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As Color Fades Away

Chapter Forty-Nine

The first step went well. No falling, no flashbacks and the dizziness was held at bay.

Bolstered, Lance took another step and then another, a sigh releasing from him with each successful footfall.

He'd always been graceful, Hunk knew. Like a dolphin slipping through water or a cat walking a razor-thin beam. It showed even here, an almost glide to his steps as he kept his feet under him for the first time in… well, Hunk wasn't sure how long, but surely a while.

And with the success of reaching the door without incident Hunk could almost see the swell of confidence, of stark relief, in Lance's face. No smile yet for his accomplishment, but there was a near contentedness to his face and his eyes were shining a little brighter.

"How do you feel?" Hunk asked as the door slid open and they stepped into the hall.

"Good," Lance said, seeming surprised by his own answer.

"Slow and steady," Hunk advised as they made their way down the hall. "I know you're all healed, but your body is still w—recovering," Hunk changed at the last second, as even in this context he didn't want Lance thinking of the word.

They reached the bathroom at the end of the hall without issue and Hunk was pleased to note that Pidge had flipped the sign over, displaying four stick figures that Lance and Pidge had designed to look somewhat like the male Paladins but also with cat-eared heads.

Hunk opened the door first and peeked in, relieved when the lights were all dark indicating no movement inside. It's not that he didn't want to see Shiro or Keith, but the less chances for someone to startle Lance the better because there were a heck of a lot of water-sounds in a bathroom and given Coran's recounting to him of how pouring a glass of water had startled Lance Hunk was not taking any chances.

Hunk moved over to the sink and turned the tap on to barely a trickle, no gush of water or really any sound and Lance had been drawn to his cubby on the far wall where his toiletries were kept. Hunk gave a small sigh of relief. Obstacle one down.

If he ignored how quiet Lance was being this was almost a normal bathroom morning, Hunk thought, as Lance joined him at the long counter and double sink.

He did see Lance's eyes track to the sink and the barely there water droplets and watched as they widened ever so slightly.

"Okay, so I've got the weird mint or the sort of orange," Hunk said loudly, taking Lance's toothbrush from the caddy Lance had brought over and running it under the sink. "Which flavor are you feeling today?"

His voice jerked Lance's attention back to him and Hunk sent out the most comforting smile he could. "Which flavor?" he prompted.

"Hunk, I…" Lance's gaze was drawn back as if hypnotized to the soundless drip of the faucet. His left hand gripped the edge of the counter, knuckles white.

"Lance," Hunk's voice lowered into something more gentle. "Miráme." Lance dragged his gaze back to him. "You've got this, hermano. Just brush and spit it all back out. Now; mint or orange?"

"M-mint," Lance decided on after a moment and Hunk squirt a small amount onto Lance's barely damp toothbrush and handed it back to him.

"Nuffing to eet," Hunk mumbled around his own toothbrush. Lance looked down at the toothbrush and then raised it as though it was going to bite him.

Hunk turned away but watched Lance through the mirror as he finally brought the brush to his teeth. It was the slowest teeth brushing in likely all of history, but he was doing it, even if his eyes were squinted tightly closed. Small steps, Hunk told himself. Small steps.

While Lance seemed quite preoccupied with his snail-like teeth brushing, Hunk took the opportunity to visit the toilet, and Altean technology flushed it all always silently. When he rejoined Lance at the sink, opting to use a bottle of alien hand sanitizer then risk turning the water on to past the drip-drop, Lance was still holding his toothbrush with a foamy mouth.

"You've gotta spit it out," Hunk said softly. "You don't even have to rinse after if you don't want to." Hunk hadn't, although he was tasting slight orange aftertaste but regretted nothing. Not if the water was going to scare Lance.

Lance seemed to be trying to convince himself of the task and Hunk waited. There was nothing more he could do to help Lance with this. And a few ticks later Lance expelled the remains of the foam from his mouth, coughing after and bracing himself on the counter.

"There you go," Hunk said, coming up and placing a hand on Lance's back and rubbing it in a circle. "All over."

