This is a work of fanfiction. All characters (except Emerald) belong to Aphmau / Jessica Bravura.

Cover Art belongs to Aphmau / Jessica Bravura.

Please don't sue me.

"Ava?"

"Ava..."

"Ava?"

"Ava!"

"Ava?"

Leif clapped his hands together in front of her face, trying to get the shorter woman to snap out of her daze, but it was no use. After a few more attempts, he frowned and gave up as he turned to Pierce. "What happened to her?"

To his surprise, the large Daemos wasn't even paying attention. He was looking back in the direction they'd just come from, his fingers ghosting over the corner of his mouth and his expression one of deep thought. The remnants of a blush tinged his cheeks, something that just made Leif even more confused.

Honestly, it was one of the weirdest things the former assassin had ever seen.

However, Lorelai didn't seem too concerned. "She fainted from the ride, duh!" She gave both Daemos a wide, trusting grin.

"Don't worry. She's not the only one scared of roller coasters." The shaggy-haired guy (Leif was pretty sure his name was Orin) tossed his head towards the other unconscious man on the bench.

"As much as Steve plays the tough guy act, he definitely can't stand them either." The blonde woman pulled out her phone and aimed it at the man. "Snapshot!"

"Kristen!" Lorelai moved in front of her friend, spreading her arms out wide to block her view.

"Relax, Lor. I ain't gonna post it. Just wanna shove it in Steve's face when he gets up."

Orin made a sound halfway between a laugh and a scoff. "You know she's going to post it."

"Hey!"

Lorelai sighed. "Yeah, I know. You guys should go get some food or something. We'll catch up with you later."

"R-really?!" The shaggy-haired man suddenly perked up.

"You sure, Lor?" Even as she spoke, the blonde woman turned her attention to Pierce almost hungrily.

"Yep!"

"Suit yourself." She suddenly approached the tall Daemos, who still seemed to be in a daze. "You know... since we got here late, this place will close fairly soon. We should make sure Ava's friends have time to see everything the festival has to offer." The blonde reached out and put her hand on his arm. "What do you say, handsome? Want to see what this place really has to offer?"

At her touch, Pierce snapped out of his thoughts. He looked at her as if noticing her for the first time. "W-what?"

"You don't want to be stuck here waiting on these two nerds to wake up. There are a lot of other things to see." She stepped closer, oblivious to his discomfort.

"I, uh - " He took a step back, removing her hand from him. "I would... prefer to wait here for Emerald to return."

Leif frowned as he watched the exchange. It struck him as odd how Pierce was suddenly so loyal to Ava's guard, but figured it might just be an excuse to stay close to the princess without revealing too much. He considered if he should intervene, but Orin saved him the trouble.

"Hey, come on. He sounds like a puppy waiting for his owner to come back. Leave him alone and let's go get something to eat!" Without waiting for her to reply, he began pushing the blonde woman away from the group.

"Hey wait, you dork!" Her voice faded as they both rounded the corner and out of earshot.

Lorelai sighed. "Good luck, Orin." She turned to Pierce, as something he'd said had caught her attention. "That reminds me... where did Em go?"

"Emerald went to look for the others. They... got distracted and wandered off. They do not have phones, so she is trying to find them."

"Ah, that makes sense. Well, maybe we can go look for them too once Ava and Steve wake up. Speaking of which... " She turned back to her boyfriend, poking him in the shoulder. "You awake yet?" After a few more pokes, she let out a huff. "Oh, darn..." She turned to Leif. "How's Ava?"

Leif leaned in close, then straightened and shook his head. "She hasn't woken up yet, but this is pretty normal for her. She always falls asleep when she's stressed."

"Falls asleep?" She gave him an odd look. "You mean faint, don't you?"

"Uh...y-yeah. That's what I meant."

Lorelai let out a giggle. "That's kind of funny. Steve does the same thing, as you can see." She hummed in thought. "Wait... I think I have an idea! Stay right here." Without giving them a chance to respond, she ran off in the same direction Kristen and Orin had gone only a few moments ago.

Leif watched her go, then turned to Pierce in confusion. "What was that about?"

"I don't know, but maybe we should try to wake Ava." He shook his head, then turned again to look back towards the exit of the roller coaster. "Emerald almost had another panic attack earlier. I do not feel comfortable with her being alone out there right now, even if it is to find the others."

"Oh please, give her some credit. She's always so focused on what she's supposed to do, she'd get it done even if she had a knife sticking out of her." He laughed. "I mean, she tried to follow us that first day after you almost broke half her ribs by smashing her into a wall."

