DarknessGryphon here, pleading for forgiveness for taking so long to update::bows so enthusiastically that head hits the floor:: I'm very, very sorry, but due to a combination of overwhelming homework and writer's block, I haven't been able to get much done. I feel bad for taking so long but, I don't really know how I would have managed without sacrificing some writing time.

My thanks to:

Aesira

Kaoru Koganei

IJustWannaBeMe

Raging Inferno

StickmanRVR

Liu Barrowin

brandy mallory

Wish on a star6

KD Almasy

Maiyoko Iwagashi

PrincessKaina2

Verlious

Thank you very much!

Just a heads-up, but parts of this chapter are pretty silly and other parts very, very serious. I'm not even sure how I did it. Please bear with the ridiculous, non-plot parts because those were induced by bad writer's block, but I couldn't bear to get rid of them. also, this chapter is pretty long, probably because of the silly parts. On to the Fic!!!!

Chapter 9 Trouble in Flanoir

For Zelos, morning dawned a little too early. The moment of pure happiness that sparked by Lloyd the night before was still fresh in his mind and he was reluctant to leave it. He felt that he had not had enough time to relish it by the time that Yuan started to shake him awake.

"Wake up, Zelos. We have to make it to Flanoir today."

Zelos sat up, absently combing through sleep-mussed locks with clumsy fingers. Surveying his surroundings, he found Lloyd forcing a comb through his hair and Yuan doing the same. His eyes came to a rest on Kratos, who had just awoken.

His hair was absolutely perfect.

The auburn-haired swordsman was trying to slap himself awake when Zelos and the others began to stare at him with blatent envy.

"HOW DO YOU DO THAT?!" Zelos roared.

For a brief moment, Kratos adopted a deer-caught-in-the-headlights face, but quickly composed himself.

"Do what?"

The other three stared at him incredulously, mouths agape. Zelos' left eye began to twitch slightly, "How do you not have bedhead?"

Kratos frowned at him for a moment, not understanding why it mattered. He shrank back slightly as the other three leaned in closer, expecting an answer from the purple-clad seraphim who found himself against three pairs of glaring eyes. Yuan stepped forward at his lover's silence.

"Yeah, Kratos. How do you do that?" he grumbled, noticing the phenomenon for the first time.

"Yeah! Why isn't that hereditary?" Lloyd demanded. Four heads turned and stared at him in astonishment. Raine had just walked in and was torn between being proud of Lloyd and annoyed at him.

"Lloyd! You used the word 'hereditary' correctly in a sentence! How come you could never do anything like that while you were still in school?!" she yelled, taking him by the shoulders and shaking him. As the half-elf busied herself quizzing Lloyd, Kratos and his perfect hair took the opportunity to sneakily exit the room.

Yuan was in the midst of trying to pry Raine away from her former pupil while Zelos grinned at the sight.

"Raine, I know that it's exciting, but we need to pack up and leave soon," the blue-haired seraphim reminded her gently.

The sliver-haired healer immediately desisted and turned her attention to Yuan instead, "So soon? Where are you off to?"

"Flanoir," Zelos pulled a face as Yuan said this, "and then to Tethe'alla base."

Lloyd, having only been told of going to Flanoir, appeared concerned, "Tethe'alla base? Why?"

Yuan smiled, "Since they are no longer 'Renegades,' I'm having them map out the places that were moved or destroyed when the worlds merged. I'm also having them research a way to make ex-spheres without the use of human lives."

A glimmer, barely noticeable, began to shine in Raine's eyes. It was remarkable similar to the glint that appeared when she was studying a new artifact or ruin. Zelos, slightly alarmed by the professor's sudden stillness, got out of bed and placed a tentative hand on her shoulder.

"Raine? Are you okay?"

Raine spun around suddenly, knocking over a stunned Zelos, and grabbed Yuan shoulders.

"Yuan! THAT'S FASCINATING!!!"

The blue-haired seraphim was startled, to say the least, and quickly began to back away, stumbling as he went. Raine followed, soon steering the dual-sabrist down the stairs, firing questions at him and supplying her own answers almost as soon as she'd asked them.

Lloyd deemed it safe to get out of bed without attacked by Raine, and went to help Zelos up, both of them laughing.

"Sometimes I wonder how Genis manages Raine…" Zelos shook his head with mock-gravity.

