Ch.5: Bonds and the Tangled Twists of Life

Temari stared at the cold floor in front of her. The smooth stone licked her knuckles ever so interestingly. She felt Shikamaru sit beside her, "Temari—"

"Shut up for a second." Her brow furrowed.

Did she do something in a past life that somehow subjugated her to this constant barrage of horrible incidents? Dammit, nothing she could have done would justify this awful nonsense. Nothing. That was just it! She was damn tired of sitting around and hoping the system would allow it all to work out. Well, twiddle-dee-dum, it was time to start a riot.

When the system fucked you over for long enough, it was time to fuck with the system.

"Hey! Hey!" Temari snapped at the guy guarding the door, "Yes, you, jerk!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "What are you—?"

"Come inside, idiot!" She continued yelling at the guard.

The fairy tentatively walked inside looking about in worry. "Uh…I…"

"How did Kano know?"

He fidgeted. "I don't know what—"

"How did he know Kirai's stone was fake?" Temari snapped again.

The fairy fidgeted.

"Tell me or I'll crack your skull open AND pull your intestines out with my bare hands." She threatened.

The guy stared in shock, "You-you can't…you can't!"

"The worst that can happen to me if I brutally kill you is I get sentenced to death – oh, wait, I'M ALREADY SENTENCED TO DEATH!" Temari shot a glare at Shikamaru upon feeling him ready to speak, "Don't mess with me, I'll fucking murder you too."

Shikamaru wisely shut his mouth and said nothing.

Temari faced the fairy again. "Now are you going to tell me, or am I going to have get violent?"

The fairy stepped away nervously. "Chiyo! The witch! Chiyo!" The guy scrambled out of the room and stopped outside of the door, putting a wall between them once more. Temari could see him in the window looking back at them in nervousness.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Shikamaru said slowly, "But Chiyo is the witch who originally cursed you, Gaara, and Kankurou right?"

"That bitch!" Temari snarled.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." He muttered.

Temari began pacing up and down the room. "She…she…ugh!" Temari quickly explained the entire trade with Chiyo that she and Kirai set up to Shikamaru all while she cursed the witch's existence in-between sentences.

"I see."

"That's all you have to say!?" Temari snapped. "That witch has just screwed with me again and all you can say is 'I see'?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I dunno, how about, 'Chiyo, you dumb fuck, I want you in this room right here, right now, so I can pummel you!'"

"That really won't do anything, though—" Shikamaru sighed at a glare she sent him, "Fine. Chiyo, I want you in this room right here, right now, so that Temari can pummel you or whatever else she feels like doing."

Temari was quite ready to strangle him, when a loud crash sounded out through the room. Temari ducked immediately. When it turned out that despite the noise she seemed quite alive, she looked around tentatively. Shikamaru was seated on the floor (he'd probably fallen backward from the shock) with eyes wide and mouth agape. And right in front of Shikamaru was a dumbfounded Chiyo sitting on the floor with a toppled desk beside her.

"Holy fuck." Temari muttered. "Is she really…?"

"What—?" Chiyo hissed. Her eyes narrowed, "You two. What did you do to me?"

Temari's temper flared. "What did we do to you?" She tried to lunge at her, but found that she couldn't move. She tugged again and then the bind disappeared.

Chiyo's brow furrowed. "That looks familiar…"

Temari then noticed briefly that Shikamaru's shadow had elongated again. She shook the thought out of her mind, "What the hell did you sell us out for!? I ought to kill you!"

Chiyo straightened up, her eyebrows creased in confusion. "What did you expect, fairy? I hate your family and I saw an out. I took it." She smirked, "I was not allowed to harm you, your siblings, or this one," she gestured to Shikamaru, "but I am completely free when it comes to divulging the fae princess's secrets. The harm to you I did not directly inflict."

Temari gritted her teeth, "I'm going to kill you."

"You never could, what makes you think you can now?" She sneered.

"Temari, don't." Shikamaru snapped.

She balled up her fists. "Why not? Why can't I—?" She stopped. "Fine. I won't." Temari turned back to the witch. "You better be there when Amun kills me. I don't want to have to search too far for the person I want to haunt."

"Oh, don't worry, fairy; I'll be there to watch the last speck of life drain from your eyes."

Shikamaru stood up. "Leave." His eyes were dark and angry. Temari fleetingly wondered if he was asking her to leave because he didn't want to resort to physical violence.

