Inn

[lutz]

Abel nodded.
"There are a few things you must know before we enter the hidden island....its not even what you would call a island....its more of a hidden realm...I hole connection two worlds...my world and yours...the closest thing to a human being on our planet is the Sarsha...evil and twisted they have become and its because of that demon from your world...Lucifer....the Sarsha used to be sand people, greedy thugs who used Shaman magic, thats is till Lord Vacsh McSeth Mixed his dark arts with the Shaman magic, and connected our two planets....it was his fault the Sarsha became twisted and now warship Lucifer....the Sarsha Banished their formal leader and little is known about his wareabouts now..."
Ring Ring! Samson's Cell phone began to ring.
Right on time....
Samson: "I am sorry I have to take this...."
He stood up and slowly walked over to a corner faintly you could make out what he was saying but shortly it would fade.
Samson: "The stage is set...of course...everything is going....."(Fade)
Abel continued.
"Only I can bring you back and forth through the worlds...there the only way to stand up to the Sarsha is to gain the trust of my people the Silken...but it wont be easy, you see you look like the old Sarsha...you humans here look alot like the Sarsha before they became twisted and the Silken have little trust of any non-twisted Sarsha....Samson over there is a non-twisted Sarsha....from my world...the difference is all real Sarsha beings have white hair...like Samsons....that is why all the creatures you see have white hair...they have some traits from their formal selves....I can help you bring the tribes of the Silken to your aid....My brother is a high ranking commander....but I was also banished from my tribes.....that is all I know..."

Samson returned from his phone call.
"Eh Savvy!? so when do we leave? eh?"

Abel: "Whenever Amnesty is ready Samson...."

Samson: "well yes of course haha...no rush! so why not sit back and relx eh? have a few rounds of beers with us Amnesty what do ya say!?"

**********************

The Shaman outside the Inn still lingered infront of his burning pail, he looked in the direction of the Inn and grinned.

Shaman: "and into the quicksand they go....."

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Ami smiled acidly at Samson as a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. Loz was standing directly behind him, also wearing a thin smile. "She doesn't drink."

Ami smugly nodded assent. OK, so they can be a pain... but they're there when I need 'em. "As I may have already mentioned, I do intend to take my family home first of all. That can be taken care of while we're waiting for Cid... the catch is, if we set out by ground vehicle, it would take fourteen hours just to get us there and back. So it might be a good idea to wait for him to wake up, unless you two have some faster way... oh, wait, I forgot. You lost your ship, didn't you?" Ami asked Samson sweetly. Quit coming onto me, scalawag... I'm taken.

Loz smothered a laugh as he went back to his breakfast. Ami gave him another nod of thanks and turned to Abel. "Thank you for your information. Er... Forgive me for prying, but... why exactly were you banished? You don't HAVE to tell me, but it might help." It would definitely help my peace of mind, at least. Blind trust has gotten me into more jams than I can count.

Yazoo kept a wary eye on this Samson character... something about him was definitely off. His desires were not in line with everyone else's, and traces of deception lingered around him like a dark mist... but that could have owed strictly to his profession...

[lutz]

Samson grinned.
"Anything you say love, sorry about me ship I have what Abel calls a gambling problem....but it was a good bet on my part...just not good enough..."
Samson stood up and trashed Loz hand off his shoulder turned passed his face a grinned. as he was walking back up to his room he looked back at the group.
"remember anything you need just let me know eh, I can be pretty helpful haha!"
Abel shook his head.
Already to many drink eh....
Abel looked back at his newly partner thinking about the question she just asked him.
"I was banished....over love me lady....I fell in love with the chiefs daughter...but the chief didn't fancy me much, he well didn't fancy me at all because I wasn't royal blood line...I was a from a respected family though but more of a warrior family....My father was a great commander....but died in the battle with the twisted Sarsha, my brother took his spot and even surpassed him, fate as it seemed for me that I to would be a great warrior....but I am not...I don't even like fighting...so just right there are some points off me....she loved me and I loved her but to the chief I was not good enough not only did I not have royal blood but I wasn't a real Silken I was a coward...."
Abel slammed down another big shot and chased it with a beer.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Ami smiled at him. "There's nothing wrong with not liking to fight," she said warmly. "H**k, I don't like to fight. It'd be no skin off my nose if all the fighting were over right now. But for now, the world needs me to fight, so here I go. And I don't see any problem with you being scared either... I'm scared bad enough to turn my hair white, but what other choice do I have?"

