#also arc v officially checks off the three (3) things I always write for a fandom

[merryfortune]

On Changing Tides

@seasaltmemories wrote a Serena meta and it gave me some ideas. So I wrote this last night at midnight instead of doing my assignment. I don’t know when i’ll post this on ao3 because I have a rule that I have to update PBL after every 4 new/updated fics.

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V

Ship: Serenadeshipping (Serena/Yuzu)

Alternate Universe - Pirates

Synopsis: Serena is a traitor to Admiral Akaba Leo’s Navy. But she’d rather be lawless than without morals so she’s joined the infamous Lancer Pirates to pursue adventure, justice, and romance.

Words: 2, 172

Warnings: Blood, swearing, light medical procedure, injury, possible gore, violence, that sort of thing

  Corruption festered beneath the names of nobility and justice. It was like a terrible rot beneath the facade of brilliant flower. With a blade at her command, Serena shall cut it all away or else dishonour shall be the death of her. She refuses to fight for it any longer. Not now, not when she’s seen the people she had hurt in the flesh and fury.

  Fleet Captain Yuri approached Serena. He scowled. His cutlass was drawn as was a cruel smile and deviant eyes.

  ‘Now, now, Serena. Surely you understand still that we are of the most gallant goals.’ he said.

  He reached out with his blade. The upward tip of his cutlass poked upon Serena’s breast lightly. He disgusted her and she had no problems letting him now. Her face soured. She lifted her chin and looked down upon him. Her free hand turned to a fist. She raised her own cutlass.

  ‘Duel me.’ she snarled.

  ‘Come now, surely we can settle this civilly.’

  ‘You haven’t a pleasant bone in your body. You and I both know you wouldn’t hesitate to cut my tongue out of my mouth it meant you didn’t have to listen to the truth!’ Serena spat.

  His eyes fluttered closed; he tutted: ‘After all these years…’ he lamented. ‘I still can’t fool you. And yet? You are Admiral Akaba’s favourite soldier.’

  ‘Tell him to stick it where the sun don’t shine!’ barked Serena. ‘Now, duel me!’

  He sighed and discarded his scarlet cape. He smiled sinisterly; his eyes gleamed with bloodlust.

  ‘Very well, if you insist.’

  Serena steeled her resolve. She remembered the stories of civilians and pirates had given her. True, consistent accounts of the atrocities the Navy had committed under the evil ambition of Akaba Leo. She would avenge them. It was her duty to restore order and enforce justice. She would no longer be part of a system that desecrates the very morals she had brought into her life; even if it meant becoming lawless for it was better to be lawless than without moral.

  Yuri surged forth first. His slashes were precise and deadly. But he had sparred Serena many times. She knew his pattern. He knew hers. She parried his blade and ducked beneath it; surprising him with an uppercut.

  He stumbled backwards. He thought he knew her patterns.

  Serena spun on her heel and this time landed a strike with her blade. She swept in for a kick and got him across his ribs. He held onto himself and sputtered. Spittle flecked his mouth. He glared at her.

  ‘You lowly, conniving, bitch!’ he cursed.

  He charged forth. He was lost in rage. He raised his blade high and it cut on sunlight. It glinted. With a harsh strike, he ravaged what was beneath which happened to be Serena’s shoulder. His cutlass slid through her surgically but left much destruction. Serena howled in pain as fabric and skin tore. Blood spurted. Yuri relished it.

  ‘That’s what you get for using dirty tactics.’ he snarled. He looked down on Serena as she collapsed.

  She numbly clamped her hand over her injury. Blood stained her hands.

  ‘You bastard! I won’t forgive you!’ Serena yelled.

  ‘Please, you won’t get the time in Hell, traitor.’ Yuri replied; his voice was low.

  He propped up Serena’s chin with his bloodied cutlass. He smiled. He savoured the terror that shaped Serena’s faces; the way her lips quivered and her arms shook. The way her eyes widened before him like he was some destructive force of nature.

  ‘I believe you may want to reconsider that.’

  A new, cold voice descended on the pair of them. Yuri straightened up; he felt his back brush against the mouth of a gun.

  ‘Akaba Reiji… I’d know that voice anywhere. The prodigal son returns.’ Yuri drawled playfully. He sighed, shrugged.

