30 / 7 /16 ~ In which Eleanor dreams of a city beneath the waves.

Disclaimer: "The Lord of the Rings" is the property of J. R. R. Tolkien. I only claim ownership over Eleanor Dace, Rávamë (aka "Tink"), and the subsequent plot of their story.

A/N: Well it's been another long wait, but the update is finally here at last. Despite what it might seem, I haven't forgotten or abandoned this fic, or any of you! It's been a long couple of months, but the difficult period finally looks like it's coming to an end. :)

I'll fill you in on that jazz at the end of the chapter, in the mean time, as always, buckets of thanks and gratitude to: Zoey Rain, Imamc, secondbreakfasts, WickedGreene13, thesonicsmiley, tyrantOFathens, MintBonBon, jada951, Hana-Lizzie-Chan, CassBerry, LittleApollyon, luna153, Draggu, Lucinda Silver, Japkot, 7doom, K.Y.1234, Candyslayergirl, LittleLionfish, Yui's Sweet Dream, AranelReallan, Cat, Shieldprotector, RLMW, Cass, NeoMulder, Arasa17, N7SpaceHamster, Trench gun, ColourfulBreese, Addicted-to-GazettE, autumn-serenade, rockyroad69, Justafan, PlasticFantasic, marauderfranky, rose, Shieldprotector, eisbehr, Iriexiris, xcislyfe22, Nevermore186, youngbones7, Hikari no Minerva, egaip nepmark, SesshomaruLoverxLegolas, estrela jem, nevergreen, shephine, aqua-empress, ConstantlyMunchinOnApples, ChilliLemons, H2Ogirl, Mai, Night Hawk 97, and guests…

I will never get tired of reading your thoughts and theories, you all have amazing minds and I love them. :D

Hope you enjoy!

Part I : Chapter 5

- Glass Seas & Sunken Cities -

"When it's all said and done, remember, you are only as old as you look." ― Mark W Boyer

Gandalf.

Gandalf the Grey — only he wasn't dressed in grey anymore — was stood not six feet from us, leaning lightly on his staff and smiling. As if one of us had just told a crude and amusing joke.

Like he hadn't been dead for over a sodding month.

I felt like the ground had been pulled out from under me, and it wasn't until I saw his smile widen with warmth that I realised I'd squeaked out a breathless:

"H-how?"

The old man's blue eyes twinkled in a way that was so familiar, it physically hurt, and my chest tightened at the sight.

He was unchanged, exactly as I remembered him — and yet, at the same time, completely different. The kind, old wizard who had spoken so openly with me on the slopes of the Misty Mountains had been a humble traveller; strong-backed, but still old and weather-beaten beneath his worn, grey robes. Now he stood tall, almost regally, before us, not in a tattered, grey threadbare, but in pristine, white robes from head to toe. His once windswept, grey hair was now straight and the colour of fresh snow, and even the gnarled, old staff he'd once carried had been replaced with one that looked as if it had been carved straight from the heart of a mallorn tree.

Yet, even among all of that, the wisdom in his eyes and the gentle kindness in his expression hadn't changed. Not even a little.

"Forgive us, we mistook you for Saruman," I heard Legolas blurt out suddenly into the stunned silence, and Gandalf — God, bless him — actually laughed.

"I am Saruman," he answered simply, inclining his head at a stunned Legolas, who — I now realised — had somehow ended up standing between me and the White Wizard, his back half shielding me from view. "Or at least what Saruman should have been, had his mind and heart remained uncorrupted."

"You fell," Aragorn breathed almost silently, staring at Gandalf as if he still wasn't fully convinced his eyes weren't lying to him. "You fell. We all saw you fall."

The newly minted Gandalf's warm expression turned a shade darker, and his eyes coloured with what I knew must be the memories of intense fear and pain. He nodded at Aragorn.

"Through fire and water, to the highest peak in the lowest dungeon, I fought the Balrog of Morgoth. Until finally, after days I threw down my enemy and smote his ruins upon the mountainside. Darkness took hold of me, and I strayed out of thought, and time, and all that this reality holds."

I felt more than saw his blue eyes drift over us all, lingering for a moment longer on mine before he went on.

"Stars wheeled overhead… and every day was as long as an age of the world."

I could have sworn I saw a tiny shiver run through the old man, but I blinked and it was gone, the warmth returning to his smile.

"But it was not the end. I felt life returned to me once again. I have been sent back… until my task has been completed."

