The time has at last come in which I bring you the next installment of my ongoing fairy tale serial story, fondly called the “Faylinn” stories!

So it’s, um, been a while since I’ve given you a new Faylinn story. And by “a while” I mean SEPTEMBER. *hides in shame for eternity* Worse still, I left the last story on a prettyyy bad cliffhanger. I’M SO SORRY. NaNo prep, and then NaNo, and then holidays happened, and I had planned to get this story written for late February or early March but those months positively exploded on me. So…here are we! I guess we just gotta accept that these stories come few and far between now. Hope you’ll all forgive me. But I do SO SO appreciate the enthusiasm for this little tale. You guys make it such a delight to create!

ANYWAYS. Part 11 has finally been written and I thiiink you’re going to like this one. *smile, smile* Hopefully it was worth the wait!

But before we dive into the actual story, here’s some info…

For Newcomers

These continuing short stories started out as pieces inspired by fairy tale prompts, but rather exploded on me and have now turned into a whole continuous story. The tale follows Raylinn, a wingless fairy, Finn, a banished prince, and their tag along sassmaster Zayd the genie as they traverse the world and have all sorts of fairy tale-ish adventures. The first few tales were more or less standalone adventures, but story #7 started an overarching plotline that is still going (though we are nearing the end of this story arc!)

The Previous Stories

You can find each story below:

• Deal or No Deal (A Rumpelstiltskin-inspired story and the first introduction to these characters)
• Let Down Your Hair? (A Rapunzel-inspired story)
• It Ain’t Easy Having a Genie (An Aladdin-inspired one, and Zayd’s first introduction.)
• Frogs and Bears Make Great Boyfriends (A The Frog Prince and Snow White & Rose Red crossover story)
• That’s Definitely Not Granny (A Little Red Riding Hood one that dives into Finn’s story a bit.)
• The Genie Can Dance (A Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling in which we discover Zayd’s history.)
• Royalty is a Cold Business (A The Snow Queen inspired story.) [This one would be a good place to start if you haven’t read the others, as it begins the current plot arc.]
• The White Lion (A The Wounded Lion inspired story.)
• Genies Don’t Make Great Babysitters (A Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou inspired story)
• Royalty, Witches, and Awkward Family Reunions (In which we get a surprise visit from Baba Yaga!)

There’s also a Pinterest Board!

A Quick Recap

Since it’s been literally 7 months since the last story (my word!) and even I was struggling to remember what on earth was going on, here are some highlights of the current story arc.

Raylinn, Finn, and Zayd chose to return to Talgaria, Finn’s kingdom, after Finn got an uneasy feeling about leaving the kingdom in his stern father’s and less-than-pleasant sister’s hands for 3 years now. When they got to the capital city, they were a little more than surprised to find it surrounded by a dome of ice. Apparently, after some fairies attacked the city and hurt King Olten, Finn’s sister Trayla became desperate to keep her kingdom safe and struck a deal with Kellen, former king of the fairies.

Kellen was cursed by the queen of the fairies, his ex-wife, years ago with a heart of ice, stripping away his usual fairy magic but giving him ice powers. With his abilities, he turned the Talgaria army into ice soldiers, taking away their humanity but making them stronger against fairy magic. He also surrounded the city in an ice shield.

When Raylinn, Finn, and Zayd arrived, Trayla had them all captured. Zayd tried to escape and got injured in the process, so Raylinn used her magic to teleport him away to safety. Finn was locked away for a bit, while Kellen took Raylinn to do some tests and see if she had been betwitching Finn all this time into loving her. Trayla is convinced her brother could never truly love a fairy. But, of course, Raylinn had been doing no such thing. During the test, Raylinn learned that Kellen is her uncle. Which was a surprise to him as well.

Kellen’s sister, Altheria, gave Raylinn up to a human couple as a baby when Raylinn was born with no wings or visible fairy markings, which was a shame punishable by death by the prideful fairies. Altheria had tried to bring peace between the humans and fairies and Kellen supported her, but the fairy queen, Valetta, wouldn’t have it. She executed Altheria and had Kellen banished from the fairy realm and cursed. Ever since, Kellen has wanted to take down his ex-wife and take the throne himself. But the only way to kill a fairy royal is by spilling royal blood. So, secretly, Kellen had his sights on King Olten, Finn and Trayla’s father. When Raylinn found out, she wouldn’t have it and revealed his plan to Finn and Trayla.

