Chapter 76. εуλ0010 (continued)

Day by day, their love was growing. It was time for them to truly start their life together. Every kiss meant everything; every touch had the sensation of living on borrowed time.

They weren't doing things the normal way. In a sense, they were dating in reverse order, now that they finally had some time to spend together, really get to know each other. The frivolous conversations she'd tried to instigate returned – only this time, they both knew the reason for them. Chatting with him about simple things, their bond of friendship grew; the partnership marking the love that deepened every day.

"Do you really want to know all the dumb things about my day?" he asked one night, after they'd retired to bed and he'd pulled the covers over them both, the way he always did.

"Yes," she told him. "That's exactly what I want to hear about." She softened. "It makes me feel closer to you."

Cloud pondered. "Do you want to hear a really boring story about a Kalm Fang with two tails?"

"All of it," she assured him, snuggling closer. "And if it's especially boring – " here she snuggled tight against him – "I might want to…"

She left it hanging, but Cloud took the hint.

Other times, they kept each other company without saying a word. He'd watch Tifa cooking, with mythril tools he'd found, a present she'd been exuberant over. Listening to the traffic outside as Edge grew, grid after grid. She loved to thank him by making specialties from Nibelheim, dishes they both remembered, some his own mother used to make.

She wondered what Claudia would think of the two of them now. Or her own father; or even her mother, the memories of her thin, not nearly enough to fill Tifa's heart. Would Brian Lockhart approve in the end? Of her, of Cloud? Of the children?

They'd never know.

They'd been together for Cid and Shera's wedding, held on the airship; Cid had deputized his pilot to perform the ceremony. Afterwards, drunk and happy, he'd had an announcement to make. "You know, after Geostigma, I really wondered if I'd have enough time with this little lady," he said, and tears actually filled his eyes; Shera just sat beside him, softly glowing, a picture now of health. "So we decided not to waste any more time. And… well… we're expecting a little one. Sometime next spring."

Spring. A time for new beginnings.

Summer passed, and went into fall. The Deepground crisis was weathered; Vincent had returned, a new spark to him, the same light she'd seen in Cloud after Sephiroth's final defeat. Vincent, did you find your forgiveness? They'd had a brief houseguest in Shelke, giving her a chance to adjust to the world; but it was less than a month that she moved to the new WRO headquarters. Though the old had been destroyed, the new one was rising quickly; Tifa had her suspicions about the money behind it, but if Rufus wanted to contribute… And now they were back to just the four of them, everyone in this household happy and healthy once again.

But some things still bothered her. Despite it all, she felt like she didn't actually know Cloud that well. She knew the core of his heart, but what about the little details? Likes, dislikes? She wanted to know more. Wanted to know every side to the man she loved.

"Know more?" Cloud looked at her blankly.

"Well, you know, I want you to know about me, too," she told him. "Good and bad."

"That's easy," he replied. "You're perfect." He smiled, that slender smile that was just so… Cloud. "But in that case, I'm looking forward to getting to know you better." He paused. "Spending my lifetime getting to know you."

It was a wonderful sentiment, and she rewarded him with a nip on his earring; the little bite she knew made him glad he had it.

Touch became their communication. So many things he could say with a brush of his fingers on her face, a hand on her waist. Was he tired? Cheerful? Excited?

She knew he opened up best in their amorous moments. His kindness and patience in bed told her more than anything else, who he really was. Sometimes when he struggled, she found the best thing to do was to go to bed with him and let him find his own ways to express himself; to relax into his embrace, allow him to make her cry out as only he could. Knowing the pleasure he'd derived as he watched he go limp and spineless, only for him. Only for him.

Sex just felt so natural and, well, normal with him; it was something they did more days than not, as easily a part of routine as his kiss hello when he came home. She loved their bodies entangled together, naked; feeling him tenderly inside of her, the two of them free to just enjoy each other in the moment. Their lovemaking was placid; friendly; they could just relax, smile and laugh together, knowing it meant love.

She loved the hard, solid security of his body, heart radiating from his skin straight onto hers. Bare arms enclosing her breasts softly squishing against his chest, sensitive nipples – both his and hers – grazed against each other. Limbs intertwined, her legs intermingling with his – she tickled his feet, slid her toes down his calf; threw her leg over his hips to grind her entire body against him - a dangerous move guaranteed to have him insisting on more.

