Chapter 7

The ride through Hokkan was cold and uneventful. Meadows of sheep sprang up and dotted the landscape. Frozen forests separated the villages that became farther and farther apart. The little huts were the domed tents that the sheep herders favored and baths were few and far between. Mountains loomed over the landscape at every turn. At times, the trees looked like a Courier and Ives calendar, and at other times, they looked like evil, gnarled hands reaching for them. A general feeling of cold and death seemed to build the farther into Hokkan they traveled.

Mia checked her notes on the yellow legal paper that she had tucked into her fanny pack. They had been traveling for three days now. Her younger self should have already found Tasuki and the Mt Rakaku bandits. In truth, the band should be headed to Choka to find the healer that can raise the dead. She shuddered thinking about the plague and the zombies. Just the memory of the pain was almost enough to cause her to abandon her current course of action and attempt to save her younger self from that fate. But, she knew that they would find Mitzkake and he would save the day. Still, those were some of her worst memories of the trip.

Chichiri leaned over in his saddle and again tried to glance at her notes. This time, it didn't make her angry. She almost laughed at the thought of anyone trying to read her handwriting. After so many years in school, furiously taking notes as fast as her professors could speak, she had developed her own version of shorthand. Consequently, only she could read her notes before they were typed into her laptop.

Chichiri finally asked, "So, Mia, where exactly in Hokkan are we headed? I understand we need to keep it secret, you know. But still, how are we supposed to find the best path there if we don't know where we are going, you know?"

Lieutenant Kanai was also curious, so he added his opinion. "There may be some mountain passes that are closed at this time of year in the farther northern elevations. We wouldn't want to waste time by backtracking. If we know where we are going, then we can choose different passes that are open."

Mia looked at the mountains looming in the distance. They were a beautiful purple haze towering over the trees. Most of them were beautiful. The one that was their destination almost seemed to have a black aura around it. She would never forget the name and appearance of that one fateful mountain where she had been forced to bury a good friend. A lump formed in her throat, and tears stung the back of her eyes. She finally whispered, "We're going to the central region of Touran. North of the city to Mt Koko."

Lieutenant Kanai stood up in his stirrups and called back to his Assistant Suitani, "Bring up the map of the region." A moment later, the Assistant Lieutenant handed the bigger man a rolled scroll. Without even shifting in his saddle, the Lieutenant scanned the map and located their position. With a careful eye to towns and likely ambush locations, he mapped out the quickest, safest route for them to travel. With a careful nod, he rolled the scroll back up and handed it back. He turned to Chichiri and Mia and commented, "Well, it doesn't look like we'll have to worry about closed mountain passes, but the journey will take us through some desolate territories with very little cover. We'll be exposed to the elements for most of the journey. Not to mention exposed for enemy attack."

Mia simply stared straight ahead and spurred Tank on to pick up speed. Chichiri frowned at Mia, and then turned to look at Kanai who was also frowning at her lack of response. Chichiri simply shrugged his shoulders. So far, she had been quite vocal in her complaints about the cold. For her to not comment on the future trip in the snowy mountains was worrisome.

In Mia's mind, something had clicked off. She could see herself moving, and could think about what she was doing, but it was like she no longer had control. Her body moved automatically as she focused on the cursed mountain and the evil feeling that was beginning to build at her back. If she looked back, she was sure she would see some looming black evil entity watching them. Everything else faded out except the mountain and that feeling. Not even the bone chilling cold entered into her tunnel vision.

Throughout the day, Chichiri noticed that Mia would occasionally spur on the big horse to travel just a bit faster. The other soldiers had also noticed her sense of urgency and were traveling a bit tenser than they usually did. There was little friendly banter. Eventually, the front guard even caught up with the elusive Yamane who had taken to riding well out in front of the column. In fact, Yamane's face had been quite humorous as he turned to realize that the column was riding on his very heels. But Mia didn't notice.

Still, despite Chichiri's best attempts to distract her, Mia rode on with a face hardened by determination. He watched her every move, and noticed the wince that she could not keep from her face as she experienced the pain of changing her past. Something must have happened here before that she was altering. Or something that had not happened, was now occurring.

The trail wound uphill all day. The small mountain range seemed to never end as she spurred the group onward towards the pass that would put them safely on the other side. Tank never balked at her urgings, he simply accepted her need for speed and complied.

