DHC's Notes and Acknowledgements: I know, I know, it's not the chapter you're hoping for. I'm sorry, but I'd like to take the time to explain a few things for this story and what's going on.

First off, if the last chapter seemed like a bit of a departure from the style of the older ones, it is. You see, I have been out of the fandom for so long that I lost sight of the initial, original idea for this fic. That being said, I feel like I'm back at square one, attempting to piece together old and new ideas and weave them in a way that doesn't clash horribly and seem odd.

As such, the older chapters of this fic may get revised and edited to fit my current style and adaptations hereto. Re-reading the older chapters, I came to realize I left many open gaps with no explanations. I tried to close some of them for you in the last two chapters.

I realized both in-series and in my fics, Enzan is a very intelligent individual, but there are instances where certain 'common knowledge' things go over his head, or he seems perplexed/intrigued/dumbfounded by the simplicity of said knowledge. I expressed my take on this pertaining to the way he was raised; and with Laika, we all know his first appearance in Axess was totally uptight, boot-up-the-ass, superiority complex-ahoy. In chapter six, we all saw the conflict Enzan and Laika had due to their headstrong personalities, and how difficult it was without Netto as a medium for them to speak to one another without it turning into a 'who has more authority than who' contest.

Well, we all know how Laika loosens up by Stream, but in Axess, he is still very uptight and doesn't show much stretch or bend when it comes to dealing in social interactions with people. However in the last chapter, he does see how badly Enzan is hurting, and it is shown that Netto's personality does affect him, just not as greatly until the latter part of Axess and into Stream (series wise), which is what I was trying to express within the chapter with how he speaks with Haruka. He has acknowledged Netto, and does see him as a comrade, but Netto hasn't completely busted through his walls so he still is standoff-ish and condescending at times. So with him seeing how affected and broken up Enzan is, he's loosening his 'I have to remain in total control and exude perfect control' façade towards him.

The two are beginning to see how one another operates and deals with things, so they are slowly dissipating the friction that was there in chapter six. I also give my take on why Laika has such a perfectionist-like quality and has such a superiority complex. He is older than both Netto and Enzan, but he is still young (and likewise, arrogant, prideful, and brash like adolescents can be), and so I try to make it known that he himself feels the pressure of having to keep a calm, level attitude at all times and that failure is not an option because it will only show him as weak to his superiors and show everyone that he still is an adolescent on the inside.

Both Enzan and Laika feel they must live up to both their own mental standards and the ones the public, in Enzan's case, his father's, and in Laika's, his superior's set for them. I don't know how many times writing chapter seven that I wanted to bang my head because it was all I could do to not just be like "screw it, I'm just gonna make them have a pissing contest and a catfight and call it even" after Laika slaps Enzan in the limo because of their stubborn, bull-headed attitudes and how neither really want to compromise their ways.

But, I think I worked around that with the way I handled it, with Enzan doing his best to acknowledge what Laika is trying to tell (and show) him. (And inevitably, Laika's reasoning to involve Haruka and let her try and help Enzan with his mental insecurity because he realizes and knows he can't do that, he's not Netto, and since Netto's not there, he settles for the next best thing, knowing that Enzan must come to terms with what's going on and try to move on so he can be at his best.) and how they begin to understand just how much pressure they both are under, and how they're both trying to handle it in a mature fashion rather than resorting to a physical brawl or verbal warfare.

And then there's Netto.

I feel I really portrayed Netto in the last chapter very different from the prior ones, and as I said, that's in part due to my long-absence from the fandom and the fact that I didn't want Netto to continue to playing his damsel-in-distress persona more because I know that he is much stronger than that and wouldn't continue moping, he'd work himself to get stronger to overcome what's oppressing him (Ironically, I think my writing for the Naruto fandom helped me realize this because of how similar Naruto and Netto are personality-wise.).

Because I lost the initial idea of what I had planned for this fic, I suppose Netto's sudden change and approach to how he handled Yuriko seems a bit of a surprise, but I was trying to show that he is doing his best to keep going, but at the same time, how much it's eating at him, the conflict of knowing what his actions are doing, but being powerless to stop anything from happening.