Pierce cleared his throat uncomfortably. "We've... had a discussion about that."

"Oh, did you now?" Leif's interest was piqued. He raised an eyebrow as he leaned forward. "How'd that go?"

"It was... good."

"Come on! You've got to give me more than that!" As the silence between them stretched, the former assassin began to realize the taller Daemos wasn't going to crack. He huffed in frustration, going back to Ava's side. "Now that you mention it, I wonder how the others are doing..."

All things considered, the other three Daemos were doing very well. Rhys had managed to wrangle them into an unpopulated corner of the park, near the base of the non-functioning Ferris wheel. He kept them behind him as he stood watch, an effort that was... unappreciated by the other two.

Asch threw his head back in frustration. "Gah! This wait is excruciating!"

"Can we go back to having fun again?" Noi whined, looking between the other two for validation.

Rhys shook his head. "We need to lay low. We've already made the humans aware of our presence." He let out a soft scoff. "No thanks to you two and Leif," he added under his breath.

"Can't we just walk around while we wait for Ava or Emerald to find us?" The Daemos prince glanced around, noticing there were no humans nearby.

"No. As long as I'm in charge here in the human world, I'm not letting either of you two out of my sight."

Noi laughed. "But we aren't even in your sight now!"

"It's a figure of speech, Noi. I'm not allowing you two to go far from me."

Behind him, Asch leaned in close to Noi and began whispering fiercely into his ear. The small Daemos had a confused expression on his face at first, but it soon brightened as he understood what the the plan was. "Ohhhh! Heh, can do!" Noi whispered, grinning softly.

Nodding to him, Asch turned to face Rhys. "Ava and Emerald aren't even with us. What harm will it do them for us to go out on our own?"

"Princess Ava has entrusted me with our safety. I don't want to let her down. Besides, Dame Emerald and Pierce do not know what has happened. We should keep an eye out for them as well."

"Since when do you take orders from them?" As he delivered the jeer, the Daemos prince took a few steps to the side.

"They both respect my ability to think before taking action. I highly respect someone who values my intellect."

"Not like that got us far during our battles on Daemos..." Noi teased in an almost sing-song voice.

Rhys rounded on him immediately, almost puffing up indignantly. "I beg your pardon?! Noi: do you even understand who put together our battle tactics?!"

"Hmm... Asch?"

The Daemos prince nodded confidently. "That's right."

"No! Asch just got the plans from me!" The spectacled Daemos turned back around, trying to rein in his temper.

The sing-song taunting from Noi continued. "But Asch directed us through them."

"Because he's our leader! What kind of knight would I be to undermine him?!"

"So... Asch made the battle plans!"

"That's right. I did," Asch purred, taking another few steps off to the side.

"He made some! Some! The majority of the battle tactics are a discussion between myself, Asch, and Rhal. Everyone knows Rhal lacks intelligence!" As Rhys continued to rant, Asch and Noi moved further and further apart from him and each other. "Do you even think for a second that Asch could even - ?!"

"Bye Asch!" Noi interrupted, sounding absolutely bubbly.

"What?!" The spectacled Daemos turned just in time to see Asch running off, laughing maniacally as he rounded the side of the Ferris wheel. "What the - ?!"

While Rhys was distracted, Noi took off behind him in the opposite direction, giggling happily. "See ya'!"

"They... they fooled me!" Rhys's expression darkened as he stared after the others. "We'll see who gets the last laugh... " he growled darkly, all thoughts of Ava and Emerald gone.

Pierce watched as Leif continued to clap his hands in front of Ava's face, frowning when the woman failed to react in any way. Frustrated, the former assassin turned to him. "Maybe she's dead?"

He shook his head. "She still draws breath, so I doubt it."

"Yeah, but we don't know the anatomy of humans."

"Anna... toe-me?"

"It's a word I learned from my crime show." He suddenly gasped as a thought seemed to occur to him. "Wait, that's it!"

"What's it?"

"I know what to do!" Without hesitation, Leif bent over and lifted Ava in his arms before carefully lowering her to the ground in front of the bench. "I saw this on TV. Also, Ava did this to Asch once and it worked!"

"What worked?"

"I just have to give her 'CCR'!" He knelt down by her side.

"What's... what?" Pierce was beginning to get frustrated. He didn't understand half of what Leif was saying, and the constant interruptions were distracting him.

