Disclaimer:I do not own the anime, manga, novels, and most importantly the characters of K. K is officially owned by GoRa/GoHands.
Author's Note: I lost the file that held ALL notes and planning for this fanfic. Ugh, I'm so pissed. I had specific dialogue scenes written in it. My chapters are always based off of a written scene/idea from my notes. This is so annoying. *sigh* I'm sorry guys, but this story MAY OR MAY NOT get kind of funky. Without my notes, I'm writing this story completely blind now with only the very end scene to guide me. So, PLEASE don't hesitate to tell me if my story seems to be losing focus or that it somehow seems sidetracked. Because I now only have a vague idea as to where this story is going. I'm so sorry guys, I feel so bad :( Now I know you guys have been wondering since the previous chapter why I killed off Tatara when the purpose of this fanfic (and Anna's quest) is to revive everyone and give K Project its happy ending. Don't worry, all will be revealed... IN THE LAST CHAPTER. MWUAHAHA. I mean, do you want the ending so soon or do you want to wait for the big oh-my-god shebang? Anyways, enjoy this chapter!
K: Preserving the Blaze of Your Red
BY: TCOOKIES777
Chapter 12: I'll See You Tomorrow
"Hey, honey," The woman sitting in the car's passenger seat twisted around to smile at the little girl sitting in the back, "are you all right back there? You don't look so good."
"I-It's nothing, I just…." The girl hesitated. "I had a bad dream."
"Is it Mizuchi again?" The man driving spoke through gritted teeth as his sharp eyes studied the little girl's through the review mirror. "I'm going to go have another talk with him. I'm not even sure anymore if that place is really a hospital like they claim it to be."
"Mizuchi?" The girl asked in confusion before shaking her head. "No, it was something… different. I dreamt that I lost something precious to me… and when I tried to find it, I lost more things on the way."
"Uh oh," The woman sighed, "that does sound troublesome."
"Well, in the end, did you at least find that precious something?" The man asked.
The little girl frowned. "No, everything I lost was equally precious to me. Whenever I tried to find one thing, I'd lose something else in return."
"Well, sometimes what you're trying to find is really just staring at you in the face. But, on the other hand, that's just how life is, honey." The woman shrugged her shoulders apologetically. "You take something then something else needs to be given in its place."
"Oh, I see…." The little girl turned to look out the window. The life of the city flew by her view like a movie being fast-forwarded. When the car braked at a red light, her eyes lingered on a child enjoying an ice cream cone on a bench with his parents on either side of him. Then she flicked her sight over to where two young boys were leaning against a lamp post. One of them had midnight hair and rectangle glasses balanced on his pale nose as he slouched lazily in the heat. The other boy beside him had a more aggressive demeanor with his messy brown bangs and a scowl set in his face as he smashed his fingers against the buttons of the game console he held.
She looked away.
Finally, when the car began rolling forward, she murmured, "Mizuchi said something like that to me once."
She heard the sound of rubbing leather as the man squeezed the steering wheel tightly. "And why would that man be telling you such things?"
"Dear…." The woman whispered, touching the man's shoulder gently.
"Because" The girl tugged on the hem of her blue dress, "he said I was going to be an important and powerful person someday soon. He said I'm going to become special."
"That's right, baby doll, of course you are." The man's voice was slightly tight with anger. He cleared his throat a moment later. "But you wanna know a secret? Something that only Daddy and Mommy know?"
"What?" The little girl breathed.
The two adults sitting in the front shared a glance with each other before the man grinned at the girl in the mirror. "You've always been special."
The girl's face brightened into a smile temporarily before slowly sinking into one of befuddlement. "But Mizuchi said—"
"Oh! Mizuchi this—Mizuchi that!" The woman cut in. "Baby, we rarely get to go out together like this so why don't we talk about something else? We're always discussing your hospital matters—does it not bore you? I know! Let's talk about what we'd like to do on our next outing!"
Gasping in absolute glee, the girl jumped in her seat. "The amusement park! I want to go to the amusement park!"
"Ah, that's right." The man commented as he took a left, heading towards a guarded gateway. "We've never been to one before, have we?"
"I want to eat pink cotton candy and red candy apples!" The girl squealed in excitement.
The man rubbed his neck. "Isn't that more like for carnivals?"
"All right," the woman smiled, "and what's the ride you want to go on the most, honey?"