I also tried to close a gap I left open about why Dark Blues got Netto a Glaive as a weapon; I have noticed in the series when he first began to use Crossfusion in Axess and throughout to about mid-arc that he was extremely imbalanced and his usage of battlechips were imprecise. If it wasn't an ease-of-use chip, he struggled. I gave my take on this with Haruka's explanation because I also noticed if he used a sword and wide-sword combo he flowed and seemed more balanced, along with other chips that let him 'dual-wield' so to speak.

So, now that I covered a lot of my prior gaps with my reasons, I feel I should talk a little about what I plan for the future of this fic.

Initially this fic states it is an Axess AU and may or may not have Stream influence.

Since I have long forgotten all the details and plans I had for this fic, I've done a major overhaul on the plot in my mind. This fic will run along the Axess storyline loosely and integrate into the Stream storyline, albeit, heavily modified since certain incidents and events will be changed or not happen, ect.

Another topic that has come up in discussion with my friends concerning this fic was other pairings besides Dark Blues/Netto. I've had plenty of other suggestions both for Netto, and others.

Honestly, guys? I don't know myself what to do yet. All I can say is that really, Dark Blues/Netto will be absolute.

Some of you may or may not know that my major OTP prior to my departure from the fandom was Laika/Enzan. I suppose my adoration may have come through a little in the prior chapter because a friend was laughing as she told me: "They seemed like they were flirting one minute, super serious the next, Enzan has an emo moment, Laika distracts him, and they go back to flirting." WELP, THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD, SHE'S CATCHING ON, OH NOES. *shot* Just kidding. (I should also probably note here that I also ended up making three Laika/Enzan icons and showed them to her the same day I posted up the chapter xDDD)

Honestly, I do adore that pairing, like, seriously, and perhaps it may have come off a bit like that now that I have re-read the chapter for myself, but I wasn't truly focusing on them flirting or anything like that when I was writing the chapter. I seriously was just trying to have them begin to understand one another and get past the tension they had.

I'm pretty much just flying by the seat of my pants for now about pairings. I mean, yes, there is a huge part of me that wants to be all "screw the canon and fandom preference" and run with my OTPs, but the fact is that this fic's "main pairing" was never one of my OTPs, so part of me says I should go with unusual pair-ups for this fic, and the other part of me says to run with my usual OTPs to make up for the fact that Dark Blues/Netto is the main pair. But then, there's also the fact that people have suggested that if Dark Blues/Netto is the main pairing, I should make Enzan/Rock the sub-pairing as a counterpoint.

This does make sense, but then again, I'm sure all of you long-standing stalkers and viewers of my work know by now that I don't generally run with "clichés" and things that make complete sense. I do adore Enzan/Rock, though, especially their relationship in this fic with how they're emotionally/metaphysically being one another's sanity/shoulder to lean on. That and I'm also debating on Search/Rock. I love that pairing, too. They're cute. I mean, hell, I remember this one episode in Axess after Search and Rock have this discussion and at the end of the episode, Search just says (to himself): "I don't understand your ways of compassion, Rockman… But I will try it." TOTAL CUTE MOMENT, DAMMIT. Okay, stopping myself now before I go on a tangent. xD

So really, it's still up in the air and probably will be for a while. I will say, however, that there is a possibility that I will throw something completely different at you all concerning who I pair Enzan with because the mental image I get of all the "WTF"'s I would receive is very tempting and the fact that while it's utterly crack, it is one of my long-standing, but unknown to the public, OTPs.

Right then, that's all I have to say on that matter.

I will do my best to keep the story flowing whenever I do update.

Given that I have many projects on my plate (I'm so backlogged in my works, holy crap people.) along with my physical condition and my mental/emotional ones doing their fluctuating thing, my updates are very sporadic and random. Between arthritis flare-ups, to depression and everything else, I struggle at times. But I'm going to keep trying. Because I adore you all and writing is still my passion.

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all the support and love you've expressed towards this fic for all these years (My god, I posted this in 05. Has it really been 14 years?) and that every review, favorite, follow, ect has always been my motivation to continue this story even when I had been away from the fandom and felt I could no longer portray the characters right, I always found myself coming back to my unfinished chapters and notes and writing more. There are a few people I'd like to give acknowledgements and special thanks to for support and downright threats and bribes to get me off my butt to write more.