"When she's like, just like the rest of us. He doesn't," Lloyd smiled.

Kratos poked his head in the doorway, looking significantly annoyed now that he had woken up all the way.

"Get dressed. We're leaving in half an hour regardless of if you are or aren't." The auburn-haired swordsman promptly stormed of to find some coffee.

Zelos stared after the grumpy seraphim, "I wonder what's got his undies in a bunch."

"He probably wants more time to spend cuddling with his 'Yunnie-bear,'" the twin-swordsman answered him in all seriousness.

The pink-clad swordsman looked at Lloyd blankly.

"My dad talks in his sleep."

"YUNNIE-BEAR?!" Zelos burst out, laughing.

Lloyd hurriedly covered the Tethe'allan's mouth, looking at him pleadingly, "Please, Zelos. Do you want my dad to come and murder us?"

Lloyd let go of Zelos, who started to pack his bag, laughter trickling down to nothing. In the absence of his laugh, silence filled the room. there wasn't a drop of akwardness, but both boys struggled to find something to say.

They broke the silence simultaneously,

"Did you sleep well?"

"How did you sleep?"

There was a pause, tinged with awkwardness. Not knowing what to do, they responded together,

"Great."

"Fine."

Another pause, awkward enough to be slightly uncomfortable.

"Well I'm just gonna-" Zelos attempted, making confused hand gestures in an effort to communicate.

"Oh, yeah. Fine, whatever," Lloyd tried to brush him off.

Now the situation was nothing but awkward, full to bursting with awkwardness, in fact. They stood, belongings packed away and forgotten. Neither of them seemed to be sure of what to do with themselves. Just when Lloyd thought he would go mad and Zelos was about to cry out in frustration, Colette appeared to save them in a moment of accidental brilliance.

The blond former Chosen of Sylvarant popped her head in the door and called to them cheerfully, "Lloyd, Zelos! Breakfast is ready!"

"Good!"

"Great!"

They both greeted the announcement of breakfast with unusual cheer that would have been suspicious to most people. The two of them quickly made for the door, reaching it at the same time. the stopped before it and an innocently oblivious Colette, and looked first to the door and then to each other.

"Go ahead, Bud."

"No, you go first Zelos."

Colette watched the two agitatedly trying to force the other out of the room for a moment before she saved them yet again. It was a good day for the blond chakram-wielder.

"Um… Lloyd? Can I talk to you privately for a moment?"

"Huh?" Both boys turned to her as if suddenly awoken from sleep.

"Yeah, sure," Lloyd blinked. With this separation, a balance seemed to have been restored between the redhead and the brunette.

"See you downstairs, Bud," Zelos waved as he stepped around Colette and disappeared behind the wall.

The chakram-wielder ambled into the room and picked up a small figure that lay on an empty dresser across the room. Lloyd watched her quietly, relived to be away from the uncomfortable one-on-one time that he had just spent with Tethe'alla's former Chosen. But instead of escaping it, a new kind of tension filled the room.

"Look, Colette. I'm really sorry…" the red-clad hero began, unsure for what or why he was apologizing to her.

"No, Lloyd. Don't be. If anyone should apologize, it's me. I kinda just assumed, y'know? After the journey of regeneration ended, it just seemed kind of fitting for the hero to fall in love with the damsel that he saved- like in fairy tales. So, I'm sorry. But, I'm not saying that I didn't really feel something for you; that it was just me thinking that I was in love because… because that's not how it is at all! Um… I went to Raine's yesterday and she helped me get through it and helped me with what I was going to say to you, and what I'm trying to say is that I know I was kinda upset yesterday after that, and that I didn't come home and all, but, well, that's what I'm sorry for. I don't want you to think that it's your fault or anything. It's not," she turned to face him, "I hope that we can be friends just like before… and… I hope you find someone that you really love Lloyd."

Colette wasn't looking at him as she said the last part almost inaudibly. Lloyd wasn't looking at her either, feeling both relieved and terrible at the same time. He somehow felt free to give his heart to another, knowing that his friends thought he liked Colette, but also knowing that that freedom had been at the cost of his friend's feelings. His heart screamed at him to at the very least comfort her if he couldn't love her and he gave in to it.

He reached her in a couple of long strides that he didn't really register that he was taking and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Thank you, Colette," he whispered, not really knowing why, but feeling that it was the right thing to say.