Lance lifted his left hand to wipe at his mouth but froze in the action as his eyes spotted the mirror in front of him. And obstacle two. Hunk had a feeling mirrors were going to be sensitive for a while, given the state he'd found Lance in yesterday, but there was no way to cover the one in the bathroom easily and doing so would have only drawn more attention to it.

"Hey," Hunk said gently, and his voice startled Lance out of his staring contest. "What do you see?"

"…Us," Lance said after a moment. He looked behind him, as though expecting there to be more and Hunk felt a frown of confusion and worry form, before he faced the mirror again. "Just… just us."

A bandaged left hand lifted and came to rest on the visible bandages papered around his throat. Lance flinched at his own touch and only the fact that Hunk still had a hand on his back kept him from stumbling backwards.

Weak he heard Haggar hiss and he was unable to stop himself from agreeing with her. Weak for getting the scars. Weaker still for not being able to look at them.

He was a coward.

"You know what I see?" Hunk asked, cutting of Haggar's words. Lance mutely shook his head. "I see two Paladins of Voltron," he said, and Lance met Hunk's gaze once more in their reflections. "They've gone through a lot and one of them more than any could possibly imagine, but they're both standing here. Together." His hand squeezed Lance's shoulder. "Still fighting and still moving forward."

Lance still did not look convinced and Hunk continued on. "Know what else I see? I see strength. And love. And compassion."

Hunk leaned forward and tapped against the mirror right on Lance's neck. "This? This shows strength. And here," he tapped where Lance's heart was. "This is compassion and love. And all together they make up the strongest person I have ever, ever known."

Lance averted his eyes. "I don't feel strong," he admitted quietly, fingers still pressing on his neck. Hunk's words and feelings were at war with the sick darkness inside him that refused to let go no matter how much Lance tried.

"What do you feel?"

"Weak," he whispered. "I… I let this happen, Hunk." His gaze drifted back to the mirror, looking at the bandages wrapped about his neck and visible hand. A stark, permanent reminder of what had happened. What he had allowed to happen.

"Do you think Shiro's weak?" Hunk asked and the question threw Lance so much he looked back up.

"What?"

"Is Shiro weak?" Hunk repeated.

"No," Lance protested. "Of course not." Shiro was the strongest person he knew. He had been Lance's hero and idol long before they'd been catapulted into space and that respect and admiration had only continued to grow as he saw all the things Shiro did, what he had endured, and they had only made Shiro shine even brighter. Shiro was a hero.

"And what about Shiro's scar?" Hunk asked, tracing a line across the bridge of his own nose.

"That's… that's different."

"How?"

Lance just shook his head. Shiro's scar was different. It was a mark of bravery, of likely the arena. And unlike him Shiro did not try to hide his or cover it up or pretend it wasn't there. It just was. And Lance felt so, so small next to him with his own cowardice.

"Lance, you are not weak. Your scars, they don't make you weak. Remember what Coran said?" Hunk near pleaded for him to understand. "They show strength, Lance. You went through a horrible, horrible experience and you came out of it and you're getting better and these marks? These marks are just a testament to how much you endured. The scar does not define you, just like Shiro's doesn't define him. He's an amazing leader and pilot and brother and none of those things relate to what happened to him with the Galra. Same with you."

"I can't look at it though," Lance whispered. "I can't look at any of th-them." And if that wasn't a sign of how pathetic he was, then what was it?

"And that's okay," Hunk soothed. "It's going to take time, Lance. I know it's… it's a big change." Inspiration stuck and Hunk ran with it. "Remember… remember when Rosie got that horrible perm on a dare?" It had been truly awful; Lance's older sister's normally gentle waves had been transformed into a mess of rat's nest like curls.

"She had trouble looking in the mirror for a while, right?" Hunk continued. Lance gave a slow nod. Mirrors had made Rosie burst into tears as she'd caught sight of her hair again and again until the point where Lance had clumsily made her a large headscarf to cover most of it as their mamá had forbidden Rosie from chopping it all off, telling her she needed to learn her lesson and humility was the best teacher.

