Info for you lovely people: I just have a couple things to say.

One: this is not the continuation of my oneshot, Play the Game. This is something I started shortly after I finished that story. I'm sorry to not be as quick as I had hoped with this finishing this one so I could get back to the sequel I had promised. Which leads me to point two...

Two: the reason this took so long to write was because there is another side to this story to be told. I know this doesn't make sense now, but I hope that it will once all the chapters of this story are posted. And hopefully I haven't broken too many people's trust with not getting first things done first. Trust me, it's bugging me too and I plan to write the sequel I promised while posting these stories.

Three: this story is heavily influenced by the song Hero of War by Rise Against. If you know the song you can probably guess what will happen. I love the song and I loved writing this story.

Hero:

An Innocent Beginning

It was a pretty countryside, made up of ploughed dirt or fields of wheat surrounded by slightly imposing forests. Every day, for most of fall and to the beginning of summer, Axel walked the long dirt road from his house into the gradually swelling city to attend school. His family, though they lived on the very edge of the town, were not part of the farming community. Their new neighbours were farmers but 'neighbour' was only really used to describe the fact that Axel's house and Roxas' house were the buildings in line next to each other, though distanced by many acres and a forest. In only a few short months the distance between their homes didn't seem to matter one bit.

When Roxas' family moved to the large, white farmhouse in the middle of a grassy clearing, Axel and his parents were the first to welcome them to the new countryside. Axel remembered feeling his body tense with barely suppressed excitement as he and his mother stepped onto the covered porch and rapped on the screen door. His mother had a loaf in her hands and a smile on her lips while Axel had only his desire to make friends with the rumoured children the house now held. Living on the outskirts of a still developing town had provided him with few friends and now, with a fifteen minute walk, he would have a least one chance at making a new friend.

Outside the sun shone bright in the summer heat, but through the screen Axel could see the darkness of the farmhouse. He heard a man yell, probably a parent, and a couple small shadows scampered down the hallway and pressed their noses against the screen. Axel's eyes flared with excitement and if his mother hadn't put a hand on his shoulder, he would have opened the door and walked right in to play with the two boys.

"Don't know who it is, Dad!" a little boy with dark hair yelled over his shoulder, though it didn't really seem to matter whether they knew Axel and his mother or not since both boys pushed opened the door.

Axel needed little persuasion to be ushered inside the house. In fact, his mother hissed at him as he followed the little blonde and brown haired boys inside. The hiss from his mother and the figure of a tall man, the two boys' father, walking past the three children as they made their way into the house was the only thing he could remember of the adults that day.

The two boys didn't seem that shy. They led Axel into the living room and immediately the simple questions began.

"What's your name? I'm Roxas and he's - "

"I can say it myself! I'm Sora!"

"I'm Axel."

"Where're you from?" Roxas asked, big, blue, child's eyes staring directly at Axel. "Another farm?"

"No, I'm the next house that way," Axel said as he pointed to the western wall of the house, causing both Sora and Roxas to gaze at the blank, windowless wall. Axel was a couple years older than the brothers and they seemed to recognize this age superiority through a series of questions.

"It's not a farm?"

"No, it's just a house. My parents work in town."

"Do you go to town?"

"Yeah, for school and sometimes with Mom to shop."

"You go to school?"

"Yeah. Don't you?"

Roxas shook his head while Sora nodded. Roxas, feeling alienated from this lack of knowledge about school, chimed in with a serious nod, "I'm gonna go to school in a year. Sora's just a tiny bit older so-"

"I'm a whole year older, Roxas! If you went to school you'd know that a year is a long, long time," Sora said proudly and Roxas scowled.

Axel was enjoying this bickering. He had no siblings and so missed out on the fighting. The brothers didn't get far in their argument when their father yelled from the kitchen.

"Sora, Roxas! Knock it off. And Sora, your friend from school's here," and the father's voice was directed at the screen door as he said, "Riku, come on in. Sora's inside."

"See! When you go to school you get smart and get friends," Sora said to his brother as he darted from the room and down the hall calling loudly to emphasize the point, "Riku!"

Roxas fumed silently, his fists pulling at his shorts as his small features pulled into a snarl. Axel was really amused now.

"Are we gonna play with them?" Axel asked Roxas with a devilish grin that only a child could pull off.