But now, Queen Valetta, disguised as Baba Yaga, penetrated through Kellen’s ice dome and is about to bring a new Fairy War to the kingdom of Talgaria…

So, without further ado, part 11 of the Faylinn story!

FRIENDS, FOES, & FAIRY WARS

“The second Fairy War is upon us.”

Kellen’s words seeped through the room like poisonous mist, leaving everyone breathless, choking. Only Finn’s arm clutched tight around Raylinn’s shoulders kept her steady on her feet.

All this time, Valetta, Queen of the Fairies, had been here, disguised as Baba Yaga, waiting to exact revenge on humankind. The woman who executed Raylinn’s mother simply for giving birth to a wingless child and trying to bring peace to the fairies and humans.

It had to stop. No matter what, this awfulness had to end.

Kellen’s groan broke the stifling silence. He clutched his stomach, brow creased in pain. “I don’t know if I can keep the ice wall up for long, and the moment it’s down, the fairies will be here.”

Raylinn squeezed her fists, the warmth of her magic burning beneath her palms. “Then order the guards into position.” She glanced at one of the frozen men, stifling a shiver at the sight of his hollowed eyes, and instead set her glare back on the former fairy king. “That’s why you did this to them, is it not? To be strong enough to fight back fairies?”

“But you’re not laying a hand on Father!” Trayla planted herself at the side of the bed, arms spread out protectively. Though her thin frame could barely cover King Olten’s form atop the mattress, encased in a block of ice. The only thing keeping him alive.

“Trayla.” Even in the midst of his pain, Kellen’s voice rumbled like a cat’s purr. “If the Queen died, I am next in line to rule. With her gone, by magical bond I will become the ruler of the fairies and they will be forced to do as I say. I can end all of this. But as long as she lives, she will keep fighting until all humankind is vanquished. With your father’s blood, we can save the world. Without it, much more blood will be shed.”

“No!” Raylinn’s, Finn’s, and Trayla’s simultaneous shouts echoed off the walls.

Finn raised the sword in his free hand. “You lay a finger on Father and I will slice open that icy heart of yours.”

Raylinn stepped out from under Finn’s hold and stood her ground next to Trayla. “This isn’t the answer.”

Trayla glanced at her, lips parted.

A hard edge glinted in Kellen’s pale blue gaze as he stood between the three of them. “He’s dying anyway. And with him out of the way, you can take the throne, Trayla. Isn’t that what you want?”

“Shut up!” Trayla shook at Raylinn’s side. “What I want is for my kingdom to be safe. You promised me. You promised! But now—” She snapped around, facing her father’s frozen form. “I should never have trusted you. Nothing good comes from fairies.” Her gaze shot back up to Raylinn. “You just bring destruction wherever you go!”

Raylinn jerked back, a dozen retorts on the tip of her tongue, but with another groan from Kellen and the very walls of the bedchambers trembling, any denial melted away. This was the fault of the fairies. Of her kind.

“Trayla, you stay here with King Olten,” she said instead, receiving a narrow-eyed gaze from Trayla. “Kellen, you get the rest of us and your army outside.”

“Raylinn…”

“No, Kellen.” She turned to him, fairy markings blazing from her heated palms and trailing up her arms. “We are not taking King Olten’s life in cold blood. Humankind managed to push back the fairies in the first Fairy War without resulting to vile acts.”

“But last time all the kingdoms were involved.”

She dug her nails tighter in her palms. It was true. After years of fairies torturing humans and eventually enslaving them, the human kingdoms banded together to end it, and the Fairy War began. Powerful though they were, the fairies became overwhelmed by sheer numbers, as they rarely reproduced. With all the kingdoms combined, the humans pushed them back to the fairy realm, threatening to slay any fairy found on mortal land.

But it seemed the queen fairy had other ideas. Was her plan to take Talgaria and enslave its citizens? Or would she even allow the humans to live?

Raylinn motioned to one of the ice soldiers. “They will have to be enough.”

“And if they’re not?”

She stared at the former king of the fairies—her newly found uncle—for three, four, five heartbeats. “Then we will do what has to be done.”

“Raylinn?” Finn stepped toward her.

