Late dawns and early sunsets, just like my favorite scenes
Then holding hands and life was perfect, just like up on the screen
And the whole time while always giving
Counting your face among the living

Spaceboy was still checking the readings from the Moon. Everyone could tell that part of him was anxious to get back. But in that same sense Kraken knew that he wasn't going to leave. Not now that the Umbrella Academy was starting to half-work for once in its long and complex history. Not only that but the way he looked at Rumor from time to time spoke volumes about how much he wanted to stay.

There had never been any question of Rumor or .05 leaving. Rumor had set up permanent residence there since her divorce with Patrick and losing custody of her daughter. Not to mention the fact that she was still recovering from her voice loss and adjusting to life without it. Every now and then she left for almost all of the day and did something normal .Her sibling on the other hand was a fixture.

A month ago Séance had officially checked himself out of his mental hospital. He complained that they were still billing him and he was irritated out of his mind. The strange thing was that he didn't move his things into his room. Occasionally Kraken would come across an interpretive dance magazine in the kitchen cupboards. But wherever he was keeping the rest of his junk was a mystery.

Vanya was adjusting the best she could. Faking her death and running away hadn't been the wisest move. Séance had simply remarked that she had done a pretty good job and .05 had rolled his eyes. Occasionally he wondered if the little commie had any emotions at all. Rumor still stayed a good fifty feet away from Vanya. Even thinking that Vanya had been dead didn't make her forgive her. Half the time Vanya was still trying to make up for everything she had done during her temporary insanity.

As for Kraken, as long as Vanya stayed he did too. But he was learning to tolerate his siblings in a way that would've been completely impossible when he was a child. Not to say that he could stay in the room with them for more then five minutes. However that was a complete upgrade from his old record of two minutes and fifteen seconds. And that had been with Pogo there. .05 remarked that she'd had a calming influence on him.

Two months ago he would've killed anyone who insinuated that he liked it his family. Now he'd only maim them. Perhaps the want not to force another member to fake their death had made Space act a little less egotistical. Certainly he had eased up on the team leader persona. Perhaps Séance was only in a good mood recently because he took the credit for finding Vanya. Rumor was still as obstinate and it would take nothing less then the apocalypse to change .05's attitude about anything.

Kraken slotted his knife into its side sheath. Winter was getting closer. Sunsets were earlier. Night was coming and he was going to go out as he always did. Once again he was doing things in shifts. It was an odd feeling. It was like someone had turned the clock back eight years. Of course he chose his own shifts and didn't let Spaceboy decide it for him. He was adamant on this.

His shifts were a bit spontaneous as well. In keeping with tradition his shifts were at night of course. No one knew he was taking the beat until they noticed he was missing. Space and he had gotten into several arguments about it. Space said that Kraken was being roguish and Kraken argued that Space was trying to be in charge again. The last time he had ended up going through a window. Again.

Vanya was the only one he told his real reason. He had a feeling that Spaceboy had asked her to ask him. But more likely she had been curious as well. Part of him hated the fact that things had gone back to 'normal'. Every member of the academy had passed a lot of water since they disbanded and he was angry that everyone was just going back to the way things used to be. In other words, the way things used to be when Hargreeves was still alive.

Kraken yanked open a window. Vanya obviously didn't like him running off like this, alone no less. But she had later accepted that this was what he was going to do whether she liked it or not. Maybe because she already knew all of his irritating habits was the reason that the relationship worked.

That didn't mean that they didn't still get into fights every now and then, even though they weren't anywhere near the level it was with him and Space. Mostly they were about him going off and doing something stupid, dangerous, or both. But to be perfectly fair he was thinking about easing up on his old lone wolf ways slightly since he had a girlfriend.

Overall things were good. Kraken had very little, scratch that, no, experience with relationships. But even he could see that they had a really good thing going. So far their short amount of time together had been everything he'd hoped and more. All Kraken had to do was be careful not to fuck it up somehow.

Of course it was still a little awkward having a relationship with Vanya at all. Not between the two of them of course, just from the point of view of .05. Space would have to be some sort of hypocrite, make that more then he already was, to condemn them for that. Rumor kept silent on the matter and Séance went on and on about genetic mutations. Then of course the next minute he'd be congratulating them. Stupid mood swinging drugs.

Kraken jumped out of the window and artfully closed it behind him. In truth he did miss the old days a little. He didn't know which was better, the old days where he did things by himself or the new ones where there was someone waiting for him. As he ran off into the night he saw Vanya's form walking across the lawn. He paused in his progress to look at her for a moment.

She walked with a measured pace. A good deal of her motor activity had come back and she had only occasional jerky and involuntary movements. That wasn't the only thing different about her appearance though. After trying long hair for awhile she had cut it back to its original short length. Lately she had taken to wearing a black square-necked chiffon dress. Shopping trips were rare for her since she still didn't feel comfortable going out much.

The official story was that Vanya had been a victim of the events now dubbed by the media as "The Apocalypse Suite." .05 had been in charge of the cover up and had done quite nicely. Only Inspector Lupo knew the truth and he wasn't talking. Nonetheless Vanya's changed appearance did raise a few eyebrows. Out of necessity she was learning to go out more and more. If she needed something she had to ask Rumor, which left only a fifty-fifty chance of it actually happening.

She was a few paces away from Rumor, who was talking to her ex. Suddenly she paused and looked around. Vanya sighed when she saw him, but waved her hand in goodbye. Kraken did the same before he continued off into the night. There was that argument solved. The new days were definitely better.