The rec center on a Saturday afternoon. Again. The taxing preparations for Nationals were continuing to this point where Crona wondered if they could even bear this anymore. They had no time to relax. This kind of stuff being their worst problem at the moment would have been unthinkable to the Crona from the beginning of the year. Present day Crona figured they could handle it, but it was still physically taxing. They were handling practice fine so far, but they were tired. Just... tired.

"Maka, you're doing amazing so far, but your pivot turn's just a teensy bit off," Spirit said, cutting off the music. "You need to time it better with the others."

"All right," Maka grumbled. "Next time, don't sugarcoat it."

"Yeah, we want to win Nationals, we can't do that even if we have a minor mistake," Hiro added in the most suckup-iest tone he could.

"Put more stress on everyone, why don't you?" Soul asked.

"Yeah, Nationals has our highest stakes yet, but we need to keep our stress levels about it low for our own sakes," Spirit replied, looking directly at Crona during the second half of his sentence.

"Easy for you to say," Crona mumbled to themself. Spirit walked back to the docking station and restarted "Defying Gravity."

Practice continued smoothly for now, both the team's vocals and dance were lining up how they should, nobody faltered with a word, and for once, Ox sang on key. Crona delivered the final few words just how they needed to, and just like that, this round of practice was over. Spirit clapped for the team.

"I wanna see you guys doing just as great as that when we're onstage in Miami!" he beamed.

"Hyaa-HA! We're unstoppable!" Black Star shouted. His enthusiasm was contagious, causing Crona to crack a slight smile. Maybe Nationals wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"Okay, we're gonna take a five-minute break, then we'll run through 'Footloose' again, all right?" Spirit asked. "I have to use the restroom," he said, walking off. Crona walked off to their bag to get their water bottle out, hearing their stomach growl as they zipped the bag open. It hadn't been like that since they were with Medusa.

"That was odd," they said to themself, before quickly looking around the room. "Wonder if the others heard?" They got out their water bottle and began to take a sip.

"Just like old times, right?" Hiro asked. Crona almost choked on their water. Was he talking about my stomach? They set their water bottle down, noticing how it trembled in their hand. They took a deep breath. I'll be fine, I'll be fine, they repeated in their head. They heard another small rumble. They dug through their bag, hoping there was a snack in there, hoping that it would quell their stomach for now, because it was starting to remind them about old times. They found nothing. Just like how it was back then. In that sad, boring room. Alone.

"Stop, you're safe, you're fine," Crona said to themself. "You're not hungry, your nose is healed, you're gonna be fine." Deep breaths, don't let this get too bad. Their eyes turned back to the rest of the group. Hiro was looking at his tablet with everyone else surrounding him. Crona could hear another team's rehearsal coming from the tablet, just like how one of their opponents posted one before the preliminaries.

"Oh, he was talking about that," Crona said, feeling a slight bit of relief now that they found Hiro wasn't mocking their trauma. They walked over to the others to look at the video and distract themself, still feeling on edge. Unlike the last time this happened, the team in the video wasn't faltering on purpose, they were really good to the point where it was intimidating. This just made them feel worse, everything welling up in their stomach. A rec center employee with a catering cart passed by the room, the smell of vaguely Mediterranean food wafting into the room. They caught the delicious aroma for only a second, it smelled almost like what they had in Greece during Christmas. Crona heard someone's stomach growl at a frightening volume. Their expression changed to shock as they realized it was from them.

"What's going on out there that brought in Greek food?" Liz asked, walking away from the group to peek around the door. A thought forced its way into Crona's mind. Don't even think about the food, you're not going to be able to get any. What's the point? "It's for a mythology group across the hall!" Liz called out, disrupting Crona from spiraling further into the old thought pattern they were trying to break. "Apparently today they're doing something on the story of Med-" Liz said, before cutting herself off. "Well, not the same one as the one we knew, but you know who I mean. " Medusa. No, not that one, get her out of your head, you're fine!

"Crona, you're hyperventilating," Maka said.

"No, I'm fine, everything's fine now, she's gone, he's gone, they're both in jail where they can't hurt me, I'll soon be having dinner once I get home, I haven't been yelled at in over a month, I'm okay," Crona replied. Liz looked horribly guilty. "Liz, I'm fine, it's not you who did this to me," Crona said to her. "You didn't set it off."

"Set what off, what's happening?" Spirit asked, walking back in. Crona froze up for a second.

