I have finally gotten over my writer's block, and it feels good to be writing again! The chapter is a bit short and all over the place, but this is mostly for introducing previous characters again and moving the plot along. As for bad news… I'm guessing I have about four to five chapters left on this fic. Though knowing me, I'll be posting a few slice-of-life oneshots afterwards.

Other bad news includes that I've been taking a rather long time updating, which is both upsetting and friggin' annoying. I hate deadlines and it can make writing all the more harder, what with me going back to class in the fall... So because of that, I'm taking a little break from updating so I can build up a decent amount of chapters. So, no updates for 3 weeks to a month. Thanks for your patience guys, enjoy the chapter!

Themes are: The Green Leaves of Summer - Nick Perito, Hall Om Mig - Nanne Gronvall, The Walk - Imogen Heap, When You Were Young - The Killers. As much as I was tempted to add Sigor Ros' Saeglopur to this list... It doesn't fit. It doesn't fit anywhere. Really, it's too beautiful to, but it's still my main source of inspiration whenever I listen to it. Go to youtube and watch the video for it. ...No, really.

x x x

Chapter 11: The Green leaves of Summer

x x x

The next morning after Walter woke up did not include much. After waking up in the middle of the night and having an emotional breakdown, Norma found it satisfactory to just stay in bed all day. Shirley tried to budge her a couple of times, but the girl wouldn't wake, ignoring everything outside of the dreamy landscape in her mind.

As for the other blond, Shirley gave him another round of healing and he was up and about again. She had relayed most of the events in the previous days to him, and he too was on edge about the mention of dragons now seemingly swarming the populated areas around Werites Beacon. Shirley left to go see Senel (not telling Walter about it, of course) a while later, leaving the Ferines alone with only a maid (too shy and anti-social) and Norma (asleep).

About an hour later, Walter was walking along a bustling road, down from Madam Musette's house along the long streets towards the shopping district and the fountain. Hands in his pockets and black cloak fluttering behind him, he let his eyes wander around the surrounding buildings and people. One house nearby had an elderly lady watering the numerous flowers by her fence, who seemed to give him an evil eye when he passed by.

Another house was half finished, with a burly sawdust-covered man hard at work setting up the outer support beams. Walking along his route, he paused in his steps for a moment. That kid he had met when he first got here… What was his name again? Tra… Train? Trevor? The blond stood in the middle of the street with his arms crossed, trying to remember the kid's name. A nearby man holding a basket full of fruit gave him an odd look as he passed by.

Soon enough, the blond snapped his fingers and continued walking. Travis, that was it! The kid was covered in sawdust as well, so he could only assume that he was the son, or at least relative or friend, of that muscular worker. …He wondered where Travis was at that moment. Would he even remember him?

He shook his head, "No, of course he would…" He said to himself. Who would forget an intimidating flying man? Pushing the thoughts out of his head, the blond continued down the path and the familiar crossroads that led to the fountain, inn and hospital came into view. Trying to think back to the last time he ate, he started walking towards the bakery.

x x x

At that same point in time, a small band of kids were walking down the path to the fountain. One was a scrawny little girl with bright orange-ginger hair. The second was a kid who looked like the only thing he ate in his life were sweets and potato chips, if his freckled plump cheeks were any indication. The third was a brunette kid with a patched shirt holding what looked like a lucky rabbit's foot in his hands. They were all talking about how much luck one could get from a rabbit's foot opposed to a good luck charm.

The girl broke away from their conversation to look at the blond man in black and red that walked by towards the inn. She turned her eyes back to the brunette. "'Ey Travis. Wha'zat guy look like again?" She asked, her voice clipped in a strange accent belonging to a country on the mainland.

Travis looked over at her, "What guy?"

"'Zat guy. You know, Zee one zat could fly. Wasn't 'ee blond?" She continued.

"Well, yeah. Why do ya ask, Aimee?"

The girl pointed over at the blond man, who was walking away from them. "Izn't zat him?"

Travis looked over at the blond for a moment, then his entire face seemed to light up. The pudgy boy gave the girl a side-glance and said, "Yep, guess it was."

Travis took off in a run and the other two followed, the pudgy one slower than the rest of the trio.

x x x

Walter continued walking, when he heard a small voice yelling behind him. "Waaaaallyyy!" The small voice cried, small footsteps pattering towards him. …Why were they multiplying?The blond looked confused, and turned to stare behind him at the three kids that were running directly at him. Two boys and one girl… The other two were unfamiliar, but the first one that was yelling his name… "Travis?" Walter said, the name ending in a question mark. Speaking of sawdust-covered boys, there he was now.