"You're welcome. Now, go. I need to fix some stuff before my dad and grandma get home," she half-sniffed, half-smiled, nearly pushing the twin-swordsman out of the door. Afraid of upsetting her more than she already seemed to be, Lloyd rushed down to breakfast.

He found Yuan swiftly packing provisions as Zelos shoved forkfuls of omelet down his throat, but there was no sign of Kratos. Lloyd took his seat slowly, looking around for as if double-taking in every direction would help him ascertain his father's whereabouts.

"Hey, Yuan," the twin-swordsman's eyes lingered on the front door, "Do you know where my dad is?"

"Mhmm," the dual-sabrist's turned, holding a stack of toast that wouldn't fit in with the rest of the provisions, "He's outside, checking on the rheairds with Raine. Hey, Zelos. Take smaller bites or you'll choke.'

Lloyd looked to the redhead, who had just tried to fit an entire omelet in his mouth quite unsuccessfully.

Zelos desisted and rolled his eyes at Yuan, "Yes, Momma Yuan."

The blue-haired seraphim shot the swordsman a dirty look and shoved the rejected toast that he was holding at Lloyd, "Here, eat this so it won't go to waste."

Yuan went back to packing while the two younger men exchanged looks and Zelos mouthed 'Momma Yuan' at the twin-swordsman, throwing them both into a fit of giggles.

-

Raine handed Kratos a wrench and he proceeded to tighten a bolt on one of the rheaird's wings. The tool slipped off of the small piece, earning a growl from the auburn haired swordsman. Raine paid this no extra attention, taking it for normal behavior from the moody swordsman.

The wrench slipped during the second attempt as well, causing Kratos to throw down the insolent tool. This time, Raine picked up the misplaced aggression.

"Is…is something wrong?" she queried gingerly.

The swordsman looked at her, then away, then back again, desperation and frustration evident in his eyes.

"I trust that you can keep your mouth shut." It was no inquiry; it was a warning.

"Of course."

The swordsman examined her warily, but his desperation won out, "This is a bit difficult to explain and not at all typical of me… or Yuan. In an effort to put some meaning into Lloyd's life, meaning that he feels he's lost, Yuan and I have been trying to set him up. I'm sure this sounds rather foolish, but we thought that perhaps having someone in his life could put him past the lost days of heroism and ideals. I don't know about Yuan, but I am certainly doubting the success of this plan. Lloyd himself has claimed that he isn't one to fall in love. I just- I'm not very comfortable with this situation."

Raine was surprised. She realized that Kratos must have been truly, deeply troubled for him to tell her anything. So, not taking the situation lightly, she quickly analyzed the situation.

"Well… the problem may be psychological…" she half-mused. Raine doubted Lloyd's problem was in his head, but, as a scholar, wasn't going to ignore a possibility.

"What do you mean?" Kratos actually seemed interested in her theory, but then again, he could have been humoring her. It was rather hard to tell when he had his 'less-than-an-expression' face on.

"Uh…" Raine wasn't sure what to say next, "Well, look at the examples of love that Lloyd has been presented with. There's you and Lloyd's mother, Yuan and Martel, Regal and Alicia… IN each pair, someone has died, and not by the most gentle of circumstances," she watched him carefully for his reaction which was unremarkably blank, "He's also heard of the loveless marriage that Zelos' parents were trapped in, and, really, the only happy relationship he's witnessed is the one you currently have with Yuan. Perhaps Lloyd is just a bit afraid."

"So what do you suggest?" Kratos wasn't looking at her and all at once Raine understood what really troubled the auburn-haired man.

"Continue being a good father for Lloyd and take every opportunity you can to show Lloyd that you are happy with Yuan and will always be so."

Raine stated the last bit with such authority that Kratos looked up at her, startled. He half-smiled and Raine blushed a bit, embarrassed. Kratos shook his head slightly, "It's almost upsetting, the amount I must rely on Yuan and Lloyd's friends for advice on raising my son. It's almost like I'm the child and everyone else gets to play the parent."

The half-elf healer felt distinctly sorry for the swordsman who had lived for four thousand years and was only now learning to be a parent. She understood how hard it was for him to watch Lloyd be unhappy; she felt the same when Genis was unhappy too, and she had parented her brother for almost all of his life.

A loud banging noise interrupted the quiet moment, and Yuan, cape flared and rather annoyed, was framed in the now open front doorway. He had his hands clapped to his ears and roared, "Kratos! Shut them up before I do!"

