To yellow 14: Her conflicted emotions over allying with the human heroes are definitely an important part of Hoda's character!

To Butterfly: The Shunjar do have genders/sexes (though they reproduce differently from mammals), so Hoda is female. There may be other races out there that reproduce asexually, but that's not the Shunjar or the Volpine.


Bri stood in the hallway in front of the flat's linen closet door, waiting for Anne to drop off her book bag in her bedroom following a study session at the cafe down the street. They had gone over to the Manor the day before – each of them had had sessions with Emilie – but today wasn't about counselling or therapy or any of that. Amelie had invited all of them to the Manor for dinner tonight, including the ones not staying there. This wasn't the first time she would be having dinner at the Manor; she and Anne had had dinner with Amelie and Felix at least once a week since Anne became a member of the team. But for tonight, Bri was actually looking forward to seeing the rest of their group at dinner. Unfortunately, this meant that Felix would be going out on patrol on his own later, but he had been oddly accommodating when she'd sent him a message to that effect this morning.

It probably didn't hurt that she'd explained where they were going to be.

Anne's bedroom door opened and she stepped out. "Ready to go, girl?"

"Waiting on you!" Bri opened the closet door and placed her thumb on the print reader to activate the portal.

"You are really getting a lot of use out of this new ring, aren't you?" Anne observed, raising an eyebrow at her with a mirthful smirk.

Bri shrugged. They had installed it only a couple days after defeating the Ripper, once Anne was an official part of the team and she didn't need to hide her hero activities from her flatmate. "It definitely beats having to actually walk to my workshop," she noted. That it would also save her from ever having to walk through the alley where she had been attacked again – and especially not in the middle of the night after a long patrol – went without saying.

Anne snorted. "You know that's not what I mean," she observed wryly, wagging her eyebrows. "It is nice to have such a convenient way of visiting your fella now, hmm?"

Bri rolled her eyes. "I don't use it to visit Felix that often…"

"Uh-huh," Anne replied dubiously. "And what about all those nights I've come out to find the closet door open?"

Bri felt heat rise in her cheeks. "You make it sound like it happens every night," Bri retorted. "It's really only once or twice a week. Just when I'm having trouble sleeping. I don't want to wake you up every time that happens. So sometimes I go to visit him, and we sit up late into the night, just talking."

Anne hummed, nodding slowly. "You never have to feel bad about waking me up," she assured Bri, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving her a one-armed hug. "I'm here for you any time you need."

Bri returned the hug with a smile. "Thanks." She smirked. "I'll try not to make you regret that!" The portal opened up, and the two girls stepped through to find Amelie waiting for them in the Manor's Hero Sitting Room.

"Good evening, dears!" Amelie greeted them, pulling Bri into a quick hug before doing the same with Anne. "The others only just arrived and went down to the dining room." She opened the door to usher them out. "Hussain from the Somali Temple is cooking for us this evening, and he was just setting out the salad when I left."

"Thanks for inviting us!" Anne told Amelie with a smile. "I love your house!"

"It's my pleasure!" Amelie led them down the hallway past a couple of bedrooms toward the main hall. "It's so large and spacious for just two people – one when Felix is at school – that the opportunity to put it to use this week has been wonderful. And I've been meaning to invite you for tea sometime to get to know you – just the two of us," she continued. "But it seems like whenever I'm free, you have work, and vice versa!"

"I would like that," Anne agreed as they followed Amelie through the Manor. "I have so many questions! How did you and Emilie end up with the Heroes of Paris? Or how did the Heroes of Paris end up in London?"

Amelie chuckled. "I actually didn't know any of the history until Emilie explained it," she replied. "One of our ancestors was a miraculous guardian and rescued two miraculous when the temple in Tibet was destroyed – the Butterfly and Peacock. She brought them back to Europe with her, and our family has been guarding them ever since."

Anne's eyes widened. "No way! So the miraculous have been involved in English history? But where?"

"Oh, all over the place," answered Amelie, smiling proudly. "But during World War II my grandfather actually fought alongside the French Resistance!"

"I've heard stories about supernatural occurrences associated with the War," Anne observed, cocking her head. "I wonder if it was related to the miraculous, then."

Bri rolled her eyes. "You're just drawn to the supernatural," she commented, a teasing lilt to her voice.

"It's interesting!" Anne defended, grinning eagerly. She turned back to Amelie. "So what about the Heroes of the UK?" she asked. "How do we fit into all of this?"

Amelie shrugged and directed them into the dining room, where the others were already waiting. "However you think you should. Our focus is on anything happening in London or England, but if we were to run into trouble, the Heroes of Paris would come and help us out. And if they were to have trouble, we could help them. But from what Emilie has said, the intent is for each group of heroes to handle their own problems when they can."

Bri took an open seat next to Chloe. "So we don't have to worry about getting dragged off to China or something?"

"It can happen…" Chloe began, smirking. "But not normally."

Bri looked down at the dish in the centre of the table, filled with a mixture of beans and rice with some meat on it. "What are we having? It looks good."

"Surbiyaan hilib adhi," answered Aisha, helping herself and passing the dish. "It's amazing! I hardly ever had it before moving into the temple, but we'll have it almost every week there."

Bri selected a piece of a flatbread and took a nibble. "I could get used to this," she decided.

"One of these days, you have to come down and visit Somalia!" Aisha replied excitedly. "You all need to come! The waterfall outside is so cool, and the forest is so spectacular to walk through."

"Forest you say?" observed Anne. "That could be fun to see some different plant life." She smirked at Bri. "I told you London was nothing special for greenery!"