The child tapped her chin thoughtfully as their car bypassed the gate's security. "Hm… I want… the ferris wheel!"
"Oh?" The man made u-turns, looking for a parking spot. "You don't want something fast like a rollercoaster?"
"No," she kept her head down, refusing to look up and at the large structure filled with men in blue patrolling around. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "No, I want the ferris wheel so I can see the sunset."
"Ah, sorry, honey," the woman's face suddenly pinched up in sadness and worry, "it seems like we're back now. Mizuchi-san is over there… waiting for you."
The little girl swallowed hard, refusing to meet the piercing coal black eyes of the man awaiting her a few feet away. She clicked her seatbelt off and reached for the door. "Bye, Mommy. Bye Daddy. It was nice to hang out with you again."
"Let's… let's do this another time soon, okay sweetie?" The woman's voice cracked at the end. "The doctors will take care of you so you be a good girl now. For Mommy and Daddy, all right?"
"Yeah…"
"Sweetie," the woman whispered, sneaking a peek at the man shifting impatiently on his feet by the hospital's entrance, "it won't take much longer, okay? Soon, you'll finally be able to go home."
"We'll make sure of it." The man nodded.
"I know." The corners of the girl's lips lifted. "I believe in you." As she opened the car door, the man's voice stopped her.
"Hey, Princess." Winking, the man cocked his head at her playfully. "The next time your Mommy and Daddy get a chance to go out with you again, we'll go to the amusement park. How about it?"
"Pinky promise?"
"Daddy pinky promises." The man swore as he wrapped his own pinky with his daughter's. "See you later, Ann—"
"No, STOP!" Anna used her Strain powers to tear through the scene. Shreds of a pinky promise from years before disappeared like smoke. Panting with sweat trickling down her brow, Anna glared at the slab of rock before her. "Why… why did you show me that memory?"
"I did not." The Dresden Slate calmly pulsed. "When you were called back, you slipped through the stream of time and was pulled towards a certain memory lurking in your mind at the moment."
"Then…." She sputtered for a response. But no words came out. Bits and pieces of what happened before she got here were conjured once more. A picnic in the park. Drowning. The Colorless King. A blood promise. Time froze. Injured back. Blues and Saru. Scavenger Hunt. Surprise birthday party….
"How did I get here?" Anna asked aloud, rubbing her temples.
The slate answered her only with silence.
"Why am I here?" Anna changed her question, expecting the slate to answer that one. But the slate, again, remained without a proper response. This time though, Anna knew it was because she already held the answer. Tears pricked her eyes painfully as she recalled everything completely. "Oh, that's right…. Tatara died."
"Indeed. Totsuka Tatara of this time has passed away." The slate confirmed for her.
"Then I…" She pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes. "I… I k-killed him. I couldn't—couldn't save him like I promised. I don't understand! What did I do wrong?!"
"You broke a law, Anna Kushina." It murmured as if in ignorance of her despair. But how could a piece of rock even begin to sympathize with such an emotional being like Anna? "Why did you not heed my warning?"
"Wh-what do you mean?" Frowning, she rubbed her tears away in confusion. "What warning?"
"I warned you not to reveal to anyone that you are from another time." The slate pulsed brightly seemingly in frustration. "And now you must face the consequences."
Consequences? It seemed like anything that happened resulted in a consequence whatsoever. It made Anna angry. No matter what happened, something even worse would seem to come right after. You take something then something else needs to be given in its place.
"Is this…" She hesitated. "Is this the cost you mentioned from before that I must pay?"
There was a pregnant pause. Then, "No, the costs are still being weighed. What I speak of is entirely different. By revealing your secret to an individual from a timeline separate from yours, you have fixed a time paradox… that is, you. You have made yourself known as a contradiction. Now, whichever timeline you jump into, its forces will try to eradicate you. You, who does not belong. You, who defies the forces of time and logic. You, who no longer…."
Anna shook her head. "I don't understand."
Eradicate me? What? Too much was going on in such a short amount of time for Anna that a headache was beginning to press in on her. Going back to rubbing her temples again, she continued to process everything piece by piece. The slate seemed to sense her puzzlement because it went on to simplify its explanation for her. "Think of it like a virus entering the body. A human's white blood cells attack it to eliminate the threat the foreigner poses."
"So I'm… the virus?" Anna frowned.