The kid grinned at him and tackled him, nearly bowling him over by the force of his hug. "Wally, hiya!" He yelled, looking up at the man with a huge smile on his face, eyes lighting up.

Walter sweat dropped at that adoring expression. Dear Nerifes, not this again. He pried the boy's arms off of his waist when he saw the child's entourage approaching. "Off please…" He said quietly, slightly embarrassed at how much attention the kid was giving him.

Travis released his grip and stood back and grinned at him. "Wally, good to see ya again!" He looked back at his two friends: one a dark-haired boy and the other a red-headed girl who's hair was so orange a pumpkin would be jealous. "See? See? I told you he was real!" He chattered excitedly to his friends.

The large freckled boy gave the blond a skeptical look, "Well, he doesn't look nearly as scary as you made him out to be." Walter gave the kid an indignant expression, and the kid nearly squeaked and hid behind the girl.

Travis looked up at the Ferines and motioned to his friends, "Wally, this is Aimee and Chad. Guys, this is Wally."

Aimee made a gesture that was supposed to look like a curtsy, but her clumsy 8-year old self without a pretty dress couldn't really pull it off. "Pleased to meet you, sir." She said. Chad simply waved at him from behind the girl, a bit intimidated by the blond man.

Walter nodded his head to the three, and looked to Travis. "Travis, I'm going to the bakery for something to eat, you three want something?" He may as well be a nice guy and buy the kids something. Besides, he was in a good mood today.

At the mere mention of getting a pasty for free, the three jumped at the offer. "Yes please!" The three said in unison. The sight was so cute he couldn't help chuckling, a smile lingering on his face as he led the four to the shop.

A little after 10 minutes later, Walter would swear to himself to never, ever underestimate the stomach capacity of kids when it came to sweet things.

x x x

Meanwhile, Norma was just leaving Madam Musette's house with the intention of discovering where the hell Walter went. She made a point of asking the maid, Rose, but she shook her head and blushed, stammering that she hadn't seen him. Norma assumed that Shirley had healed him completely this time, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to go outside for very long.

Shrugging it off, she left in the direction of Senny's house, where she had heard from Shirley the day she woke up that the group was having a picnic the next day. Norma could only hope that it wasn't Harriett that was cooking.

x x x

Walter's coin purse was crying. After spending his gald on strawberry croissants, chocolate éclairs, cookies, berry-filled crepes and chocolate cornets, Walter really had to wonder how he even had enough to spend on himself. The three were chowing down on their treats while the blond ate the last of his curry bread. The three kids, perfectly content with their food seemed to just ignore the world while they enjoyed their sugary treats. Free sugary treats: the best kind.

The blond man noticed a crowd beginning to build up near the front entrance, but paid no real heed to it as Chad looked over at him, having worked up enough bravery to ask him a question. After all, if he had gone and bought them pastries, he couldn't be that bad. He just looked a bit scary, is all. "Hey Mister Wally." The blond seemed to cringe at the 'mister' line. "If you really can fly, where are your wings?"

The girl hit him on the shoulder, giving him a "what are you, stupid" look. "Don't you remember wot Travis said? Zey appear, zen they disappear. Poof." She made a hand gesture which was supposed to signify something poofing in and out of existence.

Walter nodded his head at her point. "I don't fly unless I have to. …They attract too much attention." Not to mention the dangers that being revealed a Ferines were back when Vaclav was still running around. Some of his people had no qualms about selling a Ferines for a few gald a few years ago.

"So you won't show us…?" Chad seemed disappointed. They all did.

"No, just not where other people are around." Walter responded quickly, wanting their pathetic expressions to change as soon as possible. He didn't think he could handle three crying children on his conscience. In the next few moments, he heard a female voice yelling, coming from the entrance of the town. He couldn't really make out any of the words she said, but it was enough to perk his curiosity. He looked to the three kids and said, "You kids stay here, I'll be back in a few minutes."

He left the table and walked towards the crowd, hearing the voice becoming more and more clear. "…anyone answer my question?" He pushed past a few people in the crowd until he was near the front and saw just who was yelling to the crowd. It was that girl again, Fenimore's twin. She was alone, and seemed to be searching for something… or someone. "Does anyone know where the Merines is in this town? I want to speak with her!"

A few people whispered to each other around him. "Who is a Merines supposed to be?" "Why is she wearing that strange clothing?" "Is she one of the Radiant?"

