was also rather successful at writing new material last week as well – some EXCELLENT material if I do say so myself – and I can't wait for yall to eventually get to the material I'm writing up in the present plot. Lots of fun!

As for the schedule and what to expect at the new year, I'll sound off on the bottom for that one, and in the mean time – happy reading!

…

…

Levi was sitting in his office, forcing himself to be diligent and keep up with the paperwork because it had only been a few weeks without Petra's help and he was determined to not fall behind as a result – it was technically his job after all - but a sudden knock at the door grabbed his attention. He looked up in question as the door opened, and Eld stood in the open doorway, having opened the door almost to the fullest extent.

"Captain…" Eld began with a certain degree of urgency, "I uh…"

"What is it?" Levi pressed firmly, noticing that Eld's body language was tense with worry. The fact that he was getting tongue tied only further concerned him, as thinking on his feet and responding without hardly missing a beat was an admitted strength of Eld's. Something must have been wrong.

Eld looked down the hall and his eyes narrowed as though in deep thought, "It's… Petra."

Levi cocked his head, "Oh?"

He was already in the process of preparing to get out of his chair in immediate response, when the knowledge that it was Eld speaking crossed his mind, and he gave a long sigh as he relaxed back in his seat, not wanting to play into his hand or jump to any conclusions simply because her name was said.

He had just seen her last night and she had seemed fine, so he couldn't see a need for Eld to be so worked up about whatever was going on. She had perhaps gone through a more difficult week, but for the most part she had taken it with grace, and he felt confident that she had come out better for it. Her gear was returned, she had access to evening free time again – it wasn't perfect, but it was a start.

Yet still, he wasn't blind to the fact that she was under immense stress even now. He had forced her to take a step back and breathe a little, but he knew full well that her task never fully left her mind and a large part of her drive to regain her freedom was simply so she could get back to her research and head dive right back into the same madness that had lead her astray in the first place.

Perhaps she was overdoing it again.

Levi returned his subordinate's gaze flatly, an almost casualness to his voice as he responded, "I presume she's just crunching more numbers. By now I'm sure she's told you of all people, but Erwin's got her on a bit of a project. If you're trying to tell me that she's being over worked, save your breath. I didn't want her to have any part in this, but it's what she's chosen and considering Erwin outranks all of us, it's out of my hands."

"It's Saturday though," Eld responded quickly, as though that would somehow change matters, "We're off duty all day so-"

"That didn't stop her last weekend. Or the weekend before that."

"Well sure, but-"

Levi clicked his tongue, finding that, while unintentional, Eld's reminding him of the fact that Petra had so easily returned to her folders the second she had been able to, soured his mood and bit at his pride like a flame because perhaps some part of him had been hoping that after a week of clearing her head, she would have let it go.

But no.

Of course not.

"It's got nothing to do with me. Stop meddling and let her be."

"I'm not trying to meddle, I just thought that if you went and-"

"Oh right." Levi cut him off with a sarcastic nod of his head, "You think that I've got some special pull over her or that I 'have my ways' of getting her to respond how I want? Well let me tell you, Erwin thought that too, and it just goes to show you that he's not right about everything. Considering that she's huddled in her room with every scrap of records the Regiment has to offer within the last five years, even after I…" he took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose, not wanting to bring up that conversation again, nor the efforts he had taken this past week alone to keep her on the straight and narrow. He scoffed, "Well. It seems Petra is more independent than either of you accounted for."

Levi looked toward his desk bitterly, certain that the discussion had been brought to a rather blunt, but truthful end. "There's nothing I can do here Eld, so best leave it be."

Instead of walking away, Eld gave a long sigh and stepped further into the Office, his eyes narrowed in concern, "Levi…she's crying. Loudly. In all my years in working with her, I've never seen, or heard her this upset."

He paused as Levi fell perfectly still from behind his desk, the man's attention obviously perked from the bit of divulged information. Eld continued, "The guys and I, we could all hear her from our room and when we tried to check on her…it didn't go well. We knocked on the door but she didn't respond; just kept crying about who knows what, as though she didn't even hear us. After a few tries and still no response, we decided to come get you because, well, you are her husband, and the Captain and…we don't know what else to do. Something's wrong with her Levi. We're all worried."

Eld turned over his shoulder as he spoke, looking out toward the hallway desperately, "I know you've tried in the past or whatever but maybe…can you at least just come out and check on-"

Before Eld could even finish his sentence, Levi was already walking past him and out into the hallway intentionally, a scowl on his face as he took large strides down the hall. She was crying? About what? He had just seen her last night! She was fine, she had even appeared to be relatively happy! What the hell had happened?