"I want your pussy," he growled, voice strained and husky, the filthy words heating her blood – made her want him to be harsh and unforgiving, to leave her gasping and spent. He urged her to use words too, something new to her – but like most things in bed, she lost her inhibitions quickly.

"I love it when you fuck me hard," she whispered, sidling closer to him. "I like it when you leave me sore," she murmured hungrily, "so the next day, with every step, I'm thinking of you inside me, filling me – "

He stopped her with devouring kisses, giving her exactly what she'd asked for, her body ready and willing to take him as he fucked them both to a quick, intense climax.

She let him fall asleep first, wanting to take her turn to observe him quietly in sleep. Admire his beautiful face; brush back one soft spiky lock. She'd never expected as a girl how much he would come to mean to her, how easy it would be. If only she could have let that girl know what it would be like now.

Her body had never made her feel ashamed. She'd developed true pride in it, what she could do with it; its strength, its motion. But she'd often found herself self-conscious – first when her body had surprised her by developing far beyond her expectations, giving her a shape unfamiliar, even uncomfortable at first; then as she began to receive attention from the leering eyes of men, blind to her as nothing but an object of desire, oblivious to the way their stares wanted to diminish her.

Cloud… it was just so different. She wanted him to look at her that way, often surprising him with her nudity even when he wasn't expecting it. His gaze was most commonly… Appreciative. Respectful, even, if that word could be applied while he reached instinctively to pump his cock. She liked to heat up his gaze, hands on her body, jutting out her chest or swiveling her hips to direct his attention to exactly where she wanted it. His eyes brightened, not darkened; even as his pupils dilated with desire, the mako glow blazed, a sure indicator of his passion; and she found pleasure in the fact that her body could leave him so changed, so happy.

He loved to touch her everywhere, loved her kissing him, reaching for his cock. But he still tensed a little uncomfortably as her caresses traveled over the rest of him.

As first, she assumed it was sheer unfamiliarity with touch – years of being a loner, then more years lost to… She hated to even think that sicko's name. But as time went on, and he became less reserved but not completely uninhibited, she finally decided to ask him.

He didn't answer at first, considering; she suspected he hadn't even realized it himself. "I guess I'm surprised you want to touch me so much," he finally admitted.

From then on, Tifa made a special point to explore the rest of him. Sometimes she'd add a little extra touch on parts he wasn't expecting. Other times, she'd order him to lie back and let her take charge, traversing his body with fingers and lips, traversing his body as reverently and completely as he did hers.

She'd begin with soft, unnerving touches, enough to get his attention as she worked her way up to the harder touches he favored, using her unfettered strength to knead his muscles roughly; supplementing with nibbles and bites until he groaned in frustration. He'd try to grab for her, but she'd shove him back down, holding him firm while SHE decided how she would grant him completion.

And afterward, her tame wolf whispering soft words of love as he brushed her lips with hers. And after, he took her tenderly into his embrace, soft kisses letting her know he would always be there.

"You make me feel so protected," she murmured as he wrapped her tight.

"Always," he whispered back, and his soul was in the word.

Closing time. The guests had gone home; the cleaning was done. She was ready to go to bed.

Cloud hadn't said much, nor had Denzel, after they'd arrived back from – well, neither of them would tell her. But after seeing the subtle change in the way the two acted around each other, she decided it didn't much matter.

The important thing was, whatever it had taken, they were acting more like father and son.

She'd switched off all the lights, preparing to head up, but a faint glimmer caught her eye. Disoriented at first, thinking she'd forgotten a lamp, she finally realized it was coming from the garage she'd seen Cloud enter hours before.

She headed towards its direction, slowly opening the door, shutting it behind her with a quiet click. Cloud didn't look up; he didn't need to. They both already knew that he'd heard her come in.

What was more surprising was what he was doing; polishing, slow and loving, a very familiar sword. A sword she'd last seen two years before, left outside on the cliffs of Midgar, his signal that he was prepared to begin a new life.

She watched for a long time, silent, as he softly buffed the dirt from the blade, bits of rust falling to the cement floor below. "So that's where you went today," she final said, barely a whisper.

He didn't look up, but paused a moment to stroke one gloved hand over the blade. He'd removed his outerwear; his bare arms seemed strangely vulnerable, clad in nothing but the soft sweater. "We did," he told her. "It was time."

Cloud didn't want to tell her HOW he'd found the sword, worn down by the weather, knocked scornfully into the dust by the Remnants. He didn't need to. She'd seen him travel the world with this sword their companion; she knew fully well how much it meant to him.