Eventually though… eventually Rosie had been able to find the humor in the situation, poking fun at her own destroyed curls and coming out of the experience a little wiser. That was just hair though, which had eventually smoothed out again. It had been the result of a silly dare, not… not the complete inability to protect not only himself but his family

"I know that a bad haircut isn't… it isn't close to what you went through," Hunk said gently, picking up Lance's train of thought, "but just like Rosie you'll slowly start to be able to look and see yourself again and not the marks or the hair. They don't make you you, Lance. And just know that none of us are looking at your scars as anything but a mark of how strong you are, all right? Can you believe me when I say that?"

Lance managed a small nod. He did believe Hunk. He just… didn't know if he could believe in himself yet. But it was a start and he slowly lowered his hand from the bandages.

"Good," Hunk sighed, relieved. "Good. Let's finish up in here and head to breakfast. Do you need to use the bathroom?"

Lance shook his head. He still felt so empty as all he'd really managed at this point was dinner last night. Maybe later. If he drank something. He swallowed thickly at the idea but knew that it was going to have to be addressed at some point soon. The others were being pretty observant to things like that and he flushed at what he must have done to warrant such a stance. He was grateful at least that no one was pressing him for answers yet, but it was only a matter of time before he was going to have to talk about it.

Talk about it. He had promised himself after all. Today. Hunk and Coran. He shivered.

Breakfast first though. He was rather excited by the prospect of it actually and hoped it would help the ache in his stomach even a little bit. Hunk packed away their toothbrushes and Lance risked one more glance in the mirror, relieved when no Haggar hovered over his shoulder. He didn't try to smile but he gave himself a nod, an encouragement. His eyes lingered on the bandages and he let them, picturing what lie beneath but forcing his gaze to remain.

He wasn't strong enough to look at them. But this… he raised his hand again and lightly touched them again, refraining from flinching this time. He could do this. Even if it was just acknowledging it was there. And then maybe, with enough time, he might see what the others insisted they saw under the bandages. Not scars, but badges of bravery and strength.

He would really like that.

The walk to breakfast was uneventful even though Lance was starting to feel slightly light headed by the time they arrived. He hoped some food would help.

Pidge was already there, clicking away at her tablet, but she looked up with a "good morning," that Hunk cheerfully returned and Lance murmured back quietly, sitting in the chair across from her. Pidge beamed at them both.

"Okay, I think I heated these correctly," Shiro said, coming over from the kitchen-area with a tray of steaming 'breakfast muffins.' "Coran said not to hit the high-heat button, but everything is in Altean so I sort of just pressed a few and hoped for the best."

Hunk moaned comically in distress at that and Shiro just chuckled, putting the platter on the table.

"They smell good," Pidge said, plucking one for herself.

"I've got some more gamibolap too," Shiro said nodding his head back at the stove. "Plenty for everyone who wants it."

"Where's Keith?" Hunk asked as he retrieved the fruit mash.

"Here," called the boy in question, coming into the room and smelling of sweat and a towel wrapped about his neck. He was dressed in his training clothes of a black shirt and pants and Lance realized he must have been up and fighting the gladiator already. He glanced at his right hand, lying useless across his lap, and tried to quash the bitter feeling of despair.

Pidge grimaced. "You couldn't shower first?"

"Nope." He took the chair right next to the girl, who scowled and scooted hers over a few inches.

"They do smell good," Hunk said, sliding a bowl of gamibolap in front of Lance and another one in front of his seat. "Unlike Keith."

"Sweat is a good smell," Shiro countered, earning an exasperated, "thank you, Shiro," from Keith. "It means you've been working hard."

"But at the breakfast table?" Pidge countered.

Lance let the conversation about appropriate table etiquette fade to the background and took a tentative bite of his breakfast, savoring the sweet taste on his tongue before he forced himself to swallow. It went down as easily as dinner had last night and bolstered by it he took another bite and then another.

He was just scraping the bottom of the bowl and wondering if Hunk would allow him to have any more when Allura's loud greeting had him near jumping in his seat.