She took another bite off her donut. "Tell ya what, though... the only part I don't get about this whole thing is why you weren't good enough for Mr. Jefe back on the island. Royal, schmoyal... I mean, you're probably the nicest Silken I ever ran into..." Well, you're the only Silken I ever ran into, but never mind. "What the h**k does it matter if you're some kind of big shot or not?"

Vincent, hovering in the dark corner as usual, shook his head at Amnesty's paradoxically wry naivete. There are a lot of things about the way life and love work that she has yet to learn.

He spotted Kadaj and Squall coming back through the door. Let's hope... for Squall's sake... that he isn't the one to teach her.

Ami was still carrying on. "Look, we'll see about this girl of yours when we get there. But before I go try to roust Cid out, I got one more question." She leaned forward. "What's Samson's story? I get the ex-Sarsha and all that... but what are you doing working with a creep like him? How'd you run into him? What's he want, besides that ship of his? I mean, he must have come into this world in the first place for SOMEthing. What were you guys up to before you ran into us?"

Abel could not have known it, but Yazoo was feeding her a few of these questions... Try to draw Abel out, Ami. I don't trust this Samson AT ALL. I want to know what exactly he thinks he can gain from us.

[lutz]

Abel lowered his head.
"Samson is clouded in mystery, but there is one thing for sure I trust him....when I was banished he saved me from some twisted Sarsha thugs...and took me in after that we got our own ship and were sky pirates over the years I opened up to him and he felt sorry for me and Akasha....the love of my life....me and her always wrote in secret....still do...we had plans to run away....run away from our home and venture here where the two of us could live...maybe start a family...but things are different here....things cost alot more money here....we needed money to get things started and Samson....he gambled our ship to win enough money to help me and Akasha out....Samson doesn't like getting into his past either but something I picked up on him is he must have had something dramdic happen in his own love life because once I brought up Akasha to him.....all he ever tryed to do was help me out....If you look close enough at him, he carrys a locket around his neck, that locket I believe used to belong to someone pretty special....I don't know if that means much to you but I trust that man with my life....I do however understand your reactions towards him he doesn't let people in to much...."

*******************

Lutz rose from his studying and left him room, he walked over to the table where Ami and the Silken sat.
"I hate to intrude but Ami time is running short....I wish only to relax but to many evils threaten the planet, not only Lucifer and the remaining Sins but something else grows....its dim now but its coming....I know you have matters to attend to so I will not rush you...."

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Ami beamed at her old ally. She got up and hugged him. "Morning, Lutz... by all means, go ahead and rush. I'm getting a move on, fast as I can," she assured him. "Already sent Dimitri after the kids... just conferring with our new partners here about the Silken. We oughta be set to get moving in no time... I hope." Getting Cid and my family out of bed will be like herding turtles over Mt. Nibel. Good thing I got up early today. Better wrap up this little convo...

Not yet, Ami. Ask Abel one more thing. Ask him who Samson was talking to on the phone just then, Yazoo insisted.

Ami realized this was thin-ice territory she was headed into, so she took a deep breath and got ready to break through, returning her focus to the Silken. "I dunno, he seems pretty popular, what with that cell phone of his ringing off the hook. Who's that he was talking to over there, do you think? His mom? His parole officer?" Ami joked, trying to throw Abel off the scent...

Yazoo spotted Reno wandering back out to the common area, who had gotten bored with watching Blood and waiting for an attack that never came. Hmm... maybe I'll have to have our red-headed friend see about digging into that pirate's brain. I KNOW that creep will be nothing but trouble.

[lutz]

Abel Shook his head.
"I don't have a clue who Samson was talking to....hope it wasn't somone about another card game! his main consern is always money....thus why hes a Pirate..."

Lutz hugged Ami back,
"no no no Family first Ami....Family first..."

***************

The Shaman snapped his fingers and his fire went out.
It seems we have some mind readers in there....Better venture I bit farther so none of them pick me up....
the Shaman dash away from the Inn

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Reno rubbed the back of his head painfully... the weird sting had been bothering him again. Sure, he knew Blood's double was in the vicinity, but this felt stronger... it faded out, and he relaxed with a shrug. Whatever... I'm too young for migraines.

