Author's notes:

Hi all, sorry for the delay, I fell ill and hibernated for more days than expected, but here we go, Chapter 7 is also well over half way done, so no delays expected for that :)

~0~

Chapter VI

They were all frustrated.

It had been three long, long weeks since they had started experimenting with Eren's titan form. At first they kept optimistic, they knew it was going to take a while. Hell, they were prepared for that, but as the weeks ticked by, the squads soon found themselves loosing hope with it all.

Eren had showed zero progress.

They were perhaps on their twelfth try, sitting out in the fields with the suns on their faces, watching Eren's form, packed tightly into the well, growling furiously at them if they dared to even blink in his direction.

Hanji had tried numerous different approaches, much to the chagrin of the members surrounding her. She had tried talking to him for hours on end, seeing if certain trigger words created a response, she had tried threatening him, using Mikasa and Armin's names, bluffing her way through words of killing them, or even talking about his mother. Yet he acted the same, intense green eyes studying her.

Soon, she had other members calling to him, on one occasion, she even asked Erwin to visit the fields, seeing if his commanding tones struck deep into the boy buried in flesh, trying to coax out the subordinate side of him which Eren was sure to uphold if he could be reached.

The only upside of it all so far was that Hanji had noted it was taking less time for Eren to regain consciousness each try. Soon, he was recovering after approximately sixteen hours, which gave them more tries and less time waiting in between fails.

The downside of it all, well, one of many, was that the council was surely going to ask for reports soon, and they had very little to give them.

Hanji had upped her game, soon having squads fly around Eren, becoming more comfortable with each try. She had them tug his hair, drag shallow flesh wounds into him, buzz around him like annoying flies until he was almost hollering himself hoarse, voice cracking and splitting their ears.

After that day, Levi had serious words with her, spent long hours in her office reprimanding her on how their purpose was not to anger him further, yet to bring him to his senses. She had rebutted with the fact that they had to try all avenues, especially since very little was working on him and pain had to be tested whether he liked it or not.

Levi had left the office with a rare flare of true anger, slamming the door shut behind him and not being able to be found the next day. They continued on like normal when it came to test Eren again the day after.

As for Eren himself, he was feeling incredibly downhearted. He was frustrated with himself. He had told Hanji, who constantly questioned him, that he could tell when he lost control. He informed her that it felt like a struggle to cling to his thoughts, it felt like darkness tugged his thoughts out from under him, until anger replaced it.

Whilst Hanji found this all incredibly fascinating, Eren found himself constantly looking at her office door, wishing to escape to his cell, head buried in shame.

He just didn't get it. Why had it been so easy before?

Well, he thought, even that wasn't entirely true. It had been left up to Armin to kick his ass into gear. Armin had been the one to succeed where no one else could, but that had been at a cost. They had been stranded in the middle of battle, took far too long to be sat there vulnerable to any threat. It was an extraordinary set of circumstances that had worked in their favour.

Armin had only been able to sit close to Eren because his titan form had been rendered unconscious. Eren had heard him as the blonde sat perched on his neck. Eren had also definitely felt the blade pierce through his arm when Armin failed to talk him to his senses.

Eren sighed, feeling completely defeated with the situation.

Ever since Eren started showing signs of frustration in himself, Levi had booted him in the ass and told him they were going to start daily sparring sessions in between titan experiments.

Eren had questioned him as to why, in which Levi had stated he wanted to blow off some steam. Eren had accepted it after that, silently thanking the man for the excuse to let off his own anger. He knew it wasn't for Levi himself to let off steam, it was entirely for Eren's benefit, but the fact that Levi had pegged it on himself to vent anger, had Eren very much grateful.

Every time he had to see the frustration laced in other Survey Corp's members faces, every time he had to hear the sigh of annoyance that some of them would have to spend another wasted afternoon in the sun, waiting for nothing to happen, Eren collected the hate and then vented it out when he sparred with Levi.

At first he was quite coy in his fights, he knew he was good at sparring, it was what gained him 5th place in the final ranking of 104th squad. He ranked top of his class for sparring alone, yet when he first stepped into their small clearing in the forest, looking across at Levi's shorter frame, he hesitated.

That was the last time he thought about going easy on Levi. The man had him floored more times than he could count. He remembered their very first fight back in the forest when he had started learning to ride horses and now suspected that Levi had totally held back on him.