"No," Roxas said sternly, glaring at Axel before thinking better of himself. Sora had a friend that Roxas wasn't allowed to play with so now Roxas could make friends with Axel and tell Sora Axel was his friend. Roxas shook his head to get his messy hair out of his eyes as he asked Axel, "Why don't we play in the barn?"

"The barn?" Axel asked, tearing his eyes off the hallway Sora and Riku had retreated down. Now that the brothers had stopped their quarrelling and Sora had left, Axel saw the brothers as more than a single sort of entity. His idea of them had been something like peanut butter and jelly, they were just always paired together until the day mom ran out of jelly and had to serve peanut butter on toast instead. Axel felt the tug to follow the older brother down the hall until Roxas had mentioned the barn, a place he'd never been.

"Yeah," said Roxas, happy to have Axel's attention. "We have animals in there but there's the haystacks too."

His curiosity peaked and excitement at the thought of adventure on his mind, Axel enthusiastically said, "Okay, let's go."

The boys played in the barn, making obscene mooing noises as the cows lowed indignantly at the boys playing around them. Axel seemed to get bored fairly quickly of the cows after he realized that all they did all day was stand, eat and moo. Axel laughed heartily when one of the cows lifted its tailed and pooped in the gutter behind, but that too got old.

Roxas, wanting to impress Axel, climbed up to the loft and called for Axel to come up because he had another game. Axel looked up at the small boy, eyes so bright with the promise of fun. He began to climb to the top of the loft. Roxas led him over to a hole in the floor of the loft and pointed at the hay twenty feet below them.

"Sora and I play this all the time, but you gotta promise not to tell the grownups," Roxas said as they gazed down at the hay pile, "Dad says not to but we do it anyways."

Without any more explanation, Roxas jumped into the hole and flopped into the hay below. Axel watched with wide eyes as the small boy's body sunk into the hay with a muffled sigh and crackle. Roxas rolled off the pile, hay clinging to his shorts and sticking in his hair. He looked up through the gap at Axel with a bold look on his face as though to say 'bet school doesn't teach you this'.

Axel met Roxas' daring gaze through the floor before his eyes locked on to the hay pile, his adrenaline already buzzing in his mind.

Roxas seemed to take Axel's hesitation as fear rather than excitement for he called up, "You don't have to be chicken. The hay only itches a bit. I do it all the time."

Axel laughed down at Roxas and with a loud chicken noise he flung himself onto the pile below. He felt the hay scrape his skin with more than just an itch, but the rush was worth the small cuts.

Axel rolled out of the pile and got to his feet, the hay streaking his long red hair with yellow.

"I'm not a chicken," Axel said with a wide grin and Roxas laughed.

Axel playfully pushed Roxas back into the hay, causing Roxas to yelp, as he booked it for the ladder to leap again. Unlike the cows, that game never got boring; leaping off the loft and making the strangest of noises as they jumped. They were there for hours, the barn steadily growing darker and half the cows dozing in the heat of the late afternoon.

Axel had just leapt and rolled to his knees, panting. The heat and climbing up the ladder was tiring him, but still he continued to jump and joke with Roxas. Up above, Roxas was just jumping off the edge, making an elephant kind of noise that got Axel laughing. The noise was hilarious. The scream Roxas let out when he hit the hay was terrifying. Axel flinched and sat frozen on his knees for a moment before calling Roxas' name and scrambling to his feet. The blonde boy hadn't emerged from the hay yet as Axel neared the pile.

There were no sobs of pain or any more screams, save for the first, as well as no movement among the hay.

"Roxas! Roxas! Roxas!" Axel called his new friend's name desperately as he began rummaging through the hay. He paused when there was movement from the center of the pile and a small hand emerged.

Axel gripped the hand that grabbed at the air to try to find a way to pull the body out. He pulled Roxas' hand and the boy let out a less frightened yelp as he tumbled onto the barn floor and gripped his left hand with his right. Blood trickled from the left hand and clashed against the gold of the hay that stuck to the wound. Roxas sat at Axel's feet, his hands trembling as the blood continued to drip onto the floor. Axel knelt next to Roxas and tried to peek at the cut but Roxas pulled his hand away.

"No! You'll make it sting more," Roxas said angrily. He was more aggravated that it had to be Axel, a new friend, a cool, smarter and older new friend that witnessed his pain. He had enough self-control to not wail, though his eyes watered betrayal.