Ami nodded to Lutz in agreement. "I just hope they packed light... I'm going to roust them out. Well, thanks again, Abel... talk to you later." Sorry, Yazoo... I tried.

Never mind. We'll figure out his game soon enough.

Ami headed towards her family's room, knowing it would take way longer for them to pack than it would take for Cid to ready the airship. No organization in that half of my family whatever... guess I can't have everything. Along the way, she stopped to give Reno a sweet smile and a stiff kick in the gonads.

He dropped and doubled over on the floor. "Geez, what'd I do to you?" he squeaked, curling up in pain.

She kept on smiling. "That's for poking your nose into my business, and for spreading it from here to greater Midgar and back... and there'll be more where that came from if anyone else hears a single word about it, clear?"

"Crystal," he groaned. Ami nodded and resumed her course.

She started banging on her parent's door. "Wake up, wake up, you're killing the grass! C'mon, move it!"

They and Lana opened their eyes wearily, checking their bedside clocks... only seven forty-five. "Ami, give us a rest," Lana whined, dropping back into her bed.

"Lana, don't make me come in there and hurt you," Ami retorted. "We got miles to cover! I'm taking you lot home!"

Lana sat bolt upright. "Home? All right! This dump of a town is BOR-ING!" She scrambled out of bed and started to pack.

Ami nodded satisfaction. "And all that goes for the rest of you, too-- I want to be ready to fly five minutes ago!" She headed back to where she had left most of her things-- her brothers' room. To have taken her stuff to Squall's room would have roused a bit too much suspicion, so she had just left it lay the day before when she left...

She quickly changed clothes, out of her brown outfit into a red shirt, her black jacket, and the black bellbottoms again. Her hair, as usual, she tied with the white and red ribbons. Her dirty outfit was stuffed in a plastic bag and tossed into her satchel with all her other junk. Within minutes, she was ready to go.

She poked her head into her parent's room... they were actually making the beds. She groaned and facepalmed... "Mom, Dad, we've really got to hurry. You have no idea how much we need to hurry."

"Always leave a room cleaner than when you found it," her mother replied primly.

Ami sighed inwardly. My mother has lost all touch with reality. She trooped out to Cid's room and started banging on that door... "Hey! Flyboy! Naptime's over!"

No answer. She gave it another shot. "Let's get ourselves airborne, rocket man!"

Nothing. She shrugged and headed back out to the common room to finally finish the donut she had stared nearly an hour ago... I'm not going in there to see what's keeping him. For all I know the man could be stark naked in there... and there's only one male I enjoy seeing undressed anywhere in this establishment...

Ami, get your head out of the gutter and into the game.

Kadaj, get your probe out of my head before I murder you.

She glanced up at Lutz with a weary grin. "I may not make it through this leadership kick without contracting a serious case of paranoia."

[matt]

Dark Blood allowed himself to be taken down to the cellar. He didn't really feel like hurting any of his friends. Friends? His emotions had already been infected by Bloods emotions. He would have to end this quickly. Phasing his head up through the first floor he looked around. Seeing Squall and Kadaj, he decided that Blood wasn't in this room. Phasing back down he tried another room. This was the one.
The door was closed probably locked. He moved up quickly drawing his blade, and stabbing it towards Blood. Blood rolled off of the bed and drew his one blade. "You can't defeat me" laughed dark blood as he cut across his own chest to weaken Blood. He then created a field around himself and Blood to block out anyone who wished to interfere. "You and me now. I'll prove that you are the weaker half."
Blood struggled to his feet in a futile attempt to fight back.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Reno finally managed to drag himself to his feet, with a great deal of assistance from Rude. "Thanks for the hand, partner," he said, his voice still piped up to an E-flat. He began limping back to his room.

"Hey, where you going?" Rude asked.

Reno turned back. "To the bathroom, yo... to see if I am any longer capable of having children."

Rude stared down into his coffee after that, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. "I'm sorry I asked."

Reno got to the door, but it was locked. He heard scuffling sounds inside... "Hey, Blood? Open up, man! I am fully unwell, yo."

He knocked on the door when there was no answer. "Blood, you in there, yo? Lemme in."