When he returned the next day, various bruises healed, he went at Levi with much more tenacity.

Levi was fast, and Eren could tell he was holding back less and less as their matches continued. His eyes had to continually adjust to new speeds just to track the man, who was jumping and flitting around him, bopping him on the head here and there. Eren grew frustrated after the fifth back hand to the head and swivelled and grabbed for anything. His fingers miraculously found an upper thigh strap, and they clenched around it, tugging so fiercely Levi rammed back into him.

They both kept upright, barely, with Levi facing away from Eren and Eren's fingers still twisted around his strap, the back of his knuckles were brushing against soft flesh, and to his horror, found his hand dangerously close to the Corporal's ass. His mouth fell open in horror and his eyes flitted up to find Levi looking over his shoulder with a deadpanned expression.

He tried to talk, he really did, but ended up impersonating a fish, mouth opening and closing stupidly.

Levi had stilled completely, studying Eren's blubbering confused face openly. To his credit, he hadn't cut his hand off yet, so Eren supposed that was something.

"I thought we were over the grabbing, tsk," Levi shifted footing, turning to half face him, "You are quite the dirty fighter, Jeager."

He tugged his thigh forward, watching Eren's fingers move with it. When the boy had yet to remove his hand, he looked at him questioningly.

Eren blinked out of his stupor, removing his hand fast and becoming indignant even quicker than that.

"It's effective, sir!" He squawked.

"Grabbing ass in battle is not effective, especially if you want to keep those wandering fingers of yours." Levi fiddled with the twisted strap until it was lying flush once more.

"It worked on you…" Eren muttered aloud.

He was on his ass before he knew it, blinking up at the sky and wondering how it got there so quickly. He groaned and sat up on an elbow, looking at the Corporal who had crouched beside him. Eren pouted, disorientated.

Levi peered down at him and if Eren had to guess, he looked slightly amused. Although, that could just be the dizziness talking.

"Hmm, works on you too. I stand corrected. Get up, we're starting round two."

Eren groaned.

They ended up staying out in their wood grove for much longer than usual. Eventually, Eren could track Levi's full speed with ease, making his defence much more noteworthy. With that in mind, he had more time to get on the offensive, pushing Levi back more than one occasion. He no longer stood on the spot like a targeted meat bag and was soon jumping around, trying to swing round Levi like it had been done to him.

Levi didn't take many decent hits, but Eren was sure that he could feel the exertion of the pressure Eren unleashed on him. He was right, when Levi landed steadily on the ground, Eren flying at him from the low branch he was perched on. Levi effortlessly found purchase on the boy's flying fist and used his momentum to swing him up and over him.

When Eren landed in a heap on the floor, he let out a laugh.

Levi's chest was rising and falling quicker as he tried to catch his breath, yet still he looked composed and as Eren picked a leaf out of his hair, he found this very much unfair.

"You've improved."

Eren took the observation as a rare compliment. It warmed him to his toes.

"One day I'll be a worthy sparring opponent to you, I'll aim for that." Eren stated as he got to his feet.

"In time, you're not bad now, grabbing aside."

Eren huffed out another breathless laugh, feeling like they've developed a private joke between them. He brushed the dirt off from his knees and walked over to stand next to Levi, he waited for orders, patiently standing there covered in dirt.

Levi studied him silently for a moment, before turning towards the castle.

"Let's go, you're filthy and I am in need of a shower myself."

Eren watched as Levi started making his way back, jogging to catch up side by side to the man. The sun was disappearing quickly now, leaving them less light by the minute. Eren felt his muscles ache with each step, yet he couldn't help but make note that time spent with his Corporal were quickly and very effectively becoming his favourite.

~0~

"Are you fucking kidding me."

Eren and Levi had just rolled in to the castle, expecting to find relative peace on the way to their showers. That idea shot straight out of the window when Erd caught sight of the Corporal. He dismissed their sweaty, dirtied appearances in favour of handing Levi a letter. Levi frowned, flipped the envelope over and saw the print of the Council's seal.

Erd tactfully ignored Levi's comment, and pressed on, "It came this afternoon, thought it best I gave it to you as soon as you returned."

Eren thought if there was a time Levi would ever throw a tantrum, it would be now. They were both so filthy, sweat and grime, leaves and mud smattered their uniforms, they felt clammy, looked worse and on top of that, they were exhausted.

