#anyone read The One Thing over on ffn

[clyrnin10yearslater]

alright I did the math and I have 866 pages of (mostly unpublished) clyrnin fanfics. 866 pages and I only ever published three fics. I only ever actually finished one... help

[stu-dyingstudent]

Sakura Haruno fic recs: romance-centric

I, like many others, definitely enjoy a a good romance every so often. All of these recs are going to have the romantic development of the characters as the forefront of the story, so just because the fic includes a ship doesn't mean it will go on the list. That means, many of them might feel more on the slice of life side of the spectrum, but that's not the case for all!!

There is going to be a mix of ships here so if you're interested in one in specific then use the search feature!

Started: 2024.08.28

Last Updated: 2024.09.02

note: feel free to check out my master list which has a bunch of Sakura Haruno fic recs (all organized)!

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To Build a Home - RedPowder || ao3 || E || kakasaku || canon divergence || ongoing

Sakura and Kakashi are assigned a mission that will change the path of their lives forever.

Kakashi and Sakura are forced to marry on orders from the village and I know that description sounds dumb, but trust me when I say this fic is gold. I've always had a hard time with kakasaku fics because I feel the whole teacher/student thing gets swept under the rug too easily, but that's not the case here. Their past relationship from team 7 is a glaring shadow over their marriage and the guilt over the whole situation weighs heavy on Kakashi. This mission isn't easy for either of them and it takes a lot of pull and tug to ensure things don't completely blow up. To Build a Home is probably one of my favorite takes on this ship as the portrayal feels realistic and the character feel accurate to themselves. Just give it a go!

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Approaching Sun - ANerdInAllHerGlory || ffn || T || sasusaku || blank period || ongoing

After 2 years, Sasuke returns to the village where friends anxiously await him. Still troubled by the mysteries of Kaguya and his personal guilt, Sasuke is split between friends and his journey. Troubled by rising casualties and international dependence on her abilities, Sakura is torn between her love for Sasuke and her duty to her village.

Approaching Sun is probably one of the most realistic depictions of Sasuke and Sakura's relationship that I have read. This takes place during the blank period and references the novels, so it feels like an actual possibility of what went down. As much as I love them, I have a hard time believing that their relationship was smooth sailing and so I think this is an interesting take.

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The Fool - thekatthatbarks || ao3 || T || shikasaku || blank period || complete

Ino kicked at a pebble on the ground, her arms folded across her chest. “How long?” Shikamaru sighed and pulled the cigarette away from his lips. “The war." It was a lie somewhat. He’d liked her since they were kids but had simply ignored the budding crush expecting it to fade over time. It hadn’t and by the time the war came around, he accepted he would always carry it despite his increasing efforts to drop it. He’d tried drowning it in the river, burning it in a fire, covering it up with something else. But it was all to no avail. It stuck with him, always apart of him. “Have you ever told anyone? Chouji? Her?” "No."

I actually really like Shikamaru and Sakura as a pairing (or just working together in general); however, I haven't read much of them. The Fool was a great post-war read where with some meddling (curtesy of Ino) we get to watch the progression of their relationship into something more than friends.

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Nightmare in Red - Sariasprincy || ao3 || M || itasaku || non-massacre AU || complete

Haruno Sakura used to think the eyes were the windows to the soul, but after witnessing the horrors of the Sharingan firsthand, she's convinced they are the doors. It was pure chance that led Sakura to the discovery of the disease eating through Uchiha Itachi's lungs and now that she's aware, she knows she cannot just turn a blind eye. But how is she to treat the very man who tortured her while at the same time keep her nightmares from consuming her? That she doesn't know, but she knows she has to try, even if it nearly kills her in the end.

Itachi unintentionally captures Sakura in his mangekyou after being rolled into the hospital for her to heal. While Sakura tries to work through the impacts of the genjutsu she continues to work with him in an effort to cure him of the disease infecting his body. I actually really liked how the whole thing played out. Itachi's sickness was sort of a mystery in the original series and so I found it rather interesting to see what was done in regards to it. Anyway, I love their interactions and Shisui is (like always) a great character as well.

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Blind - ObsidianSickle || ffn || sasusaku || T || canon divergent || complete

It was almost time, Orochimaru was going to take his body as a vessel. He hated being used...he refused to be used. With that thought, he took the kunai in his hand and slashed across his eyes.

I won't lie, Sakura is pretty weak in Blind and the whole thing is super cheesy, but it's still an enjoyable read.

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Ghosts - ElegiesforShiva || ffn || sausaku || M || blank period || incomplete

In love and loss, it often comes back to family, and Team 7 had always been fated, hadn't they? Deny it as she may, Sakura finds her heart strung to them with an uncanny reverence and the weight of their ghosts. Sakura-centric. Heavy, heavy angst. Slow burn Sasusaku. Canon pairings. Lots of friendship feels. Eventual (consensual) lemon.

Ghosts is a pretty dark read where basically everyone is suffering. Sasuke and Sakura in specific have an especially hard time coping with their individual struggles yet they find comfort in each other. Check TWs before going in

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Home is Where the Heart is - DeepPoeticGirl || ffn || sasusaku || T || blank period || complete

And with every moment together, they get just a little closer, a little more comfortable with each other. Fall a little more in love. Post-war. Pre-epilogue.

This fic is actually adorable! Taking place during the black period we get to see how Sasuke and Sakura's relationship slowly progresses. If you've always wondered what their travels were like then definitely check this one out.

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In Times of Peace - SouthSideStory || ffn || sasusaku || M || blank period || canon divergent || complete

The war is over, and like Konoha, Team 7 has rebuilt itself from the ground up. Everything has changed, but Sasuke and Sakura remain much the same. Eleven years, she thinks, is a long time to be in love.

Sakura and Sasuke have like a secret relationship going on. Also, Sakura as a jonin sensei is so good!! I really wish that someone from the original cast actually went down that route, but whatever.

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Labyrinthine - FM_White || ao3 || itasaku || M || canon divergence || complete

ItaSaku (Post Uchiha Massacre) AU: Some things are destined to be. It just takes a couple of tries to get there.ItaSaku. Light KakaSaku.

I actually really liked how this was done as team 7 is still a family, Sasuke didn't lose his mind, Itachi picked a much more respectable path imo, and the characters are all adults.

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Only a Crush by Gingersoup || ao3 || kakasaku || M || canon divergent || complete

It was supposed to be an easy, fun night out. She never intended to wake up in her sensei's bed, half-naked and with no memory of what happened the night before! As she tries to unravel the mystery of that night, something sinister is growing beyond the walls of the Leaf Village... and what was only a crush spirals wildly out of control.

Sakura is unwillingly thrust into the world of illegal drugs, trafficking, and sex all while coming to terms with her new feelings regarding her former sensei. I typically don't like kakasaku, but I think this work is done tastefully well. The characters are both adults and the immorality of the relationship is not ignored, so be prepared for a lot of "we can't," "this is wrong," etc.. Anyway, Sakura is an absolute powerhouse and I thoroughly enjoyed the relationship between all of the different characters and villages!

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Dreaming's End - thepiedsniper || ao3 || T || kakasaku || canon divergence || complete

Sakura didn't avoid the Infinite Tsukuyomi with the others, and all the events that happened afterward were simply the product of her dream-state. When Sakura finally wakes up from years spent in her personal "paradise," she must to learn how to start again. Kakashi is there to help her. ~*~ (TWs for genjutsu-related unreality)

Basically, imagine the entirety of Boruto was Sakura's dream in Infinite Tsukuyomi. When Sakura manages to breakout during the war she's left to deal with serious ramifications of the life she just lived. She finds herself constantly questioning what's real and Kakashi tries to help her through it.

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Mamihlapinatapai - FM_White || ao3 || E || itasaku || canon divergence || ongoing

Mamihlapinatapai・Yagan. (n.) a look shared by two people, each wishing that the other would initiate something they both desire, but which neither wants to begin In which Sakura tries her hardest to raise one hell of a rambunctious baby by herself, Sasuke is searching for something unknown, and Itachi is the uncle.

In another life where Itachi doesn't end up dying and instead tries his best to help Sakura raise his niece in Sasuke's absence. It's my head canon that everyone came together to help with Sarada just like they did for Kuranai, and so Mamihlapinatapi satisfies that thought for me. I like how Sasuke was criticized in this since as much as I understand the necessity of what he's doing, I also find it completely unfair to his wife and daughter. Itachi and Sakura form a great bond and it's all very domestic and just super fluffy all around, which I love.

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Louder than Words - SouthSideStory || ao3 || T || sasusaku || non-massacre AU || complete

Sakura hasn’t uttered a single word since the day her family died, but Sasuke is determined to hear her, one way or another. (No Uchiha massacre AU.)

Sakura gets taken in by the Uchiha family after Fugaku finds her on a mission. She's been mute ever since, but that doesn't stop her and Sasuke from forming a close bond.

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Snake Bound - shefalls || ao3 || E || sasusaku || canon divergence || complete

"You... took me with you." "That's what I said." "To Orochimaru. You took me with you, to Orochimaru." Sasuke nodded curtly and shoved the medical kit a little more insistently into her hands. Sakura accepted, and prayed to every known god that Orochimaru would ignore her existence. She should've known the gods don't listen. Now only on AO3. Sequel up.

What if Sasuke took Sakura with him like she asked? Snake Bound explores that idea and it's honestly a very uncomfortable read. Their relationship is based off of the isolation and dependency their new situation puts them in. All they really have is each other and the new bond that brings is not a healthy one.

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Armour-Sleeved Single Hit - thatdamnuchiha || ao3 || T || madasaku || time travel AU || one-shot complete

Sasuke always told Sakura she was weak. Even after she trained with Tsunade for years he only had eyes for Naruto whom he considered strong. She would forever be invisible to him no matter how many mountains she toppled.Being a member of Team Seven despite Sasuke’s refusal to acknowledge her meant she got herself into her fair share of sticky situations. Getting stuck a hundred odd years in the past had to take the cake though.But she was just a weak little girl and compared to the shinobi of old she’d be ridiculously pathetic. Sasuke had said she was weak to him – a modern day shinobi who hadn’t been forced into battle after battle like they did in the Warring Clans Era. Obviously she’d be nothing more than a spec of dirt in the eyes of the Founders.

Sakura manages to find herself in founding-era Konoha! While trying to prove that medical ninja are capable fighters she unknowingly gains the affection of Madara Uchiha. After all, the Uchiha find beauty in strength. Super cute read!

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Always You - alex-halcyon || ffn || T || kakasaku || age swap AU || complete

[AU. Age-swap] Kakashi x Sakura. From academy days to the third shinobi war and beyond, Kakashi and Sakura grow up and fall in love.

Basically, Sakura takes Rin's place on the old team 7. The progression between the character is quite interesting as it definitely isn't smooth sailing for Kakashi and Sakura. However, even through everything they find themselves drifting towards each other. Pretty cute imo.

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interim - stannide || ao3 || T || sasusaku || blank period || one-shot complete

Sasuke lives with Sakura in the weeks after the war.

Interim is such a wholesome read where Sasuke and Sakura rekindle their former relationship. Super fluffy

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Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Tozette || ao3 || T || sasusaku || blank period || one-shot complete

Sasuke is actually eighteen the first time he looks at Sakura and realises abruptly that he wants her.

I think we all know by now that Sasuke has always been attracted to strength, power, so why not when it comes to romance? Essentially, one day on a mission, Sasuke discovers he has a strength kink. Watching him continuously get flustered throughout the fic because of his admiration towards Sakura's strength is so entertaining. Really fun read

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the problem with how time works - MurderMittens || ao3 || E || kakasaku || generation swap AU || complete

"I don't remember you being this uncomfortable when Kakashi was nine and had a crush on you," Ino pointed out neutrally. "You thought it was flattering before." She moved to pour more wine into their glasses as Sakura exhaled sharply out of her nostrils. "Obviously! It was fucking cute when he was a kid! But now he's..." she trailed off, gesticulating feebly. Ino, taking pity on her, finished the sentence: "Now he's a stone cold hottie who looks and sounds like he'd murder the ever-loving shit out of your vagina."

Sakura and Kakashi's generations swap place and boy is it entertaining. With Naruto as his sensei, of course Kakashi has met Sakura. Now that she's back in the village after years, Kakashi decides to try his best to win her over.

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on still water - summersirius || ao3 || T || shisaku || canon divergence || complete

and sometimes, there are days without rain. —shisui/sakura

I'm actually devastated that the author decided to not pursue the plot line after about chapter 15 (it was so good too), but On Still Water is great nonetheless. Some really cute Shisui x Sakura moments

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never let 'em know your next move - MirrorImage003 || ao3 || T || itasaku || non-massacre AU || one-shot complete

six times itachi is surprised by sakura, and the one time he's surprised by his mother.

Sort of drabble style moments between Itachi and Sakura and it's honestly adorable.

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Hatsukoi - sparklyfaerie || ao3 || sasusaku || gen || non-massacre AU || complete

Sasuke leans away as the girl turns to him, and his mother doesn't need to be any closer to guess as to the expression on his face. The girl's body language changes in an instant, and Mikoto recognizes the posture of a little girl in love. It's kind of adorable.

Probably one of the cutest sasusaku fics I have read as Hatsukoi follows them from genin to marriage! It's told in multiple perspectives and it's full of tooth rotting fluff. You get to watch the slow progression of their relationship over time and how they grow even closer in Naruto's absence. Definitely read is you want something light!

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Send me some recs if you have any to share! I'm generally fine with any ship as long as the story is good :)

[olderthannetfic]

I accidentally killed my own desire to write, and I need some advice. To be really blunt about it, what's the point of writing? When I would spend lots of time laboring over making a good story with a plot and characters who were in-character and connecting all the dots narratively so payoffs were satisfying, my reward was dead silence and virtually no clicks. I posted some mindless smut to my side account one day and got more hits in a day than most of my other works combined got in a year. I know, I know. "Write for ~*~yourself~*~" is the common response. It's the "be yourself!" of writing. It's supposed to be a magical phrase that'll make everything okay. But... I don't like knowing that something I spend months working on won't be read by anyone while something I write in a car while bored got thousands of clicks. I don't like making something I'm proud of and then no one ever looks at it. That's not fun for me. It's not fulfilling.

For a solid decade, I've tried to ignore how the level of interactivity in fandom is falling. Fewer comments. Fewer kudos. No comments in the bookmarks. You put your tumblr and Discord in the AN and get a handful of asks and one person who adds you, talks to you twice and then ghosts you. Most of the comments are "well, actuallys", made even more annoying by them being wrong as opposed to actually correcting an error. I avoid fandom drama, wank, and infighting. I don't engage with things I know will make me unhappy. I try to be happy over in my own little corner. I comment on every single work I read. I want people to enjoy fandom. I used to.

Some dumb smut I wrote in 40 minutes gets five times the hits of the writing I'm most proud of, and it gets it in just under three months. I am not a great smut writer. I haven't stumbled onto an incredible talent I had that makes it so the issue is that I'm so amazing my smut brings all the boys to the yard. People just don't like what I write and put effort into. It's very likely that despite 20 years of writing fic, I suck at writing. And people enjoy my writing most when they don't have to put up with anything substantial and can just skip to the sex.

So for the last eight months, when I write, I just sort of give up. Close the Word doc without saving. No one will read this. No one cares about this. There is no fan eagerly awaiting every update like I await updates from my favorite authors. There's not even someone saying, "update soon!" Close the Word doc. Delete old WIPs. There's no point. I do not tell stories worth reading. I used to. In the FFN days people genuinely enjoyed my work. I'd never have had an opportunity to do the 'I won't update until I get 3 reviews' thing because getting that many on a chapter was usually something I'd do overnight. Post before bed. Wake up. Read the reviews before school. I peaked in high school, I guess.

And now I'm just sort of lost. I still have lots of ideas. Ideas for fics fall into my head all the time. That's never been a problem. What I don't have is any motivation to write them. What's the point of writing? If no one else is reading, I guess the point would be so I could go back and read my own story and have fun with it. Write for myself. But I can review the story and have fun with it in my head without writing it down. It's substantially faster and more importantly, isn't incredibly depressing.

So, at the risk of definitely being calld the second-coming of True Art Anon or a troll or validation-seeking or haha mentally ill haha... what's the point of writing?

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Okay, so write porn in a car while you're bored.

Look, you can whine all you want about my response, but what you've written here is blatantly about depression.

Lots of people in fandom are still interacting. And no, it isn't just on fics that are objectively written to some pro fiction standard or whatever. Teenagers still breathlessly review poorly spelled cracky masterpieces about this year's big anime and so forth.

Yes, there may be reasons why you in particular are in a slump when it comes to fandom friendships or "plz update" comments. We can talk about that. But this ask is all gloom about fandom in general. That's not realism: that's you having a problem.

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As for why a person should write: because the actual hours you spend doing the writing are fun.

If they aren't pleasurable in some way, find another hobby.

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But if you want an answer to the age old "Why did my 5 minute fic get 1000000x more asspats", I've seen meta about this for literally decades.

The most likely reason is that the fic we write quickly and without much thought often feels fresher and more fun. The things we labor over endlessly can feel overworked. Even in cases where they don't, they're often heavier subject matter or more niche subject matter. On top of all that, we just care more, so even a high level of feedback doesn't really feel like enough for the effort and care we put in.

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Do you really need me to tell you why you don't feel the same as in high school when things were fresh and new?

Go read up on combatting burnout or dealing with post-college anxiety or managing stress in a dead-end job in your 30s or finding meaning in your 40s or whatever is going on.

Everyone goes through fallow periods in fandom and in life.

Feeling reinvigorated has to do with internal factors and some general life circumstance stuff. It doesn't have that much to do with number of kudos. That's just the surface trigger for a mood that was already there.

[jrob64]

Pet for Rent, Chapter 1/4 (The Meet Cute) A CS Modern AU Story

For those of you who read "Sowing Seeds of Trust", you might remember that my dog Zeke had a starring role in it. To my great heartbreak, he died of cancer last June. When we rescued him, the shelter had named him Ernie, and he will be referenced with that name in this story.

Life without a dog proved to be very lonely, so at the end of August, we rescued another dog. The sad story of the dog in this story is what really happened to our new dog. He was named Norman and we renamed him Winston, just like in the story. That's actually him in the pic set with his 'ducky'.

This was supposed to be a short, sweet story, but somehow turned into 4 chapters. Updates will be once a week.

Special thanks to my beta @hookedmom and also to @beckettj and @zaharadessert for helping me understand the football (soccer) system in England.

SUMMARY: Emma Swan tries to cheer up her heartbroken son by 'renting' a dog from the local animal shelter. When she attempts to do it a second time, she makes a mistake, and realizes the dog has been rented by someone else the same day - a very handsome man named Killian Jones.

RATING: M (for smut in the last chapter, which can easily be skipped if that's not your thing)

WORDS: 7754

ALSO POSTED TO A03 & FFN

Story begins under the cut

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Emma Swan flopped down onto her sofa with a sigh. Since their beloved dog Ernie died three weeks ago, she had come to dread her eight-year-old son Henry’s bedtime. Every night when he said his prayers, he ended with, “God, please tell Ernie I love him and miss him, and please send me another dog. Amen.”

Her son knew the chances of getting a dog were slim to none because of his soccer practices and games, and Emma’s schedule for her new job at the sheriff’s station. They had no time to train a puppy.

Understanding why he couldn’t have a dog didn’t make his heart hurt any less. Her heart was just as broken, knowing the sadness and loneliness Henry was experiencing.

After decompressing for a few minutes, Emma’s searching hand located her phone on the end table. She unlocked it and opened her Discord app, selecting the icon representing the parents’ group of Henry’s second grade class. Sitting up a little straighter, she typed a message: Does anyone have ideas of how to help Henry get over the loss of his dog? He keeps praying for a new one, but it wouldn’t be fair to the dog to get one with our busy schedule.

She watched the screen intently for a couple of minutes, but when no names appeared to show that someone was answering, she tossed the phone onto the couch and went into the kitchen to load the dishwasher.

Forty minutes later, after cleaning up the kitchen, going through her nightly routine and changing into her pajamas, she went back into the living room. Television held no interest for her, and realizing she finished her last library book the previous evening, she picked up her phone to mindlessly play a game. Upon unlocking it, her screen opened to the Discord page and she saw three replies to her question.

The first two simply expressed sympathy for the loss of Ernie, but the third one offered a helpful suggestion. Have you thought about ‘renting’ a dog for a day? The animal shelter just outside of town offers that option. We did it for my mother when her Maltese died. The post ended with the web address for the shelter.

Emma immediately pulled up the site and, after searching the homepage, clicked on the tab for ‘services’. Scrolling down the list, she saw ‘Rent-a-Pet’ and selected it. As she read the description of how the program worked, she idly twisted strands of blonde hair around her index finger.

It sounded like a great compromise for their situation. For a donation to the shelter in the form of money, bags of pet food, treats or toys, one of the available animals could come home with them for several hours. The dogs and cats were guaranteed to be docile and house-trained, and could be adopted by the ‘renter’, if desired.

Clicking on the link taking her to the bios of the pets currently housed at the shelter, she filtered it to include only canines. Pictures of nearly two dozen dogs filled the screen, each more adorable and aww-worthy than the last.

Quickly ruling out any that were guaranteed to shed fur all over her house or were bigger than her son, her search was narrowed to nine prospects. She knew her rambunctious son would be keen to play outside with the dog and walk him or her to Storybrooke’s dog park, so a tiny fru-fru pup was out of the question, too. That left six.

She selected one at a time, reading about their breed and temperament. When she brought up the picture of the fourth candidate, the big, chocolate brown eyes and happy expression nearly made her heart melt.

‘Norman’ was a mixed breed and very little was known about him, because he was found tied to a stop sign in the middle of Portland, Maine. He was guessed to be a cocker spaniel mix and was approximately 1-2 years old. His black fur looked sleek and Emma knew he probably wouldn’t shed. A short video showed him romping and playing with another dog in the fenced play yard of the shelter.

Saving the page, she brought up the calendar on her phone and checked their schedule for the rest of the week. Henry had an early soccer game on Saturday, which would be over by 10:30, leaving the rest of the morning and afternoon free. Switching back to the shelter website, she hit the ‘Rent-a-Pet’ button again and began filling in the information, selecting ‘Norman’ when it gave her the choice of animals.

She decided not to tell Henry about the plan, opting to surprise him with it instead.

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“Great game, kid,” Emma complimented her son, ruffling his sweaty hair. “Your pass to Avery was a nice assist. That goal turned out to be the game winner.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Henry grinned around his mouthful of granola bar. “That’s the first time all season we beat the orange team.”

“I know, and I think that calls for a celebration, don’t you?” Emma fished her car keys out of her jeans pocket, before picking up her lawn chair and water bottle.