Lloyd and Zelos' heads appeared on either side of Yuan's.

"Hey, Dad! Momma Yuan seems to be tired of us!" Lloyd yelled causing Yuan to cringe, angelic hearing damaged.

"Yeah. Personally, I'm a bit insulted." Zelos teased.

Kratos let out a mirthful sting of laughter, "Momma Yuan?"

The normally stoic seraphim's laugh coaxed a smile to appear on Yuan's features that immediately vanished as soon as he remembered that Kratos was laughing at him. But as it was, with Lloyd and Zelos laughing behind him and Kratos laughing in front, Yuan didn't really care. It actually made him feel kind of happy; it felt like he had a family.

'No, I do have a family now,' Yuan mentally corrected himself.

"You see Pops, since you're the Dad, it would make Yuan the mom, right?" Zelos grinned. Kratos was enjoying himself too much to mind Zelos referring to him as 'Pops' or even nearly referring to him as 'Dad.' Raine smiled quietly in the background, touched by the sense of family the four swordsmen exuded.

"What's so funny? Even Kratos is laughing…" Colette asked in a quasi-cheerful tone, appearing in the doorframe carrying their packs. It was obvious that she wasn't as cheerful as she was pretended to be, but for her sake, everybody pretended not to notice.

Lloyd rushed to her aid in an uncommonly repentant manner, "You don't have to carry all of those!"

Zelos decided not to take note of the behavior and grinned in that distinctly Zelos-ish way, "We were just teasing Yuan, my cute hunny."

Colette seemed strangely out of place, so Raine walked over to Colette and placed her arm around the blond former Chosen's shoulders.

"Maybe you should all get going. It's well past dawn and I know that you want to get to Flanoir as soon as possible," the half-elf healer smiled.

"Yes. We'll be sure to come back here on our way to Meltokio," Yuan informed her kindly, securing the packs to the rheairds with deft hands.

"We look forward to your next visit!" Colette grinned, sadness forgotten and cheery disposition restored for the time being.

The staff-wielder and former Chosen of Sylvarant stood, waving, as the four men climbed on their rheairds and began to lift off slowly. Other inhabitants of the village of oracles had woken up and were cheerfully waving their goodbyes as well. Lloyd waved to them as vigorously as he could without falling and the other three gave dismissive nods as they waited, suspended over the sleepy town until the thrusters activated and they were speeding of to the frigid plains that were the home of Flanoir.

-

Once in the air they flew close together, a habit from earlier days when danger could be anywhere. There was relative silence and peace to the journey, but after a while Kratos began to frown.

"What is the infernal noise?" He demanded irritatedly.

"What noise? The music?" Zelos frowned as well, trying to home in on the faint melody.

Lloyd adopted the same expression, trying hard to recall something, "Yeah, I've noticed that before."

The three humans noticed after a while that Yuan, who was sitting very quietly with the faintest of blushes painting his cheeks, was ignoring them somewhat nervously.

"Yuan," Kratos began slowly, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this music, would you?"

Zelos took on a similar tone, "We'd just like to know, 'cause if no one knows anything, we might end up having to take a rheaird apart to-"

Yuan spun around to glare at the Tethe'allan, "Don't you even dare thinking about it! If you so much as look like you're considering it, by Martel, I swear that I'll ram that gladius so far down your throat that you'll be crapping thumbtacks."

"You're acting pretty defensive, Yuan," Lloyd informed him gravely.

"No, I'm not. He threatened my poor babies," Yuan huffed and turned around. They flew in near silence for a few minutes, Yuan seeming to get increasingly twitchy.

"ALL RIGHT! I ADMIT IT! I PROGRAMMED THE RHEAIRDS TO PLAY MUSIC WHILE IN FLIGHT! JUST STOP STARING AT ME!!!"

Of course, the other three began to stare at Yuan who seemed to have completely lost it and was sobbing hysterically.

"You know, Yuan, We'd already let the subject go," Zelos smirked. Kratos shot him a withering glance, but patted Yuan's back stiffly, caught in a strange mixture of annoyance and pity. Lloyd said nothing, truly more afraid to speak than not.

Once again, they flew in near silence for a few minutes.

"Hey, Yuan…' Lloyd attempted when the half-elf's sobbing had nearly ceased, "Is battle music your doing too?"

