By the time they arrived in Toha, Kaetar just felt like he was all kinds of exhausted. There was the physical exhaustion that would never quite go away but for once, he also just wanted to be alone for a little bit. He was tired of the crowd and the speeches and he just wanted to have a warm bath and sleep all day. Or perhaps, he was just tired of being part of the all of the decision making and being involved with all of the inner workings of the rebellion, maybe that was what he wanted a break from. Syrin woke up long before they arrived in Toha but he had yet to regain full control of the army, mostly because nobody would let him. Nasir and Stefan insisted that he continue to rest and not work himself back to his previous state.

Syrin was all caught up on what they accomplished but he was only getting information on a need-to-know basis, which Kaetar decided he was going to let everybody else determine what that meant. All he knew was that Syrin was grumpy, not only because of the lack of information and the lack of control over the things that mattered to him, but he was also still weak physically. It was a good thing Zeke was his wagon mate because anybody else would have gotten grumpy and irritated with him. Those feelings were more or less foreign to Zeke.

Zeke was also beginning to take his first steps outside. Maybe to get away from Syrin. He had no idea why Reyson wasn't helping either of them though.

It was a celebration once they got to Toha. The children were the first to run into the town, excited by the big buildings and the new sites. Many of them ran to the harbours for a good look at the sea, with a transformed Rykuu and Ema bounding after them to make sure nothing bad happened to them. Kaetar could remember being their age and running around like that too, it was how he met Syrin for the first time after all.

The citizens themselves were also very excited about their return. There were discussions, which mostly involved Syrin sitting at the end of the wagon talking to the citizens who had more authority than the others. Joel and Nasir joined in on those talks but Kaetar decided not to. There was also cheering and excited chatter among the citizens themselves. Toha remained their biggest supporters in the end.

"Wow, the last time we were here, dad was still alive," Rylar mumbled.

"Huh, that was a long time ago," Kaetar mumbled. They were in two teams that time, with Rylar and Duma being part of the team that stayed in Toha, and they left when Saira was causing them trouble. Kaetar didn't even think about that but if he had, he wouldn't have brought it up if Rylar didn't. In general, it seemed okay to talk about Duma whenever Rylar brought it up – he was in an okay place if he could talk about his dad at all, so Duma was a safe topic then.

"Yeah, I never thought I'd go so long without him."

"Did it get any easier with time?"

Rylar sighed, crossing his arms. "A little bit," he said simply. "I'm more upset about all of the things I could have done. I was a brat and apologizing was the only thing I could do while he as dying. I wish... it didn't have to be like that."

"I think you might be too hard on yourself about that. I wasn't very good to my father either but when we met up again, he wasn't angry. I don't think your father was ever really angry at you, and I certainly don't think he died angry either. It wasn't who he was."

Rylar was about to respond until suddenly, Mike approached them. Mike and Makken have been hanging around Daein lately, or around Vaughn in particular. Kaetar didn't know how Mike and Makken spent their time in Daein but for some reason, those two seemed to look up to him greatly. Well, he could understand it a little – Vaughn was fun to be around, was great with wyverns, and he was very strong. There was a lot to admire about Vaughn.

"Did you break up with Makken?" Rylar asked.

"Nah, it's too crowded for him here," Mike said with a shrug. "I was just going to try to find a treat for him... are we staying in Toha or staying outside?"

"I'm not sure, actually," Kaetar mumbled. He wanted a bed for once, and he could probably throw his title around to get one, but he decided he could sleep in a tent if he needed to. However, he was still itching for a warm bath and nobody was going to take that away from him. He yearned for that alone time. A warm bath was probably one of things he missed most about being in the palace, along with his hoard of books in his room. "You would probably stay outside anyway though, right?"

"Yeah, probably. Makken and I usually rest together," Mike said with a nod. "I want to make sure he gets a treat though. I'm hoping somebody has a cow that I buy. Makken isn't picky and he'll take what he can get, but he definitely has a preference and it would be nice to reward him."

Rylar shivered. "Ngh, yeah for that damn bolting attack."

Mike frowned. "I practically forgot about that."

"You were mostly unconscious," Rylar reminded him.

"You weren't exactly yourself after the battle either," Kaetar mumbled. "I'm surprise you remember enough about it and it isn't just a giant blur to you too."