Chiyo looked annoyed, "I will not—"

"Chiyo, I said leave. I do not want you here right now."

Chiyo looked about ready to snap something at him, but then her brows furrowed, and she exited the room quite silently.

Temari stared after her and frowned. Why did…? Something screwy was going on…

"Temari?" Shikamaru prodded.

"I…I'm fine." Temari shook her head to clear her thoughts. She paused, "Hey, Shikamaru, can I try something?"

He looked at her skeptically, "I don't see why not."

"How do you do that shadow thing?"

He shrugged, "I just…I want to do it." He blinked, "It's weird, kind of like I want move somebody, but can't do it manually, so I feel like I'm moving, but I'm not…Like I'm stretching."

She sat down on the floor and concentrated. "Stretching. Okay." She squeezed her eyes tight and imagined doing so. She felt a light tug, a weird elastic feeling, but it snapped back immediately.

"You can do it?" Shikamaru's voice was hushed and shocked.

"Bingo." Temari smirked.

"You want to explain this to me?"

"Just wanted to make sure our blood had intermingled as it was supposed to."

"Again, care to explain?"

Temari looked at him, his expression confused. "You see, when a fairy marries another fairy, there is this…magical thing. Okay, you know how Kankurou and Gaara insisted you cut your hand and I cut my hand and we squeeze those hands? That's a stupid ritual in fae marriage. The point in that is symbolic AND magical. What it does is signify that the two married fae become one and it also, through the magical marriage crap, intermingles the blood and blood qualities. So, that means, that we become the same family and powers become shared." Temari explained calmly. "Obviously, this usually does not pertain to physical appearance which is why you don't have wings, but only applies to inner power which only a few special fae have."

"So…it's magic sharing?"

"Yeah."

"And you being able to do the shadow things is proof that our…blood intermingles?"

"Yeah."

"Why did you need to know that?"

Temari hesitated. "I…I don't really know."

Shikamaru rubbed his shoulder absently. "Interesting."

There was a light cough.

They both turned to view who'd come in.

"Baki," Temari sighed, "what, is our death seat ready?"

The sadness in Baki's eyes was evident and Temari was reminded again of some of the goodness of the fae in the fairy court. It was a shame Kano was in charge. "Yes."

Shikamaru stretched up and Temari followed suit. While cracking his knuckles, Shikamaru asked almost dismissively, "What exactly is death from Amun like?"

"Ordinary." Temari replied just as Baki responded "Painful."

"So, ordinarily painful. Lovely."

Temari sighed. "Alright, fine. Amun specializes in electricity. He will burn through skin charring you from the inside slowly until even your outside are burned. At the end you are nothing but a pile of ashes on the floor. It's a lengthy and excruciating process." Temari winced as she thought about it. This was not going to be a very happy death.

"I am truly sorry, Temari." Baki apologized to her. He paused, and bowed slightly to Shikamaru. "I am sorry. You have been treated unfairly, both as a human and as one of our kind."

Temari waved dismissively. "Don't be. You didn't sentence us to death."

Temari and Shikamaru followed silently after Baki, going through turn after turn after turn. They stopped at the same door they had stood before in their first meeting with the fae council. Temari squeezed Shikamaru's hand. "I love you, even if your part human."

Shikamaru pressed his lips against hers. Soft skin, teeth, tongues…It was soft, then passionate, then angry, then gentle and soft again. "I love you Temari, because you're everything you are."

Temari chuckled softly. "Cross-species romantic relationships are the only kind of relationship worth having."

"Damn straight."

"You're expected." Baki said apologetically.

Temari nodded and pushed the ornate door open.

Hello, death.

They walked into the large room, but this time, the lights were all appropriately on illuminating the vastness of the room. The walls stretched on for what seemed like forever, the walkway looked small compared to the intricate winding of stairs all around the thin stretch of concrete that drifted down to unknown portions of the building – some even went so far as to dip into the dark pool or water collected bellow. The chairs at the end of the walkway were different now. Two increasingly large and pillowy chairs of the same substance as before sat in the middle, the gel strands though weaved about to spell charms of leadership and protection across the back of the chairs. The chair to the left was considerably more ornate. To the far left sat Amun, black robed and violet gloved staring idly at his shoe in the same chair he'd been in before. Next to Amun sat an eager Jiyitl. There were also three other figures seated now, not that Temari knew who the added council was, but they all looked vindictive and sinister. Last, an interested Chiyo sat at the left of the entire dais, separated from the whole.