"It's nothing," they said, still shaking. "Can we get back to p-practice?" they asked.

"I'm not starting practice with you looking like you're about to go into a panic attack," Spirit replied.

"You guys can start without me," Crona said, walking back to their bag. They sat down next to it, curling themself up in a ball. They felt a hand touch their shoulder, and flinched a bit, before looking up to see a concerned Maka looking back down at them.

"What's wrong?" Maka asked. Crona opened their mouth to answer, but no words came out. Maka knelt down next to them, moving her hand to brush Crona's bangs away from their eyes.

"I..." Crona began, grabbing on to Maka's hand, hoping that holding it would bring them some comfort and make this end sooner. They looked over Maka's shoulder to see everyone else was staring at them. All those eyes did nothing to calm them down. "I don't know what's wrong! This... this is just happening!"

"I didn't think this kind of stuff would be a problem anymore," Hiro said. "Ms. Gorgon and Ragnarok are both gone, and Crona has a girlfriend now, so shouldn't they, you know, not be panicking and stuff? That should have been cured by now."

"Mental illness doesn't work like that!" Kidd snapped. "It doesn't care whether or not you're actively being traumatized or not, and it can't be cured with romantic love."

"She only sees you as a project, something to be cured... Only feigning to love you because she doesn't want a downer in her class, or Spartoi."

"Get out of my head!" Crona shouted, waving an arm out in front of them. They knew what Medusa said that evening wasn't true, it couldn't be. "Maka, please tell me it isn't true! You don't think of me as a project, do you?"

"Of course not," Maka replied. "You're a person, not a project. I love you, not some imaginary ideal of you," she said, holding on to Crona's trembling hand even tighter. "And that's not going to change, ever." Crona looked up into Maka's sincere eyes. She didn't look calm, still stricken with worry. Crona didn't know what to say to her. If they couldn't even calm themself down, how could they help her? They looked down to their knees, stricken with guilt that was slowly replacing their fear.

"It's really pathetic," they said in a shaky voice. "I've already been stressed enough as it is with practice, and now I let myself get thrown into an attack because my stomach growled a few times? And I still don't even have closure."

"Closure on what?" Maka asked.

"Ragnarok," Crona replied. "I never visited him or even apologized for messing up his one phone call. Maybe I should talk with Marie about it."

"Do you think that'll even help calm your nerves before Nationals?" Spirit asked, his tone skeptical. Crona shrugged.

"I don't know," they said. "I don't know whether my brain's still trying to torture me at this point, but I'm starting to believe it's worth a try."

It had been six days since Crona broke down at practice. They had been spending most of their afterschool periods since then in the library focusing on homework that had been piling up, except for Friday. Right after their last class, they said goodbye to Maka and the other members of Spartoi, explained they'd see them at practice again on Monday, and got in the car with Miss Mjolnir on their way to the city penitentiary. This wasn't the same prison as the one Medusa was sent to, she was in a separate women's facility. No, this time, they were only here for closure on Ragnarok.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Miss Mjolnir asked, as she and Crona approached the entrance.

"To tell you the truth, no," Crona replied. "But at least we'll be separated by a thick wall of glass," they said.

The security process to even get to that thick wall of glass was a lengthy ordeal, and the initial sight of the room bleak and unpromising. It was a small room, the only furniture being two uncomfortable-looking chairs facing the window, and a corded phone on its sill. On the other side of the window was another chair, and in it sat Ragnarok, with two guards on either side of him. He didn't look so well, sitting slouched in prison was a sour expression on his face, and he had his phone's receiver in hand like he had waiting for this day since he was arrested in the first place. Crona and Miss Mjolnir sat in the two chairs on their side of the window, Crona taking the one closer to the phone. They picked up their receiver and held it to their ear, expecting Ragnarok to say the worst. Not like they ever expected anything else, since it would be unusual

otherwise.

"Well, you're a month late," he said in an unusually calm yet still condescending tone. "Where's the bail money?"

"I didn't come here to bail you out, only to talk," Crona replied, trying to stay calm despite a bad feeling welling up in their stomach.

"Talk?" Ragnarok asked, raising his voice. Crona braced themself. "You know damn well you should have brought bail, you stupid little piece of shit!" It didn't feel good to hear that kind of stuff spewed at them again.

"I'm sorry," Crona said out of reflex. "Actually, no, I'm not. You-"

"What do you mean, you're not sorry?" Ragnarok asked. "I'm the only family you have left and you leave me to rot! What, do you think I deserve to be in jail?"