  ‘You leave my crewman alone or else you’ll be the one in Hell.’ Reiji warned. He took his revolver off safety.

  Yuri sneered. ‘When one falls, one falls far.’

  ‘I am proud to call myself the latest recruit!’ Serena yelled.

  She pulled herself to her feet even though she was in shambles. Her grip on her cutlass was loose but it would not take much feat to slash open Yuri’s smug little face. She threw back her sword-arm and lashed forth. Her blade ate into the side of Yuri’s face. He screamed and screamed. Reiji pulled back; readjusted his glasses then called out to the remainder of the crew.

  Yuzu came back first. She plodded along in rags and smiles.

  ‘What on Earth…?’ she howled.

  ‘You can take care of Serena, as our resident medic. I need to attend to the others. Are they well?’ Reiji asked.

  ‘Y-Yeah, you can count on me, Reiji. They’re alive. Don’t you worry.’

  ‘Good. We can’t risk losing numbers. Not when our mission is becoming so critical.’ Reiji continued and he strode off. He readjusted the safety of his revolver and strapped it to his thigh.

  Yuzu crept forward. Serena scrambled to her weak legs once more. She was puffed up and proud like the cat that got the cream.

  ‘Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, sweetness?’ flirted Serena.

  She had to be delirious.

  Yuzu swallowed at the sight of blood. Not just Serena’s, she suspected as she saw the other body – Fleet Captain Yuri’s – twitch as he tried to keep his face whole rather than like the pages of a flayed book.

  Yuzu swung her brown bag around from off her back. She riffled through it and Serena trudged towards her.

  ‘You don’t have to be strong for me, Serena. I’m the doctor.’ Yuzu tittered.

  ‘I just want to get away from that motherfucker before he decides we can keep going pound for pound of flesh.’ Serena laughed through her agony.

  She powered onwards. Yuzu scampered behind her. Together, the women collapsed outside the Captain’s Quarters of this naval ship. They would be safe here. The remainders of the crew had subjugated the rest of the team Fleet Captain Yuri had brought on his personal ship, Starve Venom. Further down the deck, they heard Yugo teasing the marine grunts they had captured. That had to be a good sign; or a beg for disaster. They could hear Reiji counting heads and making orders; no doubt telling Yuto and Shun to ransack the Marine’s supplies.

  ‘C’mon, Serena, let me have a look.’ Yuzu cooed.

  Serena hesitantly let go of her wound. It was deep and Yuzu sighed.

  ‘You just had to piss him off, didn’t you?’

  ‘Fuck yeah I did!’ Serena boasted. She reverted back to her usual self before being consumed by the pain. She groaned as she brought her arms back to her side stiffly; her eyes wide and teeth gritted.

  ‘Don’t move your arms!’ Yuzu scolded.

  It took five or so minutes but soon, Serena was back in working order or somewhere close. She was hopped up on pain killers, a little bit of opium, and a fair few windings of bandages. She’d be good to fight soon again, or at least until Yuzu can get Serena onto her medical table where she can get proper attention.

  Serena’s eyes were dreamy which was definitely the result of pain killers. ‘Thanks, sweetness.’ She smiled smugly. ‘C’mon, lemme give you a little bit of sugar.’

  ‘I also accept dessert.’ Yuzu teased.

  She flushed a little bit when Serena pecked her cheek.

  ‘I’d literally kill ten thousand people for you.’ Serena said in a serious, gravelly voice. Serena clasped onto Yuzu’s hands for maximum effect. Their gaze held for an unusually long time.

  ‘I am well aware.’ Yuzu replied.

  ‘I literally love you. I’m glad we met. I’m glad I’m one of the Lancer Pirates.’ Serena continued.

  ‘You are literally high right now.’

  ‘Fuck yeah I am. Being around you puts me on cloud nine.’ Serena flirted.

  ‘We’ll see.’ Yuzu replied cynically.

  From further down the deck, people started to yell at them. Things were getting too cushy between them; they were risking Yuri’s revival at this point and a resurrected Yuri would be demon spawn to deal with so it was time for the Lancer Pirates to make their great and theatrical escapes. Like they always did. They had become known for it at this point.

   Yuzu shouted back at her comrades who jeered at her in good nature back. She got up. She flattened her skirt and Serena copied; brushing her hands over her brown-red, once white, trousers. Serena hooked her good arm over Yuzu.