"Either way, it wasn't fun," he mumbled. "I think I'm going to go find Soren and go shoot some arrows. You coming?"

Kaetar shook his head so Rylar shrugged and walked away.

"And I'm going to go find that cow for Makken..." Mike said, promptly walking away with a wave.

"Good luck," Kaetar said as he waved back. With nothing to do and wanting to avoid work for a way, he decided to wander for a little bit before heading to the inn and found Ranulf looking around Toha with a curious look. "What's going on?" he asked.

Ranulf turned to him. "I'm surprised by this place is all. When I was last here, the tension was so thick and the people were so willing to please the Daeins. They cared nothing for their own country. None of my memories here were all that happy, I have to say. Now though, it's surprising that they love the rebellion so much."

It was debatable if this reaction would have happened at all if Kaetar had not been stabbed by Cameron. They saw the ugliness of the rules and what the soldiers had to resort to – though Cameron seemed to be a lot more messed up then the others – but if they hadn't seen that, then maybe they would have stayed relatively neutral and uncaring about the entire situation.

"We wanted to get a boat to Begnion but I was stopped and attacked by a soldier. They supported us greatly after that."

"Interesting," Ranulf said, tapping his chin lightly. "I doubt anybody knew what happened here last time. I suppose with better relationships between the laguz and beorc and the shorter live span of the beorc, then it was inevitable that the entire attitude here would change. Not that I'm complaining though! This is a very welcomed change."

"I haven't seen it the way it was before but I'm glad you think it's better."

"Well, anyway, I have enough of the sights for now. I better go check in on those discussions. It's nice talking, Kaetar!" Ranulf said as he left with a wave.

Kaetar decided that it was as good of a time as any for his bath. It was still early in the day but he decided he didn't want to want until it got dark out. He was impressed with himself that he could still remember where the inn was, considering how long it felt since he was last in the inn, or even in Toha, and he had a lot more to be concerned about then remembering where the inn was. He approach the innkeeper, who looked up when Kaetar was at the counter.

"And how can I help you?" the woman asked, disinterest the most evident trait in her. Her brown hair was pulled into a bun and it made her look older, but she had to be about the same age as Kaetar, if not slightly older. She obviously had something else she would rather be doing instead of booking rooms and it seemed likely that she was probably just covering for somebody.

"One room, two cots please," Kaetar muttered. He didn't plan on buying a room for the night but it occurred to him just how odd it must have sounded to just want a nice bath and considering how unwilling the innkeeper looked, he didn't want to trouble her and not buy a room for it. He retrieved the keys and asked for the bath shortly after.

The wait for the warm water was definitely worth it. He settled in and soaked, feeling himself unwind from all of the stress. It occurred to him that he didn't tell anybody where he was but for the moment, he didn't even care about that. For a time, it was bliss until eventually, the water became cool and he had to force himself back into reality. He didn't exactly want to put on the same clothing he came in, not that they were exactly dirty but they could be cleaner, but all of his stuff, including any backup clothing, were probably still in the wagon so he had no choice. He was lucky enough to had the gold in his pocket as it was.

When he stepped out, Toha somehow became even more livelier and it made him question just how long he was in the bath for. There were a lot of people out in the streets. The children all had some sort of juice to drink there was definitely an exchange of alcohol among the adults. Kaetar was not surprised to see that Darius was drinking and Arum was also holding a mug but he seemed to learn his lesson from last time. Elli was around too though, so Kaetar doubted that Arum could get away with drinking too much anyway. He wondered if she knew about what happened the last time Arum had alcohol.

It seemed like there were different types of alcohol that was going around too, different kinds of the ale-looking ones and there seemed to be different kinds of wine going around too. The laguz seemed to prefer the ale coloured drinks whereas the beorc were more varied. He saw Darius chugging down some alcohol, which actually looked like wine, while simultaneously keeping a hand on Chifee's wrist as he stared curiously. He was still a child, Kaetar supposed, so most people wouldn't serve him anything to begin with, though Kaetar was drinking white wine at that age. It was mostly water, with a little bit of wine to maintain some flavour and taste, just so he looked sophisticated without getting drunk and his father didn't feel guilty about it.