Temari stopped by the stairs leading up to the dais. "So how are we doing this, oh-great-asshole-of-fuckers?"

Kano narrowed his eyes.

"So now we can insult them?" Shikamaru asked lightly.

"Hell, we're already sentenced to death." Temari reasoned, "What's the fun in being doomed to die if you don't take advantage of the situations to tell your killers they're A BUNCH OF FREAKING PATHETIC LOSERS." Temari raised her voice significantly, casting Kano and Falynne smirks. She cast a glance at Chiyo and wondered if her suspicions were indeed correct.

"Amun!" Kano snapped. "Kill them."

Amun's watery eyes looked over at them in disinterest. He tugged lightly at his gloves and stood from his chair. As he moved toward them, his footsteps made such a clear purposeful noise which reverberated throughout the room. Stupid convenient bastards. They only let footsteps make noise in a room when it was clearly meant to intimidate.

The light went straight through his skin, accentuating more precisely the veins and capillaries underneath. He stopped right in front of them and inclined his head. The rich purple gloves were annoyingly eye-catching. He sighed and turned back around to face Kano and the council. "Unfortunately, at this time, I find that what you demand…is…well, stupid and impossible. I cannot and will not kill these two." He turned to look at Temari and Shikamaru again.

Kano's eyebrow ticked. "What?" He seethed.

Temari tried to understand what was going on and when it would be best to act out on her theory.

Amun shrugged, "I don't see how it should be a surprise." He turned slightly so that he could look at the acting fairy king, "I never quite professed loyalty to you did I, Kano? And I'd always told you what interested me was what I could see in various powers."

"So you chose the useless chit vagabond over me?"

Amun looked in boredom at the ceiling. "Anyone would be better than you. I'm tired of having to play your dog for far too long. I am my own, Kano." Amun clenched his fists. Temari was surprised, that was the first actual sign of emotion (other than interest at powers) that she'd seen of him. "And I hate someone trying to take such freedoms away." The flash of anger left as soon as it appeared. "Plus, how could I kill not only the last of two powerful lines, but a winged fae? I would be struck down for such disgrace."

Kano's eyes flashed. "Insolence! Fine, I will kill you three myself." A blue ball of energy began to form in his hands.

Temari spoke without thinking. Fuck the perfect moment – she was not going to die here. "CHIYO, I ORDER YOU TO KILL KANO!"

The ball in Kano's hands immediately spluttered out and every single person in the room stared at her if she was the craziest woman in the world.

"What?" Chiyo hissed.

Temari swallowed and prayed she was right. "You heard me. I said, kill Kano."

Kano laughed. "You have got to be joking me." He smirked. "The witch hates you."

"But she's finding it incredibly hard right now not to do what I say." Temari replied, slightly relieved that Chiyo did in fact look uncomfortable. Temari slowly began to feel more confident in her plan. "Come on, Chiyo. You know you'll do it. By the line of Shiindar, I order you to do as I say. The line of Adiaré Shiindar."

Chiyo's eyes widened. "I knew I'd seen that power before."

"Now." Temari snapped.

The atmosphere in the room was tight and expectant.

Kano laughed it off again. "Enough." He spoke calmly. "I'm done with this foolishne—" Anything else Kano might have said after that was never to be heard again as the floor crumbled underneath the main throne sending him falling straight to the dark pool below.

Temari let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.

Amun clicked his tongue. "Uncanny. Killed by the pool of shadows that Adiaré himself created."

Falynne stared slack-jawed at the hole in the ground.

Temari noticed Chiyo teleport out. She thought it was a fairly smart move on the witch's part.

Falynne looked at them with fury in her eyes. "You killed him."

Temari chuckled uncertainly, "Technically, I only ordered Chiyo to kill him. So…"

"I want them dead!" She screamed.

Amun smirked ever-so-slightly, "Falynne, you really can't order that on your own. We live in patriarchy."

Falynne ground her teeth, "Fine, vote for their death!"

That shouldn't have been too hard of a request Temari imagined; it was Kano's council after all.

Shikamaru shifted. "Could we just summon Chiyo again and have her kill the lot of them."

"That would lead to never-ending revenge and death." Amun asked, "Quite bloody, wouldn't you say?"