"Answer me!" She yelled again. At that point in time Walter did something he probably shouldn't have, but he had enough of her constant yelling and wanted her to just stop.

He pushed past two people until he was in front of the crowd and said, "They won't know who the Merines is. She's known as Shirley Fennes here."

The girl turned to him and her eyes widened, "You! You're the one who invaded my village a week ago!" She was shocked and instantly became mad at him instead of the crowd.

Walter took a few steps out of the crowd so she could see him a bit clearer, and so the whispering behind him wouldn't seem so noisy. "Invading? I was simply visiting the place-" He shrugged.

"You liar!" She interrupted. "You trespassed into my village, to cause us more problems!"

"Trespassing? That's a little strong seeing as how-" He started again, a bit irritated at being interrupted. Of all the things this girl seemed, polite was not one of them.

"Again with the lying! Can't you just keep to your own business-"

"Would you please stop interrupting me! Do you have any idea his annoying that is?" Walter snapped, the small line of patience he had shrinking fast.

"You just did the same thing to me!" The girl was flushed in the face, probably from yelling at him in her frustration.

"If you had a little more manners then maybe I would return the favor-"

Fenimore's twin interrupted him yet again, her eyes venomous. "I don't have to do anything for you, you selfish greedy Orerines! Expecting something you don't deserve... It's just the sort of thing that your kind would-"

The blond gave her a dark look. "'My kind'…? Girl, you mistake me for an Orerines." He looked down at his red and black clothing, a drastic contrast from the traditional blues and whites of the Ferines. "Must be the clothes..." Turning his gaze back to her, he took a step closer and said, "Tell me, did Maurits tell you about anyone by the name of Walter? Whom was assigned to protect the Merines?"

Fenimore's twin's eyes narrowed, "How do you know Maurits? And so what if I've heard about the guy. He was the Merines' bodyguard before he died in the Wings of Light. Killed by the Merines' so-called friends who convinced her not to cleanse this world of your filth! The same Merines that killed my sister!" She yelled at him. Who the hell was this guy to talk about her race like that, like he knew them!

Walter's eyes flickered to the crowd. No… He couldn't prove who he was without giving himself away. He'd have to do it another time. He looked back to her and said in a softer tone, "That Merines you speak of deeply cared about your sister. Don't tarnish Fenimore's memory by hating her."

"Shut up! Who gives you the right to talk about Fenimore! Your stupid race was the one who killed her!" The girl screamed at him, hot anger flushing her cheeks.

His eyes smoothed form their irritated expression to a pensive one. How nostalgic, seeing a girl who looked just like Fenimore, passionate just like she used to be. Even if her twin's eyes held bitter anger instead of just stubbornness, she looked so much like her sister it hurt.

"Obviously, you still don't know who I am..." He spoke at last, in a tone that while quiet, it commanded the girl in front of him not to interrupt. "I'm the one who used to be in charge of the security of the Village of the Ferines, which is how I got in so easily. I'm the one who led an army of Sentinels against Vaclav four months ago. I was the person in charge of keeping the Merines safe during her stay in the Mirage Palace..." Words caught in his throat, and he swallowed. "…I'm the one who buried your sister when she gave her life to save Shirley's." He paused, letting his words sink into the twin's mind as her expression slowly changed to one of understanding, and soon after shock.

"Do you know who I am now?" He finished quietly, and stared straight into her eyes.

The girl nearly shook. It was so unlikely… It was impossible. This man in front of her, wearing the garb of the Orerines and giving her facts that seemed so true but just weren't! Walter was dead! Maurits told her himself! But… The platinum blond hair, the icy blue eyes that seemed to stare straight through you… The way he knew who the people in her village was, the faint accent his voice had that was unlike any of those the Orerines were born with... "…It can't be. You're… It's impossible...!" She gasped quietly, too stunned to really comprehend that the person in front of her shouldn't be here. Shouldn't be alive.

He seemed to smirk the slightest bit at her mind finally registered what he was telling her, and gave her one last line, "My true name is Delques. Remember that." He then turned and walked back into the crowd.

"W-wait! How are you alive! Why are you here with Orerines? Answer me!" Her yells fell on deaf ears, as he wound his way through the crowd. Coming towards him through the crowd was Senel and his group. Averting his eyes, he did all he could do to shield himself from their eyes and ignored them.

x x x

Chloe weaved her way through the crowd after Senel and Shirley. She curiously wondered who was yelling so much. The raised voice belonged to a girl it sounded like, her angered and shocked voice screaming unanswered questions at someone in the crowd in front of them. "Get back here and answer me, damn it!"