“Are we gonna get ice cream?” he asked, before cramming the rest of his snack into his mouth.

“You just ate a granola bar and a banana, and lunch will be in just an hour or so,” she laughed. “I have something else in mind.”

“Whaisit?” he queried, the unswallowed food muffling his voice.

“Well, I know how much you miss Ernie, and Violet’s mom told me about a program at the animal shelter that lets you rent a pet for a few hours,” she answered slowly, watching his reaction out of the corner of her eye. “So, I signed up to get a dog for you to play with until three o’clock this afternoon.”

Henry stopped in his tracks, swallowing down the rest of his snack as his eyes grew wide. “Really? You can do that?”

“Yeah, we’re scheduled to pick him up at eleven. What do you think about that?”

His exuberant shout of joy and sprint to the car was all the answer she needed.

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Emma couldn’t keep up with her son once he unstrapped his safety belt, exited the car and bounded toward the front door of the shelter. He was already ringing the little bell on the counter for service before she made it inside and chided him lightly for not waiting for her.

A tall, broad-shouldered man with sandy hair and light blue eyes entered through a door, the barking of dogs stifled when it clicked shut behind him. He gave them a dazzling smile and greeted them warmly with a hearty ‘good morning’.

Emma reached forward to shake his hand. “Hi, I’m Emma Swan and this is my son, Henry.”

“David Nolan,” he responded, shaking her hand, then doing the same with Henry.

“My teacher’s name is Mrs. Nolan, the same as yours,” the boy told him.

“You wouldn’t happen to be in second grade at Storybrooke Elementary, would you?” David asked.

“Yeah,” Henry confirmed.

“Ah, well, that means your teacher is my wife!”

“Wow, cool!” Henry exclaimed. “She’s the best teacher I ever had!”

David’s grin grew even wider. “That’s good to hear. She tells me all about her students every evening and she thinks yours is the best class she’s ever had!”

“It’s quite a coincidence, meeting you here,” Emma commented with a smile.

“I’ll be sure to tell Mary Margaret I met the two of you. Now, what can I do for you today?”

Emma pulled her phone out of her purse, unlocked it, and tapped on the screen a few times. Then she laid it on the counter and turned it to show David. “I signed up for the Rent-a-Pet program. Here’s the email with my confirmation.”

David peered down at the screen and used his finger to scroll down a bit. “I see you chose Norman,” he commented, looking up at her.

“Um, yeah. Is he a good dog? I don’t want any messes in my house or car.”

“He’s a great dog,” he assured her, reaching back to the wall behind him to lift a leash off of a hook. “Gets along well with other dogs, seems to love kids, and is generally a very happy little guy.”

Henry bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. “Can we take him to the dog park? Ernie always loved going to the dog park.” His countenance dropped, a small cloud of sadness passing across his features.

David shared an understanding look with Emma. “Of course you can take him. I’m sure he will love it! Would you like to come back with me to get him?”

The boy turned to look at his mother. “Can I?”

“Sure, kid. I think I’ll come back, too, if Mr. Nolan doesn’t mind.”

“The more, the merrier,” David said cheerfully.

He waited until they joined him on the other side of the counter, then opened the door to the large room full of animal cages. Immediately, the sound of barking, howling and meows filled their ears.

“They get very excited when they know someone is coming back here. I think the animals closest to the door are spies and tell the others,” David joked, raising his voice to be heard over the din.

Emma walked behind Henry, watching him turn his head left and right to peer at the occupants of all of the pens.

“Aw, Mom, look at that little puppy! He’s so cute! Aw, that dog seems sad. I bet he doesn’t like being in a cage. Look Mom, they have cats here, too.” His litany was continuous as they slowly walked down the aisle between the enclosures.

Finally, David stopped in front of a pen and turned to them, gesturing toward the dog inside. “This is Norman. He has a sad story, but he’s kept his sweet temperament, haven’t you, boy?”

As if in answer, the black dog stood up, his tail starting to wag as he realized the man was talking about him. Henry dropped to his knees in front of the cage, placing his hands against the wire. “Hi, Norman! My name is Henry. Would you like to come home with us for a little while?” The dog’s tail was wagging so fast, his entire body wiggled. “I think he understands me, Mom!” Henry said excitedly.

As David slipped inside the pen to clip the leash to Norman’s collar, Emma asked, “Has he ever been rented before?”

“Several times,” David answered, straightening up once he had the leash attached. “He’s always done really well.” Opening the door of the kennel again, he allowed the dog to go ahead of him, out to where the boy still knelt.

“Hi, boy,” Henry crooned, running his hands over the dog’s head.

Emma bent down and stroked the sleek fur on Norman’s back and sides. “He’s so soft,” she commented.

“He appears to have the coat of a cocker spaniel,” David said, “but he’s definitely a mixed breed.” He watched the boy and dog interact for a few seconds before holding out the looped end of the leash. “Would you like to lead him out to the lobby, Henry?”

He looked up at Emma with hopeful eyes. “Is that okay, Mom?”

“How is he on a leash?” she asked David. “He won’t pull my kid’s arm out of the socket, will he?”

David laughed. “He does fairly well, but if he gets excited, he can get pretty rambunctious. He’ll be fine just going to the lobby, but you might have to walk him out to your car instead of Henry.”

“Sounds like a deal, kid,” she said, giving him a nod of approval.

Henry eagerly accepted the leash and started off down the aisle. “Come on, Norman. Come on, boy. You’re gonna like it at our house. We still have some of Ernie’s toys and balls.”

Emma and David trailed behind. “How long ago did you lose your dog?” he asked.

“Almost a month and Henry is really struggling with it. He and Ernie were best buds.”

“I’m sorry. That’s rough, especially for a kid.”

“And his mom,” Emma added. “I never realized how much I loved that dog, until he got sick and I knew we were going to lose him.”

“Hopefully, Norman will give you both a few hours of enjoyment and help ease the heartache a bit,” David said, before hurrying forward to pull the door open for Henry and the dog.

While David printed off the paperwork, Norman sniffed around Henry, who sat cross-legged on the floor, giggling when the dog licked his ears. “Ernie used to do that too, remember, Mom?”

Emma smiled down at him. “Yeah, you must have very tasty ears. Maybe you should start washing them better.”

“I won’t need to, after Norman washes them!”

She turned back to finish signing the papers. “It’s nice to hear him laughing again. He hasn’t done much of that lately,” she confided to David.

“I think this will be good for both of you and Norman. He really likes being around people. I’m very surprised he hasn’t been adopted yet.”

“Do you think there’s a reason for that?”

David shrugged. “This tends to be a slow time of the year for adoptions. Summer is over and school is back in session, so people don’t have as much time to welcome a new dog into their house.”

“That’s the boat we’re in right now,” Emma commented.

“Once it gets closer to Christmas, people will come in looking for pets to give as gifts. That’s good, but also bad, because about a quarter of them are brought back when they realize a pet is more work than they anticipated.”

“We got Ernie from the shelter when Henry was two. He was already five years old, house-trained and had all of the annoying puppy behaviors out of his system.”

“Most people want puppies instead of adult dogs, but there are a lot of advantages to getting an older dog.”

“Norman doesn’t seem to be very old.”

“I’d say at least two, but he’s pretty chill. Once he runs out of energy, he becomes a couch potato.” David collected the paperwork and tapped it on the counter to straighten it. “Well, that’s all I need from you. Norman is yours until three o’clock.”

“Yay!” Henry shouted, causing the dog to start barking.

Emma reached down to take the leash. “Don’t get him all riled up right before we put him in the car, kid.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Henry apologized. “I just can’t wait to get him home! Can he sit in the back with me?”

“Sure, but first you need to thank Mr. Nolan.”

Henry popped up from the floor and looked back at David. “Thanks, Mr. Nolan! I’ll take good care of Norman, I promise!”

“My pleasure, Henry. Have fun!” David grinned.

Mother and son exited the building, with Norman leading the way, tugging excitedly on the leash. “Slow down, pup,” Emma laughed.

Henry ran ahead to open the door of the yellow Volkswagen Beetle, sliding the front seat forward and clambering into the back. As soon as Norman reached the car, he hopped in and sat on the seat beside Henry like he’d done it every day of his life.

“Well, that was easy,” Emma commented, removing the loop of the leash from her wrist and tossing it beside the dog. After closing the door, she circled around behind the car to get into the driver’s seat. She looked into the rearview mirror and choked up at the sight meeting her eyes. Henry had his arms wrapped around Norman’s neck with his eyes closed and his head resting against the dog’s.

Emma was sure the time with Norman was going to be good for both boy and dog, but she couldn’t help but worry about what would happen when it came time to bring him back to the shelter.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Emma was barely able to get Henry to eat when they got home, and had to reprimand him for sneaking Norman bits of his sandwich. The dog, for his part, sat politely while they ate, not begging or whining. She was impressed with his behavior, remembering how she had to break Ernie from begging at the table when they first adopted him.

Henry and Norman bonded quickly as they chased each other around the small backyard, playing with a tennis ball and squeaky toys from Ernie’s toy basket. Emma sat on their small patio, thoroughly enjoying the sounds of happy barking and her son’s laughter. She pulled out her phone and took a picture, posting it to the Discord group and tagging Violet’s mom to thank her for the idea of renting a pet.

  Just after two o’clock, Emma suggested taking Norman to the dog park before going back to the shelter. They played there for forty minutes, then the three of them returned home and piled back into the car. Once again, she caught sight in the mirror of her son hugging the dog and sighed, but instead of dreading Norman’s return, she decided to enjoy every minute of happiness it was bringing to Henry…and herself.

Their time with the dog was over all too soon. After Emma parked the car at the shelter, Henry got out of the car and trudged to the door with the leash gripped tightly in his hand. Norman seemed to sense the boy’s mood and walked slowly beside him, his head hanging low.

David was at the desk to greet them again, an understanding look at his face at the dejected look of all three of them. “Was he good for you?” he asked.

“He was great,” Emma answered, rubbing her hand soothingly over her son’s back. “Wasn’t he, kid?”

“Yeah,” Henry quietly agreed, his eyes trained on the floor.

“You know, you’re welcome to rent Norman, or any of our other dogs, anytime you want,” David said.

Henry looked up. “But what if someone adopts him?”

“Well, that would be a good thing for Norman,” Emma reminded him.

“I guess,” Henry sighed. He knelt down beside the dog, wrapping him up in another hug. “I’ll miss you, boy, but maybe I’ll see you again.” The dog licked his cheek, eliciting a small giggle. Then Henry stood and held the leash out to David. “Thank you, Mr. Nolan. I had a lot of fun with Norman.”

“I’m happy to hear it,” David said, accepting the leash and moving around the counter. Patting the dog on the head, he added, “I hope we’ll see you again, soon.”

Henry turned pleading eyes to his mother. “Can we do it again next weekend, Mom?”

“You have Avery’s birthday party next Saturday, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” Henry nodded, then bit his lip in contemplation. “The next weekend, then?”

Emma laughed. “We’ll see.” She leaned down to pet the dog’s head. “Be a good boy, Norman. You’re welcome at our house anytime.”

After saying their goodbyes, they watched David take the dog toward the door leading to the back. Norman turned and gave them a sad look before following the shelter worker through it, tearing at Emma’s heart even more.

She swallowed hard and said, “Come on, kid. Let’s go home.”

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

The sadness soon wore off and for the next several days, Henry talked almost incessantly about all of the fun he had with Norman. Emma checked their schedule and saw that Henry had another early game three weeks later, which would be the last game of the soccer season. She relayed that news to Henry, asking him if he wanted to rent Norman again that day, and was answered with a very enthusiastic ‘YES!’

She nearly forgot to make the reservation, only remembering three days before, while waiting to pick Henry up from practice. Quickly, she pulled up the website and filled out the form, glancing up often to see if Henry was coming off the field because she always liked to meet him as soon as he did, instead of waiting for him in the car.

Emma was especially glad they decided to rent Norman Saturday, since Henry’s soccer team lost their final game by one goal. His downcast look was soon replaced with excitement when she reminded him that they would be going to the shelter.

When they arrived, he bounded out of the car and waited impatiently for his mom to join him, before practically sprinting to the door. It took a couple of minutes before David emerged from the back, beaming a smile when he saw them waiting at the counter.

“Henry! Emma! I’m very happy to see you again!”

“We’re here to get Norman,” Henry said excitedly.

A puzzled look crossed David’s face. “I’m sorry, but Norman is already being rented by somebody else today,” he informed them.

“What?” Henry asked, a slight tremor in his voice. Then he turned to Emma. “But Mom, you said we would be getting Norman.”

Emma was already pulling the email up on her phone. “There must be some mistake, Mr. Nolan. I reserved Norman when I filled out the form. See?”

She turned her phone for the worker to see it. David looked at it carefully, then pointed to the screen. “It looks like you didn’t ask for a specific dog.”

“I didn’t?” she questioned, then looked at her phone more closely, her heart dropping when she saw the blank space beside the ‘requested animal’ inquiry. “Oh, Henry. I’m so sorry. I was in a hurry when I filled it out and I must have missed that question.”

“We have several other dogs,” David consoled. “I’m sure you’ll have just as much fun with one of them.”

“No I won’t,” Henry pouted. “I only want Norman.”

“Henry…” Emma started, but was interrupted when the door behind her opened.

“Good morning, Dave,” said a deep voice with a distinctive British accent.

Emma turned to see the newcomer and nearly swallowed her tongue. The man standing before her had to be a mirage, because surely someone that handsome didn’t really exist. He had a lean physique clad in dark jeans and a maroon henley, with a tantalizing view of chest hair peeking out of the unbuttoned neckline. A black leather jacket completed his ensemble. His chiseled jawline was covered with a pleasing amount of scruff and his dark, windblown hair was falling over his forehead. He sported a wide grin and, between that and his deep blue eyes, Emma was mesmerized.

She was suddenly very aware of her own appearance. Henry’s early game meant she had thrown on a pair of sweatpants, donned an old hoodie and stuffed a beanie over her barely brushed hair that morning. Her face was free of makeup, unless you counted a few stray flecks of mascara that stubbornly refused to come off when she washed her face the previous evening.

“Hey, Killian,” David greeted.

The man’s - Killian’s - eyes had settled on Emma, a glint of curiosity evident in them.

“Oh, um, come on Henry,” she said, after several moments of silence. “Let’s get out of this man’s way.”

“But Mommmm…” he whined.

Emma put her hand on his shoulder and guided him away from the counter. “We’ll figure something out, kid.”

“I’m in no hurry, Miss,” Killian began.

“No, it’s okay,” she hurried to assure him. “I’m afraid I created a problem that might take a while to straighten out, so please, go ahead.”

“In that case, thank you very much,” he smiled. Turning his eyes to David, he asked, “Is Winston ready?”

Emma was surprised to see the genial shelter worker furrow his brow at the other man. “Why do you insist on calling him that?”

Killian shrugged. “He looks like a Winston to me, and he answers to that name when he’s at my house.”

David glanced at Emma and Henry and opened his mouth to say something, but apparently changed his mind. Grabbing a leash off of a hook, he said, “Give me a minute,” then he pushed the door open and disappeared into the back.

“Are you adopting a dog today?” Henry asked Killian.

“Alas, no. I just moved into a small apartment here three months ago and am still trying to get everything organized and put away. Being in a new town has been a bit lonely at times, so I’ve been coming here now and then to borrow a dog for a few hours.”

“That’s why we’re here, but somebody is taking the dog I want,” Henry grumbled.

“Henry, that’s enough,” Emma reprimanded. “You haven’t even looked at any of the other dogs.”

“None of them will be as good as Norman.”

Killian’s brows raised. “Did you say Nor-”

Just then, the door behind the counter opened and David came through, trying to control a very excited dog.

“Norman!” Henry cheered, dropping to his knees. The dog started jumping toward him, wildly licking his face as soon as he reached the boy.

“I thought you said he was already rented today,” Emma questioned David.

“He is,” he replied, looking pointedly at Killian.

Emma followed his gaze and saw the other man watching the interaction between Henry and the dog with a sheepish look on his face. The pieces began to click together and she asked, “Wait a minute - is Norman the dog you’re renting today?”

“Aye,” Killian confirmed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Looks like we’re here for the same dog.”

“But you called him by another name,” Emma continued.

“He’s the dog I’ve rented every time and he just doesn’t seem like a Norman to me, so I started calling him Winston,” Killian explained.

All three adults stood looking at the whirlwind of fur jumping all over Henry, who was giggling so much, he could hardly catch his breath.

Finally, Killian spoke. “It seems as though Win-, I mean, Norman, has made his choice. Please let Henry and…his mother have the dog today, Dave.”

“Emma,” she informed him. “My name is Emma Swan, and you don’t have to do that. You had him reserved first. Besides, Henry needs to learn he can’t always have his way.”

“I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my time with the dog, knowing how sad it would make Henry,” Killian responded. He took a step forward and offered Emma his hand to shake. “I’m Killian Jones, by the way. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Emma.”

As they shook hands, David cleared his throat. “Um, I have an idea of how to work this out. It’s a nice day, so why don’t all of you take Norman to the dog park together?”

Emma and Killian both whipped their heads around to stare at him. He seemed to shrink back a bit before stammering, “I mean, that way you could all spend time with him and get to know each other at the same time. You’ve been saying you’d like to meet more people in Storybrooke, Killian, and that’s where Henry and Emma live.” Looking at Emma, he added, “I’ve gotten to know Killian pretty well because he sings in the church choir with me and Mary Margaret. He’s a good guy.”

Emma slowly turned her eyes back to the very handsome man whose hand she suddenly realized she was still holding. She dropped it quickly, as she felt a blush heating her cheeks. Then she looked at Henry, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor with Norman sprawled across his lap. He was looking up at her with hope in his eyes.

Meeting Killian’s gaze once again, she asked, “What do you think?”

“I don’t want to put you in an uncomfortable position, Emma.”

“You wouldn’t have to go all the way back into Storybrooke,” David said. “There’s a small dog park at the end of the walking path, where a lot of people take dogs they’re thinking of adopting.”

“Please, Mom?” Henry pleaded. “Norman would like that, wouldn’t you, boy?”

Emma took a look at the pair and groaned, “It’s bad enough when you use the puppy dog eyes on me, kid. Now you’ve got the dog doing it, too.”

Killian chuckled lowly, the sound of it making Emma’s stomach flip in a very pleasant way. “I would hate to disappoint the two of them, so I’m game if you are, lass.”

Emma chewed her lip in contemplation for a few seconds, before saying, “Okay, but on one condition - you let me pay half of the rental fee.”

“I already paid the fee online,” Killian said.

“So did I, so I guess that takes care of that.”

“Not really,” David said. “You both paid, but you’re only renting one dog. I should reimburse each of you half of the fee.”

“Keep it,” Emma and Killian answered at the same time, then both laughed.

“The shelter can always use a little extra money, can’t it, Mr. Nolan?” Emma asked.

“Please call me David. And of course we can, if you’re both sure you don’t mind.”

As soon as they affirmed their answer, David walked around the counter and picked up the end of the leash. Handing it to Emma, he said, “In that case, Norman-slash-Winston is yours for the next four hours. You can bring him back sooner, if you like, but I’m sure he’s going to love getting out for a while. Oh, and if you get hungry, there’s usually a couple of food trucks near the dog park on Saturdays. Have fun!”

Emma and Killian thanked him, then went out the door with Norman straining at the leash, and Henry skipping along beside him. They quickly found the sign marking the path and started walking it.

After several paces, Killian turned to Emma and asked, “Is it me, or do you feel like David just set us up?”

“One hundred percent,” Emma laughed.

“How long have you known him?”

“David?” she questioned. At his hum of affirmation, she said, “Henry and I rented Norman three weeks ago and that was the first time I met him. David, I mean, not Norman. Well, it was the first time we met Norman, too. His wife is Henry’s teacher. Again, I mean she’s David’s wife, not Norman’s.” She knew she was rambling, but the thought of spending several hours with the gorgeous stranger was making her nervous.

Killian laughed. “That’s a relief. I borrowed Win-, uh, Norman three times and he never once mentioned being married.”

It was Emma’s turn to laugh - mostly because what he said was funny, but also in relief that he responded to her embarrassing prattling with humor, instead of judgment.

“So, if Dave just met you, he probably doesn’t even know if you’re married or dating anyone. That was a little presumptuous of him.”

“Are you fishing for information, Mr. Jones?” Emma teased.

“Killian will do,” he grinned. “And…perhaps?”

Before she could answer, Henry ran back to join them. “Can I take Norman, Mom? He’s walking really well on the leash, so I don’t think he’ll yank my arm out of the socket.”

She looked at Killian, who raised an eyebrow with a bemused look on his face.

“That’s something I said when we picked Norman up the last time,” she explained. Handing the loop of the leash to Henry, she said, “Don’t get too far ahead of us, kid.”

“We won’t,” he tossed over his shoulder.

Emma turned her attention back to the man beside her. “To answer your non-question Killian, no, I am not married or dating anyone. It’s just Henry and me, and always has been. When I told his father I thought I might be pregnant, he didn’t even stick around long enough to find out if I was or not.”

Killian absorbed this news for a few moments before responding, “If you don’t mind me saying, it sounds as if the two of you might be better off without someone like that, anyway.”

“Oh, definitely. Henry is more mature at eight than his sperm donor was as an adult. I was young and foolish, but I had to grow up fast once I became a single mother.” She watched her son trying to get Norman to walk beside him, then turned to look at Killian. “Sorry, that is a lot more information than I’m sure you wanted to know.”

“No need to apologize, Emma. I did ask, in a roundabout way.”

“So what’s your story? Did you move here from England, or am I misreading your accent?”

“You got it right,” he chuckled, then took a deep breath. “There was nothing left for me in England. My brother moved here soon after our mother died two years ago, and once I found out my girlfriend was actually a married woman, I needed a fresh start.”

“Ouch,” Emma commented.

“Aye, and now I’ve probably shared more than you wanted to know.”

“We’ll call it even, and promise to talk about much lighter subjects for the rest of the day,” Emma said.

“Deal.”

“You said your brother moved here. Does that mean he lives in Storybrooke?”

“Aye, he followed his heart and it led him straight to this quaint little town.”

“Who does he date, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“He’s engaged to the town librarian, Belle French.”

“Liam is your brother? I guess I should have figured that out since your last name is Jones.”

“It’s a very common name, lass. Yes, Liam is my brother. I gather you know him?”

“Belle is one of my best friends, so I know him through her. She used to babysit for Henry quite often, when I was a waitress at Granny’s.”

“Ah, the famous Granny’s Diner!” Killian exclaimed. “I visit that establishment frequently. She makes the best lasagna.”

“I think you meant to say the best grilled cheese and onion rings,” Emma grinned mischieviously.

“I’ve yet to try those particular delicacies,” he smirked.

