Heaven's Tale

Chapter 15

After a full breakfast, Neji and Tenten left the WinterCrest, a cosy buffet style restaurant with dark interiors, plush seats and furry rugs, situated in the east side of the ski resort. They proceeded to the board room on the 15th floor where they were to meet up with the hotel owner to talk about figures and the contract.

Tenten mentally checked that all the business documents were kept in the briefcase and not left in the room. Neji, on the other hand, carried their laptops in a backpack that he slung over his shoulders. "Did we leave anything behind?" she asked him.

"No," he replied to her, pressing the button to keep the elevator door open, while waiting for her to step out.

Tenten followed Neji as he walked pass her in the direction of the board room as indicated by a shiny metal plaque nailed to the wall. They paused just outside the door of the meeting room. "We're going to kill this," Tenten told him, pumping herself up. He gave her an amused look before giving a light rapture on the door and pushing it open.

However, instead of being greeted by the owner, they came to a room filled with business people in suits. Neji recognised some of them as they were from rival hotel chains including a pair of blonde twins whose eyes narrowed into slits. The crowd seemed to silence, and Tenten swore that if a needle dropped, regardless of whether the board room was carpeted or not, that the noise would slice through air noisily.

They walked to the two empty seats at the end of the oblong style meeting table and settled down. Immediately, the atmosphere seemed to grow hectic, as the other hoteliers seem to furiously type in their laptops and some were seen making calls. It seems that their presence had affected most of the hoteliers' contract contents and most were making adjustments or changes.

"I guess we aren't the only ones interested in this resort," Tenten muttered under her breath, eying the blonde male twins who returned her a smug look. "Should we change the contract?" Before Neji could answer, a man in his mid-thirties dressed in a woollen black suit, came through the doors. Tenten recognised him as Mizura Hamasaki, the general manager of the resort.

He cleared his throat, and his hand reached to adjust the mike in front of him. "Good morning," his eyes scanned the room, ensuring that he has gotten the attention of the crowd. "Mr Kenichi has some prior business to attend to." The room buzzed with talk. Mizura raised a hand to get the crowd's attention again. "He will attend to you all after lunch. Now, he requests for me to give you the grand tour of this resort." He lips pursed in a thin line. "I'm sure all of you would want to know what you are buying before talking business." He saw the crowd nod and voice out their agreements. "After all, it might cut down the competition. Some may be able to afford this resort and some…." He paused. "May not." He gave a smile which Tenten likened to a leer. "Well, I have organised a tour for all of you. Please meet me in the lobby in 15 minutes. I have assigned all of you your own personal guide. Thank you." He ended, and walked out the door.

The hoteliers buzzed with excitement and many began packing their laptops and documents back into briefcases.

"I guess we have some competition," Tenten voiced out, pushing her chair back.

"We only have to worry about the Hanazuka twins and Yamashita heiress. They are the only ones with enough resources to buy over this resort," he breathed out.

"If that's the case, we should hurry back after the tour and come back to have a look at our contract."

"Hn," Neji replied, agreeing.

Kankurou, Ino and Sasuke were near the front of the plane, near the pilots control room. They were going through a quick run through with the head stewardess before the flight took off. It was a long day, but as they were used to more packed schedules and tiring situations, they looked as fresh as a person who had slept for 10 hours.

"Passengers will be allowed to board the plane in a few minutes," the head stewardess briefed them. Her hair was in a perfect chignon, not a single strand out of place. "Are there are any more questions or items that you would like me to run through?"

"No," Kankurou replied.

Truthfully, Ino, Sasuke and Kankurou arrived at the airport around 6am just to have a crash course on what to expect and what to do during the flight. Everything from where the emergency aids are kept, to what to do during an emergency situation, how to serve food to passengers and how to clean the toilet was covered. It took 3 hours and hands on practice. Although what they did was not perfect but it was good enough for the head stewardess.

"Ok. Good," the stewardess responded, impressed. She had thought that having 3 stars on board would be difficult as most stars she had served on the plane are egotistical and really self-absorbed in their own privileged worlds. But Ino, Kankurou and Sasuke were down-to-earth and are willing to learn. "I've put the schedule at the pantry area of the plane. Please follow it for smoothness of our operations." Her gaze shifted from one to the other. She noted that all seemed were listening to her words intently. "You will each be paired up with a steward or stewardess when doing your tasks. Ino you will be assigned to the back area, Kankurou the middle and Sasuke the front. Since the flight is 4 hours, there would be a rotation every hour."