She bumped into someone's back, and turned to look at them with an unsaid apology when she noticed a sharp platinum-blond man walking through the crowd in the opposite direction. Her eyes widened for a moment as he passed by seemingly unawares to their group, and a second later was lost in the crowd.

The knight moved her head around, trying to find the figure again through the heavy stream of people. "Was that…?" She asked herself. Was that Walter? It could have been a trick her eyes played on her, but it seemed too much of a coincidence to be so.

"Fenimore!" Shirley and Coolidge exclaimed at the front of the large crowd. Chloe's train of thought paused in it's questioning musings as she turned towards the lone girl in the crowd in surprise, forgetting all about the blond man for the moment.

x x x

A while later, Walter was back with the young trio in a shady area of the park. Per their requests, he activated his teriques and let them stare in awe at the violet wings of light. Chad seemed a bit afraid of them at first, while Aimee thought they were the coolest thing "since Barry Water won the duel against Hill Peasley in Pigfarts School of Dermatology…" Walter had no clue what they were talking about, but took the compliment anyway. He even summoned a zephyr for them to gape at before Chad hid behind Aimee and refused to step anywhere the dark teriques.

Eventually, Travis admitted that the three of them had to be back home shortly. The Three Plus One (Travis' name for the four of them as a group, apparently) journeyed to the opposite side of town from where Madam Musette lived, which is where Chad and Aimee's houses resided. While Chad was in a small house on the outer lip of the town, Aimee not that far away stayed in a larger home with vines of roses covering the front of her house. "My parents are kind of rich, but… 'Oi like getting dirty instead." She had told them when they asked.

With his two friends home, Travis walked across the park with the taller man in black (whom gave a large berth between himself and the bandits caravan), Eventually, the two ended up near his would-be home near Madam Musette's home and they said their goodbyes for the evening. As Travis walked back around the half-built home out of sight, Walter shoved his hands into his pockets and turned to walk to Madam Musette's home.

Pausing for a moment, he began to wonder where Norma was. Going into Musette's home, he encountered Rose, who passed off the message that Norma 'was visiting her teacher' and wouldn't be back for a little while. Figuring the only place she could go to visit Sven would be the graveyard, he left in that direction.

As he walked along the fence bordering Will's house, he heard the door begin to open and promptly disappeared behind the leaves of the nearby tree. The leaves' tips were covered in yellow, spreading through the greenery like a virus: proof that summer was quickly fading into autumn. Peering through the splotched leaves, he looked at the two figures leaving the crystal eren's home.

Walking out of the door was Jay, who was bidding Will goodbye for the night, "I'll have the Oresoren continue to check on the dragon situation then."

The tall man nodded his thanks. "Thank you Jay. Both Her Majesty and myself greatly appreciate it."

"Goodnight." The door closed with a click, and Jay turned to walk across the stone walkway and past the fence. Closing the small gate behind him, he suddenly stopped, becoming still as if listening to a distant sound. He walked a short ways down the road until he was directly beneath the tree and stopped again. Looking up into the tree, he called, "You know, it's rather rude to hide from someone."

"Not if it's for a good reason." The tree responded back before a blond figure easily dropped down from the thick branches. Walter plucked a few leaves from his hair as he looked at the younger ninja. "Going home, I take it?" He asked, voice flat and not that interested. Even if Jay knew about him being in Werites Beacon and the man was in a good mood, the two were still not on good terms. Jay was suspicious of the Ferines and Walter didn't appreciate how nosy and blunt the pale boy could be.

"As a matter of fact, I was. I was checking with the Oresoren about any information they may have gathered about the influx of dragon activity around this area." Jay responded, looking at the blond who looked a lot less pale then he had when he was unconscious two days ago. Noted though, even when he was out cold, he wasn't nearly as white as Jay was. It was probably because the Oresoren Village was in a cave opposed to Werites Beacon or the mainland. Compared to him, Walter seemed as tan as Moses.

The Ferines nodded. "By the way, did you happen to see Norma a little while ago?"

Jay motioned behind him, "I know she went towards the hospital around an hour ago, but I don't know much more then that."

He nodded, "Alright then, thank you." Jay gave him an odd look, which made the young man shift in place. "…What?" He asked, his eyes turned away at the strange expression the younger boy was giving him.

"You're… different than you were a few months ago. You almost act civil now." Jay answered, still giving the blond a strange look.