"Gandalf," Boromir rasped, taking an aimless step forward, still too shellshocked to say anything more. The wizard looked momentarily puzzled by the sound of his own name, tilting his head as if he'd heard the name before, but was struggling to remember where.

"Gandalf?" he repeated, testing the sound. Then, slowly, the recognition crept into his face and he smiled again. "Yes… that was what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey. That was my name."

"Gandalf," Gimli spoke up for the first time, and I swear his gruff voice was actually thick with joy.

He looked around at us all, and maybe it was just me, but he seemed to all but radiate joy at the sight. "I am Gandalf the White."

My feet were moving before my brain could catch up. I slipped past Legolas and Aragorn, and before I realised what I was about to do, I'd thrown both my arms around the wizard in the tightest hug I could muster. Gandalf went abruptly still with surprise for a split second, only just managing to get his fancy, new staff out of the way at the last second. Then he relaxed and returned the embrace with one arm. Behind me, Gimli started laughing, and I could hear and see Legolas and Aragorn chuckling out of the corner of my eyes. I even saw Boromir smile minutely.

Gandalf chuckled and patted my shoulder fondly.

"I am very real, child," he said, all but reading my mind as he hugged me back. "The Valar would hardly gift me a new form that would simply disperse at your touch."

"Just making sure," I mumbled, my voice thick with unshed tears. "I've had far stranger dreams than this lately."

I felt him smile again, and give my shoulder a little squeeze.

"I'm sure you have," he answered as I released him and stepped back. He took another look at me, his sharp, blue gaze lingering on my eyes. Then, he broke away to look around at the others, who were still staring at him in awe. "I come back to you now at the turn of the tide. Time is short, and I know you all are weary, but this part of Fangorn is not safe. Come, we may all rest closer to the edge of the forest. There is much you must tell me of what has occurred in my absence."

Boromir stepped forward without a second's hesitation, his eyes widening.

"What of Merry and Pippin?" he asked desperately. "They are still—"

"Do not worry for them, Boromir," Gandalf reassured, offering the man a kind, but also knowing smile. "Merry and Pippin are in very safe hands. I will explain all once we are away from this place. But for now, gather yourselves, we must move soon."

He gestured around at the weapons he'd blocked, disarmed, and destroyed when we'd attacked him with his staff, and we all started regathering our arms after only a brief moment's pause. The metal of Boromir and Aragorn's swords had both cooled enough to be retrieved from the ground and replaced gingerly in their sheathes. Gimli's small war axe and Legolas' arrow had both been shattered upon impact with Gandalf's conjured shield. My little throwing knife, however, had miraculously survived ricocheting violently off the magic dome, only to end up lodged nearly hilt-deep in the trunk of a nearby cherry tree.

I went over and tentatively tugged on the little knife's hilt, but it remained firmly embedded in the trunk.

"Do you need some help?" Legolas' voice appeared behind me as I struggled. I could hear the smile creeping into his tone and gave him a haughty glare over my shoulder.

"No, thank you," I replied primly, lifting my nose in the air. "I can manage."

I tried again, pulling harder. The knife still didn't move. I braced my foot against the tree trunk and tugged. My fingers slipped and I almost fell backward. Legolas snorted.

"Oh shut up!" I snapped. His smirk widened as he brushed gently past me.

He braced one hand firmly against the tree trunk, twisted the little blade with a strength I couldn't have managed on my best day, and pulled it sharply out. The cherry tree swayed and gave what sounded distinctly like an appreciative groan, its branches leaning down to brush the top of Legolas' head in thanks. Legolas patted the wounded tree's bark affectionately and handed my throwing knife back to me with a small smile, hilt first.

"Show off," I sulked, but mirrored his grin, taking the blade back. "Thanks."

His warm gaze remained on my face for a long moment, still wearing that damned, smug smile, before Aragorn's voice drew my attention away. He was talking with Gandalf in low tones about how he'd found them and where he was taking them, while Gimli grumbled over another of his finely-made axes being shattered like glass.

But Boromir was standing away from them, yet again.

The moment Gandalf had revealed himself, I had sworn I'd seen a glimmer of the old Boromir spark to life in his eyes again. He'd looked shocked, but joyful and filled with hope, and for the briefest second, he'd smiled. Now, however, the dull gloom had reappeared in them, and he was staring unfocused past the Man, Wizard, and Dwarf, out into the surrounding darkness where Merry and Pippin were apparently 'very safe'.