"Where I basically caress her, but breathe life into her. Watch!" Without a moment of hesitation, Leif leaned forward and covered Ava's lips with his own.

"Leif! Wait!" The tall Daemos watched on, horrified at the scene before him. All he could think of was how Emerald had asked him for permission before she even attempted to give him a caress. This blatant disregard for Ava's consent made him feel extremely uncomfortable...

...a feeling that only grew stronger as Lorelai came back with a bottle of water. "I'm baaaack! I - " She cut herself off as she took in the scene before her. "Oh, my!"

"It's not what it looks like!" Pierce felt he was losing control of the situation. The overt slurping noises coming from Leif did nothing to calm his nerves. "What are you doing?!"

The former assassin rose just enough to answer him. "I'm trying to breathe in! This is my first time trying to 'CCR', her mouth isn't open!"

"Try using your tongue a little!" To Pierce's continued horror, Lorelai seemed to be encouraging this behavior, a dark blush spreading over her cheeks as she watched.

"What?!" Finally unable to bear the scene any longer, he rushed forward and bodily pushed the other Daemos away from her. He immediately backed off, staring down at Ava with worry even as he thought about what Emerald would do if she ever found out about this.

"Hey!" Leif cried out indignantly, glaring at him.

"Enough!" Before Pierce could say anything else, Ava sat up coughing.

"Hey, I did it!" the former assassin cried out proudly, although he looked just as shocked as the others.

"Aww... " Lorelai cooed. "The Kiss of Life."

"Wha - what happened?" the shorter woman asked blearily, looking around.

"It actually worked?" Now Pierce felt more confused than ever. While he was relieved Ava seemed to be okay, the whole situation made him feel dirty just to have witnessed it.

"Ava! So glad you're awake!" The brunette practically purred, giving her a wide smile.

"You're welcome," Leif crooned confidently, a smirk on his face.

"You know what... I'm not even going to ask what happened, because ignorance is bliss!" Ava quickly stood up, then turned to the taller Daemos in surprise. "Pierce? When did you get here?" She took a better look around. "And where's Em?"

"She went to find Rhys and the others, but suggested I remain here and help you control Leif."

She let out a breathy laugh. "Wow, that was a pretty good idea on her part."

"But... I am worried about her. Before we found you again, she nearly had - "

He was cut off as Lorelai dumped the entire jug of water she'd been carrying over Steve. The man woke up sputtering, jumping to his feet as is girlfriend smiled at him. "Morning!"

"Wh-what happened?"

"You passed out again, silly!" She leaned in close and gave him a tiny kiss on the cheek. "I'm just glad you're awake now."

He immediately brushed her off, frowning. "Yeah, whatever." As she turned away in a huff, Steve looked at her in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Ava's guy kisses her in public," Lorelai grumped. "Why don't you ever do that for me?"

Pierce watched the two humans argue with increasing worry. He was getting the impression human 'kissing' was something to be done in private. It made the blatant display Leif had put on earlier sit even more uncomfortably in his stomach, so much so he almost missed the moment when Ava put her hands over her ears to block out the conversation.

Lorelai glared at Steve, running to stand behind the two Daemos. "Don't be jealous you can't be as romantic as they are, Steve!" she taunted, blushing as she glanced between the two of them.

"How do you know they're romantic?"

She pointed to Leif. "Have you seen the way he looks at Ava?" She then pointed at Pierce. "And I saw him holding hands with Em earlier when we got off of the roller coaster. Where's that kind of reaction from you toward me?"

Steve sighed. "Lor, we've been together for two years now. Come on, stop being silly."

"It's not silly..." she muttered under her breath, frowning as she looked away.

"This place is about to close in two hours. Do you want to do the Haunted House or what?"

Seeming to instantly get over her frustration with him, Lorelai nodded and followed Steve as he walked off.

"What happened?" Ava asked as she finally lowered her hands from her ears.

"Lorelai seems upset with... Steve." It took Pierce a moment to remember the human male's name.

"Really? Huh..." She shrugged. "Well, it's none of our business! Did they say where they were going?"

"The haunted place, apparently?" Leif didn't seem to understand exactly what it was.

Ava huffed out a groan. "Well, at least it's a place I'm comfortable in." She gave Pierce a serious look. "And honestly, I'm kind of glad Em went off to find the others. From what you told me, she was pretty close to having a panic attack earlier, and she's been on edge all day. Being out here will help her feel better, but we should probably go home once we're done with the Haunted House."