He stopped for a second to probe inside and see what in blue h**l was going on in there... Two of him?! The doppelganger's here! Geez, my timing REEKS!

He started yanking on the doorknob. "Hey! Open up!" He yanked again. "If this door doesn't open in ten seconds, I'm gonna have to knock it down... and we really can't afford those kinda damages, man, so give me a break, yo!"

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Kadaj noticed that Squall was not so eager as before to return to his sister's side... And he acts so tough. Hope he doesn't give up THAT easily... else this would be too easy.

He decided to probe his brain carefully and see what was going on in there...

The foremost area of Squall's mind was actually a lot less uncomfortable than he had imagined it would be. But something strange was going on in his subconscious... Not arousal, he could tell that much without even trying. Something was being stirred up that had been dormant for a very long time...

Flames. A house... what the h**l? He wasn't here for the Nibelheim massacre... wait. That isn't Nibelheim at all... that isn't even our world. What am I seeing? Some kind of repressed memory...

A lot of men with gunblades... SeeDs. Carrying flamethrowers... THEY started the fire. Something inside Kadaj reared up menacingly... It had been fourteen years ago, but he still couldn't wash the memory of the scientist's murder out of his mind...

Wait. Calm down. Think, don't kill-- not yet. Whose house is this? Why are they burning it? For all I can tell, I may be seeing the images of a nightmare... my sister would not fall in love with a murderer. None of his rationalizing, however, could lift the horrible, bitter shroud of suspicion from his mind...

One of the SeeDs fighting the rest... Strange, he looks familiar... Why can't I place him? Too much smoke, I can't see him clearly...

The memory abruptly faded and finally blinked out altogether. If I thought it would help, I'd confront him about this here and now... But someone locked this memory away in his mind. He isn't fully conscious of its presence. I can tell from firsthand experience... There must be some way to bring it forward. I woke up to my memories when caught in a traumatically induced emotional state... how do I evoke that in Squall? I don't know him THAT well.

He watched Ami help the others pack up and go back to Cid's door at intervals occasionally to bash on it again and yell at him. When he turned his attention back to Squall, it was with a look that could kill... Until I get to the bottom of this, you aren't getting near her again. He hovered at the periphery of the room, keeping an eye on the ex-SeeD.

[matt]

"Reno..?" Blood replied weakly, as he was knocked into the edge of the field. "Reno... help." Blood struggled to get up as his other half kicked him in the face. "Don't try to resist. Your defeat is inevitable" Dark Blood laughed as he spoke, and kicked Blood in the gut. Blood collapsed and didn't move. Dark Blood scowled. "I was hoping to have more fun with you. Oh well. You really are just too weak."
Lifting Blood up off of the floor, Dark Blood phased out of the inn and under cloak, headed for the slums.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Rude found Reno kicking and banging at the door pointlessly, still yelling to be let in. He finally forced the door open by breaking the doorknob off.

Reno gave the door an appreciative look. "Nice... thanks."

Rude grunted and shrugged as the two barged into the room, preparing for a fight. Reno got in first, drawing his EMR with a bit TOO much enthusiasm... He smacked Rude square in the face with it, stunning him and sending him to the floor.

Reno heard the familiar thud and winced. He turned back to give Rude a hand up. "Er, sorry, yo."

Rude readjusted his shades as he sat up again, looking into the room as he did so... "Oh, c**p." Reno followed his gaze. The room was trashed, and there was no trace of the kid OR his double.

Reno threw his EMR down in frustration. "D**n it..."

Rude got to his feet. "No time to help him now," he muttered. "Not while we have the Sins to contend with."

Reno paced around a little, extremely put out. "Ami is going to have a cow, yo."

They heard the sounds of a tussle coming from somewhere else in the Inn. Almost in stereo the two groaned: "Now what?"

[Amnesty Lazuli]

They trooped into the corridor, where they discovered the tussling noises had been made by Ami's sister dropping all her luggage. She must have been carrying three matched pieces at least, and standing directly behind her were her parents, carrying similar amounts of material goods.

Reno groaned inwardly. "Oy..."

"I thought Amnesty asked you to pack light," Rude remarked, deadpan.

Nora looked at him quizzically. "We did."