By lunch, they had been maintaining the fastest gallop their horses could produce for several hours. Kanai had joined in with Chichiri's efforts to get some reason from Mia as to the haste she demanded. Still, the strange woman was silent in her determination. She neither looked left nor right when they were addressing her. She also did not seem to notice her surroundings, even when a low hanging branch would lash her across the face or drop snow on her. Both men were sure that if the column did not keep up, this woman would probably ride off without them into danger.

Finally, at mid afternoon, Lieutenant Kanai called a halt to their mad dash through the frozen wasteland of Hokkan. The two massive horses that were carrying the big men, Deguchi, and Ishiyama, were totally exhausted, and foaming at the mouth from exertion. All the mounts needed rest and water which they found in abundance after clearing the mountain range on the downward slope of the pass.

Still, Mia seemed not to notice this development either. She almost rode off and left them behind. Except that Tashima, the old man that looked like Chewbaka who rode in the front guard, galloped up to her as she passed him, and snatched the reins away from her. The loss of control of Tank did little to awaken her to her surroundings. As the great horse slowed to a walk, she slumped forward and slid bonelessly to the ground with a loud thump.

Her friends in the front guard rushed to her side to check on her. They found her laying on the ground with her eyes wide open and staring up at nothing. At first they thought she was dead, but her breath huffed out of her nose in a great gray cloud in the cold air.

Chichiri was at her side in seconds, calling her name. He removed his gloves and placed a hand to her face to pat her lightly to get her attention. It was then that he noticed she was suffering from a high fever. He twirled on Kanai and called out, "Mia has a high fever. We need to make a fire and get her warm."

Soldiers scrambled left and right to create their camp. This time, they erected a tent to house everyone and retain any warmth the fire in the center could give off. Chichiri lifted Mia off the frozen ground and sat her in his lap and huddled her body close to his to share his body heat. Deguchi, the large man who had helped her with Yamane, draped a large cloak over the both of them and set out to gather firewood.

Eguchi, the company's healer, scurried over to the two with his box of herbs and medicines. He took one look at her glazed eyes and pink, wind burned face and ordered Chichiri, "Remove her gloves and boots. We need to warm her quickly, so you rub her hands, while I rub her feet. If nothing else, place them inside your tunic against your chest. That is the warmest part of your body right now. Once we have her warmed up, I'll give her something for her fever." The older healer began removing the poorly fitted army boots from her feet and stripped the four layers of her own socks that adorned her feet in an attempt to keep her feet warm. The two men started rubbing her pale skin furiously to return circulation and warmth to her extremities.

Kanai even threw himself into setting up the tent. With all the men working at a furious pace, it was only moments later that they had a shelter up for Mia. Chichiri and the healer didn't even have to move as they set up right around them. Simply having the wind knocked off of them went a long way to warming up the trio. When Deguchi created the fire pit and ignited the fire, it felt like summertime under the canvas.

The archers, Uno and Furutani, even brought back some wild fowl for the cook to use to create a warming broth that would later be used as stock for dinner.

Chichiri still felt fear racing through him as he watched Mia's unresponsive eyes. Her pallet had been laid out in its traditional position by the fire, so the healer had suggested resting her there to further warm her. The healer mixed together a noxious combination of herbs that he assured would lower her fever and help her recover. It took quite an effort to get any of it down her throat without her cooperation, but finally it was all gone.

And still, she did not show signs of improving. Chichiri finally resorted to scanning the area for any supernatural forces. He closed his eyes, raised his hand and began a chant. There! He sensed an evil, green aura surrounding Mia that seemed to trail off to the south. It was the same tainted aura that he had felt emanating from Nakago! Somehow, the enemy had found them!

Chichiri quickly said a reversal chant and dispelled the aura that was effecting the woman. With a quick move, he placed a sutra on her chest to prevent any further interference from any outside source and infused it with a fraction of his own power. The paper glowed a celestial red before is settled down.

A low groan came from Mia as her eyes finally blinked and tried to focus on her surroundings. She tilted her head to the left and saw the worried faces of Chichiri, Kanai, and the healer. Behind them was her large friend, Deguchi, watching over everyone. She smiled a weary smile and asked, "What happened? Why did we stop? For that matter, when did we stop? The last thing I remember is telling you about Mt Koko."