Though, at least, he wasn't glaring in venomous mistrust at me anymore.

"Are you… well?" Legolas asked abruptly, an unfamiliar note of uncertainty in his voice. I could feel his eyes lingering on my face even though I wasn't looking at him.

"I am," I answered automatically. When he didn't say anything else I looked up at my companion to find him still looking at me. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

Legolas hesitated a moment, his dark gold brows knitting together into a frown before speaking again, quiet enough for only me to hear.

"You and Boromir," he started carefully, then seemed to reconsider his words, his eyes flicking momentarily between me and the Man in question. "If there is anything… anyone that is making you feel unsafe, or making threats against you, however indirectly, you should tell at least one of us. I—"

He broke off, took a contemplative breath, and tried again, "We cannot help you unless you are willing to tell us when you are uneasy."

I looked back over at where Boromir had refocused his attention on Gandalf and Aragorn, but still wasn't speaking. I gave up trying to hide the troubled look that was forcing its way onto my face, letting my shoulders slump a little as I turned back to Legolas, my downcast gaze settling on the silver leaf brooch holding his cloak closed at the throat.

"You heard all that, then? Earlier tonight?" I asked, knowing he understood what, and whom, I was talking about. I saw him nod his head a little closer to mine, still speaking softly.

"It was rather hard not to," he said apologetically. A warm, strong hand came to rest on my shoulder, the touch surprisingly gentle considering how much strength I knew those hands held. I looked up again to see him watching me, and I suddenly felt very small standing there before him, the top of my head barely making it to his chin. He looked down at me seriously, though not patronisingly, and asked again: "Are you certain you are alright?"

I opened my mouth, closed it, looked sideways at our four companions again, and bit my lower lip.

"I… don't know," I told him honestly, the words lifting a little bit of the weight off my chest. I looked back up and him and made myself smile, even though it felt brittle. "But I will be."

He didn't look entirely convinced, but he accepted my words with a tiny nod, releasing my shoulder reluctantly. His fingers lingered for a moment on the shredded remains of my tunic sleeve before falling to his side.

"I shall not pry," he said, just as softly as before, though that warm, small smile had returned. "But should you desire to talk—"

"I know where to find you," I finished, taking hold of the hand he'd gripped my shoulder with, and giving it a gentle squeeze with my own. "Thanks."

His smile widened, warmed, and for a moment, I thought he wasn't going to let go. He was still looking down at me, that strange smile softening around the edges yet again. His grey-blue eyes had melted from a cold sky into a colour more akin to summer storm clouds, slowly drifting down my face to linger on my dusty cheeks, my bruised nose...

And my lips.

He didn't release my hand and he didn't look away. Instead, his eyes drifted back up to meet mine, and my mouth went suddenly dry as a bone at the look in his eyes. My heartbeat started running in mad circles like a hare and I felt my breathing stop entirely as he seemed to unconsciously lean down just a little closer toward me, half-lidded eyes still locked with mine...

And then one of the branches of that blasted, sentient cherry tree poked me right in the back of the neck.

I shrieked in alarm and flinched violently forward and away from it, slamming face first into Legolas' strong chest so hard, my nose bounced off his collarbone. Sharp pain and the warm scent of grass and pine fired through my nose, and I felt his hands come up to steady me by the shoulders again as I clutched my face. I felt my cheeks and ears burn with embarrassment at what I'd just gone and done, but looking up at that stunned expression on his face, I was momentarily thankful I'd given myself the perfect excuse to cover my furiously blushing face with my hands.

Had we really just come close to…?

"Come, both of you! We cannot leave any trace of our presence here," Gandalf's brisk voice broke through the tense air between us. Startled, we both jumped apart to see the Wizard had cleared any and all traces that we'd ever been there — campfire, embers, crushed grass, and all. He was gesturing for us to follow behind Aragorn, who was already leading Gimli and Boromir back into the trees, their backs to us, though they had glanced over briefly when I'd let loose my girlish shriek.

They didn't seem to have actually seen any of what almost happened before.

'Thank God…' I thought, feeling my neck and face burn again at the thought.

We both moved quickly to join them, Legolas moving slightly ahead of me so I couldn't see his expression anymore — though I saw the tips of his ears had gone a bit pink under his blond hair.

Rubbing my throbbing nose, I couldn't help but throw a venomous death glare at that bloody cherry tree as we passed it, vindictively thinking that maybe I should have just left my knife buried in it after all. But then, just before we passed from the clearing back into the dark with nothing but a lit torch Aragorn was carrying for light, I saw Gandalf looking directly at me. He was smiling, an amused twinkle in his bright, blue eyes as he glanced between me and the other Elf.