The tall Daemos met her gaze evenly. "Are you sure she will be all right alone?"

She nodded. "Rhys shouldn't have any problems keeping Asch and Noi in line. The two of them should be unstoppable once they meet up." She looked over his shoulder. "Let's get going before Lorelai leaves us behind."

Ava and Leif took off after the others immediately, but Pierce held back. He looked one last time in the direction he'd last seen Emerald, his thumb once again going up to subconsciously touch where she'd caressed him before he shook his head and followed the others. He couldn't shake the feeling leaving her alone had been a mistake.

As it turned out, Pierce's instinct was correct.

Emerald had been fine at first. A bit tired from earlier, sure, but she'd felt so confident she could power through it long enough to find Rhys and the others. The Fall Festival wasn't too big, there were obvious boundaries the Daemos would understand they couldn't get around, it wasn't as crowded as she remembered it being in the past -

The veteran stopped herself, leaning against a nearby barrel decoration. This wasn't good: her thoughts were beginning to spin, making her feel like she was caught in the middle of a tornado while everything zipped by just out of reach. Instead, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. 'I just need to find Rhys. That's it. Focus on that.'

It helped a little, but not nearly as much as earlier. She could feel her hands starting to shake and forced them into tight fists, using the pain of her nails against her palms as a focal point.

"When I catch you two, you'll be sorry you even dared to insult me as such!"

Her eyes shot open in shock. 'That's... Rhys. I've never heard him sound so angry.' She forced herself to straighten up, surveying the area for any signs of movement. A blur of blue near the Ferris wheel caught her attention, along with the telltale panicked screams from Noi.

"Oh... oh no." Emerald watched as Rhys chased Asch and Noi into the 'Exit' of the Haunted House. Of all the places they could've gone, of course it had to be there...

She felt her breath catch in her chest as she took a few slow steps forward. Her fists clenched tighter, and she became aware of something wet in her grasp. 'No. No time to think about that. Get Rhys, get the others, get out of there.'

Emerald shook her head as she forced herself to run after them. The last thing she needed now was for them to cause some sort of incident. She let out a small, crazed huff of laughter: to think, she'd been worried about Pierce going to a rampage, only for it to be Rhys in the end...

Meanwhile, the others were waiting patiently in the line for the Haunted House. Ava had been listening to Pierce describe how Em was acting earlier, so it caught her off guard when Lorelai tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Ava, is it all right if Steve and I go in together?"

"Knock yourselves out!" The shorter woman smiled at them, somewhat relieved they wouldn't all have to go through together. It'd make it easier for her to keep Leif and Pierce under control if she wasn't also distracted by making sure Lorelai and Steve weren't getting suspicious about anything.

As the others made their way inside, she turned back to the Daemos. "Okay, you two: inside, we're going to be going through a maze. There's going to be some spooky things popping up at us, but again... they're just humans in costumes. Nothing to be scared about."

"Should we kill anything if we feel threatened?" Leif piped up, furrowing his eyebrows.

"No."

"But - "

"If you do that, I won't ever consider you for marriage." She was satisfied to see the former assassin look absolutely horrified, but noticed Pierce didn't seem as concerned as she would've expected. Then again, he wasn't the one she was worried about running rampant through the attraction, so she chalked it up to him still being worried about Em.

"Next!" called the attendant.

"Three please," Ava announced pleasantly, giving him the tickets. She was positive her ultimatum would be enough to keep them in check, although there was still a vague feeling of worry she couldn't brush aside so easily. Instead, she shook her head and led them inside.

Dark hedges with light-up red eyes stared down hungrily at them from above, smoke from a fog machine rolling out from the central arch to curl around their ankles. As they made their way through the entrance and came to the first hallway, Ava let out a nervous laugh as the fog grew thicker. "Hey, this isn't bad at all!" she squeaked out.

"Booooooo!"

All three of them screamed as a floating ghoul came rushing out from behind them, arms raised threateningly as it leered closer. Without a second thought, the group scattered into the maze, trying to get away from the specter.

After what felt like hours, Ava slid to a stop as she hit a dead end. She crouched down, hoping whoever was chasing her had lost her in the twisting hallways.

No such luck. They loomed over her as they approached, letting out a guttural howl as they came in close... whereupon Ava jumped up and shrieked, closing her eyes as she punched them in the face. It was a testament to how well Em had drilled some of those self-defense lessons into her since the Daemos had first started living with them.