Bri scoffed. "Considering how much time I spend in a metal suit with a built-in filtration system, you can forgive me for having a skewed perception of the outdoors!"

"Sometimes I just take a book outside and read on top of the mountain," Aisha continued, sighing dreamily.

"What kinds of books?" Anne asked curiously.

"Our library has a few fantasy books, but most of them are histories – though a couple I've read were written by guardians, so the history is really fantastical! One by a previous Elephant even gives a history of Atlantis."

"There's a Founders' Day celebration in New Atlantis where apparently the guardians recite the history of the exodus from Atlantis," Hoda interjected. She pulled a lightly-cooked lamb shank off a platter on the sideboard next to her and tore of a strip with her teeth.

Anne pursed her lips in thought. "When is that? It sounds fascinating!"

Hoda frowned. "I think it's sometime in April. I'm sure they'll welcome visitors."

"If it works…" Anne nodded. "I wonder if anyone has written the whole history down."

"Do I detect a project?" asked Amelie, an amused curl to her lips.

Anne hummed contemplatively. "Perhaps… But regardless, I would love to learn some more of the history of the miraculous." She glanced back at Aisha. "Could I borrow some of your library's books?"

Aisha grinned. "Absolutely!"

"You might never see them again," Bri warned, arching an eyebrow at Anne. "She doesn't have a desk in her bedroom; she puts her computer on a stack of books!"

"I'm surrounded by nerds," Chloe muttered to Sabrina, who giggled.

"We both know you only pretend to be such a ditz," Sabrina whispered back, elbowing her in the ribs.

Chloe shrugged. "I can't help that people underestimate me."

Anne finished her mouthful of lamb and turned to Hoda, who had finished off her lamb shank and was considering a spoonful of rice and beans. "So how long have your people been travelling in space? Can you go faster than light?"

Hoda looked up, humming in surprise. "The Shunjar? I guess we've… always been spacefaring," she replied. "Or at least since long before I was born. The earliest of our ships couldn't make it between planets in less than a year, even within our own system. But as our engines have improved, we've cut those trips down to an hour or less, though we still haven't figured out FTL travel yet. So trips beyond our own system can still be pretty long."

"How did it develop? I would love to learn more about your civilization!"

Hoda's eyes widened, her mouth turning up into a smile. "I would be happy to answer your questions!"

Bri helped herself to another scoop of the seasoned rice as Anne and Aisha both began peppering Hoda with questions. Across from her, Amelie and Emilie were in the middle of a quiet discussion, Nooroo and Duusu sharing a bowl of fruit salad between them. However, on catching Bri's eye, Amelie turned to her with a smile. "And how have classes been this week, dear?"

Bri smiled back. "Much better," she admitted. "I've been able to focus in Design so much better now than last week."

"You seem more relaxed than you were on Friday," Emilie observed gently. "I'm glad to see it!"

"This has… helped," Bri agreed, nodding. "Quitting the auto shop hasn't hurt, either – no more early mornings."

"Are you sleeping better?" Amelie asked delicately.

Bri flushed. She hadn't wanted to wake Amelie the week before, but Anne had pulled an all-nighter the night before, and she hadn't wanted to bother Felix again when they had only just gotten back from patrol. "A little. I haven't had a nightmare in a few nights."

Amelie raised an eyebrow. "I'm glad you have people to talk to when that happens. You never have to feel embarrassed about waking me up."

"I know. I just…"

"You don't want to be a burden?" Emilie suggested with a sad smile.

Bri nodded, her shoulders slumping. Ever since the Ripper, she had intruded so much on everyone else's lives – Felix, Anne, Amelie… all of them had had to put their own activities on hold for her.

Amelie reached across the table and took Bri's hand. "You will never be a burden, dear. You're family."

Bri felt tears pool in the corners of her eyes and sniffled. "Thanks. Between you and Anne and Felix it's… overwhelming to have a family here." She smiled.

Amelie sighed sadly. "If you ever want to talk about your parents, I'm always available."

"I know – so far Felix is the only one I've really told," Bri admitted quietly.

"I'm glad you have each other," Amelie told her. "I feel so much better now than when he first started out."

"Yeah…"

"You care about him a lot," Emilie observed gently.

"Absolutely," agreed Bri, nodding. "He's…" She paused to think.

Amelie furrowed her brows. "Your emotions toward him are rather jumbled. Are you…?"

Bri cocked her head in confusion. "What…" Wait. Her eyes widened and she flushed in embarrassment. "No – or not right now, I mean." She swallowed hard. "I guess… with everything that happened… now doesn't feel like the right time, you know? I don't know if it would be fair to him when I'm still so… well… messed up. And he's been so kind, helping me to heal whenever I needed him."

"That's a very mature decision," Emilie praised her. "I'm glad you're not expecting a romantic relationship to solve all your emotional needs."

Amelie nodded. "I understand that; I won't ask you about it again unless you bring it up," she informed Bri. "And I'm here for you, regardless of anything to do with Felix." She squeezed Bri's hand. "I apologize for even saying anything. I suppose it's rather awkward to have me analyzing your emotions toward my son."

Emilie stifled a laugh. "You should have seen Marinette the first time we talked about that! I thought she was about to combust!" She sighed fondly. "It was awkward at the time, of course, but we can laugh about it now."

Bri furrowed her brows. "'Marinette'… Felix mentioned her I think… Your son's fiancée knows about your miraculous?"

Emilie exchanged a look with Amelie and chuckled. "You could say that. One of these days I hope you'll have a chance to meet them."

Bri shrugged noncommittally. "Sure. I haven't really been back to Paris since I arrived here."

Emilie smiled. "Perhaps you can come by over Christmas!"