She avoided his gaze, keeping her eyes locked on Kellen. “It’s time.”

He gave a single nod, and with a wave of his hand and a spark of snowflakes, the bedchambers vanished.

Pandemonium accosted Raylinn’s ears.

They appeared in the castle courtyard, with screams of the city echoing from all sides. At the far end of the courtyard, a stream of golden light shot up from a figure in white. The light shook the ice dome encompassing the city, and cracks split across its surface. Outside of the breaking ice, figures darted through the sky. Raylinn’s chest knotted. Fairies. Dozens upon dozens of fairies readying to enter the city and destroy it all.

Before her mind caught up with her feet, she found herself running for the woman in white. Heat surged through her palms and she splayed them out and released it. Purple light shot forth, but the fairy queen snatched down a hand and dispersed Raylinn’s magic with a golden blast of her own. Queen Valetta’s other hand still stretched toward the sky, her blazing beam of magic breaking away the dome.

Raylinn let loose another burst as footsteps pounded behind her. The Queen did not even flinch, and her blinding light streaked toward them all. With a gasp, Raylinn shot out another beam. The Queen’s light slammed into hers, knocking Raylinn back. Familiar hands caught her from behind. As Finn steadied her back on her feet, Kellen bolted past them. Pointed icicles materialized in his hands and he thrust them toward the Queen. Another beam of golden light melted them midair.

“You can do better than that, darling!” the Queen called.

Kellen charged toward her, but halted with a roar and doubled over. An ear-splitting crack echoed like thunder. The ice dome shattered. A hailstorm rained down on them and Raylinn thrust a hand up and formed a shield of light over her and Finn.

When the ice settled, a dozen different colors filled her vision. Shrill battle cries rose above the panicked screams. Numbness overtook every muscle. They had broken through.

“You watch my back, I watch yours.”

It took her a moment to place the soft whisper in the midst of the chaos. She turned, away from the flashes of blinding magic, away from the multi-colored wings, away from the swarm of ice soldiers pouring from the castle, to him. Her Finn, his determined gaze meeting hers. She took a breath, the warmth of his presence and surge of her magic scattering away the numbness.

“Together,” she said.

Without another word, they dove into battle.

Ice soldiers had crowded the courtyard, and a confusion of icicles and flashes of magic filled the air. Fairies hovered above, dodging ice attacks and counteracting with bursts of multi-colored light. A male blue-haired fairy held his palm out toward Raylinn and Finn. The ground shook and the stone beneath their feet cracked into pieces. Finn shouted and pulled her out of the way just as sections of the ground rose up. A large stone piece shot straight for Finn’s head. Without thought, Raylinn held her palms out toward it, tapping into the heat inside her, and she felt the stone, as if it was a part of her very body. She jerked her hands toward the hovering blue-haired fairy and the stone hurtled toward him. With a zip of his wings, he darted out of the way. But Raylinn was ready. She magically snagged hold of the other loose stone pieces and flung them after him, one after another after another until the sharp edge of one caught him in the forehead. He crumpled to the ground, still.

The rush of adrenaline left in a sickening jerk of her heart. This wasn’t right. These were her very people. But so were the humans…

She let loose a breath, releasing the doubt, the fear, shoving it all away. They couldn’t destroy everything she held dear.

She charged back into battle.

Time blurred in a rush of magic and screaming and ice. Soldiers’ bodies littered the ground, but so did a few fairies. But she couldn’t think of that. She had to fight, to end this. No matter the cost.

An overpowering flash of magic pulled her around to one corner of the courtyard, and a storm of heat erupted down to her very heart. Gleaming in a glorious array of golden light, Queen Valetta hurled one attack after another at Kellen while he counteracted with streaks of ice. They moved like no others, as if in a complicated dance of their own making. King and Queen Fairy caught in a deadly waltz. And the queen smiled, relished all this destruction brought upon by her hands.

The heat ignited Raylinn from the inside out, and every part of her buzzed with magic, power. Fury. This had to end. Now.

She rushed forward, fairy markings blazing across her arms, everything around her blurring. Only the Queen’s golden aura burned in her sight like a target.

A cry made her stumble.

She blinked away the fiery gold in her vision and swerved. Near the entrance of the courtyard an all-too-familiar figure lay on the ground, bright red oozing from his abdomen. All the anger rushed out in cold panic.