  ‘Carry me.’ Serena whined.

  ‘I will, I will. I’d never expect my most critically injured patient to walk herself to our ship.’ Yuzu replied soothingly.

  Together they plodded off. They regrouped and everyone was there. Serena smiled and laughed. It was bizarre to see her like that; the smell of pain killers on her solved that mystery. Yuya hefted up Serena from the other side and Mieru fluffed around them, making sure that Serena’s chakras or whatnot were aligned for optimal recovery. She also couldn’t let them risk straining Serena’s legs or sides as they carried her so poorly.

  Once more, the Lancer Pirates – a odd motley crew of misfits and never-do-wells – set off on their next voyage; to their next battle be it between themselves over who got seconds or between a shopkeeper and got away with pickpocketing or between themselves and their true enemies. It was a mystery. It was an adventure.

  The strong, salty breeze of the distant oceans picked up. Their sails puffed outwards and proudly bore their emblem; the horseback skeleton knight armed with a lance. It felt good to be back.

  It had been two weeks since the skirmish on Starve Venom. On their ship, two weeks may as well have been a different life in between the violence and domesticity. Serena had been summoned to Yuzu’s office two hours ago. She swung her legs idly; wondered when she would be permitted to leave. It seemed soon though. Yuzu smiled as she put away her things.

  ‘So, what’s the verdict, sweetness?’ Serena asked.

  ‘Here, you deserve it. Don’t tell Sora I stole it though.’ Yuzu said. ‘All good patients get a lollipop from their doctors after a check-up. At least from the city I’m from anyway. They might do it differently in Academia.’

  ‘They most certainly do.’ Serena replied with a shiver.

  She accepted the lollipop. She tore off the plastic and lobbed it at the nearby bin. She popped it in her mouth and was accosted by the intense raspberry tang that burst on her tongue. She cringed. How did Sora eat these?

  Yuzu, noting Serena’s expression, shrugged. She guessed what Serena was thinking.

  ‘We never said he was a good confectioner.’ Yuzu joked. ‘Well… You’re all good to go. For now, if you get into another fight with that prick Yuri, you might end up with a permanently fucked up shoulder. Assuming you live to tell the tale; which I trust you would. But still, be careful. He’s out for blood now, no doubt. You’ve probably left him with a very nasty scar and for a vain man like that, well, that’s a crime punishable by a thousand deaths.’

  Yuzu rambled. Serena smiled. She liked to listen to Yuzu’s voice.

  ‘Do you remember?’ Serena asked, abruptly interrupting Serena who had moved onto lecturing her on the importance of keeping flexible.

  ‘Remember what?’ Yuzu asked; happily skipping to Serena’s jump of conversation.

  ‘What I told you after you dosed me with opium?’

  ‘That you loved me?’ Yuzu replied, simply. ‘It’s fine. Everyone gets high differently. You become a sap, it’s fine. It’s the same for Shun.’

  ‘I’m glad you remember though.’ Serena said. She stopped swinging her legs and her eyes brightened; became mischievous. She hopped down from Yuzu’s cold, tall bed that she used for general check-ups.

  Serena prowled around Yuzu before pouncing on her with a hug. ‘I’m very glad. Because I meant it, sweetness. I really am glad to have met you. To have fallen in love with you.’

  ‘Oh.’ Yuzu gasped.  

  Serena pecked Yuzu’s lips. She held onto Yuzu’s shoulder and made a point to remember this moment: what was around them, how it felt, and what it meant. She remembered the Yuzu’s lips were reminiscent of her the fruity, rosy balms she used. She remembered the chill of the office and where the placement of Yuzu’s things were; not just what Reiji had given her so his medical suite could be functional.

  ‘Now, it’s poker night with the boys.’ Serena continued. ‘It’s time to have a little fun.’

  Yuzu placed her hand over Serena’s. ‘Have fun.’

  Serena took a breath. This was her life now. And she couldn’t be happier. She was surrounded by love and by friends. She had good food and good laughs. She could want for nothing on this stingy ship. And best of all?

  Every day was a new adventure and she couldn’t lap it up enough.

  ‘Fuck yeah, I will.’

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Just A Little Trade

Almost absolute silence reigned. What kept it from being absolute was the quiet tick of machines and sometimes the far off noise of footsteps going by. Very few of the locals wanted to come too near this place anyway, and those who had the right to be here were busy elsewhere at the moment.