"Well, if you had been a Ferines I might have treated you civilly." Walter tilted his chin up slightly and struggled not to grin at the exasperated expression from the ninja.

"Well, that certainly explains a lot…" Jay responded said in a dull tone.

The blond's nonchalant expression broke into a small smile before thinking back to their room at the inn. Turning back to the Jay, he asked, "Mind if I stick with you until the inn? I need to see if the window in our room is fixed."

The black-haired boy nodded and the two walked side by side towards the entrance of the city. During this, the two wordlessly tried to overcome each other's pace of walking so as to be ahead of the other, and the blond tried and failed not to smirk whenever the shorter one had trouble keeping up with his brisk pace.

As they approached the inn, a familiar girl in yellow walked out of the entrance of the inn wearing a fresh set of clothes and her battle equipment. She perked up when she saw the two walking in her direction and ran up to them. "Oh great timing, I was just trying to find you guys!"

Before Jay could open his mouth and ask what she was talking , Moses came walking out of the restaurant along with Shirley. "Oh hi guys, just in time!"

Walter turned to Shirley who had just caught up to them along with the redhead. "Care to enlighten us, Shirley?" he asked cautiously. He had a bad feeling about this...

The blond girl motioned to Norma beside her, "Norma?"

Norma put her hands on her hips in a pose of leadership, "Alright everyone. Since we're all keeping silent about Wally with the rest of the Fun Bunch, and I'm still searching for the Everlight, I'm requesting an evening of camping-slash-treasure hunting!"

Jay and Walter stared at her with disbelieving expressions on their faces. "You're kidding…"

"Beatty, can't it wait until morning?" The blond asked.

Norma shook her head, "No, because I already told Harriett to leave a note about us camping-"

"What!"

"-And that we'd be back in the afternoon tomorrow- Oh calm down, you guys! I told them you agreed to it and it gave them a break from fighting for the day." Norma finished, waving her arms at them and ignoring their complaints. "Plus, just see it as a bit of training! Heck, Red and Shirl already agreed to it."

The blond looked over at the current Merines with a questioning expression, and she shifted, "Well, I do want to be able to defend myself better…" She announced shrugged, "Geit's a bit out of shape, so I'm bringin' him with. 'Sides, sounds like fun."

Jay shook his head, "It's rather short notice, Norma…"

The brunette clasped her hands together and gave him the most sappy look she could muster, "Pleeeaaase JJ? Please come with us?" She begged.

Normally, Jay was good about ignoring people who begged him for things, mainly from Moses. But he wasn't used from recieving puppy-eyed looks from girls... Then Shirley gave him a pleading expression along with Moses, and he finally caved. "Fine, I'll go with you three, but it's only so you don't get yourselves eaten by monsters."

Norma cheered, and gave Walter a side-glance. The blond gazed at Shirley for a moment, then flicked his eyes back to Norma, "…Fine. Note I'm only doing this because I have a few months of protecting to make up to Shirley."

Shirley smiled, her cheeks a bit red and Norma cheered again, "Yahoo! We have a full team now!"

Jay looked over the five of them. "Two crystal erens, two iron erens and…" He hesitated for a moment, not truly knowing Walter's strengths in battle, having only truly fought him once.

"Bit of a mixed bag. I'm a close-range iron eren… with a few spells." Walter finished for him.

"That's right. Say, why do ya know crystal eres spells anyhow?" Moses asked, quirking his eyebrows.

The blond shrugged, "I'm a Ferines. We're able to use both types of eres if we choose, though most tend to stick with only one. Usually male Ferines are the iron erens." He explained.

"Huh, learn something new every day... Oh, by the way Wally, here's your stuff I snagged from our room!" Norma said, tossing the blond his bag full of gels and other battle items, which he caught easily.

Shirley spoke up as the other Ferines finished tying the small bag back around his waist. "So Norma, where exactly are we going?"

"We are going to…" She paused for a brief moment to let the tension rise amongst the group. "…The Man-Eating Ruins!"

Jay snorted, "The Man-Eating Ruins? Of all the-"

"I'm not going." Walter sharply exclaimed before turning on his heel and walking the opposite direction from the entrance.

"…places." Jay finished, as he watched the blond start to walk away. He, Moses and Norma exchanged a look and ran after him.

A few moments later, the three were dragging the blond back towards the entrance of Werites Beacon against his will. Norma and Jay held one of his arms, while Moses dragged him with one arm under each of his shoulders. "Let me go, I am not going back to that god-forsaken place and you won't make me!" He yelled, trying in vain to shake his captors away.