"I won't. I'll just look," Axel said earnestly, albeit with a child's natural curiosity.

Roxas allowed Axel to touch his wrist and flip the hand to look at the palm. A gash ran from between Roxas' middle finger and the finger to the right and all the way to his wrist. It was deepest at the center of Roxas' palm, where the most of the blood came from.

"What did it, Roxas?" Axel asked, not bugged by the sight of blood as he continued to ogle Roxas' gash. Even at Axel's age, he knew a cut that long and deep should have grownup attention, but with the worried look on Roxas' face, suggesting it didn't seem fair to the hurt boy.

"Don't know. Something in the hay," Roxas said and pointed to the hay pile.

Axel got up and began rummaging through the hay again, Roxas watching with confused and worried eyes. He didn't want to tell his father, but if Axel and his few years older wisdom said he needed the grownups, then he needed the grownups.

Axel backed up out of the hay, new straws clinging to his arms and legs as his hands gingerly clutched something. He walked back over to Roxas and dropped a piece of metal, the same length and sharpness of a kitchen knife, by Roxas' feet. Roxas fingered it gently, noticing the blood along the edge while Axel knelt beside him.

"That did it," Axel said, pointing at the scrap metal. Roxas nodded his agreement and vehemently kicked the metal with his foot, sending it spinning across the concrete floor with a jagged screech.

Roxas sat glumly on the floor, fearing any second Axel would say 'we should tell somebody' but instead Axel got to his feet and walked over to the piece of metal. He picked it up and looked down at the drying blood along its length. He noticed Roxas watching him, the blonde boy's eyes uncertain and wary. Axel again looked down at the metal then back at Roxas and a smile spread across his lips. With a wild howl he flung the metal out the open window and shared another laugh with Roxas.

"It was a very stupid thing to do."

"I'm still alive so I say it was awesome."

"Roxas, you could have gotten tetanus or gangrene or, shit, who knows."

Roxas rolled onto his side to grin at Axel as they sat in the grass next to a small brook cutting through the forest. It was summer and still hot beneath the dappled shade of the trees, but ten years later from the incident in the barn.

Axel looked down at Roxas as he leaned his back against a tree and rested his arm on his knee. Roxas' grin was infectious and twisted his own lips into smirk. The blonde, young man wormed his way up to Axel's side, staining the nonexistent knees of his worn out jeans and his elbows with grass as he crawled. Axel grunted appreciably as the top tufts of Roxas' hair brushed against his hand that lay in the grass.

"Okay, fine. It was stupid and I could have died but we still got a good laugh out of it. And I got a badass scar," Roxas joked, rudely shoving his left palm into Axel's face.

Axel scoffed, his hot breath blowing on the faint scar as he chuckled. In a swift movement that that drew an indignant "Hey!" from Roxas, Axel caught hold of the other boy's wrist and crushed his lips against his palm. Roxas' fingers curled with the touch of the other boy's lips and lightly scraped Axel's nose.

"I'm your fucking hero, Roxas," Axel muttered against the skin and his eyes shone through Roxas' fingers with a burning light.

"And my best friend," Roxas added and tried to pull his hand away from Axel's lips.

"That all?" Axel asked and grabbed Roxas' other hand as they wrestled on the grass to the tune of the river's bubbling laughter. "That all, Roxy? That all I am to you?"

"Get off! Don't call me that!" Roxas said and pushed Axel's hands back, struggling to gain any ground in this fight.

"Silly Roxy," Axel teased as he pinned Roxas' arms to the river bank and swung his leg over Roxas' midsection to sit on him. "C'mon. Best friend is pretty good. Hero is amazing. What else am I to you? Something that's Goddamn great. C'mon, Roxy. What else and I'll make it all stop."

Usually Roxas prolonged the fight, working Axel up more and getting even more stubborn in his answering, but due to the heat and the sweat sticking his cotton shirt to his chest he caved.

"You're my man, Axel," Roxas laughed happily, though his arms were pinned and body caged.

"Is that so? What's your man worth to you?" Axel asked and gripped Roxas' wrists in one hand while the other moved like a five legged spider across the blonde boy's chest.