A knowing look that brought even more uncomfortable heat to my face.

I looked away, feeling my ears, neck and cheeks all burning, and strode quickly ahead after Legolas, though not before I saw Gandalf's warm, twinkling-eyed smile fall ever so slightly into one of deep, silent sadness as we all vanished back into the dark.

~ / ~ / ~ / ~

That night was the first night since Lothlórien that I slept deeply enough to dream again.

A part of me was relieved that I finally seemed to be recovering from almost killing myself healing Boromir. However, another part of me was painfully conscious of the fact that, even in my dreamscape, my mind was still reeling from what I was fairly sure had almost happened in the waking world mere hours before. My memory conjured up the image of Legolas' face stooping towards mine, his grey-blue eyes still holding my own with such gentleness, as they fell half closed in anticipation—

A small, timid smile crept onto my face, but my eyes widened the second I realised what I was doing.

I stopped daydreaming just as suddenly as I started, and slapped myself.

Actually slapped myself. I was in a dream, so what the hell.

"Not the time, Eleanor. Not the time."

When I finally did get a hold of my senses again and forced down the heat rising in my dream-self's face, I finally looked around to see where I was. I was standing on what appeared to be a smooth, dark, glass floor, polished until it reflected the clear night sky above like a cool mirror beneath my bare feet. Stars, nebula, far-off galaxies, and even a couple of falling meteorites — I could see it all reflected in the surface below my feet, stretching off so far into the distance, I couldn't see where it ended.

If it even had an end.

The luminous, full moon provided more than enough light to see by, and after looking around for a few short moments, I finally saw her. Just a few hundred feet away, Tink was stood, staring up at the moon, like a she-wolf waiting for her pack-mates to return. Her arms hung loosely at her sides, and her bright, gold eyes reflected the moonlight like lanterns as she admired the glorious view. As I drew nearer on strangely silent feet, I could hear that she was humming that same, spooky tune we'd both heard in the forest earlier that night.

I couldn't place why exactly, but hearing it from her voice — or rather, my voice — made it about a dozen times creepier. At least she was way better at singing than I was.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked, breaking the calm of the night air.

I don't think I'd ever seen Tink jump before that moment. It was a novel experience seeing her damn near leap out of her skin, whirling to face me with an indignant look. I held back a thoroughly amused smile at her, and she snorted delicately.

"I was thinking."

"I can see that," I said, trying to rub the grin from my lips and coming to stand beside her. She was wearing a long gown again — dark blue this time — and I noticed on closer inspection that it had been embroidered with golden thread in the shape of ships and gulls around the collar.

I poked her forehead with my ring finger. "What's got your head so full? I reckon I could fit half a deck of cards in that frown-line."

Tink irritably batted my hand away and looked for a moment as if she was going to say something smart. Then she seemed to catch herself, sighed heavily, a long drawn out sound, and turned away from me to look up at the glittering night sky overhead.

Honestly, I would have felt better if she'd told me to go and boil my head, or even made some suggestive innuendos on whatever had just happened between me and Legolas. Hell, I would have settled for a crappy knock-knock joke.

I watched her carefully, my own face drawing in concern as I did.

"Tink?"

She chewed her lower lip in thought — a mannerism I recognised as one of mine, which she'd likely picked up over the past few months stuck viewing the world through my eyes.

"I've been thinking about her," she told me reluctantly, hugging her arms around herself in a defensive way I'd never see her do before. "…Galadriel."

I blinked. Ok, now that really was the last thing I'd been expecting her to say. I wasn't even sure I'd ever heard her say Galadriel's name before, even when we'd still been in Lothlórien.

"Ok," I said slowly, though I didn't really see where she was going with this. "Care to share?"

She hesitated again, still chewing her lip. Finally she drew her gaze from the sky to look at me. I'd never seen her look so uneasy before, and it unsettled me more than I realised it would.

"Tink?"

"I was thinking about what she said; about the truth being a double edged sword. That it can harm as much as it helps. And I was thinking that — that maybe she was right to warn us about getting our memories back, boss," she said very quietly.

The look on my face must have shown my confusion, shock, and mild outrage, because she held up her hands in defence the second I opened my mouth, her expression placating.