"Paladins!" Allura announced herself and Coran with an unusual early-morning wave of enthusiasm, striding into the kitchen with a sheath of papers in hands.

"Well somebody woke up on the right side of the bed," Pidge smirked as the Alteans neared.

Allura cocked her head at the phrase and Coran twirled his moustache with a, "Is there a wrong side?" He looked to Allura with barely concealed alarm. "Have we been violating some sacred Earth rule?"

"It's just an expression," Shiro assured as a wicked gleam entered Pidge's eyes, who normally along with Lance, enjoyed confusing the Alteans sometimes a little too much. "Just means you likely had a good night of sleep and are ready for the day."

"Oh then yes, I have most definitely awoken on the 'right side of the bed,'" Allura grinned. Her eyes sought out Lance, who felt the gaze and looked up from his breakfast. There was only excitement shining in her jeweled orbs and Lance relaxed the tight grip he had on the spoon. Allura had made it clear last night that she would not do anything until she knew it would work and he had nothing to fear here.

"I believe I have a way to enact the barrier and guarantee Lance's bond remains with both the Blue Lion," Allura said, rushing it all out in one breath as though she could not contain the information any longer.

Gasps sounded about the room but Lance found he could not make a sound, his throat closing off as something he had not felt in a long time thrummed through him. Hope. Because if this worked… if Allura was right…

This would protect them. Haggar couldn't take it and… and… He could still connect with Blue. He wouldn't have to lose her to save them; he wouldn't have to rip that part of his soul even though, if it was for them, he would do anything to ensure they were safe.

"How?" Keith near demanded at the same time Pidge asked, quieter, "One hundred percent sure?" and Lance felt the warmth in his chest grow at the protectiveness of both of them, while Hunk tenderly squeezed his arm.

"A quintessence circle," Allura explained, offering the sheaf of papers up to Pidge, who took them with a muttered thanks and scanned them for herself. "By using the infinite shape of the circle and combining it with all of your quintessences the barrier would allow for like quintessence to be filtered through your team bond, which—"

"Which means Lance could connect with Blue!" Hunk blurted out.

Allura nodded, a smile gracing her lips. "Indeed. And all of yourselves." She looked to Lance, face going serious. "It is not without risk, however. I am under no false pretenses that this will be an enormous amount of quintessence and I do not know if I am capable of harnessing and redirecting such power. If I was able to do so, I have no doubt that this quintessence barrier would be effective in both preventing the siphoning of your quintessence and allowing you to still access your Paladin bond. But I am afraid I doubt my own ability to do so successfully."

Allura never quite looked distraught thanks to her royal upbringing, but her hands were twisted together and there was a furrow to her face. Lance did not like seeing it on her. Not when she was so amazing and wonderful and everything the universe could have hoped for to find in their savior princess. And he would not be the reason why she looked that way.

"I trust you," Lance said, simply and yet not, conveying all he could. He met Allura's gaze, steady. He trusted her with everything he had. Allura was… was amazing. He was certain there was nothing she could not do. This was their best chance. "Allura, I… I trust you," and the worry lines lifted from her face and were instead replaced with a calmer gaze and a half-smile.

"Thank you, Lance," and the way she said his name made the glow burn brighter. She looked about the room, meeting each set of eyes. "I will need all of your assistance in this."

"You have it," Hunk said, squeezing Lance's arm again.

"As long as you can guarantee what you say," Keith said, not as quick to fully believe.

Allura nodded. "Which is why I wish to just try forming the circle right now. I will not be transferring any quintessence or building a barrier or anything of the sort. A… a test run, I believe you call it," she said, looking at Pidge and receiving a nod in return. "I shall do nothing that cannot be reversed. This will just be to see if I am even capable of channeling the mass quintessence that each of you possess."

"Now?" Shiro said, focusing on the first part of the statement. "As in, right now?" He looked around the assembled group; he and Hunk were the only ones dressed in full clothing while Pidge and Lance were in pajamas and casual wear and Keith was in very sweaty training clothes. They seemed rather… lowkey for what sounded like something of great importance.