“Try them,” she advised. “I guarantee you’ll love them.”

Looking ahead, they saw they were nearing the dog park and picked up their pace. They caught up with Henry and Norman just before reaching the entrance. There were about a half-dozen dogs running around the park, some loose and others on leashes.

“I think it would be a good idea for Mr. Jones to take Norman before we go in,” Emma told Henry. “He’ll be able to control him better if he gets too excited.”

“Okay,” Henry said, willingly handing over the leash.

“Thanks, lad,” Killian smiled.

Henry went through the first gate, holding it open for his mom, followed by Killian and Norman. When they were all in the buffer zone, Henry opened the next gate leading into the main part of the park.

“You’re raising quite the gentleman, Emma,” Killian commented, after he entered with the dog.

“He has his moments.”

They all watched Norman as he began sniffing around excitedly, then pulling on the leash when he noticed the other canines sharing his space. He nearly yanked Killian off of his feet with his enthusiasm to meet new friends.

The next twenty minutes were spent chasing the dog and trying to settle him down. After a few of the other owners left with their animals, Henry found a tennis ball and engaged Norman in a game of fetch. The adults sat on a bench to observe the pair, laughing at the clumsiness of the dog.

Emma noticed Killian rubbing his shoulder. “Alright there, Jones?”

“I think he might have pulled my arm out of the socket, Swan,” he quipped.

“Very funny, smart guy,” she said, making him laugh again. They watched for a few more minutes before Emma asked, “Do you have a job in Storybrooke? I started working at the sheriff’s station three months ago and I don’t remember seeing you around town.”

“I’m an architect. I was able to keep my job with the firm in England by working online and attending meetings with clients and my colleagues via Zoom. All of my time is spent in my office at home. It’s not ideal, but I appreciate my boss being willing to make concessions for me.”

“Do you plan to get a job here eventually?”

“Aye, if I decide to stay.”

“You don’t sound very sure.”

“I’m used to the hustle and bustle of a big city. Living in Storybrooke has been quite an adjustment.”

“I get that. We moved here from Boston when Henry was two. Granny’s granddaughter, Ruby, was our neighbor there, and when she decided to move back, she talked me into coming with her. At first, I had a hard time getting used to the peace and quiet. That was one reason why I adopted Ernie - just to have a little more noise in the house.”

“Ernie?” Killian questioned.

“Oh, he was our dog. We had him for six years, but he died a couple of months ago.” She pulled her phone out of the pouch of her hoodie and swiped to reveal her lock screen. “This is a picture of Henry with him.”

“Beautiful animal,” Killian commented sincerely, taking in the photo of the brown and white spaniel. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks,” Emma sighed, locking her phone and returning it to the pocket. “Henry grew up with him and he’s had a really hard time with it. Someone suggested renting a pet from the shelter to help him work through it, and that’s how we ended up renting Norman.”

“They seem to really like each other.”

“Yeah, they got along great the first time. That’s why I signed up to get him again, but I was in a hurry when I filled out the form and forgot to ask for a specific dog.”

“Ah, that explains the mix-up,” Killian remarked.

Another half hour passed while they chatted easily, until Henry came over and flopped down on the ground, quickly joined by Norman. “I’m hungry, Mom. Can we get something to eat?”

“Sure, kid. Put Norman back on his leash and we’ll go find those food trucks Mr. Nolan mentioned.”

They soon located the food trucks just down the sidewalk from the park. After discussing their options, they decided to get pulled pork sandwiches from the barbeque place. It was obvious that people who took their pets to the dog park frequented the food trucks, because each one had bowls of water set out in front of them and containers of dog biscuits on their condiment tables.

While they waited for their food, Henry tried to teach Norman to sit, rewarding him with pieces of the biscuits when he obeyed.

“He’s very good with him,” Killian noted.

“He prays for another dog every night, but our schedule is so busy right now. Plus, it’s such a big responsibility and I’m not sure Henry is ready for it. I might be wrong about that though, seeing how he is with Norman.”

After eating, they followed the sidewalk a little further and spotted a playground. Emma and Killian sat on a bench, with Norman sitting between them as they watched Henry play on the equipment.

“You know, we’ve lived in Storybrooke for six years and I never knew this playground existed,” Emma commented. “We don’t come this way very often, because whenever we go out of town, we take the road going south.”

“It appears to be fairly new,” Killian observed. “Perhaps they constructed it when they built those apartments over there, because they don’t look like they’ve been there very long.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. I remember when they were being constructed a couple of years after we moved here, which means they’re less than five years old.”

They lost sight of Henry for a few seconds when he climbed a ladder up into a tower. Suddenly they heard him shout, “Hey, Mom! Look what I found!” and saw him coming down a twisting slide with his arms over his head, clutching a tattered looking soccer ball.

He landed at the bottom and came running over to them. “Someone must have forgotten this at the top of the tower. Wanna kick it around with me?”

“Sure, kid,” Emma answered, hopping up from the bench. “It looks a bit deflated. Are you sure it’s even going to roll?”

“It’ll be fine,” he assured her. Placing it on the ground, he gave it a kick and watched it roll across the grass. “See?”

A black streak flew past him, with Killian following close behind shouting, “Wins-, I mean, Norman! Come back here!”

The dog ignored him, but stopped when he got to the soccer ball. He was trying to pick it up in his mouth when the three humans reached him. Killian was able to kick it away from him, directly to Emma, who stopped it with her foot, then booted it over to Henry. Norman ran from one to the other, in hot pursuit of the elusive ball.

The ‘keep away’ game kept them entertained for a long time. They ran, shouting instructions to each other and laughing until all of them were completely out of breath. Norman was able to intercept some of their passes, but they always managed to get it away from him before he was able to pick it up and run off.

Finally, Emma declared that she had to take a break. Picking up Norman’s leash, she said, “I think we should take him back to the food trucks to get a drink and buy a couple of bottles of water.”

“Aww, Mom,” Henry complained. “I’m not ready to go yet. Can’t I stay here? Killian will stay with me, won’t you, Killian?”

“First of all, you should call him Mr. Jones, and secondly, you’re putting him on the spot, which isn’t cool,” Emma admonished.

Henry looked appropriately chagrined. “I’m sorry, Mr. Jones.”

“Thank you, Henry, but if I may be so bold, I don’t mind you calling me Killian. That is, if it’s okay with your mother.”

Henry looked to his mom, who considered for a few seconds, then gave him a nod of approval.

Killian put his arm across Henry’s shoulders and walked him the short distance to where Emma was standing. “I’d be happy to go get the water, Emma.” He took the end of Norman’s leash from her. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “If you’re sure you don’t mind.”

While he was gone, Emma sat on the bench watching Henry continue to kick the soccer ball around. Killian and Norman returned a few minutes later, handed her a bottle of water and sat down beside her.

“Do I owe you anything for this?” Emma asked, unscrewing the lid.

“Not at all. I think I can afford to buy a lovely lass a bottle of water.”

She refrained from rolling her eyes at his use of the adjective, still rueing the fact she met such a handsome man while looking like she just rolled out of bed. As she was getting ready to take a drink, Henry kicked the ball and sent it sailing over their head, causing Emma to duck and spill some of the water in her lap.

Henry ran over, stopping in front of her. “Oops. Sorry, Mom. I was trying to kick it at the teeter-totter.”

Emma brushed at the water droplets, looking around to locate the teeter-totter, which was at least twenty feet away from the bench. “Not even close, kid.”

Killian stood up. “Perhaps I could give you some pointers, lad. I was a rather good football player when I was younger .”

Henry’s forehead creased in confusion. “I play soccer, not football.”

Killian chuckled as Emma explained, “Killian grew up in England and over there, soccer is called football. They call what we play ‘American football’, don’t they, Killian?”

“Aye, lass. Sorry to confuse you, Henry.”

“Oh, I never knew that. So, how good were you?”

Killian rubbed a finger behind his ear, ducking his head a bit. “I played in a semi-professional league for a couple of years and actually tried out for a professional club, before I decided to go to Uni and become an architect instead.”

“Wow! Cool!” Henry exclaimed. “You probably know even more about soccer than my coach!”

Emma laughed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure he knows a bit more than a volunteer coach for a youth league team.” She took the dog’s leash back from Killian. “Norman and I will sit this lesson out.”

Killian attempted to wink at her. “As you wish, Milady. Come on, lad. We’ve got work to do.”

She smiled fondly, watching the two of them passing the ball back and forth for a while, before pulling out her phone to catch up on her social media apps.

When she looked up a few minutes later, she saw Killian giving Henry instructions for controlling the ball as he dribbled it down the field. Apparently, they were using two trees as the goal and Henry was moving toward them quickly, while trying rather unsuccessfully to keep the ball under control. When he kicked it from quite a distance away, the ball hit one of the trees and ricocheted away.

Killian went to retrieve the ball and took it back to where Henry was waiting. He squatted down in front of the boy and began talking to him, gesturing now and then to different parts of the field.

Henry listened intently, nodding once in a while. When Killian finished speaking, he stood up and did a short demonstration of how to move the ball back and forth from foot to foot. Then he patted the boy’s shoulder, walked the ball further away from the trees and set it down.

Henry lined himself up behind the ball and looked up at Killian. After getting a reassuring smile from him, Henry started dribbling the ball across the ground with shorter, more controlled kicks, while Killian jogged beside him, shouting encouragement. This time, he got the ball much closer to the trees, before giving it a powerful kick that sent it shooting right between them.

Killian whooped as Henry raised his arms in victory, giving a triumphant cheer. What Emma saw happen next put a lump in her throat. Henry flung his arms around Killian’s waist, hugging him tightly, and Killian returned the hug, rubbing his hand over her son’s head as he looked down at him with a proud smile on his face.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

NEW TAG LIST:

@qualitycoffeethings @grimmswan @cs-rylie @wyntereyez @kmomof4 @hookedmom @ultraluckycatnd @paradiselady19 @xarandomdreamx @motherkatereloyshipper @lfh1226-linda @pawshapedheart @vampcoffeegyrl23 @tiganasummertree @bluewildcatfanatic @eleveneitherway @elfiola @kday426 @julieenchanted-swans @gingerchangeling @andiirivera @djlbg @jonesfandomfanatic @snowbellewells @anmylica @booksteaandtoomuchtv @cocohook38 @ilovemesomekillianjones @zaharadessert @lyssapup27 @undercaffinatednightmare @winterbaby89 @jennjenn615 @xsajx @jackieorioncat @teamhook @soniccat @jarienn972 @softkilly @kymbersmith-90

[bellaxgiornata]

hiiii

this might seem like a bit of a weird ask, but you seem super nice and i thought it would be okay if i asked you ! (also sorry if this is long)

i’ve been part of the daredevil fandom for a long time and i’ve been writing about dd for over a year and a half now. before i was writing for this fandom, i wrote fanfic about an entirely different genre for like 10+ years. when i was in the other fandom i wrote exclusively on wattpad, and i made a lot of online friends and was a part of writing communities and it made the experience so much better ! but since i changed directions (and started posting on ao3 first and wattpad second) i’ve had a hard time getting into the dd community.

i’m still new to using tumblr for fanfic so i haven’t posted anything of mine here/ followed many writers here (and i’m working on that !). but i was wondering if you had any advice on how to start chitchatting with other people in the fandom ? it feels super cringy for me to be like “i love your work, maybe you’d like mine !” bc i don’t want people to think i’m just trying to promote myself (i promise i’m not). but i miss being involved in online writing communities. it was one of my favorite things in the other fandom and now i’m struggling to find a place here. i try to respond to comments and have reached out to one or two writers before but it didn’t really go anywhere /:

so, tldr; do you have any advice on getting into the writing community/ making friends in the daredevil fandom ?

(and side note i love your work and have been reading your stuff almost as long as i’ve been writing— i’ve reread FFTD so many times and CANNOT WAIT for more updates on TDAYW and ATY !)

thank you !! sorry again this was so long

Hey friend!! This is actually a really great question that I'm sure you're not alone in wondering about! I definitely agree with you though, making friends in the fandom makes the experience so much more enjoyable. I used to write on FFN until I took a couple of years break from fanfic when I was in grad school. I had never made friends in fandom back then because I hadn't found communities and ways to accomplish that via FFN. Even when I came back to fic on AO3 and shortly after I started writing for Matt, I hadn't made friends right off the bat. But I always tried to respond to comments on my stories which is when I started to realize how fun the community was.

My answer is going to be long, so I'm going to put it below the cut! Also anyone else here reading this, if you have tips for making friends, please feel free to share them!!

Honestly tumblr I think is the way to go for making friendships. I have never used wattpad so I can't speak to the way it is set up, but AO3 doesn't quite allow for that too well because we can only communicate via comments. Tumblr gives so many more opportunities to meet lots of others and comment or send messages or share others' content with reblogs.

It's totally not necessary to share your stories on here, but I think that does help. Or to maybe even just promote your updates on your other platforms with links. Because it gives people an opportunity to come here and talk about your stories with you. But I think content creators, whatever you're making, probably make friends a little easier because we are providing something for others to (hopefully) interact with and consume.

As for reaching out to others, I cannot speak to how everyone would react because I know we all have different boundaries, but I think commenting/comment reblogging regularly on writer's or artist's work that you like is a good start. Or sending friendly messages or asks to someone. Just always be sure to be friendly and respectful.

I personally tend to notice the people I'm always seeing chatting in my notifications and then have made friends that way. It just seems like a natural progression if you're often talking to some people, conversations start to shift outside of just that content. Maybe to the show and then to other things. It's how I also tend to interact with others on here in order to make friends; commenting and sharing their work, sending asks or participating in their events, sending a message with something nice in it.

Though I agree, I think your initial comments to someone shouldn't be something about coming to read your work because it feels pressuring. I had a negative experience with that and didn't know how to handle that when I first got into the fandom and it made me uncomfortable because I never want to be rude or hurtful. So instead, maybe find ways to relate as a writer if you see them talking about writing in general, or other ways to make a comment that mentions that you also write. If they have time and want to read your work they will! And if not, that's okay too! I personally have a growing list of TBR and I mean nothing offensive if I can't get to someone's work, I just personally don't have as much time to read for example.

For me, I just sort of fell into making friends on here because of my writing. And I met so many other talented artists because of that and I've become "fans" of them as well and have had friendships form that way. And it's not just content creators, I've made friends with many wonderful people in the community who are reading my works too! It's fun to chat and dissect the show or to relate about other things (I'm a mom and have met other lovely moms here).

So my advice is to just keep reaching out and talking to people! Some conversations might lead somewhere and some might not. And that's okay! Everyone is different. I personally think the Daredevil fandom as a whole is absolutely amazing and full of wonderful and talented individuals who are more often than not open to making friends ❤️ I always am!

And like I said above, for anyone that has any other tips, please feel free to add them!

(And thank you so much!!! ❤️ I'm so glad you enjoy those stories!!)

[twinsunstars]

20 Questions for 20 Writers (where did the other 10 questions go?)

thank you for the tag @marvel-starwarsfangirl !

Is writing a hobby or way of life?

I would say both. It did start out as a small hobby when I first began writing, but as I started thinking about careers, my college path and choosing a major when applying (no one told me being undeclared was a thing until I found out later), writing is always something that I've enjoyed, and it makes me happy.

2. A journal full of writing notes or a clean, completed manuscript?

I'd go with the journal. There's so many notes everywhere in notebooks and documents.

3. Who (or what) is your writing inspiration?

I'd say my writing inspiration is all the media I consume and the characters I get invested in. Especially since I started writing my own Star Wars fanfics, I enjoy attempting to step into a character's shoes and try to write as if I was writing a script for them.

4. Which is worse: someone you "idolize" reading your first draft or listening to you sing?

Someone I "idolize" reading my first draft. That would be so awkward more than listening to my low and sometimes cracked-voice singing.

5. Has writing from someone else's POV ever changed your own perspective?

Maybe sometimes, I'm not entirely sure regarding this question. I can't really think of any instances right now either 😅

6. Tumblr, AO3, LiveJournal, or FFN?

I go with both Tumblr and AO3. I mainly post a lot of my stuff here on Tumblr because I feel more connected with everyone, and I post some stuff on AO3.

7. AO3 wordcount, and are you satisfied with it?

Total of 28,554 currently. Yeah I guess.

8. What movie/book/fic gripped you irrevocably?

Movies/shows: All Star Wars movies and shows, Ninjago, Marvel movies and shows

Books: If You Could See the Sun (Ann Liang), the Thrawn novels, the Rogue One novel (I love its expanded perspectives)

Fics: There's a lot lol, but I highly recommend It's Not Over Yet by Merefis18 on AO3. Basically a The Bad Batch S3 before the season aired and in the writer's perspective.

9. What's the highest compliment you could ever be given, and have you been given it?

When people say they feel happy by reading my writing and that they enjoy my work, and when they are intrigued by what I have written. It makes me feel happy and wanting to create more to make others feel happy.

10. What defines your writing style?

I'm not sure, maybe the way I like putting a lot of attention to detail (I get a lot of comments on this from people irl) and how I like to try stepping in a character's shoes (and act like them) when writing dialogue and scenes. It's fun.

no pressure tags: @orion-tyche @magicandmundane @bossboudicca @amalthiaph @iracundiias @ladywren7 @royallykt and anyone else who wants to do this!

[disconnected-from-reality]

Fanfic rec: Bones B&B

Hi~! After so many years, I'm back with a new set of fanfic recommendations! This time it's for a different show, one near and dear to my heart, which is pretty much a give away from the title of this post. I've been a fan of Bones for more than a decade now, I've known the show way before I've known Sherlock. But it has only occurred to me this 2024 that Bones might actually have some fanfictions out there. Lo and behold, there are quite a number around, and the next thing I know, I've read enough for a post like this!

For now, I'm listing some of the fanfics that really spoke and hit my heart. Maybe in my next post I'll try to categorize them in some way.

As usual, all works are complete unless stated otherwise. Happy reading!

Quicksand by MoreBonesPlz [Words: <46,783 | T: Suitable for teens] What if after the infamous B&B conversation in the truck during The Doctor in the Photo where Booth told Brennan she'd missed her chance, Brennan didn't acquiesce? What if once opened, she no longer found it possible to close the Pandora's box with respect to her feelings for Booth?

The Whole in the Sum of the Parts by fourth_rose [Words: 21,933 | Mature | Also available in Ao3] Children change things – sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes from the very beginning. Season 1 AU.

The Passenger Seat by cortexx [Words: 3,345 | Teen And Up Audiences | Also available in FFN] Four times someone adjusted Brennan's seat in Booth's car over the years, and the one time she did it to Booth.

Servare Vitas by newscaper [Words: <101,948 | T: Suitable for teens] To Save Lives. A Bones Novel. Brennan helps Booth try to lay old ghosts to rest as he becomes a sniper for the FBI, a decision with life and death consequences that could change everything. 

The Science Teacher in the Public School by FictionWriter91 [Words: <47,114 | T: Suitable for teens] Story is AU with a mix of canon. What if Temperance and Russ were taken with their parents instead of being left behind? What if Brennan is now a well loved science teacher at a public school like her father used to be? Brennan loves her work and her students, especially Parker Booth, who is very talented and adores her. Things couldn't be better. Then she meets Parker's father.

Right from the Start by Christi Whitson [Words: <265,871 | M: Mature] Season 1 re-write, tweaking the details and one of the tertiary characters. Because I think that under the right set of circumstances, BB would have fallen for each other right from the start. Peter is a threat to Brennan, and Tessa doesn't exist. More drama than angst. 

An Aggregation of Maladjusted Companions by jazzyproz [Words: <251,013 | M: Mature] Suffering from a declining solve rate following their returns to DC, Booth and Brennan are forced to attend a team-building convention. Neither of them think they need the workshops or exercises, but it's apparent to everyone around them that if they don't do something, the whole team will soon be falling apart. Can they fix their broken partnership?

Stupid Alpha Male - Ardialene [Words: <9,292  | Suitable for more mature childen] No matter how many times Booth denies it, Brennan knows that her partner is a true alpha male. And she has evidence to prove it.

Let the Games Begin by TRUSSELL33 [Words: <159,075 | M: Mature] What would Booth do if Brennan suddenly came on to him? Written as a challenge on another site but am thinking of turning it into a short story. Let me know if anyone is interested.

Wise Mind by naelany [Words: 13,416 | Teen And Up Audiences | Ao3 Account Required] Temperance had made the - perfectly logical - decision to rebuff Booth’s advances not once, but twice. After all, she was a mundane and he was an online, high order Sentinel and would one day find his Guide. To her mind, there was no point in starting something with the man, no matter how attracted they were to each other, because in the end he would leave her.

Confessions from a Bottle by MoreBonesPlz [Words: <27,052 | T: Suitable for teens] Booth believes he is happy in his relationship with Hannah until an intoxicated Brennan reveals her true feelings for him and makes him question what happiness really means.

Problem Solving, the Booth and Brennan Way by Hannah Taylor1 [Words: <384,802 | T: Suitable for teens] Brennan has a problem she's not sharing.Booth wants to help fix things,as always,only to find the conversation skewing in a direction he'd never expected. Set several months post-The Boy With the Answer.

How My Heart Behaves by mia101 [Words: <57,376 | M: Mature] Brennan thinks she understands what sex is all about...until Booth gives her a glimpse that makes her think otherwise. But who's teaching whom? And what will they learn...?

The Heart Won't Lie by razztaztic [Words: 16,531 | T: Suitable for teens | Also Available in Ao3 | Ao3 Account Required] Alternate ending for 6x09 "The Doctor in the Photo." What if Booth hadn't been there to save Brennan and she was hit by the car?

The Heart of the Matter by fourth_rose [Words: 7,546 | Mature] "What do you mean, you know you can't have me? It's not like you've ever asked!"

The Intern by cortexx [Words: 1,766 | Teen And Up Audiences | Also available in FFN] Brennan is trying to choose a new intern, and is slowly weeding out the ones who are unacceptable candidates. A case of mistaken identity narrows down the competition when one candidate makes an inappropriate comment to Parker about Bones.

Maternal Instinct by tempecameron [Words: <20,878 | T: Suitable for teens] Dr. Temperance Brennan can handle remains that are thousands of years old, but can she keep up with one small child? BB fluff, Parker cuteness, relationship drama, weird author's notes.

Snowed In by Imagination-Parade [Words: <23,752 | T: Suitable for teens] Booth and Parker get snowed in at Brennan's apartment after Parker insists that they spend Christmas with her. Set after 3.09 "Santa in the Slush"

Let me know what you think of this list. I'd love to have some feedback! I'll be back with a new list soon, hopefully!

Looking for other fanfic recommendations? I might have something you're interested in, or if you have requests feel free to ask!