The poor actor immediately collapsed to the floor, groaning softly. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" She pulled the mask off of his face, noting he seemed to be okay. Just unconscious. As she stood there, silently panicking over what to do, she heard a sobbing voice call out "What?!" from nearby. It was enough for her to sneak over and peek around the corner.

Steve and Lorelai were standing in a darkened hallway off the main path, the latter's face covered in tears as the former stood there, unmoved.

"I'm breaking up with you, Lorelai."

"B-but why? I... I just wanted to hold your hand, and..."

"Lorelai, it's... it's just..." He sighed, pausing before he started again. "It's not you, it's me. I didn't want to do it here, I... was going to wait. But it's just becoming hard to get along with you. You just want too much affection that I just can't give you, and I think it's best if we start seeing other people."

"I... can't believe this is happening." Lorelai sounded completely broken. "Why are you doing this?"

"Lor, you're a great girl. You have spunk and charisma and a lot of people like you, but for me... you're... you're just... too much. We've been together for a while and I'm starting to think about my future."

"So I'm not in your future?"

Steve shook his head. "No."

Lorelai sniffled sadly as she stared at her feet.

Ava slowly backed away, frowning. 'Wow. I always knew Steve was a d-bag, but for him to do this now?' She went back the way she'd come, stunned when Pierce and Leif came skidding to a stop right before they ran over the unconscious actor's body.

"Princess Ava! There you are!" the former cried out in relief, heaving a visible sigh.

"Hey, I thought you said we couldn't punch 'em!" Leif scoffed indignantly, pointing at the man on the floor.

"I didn't, I - wait!" Ava cut herself off as an absolutely wicked idea occurred to her. She glanced back down at the actor. "Gimme that costume!"

"Please, Steve! It can't end like this!" Lorelai took a step forward, but was stopped when he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Yes it can, Lor. I'm sorry." He let go of her when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind. He turned, surprised to see one of the actors from the set walking right up to him. "Huh?"

"Boo." Before Steve could react, the figure hauled back and punched him in the face, knocking him out before he hit the floor.

As Lorelai gasped in shock, Leif gave a wild whoop of delight. "Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about!" He ran forward and began repeatedly punching the unconscious man in the head while Pierce looked on, horrified at the situation.

"Stop! He doesn't deserve that!" Lorelai wiped the tears from her eyes, taking a step forward.

The former assassin backed off as Ava removed the costume, facing her friend. "Yes he does!"

"Ava?" She tilted her head in confusion.

Before anyone could respond, the sounds of Noi screaming in panic and Asch shouting "Rhys, we're sorry!" came to their ears. The two Daemos in question came to a halt behind the others, staring between them all in shock. "Ava?!" squeaked out the Daemos prince.

"Asch?!"

"Asch! Noi!" the spectacled Daemos roared as he stepped out from the opposite side, his eyes and hands glowing brightly as he summoned clouds of white magic. "Prepare to face - !"

"Rhys!" Emerald came running up behind him, emerging from the same hallway he'd appeared from. She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his chest from behind as she narrowly avoided the icy magic pouring from his hands. "S-st-stop... " she stuttered out, holding on as if her life depended on it. Her chest hitched as she gasped audibly, struggling to catch her breath.

"E-Emerald!" the spectacled Daemos cried out, immediately dismissing the magic so he wouldn't hurt her. He stood there stunned as she held on to him, feeling her leaning heavily against him. His nose caught the coppery scent of human blood and he felt something wet beginning to soak through the front of his shirt.

Lorelai's eyes went wide as she stared at them. "Magic?!"

"Leif!" Ava looked to the former assassin, flicking her eyes over towards the other woman.

Luckily, he immediately picked up on the hint. "On it!" He phased over, knocking Lorelai out in one smooth motion.

"Ju -" Emerald's words trailed off as her eyes rolled up towards the ceiling. Rhys felt her grip on him slipping as her knees buckled and she began to fall backwards. He turned around, reaching for her -

- only for her body to stop as Pierce suddenly appeared, gently holding her close as he supported her. "Emerald!" he cried, shifting his grip slightly as he lifted her into a bridal-style carry. She didn't respond, head hanging limply back over his arm. Her rapid breathing was the only sound in the room as everyone stared on in stunned silence.

Rhys came closer, hand going immediately to her neck to check her pulse. "Her heartbeat is incredibly fast," he murmured as he examined her eyes. "I do not believe she in conscious."

Ava ran over next, staring at the front of Rhys's shirt. "Where did that blood come from?!"