His anger, his exasperation, his patience, all were being stretched thinner and thinner with every step he took as he thought it over because whatever was going on with her, it all pointed back to Erwin and his blatant mind fuckery. He knew this had been a bad idea from the start, and he had told him as much that same day. He knew his subordinates, all of them. Not that he understood them perfectly per say, but he was confident that he had a firm grasp on what they could, and couldn't do – he had to, it was his job.

Confusing his subordinates' abilities, either under or over estimating them, was a sure fire way to get them all killed, and he went through pain staking, grueling training exercises that tested both mind and body to see where they each preformed and thrived. It wasn't that Petra wouldn't ever be able to handle this amount of pressure, but plain and simple, she wasn't ready for it now. She was only starting to grasp and refine her own unique skillset, and Erwin's methods wouldn't build her up in the least. If anything she would only survive them, and bear the scars of making such a decision whether she was successful or not. It might take him years to chip away at the mental damage, convince her to continue to make her own decisions, that not every decision she made would inevitably lead to her comrades dying all around her.

As he walked, he saw that Gunther and Oluo were stationed outside of her door, worried expressions on their faces as they stared at her bedroom door in obvious concern.

"She's not sobbing anymore," Oluo stated as he neared them, looking back to the door with an irritated expression, "But she still isn't responding to us when we call out to her so…"

Levi nodded and grabbed the door handle, not paying the rest of his squad much mind as he tried to enter the room, but stopping short when the handle didn't budge.

"Yeah, she locked it." Oluo stated simply, and Levi sighed. He took another step toward the door, leaning into the wooden surface as he prepared to speak. He knocked on the surface, "Petra. Unlock the door. I know you can hear me."

"Believe me, we've tried that Captain but," Gunther whispered beside him, though Levi continued.

"Either you unlock the door or I break it off its hinges - you decide. You've got ten seconds."

"Granted, we didn't try that…" Gunther whispered, and under any other circumstance, Levi may have smirked in response. It was true that his methods were lacking the gentle approach that others may have taken, but as it stood, he wasn't in a good mood and subtlety wasn't his forte. His primary focus was simply on getting into the room and seeing Petra. He hadn't heard anything at first, but with him being pressed up against the door, he could hear that she was still actively crying, but the sound was muffled, as though she were crying into a blanket or pillow.

A silence fell across the area, and Levi merely stared into the door narrowly.

"Five seconds Petra."

He decided to push her a little further, because it wasn't a mere threat – he had no problem kicking her door in considering this behavior was so unlike her that he understood full well why his squad had sought him out, but if it could at all be avoided, if she could prove she wasn't so far gone that she was all but catatonic – that would make them all feel better. He continued, "It'll be a real hassle to get a new door you know. And I'm not filling out the maintenance request either. You'll have to fill it out, take it to Erwin, explain to him why your door got broken down in the first place and-"

Because his hand was already on the handle, Levi felt when the device turned ever so slightly and was unlocked from the inside. Seeing the ghost of a smirk and light flash of relief across his face, Eld spoke from beside him, "Did she unlock the door?"

Levi merely gave a nod, waving his hand in silent communication to back away and give him a bit of space. He doubted that the first thing Petra wanted to see was the entire squad staring into her room all at once, during what he could only imagine was a rather low and vulnerable moment in her life.

They took a few steps back away from her door, and when Levi was certain that they weren't all crowded around him, he pushed the door open just slightly, peering inside quietly. The room was somewhat dark – it looked as though she had closed the curtain so the sunlight wasn't as prominent in her room – and he blinked when he finally found her form.

She was sitting on the floor, resting her back against the frame of her bed with her arms wrapped around herself tightly, making a ball of sorts with her body. Her head was tilted down into her folded legs, and though he couldn't see her face, it was obvious she was crying.

Around her were countless folders, papers all over her floor, notebooks with various numbers and diagrams; there was no walking space in her room. There were just papers. On her dresser, on her bed, piled up in corners and stacked at various places – papers.

He quickly closed the door behind himself, eyes wide at the disaster that was her room, but more than that, the disaster that was Petra herself. He was admittedly at a loss, because just yesterday… yesterday she had been fine! What had happened that had caused her to go from chipper and motivated to…this?

He carefully planted his steps, treading lightly as he moved and almost cringing at the sounds of papers crinkling under his boots as there was no where he could step that wouldn't be over some form of document. He kneeled in front of her, grabbing her shoulders firmly and giving her a slight shake as he spoke firmly, "Alright Petra, what's this about?"