"It's odd," Daevala said suddenly. She was wearing a white, flowing dress that went just below her knees, which seemed oddly appropriate for the feel of the celebrations. Kaetar must have been too distracted for him to notice her, unless she also had the same uncanny ability that Stefan had. She also somehow managed to get away from Zara or anybody else who was strong enough to be her babysitter but if they were drinking, then maybe that wasn't so hard, and she didn't seem to need one at the moment. "Melior is not conquered yet everybody celebrates already. The battle has not been won."

"Sometimes people need a break and want to celebrate the smaller things," Kaetar muttered. He certainly didn't blame anybody for drinking, he just hoped they were going to be careful about it. He also didn't miss how overly unemotional she still was, even after all of the time she spent with them. Maybe her emotions were something she never quite get back, assuming she had emotions at all prior to her meeting Elymas for the first time. "How are you feeling anyway? Aren't we kind of close to Elymas?"

"I still don't feel him," she answered. "So I'm feeling fine right now. I decided I will not go into Melior though. I might leave soon."

"Really? Because of Elymas' influence?"

"Not only that," she responded, putting her hands behind her back. "But I wish to find out if there is a way to remove the spirit from Elymas. He wasn't nice when I first found him, he was bitter and angry about the way his life had gone, but he was never so brutal. I blame that spirit for twisting his sanity. I think answers may exist outside of Tellius though."

"Are you going back home? You said you weren't from here, right?" Kaetar asked. He couldn't exactly remember where she said she was from, but it had to be far enough away to have developed their own kind of magic. After all, the necklace was made from foreign magic, magic that had yet to reach Tellius. It may never reach Tellius at all. Were there Spirit Charmers outside of Tellius though? Was there a solution at all?

"I'm not, and I doubt I could get back to Magvel very easily anyway, especially without my dragonstone. I may cross the desert, or visit some of the royal libraries of Tellius before leaving. I can do that without my dragonstone."

Kaetar was sure she wasn't getting it back, at least not for a while. Elymas had to be dealt with first and she still couldn't be trusted to actually stay with them as soon as she got it back. Daevala could be lying through her teeth right now and could be planning on just stealing it back and joining back with Elymas before they got there. She was one person that would be tough to fight, on the account of the fact that she was a dragon with poisonous claws. Kaetar wanted to trust her and she did at least seem sincere, since she could have tried to steal it back long ago, but maybe he was still too trusting. Chibuike wasn't even there and he could still find a way to pester Kaetar.

"At any rate, I shall be off. I should find Zara again before somebody tries to kill me." She walked away quickly before Kaetar could say anything more to her.

He no idea what to do past that point. It didn't feel right to sleep when everybody else was out having fun but he never really drank of his own accord either, so he didn't exactly want to join in their activities. It felt a little awkward when he thought about it – it wasn't quite as bad as the parties with the nobility, where he was forced to act in a way that really wasn't him for long hours, but he still felt a little out of place.

The last time he had any sort of alcohol was when Loiya was still around, and when Duma was still alive. He remembered trying a little bit of it when Arum and Darius were around but he didn't like the taste of it.

He ended up wandering back to the campsite outside of Toha where the Daeins were camped out, along with some of the rebels like Misha, who was sitting outside of her tent, cleaning off Wishblade. Aletta and Rylar were at camp too, with Rylar waving one of his arrows around as he talked and Aletta slowly moving out his arm's reach but Rylar didn't seem to notice. Rylar and Aletta didn't strike him as the type to drink anyway so he wasn't surprised to see that they hung back and decided to just hang out with each other. Joel was also running about and immediately ran up to Kaetar when he saw him.

"Where were you? Your father was asking..."

"I was taking a hot bath," Kaetar answered simply. "Are you sleeping out here?"

"... What do you have planned?" He arched an eyebrow.

"I got a room with two cots at the inn. I didn't want to just ask for bath so I bought a room too. It's nice to sleep on a bed instead of the ground and you deserve a break."

"Aw, thanks, kiddo."

The two of them left the camp unnoticed and into the room. Joel jumped into one of the cots. His hair was still a bit damp so Kaetar decided to crack the window open before he took the other cot and fell asleep quickly.