Chichiri smiled and rubbed his hand on his neck, "That was hours ago, and you had us galloping like the devil himself was after us, you know. It seems Nakago was influencing you. His aura was surrounding you, you know. And you wouldn't respond to anything. You kept riding faster and faster until you almost wore all the horses out, you know. You had us worried."

She looked thoughtful and commented, "Now that I think about it, I do remember sensing that something was wrong and we needed to get there quickly."

One of the men stepped forward with a steaming bowl of broth, and Mia shifted slightly, so she was leaning against Chichiri so she could sit up. She mentioned, "Man, I feel awful. What did he do to me?"

The healer quietly advised her, "When we finally stopped, you had a very high fever and you were unresponsive due to cold. You should probably rest for the remainder of the day and not push yourself so hard tomorrow."

Kanai frowned and said angrily, "Who is this Nakago, and what is his interest in our trip? I need to know everything about possible enemies we might meet on this journey, or I can't adequately protect you."

Chichiri supplied, in a quiet voice that was intended for the Lieutenant's ears only. "Nakago is the General of the Kutou army. He is also a Seiryu seven. A powerful warrior that can project his life force as a weapon or a shield."

Mia added, "He is also ruthless, and cares nothing for people. He has no friends, only pawns. And all he wants is total power." Her voice turned sad as she remembered the situation from her past. "He has control over my best friend Yui and has been feeding her lies to make her hate me. In truth, he started this war with Konan only to divert his ruler's forces so he could attack his own country's capital and kill the ruler. He wants control for himself. But that's not enough for him." Her voice faded as she gritted her teeth through another bout of pain. "Once he has control of Kutou, he decides he wants control of all the country. Then, he learns about my homeland, and decides he wants that too. It was hard, but we finally stopped him before he could fulfill his dreams."

Chichiri understood what she meant about her "homeland." She really meant that Nakago must somehow make it to her world and try to take over there. The thought of such an evil, twisted man gaining such power caused the good-hearted wizard to shiver. "So, it's safe to assume that Nakago is aware of our presence, you know. Otherwise, he would not be influencing you with his aura. Do you think he knows about our mission?"

Mia frowned and tapped a finger to her broth covered lip, "It's possible that someone leaked information to a spy along the way. I'm sorry, I haven't been very careful about hiding my identity. Is it possible that one of the soldiers in our column might work for Nakago? It wouldn't be the first time that a friend was actually an enemy."

Lieutenant Kanai scoffed, "I can personally vouch for each and every one of these men. Even Yamane is loyal and trustworthy. I would stake my life on it, and have in the past."

Chichiri looked straight at the man and asked the crucial question, "But are you willing to stake our lives and the future of our world on their trustworthiness?"

Without even hesitating, the Lieutenant barked out, "Yes."

Mia smiled, "Well, that is all there is to say. If you trust them, we trust them." She looked into her now empty bowl of broth and asked, "Um, do you guys have anything more substantial to eat?" A small round of snickers echoed in the tent as the cook took her bowl and heaped some of the stew he had prepared with the broth over a huge helping of rice. Her appetite was becoming almost legendary in the group. There was even talk about an eating contest between her and Deguchi, the large sumo-wrestler sized soldier. The bets were still about half and half.

The men took short shifts guarding the exterior of the tent due to the drop in the temperature outside. It seemed that a wicked winter storm was moving in. It turned out that it was a good thing that Mia had set such a fast pace for the day's travels, otherwise they would have been caught on the other side of this mountain peak, and possibly delayed for days.

As the storm closed in, the men pulled out games to entertain themselves. A cloth was set up to throw dice in one area. In another area, a game of some type of cards was going on amid intense shouting and hoots of laughter. Kanai, Chichiri, Suitani, the assistant commander, and Mia sat close to the fire pouring over the map of the area. Every ten minutes or so, Chichiri would scan the area for evil auras to ensure they were not being spied upon.

Mia flopped on her stomach so her face was being held up by her hands. She had pulled a granola bar out of her larger bag that she was using as a pillow on her pallet. She pointed to the town of Touran. "This is where we went to find information on the Genbu Shinzaho. In the middle of this square is a large obelisk telling the story in an ancient tongue. It seems that the Priestess of Genbu summoned Genbu 200 years ago. When she did, an item that she was wearing became the Shinzaho."