She slowly raised her head and as her eyes locked with his, her eyebrows knit together as she tried to return his gaze, but at once she hung her head as a loud sob left her and she shook her head miserably. Though it was hard to understand her, she attempted to speak between her tears, "Captain I'm-" another sob left her and her voice cracked, "so sorry!"

His mouth fell open as he stared at her in surprise, more than at a loss and admittedly worried with her strange behavior. He had to agree with Eld's assessment; in all his years of being her Captain, he had never seen her cry like this before. It made him feel uneasy, unequipped, because he didn't know what he was supposed to do or how he could even help. He didn't even know what was wrong.

"I tried," she continued between deep breaths, looking up at him with wide, almost panicked eyes, "but I fell behind, so then you took the folders, and I had to earn them back, and now that I did… I still can't do it and I realized what a failure I am and…Captain it's all my fault!" she took a deep breath and cried loudly, staring into the floor with a faraway, haunted look, and Levi frowned as he understood the nature of her tears. As expected, it was the mental strain – the weight of the burden she had chosen to bear was enormous, and she was completely cracking under the pressure because she believed the reality of the upcoming deaths fell squarely on her shoulders. He had expected a similar outcome, and yet…

"I wanted to make you proud; I wanted to save my comrades. What's so wrong with that, right? I told myself that I was stronger now and…" she looked at him directly, her eyes boring into his as she spoke in resolve, "I'm useless aren't I? All this time on your squad and nothing has changed! I really can't do anything unless it's mere backup to someone else!"

"Stop."

"My solo kill record is the lowest on the squad, I'm not a leader like you or Eld, I'm not as smart as Hanji or Erwin, I'm not physically strong like Gunther or Oluo, I'm only here at all because you stepped in and I just – I'm just wasting everyone's time! I serve no purpose here!"

Levi's grip on her tightened until she all out winced, the pain causing her words to cease as Levi's patience was tested, "Stop talking like that. You know full well that's not true and if you're looking for pity, then you should have let Eld in when you had the chance. As it stands now, I'm the wrong man to cry to; I told you to drop it numerous times and you didn't fucking listen, so enough with your fucking sob story because it's pissing me off."

Petra whimpered and gave a timid nod, "Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir."

Levi groaned as he released her, crossing his arms and watching her flatly, "What I want to know is where's this all coming from? You earned your folders back and get to spend all day today and tomorrow doing your research – don't tell me you've given up. Not that I would actually complain about that but…"

Petra stared into the floor again, her voice a whisper, "No, I can't. I definitely can't give up…It's just…Erwin was here earlier and he -"

Levi's expression narrowed, his voice taking a sudden edge, "…What?"

Petra had attempted to speak further, but her voice cracked and tears began streaming down her face with greater force. Levi felt a growl build in his throat at her sudden inability to speak, and he repeated hotly, "You said Erwin was here? What happened? When? Petra, what did he say to you?"

Petra swallowed as though trying to reign in her emotions and she slowly spoke, each word clearly spoken with great difficulty as she refused to meet his gaze, "He said that he wanted to remind me that-" her voice cracked and she bit her lip sadly, "that here's only three months left until the next Expedition, and that on Monday, they are going to start implementing his plan, considering-" A broken sob left her forcefully, wracking her shoulders and making her breathing spike from the force of her tears, her voice high and desperate, "Considering I wasn't able to figure anything out after all!"

Levi's mouth fell open as Petra's tears continued streaming down her face, and he clamped his mouth shut as she leaned forward into the ground, all but bowing in shame as she cried openly in unrestrained sorrow. Levi set his jaw in outrage as Petra continued, her voice muffled by her bent position, "He said that if I could figure something out in the next few weeks, then maybe they might be able to implement it into training and the men still might have a chance so…so Captain, I'm trying but…" she shook her head mournfully, "But when I think of teams going out past the walls, running into Titans with no avenue of escape, the tremendous fear they'll experience right before death - I can't help but feel that it's my fault that they have to die like that at all and…"

She sat up slowly, bringing her knees back and up into her body, again hugging herself as she spoke with that same haunted look, "I know you said that these sort of roles have consequences, and I know you tried to warn me that I wasn't ready, and even still -" She dropped her head back into her knees and cried, "All I can see is the faces! When I walk out, when we get food, so many faces; people that never agreed to put their lives into my hands, people that would have never put their trust in someone like me to begin with! They're all going to die a terrible death and it's all my fault!"