"Hn," Sasuke said.

"In that case, let's greet the passengers. And Sasuke smile," the head stewardess mentioned, her face showing a pleasant smile for him to mimic. "Please do try to smile."

Ino snickered. Sasuke glared.

"I hope people would recognise me without my stage make up?" Kankurou asked them.

Ino rolled her eyes. "That day would definitely not be today." Even if the fans did not recognise him, they would still give a double take. Like Gaara, he was blessed with good looks.

He nodded at her response. Then, he put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, giving a mischievous smile. "Do you need me to teach you to smile, Uchiha?"

If it were not for the passengers entering the plane, Sasuke would have killed him.

Hinata arrived outside the Uchiha residence. It was not that hard to find. Years ago her own family stayed her. Now only the extended Hyuuga family stayed back in the mansion. Her own family lived in the apartments. Although the lavish house was left behind, their current simpler lifestyle suited them more.

In this neighbourhood, it was lonely. The rich usually kept to themselves unless there were parties for the rich and famous where they use that as an opportunity to show off their latest and most expensive toys that money can buy.

The only two families she knew who resided in this part of Konoha were the Subaku's and Uchiha's and since there were engravings of the family name on each gate. It was not hard to find the Uchiha residence.

She rang the bell of the household and the huge gate slithered open silently. She got back into her Volvo and drove into the driveway where she parked her car near the fountain. She took a deep breath in the car. Maybe she should have called Tenten to inform the Uchiha's that she would be coming. For God's sake, Sasuke's family might think she's one of his rabid fan girls or something.

Thinking that she's already here and it is far too late, she slid out from her car seat and locked her car before proceeding to the front door. She rang the bell again.

From behind the door, she heard some muffled voices.

"Who did you let in?" a male voice was heard.

"I don't know," a female voce said. "The bell rang so I let the person in."

"You let someone through the gates without knowing who it was."

A smack was heard. "Keep your pants on Uchiha."

Then, the door was open and in the hallway was an older looking Sasuke with his hand rubbing a spot on his backside. Beside him, was an annoyed looking Inuzuka who Hinata recognised was Hana due to her frequent visits to the Inuzuka household.

"What do you want?" Itachi said, openly scolding at Hinata. He noticed her eyes. "A Hyuuga."

Hinata immediately took a step back. Maybe this was a bad idea.

Hana playfully smack Itachi's backside again. "Where's your manners?" She told her boyfriend. "I'm so sorry, Hinata. These Uchiha boys. There underwear's are always so wound up."

Hinata gave a small smile. "Ah…. It's ok. I-I think… Maybe it's a mistake…"

"You know her," Itachi stated, looking over at Hana.

"Of course. It's Kiba's best friend. Well one of his best friends," Hana replied.

"Hn…" Itachi looked over at her. "What do you-" Hana gave him a sharp gaze. "Is there something I can help you with."

"Sa-sasuke…"

"He's not here."

"I-I know."

"For God's sakes Itachi, you're intimidating the poor girl." Itachi gave his girlfriend a glare. "Hinata. Are you here to get something from Sa-sasuke?"

Hinata shook her head. She fiddled with the hem of her coat. "For Christmas…. We were supposed to give presents. I'm Sa-sasuke's secret santa."

Hana smiled. "So you want to leave his present here."

"I-I want to um the thing is we were supposed to move the person. Give him something meaningful."

"Meaningful," Itachi repeated.

"Yes. Y-yesterday Sasuke mentioned about a garden. I-I'm good with my hands. I can spruce it up." Her eyes lit up as she braved herself to meet the older Uchiha's gaze. "I-If you'd let me. I m-mean." She cast her eyes downwards.

"So, your present to Sasuke would be a garden," Hana replied.

"S-something like that. He mentioned that it was dying. I-I could help."

"It's winter," Itachi stated. "There are no flowers to tend to."

"I-I can tend to it so it can make it through w-winter."

Itachi fixated his gaze on the petite girl. She did not look like a rapid fan girl and besides he has seen her in Mad Dogs along with the rest of Sasuke's friend. "What do you do, Hinata?"

"For God's sake, this is not an interview?" Hana hissed at him.