"I leave it up to Lance," Allura answered. "We can attempt the circle whenever you are ready," she said, turning back to him. "That can be now, later today, in several quintants—"

"Now," Lance interrupted, feeling his cheeks heat a second later at how rude that was to interrupt a princess. But if he put it off then he wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it and it would plague him for the rest of the day. Besides, what Allura was suggesting was not anything permanent. Just a test. Nothing bad.

And if it worked…

"You heard him," Pidge grinned. "No time like the present!"

Allura nodded. "Very well. It would be best if we had a large, open area, and preferably somewhere comfortable. I do not know how long this process may take."

"The lounge again?" Hunk suggested and everyone around the room murmured their agreement.

The trooped there in almost the same formation as last night, except this time Lance made the trip on his own two feet. He still felt a tiny bit dizzy, but breakfast had helped and he was actually glad he hadn't had time to ask Hunk for a second serving as his stomach was doing little flops.

He didn't just want this to work. He needed it to. Because if it did not then they were back to square one with Haggar coming for him and no way to stop her. He had the sudden image of the team trying to booby trap the castle but he had no doubts it wouldn't end up in their favor like in Home Alone. But Haggar was no bungling thief. She would blast through anything without breaking a sweat. She'd hurt them to get to him and—

"Lance," Hunk whispered, "breathe," and Lance became aware that he had stopped walking in the middle of the hall and drawing concerned glances his way.

He choked out stale air and greedily inhaled fresh, clarity returning.

"We can do this at a later time," Allura said gently.

"No," Lance weakly protested. "No… I'm fine. I'm ready."

She inclined her head. "Very well."

Lance focused the rest of the short trip on watching his feet, left hand out for slight balance and right tucked inside the hoodie pocket with Flafie and taking comfort in the soft material brushing over his fingertips.

When they reached the lounge Allura instructed him to sit down in the middle of the floor in whatever position he would find most comfortable and Lance settled in cross legged, tucking both hands now into his hoodie pocket. He hated that even here, surrounded by his family, he felt exposed like that with nothing at his back except looming space.

"Pidge, you sit here," Allura said, instructing the girl to a spot by Lance's right knee. "Face towards Lance, please. Keith, here," and she guided him next to Pidge but towards Lance's back so they made corners.

She had Hunk sit opposite Pidge and Shiro against Keith so they formed a box-like circle. Coran placed himself between Shiro and Keith and she took up a spot between Hunk and Pidge. Lance felt some of the tension leave at Coran's steady presence at his back.

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "This is how the process shall work. Keith and Pidge and then Hunk and Shiro, take each other's hands." Pidge didn't even comment on having to touch the sweaty Keith and instead took his hand with an almost bruising grip. Shiro felt his own hand buckle under the force of Hunk's and he tried to squeeze back reassuringly.

"Shiro and Keith, you will place your other hand on Coran's shoulders and Pidge and Hunk you shall do the same for me once I have joined. That will form the circle."

Her jeweled eyes met Lance's then and he forced himself to hold it. "Once I have established a quintessence connection with the other Paladins I shall place my hands on your shoulders," she said, "and Coran will place his as well from the back. Will this be all right?"

"Sí," he whispered. Hands weren't so bad now when he was expecting them and he was so relieved that Haggar's poisonous touch was beginning to fade away.

"All I shall do during this exercise is attempt to channel each quintessence through me," Allura said, meeting Hunk and Pidge's eyes and then back to Lance. "That is all. To do that, I will require everyone to focus solely on their own self. A mediation, if you will. Should anyone feel any pain, please, drop your hands immediately. Does everyone understand?"

"Yes, Princess," Shiro said, voice in leader mode. "Loud and clear."

"Lance, are you ready?" she asked and he murmured another "Sí," trembling slightly but resolute in his termination to try, reminding her once again of his own strength and trust and she resolved to return it.

She took another deep breath and settled herself to mimic the cross-legged pose everyone else had adapted. "Then let us begin."