"Not for helping your father sell drugs behind a Costco," Crona replied, feeling tears well up in their eyes. "No, I shouldn't cry," they tried to tell themself. A smug grin spread across Ragnarok's face.

"Well look how fucking guilty you are, Crona, you're in tears," he said. "It's your fault I'm behind bars, it's your fault what happened to you and the Albarn girl at the party, it's your fault for everything that happened to you this year-"

A guard asked Ragnarok a question that didn't get picked up by his receiver.

"No, you sack of human garbage, I didn't do anything to them or the girl at that party, I just helped my dad sell drugs, fuck off!" Ragnarok snapped at him. The guard who asked Ragnarok about the house party incident gave him a suspicious look.

"I'm not crying because you're in jail," Crona said. "And tell that guard you were behind what happened to Maka and I at that party. I would have let it go by now had you only hurt me, but you shouldn't have brought Maka into it. If you were mad that she believed me about my mother, fine, but she didn't deserve to be sent to the emergency room over it!"

"What did you even come here to talk about anyway?" Ragnarok asked.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Crona replied.

"I'm doing pretty fucking well thanks to you," Ragnarok said. "By the way, that was sarcasm." His tone insinuated that he thought Crona was unable to grasp that.

"I'm also here to say goodbye," Crona added.

"Say goodbye? I'm the one person who's been there for you since you were two!" Ragnarok shouted.

"You and I remember our childhood very differently," Crona said, handing Miss Mjolnir the phone. Crona got up from the chair and walked over to one of the walls. They leaned their back against the wall, letting it support them. They buried their face in their hands, tuning out Miss Mjolnir's many choice words to Ragnarok. Coming here was making Crona realize that they had to abandon what used to feel normal to them once and for all. Abandon Medusa Gorgon for Marie Mjolnir. Abandon fear and loneliness for love and friendship. Abandon whatever the heck Ragnarok meant to them with... well, they didn't figure out this one yet. What did he even mean to me anyway? they thought.

"Marie, I want to go home," Crona said.

And home they soon went. They arrived back at nightfall, Miss Mjolnir promising to make Crona their favorite meal to try to offset what happened at the prison even a little bit. They enjoyed a nice, calm, dinner together, and tried to spend the rest of the evening in peace.

After Crona came out from a nice, hot bath, they immediately made a beeline for their room, grabbed the one pillow they always grabbed off their bed, and sat down atop the covers, holding it in their arms. Holding the tearstained pillow was almost always comforting to them, this time being no exception. They thought new tears would end up falling onto the case, but none came out. Crona sat there relatively in peace for a minute or two, until they heard a sudden buzzing sound. They jolted a bit, before turning their head to their right. In the pocket of their school uniform's blazer, which was hastily tossed on the bed after they came home, there was a soft glow emitting from their phone. Crona reached out to pick it up, the constant buzzing being an annoying distraction that they'd like to end as soon as possible. But since it was locked, they couldn't hit

"decline", so they might as well have at least checked who was calling. Maka's name and picture showed up on the display, and Crona answered immediately. After what happened a few hours ago, they were glad they'd be able to hear her voice again.

"Are you back from the penitentiary?" Maka asked.

"Yeah, it didn't go well," Crona replied. "I thought I'd feel better after getting some closure on that end, but in the end, all the visit did was hurt."

"Are you okay?" Maka asked.

"Sort of," Crona said. "He couldn't hit me or anything, but what he said... Ragnarok blamed me for everything, Maka. Everything." Maka gasped.

"If I were there I would have told him he can go take that remark back and shove it up his-" Maka began, before there was a loud crash on the her end. "Mama, are you okay?" she asked, her voice muffled by presumably covering her phone with her hand. Crona didn't hear anything else from Maka for nearly half a minute as she checked what was going on. "Everything's fine, turns out she's still not home and it was something outside."

"At least nobody's hurt," Crona said.

"So how's your break from practice been going?" Maka asked. "I barely got to see you outside of class last week."

"Nothing much, just catching up on schoolwork and relaxing at home," Crona replied. "I tried to go to Marie's office one afternoon, but turns out she's not officially allowed to counsel me anymore because she's my foster parent. We talked about possibly having me start to see a therapist this summer, and whether or not the breakdown I had last week meant I'm developing some kind of post-traumatic stress."