Still, Levi just pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Eren counted to five before Levi decided to open them again. His patience was a quality even he admired, he could pinpoint the moment where Levi resigned himself to the fact the shower would have to wait.

Like he thought, a saint.

Levi ripped the seal off and withdrew the letter inside. He was quick to read it, fingernails progressively tightening around the crisp edge of the sheet. After he reached the bottom, the paper was flung high above him.

"Fucking pigs, Erd, get Hanji."

Eren shook his head, maybe not.

Levi settled himself against the wall, looking extremely disgruntled. Eren quietly joined him, arms behind his back as they waited for Hanji. It didn't take long, they could hear her barrelling down the corridors, and soon found her head peering over the bannister of the stairwell, before spotting them and clambering down the stairs.

"What's up, my favourite boy-o's?" Hanji questioned, looking between the two.

Levi sighed, drawing his knee up to have his foot resting against the wall behind him, "We have sniffer pigs sooner than we'd have liked."

Eren was confused, but he just stayed silent beside them and listened.

Hanji cocked her head to the side before Erd decided to help her out by retrieving the letter that Levi had discarded. They let her read it and soon she was groaning loudly.

"What the hell do they want so soon? Sticking their nose in where it doesn't belong. Oh I could just-"

"Be that as it may," Levi interjected before Hanji really got going, "This poses a problem."

The Corporal and Hanji shared a look, appearing to have an entirely silent conversation to which Eren was excluded. Levi nodded, before turning to make his leave. He went down the far corridor and out of sight.

Eren looked to Hanji, confused and seeking clarification, to which she just beamed at him,

"Hanji, what-."

"Hm? Oh. Oh? This?" She flapped the letter around, "Just the Council wanting a progress report with actual…. Progress in it, which we both know isn't possible at the moment. But!" Here she gripped his shoulders and absent mindedly started brushing off dirt, "But, we aren't the Survey Corps for no reason! We always have avenues to check out. Call it part of the recon."

Eren was now entirely confused, he was half tempted to shake the woman just to see if sense would fall out. He resisted, settling for a simple, "huh?"

She pushed her glasses atop of her head and bent slightly at the knees to become eye level with him.

"Say Eren, how would you like to see your friends?"

~0~

Armin felt a little… well, jittery, for lack of a better word.

His weeks had been spent being a bubble of nervous energy, biting his nails down to nubs and re-evaluating everything that had happened again and again in his head until it all blurred into one. It didn't help that Mikasa, strong and independent as she was, had unconsciously wound down his calm and ability to think straight these last few weeks.

She had been a lot to handle. Usually, Armin knew how to talk his way into a better situation, however, when words fell on deaf ears, he had no choice but see a flaw to his qualities. If she was unwilling to listen to him, which had proven true to the point of frustration, then all that was left for poor little Armin was to be swept up in her path.

He thought about the sea, in an attempt to calm his nervous heart, yet when the door slammed open on his hinges, banging against the wall and rebounding noisily, that sea turned into a catastrophic meltdown and Armin was left clutching the closest thing near him, a ladle, as his only source of protection.

Mikasa stormed past him, grabbing a sack of potatoes and a knife.

Armin blinked and lowered the ladle fractionally.

"Mikasa? You aren't on kitchen duty?" He questioned, already knowing that she wasn't scheduled for it.

Mikasa stabbed a potato and started peeling it, "I am now," was all she said, slicing it in half and chucking it into a giant pot.

Armin ignored his hammering heart and picked up some carrots, readying himself in preparing them. He started chopping them and silence fell over them both for a minute or two, before the calculating side of Armin got the better of him,

"What did you do this time?"

"…"

"Mikasa…"

"…I may have threatened an officer with cutting parts of his body off that he wasn't using anyway."

Armin frowned, "His brain?"

Mikasa glanced at him momentarily, "His balls, actually."

Armin winced.

To be fair, that was one of the tamer threats Mikasa had unleashed on any authority she had the pleasure of bumping into. Armin could relate, although perhaps not in the same method as her, but on the same level of frustration, certainly. The fact was that no one would tell them anything. At this point they didn't even know if Eren was alive.

Sure, they had been reassured, but what good was that? Nothing would ease Mikasa's mood until her eyes landed on Eren in person. Although this was true for Mikasa on an emotional level, it was true for Armin on a mental level, hard evidence was the purest of truth after all.