[keylovesstuff]

It's Finally Finished hehe

Little Events-Chapter 5

AO3

FFN

Peach hummed softly tapping the end of the pen lightly against her cheek. The Princess could feel a headache coming along as she reviewed some of the papers scattered across her desk. There had to be some information that she was overlooking and not considering all the facts. Placing the pen down, she pushed herself away from the desk and slouched back into the chair, rubbing her temples, she let out another long sigh and for a few moments, she let her mind wonder. It's been four years since she's taken on the role as her people's leader. Only In the last couple of years did she begin to feel confident in making and handling decisions on her own with her team of advisors backing them up. Policies were either modified or removed as they all deemed fit.

Peach had to admit that she was proud to see just how far her home has come from her childhood to the current day. What was once a small and humble community consisting of thirty people now has hundreds. Tiny tents were now fully built and furnished mushroom houses and all the toads were finding their place in the Kingdom. Through alliances she's made over the past few years, some toads moved to different areas. Those were more bittersweet and the first few times it happened, she took it to heart that she was doing something wrong that made them want to leave. It took a long conversation with Toadsworth about where life takes others sometimes for her to understand and that she shouldn't take such actions personally. There were times she felt a little envy for them being able to leave and make their home elsewhere.

Sometimes she would get in her head about remaining in the Mushroom kingdom till old age. The idea wasn't necessarily a bad thing since that's what came with pledging her life to the people as they had done to her all those years ago and of course she'd do it all over again. It's just that at times she wished she'd got to experience more things before taking on all that responsibility. Maybe some time away would do her good, three days would be enough. It had been awhile since she'd been out or even just seen anyone. 

At that thought with another sigh she pulled herself up to the desk once again and rested her cheek in the palm of her left hand picking up one the pieces of paper with the other, glancing at it not being really bothered to read. Not that she particularly wanted to see anyone even with the fact that the only two people she could think of were probably busy with their own things. In the few letters she's read from Bowser, she remembered him telling her about finally succeeding in creating an egg. That part she was quite happy with, what annoyed her the most about him though was the persistent proposing in both the letters and anytime they met face to face and that started not even a week after she ended her engagement with Haru. It's been two years and she still wasn't sure if she'd ever have the confidence to show her face to him or step foot in his kingdom again after the way she broke things off. The King and Queen of Flower kingdom for its credit didn't seem to mind renegotiating their alliances via letters. Haru had sent letters of his own, seeing if they could arrange some sort of meet-ups, to which she'd always write back about being busy.

Shaking her head she refocused her attention to the matter at hand as it was approaching the early part of the evening. The summer was approaching and it was looking to be a little hotter than the last one. Seemed like a simple solution she told the council earlier in the day, she'd look over the paperwork and see what sort of power ups there were and if needed would see if there was any way to have them imported within the next few weeks. In the three hours of looking through what seemed like the same thing over again nothing seemed to be clicking. Sometimes she wished there was a better way to keep things organized for easy searching instead of having to dig through filed paperwork. It was a Longshot she thought as she pulled out a map of the entire land, her eyes tracing the areas in the blue regions. It took her about twenty minutes between her pinpointing the source she had to go through and referring to a book on everything they gathered over years.

"It would take a couple days there and back even with the shortest route it seems" Peach spoke aloud to herself as she continued studying the map while marking multiple routes to the destination with the pen. "I have no choice though, I took an oath to do everything in my power" she reaffirmed to herself. 

There was just one thing or rather person who she'd have to convince to allow her to go on this mission. Peach took a few minutes to prepare all her findings, herself , and Think about what she could possibly say. With one final exhale she gathered up everything and left her office and was faced with the closed door across the hall. Raising a gloved hand up she gave it a knock and opened it when the voice gave her permission to enter.

"A pleasant evening to you my dear Princess wouldn't you agree?" The mustached Toad behind the desk with his own paperwork asked. 

Peach nodded her head in response and took a seat on the other side when he motioned for her to sit down.

"I was just about to come check on you once I finished up here. It would seem that it's one of the rare times you've got done first" he said with a chuckle, writing some last minute notes before closing the book and giving her his full attention. "You are finished right dear? I noticed you bought some materials" he pointed a finger at the objects she held loosely in her arms.

"I have just about everything completed. Though I could use some of your help reviewing it once more before presenting it all to the council tomorrow morning. If you don't mind, that is." Peach told him while laying both the book and map down on the table.

The Princess figured this would be the best way to open the discussion with Toadsworth. This wasn't the first time she asked him to read over the details of plans she wanted to put in motion. There were times he'd pick out the tiniest bits she had overlooked or ignored completely. It also wasn't the first time she asked him to review speeches she had written out before presenting it to everyone. These weren't firsts and certainly wouldn't be the last. Toadsworth was her trustworthy advisor for a reason, he'd give the truth to her straight. Been doing that all her life actually, she couldn't ask for no one better.

If there was one thing she could get him to see more often, it would be for him to see past the tiny little girl he'd constantly worried about all those years ago and acknowledge her for the strong leader that sits before him now.

"Of course Princess. I'm ready whenever you're ready to start." He folded his hands in front of him and sat them on the desk.

Toadsworth let Peach explain the first draft of her plan and If it wasn't for the growing concern and hesitant nod of his head she saw from the corner of her eye the longer she went on, the Princess would've finally thought she came up with the perfect plan from the start.

"And so you see while we never had use for the ice flower before, It would be very useful now and I think it would be for the best if we add it in our monthly imports" The Princess concluded finally looking him in the eyes. "The trip will take a few days but, I trust you and the council will be able to take care of everything in my absence." She added. 

The silence between them lasted for about two minutes. The mustached toad let out a long sigh removing his glasses and placing it on the desk. With his hands crossed and placed under his chin he gathered his words.

"You are asking for quite a lot out of us my Princess as I'm sure you're aware of, yes?" Toadsworth asked and she nodded. "And while I'm confident in our abilities to handle everything, are you certain you have thought it all through?" He questioned, prompting her to look everything over.

"I believe so," Peach said, now more uncertain than when she initially came in at first. 

Toadsworth had certainly seen something she hadn't considered and instead of just saying it he wanted her to figure it out on her own. Peach found it a bit annoying when he insisted on doing that on one hand but understood it completely on the other hand. As a leader she had to think outside the box and about all the possibilities before advisors bought them up. Always had to have an answer to everything.

So what was he trying to get her to see? Was the question that ran through her mind as she reviewed the materials.

"Well we already have an alliance in place for a little over six months now. Sure we haven't traded resources but I'm certain I can set up something. While we have an abundance of all different types of mushrooms, the same could be said for their flowers." She talks it out while flipping through her notes. "Their King does seem like a reasonable person to agree with if that's what you're getting at" she told Toadsworth as she skimmed through the Penguins profile.

"You've only met him in person once, Princess. How can you be so certain? You are aware that just having a feeling that it'll just work out doesn't guarantee anything without having the actions to back it up" Toadsworth pointed out.

"While I can't be 100% certain it will all work out, it's all I can think of and I'm willing to give it all I got." She told him honestly cause as he's pointed out she really was just going off the feeling that everything will just fall into place. "I can write up something that no one could pass on," Peach added, hoping that would satisfy him.

"Princess you've never used an ice flower before-" Toadsworth started but the princess cut him off.

"The effects aren't as different compared to the fire flower I've noticed and I've been using that for years now. See?" She told him as she showed off the notes on another page. "Sure there might be a curve to it but, I'm confident in my abilities to master it" she assured him.

"Have you thought about any other options if this doesn't work out?" Toadsworth asked her again. 

Oh so he was really wondering if she had thought of a plan b and maybe even a c is what went through Peach's mind.

"Truthfully no and I know it's not the most ideal way to go about it but I haven't gotten a yes or no yet. Until I get something I can't properly come up with other solutions." Peach closed the book and rolled up the map. "Just trust me to do it this way first and if for some reason I come back empty handed, you and the council can do some research in my absence and once I return we can all look it over" she told him.

"You will take a couple of the royal guards with you, yes?" He asked and she looked like she was thinking against the idea. "Please Princess, if you're placing the responsibility of the Kingdom to me here then I want others there to ensure your safety." He got up from his seat and walked around the desk in front of her grabbing her hands.

"Yes Toadsworth I will. As they will be there to ensure my safety, I will do the same for them." Peach Promised him, squeezing his hands. "I will prepare that speech and turn in for the evening. I want to try to leave by the afternoon tomorrow and I will be back in three days." She let go and stood from the chair picking up the stuff she bought in.

"You had better or I'll journey to the Snow Kingdom myself to see what's taking you so long. I may not have a bike like you but I'm not beneath walking or finding any other means to get there you know" Toadsworth told her.

"I know you will," Peach laughed though she knew from experience that he was serious. Toadsworth was literally the embodiment of not allowing old age to hold him back from doing anything being in his fifties. "Please enjoy the rest of your evening. I'll see you in the meeting tomorrow morning." She bent down for him to hug her the best he could with stuff in her hands.

After she had left and he heard her office door close he went back to sit behind his desk for a while in silence. It would only be for four days he told himself but that still felt too long for him if he was honest. The Princess is their leader though and as her most trusted advisor, he had to have complete faith in everything she does.

________

The Princess had everything and more with the insistence of Toadsworth ready to go. With the climate being the way it was in ice kingdom she would not be underdressed or returning back home ill if he could help it. After one final check of her bike and the sidecar the toad guards would be occupying, They all bid their farewells and left. 

Operations for the next couple of days ran smooth but to the elder toad the hours felt like forever. On one hand taking care of all the citizens brought back memories of the older days. On the other hand it also felt unusual without their ruler around. The members of the council seemed to agree with Toadsworth sentiment when he bought it up. That final night before her scheduled return, he was preparing to sleep and was anxiously looking forward to her return. Toadsworth had great faith that she would succeed but wanted to hear about the journey from her own mouth. 

Toadsworth deliberately took long on the last of his own personal work when the Princess had not returned by the afternoon. He wanted to be the first to welcome her home and was willing to wait as long as it took to make it happen. Going as far to even leave both the light on and door to his office ajar to capture her attention as she returned to her private chambers. It was going on 11 at night before he finally heard the distant sound of the castle door open followed by heavy footsteps. That puzzled him for a moment but not enough for him to leave his office to investigate. The Princess had the guards she initially left with to help carry whatever they had bought from their trip. If they needed extra muscle power they surely would've sent for some of the staff members who resided in the castle. 

"Oh dear, it would seem that these numbers are slightly low compared to last month." Toadsworth talked aloud pulling out his mini notebook making a note to bring it up in tomorrow's meeting. At the sound of his door opening up the rest of the way he didn't look up from his writing. "Welcome home your Majesty, I trust your trip went well and you must be exhausted." He smiled fondly with a chuckle and only after looking up did that look get placed with one of disdain at the person who entered.

"By the sound of that statement, I take it Her Majesty's out?" The Koopa King asked closing the door shut behind him after walking all the way inside.

"To what does the Kingdom owe a visit from you at such a late hour of the night King Bowser? Something urgent I presume?" Toadsworth responded with a couple of questions of his own. Doing his best to remain respectful.

"If Marrying your Princess is something you'd consider urgent or important, you could say that's why I'm here."  He said a sinister smile slowly gracing his face "Thing is, I've grown more than tired of the rejections. If you know what I mean."

"If you're expecting me to talk her into accepting a proposal from you, then you're sorely mistaken Bowser." Toadsworth raised his voice a little higher slamming his tiny fist on the table. "In fact I would rather drop dead myself before giving you any sort of a blessing of mine" at that moment he got up from his desk and was just inches away from the giant dragon turtle.

Bowser was not at all intimidated by the older man getting all up in his personal space. The King crossed his arms over his chest as if to control himself, though his tail swayed side to side slowly. Toadsworth briefly took notice but that didn't stop him from backing down or finishing speaking.  

"That's my final answer to the matter." Toadsworth finished fixing his beady black eyes with Bowser's red ones. After a few tense seconds of silence, he went to open the door and motioned him out with his arm. "Now if you would like to be kind enough to exit, I have more important matters to attend to as it is getting late."

Toadsworth was initially shocked that Bowser was following orders from him of all people. He knew that was too good to be true. Just a couple feet out the door,  Bowser paused and slowly did a 180 facing the mustached toad with a threatening expression that sent a chill down his spine.

"If your dead body is all it takes for our marriage to be" He told him sadistically backing Toadsworth into the office once more. "Consider it done" he finished gravely.

With a spin of his body, Bowser's tail made contact with Toadsworth's right arm, sending him flying across the room. His body slammed hard against the wall first before plopping on the ground. Everything happened so fast, he could barely process the sensation of his bone breaking or the  piercing scream he let out waking up the entire castle.

"Don't worry it'll all be over soon" Bowser said, preparing what was looking to be a deadly fire breath.

Through blurry vision, Toadsworth closed his eyes and sent one last prayer and apology to the Princess he pledged his entire life too. All at once memories of her flashed through his eyes. While the majority were good ones, there were also some regrets of not handling things better. Still he prepared to meet his burning end and was surprised when it never came.

"Toadsworth!" A desperate scream of his name from an all too familiar voice was the last thing he heard before Bowser was forced away from his body with a swift kick to the face.

The last thing he saw was the back of her. Though he couldn't see her face, he imagined she wore an uncharacteristic expression of anger on her face. The Halberd she held was in an attack position as it seemed she was waiting for Bowser to make the next move.

"Princess" he all but whispered and reached out with his  good hand out to her back before dropping it to the ground as Toadsworth's body finally succumbed to unconsciousness.

“How lovely it is for you to show up just in time to accept my wedding proposal, Princess." Bowser started standing up and brushing off specks of dust. "As you may be able to tell, your dear Toadsworth isn't too keen on the idea of our union." He nodded in the direction of the fallen toad and relished at the sight of Peach gripping the weapon tighter.

"This is the only chance I'm giving you to leave peacefully" Peach told him, voice steady with a threatening undertone.

"Oh really? And what are you going to do about it if I don't?" Bowser chuckled, cracking both fists in the palm of each hand. "You know you never stood a chance against when it comes to hand to hand combat" with that he cracked his neck on both sides 

"I don't care about that right now. If you're planning on returning home in one piece, Leave now" she said again louder with emphasis on the last two words taking a few steps in his direction.

"All you gotta do is say yes." At his words, Peach stopped and her face scrunched up in confusion at the change in demeanor. "Become my Queen, My Kingdom has it all...except you" he explained coming closer to her.

Bowser was caught slightly off guard when Peach shoved the weapon just under his chin. He lifted his face up as she moved the halberd and put both hands up.

"Even if you had this world's most invincible artifact, I would never marry you" she told him with so much conviction in her voice.

"So you choose to go down fighting? I must admit that I like that in a partner. " Bowser said, raising a finger onto the blade prompting her to lower it a bit. "You'll be saying yes in a little while" with his other hand he grabbed the shaft and yanked it along with her forward.

With a yelp, Peach's grip loosened and the next moment she was across the room by the door. Bowser dropped the weapon to the ground in front of him. At that moment about five more toad guards showed up to her aid. One of the two that journeyed with her to the ice kingdom had returned with the native flower in hand. 

"Master Toadsworth" a guard had called out and started in the elders direction.

Time seemed to be moving fast and slow all at once for Peach to take in. One moment she saw Bowser preparing to send a breath of fire in the other direction. The next moment she didn't even register, demanding the toad to pass her the flower. A few seconds after activating its power with her current attire changing white and pale blue in color she sped their way just as Bowser released his fire. Forming an ice in front of her people with one hand, the fire made impact shattering it into smaller pieces leaving the toads unharmed. With her other hand she sent ice blasts the Koopa King's way encasing  his entire body in ice. Entirely immobilized, Peach worked on catching her breath walking towards him, only stopping to bend down to pick up the halberd.

"So this is how I meet my end" He laughed darkly as she once again held the weapon to his neck. Sensing her hesitation, he continued "Go ahead and do it Princess. My entire army will be here not even a day later after word of my death spreads. No amount of power ups in the world will be able to protect you or this Kingdom" Bowser moved his head up the best he could given his position to give her a cleaner cut.

Peach was silent. Thinking about what the next best course of action should be. Part of her mind was telling her to follow the movements through to be rid of him for good. At that she pulled the weapon away slightly to gather some force. The other part of her mind insisted that this wasn't her and begged her to consider the consequences of the future. The results weren't looking too desirable if she was honest and at that, she lowered the weapon again.

"You know Peaches, with how long it's taking you to make a choice, Any chance in saving that old man's life is slipping away" Bowser delightfully reminded her of what he had done to him just moments before she showed up.

"Huh? Toadsworth?" Peach spoke, losing her train of thought and glancing back behind. 

Another guard had joined the previous one and was knelt on the ground head against Toadsworth chest. 

"He's breathing but barely, go get help" the guard alerted, another disappeared down the hall.

"Make your decision Peaches. Kill me now or live to face me another day." Peach looked right back at him as he spoke. "Know if you choose the second option, I'll have you living in constant fear. You'll never know when I will strike. I'm going to make you wish you said 'yes' sooner" Bowser promised.

An ice blasts to his face followed that statement. Finally he was quiet, she thought with some satisfaction. Her attention returned to Toadsworth who was being carefully attended to a few medical toads. The other guards were now at their Princesses side with their weapons pointing at the Koopa King, awaiting her command.

"I can guarantee you I won't be thinking that. You guys can stand down." Peach told the guards and they did."If this is your way of proclaiming war against me then so be it."

All that was left to do was to remove Bowser from the castle. Unfreezing him wasn't exactly an option and she couldn't exactly trust him to just leave quietly. Just as she thought to get one of their many red mushrooms to make carrying the icy King to the pipe easier, floating shapes sparkled in the air followed by Kamek appearing.

"I sensed you needed a hand my lord" He directed towards his King and with a wave of his wand, Bowser started to disappear. "The Koopa Nation looks forward to taking down your pathetic Kingdom" was the wizards last remark before he disappeared as well.

There were some matters that needed her urgent attention. After a long trip, the last thing she wanted to think about was pulling an all-nighter on royal duties. However, making sure Toadsworth was taken care of was top priority.

"Take Toadsworth to the medical wing and you guys are to do everything you can  to make sure he's brought back to stable condition, Am I clear?" Though she kept her voice calm and collected, Her mind was racing with negative thoughts that it might be too late.

Minutes after everyone had left, she stood alone in his office failing to find comfort in the silence. It took her a little while longer to compose herself. A few steady breaths later, she headed out to go and be by Toadsworth side.

________

It was approaching dawn and instead of getting better, Toadsworth's condition was on a steady decline if the heartbeat on the monitor and labored breathing was any indication. The elder toad was a fighter through and through but, with old age, bouncing back from anything was a great challenge.

"Princess Peach" , one of the Doctors, called her attention after closing the door. "We've tried just about everything we can. We're not sure if there's anything else we can do" he broke the tough news to her.

"No, are you sure? Are you absolutely positive you've guys tried everything you could think of?" Peach asked as she stood up from Toadsworth bedside and sped over to the Doctor.

"All the herbal medicines known to toadkind and every power-up we've access to known to heal instantly" The doctor explained showing the clipboard of everything they did and the results.

"There has to be something we haven't tried yet. please" Peach begged frantically flipping through all the papers. 

The Doctor Toad hummed deep in thought. Making a mental checklist of anything else he's missed and other stuff they haven't tried. That's when an idea hit him, it was a longshot and there wasn't a 100% guarantee that it would work but it's their only option.

"The green mushroom" The doctor started and after her question, hummed he continued "We've still been studying it and haven't discovered a concrete use for it. If you give us permission to try it on master Toadsworth...may we"

"Yes, do it please" Peach spoke, not letting him finish. "We have to try all the options no matter how slim the chance. Go get it now" she told him.

The Doctor left immediately to gather the mushroom leaving the Princess alone with Toadsworth once again. Peach returned to sir in the chair by his bedside and grabbed one of his limp hands in both of hers.

"This has to work. You have to pull through for me, Toadsworth. I still need you for so much" Peach laid her head down on their joint hands.

Everyone in the room was amazed at what the green mushroom did for a person. Toadsworth's heartbeat on the monitor returned back to normal. There were toads scribbling notes in their notepads and observing Toadsworth condition the best they could while he was under the covers. They dubbed the power up, the 1-up mushroom. Even after testing It on one person, they came to the conclusion that it had the capabilities to bring the consumer back from any near-death experiences. While it did need more tests, No one, Peach especially didn't want her people putting themselves in that predicament just to be 100% positive of what it could do. The 1-up mushroom would purely be a last resort option and she had a lot of thinking to do if she was going to share this discovery with her current or future allies.

Thinking about her current allies, there was also an uncertainty of bringing them up to speed about Bowser's declaration of war on her Kingdom. Rulers had already been skeptical about forming alliances with her nation based on the ties she had with the Darklands before, what would happen now? Not just that Peach thought, it wasn't just about the safety of her Kingdom but others as well, Bowser wouldn't spare anyone. This is something she'd have to handle alone. 

It took a few weeks for Toadsworth to recover fully save for taking some time to properly adjust to using a cane.

"I would've had to use one of these eventually, my dear. That reptilian scoundrel just sped up the process" Toadsworth told her with a chuckle when Peach sadly looked at him as he walked across the room to his desk. "Alright let's review"

All access to the darklands via pipes were destroyed just a couple days after Bowser's surprise visit. It may have been extreme on her part, but she thought it had to be done. In that one day time window, anyone that's made their home in her kingdom but native to the darklands was to return. In her mind she just couldn't risk surprise attacks or those who's shaky loyalty was still to the King spreading valuable information. Surprisingly the termination of their treaty went through without problems, no talking just signing letters and returning it via mail. Toadsworth agreed with the majority of all the new policies but, when it came to the potential evacuation plan, that's where he had some problems no matter how many times they reviewed it.

"The people are to do no such thing, we will stand by your side or die trying before we let you surrender yourself to be his Bride. You are our Princess" He would always slam his tiny fist upon the table and raise his voice.

"And I'd rather avoid any casualties if possible, Toadsworth. I'm the one Bowser wants at the end of the day." Peach would always say to reason with him. "I rather you all live a peaceful life elsewhere than stay here and be enslaved under his rule."

"What you fail to understand is that people like Bowser won't just stop after getting what he wants. That madman wants it all. The entire world would be enslaved in months, no weeks probably." Toadsworth countered.

"Then you guys can live peacefully for weeks or months wherever you guys go and hopefully their leaders are able to put up better resistance than I ever could as a leader" she always said hoping that would be the end of the conversation.

"What's the plan if you end up taking him down though. You must have one for that possibility" Toadsworth challenged as she looked unsure.

"Then...Then I'll visit all the places where everyone would have settled and if they choose to return home, I'll continue being the best leader I can be as I promised." Peach would tell him after thinking for a bit.