Finn.

She left the Queen and Kellen behind and set a new course. A female fairy hovered over Finn’s still form, a crystallized spear raised to strike.

“No!” Raylinn thrust her hands forward. Searing heat charged through every pore and released in an eruption of light. It slammed into the fairy, but Raylinn didn’t bother to see what became of her as she crashed on her knees at Finn’s side. “Finn? Finn!” She touched his cheek, and he moaned softly. She choked on a sob. Still alive. But his abdomen continued to bleed. She hovered shaking hands over the wound, trying to tap back into her magic, trying to focus. Could she even heal him? She used all her magic on instinct, emotion. She still barely understood how it worked. If only Zayd were here to help her. Another sob clogged her throat. How did everything go so wrong so quickly?

Finn gasped a gurgling breath, jolting her heart.

She had to heal him.

Focusing on the wound, she sought out the warmth inside her, tried to draw it out. Faint purple light trickled from her fingers and as it touched the wound, she felt something else. The injured parts of Finn, tangled and messy and needing binding. It was much like untangling the curse Princes Malak and Reginald had been under when they had been turned into a bear and a frog. She had to dismantle the broken threads and put them back together. Slowly, slowly, the wound closed.

“Raylinn!”

Instinctively she turned at the shout just as a fairy shot toward them. Raylinn hurled a ball of light at him, knocking him back. Only then did her brain register who had shouted.

“Finn!” Turning back, she was greeted with her favorite grin in all the world. “You’re all right!”

“Right as rain.” He shoved up to a sitting position, but winced with the effort. “Well, right as a thunderstorm maybe.”

He clutched his abdomen and blood trickled down his fingers. She may have stopped any internal bleeding, but he was far from healed.

Another fairy rushed toward them, only for an ice soldier to intervene with a barrage of icicles.

“Come on!” Raylinn wrapped one of Finn’s arms around her shoulders. “We’re far too exposed here.”

Finn stabbed the tip of his blade in the ground and pushed against it to shove to a stand. “I think I can fight.” But he had barely finished his sentence before stumbling, only keeping his feet with Raylinn’s support.

“Not until that wound is healed. Come on!” She half dragged him out of the courtyard, though the city streets were no less harrowing. Fairies swarmed the city in every direction, forcing the citizens to stand with the ice soldiers and fight. Raylinn forced her eyes away from the awful sight and helped Finn into a quiet alleyway. He slid to the ground and leaned against a wall, breaths labored.

Raylinn immediately got to work, closing her eyes as she focused every ounce of magic inside her on the wound. Soon, his breaths steadied, and when she opened her eyes, only a pink scar could be seen through the rip in his tunic.

“Those fairies pack a wallop.”

Even though his voice was light, she saw the haunted look in his eyes.

She leaned back on her heels, and in the quiet, it all came crashing down. “I’m so sorry, Finn.” A sob choked up her voice and she squeezed her eyes shut as tears fell. “I’m so sorry for what happened to your father, and Trayla, and your whole city. I’m so sorry they…we brought this upon you.”

“We?” A hand touched hers. She looked up to find him watching her with a furrowed brow. “This is not your fault.”

“But it is! It is, Finn!” The tears came harder, hotter. “Do you know why Kellen was cursed and banished from the fairy realm? Do you know why my mother was killed? Because of me! It was all because of me.”

His fingers slid between hers, squeezing. “They were trying to protect you.”

She stared at their joint hands, listened to the suffering of the city. “Maybe I’m not worth protecting.”

“Don’t say that.” The harshness in his tone snapped her gaze back up. “Don’t ever say that.”

“But what about you? If you hadn’t found me that day in the ashes of my foster parents’ farm, what would your life be now?”

“Empty,” he said without a moment’s hesitation. “I made my choice, Raylinn, and I haven’t regretted it for a single day. Do you understand? Not a single day. You promised me you’d stop blaming yourself.”

“I know but—” She took in a shuddering breath, and as she released it, all the fight drained out of her. “Trayla is right. We fairies just bring destruction wherever we go.”

“You are not like them.”

She licked her lips. “I wanted to kill her. The fairy queen. When I looked at her, all I felt was anger, and I wanted to kill her. But…” The memory of the blue-haired fairy knocked to the ground made her wince. “I don’t want to keep hurting people.”