"What will you do with it now?" she asked.

Cloud lifted it to inspect his work. Getting there, but her couldn't bring himself to go to bed, couldn't end this day until it was perfect. "It needs to go home," he said gently. "They belong together."

No need to explain who they were.

"The church." It wasn't a question.

"The church."

Tifa wondered. Should she ask to go with him? Or was this for Cloud alone? She wasn't sure. She'd be there for him if he needed her… but did he? She'd had to learn to slowly let go. Knowing that sometimes there'd be things he'd have to do without her; and all she could do was wait, patient and strong, there for him when he was ready to come back to her. Now that she was sure he would. As much as she wished she could shield him, take away all the pain, there were times she'd just need to learn to let him suffer and grow.

Let him learn to be a man.

"Whatcha guys doing?" Marlene's voice asked from the doorway.

They both looked up; she stood in the doorway to the garage, wearing her nightgown and hugging her favorite stuffed tonberry, but still quite obviously awake.

"We're… juts talking," Cloud told her.

Marlene shuffled in, curious. "So, what are you doing with the sword?" she asked. "Denzel was super mysterious about what you were doing today. Said it was a guy thing."

"I guess it kind of was," Cloud told her. "But now, I want to take it to the church. Back home."

"Can I go with you?" she asked, her little head swiveling from Cloud to Tifa.

Cloud looked to Tifa for agreement. "I guess," Tifa said. "If you want to.""

Marlene walked up to Cloud, staring for a long moment at the item in his lap. "I want to," she finally said. "Cloud, is it okay if we go tomorrow? Just the two of us?" She looked over, pleading. "You don't mind, do you, Tifa?"

"Of course not," Tifa hastily assured her. Though the request surprised her. Marlene's relationship with Cloud had always been a little more tenuous than Denzel's… but if this would let them grow closer, she was all for it. But how did Cloud feel about it?

She needn't have worried. "I was planning to go tomorrow," he told Marlene. "Is that okay with you?" She nodded seriously. "But okay, if we're going to do this, then you need to go to bed. So we can get an early start."

Marlene nodded agreement, but her excitement was barely contained. Throwing her arms around Tifa and giving her a kiss, she eagerly scampered back up to bed, already dreaming of the day ahead.

Truthfully, Cloud didn't now how he felt about this return to the church. After all that had happened. After he'd spent those weeks huddled in its embrace, mournfully waiting for an inevitable death. After he'd awoken from a different death, one that never happened, to the faces of his friends, to the smile of his new-healed son.

The pool was still there, wide and clear. He'd delivered this water across the world, but until now, he hadn't come back to see it. Others had collected the precious vials he carried far and wide.

A scattering of flowers trimmed its edges, content in their sparseness. It pleased him to see it; it meant they hadn't all been drowned, that Aerith's garden would still return.

He heard Marlene behind him, fluttering through the flowers like a butterfly; he scrunched his brow, focusing on his own task. Broken beams, remnants of his fight with Kadaj, criss-crossed the pool's edges like bridges; selecting one, he skirted the border of the pool until he reached his goal. Balancing the point on the aged wood, he gave it a gentle push; it accepted it easily, much less the force than he'd used in the parched earth of the Midgar Wastes.

As if it wanted to be here.

He stepped back, reverent, watching the midday sun glinting off the blade; the rays seemed to strike just right. Giving Zack the hero's welcome home he deserved, the one he'd never gotten in life; greeted instead by a hail of bullets from the company he'd once been a part of, once admired. It wasn't enough… but at least it was something.

Aerith… Zack… the best way I have to bring you together again.

He hadn't even noticed Marlene coming up beside him; she clutched her satchel tightly, now stuffed full of whatever she'd been gathering. She reached up her hand to his, turning her little face up to his. He gazed back, this girl put into his care – as much as Denzel, he now realized. He needed to learn to be there for her as much as for the boy she now called brother.

"The sword feels right here," she said.

"It does," Cloud couldn't help but agree. Wondering how literally to take that statement; Zack, can you see us here? Marlene reached out to the hilt; he wondered what she was thinking. What did this sword mean to her?

"Do you want to stay a while?" she asked.

Cloud thought. Did he need to? Not really – now that he knew he could visit anytime. I'll be back, he said silently. But I know now you won't be alone either.