"When I get up I'm gonna kick your ass, Axel," Roxas said between gasps as he writhed. Axel ignored the threat and continued to rove his friend's body, making him squirm more and tear up with laughter until he said breathlessly, "Okay. Okay! Stop – I – Stop! Everything. You're worth e-everythi - "

A loud crack like a whip sounded through the trees and silenced the forest and the boys. At the noise, Axel and Roxas had both flinched and grown quite still and quite silent. Without a word or a look, the boys edged their way into a couple bushes and ferns. They crouched close to each other, hands held tight as they watched for any shadows moving through the trees. There were a couple more cracks but they were definitely far away. They would be safe if they headed towards Roxas' house.

"Those aren't hunters trespassing on your land, are they?" Axel asked in a low voice, his mouth a hair away from Roxas' ear. There were a couple more bursts of cracks.

"Don't think so. Usually the game doesn't fire back," Roxas whispered.

They were silent for a couple minutes, listening to hear any more gunfire but there was none.

"My teacher says a war's going to start," Roxas said sadly, "Between the two developing towns. They both need resources but it doesn't seem like they want to share. Funny, the major cities in this area don't mind providing guns to both sides."

"What's really funny is that they're picking fights on your land. Why?" Axel asked and squeezed Roxas' hand tighter. All they needed was for a stray bullet, fired from some stranger's gun to go amiss, maybe rip through Roxas' wall as he slept at night and...Axel squeezed Roxas' hand even tighter.

"Because our farm is right on the border or runs along the border. Something like that."

"My teacher hasn't said anything about a war," Axel said lightly and stood, pulling Roxas along with him. They began walking towards the farm, the birds and bugs tentatively humming back to life.

Roxas shrugged, "Different teachers, I guess. Besides, maybe the town where my and Sora's school is wants to make the first strike so they know more. Hey, Axel..."

"Yeah, Roxas?"

"Do you think a war's gonna start?"

Axel looked down into the eyes of the boy whose hand he was holding as they walked through the forest.

"Geez, I'm no military whiz. I don't know. I hope not."

Roxas nodded, eyes overcastting with worry.

Axel was bored out of his skull. Summer had ended and he was once again sitting in his school, not listening to the teacher prattle on and on about...what class was he in now? Axel looked up at the chalk board the teacher was writing on. Words like 'people' and 'war' stood out. So it's history he thought and laid his head back down.

It was his final year of classes, he'd probably graduate, but he didn't really care where he went so long as he could have Roxas around. I can't be around him now, he thought glumly. Since Roxas' farm was no closer to either town, the brothers could have gone to whichever town for schooling. Sora had on a whim chosen the town to the East to go to school and because of that, Roxas too was enrolled there. Now that school had started, Axel could only see Roxas for long lengths of time on weekends and spend his days in school bored and dying to get out of there.

There were murmurs and creaking of chairs as students sat up straighter. The atmosphere had changed, the teacher was no longer talking. Axel looked up to see a man in a black military uniform shake hands with the teacher and then turn to face the class. The man had long silver hair, tanned skin and glowing amber eyes. Somehow, with just his presence he was able to acquire the entire class' attention.

When he spoke, his voice was deep and entrancing, as though he had all the answers and only needed the room's attention in order to give them.

"It's almost the end of your history class and for some of you, the end of your schooling days," he said and took a step forward, eyes surveying the teenagers.

"Axel!" Larxene hissed and jabbed Axel in the shoulder roughly. Axel bit back a snarl and turned to the girl. Even though he looked to her, she jabbed him again anyways and asked, "Who is this guy? I feel asleep..."

"I don't know," Axel said and began to turn away but she jabbed him again.

"Fuck off, Larxene," Axel hissed under his breath and she stopped her hand from prodding his shoulder while shooting him a dirty look.

Axel turned his attention back to the man and realized with a cold shock that pierced his heart that the man had been looking at him and Larxene as he spoke.

"How many of you know where you would like to be after your education is done?" he asked.

About half the class raised their hands. Axel and Larxene were not a part of those who did.

"I see," the man said with a cool smile. His eyes took on a hard glint as he asked, "How many of you would like to see the world?"

Pretty much everyone raised their hand, though Axel only raised his half-heartedly. The guy wasn't as interesting as he had originally thought.

"Yes, to see the world and all its wonders would be amazing, invigorating, exciting, an adventure," the man said as he began to slowly pace the front of the room. Axel watched the guy move, slightly interested about this adventure business but not sold on the idea. There had to be some sort of catch.