"That is correct." The slate pulsed brightly in confirmation. "Do you understand now?"
"Then what will happen to me now?" Anna whispered. "Since I…. I couldn't change the future."
The stone remained wordless for a short while, as if in thought. "Your recklessness has called for action. As a paradox, you must survive the Time Loop that has consequently befallen your existence."
"Time Loop?" Such unfamiliar terms only concerned Anna even further.
"An occurrence in which you must relive the same period of time over and over again until the forces of time succeed in correcting the paradox—until your existence disappears. In other words, you must repeatedly live the short span of time ranging between the preparations for your birthday and until whenever you wish to restart the cycle."
"Restart the cycle?" The precocious girl struggled to keep up with the time-space logic the mystic slab of stone was firing at her.
"How many of your blood marbles do you possess on your person?"
Slowly—almost in hesitance—Anna slipped her hand into her dress pocket and fingered the crystals individually to count them. She paused at the feeling of the one distinctively larger marble she'd created back at the park. "Six."
Six? Didn't she originally have seven before?
"Indeed. You originally began with seven mediums." The Dresden Slate whispered in answer to her question as if it had read her mind. "But you used one of the seven just earlier to restart. Do you remember? Thus, you only have six more to reset the time cycle. Six more chances to fix the timeline before the timeline fixes you."
Swallowing hard, Anna clenched her marbles so tightly the warm crystals dug into her palm. "And what happens if I run out of those six marbles to use?"
The Slate remained silent once more before finally it whispered in the recesses of her mind, "Then you will forever be caught in the Time Loop with no more means of a way out."
She'd have to relive the same period of days over and over… until her existence was eradicated? "Why didn't you warn me of this Time Loop before?"
"By doing so, I would have made a difference in your fate."
"How so?" Anna demanded.
"With this knowledge beforehand, you would've restrained yourself in your quest to change events. The probability of you succeeding would have decreased consequently."
"I failed anyways!" She snapped at the stone.
"And now, we shall see. For how long can you hold out under that kind of torture—witnessing your loved ones depart before your eyes repeatedly—before you eventually lose yourself?" The Slate asked with a scientific interest.
What have I gotten myself into, Anna asked herself. Why did I think I could do anything? All I've done is gotten into trouble—and caused more for others. What can I do… with my small, powerless self?
"Stay." Mikoto said quietly but firmly to the little girl clutching at him as he began prying her fingers off gently.
With a small pout marring her otherwise apathetic face, Anna went on to stare deeply into her King's eyes. A message was conveyed without words spoken: Take me with you.
"Not this time." Mikoto said brusquely as he turned his back on her to step through the bar's doorway and join his men outside for tonight's raid. With one foot out the threshold, he paused for a second before shrugging off his coat. He turned to the girl once more and draped the article of clothing over her shoulders, letting the ends reach the calves of her legs. "Return this to me when I come home."
Before Anna could protest any more, her King had already shut the door on his way out. She listened to the raucous cheer of her men as they headed off into the night for a raid they had planned for weeks. A warm hand lightly touched her shoulder as she stared with saddened eyes at the dark mahogany wood of the door. "It'll be all right, Anna. King will be back in no time!", Tatara reassured her from behind. They were the only two left at the bar since even Izumo was needed.
"But…" Anna began meekly, grasping at the coat wrapped around her frame, "why didn't he take me with him? He always lets me go with them all."
"Ah, Mikoto has his reasons." Tatara smiled wryly as he led Anna to the counter. "Tonight's raid is a particularly more dangerous one than the usual and he just wants to keep you safe, is all."
"Because I'd be… a burden to him and the guys?" Anna asked in a whisper.
"Because they care about you." Tatara corrected her. He reached into the fridge to draw out a carton of milk. "They don't want to see you get hurt."
"But they get hurt all the time." Anna protested as she watched the man pour the milk into a glass and warm it with his bare hands to the exact temperature Anna liked best.
"You're different." Tatara said lightly. She started playing with the frayed hems of the coat.
"Because I'm a little girl?" Anna was beginning to find it difficult to keep her voice neutral.
"Being little has nothing to do with it." Shaking his head, he reached up on the shelves for the cookie jar Izumo always kept filled. "I mean, look at Yata-chan! Ah, don't tell him what I just said…. Anyways, it's not because you're a girl either. You remember Maria Yubikiri, right?"