To Marlene, he only said, "Let's go back home."

Days later, Cloud had been working in his office when he heard shuffling out on the roof. Tifa had gone out for a while; it couldn't be her, and why would she be up there anyway? Perturbed, he gladly pushed away his latest batch of paperwork and followed the sound, out to the open patch of roof he hadn't stepped onto since the opening of the bar.

To his surprise, it was Marlene up there banging around… even more so, that she was surrounded by dirt and containers. Odds and ends, some of which he recognized as broken dishware from their kitchen; others, crates and boxes that their supplies had been delivered in. She was wearing an uncharacteristic T-shirt and pants, dark blue and brown, the reason for which was obvious when he noticed how smudged and stained her clothes had gotten. Her only color today was the pink ribbon she insisted on braiding into her hair every day, sometimes with Tifa's help but now mostly able to do it on her own.

She's getting older, Cloud thought, with a bit of a pang – a splash of how Barret must feel. She won't be a kid forever.

"Cloud!" she looked up, delighted. "Look what I'm doing!"

"I can see," he replied dryly. "Does Tifa know what you're up to?"

"Of course," Marlene told him. "Who do you think helped me bring up all these pots?"

"I would have helped you," Cloud replied, a bit wounded.

Marlene sensed his hurt. "Well, you were out earlier today," she soothed. "But I kinda wanted it to be a surprise anyway. Look!"

She motioned, and he knelt down beside her, taking a closer look at what he hadn't really taken in when he'd first entered. Flowers. Aerith's flowers. So that's why she wanted to go to the church.

Marlene took his hand, motioning him towards the blossoms; it must have been a trick of the eye, but they seemed to want to reach for him. "The ground is still too sick for them to really grow," she told him. "But I brought a little bit of soil from the church and mixed it in. Some of the water, too. I think it will be enough. Especially if you help me with them."

"Me?" he asked. "How would I help?"

Marlene looked at him with that strange grown-up knowing she sometimes had. "They want to tell you something, Cloud," she said, subdued. "Don't you feel it?"

An eerie echo of what Aerith had once told him. Not really, was what he first wanted to say. But then he touched a petal, and it was like an electric jolt of… something through him. Enough that he figured Marlene might be on the right track after all.

Marlene watched Cloud closely as he stared intently at the blooms. Were they reaching him yet? He had to try, too. She knew what her job was – she'd seen it in the glowing white ball the flower lady – Aerith – had let her hold. The White Materia, Marlene had eventually realized. No wonder it was so important.

Hadn't it helped Cloud and their friends save the world?

She was getting used to thinking of the flower lady as Aerith, now. There was the one more thing that she didn't totally understand yet… it was like, she got these weird things that she sort of understood at first, but then she'd learned she had to be patient. Eventually it would be more clear, but she couldn't rush it. All she could do was keep doing the stuff she was supposed to do.

Follow the yellow flowers…

That part, she totally got. No doubt.

Flowers need to reach for the sky. So does Cloud.

"Try to be friends with them," she helpfully suggested. Cloud looked at her with one of his weird looks, like he kind of wanted to make it a joke but kind of was taking it seriously anyways.

"But there's something else I want to show you. Look at these other ones!" She turned, lifting a chipped soup tureen full of dirt.

Cloud tried. He really did. "It's dirt," he finally gave up.

Marlene pouted. "It's tomatoes," she told him. "They just haven't grown up yet."

Tomatoes. At least he knew what those were. "And gyshal greens," she pointed, "and cucumbers, and fennel…"

"What's fennel?" Cloud asked, bewildered.

Marlene looked at him withering. "It's a spice," she chided. "Tifa mixes it with sausages. You like it."

"Oh," was all Cloud would say. The magic of Tifa's cooking was still a mystery to him.

"I'm helping grow vegetables for Tifa!" Marlene prattled on. She'll be so excited, Cloud thought, beaming inside at Marlene's consideration. "She's really looking forward to using these to cook, Denzel too…"

"Why Denzel?" asked Cloud.

"Tifa's been teaching him to cook. He's much better than me," she replied, shrugging. "I burn things. And she won't let me use sharp knives yet. I guess I'll stick to drawing meanwhile," she finished lamely.

Denzel… cooking. Cloud had no idea. How much else did he not know about his little family? Well, now was as good a time as any to try. "Tell me more," he said, listening to Marlene as she proudly pointed out her handiwork.