"I remember reading somewhere that the odds of developing PTSD from child abuse are really high," Maka said. Crona sighed. They knew this might be a possibility, and a dreaded one at that.

"Great," they groaned. Just having anxiety and depression is bad enough, now I could get this? My brain can go to hell. "I missed you and Spartoi, but it was kind of nice just to take some time off from everything."

"I missed you too," Maka said. Crona could hear her front door open and close.

"Maka, get off the phone," Maka's mother said, unaware she was being loud enough for Crona to hear on their end. What's going on, is she in trouble? "We have to talk about Miami."

"Mama, can't this wait?" Maka asked. "Crona's on the other end and they just went through- hey, don't take it away from-"

There was a click, signifying Maka's mother had hung up the phone for her unwilling daughter. Crona set the phone down in shock. What if Ms. Albarn says Maka can't go to Nationals? All that work she's put in for it can't all be for nothing! Crona clung on their pillow, hoping it would alleviate some of the worry before they could contact Maka again.

About twenty minutes later, Maka messaged them.

"Mama was just telling me she couldn't go to support me in person like she wanted to. (exasperated face emoji) Sorry if we worried you. I'll see you soon, love you!"

Crona texted an "I love you" back and smiled, not realizing how soon "soon" would end up being.

The next day started peacefully in a way that for the last month or so, was becoming Crona's new normal. Miss Mjolnir made French toast for breakfast, and explained they weren't going to go out or do any errands today, that it was just going to be a home day so they could both relax. Crona spent the next few hours curled up on the couch with their pillow, watching the boxed set of nature documentaries Miss Mjolnir received last Christmas. Until the doorbell rang its cheerful chime.

"I'll get it!" Miss Mjolnir exclaimed, hurrying to the door. Figuring it was just a salesperson or something, Crona kept watching the documentary, now transfixed on the herd's migration. They heard Maka and Tsubaki's voices by the doorway along with Miss Mjolnir, who soon led the two girls into the TV room before going off to make some tea.

"You really weren't kidding when you said 'soon'," Crona said, watching Maka immediately make herself at home and sit by them on the couch.

"I thought a surprise visit could be fun," Maka replied, with a huge smile on her face.

"How are you doing?" Tsubaki asked, sitting down on Crona's other side.

"Better than I was last night," Crona replied, squeezing their pillow. "I think I'll be fine going to practice on Monday, if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm not worried about that," Maka said. "I just wanted to see that you're safe."

"So this wasn't a surprise visit just for the sake of it?" Crona asked. Maka shook her head no. "Thank you, thank you both for caring about me so much," Crona said. Maka threw her arms around Crona, Tsubaki doing the same thing. Crona was surprised for a second at the sudden hug, even though they expected something like this might happen. It was nice to have this kind of attention. The positive, loving attention they've been receiving so much of this year compared to every other year before then was something they never, ever, wanted to take for granted. "Thank you," Crona said again, quieter this time to the point where it was barely louder than a whisper. Maka and Tsubaki kept hugging them until Miss Mjolnir came back with two teacups filled to the brim with steaming hot tea. She set the cups down on the table and went back to fetch the other

two. After setting one of those cups down between the others, Miss Mjolnir sat down in an armchair, holding the last cup of tea for herself.

"What kind of tea is that?" Tsubaki asked, breaking off from the hug.

"It's chamomile," Miss Mjolnir replied as Maka broke off. "The package said it was good for relaxation and stress relief. I also put some honey in it."

Crona looked down at the light golden-colored tea, knowing exactly why Miss Mjolnir picked it out. They set their pillow aside and picked up the teacup, feeling the dull heat on their fingers. They took a sip. It tasted sweet, especially with the honey Miss Mjolnir added. They felt a strange sensation on their tongue.

"Wait, let it cool just a bit longer!" Miss Mjolnir exclaimed a little bit too late. "I don't want any of you to burn your tongues."

Crona set their teacup back on the saucer. It didn't feel like they burned themself, just dull. Their pain tolerance was high enough that they wouldn't be able to tell for a bit. Technically, they didn't know what a burnt tongue even felt like, never having had one before.

"How's school been for you two?" Miss Mjolnir asked Maka and Tsubaki.

"It's been good," Tsubaki replied, picking up her teacup and blowing on the tea to cool it down a little faster. "My PE grade's improved so far since last semester, which kind of surprises me. Usually winter's kind of a lull for me."