Anna ignored the plate of cookies Tatara slid towards her and only eyed the warm honeyed milk sitting between her hands. "She's a Strain—just like me. So why? I am a Strain just the same as I am a Red clansman. How is it ever too dangerous for me?"
"You know, I sometimes forget that you're too mature for your age." Tatara sighed before he took a seat beside her.
"It's just," her lips quivered with pent up frustration, "I want to help you guys. I have power, I know I do, but it's still not enough. I hate just standing by as you guys get hurt. I want to fight!"
Anna didn't realize how tightly she was holding her glass until Tatara's hand covered hers. She tilted her head up to meet his soft gaze. "When it comes to the people we love, we try to prevent them from having to suffer. Everyone, and Maria Yubiki, they've already gone through enough pain and suffering to understand how to respond to such hardships. You, on the other hand, you're light is still untainted and pure. King and the others don't want to throw you into a situation in which you may have no other choice but to…. Listen, Anna, could you live with yourself if you had to hurt someone if that meant saving yourself or another?"
Remaining quiet, Anna squeezed her glass of milk in thought. After half a minute, she finally came to a conclusion; she did not know. She couldn't know—not until the actual moment called for it. "I—"
A sharp chime sliced through the mellow mood, cutting Anna off. Tatara kept his eyes trained on her for a second more until he pulled out his PDA to respond. "Kusanagi-san? What's up?"
"Is Anna in bed yet?" The bartender's voice grunted through the communication device. There was a chorus of screaming and yelling and Anna couldn't tell if any belonged to her men.
"No." Tatara slid his amber eyes to the girl beside him briefly. "Why? What's wrong? Are you all right?"
"It seems we've—" The sounds of explosions interrupted their communications for a split second but that was all it took for Anna's heart to start racing. "Oi, Yata! Keep—off me—where—King?"
Anna twisted in her chair to face her companion. Her brows were slightly furrowed to match Tatara's though, unlike Anna who was feeling the sharp twinge of fear, Tatara was only confused. "Kusanagi-san? Oi! Kusanagi-san!"
"The raid—ambush." Izumo's voice sputtered through the static. "Half our leads—false. King—chase after—idiot—don't know where he—find him?"
Anna thought she recognized Dewa faintly yelling something in the background before a sharp high-pitched whirring sound forced Anna and Tatara to flinch away. "I can't hear you, Kusanagi-san!" Tatara yelled. He stopped and pulled a small but sheepish when he remembered he wasn't in the same place as the rest of his fellow clansmen.
"Need—Anna—find—King!"
In a split second, Anna was already rushing to her spot in her favorite booth, pulling out her marbles along the way. In a hurry to follow after the young Strain, Tatara slipped off his seat, stumbling a little, replying back with a flustered face, "On it! Hold on for just a little longer!"
He dashed to the storeroom in the back to look for the map of the city. Shoving items aside in the search for the map, he finally found it and returned to the impatiently waiting Strain. Without further ado, Anna rolled her marbles across the flat paper and concentrated her powers into finding her King. Mikoto, where are you?
A small bead of sweat formed on Anna's brow as her focus intensified. Finally, her red orbs began encircling a certain spot on the map and, using her crystals as a medium, Anna transferred a part of her consciousness into it. In her 'eyes' she was flying through the city streets as if she were there physically. Her target was moving almost too fast for her but not fast enough. In her colored world, Anna caught sight of a young boy—about her age—with a fox mask, easily leaping far distances ahead of her King who left mini craters in the pavement in his attempt to keep up with their run away target.
"In the downtown district…." Anna mumbled. "They're about to take the third street on the left… nearby the train station."
"Anna says downtown district, third street on the left near the train station!" Tatara relayed the information to the bartender.
For a while, there was only heavy breathing and the screeching of metal and gunfire on the other line until after what felt like many minutes, Izumo answered back, "Found him! All right, thanks Totsuka and Anna. Ah, Anna, don't stay up for us! We'll be—Eric, behind you!"
And then the line was cut off.
Tatara and Anna continued to stare at the PDA's blank screen in silence until the young man gave out an exasperated sigh. He peeked up at Anna through his honey brown bangs. "You're not going to sleep even if I send you to bed, are you?"
Anna shook her head, confirming his suspicions.
Trekking to his favored couch by the coffee table to nab his blanket, he chuckled. "Then let's wait together for them."