"And this is… and that is… and that big one over there…"

Cloud spared a glance from her explanations to look out over the city below. He remembered the last time he was up here, making love to Tifa under the stars. Maybe there was a little something special about this place after all – like a little part of the church brought home.

"I'll help. I promise," he spontaneously agreed. For Aerith's sake, I will.

Denzel breathed easier once Mina told him she'd found a place to live. He'd been so worried before then. After the Remnants, things had still been in a bit of chaos; Mina had been bouncing from household, even staying with them from time to time (insisting on not intruding for more than her fair share of time), but it was a while before enough people got over their fear of Geostigma and started taking in children again.

Mina hadn't wanted to live with a family. "I'll just remember how my brother should have been my family," she told Denzel.

"I never had a brother or sister," Denzel admitted. But he kind of had one in Marlene, now. Maybe that changed things, made it easier for him to feel like this was home. Maybe it was the opposite for Mina.

She'd chose instead to enter a girl's home; the ebullient way she described it made Denzel happy she'd found it. "It's only six girls, two to a room," she told him. "A little crowded, but it's okay. It's not far from the Leaf House, but it's meant for older girls…"

"But you're not that old," Denzel protested. Older girls. What if she decided she was too old to play with him? She'd just turned eleven, and Denzel was still a couple months away from ten, so…

Mina blushed. "Well, not super older," she said. "But, you know, when we get a little older, we'll have to start worrying about girl stuff…"

Girl stuff. Denzel had already heard there was girl stuff, and also boy stuff; he'd heard Cloud and Tifa whispering about when it was time to tell Marlene and him about it. Well, Cloud had been a little boy once, too, right? And Tifa a little girl. But didn't they just grow taller and that was it? What was there to know about it?

Except that you did that kissy stuff. So gross. He was never going to do that.

She had a curfew – "eight, but nine o'clock when I turn twelve – " and she came to visit often. Reassuring him she still wanted to be his friend.

He learned a lot about her in those first few months. She was from the slums, Sector Eight – "not the fancy part above, but it was okay," she clarified – and Denzel thought she wouldn't like that he was from the plate – but that was before he started opening up to her about his time living with the other kids. "Oh, no," Denzel," she said tears welling in her eyes. "I had no idea. To be by yourself that long…"

"It wasn't that bad." He tried to shrug it off, but she saw right through it. "I mean, there were other kids and stuff."

"But… but…" Mina was left without an answer, throwing her arms around him in a spontaneous hug instead.

She hadn't been out on the streets herself, not truly. Just days, in fact. Her family had been struggling, like so many others; food, shelter was tight, and the disease hit them all at once. Her parents died, and the ramshackle lean-to they'd been squatting in had been destroyed by a storm. "Leaving me and Shun trying to make it on our own," she told him. "He was the reason I kept going. If I hadn't met you before I lost him…" She swallowed. "I might have just given up. And you know what they say – everyone who gives up, dies."

A thought struck Denzel. Maybe Cloud never gave up completely. It made him feel better. He'd still been a little scared that Cloud might leave again… but it sounded like Cloud hadn't really left after all. Besides, hadn't Marlene said he left to find a cure?

Could it be that Denzel hadn't been the last straw – that he'd been part of what brought Cloud back home? After the trip to get the sword – Zack's sword, he reminded himself, determined to remember the name of the man who had been Cloud's hero after all – he kinda understood Cloud. It made him feel better.

"But we did meet," he reassured her. "And we got cured, and we got homes, and they're really cool – " he motioned – "like, Seventh Heaven! How many homes have a name?" He laughed. "Unless it's Chocobo Ranch. That could be it here too. Don't tell Cloud."

Mina smiled at that. "They're thinking of calling mine the Flower House," she said. "You know, to go with the Leaf House."

"I think that's a great idea," he told her. "Hey, I gotta take you to show Marlene's garden on the roof! Marlene keeps insisting me and Cloud talk to the flowers. Maybe you can too," he suggested.

"I think I maybe could, a little bit," she told him. "I feel like I can at my house. Two more of the girls say the same. They're the other ones who had Geostigma."

Denzel pondered. "Huh," he finally said. "I wonder why that would be."

They opened up to each other about their families. Mina had a hard time talking about her brother – "It's still really new," she told him – but bits and pieces trickled out. He liked toy cars and trucks – "probably would have loved Cloud's bike" – and of course, moogles. Mina didn't carry the stuffed moogle around, but she slept with it at night – and no one made fun of her once they learned why. "One girl only has a T-shirt her sister used to wear, and another has her mom's necklace. One has nothing at all, and she sucks her thumb even though she's thirteen." She paused. "No one has a photo."