"I-it's ok. I w-work at um botanical garden and a g-green house."

"She co-owns it with Shino," Hana said matter-of-factly.

"Very well," Itachi stated, taking in her credentials. "When do you start?"

"Do you realise that this is not a job?" Hana hissed at him.

"To-today if I can. My tools are in the c-car," Hinata said, smiling. "Is it o-ok to come every day till Christmas. I promise to not make a mess."

"Do as you please?" Itachi said.

"T-thank you," she replied before heading towards her car.

"Welcome passengers on board Subaku Airlines latest premier flight," the head stewardess greeted them over the speakers. A rousing round of applause could be heard.

"Due to the flight launch, I would like to introduce you to Subaku Airlines latest family addition, Uchiha Sasuke, Yamanaka Ino and Subaku Kankurou. Today, we are here to serve you," Another round of applause could be heard but this time wolf whistles and screams as well. "Our destination today is to Tokyo Airport where we will land for 2 hours for a free and easy, mingling session with your favourite stars. And then, the flight will head back to Konoha. During the flight, there will be a rotation for the stewards and stewardesses in order for everyone to be able to meet and be served by the stars." At this, a lot of the passengers' faces lit up. "We wish you all a wonderful flight."

"Excuse me," a man wearing frameless spectacles called out.

Ino shifted her attention to the man. "Yes, sir," she replied, quietly.

"Could I get some wine."

"Of course. But I am only able to serve it to you after the flight has taken of," Ino stated, repeating the words that is to be uttered when facing this kind of situation.

"Of course," the man said, taking off his glasses, and proceeded to wipe his lens with his tie.

"Wow…" Tenten voiced out, clearly in awe with the resort. Both she and Neji were guided by an eager man, who has worked in the resort for 14 years. Due to the vast size of the resort, the tour took almost an hour and a half.

It had a ski and sledging facility, a heated pool, Jacuzzi, state-of-the-art gymnasium for the health conscious, free yoga classes every morning, Thai masseurs, indoor squash court, ski mobile rentals, restaurants, a shopping district and so much more. Even if she were to list it down it was too good to be true. The resort was like a miniature town with its immense land. Of course it did help that it was a 3 hours' drive towards civilization and the price per night was expensive.

"No wonder every major hotelier is vying for this place." She continued. "The only thing that needs to be changed is the hotel name. Everything else is still in good condition."

Neji nodded, his mind churning on the right figures to buy over this resort. "No major renovations are necessary." His uncle was obviously a smart man.

"Here is the private dining area," their guide chimed in since it was the end of their tour. "Is there anything that you would like to request of me?"

"No. Thank you for the tour. You were really helpful," Tenten said, appreciatively. Their guide did more than show them around, he told them of the resorts history, significant events, types of customers that the resort received and so much more. He was the perfect guide.

"In that case, lunch is served," the guide smiled, pushing the door open with his hand gestured towards the buffet area. "Mr Kenichi will join you for lunch."

Neji and Tenten walked into the private dining area and quickly noticed that the other hoteliers were there as well but the numbers were less. It was obvious that the other hoteliers who were not present were the ones who could not afford to buy over this resort. All in all Hyuuga hotels had only 4 more competitors as only 4 of the 20 tables were filled.

Both of them walked in the direction of the food. "We need to strategize," Neji verbalised. The remaining competition was both a good sign and a bad sign. The good thing was that their competition had reduced immensely. However, the bad news was that the remaining 4 hoteliers' meant that they had the money to dispose of.

Tenten reached for two plates and handed him one. "We can talk about the contract while we eat lunch." He piled on rolled chicken with stuffed mushrooms, butter vegetables and chargrilled seafood pasta on her plate. On the other hand, she placed edamame and king crab fried rice, roasted turkey breasts and butter vegetables on his plate.

Tenten grinned back at his bewildered expression which was basically a twitch of an eyebrow. "You're obviously worried to not ask me what I wanted to eat."

"You're a hazard to be around."

"It's my life's goal." Neji gave her an amused look at her response.

After half an hour of hushed discussion, typing furiously and an occasional nibble on their food, they were finally done with the contract. It was a little rushed but due to time constraints, it was the best that they could do. Of course if there were changes that the owner would like to make, they would take it into consideration.