It was still something that never sat right with Toadsworth even a few years later, though the Princess was very adamant about keeping that plan in place, not allowing any changes to it in the slightest. Toadsworth along with the guards and council members constructed a meticulous method of their own when it came to gathering Intel on what the King Koopa's plans were in the Darklands. With the elders Toads guidance and decision making, they met with a select few councils of other Kingdoms to put extra plans in motion, there would be signs and signals they were to look out for. Sure it was a bad look by not including their Princess in these plans, but in Toadsworth eyes it was necessary to do so, Peach would insist for them not to get involved at all. They did fill their leader in on an important piece of information they found out about four months later.

"The Power star" Toadsworth shared all his notes from research on the item. "Legends say it hasn't existed for centuries now but it holds great power. We're almost certain that's what Bowser's looking for if his airships traveling different places is any indication." He finished.

"It doesn't make any sense, why go through the trouble of searching for something that hasn't been seen I'm centuries unless he found a positive trail" Peach asked aloud.

"That we're not quite sure. Rest assured we're keeping a close eye on the situation and share any new findings as soon as possible Princess." He assured her with a hand on hers. "With any luck, let's hope that he continues his futile efforts in search for this star." He finished.

"If I'm honest it gets to me sometimes Toadsworth" Peach started after an awkward silence holding her head down avoiding his eyes. "There hasn't been so much as any direct attacks on his end since that day. I've upped my training regimen but I don't know if it will be enough when he does do something." She finished with a sigh.

Toadsworth wasn't sure what to say that would just be giving her false hope or putting intense pressure on her to deliver but it was the truth if anything.

"You will know what to do when the time comes Princess. We all have faith in you. So have it in yourself. " Toadsworth said, squeezing her hand.

A few more months went by and with nothing new to report on, Toadsworth or rather the others along with the Princess, thought it would be ok for him to take a well earned two week vacation to isle del fino. The council promised him that everything would remain in order while he was away and to send for him if anything came up as soon as possible. It took a lot of convincing on their part for him to finally accept it but by the next day he had everything packed up and was heading down the hall of the castle to get to the pipe that would take him to the airport.

The Princess met him in the hall after the usual morning meeting. She was surprised to see that he was still here.

"I hope you have a nice trip Toadsworth.  Please try not to think about work while you're on vacation, we have everything handled here." Peach told him feeling more confident than she'd had in a long while.

"I know you will. You're an amazing leader my dear. I will do my best to put work in the back of my mind but it can be challenging. I'll write to you as soon as I get there" He said, motioning her to give him a hug.

Peach kneeled down to his level and wrapped her arms around him. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes. She walked with him to the pipe and helped him up, waiting for him to completely disappear before returning to the castle. She quietly worked in her office for about two hours before one of the council members burst into the room with dire news.

"Princess Peach, The Ice Kingdom has fallen. It's Bowser, he's found the Power star." The blue toad desperately told her.

[assorted-candy]

20 Q's for Fic Writers

I got tagged by @dp-marvel94! Thank you!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 

I've just posted my 22nd work a few days ago!

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

37,763

3. What fandoms do you write for?

So far, all my published fics are for Danny Phantom. It's a fandom that's near and dear to my heart and my favorite to write for. I've written fanfiction for myself in a lot of different fandoms over the years. Miraculous Ladybug, Mega Man (Star Force, Battle Network) and Fire Emblem are a few. (Will these ever see the light of day? Probs not, lol)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?  5. Frayed Ends - 37 kudos - Jazz and Maddie are fighting more often. Jack wants to reach out and help his family. 4. The Same Blood - 45 kudos - Maddie and Jack try to help a sick girl that collapsed in front of their house. They don't know what to make of her condition. Danny wants to help.

3. Returned Home - 49 kudos - Maddie finds Danny at home after he disappeared ten months ago.

2. The Broken Pieces Left Behind - 66 kudos (tie) - Maddie knew what the portal did to Danny. If she could create something that essentially turned him into a ghost, she could figure out a way to fix all of it. Even if she hasn't made any progress in the past two months, she'll keep trying. She didn't account for what Danny wanted. 1 . What's Out of Out Control - 66 kudos (tie) - Danny thought he had it under control. He thought he could finally hang out like they used to always do. Tucker could feel the rift between them widening. It wasn't getting smaller anytime soon.

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! There were a few comments from my two earlier fics that I never responded to and it's already been so long and I feel like I ended up putting it off too long to say anything now 😓But I'm so so thankful for all the comments I receive! I never thought anyone would read my work, let alone comment on it. I'm always between two modes of 'author commentary' and 'screaming thank you and running away'.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Lol, I love my angsty stuff and there are so many different flavors of angst, so it's hard to pick just one. I'd say the piece I aimed to write for Angst Fest, The Broken Pieces Left Behind, might be it. It ends on a rather hopeless note for the Fenton family that even I don't know how to make everything better for them

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably Home for a Cat. It was for a Ectoberhaunt prompt that I was absolutely stumped on. So I decided someone was going to adopt a cat by the end of the fic.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Ahh, so I actually posted a fic on FFN wayyy back when I was in high school. I remember it being received pretty well but I got a really rude comment on a simple spelling mistake. Back then, I was just told I had dyslexia a few years prior and I had some really bad self-esteem issues tied in with that. So, yeah, that comment basically made me terrified to ever show my work to anyone ever.

It's been over ten years since then and I wanted to actually get over that fear. I impulsively decided to do Angst Fest with the mindset that no one would even look at what I posted. Not only did people look, everyone has been so kind!!!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

lkdajldkf, nope. I get flustered trying to write basic romance and having two characters hold hands, lmao. Major props to those that can, it's definitely a skill that takes time to master just like any other genre.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I haven't.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Also haven't had this either.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope, but it seems like a lot of fun.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Back when the show was airing, Amethyst Ocean (Danny/Sam) was my go to. I'm a sucker for friends to lovers tropes and it's really nostalgic for me. But, I don't really read a lot of shippy things for Danny Phantom, so ships don't make or break a fic for me.

If I'm looking to read romance, the whole Love Square (MariChat my beloved) with Miraculous Ladybug will always be great. Even if I jumped ship on the show around season 2 or 3 and I have no clue what they're doing now, lol.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I honestly have so many WIPs that are unfinished on my computer from over the years. Maybe a super old one that I titled 'Phantoms in the Daylight'. Angst once more with Character Death as the main pain point. I like the beginning but oh boy, does it get sloppy and confusing real quick. I'd need serious outlining energy put into it if I'd ever want to salvage it and I just don't have it in me.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue! Give me two blorbos and I'll make them talk forever.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Scenery and description. I love the dialogue portion so much that I end up running into the floating heads in an empty room problem in the first drafts of my fics. My first round of edits are dedicated to making sure I have a scene and grounding characters into it. And then I have to go back later to make it not feel so robotic sounding.

(Also a weakness but more as in fic than writing. Summaries and Titles. I stare at my drafts on AO3's editor for at least half an hour trying to pull something together, lol)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I can probably talk about this for hours, lol. I absolutely love foreign languages, especially when it comes to linguistics. So, I'll try to be brief, lmao. Short answer: depends on the fic but normally no. I already spend so much time fussing over the word choice/slang/formality/dialect characters use in my native language. I don't have a good enough grasp on another language for it to sound natural to the reader. ("They would not fucking say that" is my internal monologue during dialogue edits, lol)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

It's a toss up between Pokemon and Danny Phantom. I first learned about fanfiction from a friend who showed me FFN for the Pokemon fics. I looked around the site and found all of the Danny Phantom fics soon after and got hooked on those. I started writing around then and it would have been for one of those two.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Hard to chose one! Writing technicality wise, I'm proud of how What Remains on the Table turned out. I consider description my weak point, so the original draft was 0 dialogue with very stiff descriptions. I was able to edit it to really practice my environmental storytelling. (Although, please mind the tags if you click the link as it does deal with the dissection topic)

I'm not sure who's been tagged and I'm not sure who writes fanfic, so @lavendarlily, @fangirlwriting-stories, @grub-xd, @nanaarchy and anyone else that wants to join!

[oceangirl24]

20 Questions for Writers

Thanks @mrsmungus for the tag. ❤️

❣️How many works do you have on AO3?

13 total, including three fanart art gifts. The only writing I have is my current work. I'm bringing the old FFN stories over on another account.

❣️What is your total AO3 word count?

834,995- 1 million before the year's end would be nice.

❣️What fandoms do you write for?

So far only Boy Meets World. The fanart gifts have been in other fandoms.

❣️What are your top five fics by kudos? Autumn in Philadelphia Trilogy- 243

Flashbacks- 109

Christmas to Last a Lifetime- 94

Not too shabby for such a massive series with an OC as a main character.

❣️Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes. Eventually.

Ever single comment is incredibly important to me and I don't always have the spoons to respond the way I want to. Rather than rush a response, I wait until I can give it my full attention. There are times, however, when certain comments appear to go answered for months. Those are comments from people I am in touch with privately and have already thanked. I will respond to those in time as well.

❣️What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

The Darkest Night without question.

❣️What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

At this point, probably Christmas to Last a Lifetime.

❣️Do you get hate on your fic?

Is having someone throw a tantrum in your comments hate?

The writer who did this was upset over how the first part of AiP ended because they did not read the tags or summary. They also complained about my OC being better than theirs and whined about liking Audrey more as though at 11 years old I created with Aud malicious intent to hurt them 20+ years later. 🙄

This was the person who also tried to push me out of the fandom, harassed me, and stole my work.

So, hate, no. Immature, entitled behavior, yes.

❣️Do you write smut?

No it's not my thing to read or write. My story is canon compliant and I'm staying true to the content of the show as well. Since it's a 90s kids' sitcom, situations were only dealt with to a certain degree.

❣️Do you write crossovers?

Technically. lol The AiP trilogy is a crossover with BMW and its sequel show, Girl Meets World, but since it's in the same universe I don't count it.

I am in the works of doing a real crossover that I'm really excited about, hopefully soon.

❣️Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. See the hate on fics response.

I debated how much to say since my socials are still being monitored but you know what, I don't care.

This person stole big chunks of my work from three of my stories and readers have noticed. That's how I became aware of it. Two readers brought it to my attention and just recently another mentioned it also.

I've dealt with it thanks to my dear friends who have had my back through this year + long ordeal.

And ngl, it was satisfying to see her panic and meltdown when the report was submitted and rush her ending. The subsequent attempts to cover her tracks have been popcorn worthy as they have been both comical and pathetic.

Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm too nice and give too much benefit of the doubt which is why no one outside of my friends' circle has seen the massive report on the theft and harrassment.

However, should you dear [REDACTED] try it again, I'm holding onto that report and won't be so nice the second time around. It won't be your friend who's been asking for the link since December 8th that I'll give it to either.

❣️Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge.

❣️Have you ever co-written a fic?

Not yet!!! But soon and I'm so excited.

❣️What's your all-time favorite ship?

As for canon ship, they change all the time, but currently it's

❣️What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

At this point it's looking like Birthday Wishes. lol I mean, I have it outlined to the end and the next chapter is almost ready to go, but I'm prioritizing Saudade and have little time for BW, unfortunately.

❣️What are your writing strengths?

I'm not sure. May be characterization? Possibly world building and character development.

❣️What are your writing weaknesses?

Conciseness. lol Also SPAG editing. My brain skips words like crazy when writing and even editing. No matter how many times I go over things, I miss so much.

❣️Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I avoid this personally because I know enough that I'd mess it up. And I only know Swedish which isn't really a language that figures into my work naturally.

As for fics I'm not writing, it really depends on how it's done.

❣️First fandom you wrote for?

Boy Meets World. First published was Labyrinth.

❣️Favorite fic you've ever written?

Ah, how to chose. Autumn in Philadelphia trilogy. I can't get anymore specific than that. lol

No pressure tags to play for: @axolotlsupremacyowo @tsunderesalty @amberlide @winterlovesong1 @justanotherpersonwhowrites @obscureobsidiandraws @stealing-your-kittens @bees-and-sunshine @ligercat

If anyone would like to be included in the tags, please let me know and I'll be sure to get you next time.

[dramionestills]

i am... i don't know if impressed or appalled is the word i should use? with myself

i was watching a tiktok and this girl said she had read 10 dramione fanfics so far this year which of course made me think.. hmmm how many have I read? so i go on AO3 to my history and i have 169 pages of history..... granted it is not 100% dramione but i'm gonna guess it is upwards of 75% dramione, and that is, assuming all pages are abour 20 fics each it's over 3,000 fics read since 2019 when i made the AO3 account, but i've been using this site for longer than that,( i just refused to make an account at first because i have a thing about having to fucking sign up and making accounts for everything) i checked and it is 58 pages since 2023 (although for some reason it says the first fic i read in 2023 is in march which is a lie, i am 100% sure i read fics in jan and feb) and a lot of the time i read in incognito mode adn those fics have not saved to my account so who knowswhat the actual number is.

some of those i will admit i probably didn't read all the way through, but i tend to stick to a fic and finish it, so i am gonna say i've fully read probably 80% of those fics, and some are novel length, or longer than novel length.

and again, this is ONLY AO3. i've read on FFN, AFF, HPFF, DA and multiple other websites since i was 15 years old.... that is 15 years, HOW MUCH HAVE I READ?? omg

i always feel bad because i don't read as much as when i was a kid but omg i just don't read that many tradpub book anymore (and i still do read some of those) i think i am insane. officially insane. i love this though so i will not stop.

if anyone read this entire rant please let me know if i am alone on this boat

Anyway... suffice to say i have definitely read more than 10 dramione fanfics this year, but i have no clue which ones

[only-lonely-stars]

An Emergency Visit

Oneshot – (FFN) (AO3)

Summary:

On an ordinary day, an urgent letter sends Cole rushing to Shintaro to take care of Queen Vania, who's lacking sleep. Exhaustion can make a girl say things she might not normally, but it's not like Cole isn't going to listen.

A bright and sunny day dawned over Ninjago, in the height of the summer and all its splendor. Life was good for every Ninjagian, with lovely weather being found all across its spacious reaches. The day touched even the highest heights of the mountains, where the Monastery of Spinjitzu was situated, and its inhabitants were happy. Each was enjoying the weather, whether as a passing bit of joy or as the day's full occupation, save for one ninja.

Cole Brookstone was that one ninja. He alone found he could not be happy, and should anyone ask, they would find he had a perfectly good reason. It was simple, yet worrisome. The night before that gorgeous day, Cole received an urgent letter from Hailmar, Vania's closest advisor. It had told him little, yet all he needed to know, and branded itself upon his heart.

"Twenty-four hours previous to the sending of this letter, there was an attempt on the life of Her Majesty, Queen Vania of Shintaro. We urgently request the presence of Cole Brookstone, Master of Earth, for her protection."

The first time he read it, each word felt like a worse nightmare than the one previous. The thought of Vania being hurt was painful. Despite not seeing her recently, he felt no less attached to her, and thought of her often. Even after having the night to react and prepare for his trip to the ivory city, the words still struck dread into Cole's heart, rousing the same questions every time he thought of them. When had the letter been sent? It wasn't dated, or even signed, but he knew it was from Hailmar due to the formal writing. It seemed recent, but he wasn't sure, and it made him uneasy at best. All his questions only made him more concerned.

After Cole received the letter, he immediately got up, prepared, and left for Shintaro, taking one of the Ninja's jet planes as soon as morning came. The other Ninja had offered to come along to help as well, but without an explicit invitation, they were not really allowed. No, only Cole was truly allowed to go in and out of the ivory city, due to his close connection to the Shintaran queen. He was sure that Vania would not mind them being there, but didn't want to push the courtesy of the Shintarans. Besides, while he could logically take them, they all had their own business. He'd told them it would be fine, deciding to go alone, and he had left as quickly as he could in the jet.

The trip to the ivory city was stressful, and Cole found himself unable to relax, pushing the jet to its limits as he flew. Within a few hours, he was in Shintaro, where he immediately rushed to the palace. Before he could enter, however, he was stopped at the gates by several guards. From their appearance, it was obvious that security had been tightened since the attempt, as he was not let in until Hailmar personally came to check the validity of his claim.

When Hailmar saw Cole, he immediately waved him in, seemingly frustrated with his guards for stopping Cole. He let Cole go to the throne room, as that was where Vania was currently busy, but could not escort him due to other pressing concerns. Cole had nodded and thanked him, and immediately began traversing the path he remembered from their last visit. The curdled dread in the pit of his stomach remained, but slowly lessened; even so, it still burned.

As he reached it, Cole threw open the doors to the throne room, not even bothering to knock before doing so. Inside, Vania was looking at an enormous map that was unfurled upon a table, standing in front of a tall chair that had been pushed back at some prior time. At his entry, she glanced up, and smiled brightly as recognition dawned. "Oh, Cole! What's going on? I didn't expect to see you again for a while yet!"

He approached her, coming to a stop right in front of the table. Idly, he noticed that there was no one else in the room but guards; she was effectively alone. "Vania, I came as soon as I got that last letter. What happened?"

Understanding flitted across her features. "Oh, yeah. That stuff. Never mind it. Just another attempt, nothing to worry about." She waved her hand dismissively, looking back at her map. "What's going on with you?"

Cole gaped, staring at her in disbelief. "Nothing to worry about? Vania!"

She looked back at him like a deer in the headlights, and he realized she had dark circles under her eyes, which hadn't been clear before. "What?"

Cole leaned on one arm on the tabletop, effectively blocking Vania into her chair. "What do you mean, 'what?' You just had an attempt on your life and you're asking about what I've been doing! Shouldn't it be a cause for concern at least?"

She shrugged off his words. "Cole, it's fine. I'm fine." As she said this, she fiddled with what looked to be a loose end of a bandage, which was wrapped around her forearm and wrist, the edge fraying and coming unwoven already. "After the third time it gets a little repetitive."

Cole looked her up and down in disbelief. She was dishevelled, with wrinkled clothes and somewhat untidy hair, unlike any way he'd seen her before. It was obvious that she hadn't slept well, despite how well she hid her exhaustion, and nothing was a better indicator of that than the circles under her eyes, which seemed darker every time he noticed them. "It gets repetitive after the third time?"

She crossed her arms. "That's what I said, Cole."

"You've had three assassination attempts," he clarified again.

"Uh… yes? I just said that. Why do you keep repeating me?"

"Because- I didn't know that you've had three attempts, and I care about you!" He sighed. "You didn't even tell me."

"Of course I didn't! I knew this would happen." She waved her hand at him, dismissive again. "Honestly, this one was better than the last one anyway. He barely even touched me. I'm fine."

Cole sighed heavily. "You're not making it sound any better, Queenie. You know that, right?"

For a second, she didn't respond, but then she blushed in realization. "Okay, well, now I do."

He stopped and took a moment to clear his thoughts, closing his eyes briefly as he took deep breaths. He centered himself, trying to block out his emotions. When he was sure he had them under control, he looked at her again, the alarm and hurt having disappeared and given way to concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just got a bit scraped up."

"Define 'scraped up.'" He reached out to touch her arm where it was bandaged, but stopped short and took her hand instead.

She shrugged, lacing their fingers together. His callouses caught on her skin a little bit, but she didn't seem to care. "Scraped up, as in, a scrape. I got a rug burn on my arm, and it bled a bit. That's what the bandage is for."

"Okay, if that's all then that's good." He sighed, holding her hand gently. It felt like he would break it if he held it any tighter, but she didn't seem to mind that either. "Next question: are you okay mentally?"

She shrugged again, breaking eye contact to glance at the map and play with the edge with her free hand. "I don't know. I'll be fine eventually; this is just one of the things that comes with being the queen. After a few days I'll stop being on edge."

Cole's heart dropped. "How many days has it been?"

She grimaced and looked down at the floor. "...Two days."

"Let me guess; you haven't slept since?"

"Not really."

"Vania, come on. What are you really thinking?"

She finally looked back at him, clearly unhappy. "If I'm completely honest, I just want to go to sleep right now. I'm exhausted."

The look on her face tore at him. She was so tired, yet unable to stop moving. As soon as she did, she would crash, and that time was coming soon. A second wind wouldn't be coming for a while; she needed rest.

Cole let go of her hand and took hold of her shoulders, gently turning her to face toward him. "Vania, do you need a hug?"

She nodded, at last giving way. She looked like the picture of exhaustion and misery, almost ready to cry. He smiled sympathetically and put his arms around her, holding her close to himself, always careful not to hurt her even as he dwarfed her. She did the same, but her exhaustion made it such that she couldn't hold on very tightly. Her arms barely rested on his back, and a moment later, Vania buried her face in his chest, taking a deep breath of his comforting scent of tea and soil. "I'm so glad you're here, Cole," she whispered.

"I'm sorry I wasn't faster." He rubbed her back comfortingly, as if the action could release the tension her shoulders carried. "I came as soon as I got the letter."

"Hailmar asked you to come?"

Cole nodded. "Yeah, and I came as soon as I could. The postage was slow."

"That's okay. It doesn't matter." She smiled. "You're here now, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am." He smiled too, not that either could see the other's face. "I'll protect you for now, okay?"

She laughed lightly into his chest. "That sounds wonderful. I just want to sleep forever."

"Hey, you can do whatever you want. You're the queen."

"Tell that to my brain." Her face fell. "The nightmares keep me up."

Cole smiled at that. "Think I can protect you from those too?"

She laughed again. "Maybe. We'll see about that."

"Come on, you gotta trust me here." He chuckled and rested his head on top of hers, nestling his nose in her sweet-smelling hair. "Let's get you to bed. You're never gonna heal if you don't sleep."

"I'm not even going to argue, I can barely think." She separated herself from him, but only as much as she had to in order to see her face. "For the record, though, I'm healing just fine."

"Sure you are." He smiled. "Are you awake enough to walk?"

She paused for a minute, looking like she was buffering internally. "I'm… not sure. I'd probably trip and fall."

He smiled. "Okay." He reached down, and before she had time to react he lifted her up in his arms, one under her back and one under her knees. From there, he pulled her close to his chest. "I'll just carry you then."

A blush overtook her features. "You don't have to do that," she protested.

He shook his head. "Nope. Can't have you falling. You're already hurt enough."

"I won't fall!"

"You just said you would!"

"I–" She faltered. "Dang it, I did say that."

He grinned. "See? Just take the get-out-of-walking-free card and let me take care of you, okay?"

She sighed. "Fine." She put her arms around his neck and leaned her head against his shoulder, hiding a smile. "Since you're so insistent."

"I knew you'd come around." He held her close and began the walk to her bedroom. It was short, but the extra weight of carrying her slowed his walk, and it was a few minutes before they reached it. When they did, she had let her eyes fall closed. He was loath to disturb her, but he carefully shook her awake and set her down on her feet. "Hey, Vania. We're here."

Vania yawned. "So we are." She leaned on him briefly as she regained her balance, but then smiled. "No promises that I'll actually take a nap, though."