First, thank you to my old, dear friend, Rose Kitsune .EXE Yes, she has been gone from the scene for a long time, but all the ideas and laughs we shared about the series and the like are still what inspire me. So much crack was spewed between us, so many late night MSN conversations, and just…gods, I don't even know sometimes. She's part of the reason I can hardly pull all nighters anymore LOL. (I still have this uber old Enzan/Laika drabble she wrote for me LOL. XD)

Summing Up The Stars/GoldenSuzaku, for bribing me and making me laugh whenever we would talk. Oh god, I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I have had whenever we would talk. Just…the randomness. Lord. I feel so immature thinking back on it. XD (Psst, Stars-sama. "What can I do for you?" "Sucks to be you. (I know, I know.)" XDDD And the KH insanity. Oh god I won't forget that one fic you wrote for me. Or the "family reunions". XDDD)

Suki/ToraYashaChan/Becca/Whatever other name I have called her throughout the years, HOLY SHIT DUDE, I have absolutely no words to express how much I have valued your support, friendship, and you just being there to listen to me whenever I felt like I was gonna burst. Whether from excitement, anger, sadness/depression, whatever. If it wasn't for you being one part of the driving force that inspired (and, consequently, enabled) me to write, half of the cracky ideas, and even the serious ideas, wouldn't have got written if it weren't for you prodding me and bribing me with chants of 'dooooo eeeeet' whenever I mentioned my ideas to you. XD You have been along for the ride since, what, 03? Christ, we're old. XD Still, I don't regret anything. Thanks for all the conversations, rps, and general dorkiness we've had. Here's to (hopefully) five more years of defying clichés, making people 'WTF', and utterly breaking everyone's (including yours and my) minds with our stupidity and crack. XD You are another reason I can barely pull all nighters because of us staying up 'til like, four or five in the morning with our insanity. XDD (One day we are gonna meet up and cosplay and freak everyone out, dammit, I swear it. Or have that naked party with Rikusor that we discussed god know how long ago, LOL.)

Enzetto, yes I know you have another nickname now but I don't remember what it was. I DON'T CARE; YOU'LL ALWAYS BE ENZETTO TO ME, DAMMIT. Thanks for all the crack, the ideas and suggestions, the rps, and just generally stalking (and sometimes threatening) me to update. XD I won't forget all the late-night MSN group chats you, Rose, Becca and I had that were totally chaotic. XD Or the AIM ones, too. XDDDD (PS: thanks for those two bday pics you drew me those couple of years ago. It really meant a lot to me. Sorry I'm so terrible at keeping in touch!)

KittyChan, because if it wasn't for her and asking for a Blues/Netto fic in the beginning all those years ago on NeoWriters, the concept for "Mine" and this fic in general would never have been conceived. Even though I haven't heard from or seen her in like, forever, she's still someone I'd like to thank because as I said, if it wasn't for her, DSOTC wouldn't exist. Granted, it was an entire accident I came up with the idea for "Mine" and DSOTC (I was in a sleep-addled, delirious state of mind and a song I don't even remember which came on and inspired me and yeah xD) the fact of it all is that if it wasn't for her asking, and me thinking about it, and the all-nighter I pulled, this fic wouldn't exist at all. So yeah, um, all hail to KittyChan? XD

And finally last, but definitely not least in any sense, thank you, Firehedgehog, for being the most persistent, avid person to push me to write more for this fic. From threats, to bribes, and even going so far as to doodle me pics of Enzan and write crack based off of my DSOTC universe (and write drabbles/one-shots of my OTP) to get me off my butt and out of hiatus to work on this, you have my gratitude and my appreciation for all of our hilarious (if not utterly insane) conversations pertaining towards fics or the fandom in general. I think honestly, I would have just scrapped DSOTC. But you kept pushing, and your persistence paid off because here I am, writing more for you (and everyone else) to enjoy! You are also one of the driving forces that inspire me to keep writing. Thanks for being a good (if not pushy (and I mean this in the best way possible)) friend. (Also thank you for all the other fics from other fandoms you've inspired me to write and our Digimon and other fandom discussions.)

Alright, now that the explanations, acknowledgements, and utter sap commentary has been finished, I suppose I'll let you all go for now. I just wanted to post an update to you all and assure you that yes, there is another chapter in the works. I just don't honestly know when I'll get it done.

If there's anything you'd like to see addressed or have suggestions, or encouragement please don't be afraid to drop a line in a review to me! I promise I'll see it (and more than likely respond to it, too. Cuz I'm just that nice. What can I say, I adore my fans. xD) so don't worry, I won't bite!

Thank you so much, everyone!

'Til next time,

-DHC.