"You know. I thought that the owner was supposed to join us for lunch?" she asked, after packing the laptop back into the backpack. "Didn't Minori say so?" she said, referring to their tour guide.

Just then, the doors opened an in walked an old man flanked by two beefy bodyguards and Mizura Hamasaki, the general manager. If you put two and two together, it did not take a genius to know that that the old man with the eccentric flair was the owner of the resort.

Clearly, the owner of the resort was not someone Tenten had expected. He was an elderly man, who was what she had expected, but what she did not expect was the easy-going attitude and non-business like air about him. His hair was wiry and he seemed to have taken his style tips from Albert Einstein with his wiry hair and rounded thin glasses.

"Fu fu fu," the owner laughed, clearly overjoyed with the 4 hoteliers left. "More than I could imagine," he spoke out to himself; his hands were rubbing together in a way that villains do when they had just made a devious plan. He took a spot nearest to the four tables. "I hope you enjoyed the tour that my colleagues have shown you. This place is my personal playground." His eyes crinkled in a smile, his body leaned against a chair. "But I am far too old to continue playing. My niece insists I take it easy. I've been benched so to say the least… Permanently."

" Kenichi-san, we are representatives from the Hamazaki Resort & spa, if you would give us a few minutes of privacy. I am sure that you would like," the elder twin emphasized." What we have to offer."

"Ah… but today, fufufu," he laughed. "I do not wish to hear any proposals. I'm sure whatever you have to present to me today are more than what I would be happy to signoff." His eyes sparkled and for a moment Neji and Tenten thought they saw a dolphin leap out of crystallised waters. "Instead, why don't we have a contest."

"A contest," the Yamashita heiress voiced out. "Like running, sweating, wearing no make-up sorta contest." Her voice had an undertone of alarm in them. After all, she looked every bit of a spoilt princess with her perfectly blonde curls, bedazzled eyes, sharp claws and pink pouty lips.

"Of sorts yes. I will all give you a map with an X on it. The first person to retrieve the white flag will win," he stated, clasping both hands together with glee obviously pleased with himself.

A hand shot up.

"Yes, tubbykins," Mr Kenichi said, pointedly to a man who looked as if he ate enough doughnuts to look like a teddy for a living.

The bespectacled man looked particularly embarrassed, fingers loosening the tie around his collar. "Is there a catch?"

"There is no catch. Whichever team that can reach and grab the white flag first, will have this resort," he stated. "And to prove that there is no catch, I shall now declare that there are no rules. However you get there and whoever goes there whether yourself or on your behalf, it does not matter. As long as you have the flag, you win. But the flag must be in your hands. I shall be waiting at my office to congratulate the winner." He snapped his fingers and the two bodyguards placed a large envelope on each table. "You'll start in an hour. The watch in there will beep and the race will commence in approximately 1 hour…. Toodle dee Toodle doo, folks." And with that he snapped his body straight and walked with much strength out the door.

As soon as the door closed, most of the hoteliers' bolted out the doors for strategizing.

Tenten turned to look at Neji. A thoughtful look on her face. "I just love winning," she grinned, a competitive spark in her eyes.

Neji could only smile back, his hands already tearing open the envelope.

Ino sighed, unbuckling the seat belt from her seat. The plane had just landed in Tokyo which means that it was now the free and easy session. Throughout the flight all was well and she enjoyed interacting with her fans except that there was this one man who seemed to be neither a fan but more of a man who wanted someone to serve him. That someone being herself.

He seemed to be somewhat obsessed with her except he was not a stalker. He seemed to know his boundaries so far. Giving him a one-over at his gold rolex watch, heavy gold chains, crisp white shirt and frameless spectacles, he looked like a man who has ever been rejected by a woman or a girl for that matter.

"Are you ok?" She broke out from her reverie and looked up to see Gaara standing in front of her. He was tugging away on his tie, loosening it.

"Yeah," She said, reaching out to slowly unravel the tie from its knot. "It's not every day that I get to spend a day with my fans."

"Hn," Gaara stated, noticing her strained smile. He held her wrist, noticing how delicately slim it was. "You don't look too good."

Ino gave a slow smile. "You should see me in longer haul flights." Gaara let go of her wrist and she reached out to fix his collar. "I'm going to head up back for a glass of water."

He watched her walk down the aisle to the back pantry. He sighed. Something was bothering her.