Shirley nearly snorted in laughter as the trip continued to drag the young man away from the rest of the town. She full out burst into laughter when the blond decided he had enough and activated his eres, furiously trying to fly away with all three still attached to his limbs.

"S-shirl! Help us out here!" Norma cried, somewhat amazed that the Ferines could lift both her and JJ off the ground and was furiously trying to get rid of Red. Still giggling, Shirley ran and wrapped her arms around the blond's waist, pulling him back down underneath Moses who was struggling to keep his feet on the ground and ignoring the viciously flapping wings.

Eventually the weight proved to be too much, and the blond fell backwards onto Moses and Shirley. The combined weight of Walter, Jay and Norma knocked into Shirley, which collided with Moses, and sent the five tumbling to the ground in an undignified heap of flailing limbs.

Jay had bashed his nose against Walter's shoulder when he fell, keeping a strong grip on his upper arm. Norma ended up on top of an incensed blond man, her legs kicking him in the shins when she fell. Shirley was painfully squished between Walter and Moses with her face in his back: a situations she never thought herself to ever be in until this moment. Had Moses, now squished beneath three bodies, not had such a hard head, he would have cracked the back of his skull from the force of which he fell. And the blond in the center of it all was panting hard from the effort it had taken to lift Jay and Norma plus nearly succeeding in lifting Moses off the ground from his teriques and shear willpower alone. Shirley was the one who spoiled it all with her jumping on him.

He panted and gritted his teeth, "Fine… You win… I'll go." His teriques still fluttering slightly, he pushed himself off the ground and the two bodies below him.

All of a sudden, Norma's heavy breathing became a breezy snicker and then a full-out laugh. Walter rolled the girl off of him, who didn't cease in laughing. The laughter was contagious, as it then spread to Moses and then Shirley and then Jay. Walter tried to glare at them all, but his lip trembled in trying not to smile. Finally, realizing the hilarity of their situation, he laughed as well, his fingers pushing his hair out of his eyes for once.

The five of them, in the middle of the evening when the sky was covered in the pink and orange clouds at sunset, laughed and laughed and laughed until they could no more. Four people plus one, laughing their hearts out until they could no longer breath and their stomachs hurt, and then laughed some more.

Four people plus one, turned into comrades, in the middle of the evening under the pink and orange clouds at sunset.

x x x

I rather liked Travis too much to let him be a one-scene character, so I introduced him and his two best buds. Yes, Chad was the friend who played Legends in the 2nd Chapter, Hill Peasley (Harry Potter and Bill Weasley) and Pigfarts School of Dermatology (Pigfarts from A Very Potter Musical) were the results of a slight Harry Potter obsession that came about as the last movie came out, which resulted in my reading fanfics constantly for a few days. If you caught the reference, then congrats! ...It is a rather confusing and poorly thought-out one.

I'll admit, my favorite team in TOL was Senel (always played as him due to his easy controls), Chloe, Jay and Norma. Nowadays, it has changed to this imaginary team-up of the crystal erens Norma and Shirley, the mid-range iron eren Moses, and two close-range iron erens Jay and Walter. I need to try them out in the game minus the obvious non-existant teammate.

This is where the canon story starts to continue with Norma's character quest. The story is going to pick up with their battles and then lead to the grand finale at the end of Norma's C.Q. Once again, thanks for sticking with me.

Reviewer Corner

Ranchdressing- I laughed more then I should have at your comment. XD And I would never dream of killing him off, especially not now! I'm predictable like that...

Shiroi Iyasu- I'm a closet fan of fluff: it makes the world go 'round! And yes, the black mist and earthquakes were part of the original story. I'm just adding another subplot, that's all.

Pandiita- No problem, I don't mind if people don't review all the time. ...Though it is nice. As for the rushed feeling of last chapter, well... it's probably liek that because I didn't plan it ahead of time, and all was written around 3 in the morning. XD As you can see, for two people who started out biting at each other's necks (somewhat), taking it a little slow is realistic. Unlike... Mary-Sue stories... Eugh. As for his purpose... Well... ...I'm working on it!

PlanetStorm- Hey, another new reviewer! Walter and Chloe... I actually have an idea for a story that might just work for that. It's intriguing. Shame the ToL fandom isn't larger, or we'd see more of it. Maybe. Tons of people like Senel and Chloe, so it'd be like splitting Ron and Hermione from HP. ...Nerifes, I hope you're not a HPHG shipper who's going to bite my head off at that line. XD Your pairing is interesting... Gimmie a week or so and I might come up with something.