Levi frowned darkly as he watched Petra, seeing firsthand the results of Erwin's intentional power play and manipulation.

"That bastard." He mumbled to himself as he stood up from the floor, away from Petra and out of her room without another word. When he walked out, he was instantly flanked by the rest of his squad, who was already walking with him step for step as he made his way down the hall intentionally.

"What's going on?" Oluo was the first to ask, and Levi gave a nod in acknowledgement, looking to his right toward where Eld was stationed, ignoring Oluo's question in favor of issuing orders.

"Eld."

"Sir."

"You stay with Petra; the rest of you just go about your day like normal because she doesn't need to be bombarded with your concern. For the most part, she's fine; nothing that can't be addressed. You did well to come and get me though, so thank you for that."

Eld kept pace with him and watched the Captain with concern, "No problem. So you want me to just…stay with her?"

Levi nodded, "Yeah. More importantly, make sure she doesn't try to get back to studying any of the papers for the time being. I don't care how you do it, but she is not to look at a single number until I get back."

Oluo spoke again, his voice laced with accusation. "And what will you be doing in all of this?"

While it was obvious Oluo was irritated that he hadn't been granted a more important role, something that involved him being some sort of hero to Petra in her 'time of need', Levi couldn't be bothered to rise to his baiting and continued down the hall just the same. His thoughts were still stuck on the mental picture of Petra, bent in half and sobbing into the floor because of a secret meeting he hadn't been privy to.

His expression darkened, "I've got some business to see to."

At that, he waved his squad off and continued down the hall, frowning.

It wasn't but two minutes later that Levi was at Erwin's door, not even sparing a moment to knock before he barreled into his office in outright anger.

Inside the room, Erwin was sitting behind his desk, looking at some papers passively, and just to his right, Hanji was sitting up on his desk, eating her lunch and in the middle of laughing about who knows what. Eyes widening at Levi's sudden arrival and seeing the clear outrage on his face, Erwin looked toward Hanji in alarm, shoving her off his desk with an intentional push, already knowing what was coming as Levi tightened his fist and flew over his desk – also using his free arm to shove Hanji away so that she wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.

The Captain's fist connected firmly with Erwin's jaw, and as Levi flew forward, up and over the desk, all three members of leadership hit the ground with a solid thump – Erwin from being hit, Levi from his leaping frontal assault, and Hanji from being shoved by both men a mere split second before.

Hanji, slightly disoriented and now showered in bits of lettuce and dressing, peered behind the desk in alarm, seeing Levi was crouched over Erwin, a murderous expression over his face as his hands tightened around the Commander's collar until his knuckles were white, and she exclaimed in obvious alarm, "Levi what – what's gotten into you?!"

Levi's grip remained steadfast, and while he had only hit him just the one time, his free hand was balled into a fist even now and pulled back in preparation, as though he was still undecided on if he would hit him again or not. He didn't even blink at Hanji's question, merely remained staring down at Erwin in undisguised fury, his voice loud and audibly dripping with rage, "I told you that I didn't want Petra involved in your games, and you met with her this morning behind my back? Erwin, she's my subordinate, not yours and-"

Erwin smirked a bloody smile at Levi's words, his speech only slightly slurred from his cheek that was already starting to swell, "Oh, made you angry with that, did I? I'm curious Levi, are you mad that I went behind your back, or are you mad that I upset her?"

Levi pressed his lips together and gave his collar a firm shake, earning a pained groan from Erwin as Levi's force made his head rattle painfully into the ground, "Both, you manipulative fuck, and if I were you I'd wipe that smug grin off your face before I pound it into the floor."

"Hey now, that's enough!" Hanji stated firmly as she stood up from the ground, and the Captain spoke through gritted teeth, "This doesn't concern you Four-Eyes, get out."

The Scientist was about to speak, mouth open and eyebrows knit together in offense, but Erwin tilted his head back against the floor so he could look at her directly, "Hanji." He gave her a single nod and she rolled her eyes, knowing that he was also dismissing her. She groaned but said nothing further, dusting herself off as she moved out of the room and going as far as shutting the door behind her so no other Scout's walked by and saw the two men, quite literally, at each other's throats.

As soon as the door clicked into place, Erwin looked up at Levi flatly, seeming to accept his fate and whatever beating Levi intended to dole out on him, as he didn't even try to fight against him, "I'm only doing what's best for the Scout Regiment, Captain."