“And that is what sets you apart from them.”

“But I nearly failed you. I let my anger blind me from my real mission—protecting you.”

“Raylinn.” A soft smile touched his lips. “You have never failed me. You are not a murderer, not like them. You are a defender.”

She mouthed the word—defender—and it stirred something inside her. Because that was what she always desired. To defend the innocent, heal the broken seams of the world. But how could she when the humans hated her for her fairy blood and the fairies hated her for her humanness? Trouble followed her like a trail of fire.

But there was one option. A way to stop the fairy queen and end it all. Royal blood.

“Then we will do what has to be done.”

Her words to Kellen flitted back through her mind. If the ice army wasn’t enough, if the fairies could not be pushed back like in the first Fairy War, she would do what had to be done. At the time, she had meant those words, but now with Finn’s hand holding hers, her resolve faltered.

If it came to that, could she do it?

“Raylinn?”

She started from her daze, realizing she had been silent for far too long. Blinking back tears, she squeezed his hand. “I love you, Finnigan. No matter what happens, I need you to always remember that.”

His lips parted, brow bent in concern. “Ray, what—” But a rush of wind cut him off.

Raylinn jumped to her feet, palms out and ready, only to stumble back, barely able to believe her eyes.

“I should have known. A big war going on out there and you two are tucked in an alleyway professing your love for one another.” Zayd tsked and shook his head. “As usual, I have to do all the work.”

“Zayd!” A fresh wave of tears overtook Raylinn and she threw her arms around him.

Finn hopped to his feet with a whoop. “You’re alive!”

Zayd halfheartedly patted Raylinn on the back. “I know you tried to send me as far away as possible, but I’m like a scratch that just won’t leave.”

“Tell me about it.”

Raylinn jerked away at the other voice and blinked at the sight. “Aladdin?” She looked back and forth between him and Zayd. “But how—?”

Zayd barked a laugh. “All that powerful magic and you don’t even know what you do when you use it. Clearly our lessons need to continue after all this.” He waved a hand at Aladdin. “You teleported me all the way back to Mamlaki, and, well, let’s just say after an incident with some unruly children and a few wishes, I’ve made my way back here. But, of course, I can’t use my magic without the holder of the lamp making wishes, so ol’ Laddie gets to ride along.”

Aladdin gave a less-than-enthused tap on the lamp hanging from his belt. “Lucky me.” He cast a wary glance at the chaotic streets. “Can we go back to the encampment now?”

Finn cocked his head. “Encampment?”

“Ah yes.” One tip of Zayd’s lips lifted in his signature cocky sneer. “I would have been here sooner, but I had to make a few stops along the way. Let the record show it was entirely my idea. I wouldn’t say no to a hero’s medal or, preferably, a bag of gold.”

“Zayd,” Aladdin groaned.

Raylinn could just shake her head, grinning. A dozen questions crowded against her mind, but the ecstasy of seeing Zayd alive and well left her speechless.

“If you would, Laddie.” Zayd held out a hand. “Everyone hold on.”

Raylinn and Finn shared a puzzled glance, but with a shrug, Finn placed his hand on Zayd’s palm. Raylinn laid hers over Finn’s, and Aladdin followed suit. With his free hand, he grasped the lamp. “I wish we were back at the encampment.”

Zayd raised his other hand and with a snap and rush of wind, cobblestone gave way to grass. Raylinn blinked in the bright sunlight, recognizing the hills just outside the city. A murmur of voices pulled her around.

People spread out all across the hills. Men and women adorned in the beige suits and red sashes of Mamlaki soldiers. Others in blue jerkins emblazoned with the sword insignia of Lenderra. While more still wore the silver and yellow of Belthed, King Relken’s kingdom. All suited up, weapons in hand, ready for war.

“You found them!” Prince Malak approached with wide-opened arms, his brother Reginald just behind. “Have I missed you two!” Malak caught Raylinn and Finn up in a hug, and Raylinn tried to blink back the overwhelming, euphoric fog in her mind.

“I have absolutely no clue what is happening, but I love every bit of it,” Finn said, voicing Raylinn’s very thoughts.

Malak laughed and pulled away. “Going to be honest, it’s all been a bit dizzying for us too. Zayd just popped in out of nowhere, said something about Talgaria being under attack by the entire fairy realm and, well”—he spread out his arms—“we couldn’t let our allies, our friends, suffer.”