"HAH!" Falynne snarled, "Five out five votes!"

Amun held up a hand, "I believe you cannot order any sentence until the entire council has spoken. Whether I was intended to stay on the council or not, Kano did not kick me out before his…" Amun smirked, "end."

"Your vote will not change the outcome." Falynne snapped.

"Nonetheless." He spoke as always, without a hint of emotion in his voice, but a small smile upon his lips confusing Temari to no end. "Before I vote, I feel I know not enough of this fae. One question before I vote."

Falynne looked ready to rip someone to shreds.

"I am curious of your incredible intelligence, Shiindar fae." Amun said lazily, "Here's a riddle for you:

I am opposite of wrong

But not always correct.

I am not empty

And can fit no more.

Wrongdoing, I cannot do

For I prevent that very thing.

Err I do, but only last.

Two words I am made up of.

What am I?"

Falynne growled. "We don't have—"

"I will vote after this, Falynne. Surely, you can hold off your vengeance for a bit." Amun stared at them both purposefully with light in his eyes. Temari knew something was up, but she couldn't figure out what. Looking at Shikamaru, it was obvious he was getting a vague idea. His lips moved slowly.

Righelrulder?

Shikamaru lifted his head. "You are…" He paused. "The rightful ruler."

Amun smirked just as the doors swung open. Temari turned to see behind her, greeted with a furious Kirai. Her marks were glowing, her eyes were burning, and her fists were clenched. "I'm gone playing games. I want my chair!"

Falynne narrowed her eyes. "You hold no power over this throne any more. Any power you once had is gone with your stone."

Kirai's lips curved up into a smile. "And what, you do? Don't make me laugh. You have no claim!"

"Kano was king and I am his wife. His blood has mixed with mine. He may be dead, but I still have every claim! Besides, even if you kill me you will not take my kingdom! We have already established you have no claim."

"Dead?" Kirai commented. "Well, that is of little consequence." She continued. "You are not queen, Falynne! And Kano was no king." Kirai smiled vindictively. "You were not then and you especially aren't now. Claiming such a thing is a blight against the real king of fae – and to an extent the queen of fae."

"The real king and queen are dead!"

"I find, Falynne," Kirai continued, "that I am quite alive." She waved to the door. "I also believe that the king is alive as well."

Falynne fury seemed to reach impossible points; she lobbed a sparkling blue energy ball completely like Kano's straight at Kirai, which incidentally, would hit Shikamaru and her if they didn't duck. Without thinking, Temari kicked Shikamaru at the knees so that he fell to the floor and she dropped down to the floor with him. The ball flew straight at Kirai. Temari winced and was surprised at the fear she held for Kirai's safety that filled her. Then, the ball…stopped. It faded to nothingness right before Kirai.

"W-W-What did you do?!" Falynne stuttered.

Kirai wasn't smiling anymore; she looked a bit relieved actually. "Good. I was afraid that wouldn't work. I don't have much faith in the damned power – never having used it before."

"What the hell is going on?" Temari murmured.

Then as Gaara stepped through the door, everything began to make sense.

"The imperative point, Falynne, is what you are attempting to do to my queen."

Kirai scowled. "Don't call me your queen. It's rather possessive, I think."

Gaara rolled his eyes.

Stretching across Gaara's skin, was a string of words and glowing symbols. The same words that were imprinted on Kirai's skin were visible on Gaara's. Temari stood up abruptly. "Hold on! You did the binding ritual thing? With my youngest brother?"

Kirai nodded.

"Weren't you—?"

"This is hardly the time, Temari." Gaara interjected smoothly.

"Falynne!" Kirai snapped. "I will only say this once more. Get off my fucking throne and quite claiming it yours."

Falynne's eyes flashed furiously. "You'll have to kill me first."

Kirai shrugged. "Will do." But before she could move an inch, Gaara had already lifted his hand, sending a spike made of sand straight through Falynne's heart. Kirai looked in bafflement as Falynne fell to the ground. Falynne fell to the edge of the dais down into the abyss of endless stairs her screams echoing horribly throughout the air. "Oh, that is so not fair," Kirai mumbled. "I was going to do that." She pouted. "First Kano up and dies on me and now you kill Falynne."

"The rest of you," Gaara snapped at the council members, "your membership is revoked, but keep in mind we will be watching you carefully. Go." The creepy fairies all pretty much scrambled clean away as soon as he said 'go'. They were afraid of him, that much was evident.