Cole shook his head. "Uh-uh, nope. No way. You're taking a nap for at least an hour."

"I won't be able to sleep!"

"You're falling asleep right now." He nudged her, and she blinked a few times. "Try again."

She sighed. "Okay, fine, but I have way too much to do to sleep a whole hour."

"I doubt that."

"It's true!"

He crossed his arms. "Okay, here's a question. Would you rather do your work now, mess it up, get frustrated, and have to re-do it later, or sleep now and do it right the first time?"

She tried to find a response, but failed, being interrupted by a wide yawn that brought tears to her eyes. "Well… the second one, but… what if he comes back?" As little as she hated to show it, it was clear to him that she was scared– not terribly, but enough to make his heart break the tiniest bit.

Cole put a hand on her shoulder again. "Okay, I tell you what. I'll be right here guarding your door. If it makes you feel safer than that, I can sit with you in your room. I'll keep and eye out and make sure nobody comes to bother you."

"I don't know what everyone would think of that second one," she responded with a smile. "That's not very proper behavior for a queen."

He rolled his eyes. "More excuses. I'll tell Hailmar and it'll be fine. Besides, do you think people will really care more about modesty than your safety?"

She made as if to respond, but instead yawned again. "I… guess not. You win; sit inside. I'm not able to argue right now."

He smiled. "There you go. You go get dressed for bed and I'll find Hailmar, okay? I'll only be a minute."

She nodded, opening the door. "Okay." She smiled at him and then disappeared inside, closing the door quietly. Once the door was shut tightly, he turned and sought out Hailmar to speak to him about his plan to watch over Vania.

Several minutes later and after clearing the plan with Hailmar, Cole came back to Vania's door. It had made Hailmar slightly uncomfortable, but given the circumstances, he allowed it willingly. While he cared about Vania's modesty and privacy, he cared more about her safety, and Cole shared his priorities. Cole had let him know that it was just because Vania needed to sleep, and now that he was back at her door, he knocked gently. "Vania? Are you decent?"

She laughed from inside. "You can come in, Cole."

He opened the door and slipped in. Vania sat on the edge of her bed, dressed in a nightgown and a silvery robe that tied at the waist. Her hair was still braided, but she was unpinning it from its updo, such that it was falling out. She smiled at him as she took out the last pin, letting her braid fall to her back. "Hey. What did Hailmar say?"

Cole smiled. "He was fine with it." He watched as she put away the pin. "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking down my hair." She sighed. "Usually it's fine, but it's such a pain to undo when I'm tired."

He came up to the edge of the bed, speaking before he had time to think. "Do you want help?"

She blushed faintly at the domesticism so obvious in his offer, but smiled. "Sure, I'd love help. Come sit."

He did as he was told, sitting on the edge of the bed behind her. Once he did, she handed him a golden comb, and he began to unbraid her hair. As it was unwound, it fell in waves, shaped by the tight braid, yet they were already straightening out under his ministrations. Her hair was as soft as feather down, and he found himself running his hands through it more than the comb. A few times, he caught a tangle, and he separated them with his fingers as gently as he could, trying not to tug on her hair. "I hope I'm not hurting you," he murmured.

She smiled, her eyes closed. "No, not at all... That feels really nice." She leaned her head back. "Keep going."

"If you say so." He took the comb and began running it through her golden tresses. He let its teeth separate her hair into even smoother sections that gleamed in the light, enjoying how it fell and brushed against his hands. Within only a couple minutes, it was completely smooth and straight, with no tangles at all, and he draped it over her shoulder. "There, all done."

She yawned. "Mhm. All done..."

He smiled. "Okay, now it's bedtime for you, Queenie." He grabbed the comb and put it on her nightstand. She moved to lie down, snuggling under the covers like a cat, and he sat in a chair next to her bed. He smiled as she pulled the covers up to her shoulders, curling up on her side so she could see him.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For helping me."

"Always."

"Always is a pretty long time."

"Seems fitting. I don't see us not being friends any time soon." He smiled, getting comfortable in the chair. "Sleep well, Vania."

She nodded, closing her eyes with a slight smile. Now she laid as if all the tension was slowly being released, like the weight of the world was taken off her shoulders. He smiled at the sight. She needed a rest, and it was clearly something she hadn't gotten recently. Whoever had come to hurt her had been stopped, but that didn't mean he didn't do anything. There was no way Cole was waking her up after only an hour; Vania could sleep as long as she needed.

Cole rummaged in one of his pockets and pulled out a notebook and a pen. After all, he might as well doodle while she slept, seeing as he'd be sitting in that chair for a while; in fact, if he had his way, at least two hours. He clicked the pen and opened the book, but just as he was about to start, he heard Vania murmuring something.

"What was that?" he asked, turning to look at her again.

Vania didn't respond, eyes closed. It looked like she was already asleep. The lack of response made him smile. He'd always known exhaustion made people talk in their sleep, but doing it so quickly after falling asleep was a new one. Either it was the tiredness or her habit, but one way or the other it was just another one of her quirks. She was always so sweet, even while sleeping– it was adorable.

As his thoughts came to a close, he looked back at the tools in his hands. He put the top of the pen to the paper and began to sketch the outline of a person as his mind wandered. The drawing slowly came together under his watchful eye, not really becoming much of anything, but he stopped before he had gotten too far into it because Vania was talking again.

"Mmmn…" She sighed in her half-sleep. "Cole…?"

He smiled and looked up at her, away from his half-finished doodle. "Yeah, Vania?"

She smiled back, eyes still closed. "I love you."

His heart caught in his chest. "What?"

She hummed noncommittally. "Yeah."

Cole laughed quietly, barely more than a huff. What was that supposed to mean? What was he supposed to say in return to that? Did she even mean it? Was she even awake at all?

Eventually, he smiled again. Despite being asleep (or at least half so), she looked as if she were almost waiting for an answer– something, anything, just to know he'd heard her. He reached over and brushed a little of her hair out of her face, gentle as always as he tucked it behind her ear. Where was the harm in indulging a little fantasy of what could be, he wondered? It wasn't like she'd really remember when she awoke..

He examined her sleeping face. She was so sweet, and he couldn't bear to leave her hanging. It was only a few words.

"I love you too," he murmured. He had never really been one to tell people he cared with words, but for the first time in who knows how many years, Cole found he completely meant it this time. Yes, he truly did love her. She smiled at the sound, and did not speak again. He smiled back, settling in for the long wait, a rare happiness filling him.

Hours later, when Vania awoke to see Cole still sitting in the chair with a notebook filled with pointless doodles and human figures, she did not remember. He didn't tell her, but he smiled at the memory as he thought about it. She might have said it, but it was his secret, and he was going to keep it forever. Vania loved him in some way, shape, or form, and he would protect that, just as closely as he would protect her. Assassin or not, Vania would be safe on his watch.

[friendly-neighborhood-imbecille]

Crushing an egg

4k words, some description of gore, will be crossposted to ao3 and ffn

When William Edward Lancer first started teaching at Casper High, he knew there was a risk of danger. It’s a horrible thing to think about, but there was a very real chance of an intruder, or even one of his students bringing a weapon with the intention to harm the other students. But never back then, had he thought the risk of harm to his students would be this large. 

Ever since the ghosts started appearing, the school had been subject to constant attacks. And now, the severity of the attacks had been steadily increasing. At first, it had just been pairs of humanoid ghosts, who were mostly uninterested in harming humans, using the school as their battleground. Then, every once in a while, the occasional low to mid-powered animal ghost would attack. But recently, more and more mid to high-powered animal ghosts had been seen rampaging the halls of Casper High. Trampling anyone in their path and blindly attacking anyone they deemed a threat, obstacle, or annoyance. 

Two students had already been hospitalized due to injuries received during one of these attacks. There was talk of installing a permanent ghost shield, replacing the temporary one already installed. Although it would use far more power than the school district could ever afford. 

At the moment, the best they could do was hope for the attacks to stop, and be ready for when they inevitably didn’t.

“Now, it’s important to view the story from all angles. It’s easy to understand the protagonist’s point of view, but what about the antagonist? Now, Nag and Nagaina planned to attack the family for the same reason Rikki destroyed their eggs: fear. Why do you think their actions were viewed as evil, while Rikki’s actions were viewed as good?” 

The class was silent. Some students stared blankly at his face, some out the windows, others at the clock behind him, counting down the minutes til the class ended. 

Edward sighed. “You don’t have to answer, I just want you all to really think about it.” He waited a couple seconds before moving on. “This story was written about a hundred years ago, but it can still relate-” He heard a sharp gasp and stopped in the middle of his sentence. Daniel Fenton was frantically scanning the classroom, as if he was searching for danger.

“Mr. Fenton, are you alright?”

His head snapped forward, and he visibly forced himself to relax. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine, but I really have to go.” He started anxiously tapping his fingers against his arm. “I, uh, forgot the, the, the book in my locker.” 

Edward looked to Daniel’s bag, trying to read the text on the book barely poking out. “I thought I saw the textbook on your desk a minute ago?”

Daniel reached over and zipped the bag closed. “Yeah, that was the science book. I grabbed the wrong one. They both say Pearson on the front, so I mixed them up. I’ll be quick, like, five minutes tops.” He started tapping his foot and quickly glancing between Edward and the door. Though it was very possible that Daniel had indeed grabbed the wrong book, he doubted it. But there was no use fighting against this. Even if he said no, Daniel would keep pestering him until he inevitably walked out without permission.

Edward sighed and ran his hand down his face before relenting. “Alright, please be quick.”

“I will, thank you.” Daniel grinned sheepishly and grabbed his bag before running out.

Edward scanned the room. It didn’t look like much had changed, but he attempted to engage the class anyway. “So, how does the conflict between the animals in this story mirror the conflicts we see in our modern day human society?” Surprisingly, he saw a hand slowly raise to answer the question.

“Yes Kwan?”

The boy looked towards his friend, Dashiel Baxter, as if waiting for something. Mr. Baxter waved his hand in a ‘go on’ gesture, and Kwan began to speak. “Well, the snake and the mongoose are at each other’s throats. The snakes are dangerous to the humans, so the mongoose wants to kill them. But then he kills, uh, breaks the eggs, which haven’t done anything wrong. Like, they had potential to be dangerous like the other snakes, but they were completely innocent. So I guess it’s sort of like-” Before he finished his sentence he was cut off by a loud blaring alarm.

“Attention all students and staff, a level 7 animalistic ghost has entered the building. All students and staff are to evacuate immediately.”

The class was panicking. Students were grabbing their bags and crowding to the door, knocking down desks and tables, and pushing others down to get to the front.

Level seven was high. So far, the detection system had only alerted to a few level sevens, all of which were humanoid. A ghost with that much power could easily kill a student. And with it being animalistic, it wouldn’t likely think to avoid doing so.

“Okay everybody please line up single file, stay calm, don’t push or shove, and stay together.” Edward tried to take control of the situation, but the students’ fear far outweighed their reasoning. He followed them out the door, helping up students that had been pushed down, and tried to move to the front of the group. Luckily, his classroom wasn’t far from the nearest exit. It wasn’t long before they were all safely hidden underneath the bleachers next to the football field, along with several other classes taking refuge there from the danger.

He took a second to catch his breath before counting his students. None of them were absent that day, so he shouldn’t have been missing any. He counted one short. He recounted and got the same result. He went down the list alphabetically and stopped once he got to the Fs.

“Where’s Daniel?”

The class fell silent. Some students began to search nearby crowds for their classmate, and Elena, one of his more observant students, stepped forward. “He, he left to get a textbook, remember?” She stuttered out.

Edward froze. His head started to heat up and it felt like a rat was frantically trying to claw its way out through his chest. He grabbed his walkie-talkie and brought it up to his mouth. “I’m missing a student, does anyone have Daniel Fenton with their class?”

A couple seconds went by. He didn’t move, he didn’t breathe, he didn’t even think. He just listened and stared back at the school building, as if willing his student to suddenly burst through the doors and run towards them. The shield started to materialize around the building, trapping whatever ghost that was there inside. Every class had already made it out.

The walkie-talkie buzzed to life and emitted the one sentence he was dreading to hear. 

“Nobody’s seen him.”

His stomach dropped. All of the students knew to stay with a group, any group, when there was an attack. The only reason a student would be completely missing is if they were cornered by the attacker, which could only mean one thing. “Gone with the Wind, he’s still in there.”

The Fentons were fast, but even they would need time to gather supplies and get to the location of the attack. And by then it might be too late. Daniel Fenton was not an athletic child, he didn’t stand a chance against whatever was in there with him. 

“Star, you’re in charge. I want you to bring the class over to Mr. Falluca. Tell him the situation and don’t let anyone separate from the group. I’m going back inside.”

Star reached over and grabbed Paulina’s hand before nodding. “Okay.”

Edward looked towards the school, gathered his breath, and ran. He ignored the confused and concerned shouts of the students and staff, he ignored the burning sensation in his legs, he ignored the fear rising up from the pits of his stomach and the back of his throat. He needed to do this. His student needed him.

He passed through the shield, feeling nothing but a slight buzz as he went through, and threw himself through the doors before stilling and holding his breath. He needed to be smart about this. He couldn’t just launch himself into danger, that wouldn’t fix anything. He needed to be calm, careful, and quiet.

 He slinked through the halls, careful to not make a sound, and searched through every unlocked classroom he walked by. He could hear shrill squealing from every possible direction, but it was the ceiling that shook and shuddered. The ghost was above him.

He hastened his movements, whisper-calling his student’s name into the doorway of every room, hoping to find him before he himself was discovered. No one answered. He went to the basement floors, raising his voice slightly, and running from room to room. Nothing. Maybe Daniel had found his way out of the building and away from the threat. Maybe he was putting himself in danger for nothing. He grabbed his walkie-talkie and raised it to his mouth once again. 

“Does anyone have Daniel Fenton with them?” 

He heard loud booms and crashes from above, followed by shouts and animalistic screeching. The shouting sounded human, the voice was masculine and young sounding.

The walkie-talkie buzzed. “None of us have him.”

He knew where Daniel was.

He ran to the stairs and scaled them as fast as he could, not caring whether or not he made noise. If he did, it would certainly be masked by the squeals and screeching of the ghost above him. 

He tripped halfway up the second flight, but continued scrambling his way up. He couldn’t waste any time, his student was in danger.

He made it to the top of the stairs and looked down the hallway. It was completely still, silent. If it weren’t for the cracked floor tiles and walls he could almost pretend there hadn’t been a ghost here at all. It felt wrong, but he couldn’t dwell on that. He had to find his student. 

He ran into an empty classroom and searched, but found nothing. He peered out the door but saw no sign of the ghost. He ran to search the next classroom, ignoring the trail of glowing green beneath his feet. Empty, just like the last one. 

What if he was too late? Daniel was by no means a particularly strong or brave child. The boy was terrified of ghosts and would likely be too overwhelmed with fear to try to think of an escape route if cornered. 

He searched the next classroom, still no sign of the boy. Suddenly the animal ghost burst through the walls of the classroom, barreling towards him and roaring with anger. He scrambled to hide behind one of the tables that had been knocked over and braced for impact, but it never came. 

He heard an ear-splitting screech of pain followed by a large thud and the scraping of hooves against tile. The scraping gradually faded off and Edward was left alone again.

He took in a deep breath and quickly began to hyperventilate. He could have been killed. God, he nearly was killed. Maybe he was the wrong person to do this. Maybe he should leave and let the Fentons handle this when they arrived. Maybe he should just hide and hope he isn’t discovered.

But if he did that, what would happen to Daniel? As a teacher he had two main responsibilities, to educate his students, and to protect them. To protect them even if that meant sacrificing his own life to save theirs. 

Daniel was his student, and he wasn’t going to sit back and let his student die.

Edward stood up and left the classroom to continue his search. He sped from room to room, trying to ignore the furious screeches threatening to split his skull open, trying not to think about what might happen to him if he was caught by the beast emitting them, trying not to think about what would happen if Daniel was caught.

Distressing images flashed through his head. Images of his student, abdomen ripped open and organs spilling out, mouth open, eyes vacant and clouded over. Worse, head crushed underneath hooves, skull fragments and teeth scattered across the floor, a leg detached from the rest of his body, being gnawed on by the beast as if it were a dog’s chew toy. He shook his head and tried to get rid of them, but they refused to leave. 

Thrown down a flight of stairs, neck broken and skull cracked from the impact. Head bitten off by powerful jaws. Pierced through the stomach and left to slowly bleed out. Eaten alive, still thrashing and screaming, begging to be let go- 

He heard the yelling again, Daniel wasn’t dead yet. If he followed the sound, he would find Daniel. And if he found Daniel, he’d be able to help him escape. He ran down the stairs and sprinted to the west side of the school, the shouts growing louder and louder, and the inhuman screeching growing along with them. He forced himself to ignore the screeches, he needed to protect his student, he couldn’t run away from danger this time. But right as he reached the source of the screaming, he froze. 

The ghost, a ginormous and terrifying boar with tusks sharp as daggers protruding from its jaws and a single spiral horn erupting from its forehead, and a small body pinned to the wall, pierced through the middle by its horn.

The screams hadn’t been coming from his student.

It had been another ghost.

The phantom.

He shouldn’t get involved. He should just leave. This was a dangerous situation. He needed to leave and find Daniel. But one glance at the smaller ghost’s eyes and he couldn’t. His hands were shaking, his heart was accelerating, his breathing was getting faster and faster. He grabbed the legs of a desk and, with a strength he didn’t know he had, struck the boar in the face with it.

The boar screamed and fell to the ground, releasing the boy from its hold. It attempted to stand back up, but Edward struck it again and again. His arms felt like they could fall off, but he continued to strike the boar. His legs felt like they could no longer support his weight, but he continued to strike the boar. He couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t think, but he continued to strike the boar. It wasn’t until his legs gave out and his arms refused to move the desk again that he realized that the boar wasn’t going to get up.

He knelt there, staring at the creature, breathing heavily and trying to understand what had just happened. The horn was broken off of its head and into two pieces, the core of it glowing green and sparking, yet gradually dimming as the seconds passed. The face was caved in, and there was ectoplasm everywhere. Had he really done that? The boar began to melt and bubble away, slowly simmering into nothingness.

“Are you alright?” Edward snapped his head towards the source of the question and winced when his eyes met the large wound in the phantom’s abdomen. It was gushing out ectoplasm and he could even see some of the boy’s organs inside.

“Shouldn't I be asking you that?” Edward replied. “Do you need help? I could get you a first aid kit if you’d like.” 

The phantom’s face scrunched up in thought. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be outside with everyone else? There was an evacuation, wasn't there?”

Edward jumped as he remembered what he was doing before. “I’m missing a student. He didn’t evacuate with all the others and I-”

“Daniel Fenton?” Phantom offered, then flinched slightly, as if he regretted saying anything.

“Yes. How did you know?” Edward looked at him curiously.

“I,” Phantom looked around the room, seemingly hesitant to give up the answer. “I helped him get out.”

Edward let out a relieved breath. “So he’s safe?”

Phantom looked down at his wound and paused before speaking. “Yes. he’s safe.”

It felt like a large weight was lifted off his shoulders. His student was alive. He looked back to the wound in Phantom’s abdomen and winced. “I’m going to go find a first aid kit so I can help fix your wounds. Don’t move from this spot, I’ll be right back.”

He ran out of the room and down the hall, quickly losing his breath. Now that the threat of imminent danger was gone, it seemed that his limits had been put back in place. He slowed to a halt and leaned against the wall next to him to catch his breath. He would have to walk.

He was almost to the nurse’s office when he began to hear hushed voices.

“...ectoplasmic readings…faded gradually… cut off like usual…could mean…not sure…”

He crept closer to the source of the sound, careful to not be heard, before realizing there was no danger in being observed. He began to walk normally, yet still relatively quietly towards the source of the sound, feeling rather silly for his earlier actions.

The voices soon became clear as he came closer, and before too long, he could see the familiar orange and teal jumpsuits of Jack and Madeline Fenton. “...knew we should have brought the tracker.”

“There’s still an ecto-signature in the building. He has to be around here somewhere.”

Edward cleared his throat, causing the other two to jump and face him. “Drs. Fenton, might I ask what exactly you are doing here?”

Jack and Madeline both jumped before turning to face him, Jack looking confused and Madeline with a smile on her face. It was a sweet smile on the surface, he had seen this smile a million times on a million different faces. But rather than feeling warm and inviting like it usually would, it felt cold, condescending. He felt insignificant under her gaze. “Oh, Mr. Lancer, we were alerted to an attack here. We just wanted to make sure everything was alright.”

Edward steeled himself and forced his emotions to remain hidden from her dissecting gaze. “And I do appreciate that. But, I do believe that the attack is over now. Am I correct?”

Her smile strained a bit, but she was quick to cover it up. “Yes, that ghost boy must have captured it. And we’ll be out of your hair as soon as we have him” Madeline attempted to step past him, but Edward moved to block her. Edward started to feel his temper slip and by the looks of things, the same could be said for both Jack and Maddie.

Edward crossed his arms and let out a breath to attempt to calm himself down. “I see, and is this ghost boy an immediate threat to the safety and wellbeing of the students?” 

“No, but he’s up to something,” Jack answered with fake enthusiasm. He was grinning from ear to ear, but somehow it seemed more like a baring of teeth. “We just know it. We need to capture and interrogate him, maybe do a bit of ripping apart if we can, and figure out what he’s up to, right Madds?”

“Exactly. We’re so close to figuring this out, and now we have him cornered. This might be our only chance for months. So if you would please excuse us-” She forcefully pushed Edward out of the way and along with her husband, began to march down the hall towards the room where he had left Phantom in.

“Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, I-”

Madeline turned her head to face him, the same perfectly condescending smile on her face. “Doctor Fenton.” She corrected.

“I’ll call you whatever I damn well please.” Edward nearly shouted. Every shred of subtlety was stripped from his demeanor. The pair froze in their steps and whipped around to face him. “The agreement here was that you lend aid when needed. That you help when a ghost attack threatens the lives of our students and staff and leave when the threat has passed. The agreement was not that you use this school as a trap to corner and shoot down children based on a hunch. You have no authority here, the only reason you are able to hunt the ghosts that attack here is because we allow you.”

Madeline’s entire face turned red with fury while Jack stared down to the ground, barely suppressed rage clear on his face. Madeline marched forward towards Edward and spat out her retort like venom on her tongue.

“The reason we are able to hunt the ghosts who attack here is because we are the world's leading experts in ectoplasmic behaviour, biology, and most importantly for this case, extermination. It is not just a hunch. You’ve seen firsthand what he’s capable of and yet, he still has you fooled. Though with what I’ve seen of your intelligence, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. That thing is extremely dangerous and could turn on us at any moment. Can’t you see, he’s using all of us for his sick-”

“That’s enough.” Edward cut her off, face deliberately cold and expressionless. He looked down at her with the intent to instill the same feeling of insignificance she gave him earlier.