The princess nodded, clutching at the coat on her shoulders. "It's all right, Anna." Tatara murmured into her ear softly. "It'll be all right." Sitting side by side with the blanket draped over their selves like their own little tent, the little girl and the young man waited for the rest of their family to come back home safe and sound.
Hours passed late into the early morning and while Anna had nodded off several times, she always kept her eye on the door and her ears trained for the familiar sound of a tinkling bell.
All the while, her milk and cookies remained untouched….
Please come back home.
At one point, Anna sneezed and through the haze of sleepiness, she found a pair of dark shoes standing before her. The owner spoke with his rumbling voice, "What are you doing?"
Her eyes shot open but then squinted as she beheld the bright red aura of her beloved King. Not a single scratch was on him though his clothes appeared more worn out than usual. An unlit cigarette was stuck in his mouth as he stared down at her with a puzzled look. Anna rubbed her eyes to make sure it wasn't a dream. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" Mikoto casually asked.
"Stu…" Anna grabbed at Mikoto's shirt to pull herself towards him. He smelled of sulfur and smoke but underneath it all she could still smell the familiar spicy, musky scent only he could have. "Stupid Mikoto! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"
"Hah?" The red-haired man frowned in confusion. The question of why she was not allowed to fight alongside him died on her tongue as she finally understood.
"Mm…" Somebody groaned beside Anna and she turned to her side to find Tatara drooling but sleeping in a tensed position. As if his senses were tingling, he jolted awake. "Wazuh! Eh? Ah, King! You're home!"
"We're home!" Yata cheered out as he briskly walked through the door, the bells tinkled at his presence and continued doing so as the rest of the clansmen filed in one by one. All of them looked none the worse for wear but they were grinning triumphantly.
"Geez, I told you guys not to wait up for us." Izumo smiled wryly whilst he loosened the tie around his neck. It almost looked as if he had just returned home from a long day at work.
"I promised to return this to you for when you returned…" Anna said shyly, her cheeks reddening slightly as she shrugged off the coat she'd been wearing the entire time since their absence.
"Hn, I see." Mikoto accepted it back and Anna noticed the corners of his lips were turned up just the slightest.
"Besides," Tatara added, "I don't think we would've been able to sleep at ease without seeing your safe return home, Mama-san."
"Who're you calling Mama-san?!" The bartender lightly smacked his kohai's head before pulling out the first aid kit for the injured gang.
When the men were asked as to what happened, they answered that half of their leads were false which lead to confusion and more mayhem. Things had already taken a bad turn right off the bat once the operation had begun since the enemy had already been tipped off by a young man in a fox mask similar to the one the target had donned, hence the ambush.
"Oh, that's right!" Shōhei perked up in the midst of treating a cut on the corner of his lip. He tipped his cap to the little girl. "Thanks a lot, Anna!"
She tilted her head to the side in question. "For what?"
"You saved a lot of our skin back there." Fujishima smiled at her.
"The guys were combing the area looking for the target." Bandō added. "But that kid's illusions were really messing things up for us and we were just running around in circles until you guided us."
"Yeah, thanks for your help, Anna!" Yata shouted his gratitude and the rest of the men followed suit.
Guzzling down a soda pop, Kamamoto belched, "I'm glad we have you on our side."
"They're right." Izumo smiled wryly from his usual position behind the counter. "I don't think we'd ever make it far in most of our operations without your help and guidance, Anna."
Nodding politely in acknowledgement of their gratitude, Anna glanced over to Tatara who was curled up on the couch by the coffee table. When she caught his eye, he gave her a wink.
That's right. She'd always been fighting alongside her fellow clansmen all this time. Not exactly side by side but she took part in their every battle in some way. Fighting didn't always mean she had to hurt someone just to win. Fighting sometimes simply meant not giving up.
With the sound of the morning birds chirping as the city began waking up, Anna finally turned to her snack. She dipped a cookie into the milk and took a bite.
Taking in a deep breath, Anna released her hold on her marbles and lifted her chin up at the Slate with renewed determination. "I won't lose myself."
"How do you know?" The Slate continued testing her.
"Because I know how to fight." Anna responded back steely.
"Then you are satisfied with your second fresh start?"
"I don't have much of a choice." She murmured. "But at least I can learn from my mistakes."