He pushed his fringe from his eyes with his forearm and peered over at the girl. It was hard to even look at her these days. To anyone else she was as fiery and reliable as ever, if only a little unpredictable in her moods, however to Armin, she was falling apart.

She owed Eren her life, and her protectiveness ran deep, even if it was unwanted. Eren was one of a kind, and belonged with them both. He smiled softly down to his carrot, picturing one of their many childish fights.

"I hope that officer pissed his pants." He said, blinking up at Mikasa when her eyes widened and she started laughing quietly, a little surprised Armin had it in him. He joined in too and soon they felt foreign in their bodies, laughing for the first time in a long time.

They were interrupted when a man in a green cloak stepped through the kitchen door. Light blue eyes studied them both until they fell quiet, knifes and vegetables hanging loosely in their palms.

"Ackerman and Arlert, I presume?" came the deep voice.

They both saluted him, but Armin's mind was already calculating. He had seen this man somewhere before, he tried to clear his memory from the last few weeks of haze, filtering through numerous faces in his mind trying to place him.

This man was important, more so than anyone else they had seen in a long time. But why?

The man entered the room further, nodding to their salute and raising his hand, as though they could relax.

He came to perch on a stool, resting his arms loosely on his thighs. Armin could tell this man was tactful and clever, just by the way he moved himself and the presence around him. His movements, although non-threatening, were calculated and graceful.

He looked them both over once more, swift and efficiently, before speaking,

"I'm-."

Armin gasped, he remembered where he'd seen this man before, "You're Commander Smith from the Survey Corps!"

Erwin quirked an eyebrow at that, impressed from the boy's memory. It seemed a very long time ago since the trial in the courtroom, and whilst Erwin had their military files, they only had their memories to rely on.

Mikasa however, had dropped her knife to the ground, clattering noisily as she stepped forward, eyes trained on Erwin.

"You have Eren, where is he? Is he alive? Tell me—." Armin bravely grabbed her arm, pulling her back to his side as a precaution.

To Erwin's credit, he hadn't budged an inch. He was surprised Mikasa hadn't remembered him sooner, but as the reports go, her infatuation with Eren potentially left her narrow sighted to anything beyond the boy. Still, her fighting potential alone could brush any few faults she may have under the carpet.

The small blonde spoke up, "I'm sorry for interrupting you, sir." Erwin was quick to dismiss it, after all, Armin's military file was his top favourite. He could see the strategist in this boy just waiting to be honed and trained. He very much wanted to personally tutor him, if time allowed it.

"No apology needed. I am sure you're both eager to be updated." He smiled briefly at them whilst they nodded at him.

"You're aware Eren is in the possession of the Survey Corps-." He held up a hand when Mikasa went to object, "—Not as a possession, Ackerman. We don't treat our comrades like objects." Mikasa folded her arms, so he continued.

"The truth is," He paused, eyeing them up, "Is that Eren needs your help."

The words were barely out of his mouth before Mikasa was practically frantic, wanting to do something, anything, yet needing more information.

"How? Why? We'll do it. Take us to him."

Armin and Erwin shared a look, obviously coming to the same conclusion that both parties would have to talk this out smartly, and without any fly decisions.

Armin broke eye contact and tugged again on Mikasa's sleeve. He had gained a new calm, more so than he had felt in weeks, and he felt himself taking control on their current situation.

"Mikasa, sit."

Mikasa stopped in her path, recognising Armin's tone of voice. It didn't happen often, yet when he adapted this new demeanour, she trusted him more than anything. Armin would always be trusted when he got like this, in her opinion, it was like looking at glimpses of what Armin would become in the future. She sat down next to him, forcing herself to remain still and no longer contributing to conversation, instead opting to just listening until they were done.

Armin turned back to Erwin once she had settled, "If you please, Commander, we are more than willing to listen."

Erwin continued, "Then I shall start from the beginning and fill you in entirely, so you can make a decision with all facts on the table."

Armin nodded, grateful for this fact, he had won them the information they had wanted. However he was aware this wasn't a great victory as both he and Erwin knew they'd agree to anything with or without information as long as they could be reunited with Eren.