Levi snarled, "Bullshit. We both know you like to gamble, but it's not a gamble when the odds are stacked so highly against you and you take the bet anyway – that's just sheer stupidity, you condescending jackass."

Erwin's expression remained unchanged, "High risk, high reward."

Levi leaned forward, voice low as he threatened the man outright, "Let me tell you one more time Erwin. Don't. Fuck. With my squad. I don't care how many brats you send off to their graves, the lies you tell, or the secrets you bury - but leave my team out of it!"

Levi stared down at him forebodingly, and eventually, Erwin quirked an eyebrow and gave a single nod, "A question for you to consider, Captain."

Levi ground his teeth together and pressed out in irritation, "Fucking what."

Oh how he hated being at odds with Erwin. As strong as Levi was physically, he was vastly outmanned mentally, and no matter how black and white an issue seemed at first, Erwin always seemed to find a way to alter his perspective, where by the end it was a mess of greys and indecision. The man was a master of manipulation, a cunning tactician, and a genius at verbal banter – it wasn't often that Levi could walk out with his head held high after exchanging blows with the man, either physically or verbally.

Erwin gave a simple shrug at Levi's unpleased question, and watched him directly, "You seem to be rather upset by all of this – it's been years since I've gotten you this riled up – but I have to wonder, would you be this upset had it been…say, a different member of your squad? Maybe Eld or Oluo, perhaps?"

Levi rolled his eyes and scoffed, "All their abilities are so different, it's impossible for me to-"

Erwin gave a laugh that cut off the irked Captain, quirking an eyebrow as he smirked up at Levi, "And now it's my turn to call your bluff."

Levi's eyes narrowed and a tense silence fell over the room as both men stared into each other in challenge. Erwin watched him sternly, intentionally as he addressed him, "It's time to face the facts Levi – you were an unfocused mess at the collaboration meeting, you've been micromanaging her for weeks now, you're prepared to rip me to shreds for hurting her…Petra's changed you. You're protective of your entire squad to be sure, but with Petra, your methods have notably changed. You've gotten rather attached to her and frankly…"

Erwin paused as a sort of laugh left his chest and Levi's eyes widened at the Commander's words, "I'm happy for you, Levi. I had always hoped, always believed that good would come out of your marriage to her, and sure it looked a little rocky at first, but look how far you both have come since."

Levi blinked in surprise at the change in tone, some of his anger melting away in exchange for complete confusion because it seemed like such a night and day switch between topics – and yet. Levi's eyes narrowed and Erwin simply nodded knowingly, "It's hard for people like us to find happiness, wouldn't you say? Granted it was unexpected and came about in an unorthodox way, but there's a certain contentment about you now that has always been lacking in the past. Petra satisfies you, and as much as you want to push her away, it seems you've finally come to terms with the fact that you're too selfish to let her go." He chuckled and watched Levi with an amused sort of smirk, "It's certainly about time."

Erwin exhaled as Levi tried to fumble for some retort – any retort that might restore his control of the conversation because he was furious dammit! – and a more serious expression returned to the Commander's face, "That's well and all, and I hope that you continue to allow her to soften your life because she deserves happiness every bit as much as you, but I would issue you a reminder that you need to be less biased in the future, because your bonds with her are skewing your judgement. Petra can be fixed. The dead cannot. I feel the need to remind you that as the Commander, I have every right to utilize whomever I see fit, and that includes your squad."

Levi had been listening to his words with a small amount of continued shock, however when Erwin had finished his last statement, a sort of warning growl tore out of his throat and Erwin held up a hand, continuing quickly before Levi started swinging at him again, "However. I value your squad, I value the skills you alone bring to the Regiment, and what's more, I value our friendship. Because of this, you have my word that going forward, I will trust your judgement in terms of how you want your squad to be managed, and of course, that includes Petra."

Levi gave a tense exhale and stared down at Erwin flatly, finding that as usual, he felt rather unsatisfied. His grip loosened just slightly on the man's collar, and he shook his head bitterly, "To be honest, I had planned on hitting you at least once more, considering the mess you've left behind for me."

Erwin merely sighed, "If you would avoid the face please? I know you're mad and all, but I've got a meeting with Pixis in less than an hour and it's going to be hard enough to talk as it is with this swollen cheek and fat lip you just gave me. You know Levi, I'm pretty sure you nearly dislocated my jaw. Was that necessary?"

"You're meeting with Pixis?" Levi repeated in question, and Erwin gave another nod.

"Gas shortage."

"Ah."