Mia traced the path that they took out of the city towards Mt Koko. "This is the path we took to Mt Koko. It was deep with snow and treacherous. I don't know exactly how long it took to travel since we were in a hurry to reach……" her voice trailed off as her eyes grew misty and gazed into the fire. She nibbled on the bar in thoughtful silence.

The memories of she and Nuriko sharing moments in Touran tugged at her heart. Then the awful scene of finding her beloved Nuriko dying in the snow. How could he have been so careless? How could he have thought that their mission was worth his life? It wasn't. He was just beginning to open up and live his life for himself. It wasn't fair. She remembered the anguish that engulfed her and threatened to steal all reason from her mind. How Tamahome had forced her out of her denial to say goodbye to their friend. Tamahome knew what she was feeling. He had buried his entire family before this journey. Still, the pain in her heart was as fresh as it was that day that she had been forced to walk away and leave her friend under a mound of snow, only marked by a stick.

The men just sat there for a moment, to see if she would return from her mental wanderings. When she didn't, Chichiri touched her shoulder and called, "Mia?"

She snapped back from the fire to look up at him, and self-consciously wiped at the tears that were building in her wide eyes. This was a different time. Nuriko was still alive. Tamahome's family was still alive. Hotohori, Mitzkake and Chiriko were all still alive and she meant to keep it that way this time! "Sorry. Sorry. Um. We should take…." She looked back down to the map and pointed to the far side of the mountain that was facing away from the city of Touran. "this path up the mountain. It's not as steep as the city side, and there was less snow. It must pile up on the other side and never make it over the mountain. We took this trail as we were leaving Mt Koko and heading for Sairou."

Mia turned to stare at Chichiri as she was pondering something. Finally she started, "Chichiri, I was thinking whether it would be beneficial to tell you everything I know about the Seiryu seven. It might help if you knew what to look for from their warriors. But, still, if I succeed, then you won't have to worry about them." She glanced back down at the map, "But it seems that Nakago knows about me, which is something that didn't happen in the past, and it's not something that I wrote into my rewrite of history. I'm not really sure what that means for us. I had assumed we would be able to travel undetected and undeterred."

Chichiri looked disappointed, "I'm sorry that I didn't feel Nakago's presence earlier. I don't know why it didn't occur to me that something like that might be wrong, you know."

Mia simply smiled at her warrior and absolved him of any responsibility, "No, Chichiri, it's not your fault. I had felt that something was wrong, something evil following us. I should have asked you about it. This mission is my responsibility. You can't watch for threats that I haven't warned you about. I guess I should tell you what I've seen from the Seiryu seven so we all know what to watch for."

Mia pulled out a blank piece of paper from her pack and began fleshing out what she knew about each member of their opposition. It was painful, but not as bad as she had experienced in the recent past when she had actually changed some aspect of her history. This seemed more of a slight shift in the past, rather than a complete alteration.

Most of the soldiers that were inside the tent were secretly listening as they kept up their pretense of amusing themselves. They all needed to know about their common enemy. She explained about the twins Amiboshi and Suboshi and their unique talents with the flute and weird bolo. She described Soi and her attacks with lightning and ability to call up storms. Then she described that evil wolf thing that took Nuriko's life and admitted that she feared he might be awaiting them at Mt. Koko. That was why she had wanted archers to accompany them. Even though he only seemed to have his strength and speed that had been enough to cause major damage.

Then there was Tomo, the evil illusionist that had trapped them in his schemes on more than one occasion. Finally, the evil magic using , child possessing Miboshi. There wasn't much she could tell them about this one except that he had taken her voice once, summoned demons, and possessed the bodies of others. She didn't want to specifically say who he had possessed, but it seemed to be enough information for Chichiri's purposes. If he knew they were up against a black magic user, he could prepare for such. They could also keep an eye on the members of their soldiers who possessed weak spiritual powers in case their enemy attempted to use them for an ambush.

After all four of them were informed of the capabilities of their enemies, they sat and pondered a moment on what this meant for their future. Chichiri made the comment, "I think this storm might be the work of the one you called Soi. If she has the ability to control weather, and Nakago knows where we are, he might have wanted to trap us on the other side of this mountain range until he could send some troops to intercept us."