Still, he appreciated it. Erwin began telling them everything, to the attempts, the methods, the findings, the healing processes, even the close call Eren had with the spoon incident. He told them of Corporal Levi's role in all this and how low mood Eren sometimes fell into due to people's reluctance with him.

He caught them up to how Eren had made no progress and the Council report that had landed on his desk in a rumbled fashion.

Both Armin and Mikasa had remained quiet throughout the talk, Armin clicking things into place often before Erwin told it. He could see it now, Erwin's reason for being seated in front of them, yet there was one question he couldn't help but ask,

"Sir, I do hope I don't offend you, but why did you personally come? I feel you're far too busy to be filling the two of us in on something a lower ranking member could have told us?"

Erwin didn't take offense, glad to be asked, "Sincerity, actually."

Armin felt puzzled, "We would have believed anyone at this point if it meant a chance to see Eren, sir."

"You may not see it yet, but the two of you are very valuable, in fact I'd go as far to say a 'dynamic duo' of sorts. Yet even I can see that you are deep rooted from a trio. What I'm asking of you is not an easy thing to ask. Eren is unpredictable in his titan form, and certainly not stable yet. I couldn't trust the word of a report from one of my men to say your convictions are true. I had to see it for myself."

Armin decided to let Erwin know he had figured out exactly what Erwin needed them for, "The experiments weren't going well, but that was fine up until now, because you had time. Now you don't. The council has put a time limit on Eren's head and you need to meet schedule as top priority."

Erwin encouraged him with a nod, so Armin continued, "Squad leader Hanji has tried most avenues, yet she had one more try as a last resort. Mikasa and I in person, present with Eren in titan form. She wants to replicate Trost of sorts to study what stabilized him. He was unconscious last time, but without him punching himself in the face, we will be risking our lives to do this even if he is contained. You came here to see if we chose to go, that we'd have no regrets if we said yes."

Erwin was almost giddy inside, this boy in front of him was something else.

"That is correct."

Mikasa finally unfolded her arms, coming up to stand, "Did Eren pledge his allegiance to the Survey Corps?"

Erwin looked to her, knowing she was asking if Eren joined willingly or if he was forced in the end. Erwin knew that Eren would prefer to be nowhere else but by Levi's side these days, even if the Corporal or the shifter didn't realise it yet.

"He did."

Mikasa stared at him searchingly, until nodding as though her mind was set, "Then so do I, when do we leave?"

Erwin stood up, gazing down at these formidable two. God bless those who stand in their path, "Now, if you wish."

Mikasa practically lobbed the potato behind her, not even smug when it landed in the giant pot, Armin dropped his carrot onto the table and watched Mikasa leave the room,

"Sir, does this mean we are now part of the Survey Corps?"

Erwin shook his head, "Not if you don't want to be, we could call it 'borrowing your services' if you wished to be in a different regiment later on. Yet, if you desire to be part of the Survey Corps, then I would gladly welcome you." He would too, he thought, as between Eren, Mikasa and Armin, he couldn't remember the last time training corps pushed through soldiers with so much potential.

Armin didn't even pause to contemplate it, "We would both very much like to be in the Survey Corps, sir." He saluted.

Erwin just smiled down at him, "Good, I already have your cloaks prepared in the carriage."

Armin blinked up at him, and Erwin winked back, before leaving the room.

~0~

Levi was carrying Eren back to his room, the boy was again unconscious in his arms, burning uncomfortably again him. He was used to the heat now, it barely affected him as he made his way up the stairs.

The only difference Levi could feel was that Eren felt slightly heavier, and where Levi gripped at his thighs and ribs, he could feel the smooth lines of muscles that had developed quickly over the weeks he had been here.

Levi pegged it down to their daily sparring. They had been extending the hours they spent in their grove, both not even entirely sure it was truly just for anger management anymore. If anything, Levi admitted that it was very rewarding to let loose and train exclusively with someone.

If he had to admit even further than that, it was good to feel contact with someone that wasn't two metres tall or higher who was trying to eat him and that it was just good to grapple with a human with soulful green eyes.

Levi paused in his step, frowning at his thought.

He tried to conclude that the human didn't need to have 'soulful green eyes', he scoffed, but then realised that he couldn't name one other person he could find himself sparring with for weeks on end.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Why couldn't he see himself spending hours on end in some one else's presence? And why could he easily see it with Eren? Was it due to the banter? Hell, Eren could talk for Wall Maria, but then again, he could also be good at quick witty comebacks when he knew Levi wasn't pulling rank.