"Except you, Amun." Kirai added with a sigh. "You always helped me before and you helped me even now. It would be an honor if you agreed to stay part of my council."

"Will I have to swear my loyalty?" He asked in jaded tone.

Kirai shrugged. "Of sorts. Not the kind Kano liked to demand. I'd just like you to promise not to participate in any plots to kill me or take my throne. If you have problems with my–"she paused, "our ruling you can just say it. And if that doesn't work and you still want to kill me, then let me know. I won't kill you, but I'll, you know, dismiss you as an advisor and watch my back."

Amun's lips twitched up into a smile. "Very well. I swear my loyalty – my full loyalty – to the new king and queen: Kirai and Gaara."

"CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON TO ME?!" Temari screamed, finally annoyed with the events.

"Frankly," Kirai snapped in annoyance, "I'd like to know the exact same thing! Why is there a whole where my throne should be and why is Kano dead!?"

Shikamaru dusted off his clothes as she stood. "It's obvious isn't it? Your brother and Kirai did the intermingling-blood thing and now they are king and queen of the fae. I assume some sort of power thing is included when you become king and queen like the power sharing you explained earlier to me which would explain how and why Kirai could block Kano's attack. And apparently, Amun had something to do with allowing Kirai and Gaara to do what was necessary."

"B-but, you're against the whole marriage crap!" Temari accused Kirai.

"Yes. And?"

Temari curled her fingers in the front of Kirai's shirt and pulled her up, "Then why the hell did you marry my brother?" Sure, she was alive. Sure, Shikamaru was alive. But she did not want this skinny twit in a union with her brother just for convenience's sake. Gaara was worth so much more than that. She would not stand for her brother being used.

"Let me down, yes?" Kirai smiled, "I want to show you something."

Temari let the princess down and tapped her feet impatiently. "Well?"

Kirai lifted her shirt up slightly to show an intricate sign marked upon her belly. It wove in and out with dots and dashes here and there. Temari cocked her head and her brow furrowed. "Bullshit."

"Love?" Shikamaru mumbled. "It says 'love'?"

"How new is this crap?" Temari snapped.

"I told you Gaara and I had met before right, Temari?"

"Yes." Temari replied tersely.

"It's been there since the very first time we met. I didn't understand it then, and when I did get what it meant, I denied it. Love or not, there's no fucking way I would feel okay with marriage." Kirai shrugged, "Of course, sometimes life calls for a risk on my part. Besides, Gaara doesn't seem like a power hungry type."

Temari looked back at her youngest brother. "You love my brother?"

Kirai smiled lightly. "If I didn't it wouldn't have been so easy to manipulate me into helping you make that trade with the witch." She shrugged. "If anything I should be mad at Gaara for using that against me. Jerk, probably knew that all along."

"Gaara, you…" Temari paused and looked between the two of them. "Do you l-love her?" Somehow, it didn't seem right that her brother should love anybody. Dammit, he was her younger brother, he was not supposed to have or even want a life. "Or did you do it just to—"

"This is getting increasingly lame and cliché," Gaara muttered, "but yes, I do love her. And, Kirai, I was not aware of any emotions on your part."

Kirai scoffed. "Yeah, right." But the smile on her lips gave her dead away. Then she frowned, "So…hole in my dais? Kano not killed by me? Anybody want to explain?"

Shikamaru looked at her, "Actually, Temari, I'd like you to explain that too."

"What? This one isn't obvious?" She teased.

He frowned. "Oh, just tell me."

Temari shrugged. "Okay, see…while we were in that guarded room and you said, by my request, that Chiyo should show up and she did, I started thinking. Then, when you told her to leave, and it was obvious she didn't want to leave, and she did, it got stranger. She even had familiarity with your power." Temari paused, "I was kind of going on a whim to be perfectly honest, but it just seemed uncanny. I imagined that perhaps there was some stupid sort of service your grandpa bound her to. There had to be some reason she did everything you said."

Amun chuckled, "That's good deducting. I had heard a rumor that Adiaré Shiindar had only managed to mingle with the humans for so long because of a witch's aid. That, of course, would only have been possible if the witch was really good friends with him or bound to him." Amun smirked. "With his intelligence, he probably managed that fairly easily."

Shikamaru blinked. "So…she…has to do ANYTHING I order her to do?"