There was a pause. Even the wind was quiet.

"Shut up!" The three other men's faces contorted in horror-struck bemusement.

"Yuan!" Kratos admonished, completely unable to summon more words to describe his exasperation. Zelos and Lloyd decided to leave the situation alone at that moment- Kratos mouthing wordlessly like a stunned boar and Yuan in a fresh round of hysterical tears- and changed the subject rather loudly.

The rest of the flight was filled with tense conversation and occasional hysterical outbursts from Yuan.

-

Around three in the afternoon, they finally made it to Flanoir. They landed on the periphery of the city, the only place that could fit a squad of four Rheairds. upon dismounting, Kratos fell face forward into the snow, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

Yuan reached down to help the auburn-haired swordsman up, but was waved off weakly.

"I'll get up in… a moment. I'm getting too old for this."

Yuan smirked teasingly, "Yeah, you're older than I am."

Kratos lifted his head slightly and shot Yuan a mock-insulted glare, "Yuan, I hardly think that a few months matters after four millennia."

Unable to think of a retort, the blue-haired swordsman stuck his tongue out at the war god. Kratos jumped to his feet and caught the Renegade leader, who thought to run too late, and pulled him close.

"You should watch that tongue, Renegade." Seconds later, the two were sucking face and Lloyd and Zelos stared at the seraphim helplessly. Zelos soon snapped free of the spell and turned away, towards the city, snappily.

"C'mon, Bud. They can freeze out here if they want to." Lloyd snapped out of the trance and hastily scrambled after the former Chosen, eager to get away and not have to see more of his Dad and Yuan than would keep him sane. However, alone with the redhead for the first time since the morning, the awkwardness came back full force. Zelos chose to try to shake it off by walking directionlessly, narrowly avoiding passerby, open doors, and buildings in general as he allowed himself to fall into a daze. Lloyd followed him, not really caring where they were going, but more worried by the almost freakishly empty space that seemed to be between him and Zelos.

Just as Lloyd opened his mouth to say something, the seraphim, miffed at having been abandoned, caught up with them, toting their luggage.

"Zelos, Lloyd. Use your heads for once, we need to find a place to stay and then we need to check on the Church of Martel here. The city of Flanoir took the truth a bit harder than the rest," Kratos snapped. The younger two were a bit taken aback, not realizing that more than half of Kratos' irritation was caused by the realization that it was damned cold in Flanoir. It had been a rather rude shock the seraphim's sensations to feel cold so sharply after not caring to feel it for four thousand years.

Resignedly, the younger men followed the auburn-haired swordsman and the dual-sabrist to the inn and then, with dread on Zelos' part, made their way to the Flanoir branch of the Church of Martel.

Upon opening the door, they were confronted by a wide-eyed throng of followers.

"Lord Kratos! Lord Yuan! What are you doing here with those- that blasphemer and that selfish failure of a Chosen!" the high priest of Flanoir demanded, a manic gleam in his eyes and an accusatory finger aimed at Lloyd and Zelos.

"H-hey! What'd you say?!" Lloyd stepped forward in challenge, shaking slightly with anger as he saw how the priest's empty accusations shook the former Chosen of Tethe'alla.

"Lloyd!" Yuan held his arm out to restrain the twin-swordsman.

'You people would cling to your faith in a soulless organization, a manufactured prophecy, and worshipping a long-dead half-elf whose resurrection would have meant the destruction of the world? Pathetic," Kratos mocked, glancing very slightly at Yuan, hoping he hadn't hurt his lover with his harsh description of Martel. Far from hurt, Yuan looked horrified at the people before them.

"But you have unimaginable technologies and powers! You the seraphim, are immortal!" a frantic woman shrieked.

"We? The remaining seraphim, living out a pathetic existence wrought of desperation and human lives. All we had to do was get Summon Spirits who are no longer under our control to cut off your mana and drones to heckle you to distract you to stop you from gaining the technology that Cruxis had. You call that power? Take it all away and all you have are two powerless and blind beings," Yuan spat.

"But- Wings!" a junior priest cried, clinging to every last piece of evidence he could think of.

Lloyd, a blasphemer in their misguided eyes, chose that moment to unleash his wings; a sight more magnificent than anything yet seen by the citizens of Flanoir.

The head priest's eyes widened and he and the congregation that had gathered in the church fell to their knees.