Ami, making another "bother Cid" round, rolled her eyes as she passed. Mothers. She seized up her sister's fallen possessions. "We need a vehicle... might have to borrow the truck from the Seventh Heaven again."

"Don't count on it, yo," Reno advised. "Tifa ain't gonna stand for that twice."

"Well, what would YOU suggest, Red? A taxi?" Ami demanded.

Ami's father coughed. "We could rent a car."

"Not enough money to spare for that," she protested.

"We have no other choice," he countered. "No trains go to the village."

Loz and Yazoo appeared in the hall, tapping Ami's shoulder. "Uh, Ami... we got a car already. Y'know, while you were packing and yelling at Cid and stuff," Loz explained.

He looked a bit uncomfortable. Ami's eyes narrowed. "Where did you get it?"

"Um... borrowed it," he replied evasively.

Ami shook her head. "Once a streetrat, always a streetrat. But when we got next to zip in the coffers, I'm not one to haggle over moral expenditures. Let's just go."

Looking not a little doubtful, the family followed Yazoo out to load their things. Ami caught Loz's arm. "Just as long as you promise to take it back later. With a full tank."

He nodded awkwardly. "'Course."

Ami let him go and headed out to the common area. "I got to round up some of you to give me a hand in taking my family back... the rest of you stay here and ready the ship for the hop to the island. That means any luggage loading OR extra-dimensional modifications-- I want Samson and Abel here to help out with that aspect of it. Who volunteers for going back to the village?"

She wandered over to Squall. "You'll come, right?" She took his hand and smiled at him sweetly...

Kadaj stepped forward, breaking the two up. "I'll be coming, also," he insisted, trying to cover his slight access of anger.

Ami blinked, not sure what had caused his attitude to sour already... "Fine. And the others?"

"If there's room for them."

She looked out at the rest of the party. "Anyone else?"

She saw Lutz come forward and smiled. "OK, I think that'll be everyone we need. Let's go."

Ami went to Vincent as her volunteers made their way to the car, feeling a little foolish. "Vincent... could you... I mean, sheez, how do I put this..."

"Take over for you while you're gone," he finished for her.

She smiled nervously. "Yeah. Sorry about being kinda... shy to ask, but, well, I'm still not use to this whole being in charge thing, and you're, well..."

He silenced her with a raised hand. "I understand."

They stood still for a second, sizing each other up... Ami felt just a bit sick to her stomach. This is one of the bona fide living legends of our time, and here I am, giving him orders. G**, if there ain't something sick and twisted about this whole business...

She steeled herself and straightened up, looking him in the eye, and nodding satisfaction of comprehension to him. She turned and walked off to join the others.

He watched her silently for a moment, from a quiet and not unfrightening world of his own... until Reno's vopice broke into his contemplations. "What're the orders, mon capitan?"

He regarded the ex-Turk and his partner with a muted, level-headed contempt. "Make yourselves useful."

Reno shrugged. "Works for me, man."

The pair got to work.

****

Ami arrived outside to find her family already seated in the middle row of the van Loz and Yazoo had thougtfully, er, procured. She got into the middle front seat and brought in Squall behind her to ride shotgun.

Ami poked her head out the window to her brothers and Lutz. "Hey, uh... who here can drive?"

Yazoo rolled his eyes and came forward, getting into the driver's seat and slamming the door shut behind him.

This left Ami's other two brothers and Lutz with the back row. As soon as they were secured, Yazoo turned the ignition.

A dangerous glint came into his eye... "Let's see if we can make good time with this thing."

Ami gulped. "Um... HOW good?"

"Very good."

She closed her eyes and cringed as he floored the gas...

((To Ami's Village))

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Reno peered out the window of the Inn, sheilding his eyes from the early afternoon sun... the Sierra was packed up and technologically modified for the crossing to the Island. But still, he and the others had expected Ami would not be back for at least nine more hours... what the h**k was going on out there?

Suddenly a jumble of mental messages got into his mind. He finally began to untangle them-- Kadaj was trying to tell him something, but he was panicking and nothing was coming across right... Hold it. He's PANICKING? No way... the day that crazy-a** panics is the day Hell freezes over...