Mia thought about this, and agreed it was quite likely. "True. If Nakago really does know then that would make sense. He was always a few steps ahead of us. He had everything planned out. Truthfully, if I didn't know better, I would think that he was the author of the book…" She thought about this a moment. Was it possible that a warrior had enough power to rewrite the story to their own specifications?

She continued, "Still, I'm not sure that he really knows what we are doing. It may be a residual presence from his tracking Miaka. He might have used Soi to slow us down until he could find out what we were and what we were after. Nothing had happened in this timeline for him to need to retrieve the Shinzaho yet."

The three men talked a bit more over logistics and contingency plans while Mia sat and pondered something that she had just thought. She finally asked Chichiri in a lull in the conversation, "Why didn't Nakago just summon Seiryu when Yui appeared? All he had to do was recall Amiboshi to Kutou when Yui agreed to be the Priestess of Seiryu. We still needed to gather our Suzaku warriors. They would have beaten us to the summoning without any of their deceits and traps." She stared back into the fire as the men thought about this.

Kanai suggested, "Maybe, summoning Seiryu was not his ultimate goal. From what you've said, he seems the type that would find enjoyment in deterring another's plans as much as accomplishing his own goals. Like a sick ruler toying with his subjects for his own amusement."

Chichiri offered his thoughts, "Also, if he had simply summoned Seiryu, he would have empowered his emperor that you said he hated and desired to overthrow. Considering his prowess as a tactician it is quite possible that he put all this into motion."

Mia thought about this and grew quite angry. He had planned to get Amiboshi killed to turn Suiboshi's hate against the Suzaku warriors. He had planned to use the vengeful twin to kill Tamahome's family, to ensure the Suzaku warriors would push on at all costs. He had planned the war that killed thousands of innocent people on both sides for his own purposes. She wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he had not himself been the one to order the attack on Yui that he supposedly saved her from. Mia rose from her spot on her pallet and shouted, "That sick, evil BASTARD!"

Needless to say that all the men in the tent were shocked to see this slip of a woman go off on such a tirade in such a small area. All laughter died after her exclamation. The very air in the tent crackled with the power pouring off her fuming body.

She stomped around the tent, careful to not kick or step on anyone. Not that her sock covered feet made much noise as she stomped them. Still, she slowly made her furious way to the secured tent flap that served as a door. Even the soldiers that were walking around the outside heard the commotion over the roaring storm that enshrouded them. One of the guards, cautiously untied the flap door and entered the tent in a flurry of swirling snow. He asked, "Is everything okay in here?"

Mia shouted, "No! It's not okay. That sick bastard planned everything! He planned all the pain and suffering that happened. He probably even got off on it!" She huffed past the stunned guard who almost dropped his pike as she passed. The red sparks were beginning to roll off her fingertips. She grabbed the flap door and flung it back before anyone could stop her and exited the tent.

Out in the swirling snow storm, she was so fueled by righteous indignation that she did not even feel the freezing winds trying to steal away her body heat. All she could see was the evil smirk on Nakago's face as she remembered all the horrific things he had done to her in the past. All the faces of the innocent people he had butchered in his personal pursuits of power. The faces of Tamahome's innocent brothers and sisters as they lay slaughtered in their own home. Hotohori's peaceful face as they hauled his mangled body off the battlefield.

Finally her eyes focused on the storm around her and she noticed the sickly black hue that indicated Soi's influence over the weather. She also could see as well as feel Nakago's evil green aura surrounding the area, and it just made her all that angrier. Her powers built as they had during her encounter with Taiitsukun until she could not contain the heated red glow any longer. She shrieked in a voice that overpowered the howling winds, "How dare you! How dare you play with people's lives! I don't care how much you were hurt as a kid, this is wrong! I won't play your games anymore Nakago! You're sick and evil and I WILL STOP YOU! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU…. EVER!"

With the last word, a tremendous blast of red celestial power exploded from her small body to scour the landscape around her. The blast powered through the region and continued on to the very borders of the country, not stopping until it reached the palace where Nakago sat watching the wheels he had set in motion. His smirk was wiped off his face as he was scorched with the largest burst of pure power he had ever experienced. In the fading blast, he could hear the woman's words echo around his head in a painful shout.