Denzel couldn't say anything to that.

He talked about his family, too. How great it was to have Marlene as a sister. He wasn't very good at making friends, but Marlene made friends with everyone, and that helped him meet kids too. She had a particular affinity for those kids who used to have Geostigma; one of her close friends had become a boy named Vits. "He's an orphan, just like us," he told Mina, "but not from Geostigma. I forget what. I guess Cloud knows his new parents from before or something." He shrugged, "Vits one day started saying something about Cloud wearing a dress, and Cloud turned bright red, and Tifa shushed him so fast, and I never did hear the rest."

Mina laughed out loud at that one. He decided he would try to make her laugh like that more often.

Tifa welcomed Mina into the household as warmly as she had Denzel, but still… "I'm a little scared of Tifa," he finally admitted.

"Why?" Mina asked. "She's, like, the nicest person ever."

"I don't know if I should say," Denzel began, "but…" Suddenly he couldn't stop it, and it all came rushing out, the Sector Seven Plate and Shinra did it but Tifa was a part of AVALANCHE and Miss Ruvie and Meteorfall and being scared and lonely and he thought he was going to die and no, of course, he couldn't be crying, heroes don't cry but he was, sobbing into Mina's shoulder like a little baby and she didn't seem to care like not even at all…

When he was mostly done, she looked into his eyes. At least he'd grown some so he wasn't that much shorter than her. That would really make me feel like a kid right now. "It's okay to cry," she said.

"It's embarrassing," he sniveled, realizing he'd left a trail of snot on her shirt. She hadn't even bothered to wipe it away.

"It's just me," she said softly. "Just me."

Flushed and sweating, they finally separated. It had been close to four; was it past five by now? The sun couldn't be far behind, but Tifa didn't care.

He came home early. Just to be with me.

She snuggled closer, relishing in the feeling not just of satisfaction, but of once again renewing their intimate bond. "The ocean," she prompted. "Tell me more about it."

Cloud paused. "There was a dolphin," he finally said.

"A dolphin?!" she squealed. She'd seen exactly one in her life… and she wasn't sure if that even counted, when she'd barely seen it leap into the air to take Cloud to the top of the Shinra tower. To this day, she'd had no idea if that thing had even been natural.

"Actually… like two or three," Cloud corrected himself. "They were…"

"Were what?" Tifa prodded, excited.

"Jumping," he said.

"Wow!" she exclaimed.

"Just jumping?" he asked. "That's exciting?"

"Of course it is." She reached to smooth sweaty spikes back from her beloved's face. "Don't you know by now… it's sometimes the smallest things that mean the most?"

He did. He gave his answer with the lightest of kisses. She was right, of course – craving the euphoria of being a hero, he'd started to learn about the simple pleasures one finds every day. How to care for Tifa in the little ways he was starting to realize she needed.

He'd worried about this family coming back together; that it would take months, years, of angst and mistrust and drama. But in the end… it had been far easier than he expected. They weren't starting over, not truly; just continuing after some bumps in the road. Carrying on. Surviving. And it wouldn't be smooth going forward either, but they'd deal with that when they got to it. Together.

So much of his life had been lost to Hojo. To Sephiroth. To Jenova. He wasn't wasting any more.

Yet in another sense, they were truly starting their lives together, a second chance more important to him that ever now that he really understood what he had to lose.

She smiled sweetly as she drifted to sleep once again in his arms, for the hour or so before the day called them to duty once again; he chose to stay awake a bit longer, looking out at the stars.

Surely the stars are images of love.

Stars, to them, meant the growing of love; but they'd been in space, gone beyond. Gone over the mountain, and found their way home – and home was each other.

It was time to go beyond.

Hi guys! Haven't been doing a lot of these "chatty" author's notes, but enough people have written me enough nice things that I'm thinking maybe I should.

Went on vacation for a little bit. Brought my computer and notes. Had every intention of writing Cloti by the pool in Vegas, but drank margaritas instead. Oh well. (I wrote a little on the plane.)

Anyways, the second postcanon year (0011) comes next. This year split into two; I think I have enough stuff to make a trio of chapters out of the next one. We'll see.

So yes, the story is continuing on!