Levi carried on up the stairs, letting his feet take him on autopilot whilst he was lost in his thoughts.

And that was it, wasn't it? Levi often didn't pull rank when they were alone. He didn't feel the need to. He often dismissed Eren's salutes and preferred it much more when Eren spoke his mind, unafraid of saying something to piss 'the Corporal' off. He even recalled the time when Eren had called him Levi, doing nothing to reprimand him, and even though Eren hadn't slipped up again, he wasn't sure if he would even bother correcting the brunette unless they were with company.

He frowned further and looked down to Eren's face, his lips were slightly parted and his eyelashes fanned his cheeks, casting pretty shadows over his cheekbones. His tanned skin glowed in the light of the lanterns and he looked flushed from the heat.

Levi swallowed thickly and looked back up away from him. It felt like a private thing, to look into the face of someone unconscious of him doing so, yet as he turned the corner of a long corridor, he felt his eyes gliding back over Eren's face anyway.

This was a very strange thing to be happening to him, it felt foreign and not entirely comfortable. He wanted to ignore it and bury it before he could put a name to it. He was the fucking Corporal for goodness sake, 'Humanity's Strongest', he didn't have time or the inclination to be dealing with this shit.

'So what?' His mind toyed with him, 'That's 'Humanity's Last Hope' in your arms.' He stilled again, practically blanching from his own mind.

That title doesn't define who Eren is, he came to the conclusion, just like Humanity's Strongest didn't define him. It was just a label, just another thing to tag onto the various names they both had. He knew for certain that ninety eight percent of the population thought they knew him, but they didn't. They just shoved labels on him. Just like they did to Eren.

They all thought they knew Eren. He was a monster, untrustworthy, also irrational and the only hope their world had at the same time. It was bizarre, none of those things described Eren as a person. That's why Levi never had the time for people, because they were all idiots. They all jumped to conclusions and fuck all other logic.

A small gust came through the windows of the corridors, causing Eren's hair to be tousled over his eyes.

Levi paused at the door where Eren was kept when he was recovering, still lost in thought.

Not Eren though, Eren didn't judge people at first sight. He was too busy wrapped up in his goals and passions to be side tracked by something so petty. Levi supposed that's what he liked best about Eren. He was always aiming for bigger, aiming for beyond the walls, and not within them.

Levi supposed he shared those same goals, wanting to be rid of these shitty people and to be far off in a corner of the earth not surrounded by so many assholes. Not surrounded by walls. If he could save the lives of the remaining innocent people along the way, then so be it.

Eren was fighting for so many different reasons, all giving him the power to do so. Levi had to admit sometimes even he felt a little swept away by Eren's determination.

He watched the brunette in his arms, opening the door to the room on instinct and stepping inside. He laid Eren down onto the bed and without giving thought to his actions, raised his hand to gently brush Eren's hair out of his eyes.

The tips of his fingers lingered for a beat too long, before he removed them and straightened.

A small cough had him pausing, before he slowly turned his head to see a blonde boy and a raven haired girl watching him closely.

Oh.

The blonde wanted to pipe up, "Sir?"

Levi's eye twitched, "No."

Armin cocked his head to the side, "But, Sir-."

"No. Just no."

Levi had taken two large steps backwards, not even bothering to turn around and face the right direction, it was just wasting time anyway.

Armin was desperately trying to hide a smile, the Corporal was just walking backwards, eyes hard as steel yet cheeks just a touch pink on his pale complexion.

"Corporal Levi-."

Levi's hand was on the door handle, and he was already removing half his body from sight.

"No," He hissed, ignorance is bliss. He was a strong believer of that in this very moment. It was his strongest belief. Ignorance. Is. Fucking. Bliss.

He was about to slam the door shut behind him, before gritting his teeth. His head popped back round the door to give them both a solid stare,

"Speak to no one of this."

The danger was implied by his gravelling tones, and the door was shut with extra emphasis.

Armin turned to look at Mikasa, who actually looked a little shocked, he couldn't help it then, he burst into laughter.

Well, he thought, Commander Erwin had certainly failed to mention this little development to them.

~0~

A/N: Thanks for reading chapter 6! As usual, please let me know what you think! Even just a few reviews has me writing like crazy! It's magical!