Allura closed her eyes as she felt the humans' hands descend on her shoulders. Like the Lions she could always vaguely feel the powerful quintessence that surrounded each Paladin. But she did not just want to be aware of them now; she wanted to merge with them.

She steadied her breathing and felt the others do the same. She cast her mind out, seeking first Hunk on her left. His quintessence came to her then, a pale yellow that spoke of sun-warmed rocks and a pleasant spring day. She caressed it with her own opalescent pink and felt it latch onto the yellow. One down.

She pushed through Hunk towards Shiro, tracing the path along their conjoined hands until she encountered a soft black, pulsing like the night sky and studded with starlight. Her breath caught as she lightly brushed against it, feeling the strength and vastness to it.

She secured it as well and carried it through Coran, who was acting as her anchor. His quintessence was a warm orange, not as bright as the Paladins but steady and secure. She let it ground her and then moved to Keith.

His quintessence near burned her and she sent a pulse of Hunk's sunshine to dampen the simmering fire. More cautious she reached out again, this time letting the red wrap about her like flames. Keith's burned with passion and a fierceness, as wild and dangerous as fire but yet comforting. With Hunk's balance the heat calmed to warm embers and Allura continued on.

Pidge's quintessence, a forest green, pulsed with energy and twined about her own like creeping vines, seeking to explore and grow. It was bright and inquisitive and so, so Pidge.

Allura brought it all back to herself, feeling the thrum inside of her veins and her blood racing. She felt powerful. She felt scared. She forced herself to take another breath to steady all of the branches of quintessence flowing through her.

She lifted her head then to look straight at Lance, who had his eyes pointed down. She could see his quintessence now, an almost glow encompassing him. It was a bright blue, flowing about him like water and speaking of protection and love. It made her feel calm and safe and she could almost hear laughter as the waves trickled over her. However…

There were dark patches marring it, like someone had taken a knife and tried to hack away at it. Unlike Shiro's quintessence though this black felt cold. Cruel. It had been damaged, ripped literally into pieces and leaving gaping holes behind.

Not for long though, Allura resolved. They would fix it. They would pour all of their own into it to fill up gaps, to make Lance whole once more. But not now. Now was just seeing if this was even possible, if she was capable of even trying to direct this power into the runes and spells to create the barrier.

It was the moment of truth now. "Coran," she heard herself murmur. She could not see him but she felt him move, felt the flare as Lance's quintessence was added to the circle through Coran's touch.

It… it was strong. Almost too strong. She raised her own shaking hands up, hovering them in the air. Should she do this? Could she control it? Lance looked up then and his eyes met hers. Trust shone through them, nearly glowing in the light of the quintessence that she physically saw now.

Yes, she decided. She could do this. She would do this. The Paladins had loaned her their strength and trust and she would not fail them.

She held Lance's gaze as her hands extended. And before she could let doubt creep in again she placed them on his shoulders, fingers overlapping Coran's.

It was like a punch to the gut. Allura gasped as all about her the colors flared so hard her vision went white. It was bright. Too bright. Too much.

This had been a mistake.

Hunk's gentle sunshine morphed into a scorching rock, a crushing pressure on her lungs and she tried to claw her way free. Shiro's starlight was a sucking black hole and her scream was lost to the void. Keith's flames were a raging inferno, blistering and burning while Pidge's curious tendrils turned harsher, choking and spreading.

And Lance. Allura gasped. His quintessence was threatening to drown them all, a crashing tidal wave bearing down and battering them about.

It hurt. Oh Alaaran, it hurt.

Over the sound of the ocean's fury and the snapping of flames Allura heard a scream. She forced her eyes open against the blinding whiteness, realizing with a chilling second later it was coming from her.

Herself and Lance.

His head was tipped backwards, tears streaming down his cheeks, matching the ones Allura felt on her own face.

She was hurting him. Oh Alaaran, she was hurting him.

"Allura!" Hunk's pained gasp sounded. "S-stop!"

"Allura," moaned Pidge, her nails digging into Allura's shoulder. "I c-can't move."