"Gods! It was a war between gods!" the priest gasped. Yuan, Kratos, and Lloyd were frozen in shock. Kratos had his mouth open slightly in a mixture of horror, revulsion, and anger, trying desperately to figure out what to say. To the stoic seraphim's surprise, Zelos pushed through where he had been standing in the back and hauled the head priest to his feet, shaking him.

"Gods? Gods?! What is with you people and making more of people than they really are? We're people! We're all just people with the same blood as you flowing through our veins!" Zelos dropped the terrified priest, seething in anger, ripped his gloves off, and swiftly cut his arm with a short length of dagger, blood splashing to the ground and splattering the stunned priest. There was silence, save for the sound of Zelos' breathing, and, picking up Zelos' cue, Kratos took his gloves off and cut his arm as well, blood splashing to the ground in a similar fashion. Lloyd followed suit without hesitation and the people saw it; the same red blood, steaming slightly in the frigid climate of Flanoir.

The people looked to Yuan who sighed, annoyed, "I'm a half-elf. I'm sure you don't want my blood on the Church floor."

Many of the people looked away embarrassedly at this.

"Thought so," Yuan muttered darkly.

"What are we to do? We are priests with no faith to preach," one of the priests turned to Kratos desperately, but it was Zelos who answered.

"Then do what you've always done: preach the teachings of Martel and try to make the world a truly better place, but this time, practice what you preach and don't make more or less of people than they really are. I guarantee that you'll find less people like me or Mithos if you do."

The redhead turned on his heel and walked out of the church, heading towards the terrace. Lloyd followed, concerned for the pink-clad swordsman. Everybody in the church was now staring at the blood, contemplating the former Chosen's words. After a moment's hesitation, Yuan and Kratos left as well, certain that Zelos had done the job.

The seraphim saw neither head nor tail of their younger companions upon exiting. Kratos seemed irritated once again, even more so when Yuan threw an apple gel in his direction.

"Stop bleeding everywhere." The blue-haired seraphim walked off, appearing angry.

"Yuan?" Kratos had never seen the dual-sabrist like this except- a strange expression swept across the swordsman's face and he stared for a moment after the departing half-elf before dropping the gel and running after him.

-

Zelos stormed out to the terrace feeling ill with frustration, disgust, and his long-time companion, self-loathing. He could hear Lloyd behind him, for once wishing that the twin-swordsman would just leave him the hell alone.

"Zelos?"

The former Chosen of Tethe'alla ignored him, instead walking ever quicker to the frozen railing. He heaved himself to a stop, slumping over the frigid stone banister, ragged sobs tearing themselves from his throat. His arm was still bleeding freely, staining the pure white snow bright red. Maybe it was just the blood loss, but Zelos felt faint, seeing a memory imposed over the scene; his mother's blood appearing over the stain of his own.

-

Lloyd caught the swiftly caught the redhead as he pitched backwards. Heart beating unnaturally fast, he quickly used a lemon gel on the ailing swordsman, panic subsiding as the Tethe'allan's breathing evened out and the gasping sobs were quieting. Lloyd sighed in relief, but soon felt terrible for it. Zelos' eyes stared past him emptily.

"Zelos… Zelos! What's with you? Don't act like you don't have a soul, Zelos! Don't you dare!" Sick panic clogged his throat, making him dizzy as the constricting vice of anxiety took his heart in its possession. Lloyd was distressed to the point of tears. He was terrified that something was wrong; something that was beyond his ability to help or heal. He wasn't sure is he could accept it if that was the case- No, he wouldn't accept it if that was indeed the case.

In the hero's grief, he failed to see the anger rising in his friend's eyes. Without warning, Zelos threw himself to his feet.

"Stop that! Just- Just leave me alone." Zelos unfolded his wings and took off without another word.

Lloyd didn't move, but looked after the former Chosen and decided that it would be best to wait at the inn for his friend, hoping that later Zelos would tell him what the problem was.

Whew!!! Another chappie all done and this one is pretty long, at least by my standards. I'm so sorry for the wait and the resultant crappy chapter, but I'll try to get the next one up, plot bunny and his allies permitting, by my birthday in two weeks. Sorry that this chapter seemed plot-tose intolerant until the end…

Please remember to review! Do it for me, please? If not for me, think of the poor plot bunny and his allies that need to be encouraged by your reviews for a next chapter to appear…