She stomped her foot, seeming like a stick of dynamite with a fire almost to the base of the fuse. “No, I don’t want to hear any of your-”

“Please exit the building. If you don’t in the next five minutes I will contact the authorities. The same goes for if I see you lurking in the parking lot or circling the building.” 

And just like that, the flame sputtered before finally going out. She glared at him with a look that could break the bravest of men, turned around, and marched towards the entrance, followed shortly behind by her husband.

He watched as they passed through the door, entered their abomination of a vehicle, and left before he let out a relieved breath of air. If it were up to him, those two wouldn’t be allowed to enter school grounds, ghost attack or not. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. He continued on his way to the nurse’s office, grabbed a roll of gauze, disinfectant, and whatever else seemed useful, and made his way back to the classroom he left the phantom in.

He just couldn’t understand some people. Yes, it was good to be cautious, but never to this extent. To attack a child for a crime you have no proof he will commit, it was the coward’s way out. There had only been two instances where the phantom had been reported doing anything immoral, and both had been proven to be falsely incriminating. The Fenton’s had even confirmed this, however reluctantly they were to do so. It was extremely unjust, not to mention selfish, to attack Amity Park’s greatest ghost defence on nothing but baseless accusations and prejudice.

Edward forced himself to calm down. There was no use in getting so upset, especially now that the cause of the frustration had left. He reached the door of the room he had left Phantom in, took a deep breath, and opened it.

Phantom was nowhere to be seen.

He stood there for a minute, frozen, unsure what to do, before calmly looking around the room for the missing ghost. All he found in his search however was a sheet of notebook paper, torn at the edge with just two words written on it.

Thank you. 

He supposed he should have expected this. After all, he had never heard of anyone before ever getting that close to the phantom without capturing him first. It would make sense that he would flee to take care of his own wounds rather than stay to accept help. 

He left the medical supplies in the room. Just in case.

[olderthannetfic]

The whole bookmarks conversation reminds me of the authors of massive crossover fic With Pearl And Ruby Glowing, who have been known to lash out at anyone and everyone who criticize them, even if you did it in a private server where it was never intended to get back to them, even if you only mildly disliked one chapter, even if you were a massive fan but wished they'd used intersexism instead of going "what's the word for this? interphobia?" and then deleting all comments stating "it's intersexism". Mention them on a locked Dreamwidth entry that duckduckgo search results will show them part of? They're going to contact you and they're going to be furious.

Sometimes, not everyone is going to love your work. You cannot try to ban them from expressing that opinion in private to others. Yes, even if you're "famous" author who has a whole TV Tropes page for your work. You are within your rights to not want to be insulted to your face outright in vitriolic ways unrelated to your work, such as people who slam them for being queer writers. But not wanting that being a relatable, reasonable thing to feel does not mean that everyone has to say your work is good even in private, that people who comment on the fact that there's been more blonde black people than Arab people in your work even though you say you care about representation are haters who shouldn't be allowed to speak, or that if you ask what a word is and get told what the word is then that's hate that needs to be deleted and just for that we're going to screen all comments you meanies.

I've gotten some really nasty intersexist, antisemitic and outright violent comments on my work in the past. I delete the garbage and report the comments that threaten physical violence against me. The result is that people who like my work feel like they can approach me and say hi and chat in my comments or to others. Meanwhile, despite having a ton of hits, almost no one comments on With Pearl and Ruby Glowing and hardly any discussion of it off of AO3 because no one is in the mood to be yelled at for answering a question the author asked or for saying you didn't think a particular chapter was as well done as the others. When even "I loved the first 150 chapters except for number 44, I didn't get that completely" can be met with backlash, the readers start going, "I'll just not say anything and hopefully they won't get mad at me", a fandom dynamic that has resulted in less and less hits and less and less engagement as the story has gone along.

The best thing to do about angry bookmarks is to ignore it. People hate being treated as if they don't matter, thus it is your best possible revenge, because long after you've forgotten their annoying bookmark, you live rent-free in their head. Snapping back at even the lightest of criticism does not make for a fun experience for the reader. It makes me glad I didn't recommend the fic to anyone or comment and it likely to make me stop reading.

One of my fandoms is stubbornly refusing to move to AO3 and is still posting on FFN, for reasons I don't know and cannot explain. The result is that hate comments are still common. The standard response is to just ignore it. I feel much better about talking to those authors because I don't have to walk on eggshells around them in order to make sure I don't make them mad at me. As a result, I am much more likely to recommend their fic to others, because I don't have to worry I'm putting someone in the line of fire by doing so.

TL;DR can we all please learn some sense of proportion and that negative comments aren't worth burning the world to the ground over? Because in the process of burning things to the ground, you burn a good chunk of your audience in the process.

--

[jrob64]

Pet for Rent , Chapter 3/4 (The Adoption) A CS Modern AU Story

Ready for Chapter 3? Here we go!

Thanks to all of you who are reading and liking this story that was purely written because it was therapeutic for me. It was a year ago today that my Zeke was diagnosed with cancer. This is also written for all of you who have sent a beloved pet over the rainbow bridge yourself. I hope you find it an uplifting story, even though it was born from a broken heart.

Chapters on Tumblr - Ch 1 (The Meet Cute) Ch 2 (The Idea)

Chapter summary: Emma and Killian go out on a date, and Winston has his 'gotcha' day.

Rating: M (for smut in the last chapter, which can easily be skipped if that's not your thing)

Words: 7108

Also posted to Ao3 and ffn

Story begins under the cut

“Wake up, kid,” Emma said the next morning, gently shaking her son.

Henry rolled over and rubbed his eyes, then looked at the Minecraft clock on his nightstand. “You never wake me up this early on Sunday.”

“I know, but we’re going to church today.”

He pushed himself up in bed, yawning widely. “We usually watch it virtually, though. You said you like to do it that way.”

“Yeah well, today I thought we would go to Gentle Shepherd Church. I’ve heard good things about it, including the fact that it has a Sunday School class for you and an adult one for me.””

  “I thought only kids had Sunday School classes.”

“Well, Killian said the adult class is more like a Bible Study.”

“So this is the church where Killian goes?”

“Yeah. It is,” Emma said.

“Oh, boy!” Henry exclaimed, throwing the covers off and jumping out of bed. “That’s where Mr. and Mrs. Nolan go, too!”

Emma laughed. “I guess you do pay attention sometimes.”

“Do I have to dress up?”

“Killian said it’s casual. Just wear your khakis and a nice shirt. I’m going to get breakfast started.”

“Can we have pancakes?”

“If you promise not to get syrup on your clothes,” she replied, as she left the room.

As they ate, Henry wondered aloud if anyone from his class at school went to the church they were going to attend.

“It’s very possible, there are only three churches in town.”

“That would be cool! Are we going to sit with Killian?” he asked, before shoving a huge forkful of pancake in his mouth.

“Take smaller bites, Henry. I don’t want to have to give you the Heimlich manuever this morning.” That earned her a mischievous grin around his mouthful of food. “I don’t know who we’ll sit with, honestly. Belle and Liam go to that church, also.”

Henry swallowed. “They do? I haven’t seen Belle for a long time, and I never met Liam.”

“It has been a while. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing her more often.” She took a drink of her coffee, then slowly set the mug back on the table. “Listen Henry, I need to tell you something.”

He swirled his last bite of pancake through the small lake of syrup on his plate, then looked up at her curiously. “What?”

“I, uh, I talked to Killian last night after you went to bed, and um, he asked me to go out with him.”

Henry’s eyes widened. “On a date?”

“Yeah.”

“When?”

“Tuesday evening. I’m going to ask Belle if she can watch you. Is that okay?”

“Uh-huh,” he said, his shoulders rising and falling in a non-chalant shrug. “Where are you going?”

“Out to eat at that nice Italian restaurant down by the harbor.”

“Okay,” he said, then put the remainder of the pancake in his mouth.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?”

He swallowed before saying, “I like Killian. He’s always really nice to me, and to you, too. Plus he likes soccer and dogs.”

Emma chuckled. “I guess that makes him a good guy, huh?”

Henry nodded, grinning widely. “Yep.”

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Emma pulled into the parking lot, marveling at the number of vehicles already parked there. She hadn’t realized so many people attended the church.

When she first came to town, she took Henry to a different church a few blocks away, but they didn’t have a nursery and Henry was too active to sit still through an entire service. By the time it was over, she was worn out from trying to keep him quiet, received several dirty looks from sanctimonious people, and had gotten nothing out of the sermon. After a few weeks, she gave up and started watching live church services that were posted on YouTube instead.

“There’s Killian’s car,” Henry piped up from the back seat, having spotted his black Elantra.

Emma pulled into the open space beside it and cut the engine. Looking in the rearview mirror, she pushed strands of hair behind her ear and checked her lipstick.

“You look good, Mom,” Henry said. “I haven’t seen you wear a dress for a long time.”

She smiled at him in the mirror. “Thanks, kid. I haven’t had a reason to wear one for a while. I figured I might as well since they’ve just been hanging in my closet.”

They exited the car and approached the building, wondering which door to enter.

“Hi, Henry!” a voice called from behind them.

They turned to see one of Henry’s classmates from school “Hey, Nicholas! I was hoping some of my friends would be here.”

“John, Devin and Mike will be here, too. We’re all in class together, and so are some of the girls.” Both boys rolled their eyes.

“Be nice,” Emma admonished.

They followed Nicholas and his family in through the side door, which led to the Sunday School rooms at the back of the church building. Emma walked with her son back to the class room where Nicholas led them, and met his teacher, Miss Bell.

“The kids all call me Tink,” she told Emma when she introduced herself. “Because of my last name, and the fact that apparently I look like a fairy.”

Emma laughed. “I suppose I can see that,” she said, taking in the petite form of the other woman. After seeing that Heny seemed to be comfortably settling in, she returned to the hallway, searching for the area where the adult class met.

“Emma!”

She turned to see Belle approaching, Liam’s hand clasped in her own as he trailed behind his fiancée. “Hey, you guys. It’s good to see you,” Emma said.

“You, too,” Belle chirped. “After all the times I’ve invited you to join us here at church, what made you decide to come today?”

Liam draped his arm around Belle’s shoulder. “Come now, Sweetheart, do you really need to ask that question? I think she might have gotten an invitation from my little brother.”

“Younger brother, you mean.” Emma turned to see Killian walking up behind her. “Good morning, Belle, Liam. Good morning, Swan. I’m very happy to see you made it. Is Henry already in his classroom?”

“Yeah, I just dropped him off. He’s excited to know several of the other kids.”

“Good! Our class meets in there,” he said, gesturing to a large room to her right.

They walked in to see two dozen people milling around, chatting with one another. Emma instantly spotted Henry’s school teacher, who smiled and waved when she saw her enter the room. Then she saw David walk in with two cups of coffee, one of which he handed to his wife.

“Would you like some coffee, Emma?” Killian asked.

“Uh, sure. That would be great. One sugar, please.”

“Have a seat anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

She watched him go, then sought out Belle and Liam, who had struck up a conversation with the Nolans. Walking over, she smiled at everyone. “Hello.”

“Good morning!” David’s wife greeted cheerfully. “I’m so happy to see you here, Ms. Swan.”

“I’m happy to be here, but please call me Emma.”

“Of course, and you can call me Mary Margaret, although Mrs. Nolan might be a little less of a mouthful!”

David chuckled, looking at his wife adoringly, before turning his eyes toward Emma. “This is the first time you’ve been to this church, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. I’ve gotten into the habit of watching church services on YouTube on Sunday mornings, but with Henry getting older, I wanted to find a church that offered classes for a kid his age. Killian was telling me about the Bible study and the Sunday School program here and I thought we would give it a try.”

“Did I hear my name?” Killian said, coming up beside her. He gave her the coffee and a grin.

“Aye, we were just talking about the world’s biggest pratts,” Liam said.

“Liam!” Belle admonished, elbowing him. “We’re in church!”

“Could everyone please take their seats so we can get started?” a man with curly, red hair announced.

“That’s Archie, the teacher of the class,” Killian told Emma, gesturing to two open seats.

They sat down with Belle on Emma’s right and David on Killian’s left. “He’s the town psychiatrist, isn’t he?” Emma asked quietly.

“Aye. He leads excellent discussions in class and is great at getting everyone involved.”

Forty-five minutes later, Emma completely agreed with Killian’s statement about Archie Hopper. She thoroughly enjoyed the Bible study and was eager to find out if Henry liked his class, too. That question was answered when she stepped out into the hallway and her son came bounding toward her, grinning from ear to ear.

“How was it, kid?” she asked, unnecessarily.

“It was great, Mom! Can we come back next week?”

The church service proved to be inspirational and quite enjoyable, too. They sat in a pew between Killian, and Nicholas’ family. Afterwards, they stayed and chatted with several people Emma recognized from town, all of them making the newcomers feel very welcome.

When the service ended and it was time to leave, Emma and Killian shared a conspiratorial look before she asked Henry, “Hey kid, how would you like to have lunch with Killian?”

“At Granny’s?” he asked.

“No,” Killian chuckled. “Granny closes her diner on Sundays. Didn’t you see her in the choir?”

“Oh, yeah. I didn’t think about that,” Henry said. “Where will we go, then?”

“Killian invited us to his place to make sub sandwiches. How does that sound?”

Henry turned towards Killian. “Do you have bologna?”

Killian grimaced. “Afraid not. I won’t have that vile stuff in my home. I have ham, turkey, salami and cheese.”

“Ketchup?” Henry asked hopefully.

Trying to control another grimace, Killian said, “Aye, if you insist on it, I do have ketchup.”

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Killian lived in a two-story apartment building at the opposite end of town from Emma and Henry’s house. After they made their sandwiches and ate lunch, Killian showed them around. Besides the open kitchen/dining/living room area, it included a decent sized bathroom and two bedrooms, one of which he used as his office for work.

His apartment was on the first floor, and the sliding back doors opened out into a fenced-in common area for the building. The yard wasn’t huge, but it was big enough for a swing set for the children who lived there, as well as an open, grassy space, shaded by a couple of large trees.

As Henry stood looking around the area, Killian moved behind him and put his hands on his shoulders. “What do you think, lad? Is the yard big enough for a dog?”

Henry slowly turned his head to look up at him. “Are you getting one?”

Emma moved to stand in front of him. “Killian and I have been talking. I’ve been saying it wouldn’t be fair to adopt Norman because he would have to be cooped up in a crate all day…”

“But I work from home, so I’m here all day…”

“So if we adopted Norman…” She looked up at Killian, encouraging him to continue.

“I could take care of him during the day and he would stay with you in the evenings and overnight.”

Henry’s head was swiveling back and forth as the adults explained their plan, the confused look on his face morphing into one of surprise and cautious happiness. “So…so you’re saying we’re gonna adopt him?”

“If you promise to help take care of him and train him to obey,” Emma said.

“I will! I promise!” he shouted, flinging his arms around her waist. “Thank you, Mom!”

“You’re welcome,” she said, kissing the top of his head. “We wouldn’t be able to do it without Killian, though.”

Immediately he ended their hug and turned to give Killian one. “Thank you!”

“You’re very welcome, lad. I’m looking forward to having Win-, er, Norman as a companion, too.”

“We really ought to decide on one name,” Emma said. “He’s going to be confused if we’re calling him two different things.”

“Well, I suppose the better choice is Norman, since that’s the name the shelter gave him.”

“Do you think Norman is a good name, Mom?” Henry asked.

Emma shrugged her shoulders. “One name is as good as the other, as far as I’m concerned. You and Killian figure it out.”

“Let Henry name him,” Killian said. “I consider the dog to be his.”

“What do you think, kid?”

Henry scrunched up his face in thought. “Remember the book you read to me a long time ago that had a really mean woman in it? Her name was Norman, wasn’t it?”

“Her name was Norma,” Emma chuckled.

“It kinda sounds the same and you had to stop reading that book because she scared me, remember?”

“Are you saying you prefer Winston?”

He lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “I guess. Is that alright?”

“Fine by me. Like Killian said, it’s up to you.”

“Winston will be so happy we’re adopting him!” Henry declared.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Killian called David the next day to tell him of their plans to adopt the dog. David was very excited and told Killian the paperwork would be ready and he would have Winston fully vetted, licensed, chipped and groomed by the time they picked him up on Saturday.

When Killian called to relay this news to Emma that evening, she said, “I’ll pay the adoption fees, since he’s going to be Henry’s dog.”

“Emma…”

“No, I want to do this. That way, if you do move away, I won’t feel bad about you paying for a dog you don’t get to keep.”

He was quiet for several moments, considering her offer. “Okay, I’ll agree on one condition - that you let me pay for his food, treats and toys for the first month.”

“That will probably add up to more than the adoption fees,” she teased.

“That’s entirely possible,” he agreed, chuckling. “I understand Liam is going to come over with Belle to watch Henry tomorrow evening. Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah, I already talked to Belle about it today. I told her not to do anything that might scar my kid.”

Killian laughed again. “Poor Belle, she’ll have to make sure two kids behave.”

They chatted for another hour, finalizing plans for their date and discussing everything they would need for Winston. When they finally ended the call, Killian sat staring at his phone for several minutes, deep in thought. Emma’s comment about him possibly moving away had him mentally ticking off the pros and cons of such a move.

When he finished, he had far more reasons to stay, and the one at the top of the list was Emma Swan.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

“Mom! Belle and Liam are here!” Henry yelled.

Emma quickly finished applying her tinted lip glss, then did a final inspection in the full-lenth mirror. She was wearing a 3⁄4 sleeve deep red dress with a modest V neckline, the straight hemline falling just above her knees. Her ensemble was completed with black heels, silver jewelry and a black clutch purse. She’d spent extra time applying smokey eye makeup and curling her hair, which fell loosely down her back.

Satisfied with her reflection, she pulled her black and white houndstooth peacoat out of the closet and left the bedroom. Henry was just getting ready to open the door when she entered the living room.

“I’ll get the door, kid. You know I don’t like you to open it.”

“But I already saw who it is,” he protested.

“Sorry, but that’s the rule,” she reminded him, moving to the door as a knock sounded. She opened it to reveal Belle with Liam standing close behind.

“Oh, Emma, you look lovely!” the other woman exclaimed.

“She’s right,” Liam agreed. “You look far too nice to be going out with my little brother.”

Emma laughed and gestured them inside. “Thank you, but I think he would object to being called your little brother.” She took their coats to hang up, showed them where the emergency numbers were, and gave them instructions for Henry’s bedtime routine.

Just as she finished, there was another knock on the door. Before going to answer it, she gave the engaged couple a nervous smile and ran her hands down the front of her dress.

When she opened the door, all her nerves seemed to fly away, replaced with a sense of happiness at the prospect of going out with the man in front of her. Killian stood there, scratching behind his ear, a habit she found incredibly endearing. He was dressed in dark gray slacks, a white button down shirt and navy blue sports coat. She was pleased to see his eyes widen slightly when he saw her.

“Swan, you look…stunning,” he said.

“Thank you, Killian. You clean up pretty well yourself.”

“Hi, Killian!” Henry piped up, coming to stand beside his mother.

“Hello, lad. Are you ready for a fun evening with Belle?”

“What about me?” Liam asked, appearing behind Henry. “I’m a fun guy.”

“You make yourself sound like a mushroom, brother,” Killian snickered.

Liam folded his arms over his broad chest. “Are you really sure you want to go out with this idiot, Emma?”

“Yes, she is,” Belle said, “and the two of you are wasting time with your banter. Emma, you and Killian go and have a wonderful time. Don’t worry about Henry. He’s in good hands.”

“I know,” Emma said, bending down to kiss her son’s cheek. “Be good and listen to Belle and Liam, okay?”

“I will. Have fun, Mom.” Wrapping his arms around her, he added, “I love you.”

“I love you too, kid.”

“Goodnight, lad,” Killian said, ruffling the boy’s hair.

“‘G’night, Killian. See you Saturday!”

During their exchange, Emma went to get her coat and purse from the kitchen chair where she left them. When she returned, Killian took the coat from her and held it up for her to put on. After saying their final goodbyes, he escorted her down the sidewalk to his car, his hand resting on the small of her back.

Once they were both buckled into the comfortable leather seats, he looked over at her, picked up her hand, brought it to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “You truly do look beautiful this evening, Love.”

“Thank you,” she replied, knowing that her cheeks were beginning to turn the same color as her dress.

Giving her one more smile, he started the car and pulled away from the curb. Emma had wondered if things would be awkward between them during the date, but they carried on their conversation just as easily as they had from the very first day.

Each time she went out with a man, she caught herself constantly checking the time on her phone and wondering how Henry was doing. Tonight however, she was so caught up enjoying the good food, wine, and the handsome man she was with, she completely lost track of time. When she finally checked her phone screen as they pulled up in front of her house, she was shocked to find it was nearly eleven o’clock.

Killian opened her door and offered his hand to help her out of the car. They continued holding hands as they strolled casually up the sidewalk, the early autumn air cool against their cheeks.

When they reached her front door, she turned to him with a demure smile. “I suppose this is where I tell you I had a wonderful time and debate whether or not I should give you a kiss.”

He chuckled lowly. “Aye, I suppose it is. So tell me, Swan, what’s the verdict? Did you have a wonderful time?”

She put her hands on his chest, rubbing them over the lapels of his jacket. “Yes, I did. I don’t date very often, and this is by far the best date I’ve had in a very long time, maybe ever. I find it very easy to talk to you.”

“I feel the same, Emma,” he said, taking a step closer to her. “Now, have you made your decision about…”

She didn’t give him a chance to finish. Pushing up on her toes, she pressed her lips to his, wrapping her arms around his neck as she felt his encircle her waist. She intended the kiss to be brief, but found she quite enjoyed it and didn’t want it to end.

It was interrupted when the light outside her front door suddenly turned on, nearly blinding them despite their eyes being closed.

“What the bloody…” Killian began, just as the door swung open.

“Tsk, tsk, little brother,” Liam said with a maddening smirk on his face. “Kissing on the very first date? Wouldn’t that be considered bad form?”

“Liam, bloody hell!” Killian retorted.

At the same time, Belle’s voice could be heard from the living room. “Liam Albert Jones! That was mean! Just for that, you won’t be getting a kiss from me tonight when you take me home!”

As Liam pleaded his case, Emma giggled into Killian’s chest. “I guess our date is officially over.”

“Next time, could you please ask Belle not to bring my wanker of a brother along to watch Henry?”

“Next time?” Emma questioned. “I don’t remember you asking for a second date.”

Killian reached around her to close the door, then gazed into her eyes. “Will you go out with me again?” he asked quietly.