The door swung open, and Reno saw Lutz and Kadaj carrying Luz, who looked comatose, to the nearest open room. Ami was following, looking puffy-eyed and scared out of her mind. Squall and Yazoo brought of the rear of the procession, and Yazoo was carrying something that looked for all the world like... a frozen piece of demon wing, with snow packed around it.

Reno realized he had just acquired a strong craving for a beer. But there was obviously no time for that... Ami was dragging him in to see to Loz.

He stumbled along behind her, feeling dazed. Every time she tried to explain, she began to cry. He finally advised her to give it up and let him figure it out for himself when he got there.

He opened the door to the room where they had put him. Loz was lying WAY too still, and his breathing was extremely shallow. Something about his vibes didn't feel right, either... as clothes acquire the strong smell of smoke after being exposed to cigarettes, Loz had picked up a stench of evil from the horror he'd helped defeat. The stench was much worse on Yazoo, but that was a side issue...

"We ran into a Sin on the way," Kadaj explained grimly, having had time to collect himself. "Yazoo killed it... but not before it poisoned Loz."

Reno looked down at the big clone, designed to be strength incarnate... now pale and cold on a hotel room bed built for somebody half his size. "Gimme room to work, yo."

His eyes glowed green as energy seeped out of him, into the Remnant... Whoa. This guy is right on the edge of going mako on us... if they'd been five minutes later getting him back, it woulda been too late. Even as it is, I'm not sure if I can help him... Whatever! Come on, man, you got it going on. He'll be cool.

****

Whether it was Reno's self confidence, Ami's prayers, or Loz's fading strength that really pulled him through in the end, no one can say for sure. But what can be said for sure is that nearly an hour later, Loz opened his eyes again.

Ami embraced him in relief, her terror at losing him again abated at last. "Loz, are you OK?"

"'Course he is--" Reno started bragging, but one pointed look from Kadaj was enough to give that sentence a premature death.

He nodded, looking a little bit distant... "Ami, it was so weird. I saw some really crazy things..."

"What? What did you see?" Ami prodded when he trailed off.

He shook his head slowly. "It was sort of like dying-- I know, because I've been there-- but I didn't go where I went before. I went somewhere else."

Now even Yazoo's interest was piqued. "Where else?"

"He was dreaming. There is no anywhere else," Kadaj insisted.

Loz protested. "No, no, no... it was real." He sounded for all the world like a kid defending the existence of Santa Claus. "Ami, you believe me, right?"

Ami shrugged... "I might if you told me just what I'm meant to be believing in."

He nodded. "Right... I was..." He turned to his brothers. "You know how it was, when we felt 'Mother' in the rock? It felt like that... except colder... there was light, not like in the stone. It was smaller, and more crowded... someone else was there with me."

"Who?" Ami pressed.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "But she seemed familiar somehow. And she said something to me, like..." His forehead wrinkled as he really tried hard to remember. "Something about not forgetting the other half of my legacy. I don't know..."

Ami caught a flurry of motion by the door. She spied Vincent's cape fluttering down the corridor...

"Well, you're back with us, Loz... that's all that matters," she concluded, hugging him again. Her eyes became contemplative as her brothers joined the embrace, and Reno scoffed about everybody thanking him at once...

****

Nearly a half hour later, Ami slipped away long enough to find Vincent, alone in his room, staring out the window.

She coughed to make him aware of her presence. He did not acknowlege her.

She sighed. "Dropped in to say... we're back."

"I know." His demeanor invited no further conversation.

Ami tried anyway. "I'd guess so... I mean, why would you eavesdrop on someone you thought was seven hours away? That's not just silly, that's simply impossible."

He ignored her, but Ami was sure she felt a wave of irritation in the room... "You heard what Loz was talking about."

"I did." Ami got the feeling he was only answering her because he knew of her legendary stubborness, and realized she would stand there stock still all day waiting for a reply if she felt the need.

She continued. "You know what he's talking about."

Silence.

"Don't you."

Vincent saw his reflection in the glass... and Ami's just behind him.

"I never wanted this."

"What?" Ami wasn't sure she'd caught that.

"I told them no," he replied. He turned and left the room, leaving Ami behind with a whoosh of air and a reeling mind.

To anyone else, those sentences would have been a riddle.

To Ami, they were a confession.

You told THEM no. But you told HER yes.

She wandered to the common area and sat to make a pathetic stab at sort it out.