Soi was beside him in an instant, trying to help her lover rise from the smoking heap that he had become after the onslaught of power. It seemed that no other was affected by the red light other than Nakago. Rising to his feet with a displeased scowl on his face, Nakago brushed off the hands of the clingy woman and wondered aloud, "How odd. That felt like the little Priestess's power, but she is nowhere near that strong. And that sounded like the little Priestess's voice, but that is impossible. No one can use abilities against me." He turned towards Soi and announced, "We will need to increase our efforts to locate that pest before she gathers all the Suzaku warriors. And I need someone to track down the source of this new power. It's possible someone is helping the Priestess; possibly supplementing her power." He wondered who this new player was. Could it be the strange force that he had Soi tracking through Hokkan? He would have to wait and see. He was nothing if not a patient man. Slowly, his smirk regained its usual place on his deceptively handsome face.

As the blast of power radiated off into the distance, the soldiers inside the tent swarmed out like ants pouring out of a disturbed ant mound. Each was carrying their weapons in an attack stance, even though they were partially undressed. Only the two guards were fully clad in their battle armor.

There before them stood Mia with a glow of red enshrouding her small form. As they watched, she again called down the red lightning that had dispelled Taiitsukun's fury. Again the glow of red calmed the raging storm, and the howling winds died down to a gentle breeze that carried the light downy snow to settle on her head. Each man had felt the blast of power pass through them and it somehow erased all the weariness that had clung to them from their 3 days ride. They felt revitalized and fortified to take on anything. They had also heard every word of the impossibly loud shout that had echoed around in their very souls as Mia challenged the leader of their enemy. It wasn't just a sound, but they actually felt her pain, outrage and determination. How was it possible for all that emotion and power to be housed in such a small package?

As the red glow faded and the day returned to normal, the slight woman turned to face her traveling companions before the tent. She simply looked at them with a tired, worn expression. Apparently, all her anger had burned off with her display of power and left behind only the sorrow that had underlain the outburst. She slowly walked back towards them as they parted for her to pass until she stood before Chichiri and Kanai. Her voice was as soft as a downy feather when she announced, "He won't be able to regroup his power in this area for a few days. We should move as quickly as we can before he can mobilize forces."

No one spoke as she turned towards the tent flap and disappeared back inside. Several of the men were leery of returning to their relaxation, and remained outside to supplement the guard, and discuss what they had seen and heard.

Chichiri entered the tent behind his priestess to find that she had slumped down in a graceless heap on her pallet bed. He rushed to her side to determine if she were injured. He found her facedown on the blankets, sound asleep. With a gentle hand, he pulled one of the blankets out from under her and tried to arrange her tangled limbs into a more comfortable position. When he thought she could sleep better, and breath, since her face had been planted into the blankets, he covered her and sat next to her for the night.

A bare whisper of a voice reached his ears as she tried to talk. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper. But I won't let him take anyone precious to me again. Nakago and his evil plans took so many people away from me, people that I loved. I've lost everyone once before, and I won't let it happen again… no matter what it takes."

When silence engulfed the tent, he knew that she had fallen into a deep sleep. Chichiri looked around to notice only a few of the soldiers had returned to the interior of the tent. Most of them were the friends Mia had made during her sparring with Yamane. Strangely enough, even Yamane had entered the tent and wore a concerned look on his face. Is it possible she had somehow earned the respect of this prickly man?

Chichiri moved to where Kanai was leaning against one of the tent poles by the door flap. The older soldier commented, "Damn, you've got yourself one strong Priestess." Chichiri chuckled and nodded. "Is the younger version this strong?"

Chichiri shook his head. "No, the younger Miaka is innocent and pure, but still very childish and weak. I've no doubt that she could gain such power, since apparently she has.." with this he motioned towards the sleeping woman, "but it has not manifested itself in her even in a crisis. Although, she was quite the fighter, even in her younger form."

Kanai snorted at the image of what this woman would have been like at fifteen and commented, "Well, then, I guess it's better for us that we have the older Priestess on our side. She seems to attract quite a lot of trouble, and it's only been three days. I can't wait to see what the future will bring." A sly smile spread on the Lieutenant's face. "So, do you think, if I stayed up all night tonight, I might get to see Suzaku? He seems to come when she's distressed."

Chichiri laughed at the expectant look on the man's face and commented, "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised at anything that happens."

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Thank you to all my readers who were so gracious to review my little story. I hope this longer chapter makes up for some of the shorter ones posted earlier.

Please review, since it not only makes me smile, but gives me incentive to keep writing.