Her eyes darted back and forth between his, floored at the depth of hope and sincerity she saw there. She opened her mouth to answer him, but instead found herself kissing him again. This time, when they separated, she leaned her forehead against his with a sigh of contentment.

“May I take that as a yes?” he whispered.

“Absolutely,” she breathed. “Thank you for a fun and memorable evening, Killian.”

“It was my pleasure, Emma. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Turning around, she opened the door slightly, then glanced back over her shoulder. “Goodnight, Killian.”

“Goodnight,” he replied.

She went inside and closed the door, leaning against it with a dreamy smile on her face. She had nearly forgotten she wasn’t alone, and was startled when Belle spoke.

“If that look on your face is anything to go by, I don’t need to ask if you had a good time.”

Emma could feel herself blushing, but gave her friend a smile and said, “I really did. We’re planning to go out again. By the way, Killian requested that if you watch Henry when we do, you forbid Liam to come along with you.”

While Belle laughed, Liam said, “Henry will disagree with that. He had a lot of fun with his Uncle Liam tonight.”

Emma’s jaw dropped. “You told him to call you ‘uncle’? Why did you do that?”

“He didn’t, he’s pulling your leg,” Belle explained, glaring at her fiancé. “I’m happy to report that Henry was much better behaved than Liam, who is going to have to earn his way back into my good graces.”

Hiding her giggle behind her hand, Emma listened to the couple playfully bicker, still able to feel Killian’s kiss on her lips and the happiness in her heart.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

On Friday, Emma picked Henry up from his after school sitter Ashley’s house and they went to Killian’s apartment. He insisted on making them homemade pizza before going to the store to buy necessities for Winston.

Henry chattered animatedly throughout supper, the topics ranging from how much he loved the pizza and who he sat with at lunch, to the new book he checked out at the school library. Most of all, he talked about all the things he and Winston would do together and how he would train him.

Emma and Killian shared humorous glances across the table while they listened. Since their date, they had texted each other a few times during the day and carried on lengthy phone conversations every evening after Henry went to sleep.

When they pulled into the parking lot of the pet supply store, Killian turned off the car as Emma looked back at her son. “Now, remember Henry, we have quite a bit of stuff left from Ernie, so we’re not going to buy a lot, okay?”

“Okay, but we can help Killian pick out everything he needs, right?”

Before Emma could answer, Killian said, “Of course, lad.”

“You might regret that,” she murmured, earning her a grin.

As they browsed the aisles, Emma slipped her hand into Killian’s. She felt him give it a squeeze and looked over to see him gazing at her with a warm smile. Then she turned her attention back to her son, who was examining the assortment of collars and leashes.

“What color do you think Winston likes better - red or orange?”

“Dogs are color blind, kid,” Emma informed him, “so I don’t think he will care one way or another.”

“Oh, yeah,” Henry said. “Well, which one do you like, Killian?”

“I recently developed quite a fondness for red,” he answered, giving Emma a wink. She blushed, knowing he was referring to the dress she wore for their date.

“That’s my favorite, too,” Henry declared, selecting a red leash from the rack. Emma and Killian helped him pick out a matching collar that was the right size for the fifty pound dog. They were added to the cart Henry was pushing, then they moved on to the aisle containing the dog beds.

As they looked over the display, Emma took the leash from the cart and studied the tag. “This says it’s good for dogs up to fifty pounds,” she read. “I think we should get the next bigger size, don’t you?”

Henry and Killian both agreed, and Emma left to go replace it. When she returned, she stopped short at the end of the aisle, blinking back sudden tears. Henry was kneeling on the floor in front of the beds, running his hands over them as he carried on a commentary about which one was the softest. Killian crouched beside him, his hand on the boy’s back, his attention completely focused on what Henry was saying.

For eight years, Emma denied herself a relationship with a man because she hadn’t met one that she thought would be a good match, not only for her, but more importantly for her son. Either they got skittish when they found out she had a son, or they tried too hard, overcompensating for their lack of experience with kids.

Then, thanks to a simple mistake on her part, she met a man who was fitting into their life so naturally, it was almost too good to be true. Her heart as a mother swelled witnessing how well Killian and Henry got along and what a truly wonderful role model Killian was for her son. At the same time, her heart as a woman fluttered at the possibility of finding someone who could be a perfect match for her.

Taking in a deep, steadying breath, she walked down the aisle to join the two most important people in her life.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Saturday morning, Henry knelt on the sofa, his arms crossed on the back of it as he watched intently out the window for Killian’s car. Emma shook her head at her son’s impatience, but in all honesty, she was just as excited for the man to arrive.

Once they finished shopping the previous evening, Killian invited them in to watch a movie. The three of them browsed through the options on Killian’s streaming platforms, ultimately allowing Henry to choose The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Killian made a huge batch of popcorn and the three of them settled on the couch to watch. Henry sat in the middle, holding the bowl with his eyes glued to the screen. Emma and Killian found themselves enjoying the movie too, even though they originally didn’t think it would hold any interest for them.

By the time the final credits rolled, the boy’s head was lolling against Killian’s arm. When Emma tried to get her son to wake up so they could go home, Killian took pity on the sleepy child and easily lifted him into his arms to carry him to Emma’s car. Before getting in the car herself, she and Killian shared a short, sweet kiss and she promised to call after Henry was in bed.

After arriving home and getting her son settled, Emma talked to Killian until she was starting to fall asleep and he teased her about finding him boring. The entire evening caused her emerging feelings for him to deepen even more.

Now, she was standing behind her son, watching for the familiar black car to turn the corner.

“Do you think he forgot?” Henry asked.

“He said he would be here at nine-thirty and he has ten more minutes. Try to be patient.”

Henry turned around, sat down, then rested his head against the back of the couch and heaved a sigh. “I just want to go get my dog.”

“I know, kid,” Emma soothed, rubbing her hand over his hair. “I’m excited to bring him home, too.” Glancing out the window, she smiled and said, “Look who’s here.”

His head shot up and he jumped off the couch, shouting, “He’s here! He’s here! Let’s go!”

Killian didn’t even have a chance to put the car in park before Henry was sprinting out the door, with his mother following behind him, still pulling on her coat.

Killian had just climbed out of the car when Emma reached the end of the sidewalk. “He’s a little eager to get there,” she said dryly.

“You don’t say,” Killian chuckled, looking into the back seat where Henry was already buckled in, nearly vibrating with excitement. Brushing a kiss against her cheek, Killian placed a hand on the small of her back to escort her around the rear of the car.

When they arrived at the shelter, Henry jumped out, clutching the new collar and leash in his hands. “C’mon, Mom,” he urged, hopping from foot to foot as he waited impatiently for the adults.

“Hold your horses, kid,” Emma replied, stepping from the car and closing the door as Killian did the same. “We have to sign some paperwork and pay the adoption fees, so it’s going to be a little while before Mr. Nolan brings Winston to you.”

“I know,” he said, “but the faster we go in there, the sooner we’ll get him.”

“You’ve got a point,” Emma agreed.

The three of them crossed the parking lot and Killian held the door for them to go inside. David was sitting at the desk behind the counter, a huge grin creasing his face when he saw them enter.

“Good morning!” he greeted. “I think Nor-, um, Winston senses something is going on. He was very excited when I fed him and let him out in the exercise yard this morning.”

“He probably knows it’s his ‘gotcha day’!” Henry declared. Turning to his mother, he added, “I told you he’s smart!”

David chuckled as he spread the paperwork out on the counter. After explaining each page, Emma signed where he told her and wrote a check for the fees. Henry gave him the collar so he could attach the dog license and chip information to it, then he asked the boy if he wanted to go with him to get Winston. To no one’s surprise, Henry jumped at the chance.

While they waited, Emma moved closer to Killian, reaching out to take his hands. “Thanks again for helping make this happen. It’s been hard watching Henry grieve for Ernie and have to tell him we can’t get another dog.”

“I can imagine, Love. I’m very happy I could help.” Dipping his head, he met her willing lips to share a kiss with her. After it ended, he said, “We need to plan our next date.”

“Yeah, about that,” she said, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to leave Winston with Belle and Liam until he gets a little more used to his surroundings.”

He nodded in understanding. “That’s true. Well, if we can’t go out on a date, perhaps we can plan one where we stay in.”

“At my place or yours?”

Before he had a chance to answer, the door to the back opened and Winston came through, straining forward on his leash and practically dragging Henry behind him. Emma and Killian bent down to try to pet the whirling dervish of a dog, attempting to get him to settle down.

“I think you’re right about him knowing something special is happening, Dave,” Killian said. “I’ve never seen him act this way.”

“Dogs seem to have instincts about these things,” David noted.

“Is he ready to go?” Emma asked.

“Yep, he’s all yours!” David replied happily. Reaching down, he scratched the dog behind the ears. “Be good, Winston. Enjoy your new family!”

They went out the front door, laughing at the way the dog practically strutted to the car. Once they were all buckled in, including Winston with his new doggy safety belt, Killian drove out of the parking lot. Henry patted the dog’s head and said, “You’ll never have to come back here again, boy. You’re going to live with us forever.”

The drive back to Emma’s seemed to go much more quickly than the one to the shelter. Killian pulled up to the curb and Emma reminded Henry to hold tightly to Winston’s leash so he wouldn’t run into the street.

Killian walked up the sidewalk behind them, but stopped short of following them into the house. When Emma realized it, she asked, “Aren’t you coming in?”

“I, uh, I didn’t want to assume.”

“If you don’t mind sharing me with a boy and a dog, we can consider today a date,” she grinned.

He returned the grin. “Sounds good to me.”

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

  After a full day of romping and playing with Winston, it was easy getting Henry to go to bed that evening. When Emma went into his room after he was done showering and brushing his teeth, she found him already under the covers with the dog laying beside him.

“He does have a bed, you know,” she said, without any intention of making the dog move.

“He likes it here, don’t you boy?” Henry said, rubbing the dog’s belly.

“If he needs to go out in the middle of the night, make sure you wake me up, okay?”

“I will,” he yawned. “Are we going to church tomorrow?”

“I’m planning on it. David said Winston seems to be crate trained, so we’ll see how he does in there for a couple of hours.”

They went through Henry’s bedtime routine and he was already asleep by the time she read one page of their current book.

“He’s one happy kid,” Emma said as she went back into the living room and sat down beside Killian on the sofa. “And you played a big part in making him feel that way.”

Killian toyed with the hem of his button-down. “You give me far too much credit, Love.”

“Why do you say that?” she asked, reaching out to tangle her fingers with his fidgeting ones.

“Because he’s been a happy lad since the first day I met him, and none of that was due to me. It goes to prove that he has a wonderful mother.”

“Some days I’m not so sure about that.”

He kept his head down, studying their entwined hands for several moments. Without looking at her, he said quietly, “Remember I told you that the woman I was dating previously was married?”

“Yeah.”

“She was several years older than me, and not only did she hide her marital status from me, she also failed to tell me she had a son.”

“Oh, wow,” Emma said. “That really must have come as a shock.”

“Aye, it did,” Killian affirmed. “One day after we broke up, I parked along the street down from his school and watched her arrive to walk him home. I wasn’t being a stalker, I was just curious. Her son was about the same age Henry is now, but he was nothing like your boy.” He finally looked up at her. “I’ve never seen a child look as sad and dejected as her son. It was as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his small shoulders.”

“Poor little boy.”

“Aye, and I’m sure it was because of the choices his parents made. They cared only for themselves and their own gratification, not about how they were affecting their son.” He reached forward to brush a wayward strand of hair away from her face. “Emma, it’s quite obvious that starting from your very first decision to bring Henry into the world and raise him by yourself, you’ve made his happiness your priority. It’s one of the things I admire the most about you.”

Her face warmed from his praise. Scooting a little closer, she leaned against him and he put his arm around her, pressing a kiss to her temple. “I enjoyed our date today,” he said, “and I certainly didn’t mind sharing you with Henry and Winston. It did my heart good to see how much they love each other already.”

“Winston was sleeping on Henry’s bed and looked completely comfortable there. I just hope he doesn’t wake us up too many times during the night.”

“Well, he’s past the puppy stage and wasn’t able to go out at night while he was at the shelter, so maybe he won’t get you up at all.”

“That would be nice. I don’t want to be yawning during the sermon tomorrow.”

He leaned back to look at her. “I’m happy to hear you’re coming to church again.”

“Yeah, Henry and I both really liked our classes and I thought the service was great. I especially enjoyed the music.”

“I heard you singing. You have a beautiful voice.”

“Thank you,” she said, her face reddening again. “I didn’t realize I was singing that loudly.”

“I don’t think you were, I was just standing close to you. You shouldn’t be self-conscious about singing praises to God, anyway.”

“That’s true,” she agreed, snuggling closer to him. “Do you want to watch something?”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’m quite content just talking,” he murmured.

“Mmm, me too,” she hummed. “Why is it always so easy to talk to you?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps we’re soul mates.”

“Do you believe there is such a thing as soul mates?” she asked, looking up into his face.

“I didn’t,” he replied. “Until I met you.”

Their lips connected for a long, sweet, languid kiss.

“Killian?” she whispered, when they parted just enough for her to talk.

“Yes, Love?”

“Maybe I’m not content just to talk.”

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Emma went to bed two hours later with the taste and feel of Killian’s lips still lingering on hers. He starred in her dreams and she awoke the next morning with a smile on her face. After yawning and stretching, she realized Henry hadn’t woken her up at all during the night to put Winston out.

Throwing back the covers, she quickly padded down the hall to his room. Peeking around the edge of his slightly open door, she smiled at the sight of the boy and dog still asleep.

After showering and getting dressed, she woke them up, took Winston out while Henry dressed, and went back inside to fix breakfast. As she was stirring the scrambled eggs, Henry entered the kitchen and immediately went to get Winston’s food bowl. They had already agreed that feeding him and keeping his water bowl filled would be Henry’s responsibility.

They sat down to eat and Emma smiled at the sight of the dog sitting right beside Henry’s chair. “Don’t forget that we’re not feeding him from the table. I don’t want him to get into the habit of begging, like Ernie did.”

“I know,” Henry said, then chewed thoughtfully for several seconds. He swallowed and said, “Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you love Killian?”

Emma really wished she hadn’t just taken a sip of coffee, because she nearly choked on it. With watering eyes, she asked, “What makes you think that?”

He shrugged. “You guys hold hands and sit really close together and everything. I even saw him kiss you. You have to love somebody to kiss them, don’t you?”

Emma’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times, resembling a fish out of water. She thought she and Killian had been discreet when they shared brief kisses, but apparently her son witnessed at least one of them.

“Killian and I, we…we’re just dating, Henry,” she finally managed to say. “People date to get to know each other, to…to see if they might, um, fall in love. Kissing is a part of dating, but it doesn’t mean we love each other.”

“So you don’t love him?”

“I…I honestly don’t know yet. I do like him and I like spending time with him. He’s fun and he makes me laugh.” She leaned across the table and placed her hand on top of Henry’s forearm. “How do you feel about me dating Killian? It’s always been just you and me. Would you be upset if he and I did fall in love?”

“Would you get married?”

The question took her by surprise, but she maintained eye contact with him, wanting to show him how much his opinion mattered. “Not without you being okay with it. You always come first, Henry, and I won’t do anything to make you unhappy.”

“I wouldn’t be unhappy if you fell in love with Killian and married him.”

“You wouldn’t?”

He shook his head decisively. “Nope. I like him. He’s really nice to me and I can tell he makes you happy. You smile and laugh a lot more when he’s around. I think it would be cool to have Killian as my dad. That’s what he would be if you got married, right?”

“Technically, he would be your step-dad, but that doesn’t make any difference and I’m sure it wouldn’t matter to Killian, either. I appreciate how he treats you and how he likes spending time with you.”

“Yeah, me too. And Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“I think you, me, Killian and Winston would make a great family.”

She smiled and gently squeezed his arm. “I think so too, kid.”

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Thanks so much for reading. The last chapter will be posted next week!

NEW TAG LIST:

@qualitycoffeethings @grimmswan @cs-rylie @wyntereyez @kmomof4 @hookedmom @ultraluckycatnd @paradiselady19 @xarandomdreamx @motherkatereloyshipper @lfh1226-linda @pawshapedheart @vampcoffeegyrl23 @tiganasummertree @bluewildcatfanatic @eleveneitherway @elfiola @kday426 @julieenchanted-swans @gingerchangeling @andiirivera @djlbg @jonesfandomfanatic @snowbellewells @anmylica @booksteaandtoomuchtv @cocohook38 @ilovemesomekillianjones@zaharadessert @lyssapup27 @undercaffinatednightmare @winterbaby89 @jennjenn615 @xsajx @jackieorioncat @teamhook @soniccat @jarienn972 @softkilly @kymbersmith-90 @apiratewhopines

[jariktig]

What happens on AO3 (stays on AO3)...

So, I have finally hit the end condition for my TF pairings sample - I’d estimated I’d have to go through about 100 pages of AO3 search (or around 4% of the total) to get to the point of finding 10 pages with no new pairings.  It actually took 357, or around 15% of the total, or around a year’s worth of fics to search and some days of my free time, so I am going to get some use out of it if it kills me!  Accordingly, while I’m waiting for Tumblr to give me polls so that I can run the Rare Pairs Battle Royale that was the original intent of the thing, I present  some silly analysis, below the cut because it’s a bit long.

First, some caveats:

1.  This is based entirely on fanfics as presented on AO3; no FFN, no Wattpad, no LJ etc and no canonicity except insofar as the patterns on AO3 match those in canon (which is very firmly left as an exercise for the reader);

2.  It’s a sample survey, taken at a single point in time (around early Feb 2023; could look more exactly if anyone’s desperate to know).  That means there will be some pairings that have appeared since (@quetzapapalotl’s Optimus Prime/Primus frex) and some that I’ve not yet picked up (a couple that I remember because I liked the relevant fics are Megatron/The Nemesis and Laserbeak/Swoop).  That said, the big conclusions should be pretty robust at this stage and the list of rare pairs also won’t be greatly off.  As an extra check I can put up a link to the latter and ask people to suggest additions;

3.  I’ve excluded relationships including OCs (because I’d included foreign language fics and so reading through all the individual ones to try to disambiguate OCs was beyond me; also I didn’t want to read through a large number of Prowl/OC fics and the like), and relationships including generic types of TFs such as Vehicon or Seeker (on the premise that those are effectively OCs with backstory).  I’ve also excluded TF/human relationships including reader self-insert for similar reasons.  Non-OC TFs are defined as those findable on TFWiki.

Right, on with the actual findings:

1.  There are at least 639 individual pairings in TF fandom as represented on AO3; of those, around 12% (at least 146) are one-fic wonders whose supporters I can only salute.  The median number of fics per pairing is 7, which is surprisingly low.  (I’d been thinking of my favourite Megatron/Jazz as “rare”, but it’s only just outside the top quartile in reality).   At the other end of the scale, there are 55 pairings with over 100 fics and 4 with over 1000.  All of this is not nearly so impressive as the combinatorics someone did in the great TF/Homestuck discussion, but I expect that is my own fault for excluding OCs, vehicons and the like.  Also, if someone wants to repeat this trick for Homestuck I’ll gladly compare results, but I know my limits.

2.  The most popular pairing (somewhat to my surprise) is Jazz/Prowl, with 2632 fics.  Megatron/Optimus Prime (including Megatron/Orion Pax etc and correcting for overlaps) comes to 2407, Megatron/Starscream 1783, and Drift (Deadlock)/Ratchet 1386.

3.  At a faction level, Autobots have more fun, even if corrected for the fact that the population of named Autobots is higher than the same for Decepticons: using lists of named G1 characters as a rough proxy for population likely to appear on AO3, Autobots get 2.4 relationships per capita and Decepticons 2.3.  Which is not that different, but Autobots also get 126 fics per capita, as opposed to the Decepticons’ 104.  Decepticon advocates (including me) point out here that how much sex you have is not necessarily related to how much fun you have in the process, but still.  Neutrals are harder to do pop stats for, but on the face of it underrepresented, and the Variable category for people who canonically shift factions during the war or whose name is shared with other TFs from the opposite faction is definitely overrepresented.  That last one is entirely a function of Drift (Deadlock).

4.  Still at a faction level (and again correcting for population), inter-faction relationships are definitely more popular than intra-faction ones, with 0.35% of the theoretically possible inter-faction pairings actually appearing on AO3 and only 0.26% of the intra-faction ones.  Must be the lure of the forbidden, or something.  Also clearly a lot of untapped potential out there.

5.  More on this to come when I’ve done the arithmetic properly, but at a glance the most obviously underrepresented group is beastformers.

6.  At an individual level, I have a few awards to give out:

The Little Black Dress Award for the TF who goes with absolutely anything (credit to @cleverthylacine for the name) goes to Megatron, by some distance and on either of the obvious metrics; he has 53 pairings and 6484 fics (correcting for overlaps again).  He can presumably store the trophy with the Best Wife one...  Vying for second place, Optimus Prime and Starscream with 35 pairings each; Starscream has 4843 fics and Optimus 4736 so it’s Starscream by an Insecticon’s whisker.  And also close for fourth and fifth, Prowl (29 pairings, 3583 fics) and Ratchet (25 pairings, 3439 fics).  Slightly stunned that Rodimus isn’t in the top 5, but there it is.

The Serial Monogamy Award for the TF with the highest ratio of fics to pairings goes to Chromedome (676 fics across 2 pairings, with Rewind and Prowl).  I’m pretty sure this surprises exactly nobody.  Second is Breakdown, with 969 fics across 4 pairings - Knockout and Starscream are the big ones, but Motormaster and Drag Strip also feature.  And third is Tailgate, with 735 fics across 4 pairings (Cyclonus, Whirl, Arcee, Glyph).  Nobody else anywhere near, once you correct for the fact that Orion Pax is also Optimus Prime.  Soundwave: a sufficiently superior husband to be paired up with 23 other TFs, which reduces the ratio somewhat.

The Lifetime Monogamy Award for the TF with the most fics given that they have only a single pairing goes jointly to Anode and Lug, who have 76 fics together and no pairings with anyone else on either side. Second is Chase, with 56 fics in Chase/Heatwave (not shared with Heatwave, who has quite a few other pairings; I hope that’s a properly negotiated deal).  Third a three-way tie between Airazor/Tigatron (28 fics, no other pairings for either) and Devcon (28 fics with Smokescreen, who has quite a few other pairings).

The Jack Harkness Fragging with Added Space-Time Award goes to Megatron, Optimus Prime, Brainstorm and Tarn, all of whom feature as their own partners in more than one fic.

And that’s all I’ve got for the moment.  Next steps: do ntuples for N>2, add mech/femme and frametype/group/combiner to the set so that I can cut by those, try to work out a quicker way of repeating the exercise for pairs including humans, and wait for tumblr to give me polls.  Drop me a line if you’ve questions or suggestions for future analysis.