thank you, sweetie. i tried really hard to keep some kind of balance between the old and the new. also, i wanted to set up the rest of the story, which you said i've done well enough. you've helped make this one slightly less painful than the rest of my stuff.

i tried hard to impress upon the importance behind the telling of the tales. so yeah. the teary eyed bit is, i suppose, understandable. glad i struck a chord with you guys.