In the morning, nearly everybody slept in, but there were the people who always seemed to be able to get up, no matter the circumstances. Kaetar wouldn't call himself part of that group, but by the time he got up, only a little later than usual, it was mostly those who functioned as leaders and some of the rowdier kids that were awake, with Chifee being among that group. He seemed a little lost without Darius but he was playing with the other kids and it was amazing to see laguz and beorc children playing with each other without a care. Meagan was there too, without her husband, supervising the children as they played. She lectured them when they played a little too roughly and Chifee ended up being lectured more than the beorc kids. He was just stronger, he couldn't exactly help that. Either way, Gus and Meagan really did seem to love children, so Kaetar hoped that her pregnancy went well.

Kaetar figured he couldn't escape whatever leadership he had for the day after the night before, so he visited Syrin and the rest, who were outside of Toha but they were collected in a small circle, so it wasn't hard to find them. Ranulf, Reyson, Nasir, and Stefan were all standing over to one side while Father, Micaiah, and Syrin were all sitting down. Syrin had a long stick and he was using it draw a map of Melior into a patch of dirt, which actually seemed fairly accurate with what Kaetar could remember of Melior. He even drew a castle, or rather, a block with a couple of triangles on top.

"Nice of you to join us," Ranulf said with a smile.

Syrin waited for Kaetar to sit before he started. "We have three obstacles," he began. "First, we have to deal with the human soldiers of Crimea. They must be concentrated in Melior but we may encounter some on the way to Melior, or just outside. I don't believe it will be hard to make them join us instead if we can convince them that this will be over before they face any repercussions. We also keep some Daein soldiers around to make sure that the civilians are safe and if the Crimeans are unwilling to join, then we will have to fight them to proceed."

"Are you going to let the people speak for themselves?" Nasir asked.

"They should," Syrin muttered, tapping his stick against the ground impatiently. "But if they can't make a case for themselves, then I suppose somebody like Kaetar should."

"Like me? I feel like you would be more important. This is your rebellion," Kaetar mumbled. He might have been able to recruit all of the civilians but at the end of the day, it wasn't his rebellion. It was important to him, but not in the same way it was important to Syrin. Really, it should be Syrin to speak to everybody, not just because it mattered so much to him, but because he was also the last member of the original Greil Mercenaries, the best symbol of hope Crimea really had.

Syrin just jabbed him with the stick and Father didn't even look offended. Ranulf chucked a little bit.

"He has a point though," Micaiah stated. "You were the one who cared so much about Ike that you started all of this and saw it through to the end. You told me you were never going to be a tactician again when you came back to Tellius four decades ago, yet here you are. Hope is a powerful thing and I think you can harness that and use it to win."

"Look how well that turned out for Ike – there is a good reason he left Tellius and there's a good reason why I stayed low the entire I was here. I don't want to be famous, I don't want people to know who I am."

"I think you are more than ready to finally step out of Ike's shadow, Soren," Reyson stated. Syrin stiffened at the mention of his previous name and Reyson must have known that it would invoke such a reaction. Syrin knew better than to use his stick on Reyson though. "You only have to be famous long enough to win. Once Ike's reputation is restored, you can hide all you want. You can leave Tellius again if you want to. But I think you should start being Soren again, at least for when it counts."

Syrin looked exhausted and for a moment, he didn't say anything and preferred to look down at his feet. "I will say something if needed."

"And step two?" Father asked, turning the subject back to the planning. Syrin seemed to appreciate it, all too happy to go back to discussing tactics. It was probably the sole purpose of his meeting. He pointed the stick at the castle.

"The second stage is the actual siege. I suspect that the castle will contain many of the sand creatures since again, we haven't seen them in a while and it is likely that Elymas and Eero have been building their army again. I recommended enchanted weapons in this case, as I expect that it will get crowded rather quickly. We'll have to construct some but with all of the mages Daein has, it shouldn't be difficult to arm most of the soldiers with something." He drew some marks into the dirt. "Daein should take up positions at the gates and block any of the sand creatures from reaching the civilians. Finally, we'll have a strike team infiltrate the castle. This group should be small in number and just sweep the palace and find out what happened to Ramon. I trust many of rebellion are able to handle this."

"What will you be doing?" Kaetar asked. Syrin couldn't hold his own in a battle, at least not for too long, so it aside from possibly recruiting the Crimean soldiers to their side, it didn't seem to make sense for him to be part of the last two phases, though it didn't seem like Syrin to just sit around either.