"You can see the world on your own, take a trip to some far off place and enjoy life but," and suddenly his words sounded harsh. His gold eyes flashed and flickered from face to face, leaving each student a little colder on the inside with his stare. "But what about your home? The people you will leave behind? Your loved ones? In uncertain times would you trust just anyone to guard the people you care about most?"

Axel had been looking out the window but the man's tone had pricked a sore spot in Axel's heart and drew his attention once again. He had the strangest feeling that the man had been watching him, but the stranger simply stood at the front of the class, eyes still sweeping the students.

"I know you've heard the guns sounding in the night and I'm sure you always wonder just how close they are and on whose side the bullets belong to. There is a way for you to know. With that knowledge you can have security and be able to protect those who need your protection. With me you can find strength," the man said and this time he did make eye contact with Axel.

Axel thought back to months ago, to how he had crouched in the bushes and squeezed Roxas' hand. That was all he could have done that time and it did very little for either of them. If he joined this man, would he be able to protect the people he wanted to? Something in the guy's eyes made him believe that he possessed a great amount of strength. If Axel could learn to be that strong then maybe he could do more than hide in the bushes and hope that the bad guys were off playing in another part of the forest.

"Joining my organization would be wise for you, your home, and your family and it is all very simple. Those who are of age may wish to speak with me for further information after your history class is through."

With a subtle nod of his head, the man in black strode out the door. The teacher resumed his place at the head of the room and the students' inattentive buzz hummed back to life.

"What do you think, Axel? It sounds good, doesn't it?" Larxene asked enthusiastically but smartly decided not to touch Axel in any way.

Axel was about to tell Larxene to do whatever the hell she wanted to when Zexion spoke from his quiet corner of the room.

"Of course it sounds like a good idea. He told us very little about what he actually wants us to do and told us a great deal about the rewards," Zexion said with a keen look at Axel. "He's playing on our emotions, getting inside our heads through our hearts. It's a very intelligent thing to do."

"Whatever, bookworm," Larxene said, rolling her eyes and waving Zexion off as though she could actually sweep his words away.

A handful of students remained after class, Axel, Larxene and, to Larxene's vocalized surprise, Zexion remained as well.

"What was all that crap about 'he's screwing with our hearts'? Why are you here?" she asked Zexion who remained in his desk.

"You could call it curiosity," Zexion quipped and refused to answer any more of Larxene's questions.

After a few minutes, where Larxene huffed, Zexion read, and Axel rolled a pencil up and down his desk, the man re-entered the classroom. He surveyed the students briefly as he again stood at the front of the class. Immediately hands shot up into the air and the man just smiled.

He pointed to Larxene who asked what everyone probably wanted to know.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Xemnas," he said in that deep voice.

"Well, that doesn't help much," Larxene huffed and crossed her arms as she leaned back against her chair. Axel kind of half hoped this Xemnas guy would rip Larxene a new hole and maybe shove some respect inside her, but he seemed to enjoy her attitude. Axel leaned back in his chair and smirked at the haughty girl as he wondered how long it would take for the lustre of Larxene's cattiness to dull for this stranger.

In a more eloquent manner, Zexion asked his question when nodded to.

"You're leading the army of Hallow Bastion in the strife with the other emerging town to the East, sir?"

"That's correct," Xemnas said, his grin showing off his canines.

"So you wish to enlist us, sir?"

"Correct again but allow me to clear up any notions that may be misconceived," he elaborated and moved sit on the table before the class. There he was closer and almost at eye level with the students. In a magnetic tone he said sternly, "This is not a place for children since children often let their imaginations and naivety get in the way. We are not playing soldiers. We are working to ensure that our town and way of life continue to exist. The battlefield is not a bloody mess unless you make it so. We work to deal with situations as smoothly as possible."

Axel was slightly confused so he raised his hand slowly. Due to his height, even slouched, his hand broke higher than all the other students'. Xemnas' keen eyes gazed through the forest of hands in front of Axel. With a nod of his head he gave permission for Axel to speak. He let his hand fall and crossed his arms over his chest as he returned Xemnas' stare unsmilingly.

"That's all fine and dandy but I want to know who was firing off rounds in the forest about a month ago. That doesn't sound too well thought out," Axel said, unable to help the attitude that crept into his words.

"Which forest?" Xemnas asked calmly. Axel had expected the guy to be tripping over his tongue or at least be a little pissed.

"East of here. It's kind of on the border with Twilight Town," Axel said, pointing out the window in a vague direction of the woods.