"Hear me out, boss," she pleaded, and the surprise I felt at her tone alone was enough to snap my mouth shut. I looked at her cautiously, and she drew another breath, letting it out in a frustrated little exhale."If Galadriel's word is to be believed,you were the one who chose to make us forget everything, right?"

I folded my arms and nodded, not trusting myself to keep the biting tone from my words if I spoke. She looked uncomfortable at the expression on my face, but went on.

"I don't know if I trust her judgement, or really believe she really has our best interests at heart. But I know you. You're reckless and have potentially the worst poker face in existence, but you're not stupid, not even close." She gave me a weak little smile, and there was a tinge of her usual, playfully teasing self visible in her glinting, golden eyes again. "And I've seen how far you're willing to go to protect and look after the people you love. Whatever the reason, it must have been a very good one for you to decide that a life without your memories was better than the alternative."

I stared at her, unable to formulate a response that didn't sound furious, petulant, or both. Frustration at her suggestion, the very idea of it, still roiled inside me, but the worst part of it was that I wasn't even sure I could have made a counter-argument sound convincing. After all, I wasn't even sure she was entirely wrong. If anything, she actually made a fairly good point. It was a point I'd actually spent a lot of time in Lothlórien fretting over — not just how I was going to get my memories back, but why I'd erased them in the first place.

Whatever the case, she was right about a few things though: I was reckless, and I'd decided a long time ago that there was nothing I wouldn't do, no pain I wouldn't endure, for the promise of seeing my family and home again.

I knew I didn't technically need to breathe in my dream-world, but I took a deep one anyway, trying to get my feelings back under control.

"So what are you saying?" my voice came out icy and sharp as I looked at her, trying to keep my frustration in check. "That I should just give up? Live out the rest of my life as Elf, wondering for eternity whether somewhere out there I abandoned the only chance I have of seeing my parents again? My brother? My home?"

Just the sound of them all mentioned aloud was enough to send a lance of pain spearing through my heart. The air around me seemed to suddenly vibrate with the intensity of the feeling, and for a second Tink looked stunned, almost alarmed. She quickly smoothed the expression away though, and spoke even more carefully than before.

"No," she said, her voice soft but firm as her golden eyes met mine, more like herself again."But I am saying we should be careful how we go about looking for answers. I want to find out what happened to us as much as you do. I just don't want either of us to end up dead or traumatised beyond all return as a consequence."

Again I didn't answer, though not from anger or frustration this time, but rather deep in thought at those words. I hadn't really considered what the consequences of my memories returning might be. I'd been so focused on the fact that remembering how I'd ended up here in the first place was my only way home, I'd never really stopped to think about what it would mean when I had them back. I knew I had a family, friends, and a home waiting for me back on Earth. I'd seen them in Galadriel's mirror. Yet, I couldn't shake the thought...

What if the same was true of my life here in Arda?

What if somewhere I had a family who were missing their daughter? What if I had parents who were sick with worry for me? I already knew I had an older brother — Var —wherever he was now, but what if I had other siblings too? What if I had a home? Friends? Maybe even a lover?

That last one made a pang of guilt pass through me, along with a torrent of other emotions at the idea. The memory of Legolas and our near-miss-kiss came back to me unbidden. The sight of him leaning down so his face was closer to me, feeling his warm breath on my face, his hand still clasped in mine; and along with that memory came the sudden realisation that — while I'd been surprised when I'd realised was happening — I hadn't pulled away from him.

No, I hadn't wanted to pull away. I had wanted to close that narrowing gap between us…

'What will you do when you have them all back?'

That question stuck fast in my head and refused to go away. It was a question that I knew needed an answer to one day soon, but it was also one I simply couldn't answer now. Not yet.

I turned away from the sky I'd found myself staring up at just as Tink had minutes before, and looked at her with a softened expression and a weak smile.

"I'll think about it, Tink."

She smiled back tiredly and nodded. Then she turned and looked out into the distant dark over the endless glass floor, her own expression darkening. The effect made the shadows on her face deepen, making her look older, harsher — more feral.

"We should leave this place soon. It... it seems to take an unnatural glee in dragging buried hurts back into the light."

I gave her a confused look, but the almost haunted expression in her face unnerved me so much, I felt my hand reach out and touch her shoulder.

"This place makes you hurt?"

She relaxed at my touch, turning to look back at me. The shadows receded from her face, but didn't quite leave the space around her eyes.