In point of fact, there were only two people there at the moment: Edo Phoenix, former Commander in Chief of the Fusion occupation force, and Kurosaki Shun, member of the rebellion and a Lancer.

Kurosaki, so far as Edo knew, wasn’t much of a talker under normal circumstances. Now wasn’t a bit difference, given that he hadn’t woken up being struck on the head even with the best efforts of the healing pod.

He checked it carefully, just to be certain. Everything seemed the way that it should be, and if everything continued the way that it should, Kurosaki would probably wake up in another day or two. Three at the most. He would be very confused when he did, of course. When he’d been struck, Edo had still served Academia and the Professor, and those who’d been shown a different path by Sakaki Yuuya still were his enemies.

I’ll have to explain everything. He wished Saiou would be there to help him. Saiou didn’t do people any better than he did, but he could still find the words that Edo didn’t always have. The two of them worked reasonably well together.

Only Saiou wasn’t strictly a part of Academia. He dueled, of course, but he’d never joined the school, let alone the army. He visited Edo on occasion, or had before Edo achieved this promotion, but how long had it been now? Months?

He would have to find a a way to get in touch with Saiou, he decided, and let him know everything that had happened. Saiou had never overtly disapproved of the Professor or his goals – Edo wouldn’t have been his friend in those days if he had – but the more Edo considered the matter, the more Edo suspected Saiou would approve of his changes.

Edo let out a tired sigh. It would take time to get a message across to the Fusion Dimension safely, especially now. They’d kept quiet for the most part, not wanting anyone from there to find out what was going on. What Edo hadn’t told anyone else was that there was a good chance a faction of Obelisk Force or some of the other members of Academia might well come over here.

XYZ was, after all, considered prime hunting territory even now, with so little left. It had been part of his job to scoop up those he could find who would be suitable prey and keep them ready should anyone from there arrive.

The thought of doing so now sickened his stomach. He’d believed so much in the Professor’s cause that to look back on himself since then sent his heart racing and sweat trickling down.

He glanced at Kurosaki’s sleeping face for a few moments. If he didn’t wake up in the next handful of days, then Edo knew he would have to somehow get some form of help. The tube should manage everything. The tech was almost as advanced as the procedure for carding. But everything and anything could have a flaw in it.

Footsteps outside drew closer. Edo frowned; they didn’t sound like ones that he knew, and there weren’t any voices accompanying them.

That made it a little sketchy already. This was their territory and they had no reason to keep their voices down. Their few nervous XYZ allies might, but they also tended not to make any noise when approaching.

Not to mention he shouldn’t have heard them anyway, because they weren’t there to be heard. Or shouldn’t have been. They’d gone out to search for either new allies or survivors, for supplies, or for anything else that could help those they’d already found.

He suspected Kaito had also sent messages to whatever blocks of the Resistance remained. The official story on both sides was that there weren’t any left. Edo didn’t believe that for a moment. If Kaito still fought, then everyone else there did too, in whatever ways they could. They’d not given up before. Edo didn’t think anything had happened so they would.

But footsteps drew closer and there were no voices and the sense that something was far more wrong than it should be ran icy talons down Edo’s neck. He reached for his duel disk, ready to defend no matter who it was.

“There’s no need for that, Commander.”

The most mocking voice he’d heard in all of his life spoke. It wasn’t his first time hearing it. But just like every other time, he hated it. He didn’t think there was a single person around who actually liked hearing Yuuri talk.

“What are you doing here?” Edo’s gaze flicked up and down, left and right, until he spied the younger soldier standing not that far away.

He was far too close to Kurosaki Shun, all things considered, and Edo started to reach for his deck again.

Yuuri raised one hand. “As I said, no need for that. Though if you really want to be stubborn, then it would just make what I want that much easier.” A smile slid across his features, sly and sweet and sarcastic. “You don’t really think a traitor could stand up to me, do you?”

Edo’s lips pressed together. He’d not for a moment suspected that seeing Yuuri here was in any way good. “What are you doing here?” Edo repeated, wanting answers.