Suddenly, a man wearing spectacles pushed past him. Hard.

Gaara's tie was a heap on the ground and the man stepped on it when walking past.

Neji and Tenten's strategy was simple. By studying the map which was really a piece of paper with a penned circle on the bottom to signify the hotel and a penned X at the top of sketched hill and the ski escalator by the far east, they realised that going by car would be difficult due to the snowy terrain and to hike well that was going to be slow. And to ski… well let's say… TenTen had mentioned in passing to Neji that she had never learnt to ski before.

So there they both were in front of a ski mobile rental, the most efficient vehicle. The fact that they saw none of the other 3 hoteliers choose that made them feel confident of their choice until, that is, they both saw a helicopter land at the far south and the Yamashita heiress exit the hotel in direction of the helicopter.

A beep on the watch that was provided by Mr Kenichi denoted the start of the game. Neji and Tenten sped off towards the direction of the flag.

Game on!

Gaara had just finished talking to the board of directors who were also seated in the plane to experience the luxuries of Subaku Airlines latest flight experience. They seemed to be pleased with the latest project as well as today's turn out.

He decided to walk through the 3 sections of the plane where Sasuke, Kankurou and Ino were separately placed for their meet and greet sessions.

Nearest to him was Sasuke where he was supposed to grant a wish to each fan. One of the girls opted for Sasuke to recite a romantic line from his previous drama to be specific the scene where he had confessed his love before kissing the lead actress.

Gaara had an amused look on his face. Uchiha was clearly ignoring him. Gaara sensed he was a little embarrassed to be doing a stunt like that in front of somebody he knew.

"Your name…" Sasuke asked his lucky fan.

"Mina," she told him, her face flushed red.

"Mina," Sasuke started, he gave a warning look to Gaara for him to walk away but Gaara stood his ground and, in fact, whipped out his cell phone. This was too good to ignore and not record. Sasuke ignored him and gave his attention towards his fan. "Mina," he began his voice low and soft. "I don't want this moment to pass. To have a moment without you is to suffer. To not be able to see you is to be blind. To not be able touch you…" Sasuke gathered her hands into his own. "To not be able to touch you is to be a ghost. To not be able to utter… I love you." Sasuke looked into her eyes deeply. "Is to be mute." The actor tilted her chin upwards and proceeded to move his head closer and closer and closer. All the other fangirls were screaming and poor Mina promptly fainted having been romanced by Sasuke. He held her limp body in his arms and waited for the paramedics, who came immediately, to tend to her.

Gaara pressed the 'stop' button and felt satisfied with the blackmail material. It would be useful later. He 'locked' his phone and decided to check on Ino. Kankurou he would skip. I guess that was what they called brotherly affections.

Ino had given an impromptu class on how to pose like a model due to requests from her aspiring model fans. She even showed them her signature catwalk.

Now it was a photo session with her fans. One by one they would request her for a photograph and she would happily oblige. That is until she began to feel uneasy.

At first she thought it was nothing, a hand brushing her arm, a small hand in the middle of her back and a light graze at her backside. But then, she realised that it came from a person, in this case the fan that she tried hard to ignore. He would be helpful, using his charm and offering to take pictures of Ino and the other fans. But it was getting too much; he would use inappropriate sexual innuendos to the other females and occasionally bump against them, brushing past their chest area.

Gaara walked into Ino's section. He noticed that a few female passengers were standing in groups, talking in hush undertones. One group of three caught his attention.

"Do you think we should tell someone?" A tall teen stated.

"She looks so uncomfortable with him."

"I'm really uncomfortable with him here." Another said.

"What's wrong?" Gaara stated. The three friends looked at him.

"That man has been harassing Ino all day," the tall teen stated. "He just creeps me out."

"Yeah he totally touched my boobs." The friend chipped in, a hand on her chest.

Gaara looked over at Ino. She was with the man in spectacles. The very same man who bumped into him earlier. He seemed to be looking at the camera with a smug look on his face. His hand was slung around Ino's waist.

Suddenly, Ino shoved the man away from her. "Don't you ever touch me."

"I didn't touch you?" The man told her, accusingly. He took one step towards her.

"You squeezed my butt," Ino raised her voice. Her cheeks were red with anger. She had had enough.

"I didn't."

"You did."