Raylinn just shook her head in disbelief before addressing Zayd. “You got Aladdin to wish all of these people here? How could you possibly handle doing that much magic?”

“Ha! He had plenty of help.”

She turned as many others approached, a dozen men all with fairy markings and no wings, followed by a pile of young ladies. One male with dark red markings slapped Zayd on the back. “I bet our brother tried to take all the credit, didn’t he?”

Brother? Raylinn gasped. “You must be Lukian!”

“And I’m Kydan!” Another one with a boyish face bounced up to her, his orange hair and markings much like Zayd’s. He took her hand and shook it heartily. “It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

Raylinn took them all in. Zayd’s older and younger brothers and the other cursed genies. Which meant the girls had to be the twelve Belthed princesses Zayd had saved from a dancing curse, and who were technically the masters of the other genies. Though, like with Aladdin, it seemed they only used wishes for the benefit of the genies.

The eldest looking princess stepped up to Finn and inclined her head. “It’s nice to see you again, Prince Finnigan.”

Finn grinned and offered a bow. “Princess Lavena. Zayd tells me you and your sisters have had some adventures of your own.”

She glanced at Zayd, cheeks tinged red. “You could say that. Genies are quite notorious for causing trouble, aren’t they?” This pulled a snort from Aladdin, but a fondness gleamed in the princess’s eyes. “My sisters and I hope to aid in any way we can by means of wishes, though Zayd says even a wish can’t always counteract proper fairy magic. So Father has come with a battalion to aid the old fashioned way. I’m sure he’d love to discuss battle strategies with you.”

“With…me?” Finn glanced at Raylinn.

She shifted her weight. The very reason they had sent Zayd to find out about the princesses’ curse was because King Relken’s loyalties lied with King Olten. With her a fairy and Finn banished, they assumed King Relken would not see to them kindly.

Again, Lavena cast a smile Zayd’s way. “Let’s just say Zayd left quite an impression on Father. I do not think he will hold any ill will against you. Especially given the circumstances.”

“Hero’s medal, bag of gold, a cake maybe, any reward will do,” Zayd said, polishing his nails on his tunic and sending a sly smile at Lavena. Interesting.

“Are we ready to whop off some fairy heads or what?”

Another figure emerged from the hill, an ax slung over her shoulder. Raylinn gasped in delight.

“Granny Luella? You came too?” Though she was ecstatic to see the old woman, she questioned the safety of her being on the battlefield.

The woman raised droopy eyelids, revealing a determined gleam in her eyes. “Like I’d miss a chance to show them fairies a what-for a second time.”

Raylinn couldn’t help but laugh, shoving back any doubts. Granny Luella was most likely the only one here who had fought in the first Fairy War. She’d probably be their most valuable asset. Besides, she could still take a mighty swing with that ax.

Raylinn looked at them all. The soldiers of Talgaria’s allies, Prince Malak and Reginald, the Belthed princesses, Zayd’s fellow genies, Aladdin, Granny Luella—all come to their aid. Our friends, Malak had said.

She thought her path only caused trouble, created a trail of fire. But, at their greatest hour of need, all those she, Finn, and Zayd had met along their travels came without a moment’s hesitation. For the first time in history, humans, genies, and fairies all worked together. Perhaps peace really was possible.

As she took them all in, the heat inside her surged anew. This time not of hate and anger. But of hope.

She threaded her fingers through Finn’s and smiled at her allies, her friends. “Let’s go win a war.”

To be continued…

THE GANG IS BACK TOGETHER!

And hey, it’s not the worst cliffhanger I’ve ever left you guys on. *smile, smile* I really, truly shall try to not leave you all hanging for another SEVEN. MONTHS. Especially because I do believe this particular story arc can be wrapped up with one more story. (Maybe two, but I’m gonna shoot for one! XD)

Thank you all so much for your patience with these and continuing to enjoy them even as they are few and far between. I truly do love writing them. I was actually going through a bit of a slump for a while, and writing this story snapped me out of it and brought back my joy for creating stories. So THANK YOU for reading and giving me motivation to keep writing!

ALRIGHTY! I want to hear all your thoughts! What did you think of this story? Any guesses to what will happen next? Tell me all!