"Then you may continue." The Dresden Slate began to fade with each pulse. "You need only to close your eyes and open them to awaken in your new timeline."
"Wait!" Anna held up a hand to stop the artifact from disappearing. She didn't know when would be the next time she'd be able to communicate with it—if she'll ever even have the chance to again. "I have a question."
"Yes."
"Back at the park… when I yelled for everyone to stop…" Anna hesitated. But the question burned on her tongue. "Did Time freeze then?"
"Yes."
The Slate's straightforward and simple response only left Anna further puzzled. "But why?"
"That is more than one question." It reminded her.
"I deserve to know." Anna bit back.
"When I slipped you into the time stream's flow backwards, you accumulated an amount of residue on your being. With the awakening of your powers, you managed to use the residue left on you to some degree. Though, for now, you're without any residue. My own Kingly aura is partly the cause of such a phenomenon as well."
"Then those two energy release back at the park. They were both of King levels." Anna spoke slowly.
"The report was anonymous?" Anna asked.
"Yes, it was received through a call with no ID, only a disguised voice. When my men attempted to trace the call back we found that it had been sent from an abandoned apartment. Of course, we had our suspicions but I couldn't take any chances; so this instigated an immediate investigation just to make sure. All we know is that there truly was a massive power release at the park you were at." Munakata leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I even sensed it myself…. The energy was on the same level that only a King can reach."
Was it the Colorless King then? But she couldn't mention him without being interrogated by Munakata and risk prolonging her stay here for more questioning. "But I'm not a King. And it wasn't Mikoto either."
"Oh, I know it wasn't your King." He peered at her through his crystal clear lenses. "But even so, there are rare and special cases in which a Strain is powerful enough to reach that high of an energy level, albeit temporarily."
"And you think I am capable of that?" Incredulity was laced heavily in the tone of her soft voice.
"No." He pushed his glasses up, reflecting off a glaring light. "I know it."
She had several suspicions and all but one of them she was afraid to ask. "Were one of the two energy levels yours?"
"Yes, technically speaking. It was you making use of the time residue remaining on your existence when you awakened your powers."
"Then…." Anna swallowed hard. "Then who was the second energy source?"
The Slate stayed quiet for a while before it finally said, "You already know the answer to that, Anna Kushina. But to guide you, I will say this: The second energy source did indeed come from a King."
"Who?!" Anna raised her voice as she noticed the Slate quickly begin to fade with each pulse.
"The answer is closer than you think."
Sometimes what you're trying to find is really just staring at you in the face.
I'm supposed to already know? Anna asked herself. She gasped at something the Slate had said more than once. "Wait! What do you mean I awakened my powers?!"
But the Slate was already gone.
Anna stared blankly at the spot the stupid piece of rock had occupied just seconds earlier.
Maybe the second time's the charm? She told herself. Hopefully, I'll find all my answers this time. Without another thought, she closed her eyes, following the Slate's instructions one more time, and then opened them.
"What are you doing?" Mikoto asked as he stood before her. They were at the top of the stairs once again as her fellow clansmen were planning the preparations for her birthday tomorrow. This time, she didn't throw herself at her King and hug him or rejoice the fact that she got to see him alive again. This time, she didn't run downstairs to meet a long lost friend.
"I had a dream." This time, her voice did not waver.
"Is that so….?" Mikoto stared at her as if he sensed something was off. "About what?"
Anna clutched at the marbles nestled in the pocket of her old dress. Six more chances. "About Maria Yubikiri."
Because this time, things would be different.
Replies to Reviews:
KisaragiMarru: Yeah, I know. Sorry I'm still hurting from killing off Tatara with my own hands (quite literally) too /3
TinaFOTZE: Thanks for your wonderful reviews! I checked out your stories and oh-my-flipping-pancakes they are so awesome! Sorry, I just had to because I noticed your reviews are pretty detailed and insightful so I decided to take a look at your work too :) So.. awesome...
funni neko: I was thinking a lot of readers would be disappointed to read chapter 12 but I was so happy when I read your review saying you enjoyed the chapter no matter how depressing and short it was Thanks for your honest review!
Phoenix Autumn: Hehehe, thanks! I'm still a newb at writing so it really brings me great pleasure to know that readers like you really look forward to future chapters. Your review made me go "aww! 3 " but then again I'm a sucker for reviews ahahaha! Looking forward to hearing your honest input in any of the future chapters!