"What proof do you have?" He taunted her, moving a step closer again.

"I see what you do to the other girls too. It's not ok," she told him. "This has to stop."

"I did nothing to them. And even if I did they did not say anything about it at all." He said, flashing a superior smile at him.

"What are you saying?" Ino asked him.

"If I did do something, I'm sure they would like it. Not many men would give them as much of attention as I gave to them." He told her in a conceited tone.

Ino seethed. It was one thing to violate her but it's another to violate other females and think that they were asking for it and liked it.

"Now let's continue with the photo taking," he told her, wrapping his arms around her torso. This time he put a hand beneath her shirt, stroking her skin slightly. He used his spare hand to hold his camera.

Ino had had enough. If it was one thing she had learnt from being with Sasuke, Naruto and Tenten was that she now knew how to defend herself. She fisted her arms and threw a punch towards the man's nose. He staggered backwards, his eyes furious and a hand towards his bloody nose.

At that moment, Gaara thought she was beautiful. But that moment fell short, when Gaara saw the male fan, fist a hand, ready to take offence.

Upon seeing the fist, Ino closed her eyes shut, her arms protecting her face. After all, her face was her livelihood.

A few seconds passed by and the punch never came.

Ino opened her eyes to see the punch suspended in mid-air. Gaara was standing in front of her, taking in the impact of the punch with his own bare hand. Gaara's hand was wrapped around the man's fist comfortably, gripping and crushing the man's fist at the same time. The man went to his knees, pleading Gaara for mercy.

"That's enough," Gaara stated. "You will board another flight home. Are you going to press charge?... Ino?" He turned to look at her. His aquamarine eyes, staring deeply into hers. He looked angry.

"No…" She said in a small voice.

"Consider yourself lucky," he told the male fan, his voice venomous.

At that moment, Ino felt her heart squeeze tightly.

B-dmp…. B-dmp… B-dmp…

Neji had an intense feeling of dread. He loved a good competition but so far the track to the flag had not gone to his best plan.

Already an hour had gone by. He could still hear the sound of the helicopter flap go by and a few minutes ago the sound of a 4 wheel drive. Good it means that they were still searching.

However, it was not all easy with him and Tenten, Tenten's vehicle was out of gas and they had to leave it behind a few meters back. He had a faint feeling that this was not going to be a clean game as he noticed a trail of petrol originating from Tenten's vehicle. .

He felt Tenten'd fingers wrap around his torso. "Which way?" he asked her as she had the map.

"I'm looking at the terrain online," she spoke out, the cool wind, caressing her cheeks, and loosening her hair from her twin buns. "It seems that there are a lot of hills around here. But there's one that's a bit more prominent then the others."

A downward slope was coming ahead. Neji pressed the breaks to slow down. But it seemed that they were gaining speed.

"I'm trying to think rationally. I have a feeling it's nearer to the hotel. I mean it took Mr Kenishi an hour to get there right and if that heiress is on an airplane she should have spotted him immediately if it's as far out as this place. Think about it. If he's waiting by the flag it should be at the place where people are and it's harder for us to differentiate."

"I know where we should go," Neji said. A place where there would be plenty of flags, a lot of people and the least. The ski slope.

"The ski slope," she told him, reading his mind. She analysed the terrain on her GPS and flipped her phone shut. "It's better to go round this hill then head back. It's nearer. I think we should be there in half an hour."

Going further round the bend, the slope began to go through a gradual steep decline. Neji pressed the brakes. It was not working.

"Neji.. not to sound paranoid but we're going awfully fast."

"The brakes not working," Neji told her, surprisingly calm.

"The brakes not working," Tenten repeated, digesting his words.

"It's not-"

Tenten did not even have time to panic. Both of them never saw this coming, a few seconds ago they were going down the hill in ground breaking speed. Then the next few seconds, they were hurtled into the air, the vehicle seemingly had smacked against a hidden rock or tree branch.

It wouldn't be them if they did not twist their bodies with strange acrobatic precision and landed on the ground with a thud. They, then slipped down the slope where the decline became steeper and steeper. Bare trees skinny from lack of sun and rocks were seen passing them.

Before they realised it, they were near a cliff. Neji went first. Feet first that is.

TBC

Author's note:

I'm still alive. I still aim to finish this.

Thank you again for all those reminders and reviews. I will never give up on this fic.