"This place? No," she answered, shaking her head as she gestured around at the beautiful sky and miles of empty space surrounding us."But this damned forest we're in, and that song…" She shuddered, actually shuddered. "I don't remember the words, or even remember how I know the tune, but… All I know is it ached, right here."

She made a fist and held it to the left side of her chest, right over her heart, before letting it fall to her side again. She looked at me once more, her eyes back to their usual, gleaming shade of gold — though there was still a hint of the anxiety she'd shown before lingering in the shadows under her eyes.

"I'll follow your lead like always, boss. Just, please, promise you really will think about it, before we make that jump we can't come back from," she said quietly, softly as I'd ever heard her speak before.

Then she turned and walked away into the night, vanishing like dispersing mist before I could call after her.

I was left standing there alone once again, looking at the spot where she'd disappeared, her words ricocheting around the inside of my head over and over again. That song, this forest; was that really what had gotten her so abnormally spooked? I had to admit, hearing that song echoing through the dark of the trees had been unsettling to say the least — even more so when I'd realised the others hadn't even heard it.

I believed Tink when she said hearing it had unsettled her, but I couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't telling me the whole reason why it had unsettled her so much.

Or why we both had been the only ones to even hear it.

I sighed and decided it was something I'd have to try and pry out of her later, whenever we got out of Fangorn. I was about to shut my eyes and force myself to wake up when I noticed something odd about my surroundings. The glass floor that I'd thought was reflecting the twinkling lights of the night sky looked off somehow. It took me a couple of seconds to realise that it was because the lights beneath my feet weren't reflections of the stars at all. They were glinting lights coming from underneath the floor, and as that thought settled in, a second one hit me not even a moment later.

My bare feet weren't just pleasantly cool against the smooth floor. They were wet.

Without thinking, I looked straight down, and heard myself gasp as I realised it wasn't glass I was standing on.

It was water.

We'd been standing on a perfectly flat sea that was so still, it reflected the sky perfectly, like coloured glass. Or at least it had, until I looked directly down at the source of the lights, glinting up from deep below the surface of the water.

A city lay sprawled beneath me.

Astoundingly beautiful and huge, stretching for what I guessed was miles in every direction. Graceful spires, towers, domes, and arches reached up towards me, all constructed from glistening, white stone that shone in the gold lights cast from the buildings and streets. Gardens and canals lay dotted and woven between the streets and houses, giving the city the look of a precious, white jewel veined with streaks of jade and lapis. I was too high up to see the people, but lights glinted in the windows and the entire view radiated life and prosperity even from beneath the flat waves.

I had no idea why, but the sight of it filled me with such an overwhelming surge of joy, wonder, and sadness that something in my chest felt like it was breaking.

It wasn't until a tiny, stray drop of salty water disturbed the glass-like surface that I realised I was crying. Silent tears ran down my cheeks and chin as I stared down awestruck at the spectacular view beneath my feet. Then, as if my tear drop had broken some kind of spell, the perfectly flat surface of the water lost its ability to hold me up.

The ripples churned, waves appeared all around, and with a scream I plummeted down into the water, the golden lights of the beautiful, sunken city vanishing as I was dragged under.

A/N: So E+L have had their first near-miss! XD Hope those shippers among you enjoyed that, because chances are, there is going to be a lot more where that came from. :p

On another slightly more serious note, I am truly sorry for the massively delayed update. I'm going to write a proper update on everything that's been going on irl on my tumblr blog later this week, but in the mean time however, here'd the short version:

For the past 5-6 months I've been struggling badly with depression — much worse than I've ever dealt with before — thanks to the job I've been working at, and the living conditions I've been in. As I'm sure anyone who's dealt with that evil invisible black cloud before will know, it really took it's toll on my ability to write, as well as my ability to do anything creative for fun. Thankfully though, I'm getting proper help for it at last, and it's starting to pay off. I'm already feeling a lot better, and come next month I'm going to be leaving my current job and digs to go visit family in Vancouver and San Fransisco for a month (let me know if any of you are in that vicinity and I'll send you a wave.) Fear not for updates though. Now that there's light at the end of the tunnel, I'm feeling a lot of my motivation coming back, and writing is feeling like a joy again rather than a struggle.

I know I say it a lot (because I mean it), but thank you so much guys. Reviewers, followers, lurkers and all; I really do appreciate the support, even when I can't always find the time or words to reply and say so to every message I get. I love this story, and I love sharing it with you, and the responses I get to it make the difficult times worth getting through.

Until next chapter, much love to each of you,

Rella x