Temari blinked, "You know, I deducted this, but it still makes me think about how unbelievably stupid fate is."

Kirai cleared her throat. "Lovely, really, but how does this explain the hole and Kano's death?"

Temari looked at her, "Oh, well, I ordered her to kill Kano and she created a hole where he was sitting and Kano fell down it into the dark pool of creepiness and died."

Kirai sighed in aggravation. "This is no fair! I was supposed to kill someone. Where is the vengeance, dammit!"

Temari looked at her youngest brother. The glowing marks on Gaara were beginning to fade away, almost as if melting into his skin. "What…Why is it fading?" Temari paused. "HEY! AMUN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY BROTHER?" Amun was currently prodding Gaara all about while Gaara watched the usually bored fairy in trepidation and confusion.

Amun waved dismissively at him. "This is rather interesting. I've never seen a bond in the royal family. I always loved the stories, but this is unreal."

"Mind explaining the story?"

"The marks are a decisive trait of the royals. When one marries another, the marks of the true bearer will be copied onto the partner. The first hour or so, the glowing will be visible just as the original fae, but then the marks will fade almost entirely only resurfacing when or if the bonded fae ever called upon the use of royal magic." He paused, "Part of the reason this dolt didn't want to marry is because any bonded fae will be able to use the stores of her magic at will and she will not have a say. Being the male in their relationship, he will be seen as the leader and what he says will go, so she was afraid her voice and her role would be cut off. She didn't want to relinquish her natural borne right."

"I have a question." Shikamaru interrupted. "I've been assuming that the marks on your skin get etched based on what your soul says you have or have not done, correct?"

Kirai nodded, "Precisely."

Amun stopped poking Gaara and looked at him in interest. "You know, you are rather intelligent. The riddle was just for a small stall, I didn't think you would figure it out."

Shikamaru shrugged. "I'm constantly surprising people." He sighed. "Does this mean that I'm not getting killed anymore?"

Kirai dropped to the floor. "Of course not. If I suggested the mere thing Temari would try to kill me again. She's a rather violent woman, you realize." Kirai paused, "Besides, I believe it's far worse punishment to continue as her lover than to be killed."

"Excuse me?" Temari snapped.

"Hey," Shikamaru interrupted again, trying to ignore the glare Temari was giving him, "Where's Kankurou?"

Gaara shuffled to sit down next to Kirai. "With Baki. They're catching up. He figured we'd have this under control."

Temari's eyebrow twitched. "Doesn't he give a damn what happens to us?"

Temari noted absently how Gaara's hand wrapped around Kirai's gently. The two looked at each other and then blushed, looking immediately to the side in embarrassment. She was careful to see that despite that, they didn't stop holding hands. If anything the grip was tighter.

Temari jumped in shock as she felt Shikamaru's lips on her again. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you're taking liberties."

"Liberties, my foot. I damn well deserved this. People wanting to kill me, finding out I'm part fairy, going through trials, having riddles thrown at me continually, getting beat up by evil fairies and my own love – yes, I think I've suffered sufficiently. I need my prize for enduring."

"Me finding out Chiyo is sort of technically you're slave isn't a prize?"

"Hey, you figured it out. That's more of a prize for you than for me."

Temari snickered and kissed him firmly. "It's no wonder you always smelled like nature. You're part fairy."

A/N: I could come up with an excuse (both good and not-so good) as to why it's taken me SOOOO long to update, but…I'll just go with the truth. I looked at the fic and didn't like the way I ended it, so I had to revamp it. Of course, by the time I decided that, life decided to be precariously annoying so the few times I wasn't busy, I just wasn't in the mood to write anything long and meaningful. That and my inspiration with this fic seemed to have taken a vacation. So…apologies apologies. Lots of apologies.

I loves you all because you're all superly fantastically awesome. Thankies for reading and reviewing. I love you even if you don't review because you're all still awesome. But I just really want to thank Pickles the Great, because was a GREAT help in moving this chapter along. She just ownz. ^_^

Oh, and a special thanks to Miamay Tsuikia-Kage no Miamay who made me realize I forgot to edit a paragraph. (This is what I get for not editing my own work. Stupid stuff slips out and the plot gets confusing.)

So, just the epilogue left, which I'll have up…at the very least by new years.

Merry Christmas/Holidays (whatever you celebrate or don't celebrate)!