He looked down in shock, finally noticing the two smears on his clothes where the veteran had grabbed him. "I-I'm not sure."

The shorter woman reached over and carefully grabbed one of the veteran's hands, squinting at it in the dim light. "Looks like she cut her hands on something."

Pierce shifted his grip, bringing Emerald's body slightly upright so her head was leaning on his shoulder. "We need to get her outside so we can assess her injuries properly. The air feels too heavy in here."

As if to accentuate his point, Emerald jerked forward as she regained consciousness, gasping loudly. She curled up into a ball, her fingers digging into the strap of Pierce's shirt. "Can't... breathe..." she wheezed, her chest spasming as she began to hyperventilate.

Ava looked to the rest of the group. "Rhys, you get everybody else outside. Pierce and I need to get Em out of here now." She tapped the tallest Daemos on the shoulder, nodding towards the exit. "Let's go." Barely waiting for a reply, the two of them ran out.

Noi let out a worried noise, looking between the other Daemos as they sat waiting outside the Medical Tent. "D-do you think Emerald is okay?"

Rhys shook his head noncommittally, dabbing at the last of the blood on his shirt with a wet cloth one of the medics had given him. "We won't know until they come out, but I am sure she will be fine. She is with the healers."

Leif let out a disbelieving laugh. "I can't believe she actually chased after you, Rhys! Especially since you were so pissed off!"

Asch nodded, oddly subdued. "It's... rather impressive how determined she was to fulfill her duty. Even I wouldn't have grabbed you from behind like that. She's lucky you were able to control yourself."

The smallest Daemos got up, pacing back and forth. "Shouldn't they have come out by now?" He let out a frustrated huff. "And why did Pierce have to stay in there?!"

"You've seen how Dame Em - " Rhys caught himself, sighing as he started again. "We've all seen how Emerald gets after she has one of these 'episodes.' The last time it happened, she refused to let go of Pierce, no matter what we did." He looked around, then discreetly used a tiny bit of magic to remove the last of the blood.

"But, it seemed really bad this time." Noi swallowed hard. "She was bleeding..."

"Because she cut the palms of her hands with her nails. Ava said it's something Emerald used to do to focus herself, but since she was already so stressed out today, she pushed too hard and broke the skin."

"But - !" He was cut off as the flap to the Medical Tent opened.

Ava and Lorelai came out first, the latter looking a bit better, although her eyes were still red and puffy from the crying she'd been doing earlier. Pierce followed closely behind, carefully carrying Emerald in his arms. Her face was buried in the crook of his neck, two strips of white bandages wrapped around her hands.

The others ran over immediately, but Ava held up a hand. "Let's... get out of here. We're done with the carnival for today." At the hurt looks they gave her, she shook her head. "We'll talk outside the gates. Just don't bombard Em with a bunch of questions right now."

After a short walk, they all found themselves gathered in a small circle outside the entrance.

Lorelai turned to Ava, her appearance one of exhaustion. "You... didn't have to do that, Ava."

She quickly brushed off the other woman. "Nah. It was... cringy to see that." She gave a cautious grin. "Besides, no one disses you like that except me."

The brunette responded with a weak chuckle. "Thanks."

"You sure you're gonna be all right?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. To be honest... I saw this coming. I think I just need time." Lorelai turned to Emerald, carefully putting a hand on her arm. "You feeling any better, Em?"

The veteran looked over at her blearily, giving a heavy blink before she closed her eyes again.

Pierce adjusted his grip, holding her a little closer and resting his chin on top of her head. "She is still weak from the medicine they gave her."

Lorelai nodded, looking between the two of them sadly. "You know, you guys are pretty cute together. I hope you remember what I told you all at the movies a few weeks ago: don't make her feel like a second choice." Her eyes began to tear up again. "Trust me... I know how that feels."

As the other woman turned to start crossing the parking lot, Ava felt the need to call out to her. "Hey! Lorelai! You wanna... hang out... next week? Since, you know... that's what friends do?"

She turned back in shock. "A-Ava?" She grinned widely. "Heck yeah, I do! I thought you'd never ask!"

"All right then. I'll text ya'..."

Lorelai practically squealed in delight. "Yay! See you all later!"

Noi watched her go, then turned to Ava. "Huh. I thought you didn't want to hang out with her before?"

"Yeah, but... I changed my mind. Humans are like that, you know. Can't ever predict them." Ava motioned for the others to follow. "Come on: we'd better get Em home. She could use some rest after the day we just put her through."