A silence extended, and Erwin somewhat shifted beneath him uncomfortably, "Look, sorry to rush you Levi, but can you make up your mind? As much as I feel I should be honored, what with you being on top of me like this-" Levi's eyes narrowed at his friend's choice of words, and Erwin grabbed the shorter man's wrists, forcing the Captain's grip to weaken further as Erwin shifted himself upward into a sitting position "You're extremely heavy."

Levi exhaled tensely and moved off from him as he stood up from the floor, even going as far as to help pull Erwin upward. Erwin rubbed his jaw and wiped the blood from his still bleeding mouth, looking at Levi and shaking his head, "Like I said it's been a few years; I forgot how much this hurts."

Levi crossed his arms and watched him flatly, an irritation still very present in his tone, "I'm not apologizing."

Erwin looked toward him and smirked, rubbing his jaw and giving a slight chuckle, "Oh? Well that makes two of us."

Levi's eyes narrowed and he stared at the blonde in warning, "If you want me to hit you again, you could save the baiting and just ask. I'm still weighing my options because I'm not exactly satisfied."

Erwin rolled his eyes, knowing that Levi was not making an attempt at humor and he began to reorganize his desk from the papers and books that had gotten disarrayed from the scuffle, "Don't you have some place to be, Levi? Perhaps with a certain subordinate of yours? Or really anywhere else that doesn't involve threatening me?"

He exhaled thickly as he watched Erwin fix his desk back to his liking, unable to stop the impulse to restack the papers Erwin had just set aside, as they weren't actually straight. "Well no thanks to you, yes I have some place to be. A certain subordinate of mine is presently in hysterics, and the rest of my squad is terrified as a result and is pacing near her bedroom door even now. It's like a damned stack of dominos back there."

Erwin gave a sympathetic smile, and nodded in sudden understanding, "Is that so? Well for that you have my apologies as that wasn't my intention."

Levi grumbled and turned toward the door, irritated that Erwin had somehow managed to get off the hook so easily. He felt as though he had something more to say, some threat that hadn't been communicated to his liking, but as the silence extended, he groaned and walked out without another word.

As usual, he wasn't sure who had come out on top in the end.

Probably Erwin, same as usual.

…

End of Chapter

…

Okay, so insert speech about how much I love this chapter, because I really, really do. I think my personal favorite moment is when Levi is like, if you wanted pity, you should have let Eld in because I don't do pity. Yes, Levi's character will change and develop throughout this story, but at the end of the day, he's still Levi. (And I live for it.)

I love this whole mini-arc of Petra's stumbling about, and while I won't give any spoilers away, out of all the material I've written out (Total of fifty seven, edited, post ready chapters guys! TOLD you I've been working!) this chapter that's coming next week is…probably my top three? I don't know what my number one or two is, though I of course love the ring shopping and the conversation they have on the walk back from the banquet. Author's top picks :)

Now, lets talk material and schedule. So I know I've shared that I've been really, really diligent in wanting to get new material on the ready, because I never want to get at a place where I'm less than ten chapters ahead so therefore have to post less frequently, and thanks to these past three weeks of insane focus, I'm back to twenty chapters ahead, on the nose. *insert sigh of relief* What this means for my lovely readers, is that at the New year, weekly updates will continue going strong! Bring out the celebratory canons! Praise the Walls!

Thus far, I can promise continual updates on a weekly basis through all of March, and then I'll take a look at the start of April and revisit the subject once again.

Oh, as an additional heads up, I stated a few months back (for anyone with an eye for details) that I would be doing an update on Christmas Eve and….while I have the material….eh, just…it's not going to happen. Yall know I'm married, have a kid, and have all the same hectic schedules as everyone else during the holidays, so I can't really guarantee I'm going to have additional time during that week to spot edit and post. My sincerest apologies for biting off more than I can chew on that note, but I'd rather just tell yall that now.

Of course, I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season, and for those who were looking forward to a Christmas update from little ol' me, might I recommend my (granted its pretty old and I'm a better writer now buuuttt) Christmas piece, Walls Day? For those itching for some new material? No obligation guys, I just feel a little guilty because I really thought I'd give you an additional chapter that week as a Christmas gift from me to you, but just not going to work out.

I WILL however, for sure, be posting an extra chapter on NEW YEARS DAY instead, to somewhat make up for it and start the year out strong. That week is a lot less hectic for my family, and I'll make it happen for yall then – same business as usual, morning time, all that jazz. Either way, I'm super stoked to wrap up this year, and to start a fresh new one with yall. Till next week everyone!

~Midnight