"I will be buying time for the those in the palace," Syrin stated simply. "I know where the throne room is, assuming Crimea hasn't changed it, and I'm assuming Eero will be there. I want to hear what reason he has for starting all of this. It should give everybody enough time to sweep the palace and then regroup before tackling the the throne room."

"Is that safe?" Father asked. "I don't know what happened to your arm but there can't be a way you can fight with that. I don't know much of a danger Eero himself is but his companion is nothing to scoff at."

Liam. That was right. Kaetar figured that Liam was going to go after anybody it would probably be him so Syrin should be alright. Kaetar was the one who got away one way or another and he was sure that Liam was not alright with that. However, Kaetar had yet to win a battle against him and Kaetar wasn't even sure he was close. He wasn't sure if he could actually stop himself from freezing in front of him and actually fight back, and if he could, was it enough to survive? He wasn't sure and the thought made him nervous.

Kaetar wasn't going to tell his father that though, or he would never let Kaetar into the palace.

"If he has an ego, I'm sure it will be easy for Syrin to distract him long enough," Ranulf chimed in. "Syrin can give a verbal beat down like nobody else. As for that companion... I can't say I know too much about either Eero or his company. Skrimir didn't like either one of them, that's about as much as I know about their personalities."

"Is Kaetar going in there?" Father asked again.

"He's earned it," Stefan said. "He should see it through to the end."

"Vaughn goes with him then."

Syrin nodded. "That can be done. Does anybody else have questions? If not, then I'll arrange for a meeting with the original rebel forces and Vaughn later tonight when everybody is sober."

When nobody responded, Syrin stood up, using his good arm to get himself himself up. Ranulf watched with a bit of a smile on his face, almost like he was proud. Kaetar watched Syrin for long enough to see how he adapted to life with one arm in a sling, so he wasn't as amazed by it like Ranulf was.

"Hey, if you don't mind, maybe you can answer some questions about Ike?" Ranulf asked.

"I'm going to take my leave here," Father mumbled, raising to his feet quickly and walking away quickly. Kaetar stared as he walked away. Micaiah looked worried and dismissed herself wordlessly, although Kaetar didn't think there was anything wrong with his father. He could understand that maybe, his father would feel awkward being the only beorc with little connection to Ike being in a conversation about Ike. Kaetar didn't know him personally but he saw Ike from the necklace and felt some sort of connection to him through that. That was enough for him, not to mention his own curiosity about it. Maybe Syrin would reveal more than he did before.

Syrin didn't move, so Ranulf decided to continue. "What did you guys find out there? What did you guys end up doing for a living? I haven't heard anything about Ike since you guys left."

"You don't have to answer but I think all of us would like to hear what happened to Ike. He was our friend too," Reyson stated.

Syrin answered by sitting down once again. Kaetar wasn't so sure how the laguz managed to convince him differently but he was glad. He went through what Kaetar already knew but it was new information for Ranulf and Reyson. It wasn't too long until they too laguz pressed harder and Stefan and Nasir both perked up.

"How did he die?" Ranulf asked, the lightness of before disappearing. Syrin seemed to have some renewed interest in talking about his past with Ike for some reason and maybe the familiarity he had with his audience had something to do with that but Kaetar didn't know if Syrin was going to go to Ike's death.

Syrin took a deep breath. "Too slow," he mumbled for the first time Kaetar could recall. "He took ill and just never recovered. He suffered with it for two weeks and all I could do was make him comfortable. He... knew this too. He talked a lot while he was in bed, about what he did with his life, wondering about Tellius and how its people were doing. Ike mentioned you, Ranulf, quite frequently. He spoke about Mist, wondering how many nieces and nephews he had..."

"Is that why you came back?" Kaetar asked.

"I wanted to bring Ike back. I obviously couldn't carry with him one arm so I had him cremated. I intended to bury that urn with Commander Greil or at the fort but I never made it that far. I didn't feel like it after I saw what sorry state the fort was in, how nobody cared for it. I decided to keep that urn with Micaiah since she had a stable environment for it, so I know it would be safe with her."

"You know she brought it here, right?"

Syrin seemed a little surprised that Kaetar knew that. Only a little. "I know, she told she would and she wouldn't forget it. I'll have to find something to do with his ashes after this is all over."

"Let me know when you decide on something," Ranulf muttered.

Syrin nodded. "The laguz are invited as long as it remains a private affair. I'll be angry if all of Tellius shows up."