"I know what you mean," Miss Mjolnir said. "Back when I was a Shibusen student, I had better performance in PE during the fall and spring."

"You were a student at Shibusen?" Tsubaki asked.

"Most faculty members are alumni," Miss Mjolnir replied. "The only one I can think of on the current roster that wasn't is the cheerleading coach."

"Is it strange for so many teachers to have gone to the same school they teach at?" Maka asked. "Why's that?"

"Nostalgia?" Tsubaki suggested.

"Probably," Miss Mjolnir replied. "I haven't really asked them."

"Why did you get a job there?" Crona asked, picking up their teacup again, this time blowing on the tea before they tried to take another sip.

"It was for nostalgia's sake, actually," Miss Mjolnir replied. "That and to see it what Joe wrote on the bleachers was still there."

"Mr Buttataki?" Maka asked. "What did he write?" She took a sip of her tea.

"I can probably tell Tsubaki, but it's not something I'd feel comfortable saying around freshmen," Miss Mjolnir replied, unaware she was fueling Maka's fire. And that fire lit up in her eyes, sparking a curiosity that would not be satisfied until she found out. Crona was admittedly curious as well. Mr. Buttataki never seemed like the type to write something that could possibly be filthy enough for Miss Mjolnir to want to hide it from the eyes and ears of anyone younger than a junior.

"I don't really want to know," Tsubaki said. Maka nearly snorted tea out of her nose in shock. She set her cup down as she coughed a few times.

"Maka, are you okay?" Crona frantically asked. Maka nodded and took a deep breath. Her face had turned bright red, likely from embarrassment.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, looking like she might laugh at herself for reacting like that. And she did laugh a little. Okay good, she's definitely fine if she can laugh about it this soon. Maka looked down at her tea to make sure she didn't really snort it out of her nose and possibly get snot in it. She sighed in relief and took another sip, slowly this time. Now that they were sure Maka was fine, Crona took another sip of their own tea. It tasted and felt different this time at the tip of their tongue, but not towards the back.

"I did burn it," Crona said to themself. They looked at Miss Mjolnir, bracing themself for whatever disappointment she'd throw at them for doing something like that. But it was just a look, a nonverbal "I told you so." Nothing more. Crona sighed in relief, but they were sure the others would interpret it as exasperation.

"Don't worry, it'll heal on its own if it's not severe," Tsubaki said.

"It doesn't seem to be that bad, it's only a small bit," Crona replied. "It won't take as long to heal as a broken nose, right?" they asked. Not realizing they were legitimately asking that, the others laughed like Crona just told them a joke. I guess not.

"You'll be fine," Maka said. "I've burnt my tongue on hot food and stuff all the time, mostly with pizza. It'll clear up."

"I'll be fine," Crona repeated to themself. They stared down at the rest of their tea. Their tongue didn't even hurt, it just felt weird. And it wasn't even that noticeable, so they could easily ignore it as they drank the rest. Crona wasn't sure whether the chamomile tea would actually have a calming effect like the box said, but right now they didn't feel like they needed that too much. It was weird, but they felt fine. Whether this was the calm before another storm, or a new normal, they didn't care. How long this calm would last wasn't something they were thinking about now. Crona drank the last sip of their tea and set the now-empty cup back down on its saucer.

"Are you sure you're holding up okay after the breakdown?" Tsubaki asked them. "And the visit?"

"Honestly, I've never been sure if I'm okay," Crona replied. "But that's fine. I'm still alive after fifteen years of hell, so there's that."

"Your recovery from all that's still just in a beginning phase," Miss Mjolnir said. "It's going to be a long and bumpy ride, and it may never fully end, but we all have your back. We'll all be there for you if you need us for as long as it takes. And even after that."

"I know," Crona replied, glancing over at Tsubaki and Miss Mjolnir, and then turning to look at Maka. Maka took their hand.

"Every step of the way," Maka said with a genuine and supportive smile.

The first part of the journey was over, and the second part had only just begun. But however long it was going to last, Crona knew Maka and Miss Mjolnir were going to be right by their side, with Tsubaki and the rest of Spartoi close by. It really set in today more than any other that Crona was not alone. Recovery was going to be a long journey, and though they were highly likely to never be fully rid of all the mental scars and issues the trauma they suffered for fifteen years left them, at least they could begin to understand them and deal with them better.

Crona was a survivor, and they were going to keep on fighting.