If he could stretch it out a little, keep Yuuri here until some of the others arrived, then maybe…

He may or may not stand a chance in a duel but Edo suspected the principles of entertainment dueling could stretch far enough to deal with Yuuri, whose idea of entertainment involved pain, shrieks, and terror for everyone who wasn’t him.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you? Everyone already knows about your little mass defection.” Yuuri smiled that dangerous smile of his. “The Professor really doesn’t care though.”

That sent another warning chill through Edo. He refused to twitch an inch in reaction. Yuuri had to want more than that.

“That doesn’t tell me what I asked.”

Yuuri nodded solemnly. His main focus hadn’t left Kurosaki for a second. “I suppose it doesn’t.” He took a step closer. “Let me tell you this much. No one cares. I could card all of you or I could let you go. The Professor has so much else that he’d rather do than worry himself about all of you.”

“So why are you here, then? Surely you’ve got better things you could do.” Edo didn’t trust that smile, didn’t trust the way Yuuri kept too much of his attention on Kurosaki, a possessive tilt to his lips.

“Because you have something that I want, and I’m going to take it.” Yuuri chuckled softly, reaching out to rest his hand on the healing pod. “And you’re not going to complain about it.”

Edo took two quick steps, a low growl sliding between his teeth. “You’re wrong about that!” He’d made a promise and he wasn’t going to let it be broken.

“I don’t think I am.” Something flickered and Edo’s attention followed a sudden line of something falling.

It was a card, he realized, the thought trailing along a heartbeat later. The card fell face-up and his heart froze in the moment it took him to realize just whose face that was.

When the Professor first began to build his army at Academia, he’d started at various orphanages, choosing the children there and bringing them together. They’d had few ties to anyone, and most of those who they did ended up at the Academia as well.

But when Edo joined, he’d not only left his closest friend behind, but his father as well. He’d never known his mother; his father told him that she’d passed away shortly after his birth. It hadn’t been Edo’s fault, Mr. Phoenix assured him over and over, but simply an accident, and he’d come to accept that.

And now he saw his father’s face staring up at him from the card.

It shouldn’t be. This shouldn’t be. He’d talked to his father only a few days before. Everything had been fine then.

Only now there was that gentle face, that had seemed ever so faintly disappointed in him over the last few months as he’d risen higher in the army and made his debut as Commander-in-Chief.

“Father...” He murmured for a heartbeat before his eyes jerked back to Yuuri. “What did you do? You said...”

Yuuri waved one hand casually. “I said that it didn’t matter to the Professor. And it doesn’t. So he doesn’t care if I do this. I’ve already finished my duties for him anyway.” That demonic smile flickered back into being. “So now I get to have some fun for myself.”

Edo’s stomach sloshed and tightened in terror. He worked as hard as he could to keep himself focused. He could guess what Yuuri meant. He just didn’t want to.

Another card fluttered down. Edo’s heart twisted even farther to see a spill of night-black hair and a pair of calm, wise eyes looking back up at him. His breath froze in his throat.

Part of him cursed Sakaki Yuuya for showing him how much different everything could be, should have been. If he hadn’t listened, if he hadn’t chosen this different path, then he wouldn’t be here now, seeing the faces of those he loved the most staring back at him like this.

They wouldn’t be vulnerable to someone like Yuuri.

“You’re not going to argue with what I want, are you?” Yuuri questioned. “What does it mean to you, anyway?” That mocking smile wasn’t going anywhere. Edo hadn’t ever realized how much he could genuinely hate such a smile. It mocked everything he’d believed in his life, Academia or otherwise. “I’ll take him and you can continue to put this broken toy of a world back together, until the Professor finishes his plan, and you’re all disposed of, one way or another. Do you understand?”

Edo’s nails dug so hard into his palms he could feel trickles of blood working their way through. “I’m not going to let you have him.” He bit the words off cold and hard. He couldn’t do this. Trading lives was something that those of Academia did. Something they thought was easy and fun. He refused to be a part of that anymore.

More of that horrid anticipation worked its way through him. If Yuuri had his father and Mizuchi already sealed like this, then what else did he have?

Who else did he have?

Edo didn’t have to ask the question out loud, not when Yuuri would be more than happy to answer it regardless. He raised one hand and a third card gleamed there.

“I thought that’s what you say,” he murmured, and flipped the card around.

Saiou Takuma, brilliant waterfall of evening-blue hair and eyes of a violet so rich that Edo thought amethysts would envy him stared from this last card, the last person that Edo truly cared about in all the worlds.