Lance screamed louder, the blue of his quintessence being swallowed in a mixture of black and white, but like the others he seemed frozen in place.

"I… I cannot," Allura said with horror as her attempts to remove her hands – her hands burning and bruising and drowning Lance – yielded no results. "I—"

Her words were cut off with a scream, mingling with Lance's in the sparking air.

There were more cries then. Her name. Lance's. More shrieks. The light grew brighter in its darkness and Allura screamed out in pain and fear as it closed in around them.

And with one final, agonizing pulse the light exploded and everything went dark.

xxx

Author's Notes:

So, you can see why this chapter ended up on its own, huh? Let's ignore that huge elephant at the bottom of the chapter and instead focus on that beautiful mirror talk between Hunk and Lance. Isn't Hunk just so precious? Dios, I cannot get enough of him. And then breakfast. Yay breakfast! Haha, okay, okay, let at me now. What have I done? You'll have to wait and see~! But I had so much fun assigning feelings and imagery to the quintessence and then watching them all explode. Quintessence is powerful, scary stuff and Allura has never had the training to fully control it. I hope you all are enjoying all of my headcanons with quintessence as much as I am writing it. And also, color. I love color. I named this fic so well xD #patsselfontheback

Thank you to the beautiful reviewers who took the time to leave a comment! All of my love to: hobbes101, Shadow Gray Skiewrites 2.0, Guest, Subtle Shenanigans, Wolf of the Demise, StrawberryFever3, Jennyfish26, WhiteTails, yazbk2988, wingedflower, LishaChan, imagine forevermore, Justanangryfangirl, Eeveecat1248, TheTheoryofFangirling, Adrianna Agray, migrane, JustADamFrenchFry, ASleepDeprivedPineapple, Elikapeka, bigtimedreamer101, PaintedWings45, This-Lil'-Fan-Girl, Oliviadbell, cindymack3, Lasagna, Pfeh, Jack Overland Frosti, Guest, Guest and momoluvr11!

And guys, I know I sound a bit like a broken record on this but I'm going to put it out there one more time. Writing is hard work. It's not just an idea meets paper and publish. It's thinking and editing and backtracking and writing and re-writing and re-writing again and then finishing and going back to edit. It takes a lot of effort and all authors on this site do it of their own time and merit. There's no monetary compensation or book deals or dream jobs openings from writing fanfiction (although, hey, Dreamworks, just call me and I'll be there). And I know that I write as much for myself as for all of you and hearing your comments is the highlight of my day and is what keeps me writing. I'll admit, I get frustrated and sad when I see so many people disappearing from the comment section despite the fact the hits and alerts and all those other numbers are still there and rising. So I ask all of you, please, for any fic you are reading and enjoying please leave the author a comment. We're not looking for novels (although hey, if you want to please be my guest and I will love you forever!). We appreciate an "I love it!" or "update soon!" too, but I think what most of us just want is a line or two about what you specifically enjoyed; it's those little details that make up the fic after all and it's what gives us those warm fuzzies to read. Pull out a line of dialogue that struck you, talk about a scene that happened. Mention your favorite character and what they did this week/chapter and why you loved it so. Just please, remember that authors are people too and a little appreciation and a thank you goes a long, long way to keeping them happy and creative. PSA over and thank you all for reading (if you made it through this wall of text, holy...)

Last (but certainly not least!) couple things to this note: I have more fanart! Gosh! There's a beautiful piece by asterinn and then I pulled out the old tablet and drew out the mirror scene because I had the urge to do so. Again, all art can be found at the bottom of my profile.

And last bit; I have a Tumblr! Thank you to those who messaged me thinking someone was copying me. Y'all are so sweet and I love you. I'll primarily be using it to post chapter updates, little snippets, new projects, writing things as well as occasionally figuring out reblogging. I'm over there at icypantherwrites (someone else took icypanther, the nerve!) if you'd like to follow.

Thanks everyone so much for the support (and reading these notes, sorry they get so long!) Please do drop a comment below if you enjoyed the chapter! Muchas gracias!