"The town to the east?"

"Yeah, Twilight Town," Axel said, lips twitching with a smirk. They guy didn't seem to like Axel calling the town by its name.

Xemnas regarded Axel with a curious look and then mirrored the redhead's cool smirk.

"I can assure you that we did not desire to start a fight then. However, when my men are attacked we do not back down. It's what makes our homes and people safer. If you give an inch they will take a mile. If you cannot handle the strict measures we at the Organization enforce, then perhaps this is not the right place for you."

The room grew quiet with a tense air. Larxene could be heard sucking in a sharp breath and Axel could feel her leering at him, probably with satisfaction. Axel met Xemnas' gaze boldly, a smirk still on both men's faces. Axel allowed that they were alike in the way that neither was going to give up their hidden motives and he was also wary that neither of them wanted to let go of the possibility to gain from one another.

As though they were the only two in the room, Axel asked boldly, "So, sir, what do I have to do?"

Xemnas replied with a delicately insinuating tone, "As I said, it's all very simple..."

The sun had set hours ago and Roxas would be in his bedroom somewhere on the second floor of the old farmhouse. From the back of the farmhouse, Axel knew that Roxas' room was the first on the right with a small window just above a shed that was attached to the house. Axel found the shed more convenient clambering on top of it to get to the window, rather than actually using it as an entry way into the house.

There was a small lamp still lit near the window, not providing as much light as the full moon but definitely helpful. Axel tapped lightly on Roxas' window as he crouched on the shed's roof.

He'd entered this way probably more times than he'd entered the front door and mused that Roxas had probably exited this way just shy of Axel's entries.

In the past, Axel would throw pebbles or knock on the window and Roxas would climb down the shed so they could run off to the barn or the woods to grab a couple extra hours of play. Just because the sun had gone to sleep didn't mean they had to too.

As they got older and realized that they had become best friends, they regarded the path down the shed as something covert and so special only they could ever know about. Anyone else's knowledge would ruin what they had built. Like the story of how Roxas had gotten his scar, it was sacred to their friendship.

Then there was the realization that even the best of friendships didn't excite people in ways that made them want to kiss and touch for hours. Now the path was used for Axel to either clamber into Roxas' bed or, if they feared they would be too noisy, Roxas could climb down the shed and they could go to the forest on summer nights or to the barn in the winter.

That night would prove to be a little different.

Roxas had been reading, quite comfy lying on his bed. His heart pumped fire and his nerves burned when he heard the tap on his window. Dog-earing the page, he jumped lightly to his feet and opened the window to reveal Axel...dressed in a black uniform.

Axel slid soundlessly through the window and stood before his baffled friend.

"Axel, what the hell are you wearing?" Roxas asked, tugging lightly at the long, black trench coat.

"How do I look?" Axel asked, enjoying Roxas' bemusement and fingers running across his new uniform.

"Good," Roxas said but hesitantly.

"Just good, Roxy?"

Roxas took his hands off Axel and stepped back as though Axel was an infectious disease. Axel thought Roxas actually didn't like the uniform and felt shame trickle down his spine and settle in his stomach.

"Just 'cause we can't make too much noise doesn't mean you can get away with calling me ridiculous names," Roxas chuckled and the humour returned to Axel as well.

Roxas removed his book from the bed, sat down and patted the space next to him. Axel kicked off his heavy boots and took Roxas in his arms as they lay down. Axel dolefully rested his lips on the top of the boy's blonde head as Roxas wound his fingers in Axel's long, red hair. They both seemed to sense something was off. The coat, they both seemed to think, was the third wheel in that situation. It was rather bulky and a little too warm yet for a mild fall night. Roxas undid the buttons and Axel sat up to roll the coat off his shoulders. He had the thought of asking Roxas if there was a place he could hang it so that it wouldn't wrinkle, but as Roxas' lips pressed against his throat, he let the coat fall in a disgruntled heap at the edge of their bed.

Author's Note: So what's going through your head right now? I'll try posting chapters weekly, maybe a couple chapters a week? Ha ha, apparently I need to set some stricter goals. As always, praise and constructive criticism is adored. Oh, and if anything is hard to read due to spacing or dividers, let me know 'cause I'm definitely not the most tech savvy person. Even after posting a couple stories I'm still not sure what looks good or is easy to read.

Thank you for reading, it means quite a lot!