And Yuuri did not let go of it.

He said nothing else. What he did was take hold of Saiou’s card by the top and bend it. Not tear, only bend, but it was warning enough. Edo reached out, paler than he’d ever been before.

Edo couldn’t let that happen. It didn’t matter if anyone would ever forgive him for letting Yuuri have what he wanted. He’d never forgive himself if he let Saiou be destroyed like that.

He swallowed, reaching, a few empty steps in between them, but Yuuri easily kept his distance.

“What was that you said?” Yuuri taunted, fingers still in position to tear. “I think you said something about giving me what I want?”

Edo pressed his teeth against his lower lip. He wanted the others to come back. If they did, then Yuuri might be distracted enough for him to take Saiou’s card back. If he had the card, then all the power would be on his side.

But there weren’t any other sounds. Just the two of them, and Yuuri’s burgeoning smile of triumph.

“Why do you want him?” Edo asked, grasping for any extra time he could. Yuuri sniffed.

“Everyone needs toys of some kind,” he said. “This is the toy that I want.”

“He’s hurt,” Edo pointed out. “That’s why he’s in there. He’s getting better, but he’s in no shape for you to play with.”

Yuuri laughed, a sound that called back too many echoes to Edo’s mind, of hearing Sakaki Yuuya laugh. They did more than look alike, Edo realized. They sounded alike too, voices that could have been that of brothers.

“I did notice where he is. But I take very good care of my toys. I hate it when they break too soon.” Yuuri’s fingers tightened on the card just a tiny bit more and Edo thought he saw a tear appearing.

There wasn’t any more time to delay, to bargain, or do anything. He steeled himself, ready to hate himself from this moment on.

“How do you intend to get him out of here? He’ll wake up if I open the tube.”

“Not for a while yet. I can keep him under control until we’re home. He’s certainly in no condition to fight me.” Yuuri pointed out. He gestured with a jerk of his head. “Open it. Now.”

Edo reminded himself that he did this because he wasn’t going to let someone he cared about be torn apart in Yuuri’s hands. That was something he hadn’t mentioned to Yuuya and the others: any card torn apart, shredded in any fashion, meant that the person in that card died.

He’d seen it happen before. He couldn’t let it happen again.

Kurosaki can be rescued, he told himself as he began the sequence to open the tube. If he tears Saiou’s card, he’s gone forever. And Yuuri would still find a way to take what he wanted.

As much as he justified it to himself, it still hurt to do this. Perhaps it hurt even more to justify it.

Yuuri kept hold of Saiou’s card even as the tube opened, mist pouring out, and he stepped closer to Kurosaki, possessiveness in every line of himself. Somehow he kept it even when he had Kurosaki lifted over one shoulder.

Then he casually tossed it toward Edo. “They screamed your name, you know. When I carded them. It was the last thing on their lips.”

Edo dived for the cards, scooping all three into his hands, heart racing. He wanted to hear no more. He wanted Yuuri gone, once and for all.

He wanted a chance to warn people about what had happened. As important as stopping the Professor’s plans were, Edo could not bring himself to just let someone be Yuuri’s prisoner as well. If he had to, he would take care of it himself.

Yuuri turned toward him, eyes bright with anticipation, one hand resting on Kurosaki’s back. “You’d better be a very good boy. I’d really rather not have to take those cards back from you.” He moved the fingers of one hand in a motion that was somewhat a wave and yet reeked of far more mockery than anything that Edo could remember seeing.

Another card appeared between his fingers; Edo had just time enough to read it: Violet Flash. Energy every bit as bright as the sun flashed, and when Edo could see again, he was the only one in the room. The pod remained, open and empty, and in his hands there rested those three cards.

Edo wanted to get back to Fusion, to collect a team and mount a rescue mission. Yuuri’s last words echoed in his mind as soon as he thought of that. The cards might be safe in his hands now, but if there was one person in all four dimensions who could change that, who could extract revenge at a moment’s notice, no matter the defenses put up against him, Yuuri was that person.

What he wanted to do and what he could do and what he should do tangled up in his head and his heart, his fingers pressed against the cards, and the sun rose, and he had explanations to make that he’d never thought he would.

The End

Notes: Some day I may write a sequel. That day is not today.