"What about Ragnell? Ike took it, right?" Nasir asked.

"I left it with Nailah. It would have been too difficult for me to take it past the desert into Daein and it was difficult enough to take it back to Hatari. I'm sure she will return it eventually. Anyway, I shall go check to see how many weapons we have to enchant." He got up again.

Reyson bowed his head. "Thanks for talking, Syrin. I know it was difficult."

Syrin didn't respond and simply walked away. Kaetar turned to Stefan and Nasir, who remained quiet most of the time. "Did he have talk about Ike's death with you two?"

"No, this is the first time I've ever heard of it," Stefan said, shaking his head.

"He does seem better," Nasir noted. "Even better than he was earlier in the rebellion. Maybe he'll be alright to face the laguz royals. They will certainly come when the rebellion is over." Kaetar would have to face them again too. The last time he saw them, he ran away.

"Anyway, we should probably call this a day for now, no?" Ranulf asked.

"Agreed," Stefan mumbled.

"I'm glad you could join me, Liam," Eero said as he knocked on the door to Elymas' research room. He was a busy man, who was still doing research for Eero's personal project while creating more sand creatures and all without the help of Daevala. He worked with a haste that Eero was sure he never really saw from Elymas before, he was probably working to get his mind off of her and his failures, but the change was welcomed no matter the reasonings. Liam had his hood pulled up but he gave a curt nod.

"What is this all about anyway?" Liam asked as Elymas opened the door. Eero walked inside but Liam stayed outside. The lab was full of buckets of blood but the bodies were gone, at least. He had to put a stop to Elymas' habit of keeping the bodies in his room because the smell was something neither he or Liam could end up dealing with. Liam specialized with fresh bodies and never stuck around long enough for the smell to bother him and Elymas preferred to keep his hands directly out of it, hence why Liam was so useful. The smell of blood was something both of them could handle a lot better.

"I need you to protect what research we have conducted," Eero muttered. "If the rebellion gets in here, they will certainly destroy any progress we've made. Micaiah destroyed anything pertaining to Feral Laguz and worked with Sanaki to destroy anything to do with the creation of Blood Pacts. Elymas, have you made the copies I have asked for?"

Elymas went to his desk and pulled some documents. "A copy of the most recent research I've done is here. I think we're close, it's just a matter of perfecting the language for some sort of protection on behalf of the host. So far, a spirit can inhabit the body for a limited time before the spirit is too much for the host, so I've been trying to find out what makes spirit charmers so special. We have plenty enough here but I'm not sure what quality to look for."

Eero took the papers and handed them to Liam. He doubted that Liam was capable of reading at that sort of level but it as not his job to read it. He needed to protect it.

"Well, how did it go with you? Did you ask a spirit or did the spirit ask you? It sounds like we have a a compatibility issue. Spirits might know which beorc they are compatible with." Eero was a little surprised that Elymas couldn't see that himself. Maybe he needed a break from the research, especially since it was difficult to fit anymore time in with the rebellion on their heels. Protecting the host works too but it would be harder to do if he didn't know what he was protecting the host from.

"Fuck! If that's the case then that only makes everything harder!" Elymas shouted.

"Take a break. We're resume the research after the rebellion, assuming we survive it."

"You think you will lose?" Liam asked.

"I like to prepare for the worse," Elymas stated. "Which is me dying, Elymas dying, and all of our work destroyed. Elymas and I still might die but your job is take these documents, hide them, and stay low. I don't want you to see you fighting the rebellion at all and if we both die, then find someone who can take up our work."

"But..."

"You usually listen to me, Liam. I don't want this time to be any different. Put away whatever feelings you have for that princeling because we have bigger things to worry about."

"Fine..." Liam muttered, folding the sheets of paper and putting them into his cloak. Eero watched Liam leave but his shoulders sagged and he looked like he was sulking. He hated seeing Liam like that – if everybody else in the world hated them, at least they had each other's back. He wasn't just a tool to Eero and he wasn't sure when they would meet again.

But hopefully, it wasn't the last time.

I live! It's weird because I don't think I ever missed a month but November felt like the month from Hell and then I had finals in December. I was trying to work on this at the same time, but either the assignments took too long or I didn't like I wrote and started over.

I think this one is okay, I didn't check it as well as I meant to but I really didn't want to delay the chapter anymore than I had to.