To Butterfly: Just letting them interact makes for a nice change of pace.

To Cesar848: Marinette and Bri interacting is absolutely going to happen at some point!

To StarDaPanda225: Given that he's her first call when Anne is abducted and when she can't sleep, it shouldn't be too surprising that there's at least something there, even if she doesn't feel like she should act on it.


As she looked at the young woman across from her, Emilie furrowed her brows in concentration. On the surface, she was very much the anomaly – outwardly, her emotions this whole time had been largely positive. She was the one who encouraged the others, who went out of her way to support her best friend, who always had a smile on her face. Even now, she appeared to be completely at ease. If Emilie didn't know any better, she would think Anne didn't need to be here.

So it was a good thing she did know better.

"How have you enjoyed this past week?" Emilie asked her, smiling.

"It's been absolutely unreal!" replied Anne, grinning. "I'm glad I've gotten to meet everyone here – especially Hoda. I didn't even know aliens existed before now, but now I can say I've even met one! Well," she amended, giggling sheepishly, "I can't exactly tell anyone… after all, who would believe me?"

"This has been something of an introduction to a much larger world, hasn't it?" observed Emilie, raising an eyebrow at Duusu, who was watching them from his perch on the armoire. The Kwami giggled. "I suppose this isn't quite what you were expecting to get out of your first year at university."

"Not exactly," Anne agreed, shaking her head. "Before all of this I knew about the Heroes of Paris – who didn't – but that was it. Then Iron Maiden and the Hound showed up in London – only for me to find out they were my flatmate and her 'friend.' And then all of a sudden I was the one with superpowers."

"I imagine that was quite a shock, 'Bandruí'," Emilie noted.

"You said it right!" Anne giggled, but quickly sobered. "I didn't even know what was happening at first; just all of these new sensations, all around me. It was like my senses were being overloaded with information I didn't know how to process. I'm not sure when I realized it was the plants that I was hearing, or that I was actually affecting them. That was another shock."

Emilie hummed. "I imagine that whole experience was full of them. So tell me about what happened with the Ripper," she continued, concentrating on Anne's buried emotions.

Anne shrugged, her other emotions overtaken by surprise at the subject change. "Not much to tell," she replied. "I was leaving the library after finishing up some more research for my term paper. I called Bri to check on how she was doing and have someone to talk to on the way home. I would have called my oul dear, but she was at work. Plus, I figured Bri could use the distraction. She'd been a little better the previous couple days, but still having a tough time of it since Friday night."

"It's special how close the two of you are," Emilie observed, smiling warmly. "Just speaking for myself, I'm far closer with my university roommate's daughter than I am with her!" She sighed ruefully: even twenty years later, it still shocked her that she and Audrey had managed to room together for three years without coming to blows. "But you and Bri really care a lot about each other, don't you?"

"Of course," Anne agreed, nodding in surprise.

"Had you met before moving in together?"

Anne shook her head. "The first time we ever met was the foreign student move-in day. We were both a little out of our comfort zone when we arrived, both at a new school in a new country, with a few months to acclimate before classes would start, so we were getting to know the city and the campus together. And with the Ripper running loose…" A trace of anger cut through her happy façade at that. "Neither of us particularly wanted to be out on our own, at least not at first." She frowned. "So of course practically the first time either of us was out alone, look what happened to Bri."

Emilie raised an eyebrow at that. "Is Bri the reason you don't think you should talk about what the Ripper tried to do to you?" she asked gently.

Anne cocked her head in confusion, anxiety starting to build under the surface. "What do you mean?"

"I've noticed that you try to gloss over your attack whenever it comes up," Emilie explained. "Are you worried that it will hurt Bri for you to talk about your experience?"

Anne frowned, humming in contemplation. "I mean, compared to what happened to her, what do I really have to complain about?" she asked rhetorically. "The Ripper grabbed me off the street, dragged me back into the library and down a hidden staircase, tied me up, and left me alone in the dark. I was hungry and I couldn't see, but considering the alternative I think I should be grateful he didn't stick around. Then when he came back, it was only to put me in the middle of that giant pile of wood. He didn't touch me any more than he had to, and he never even tried to hurt me – aside from the whole burning thing." She shrugged. "Whereas he tried to gut my sister and rape her, and now she can't stand to walk down the alley to her workshop alone. When I look at what happened to her and what happened to me, there's just no comparison. Why should I bring it up just to remind her that she almost died?"

"You almost died, too," Emilie pointed out delicately. "That would scar anyone."

Anne's fear spiked, but she almost immediately suppressed it. "But I didn't," she replied, a slight tightness around her mouth betraying the emotions lying just beneath the surface. "It wasn't until the very end, when the… when the fire started. I only felt any danger then, but at the same time, that was also when Bri and Felix found me." She frowned. "So what kind of friend would I be if I tried to put all the focus on myself when Bri is still struggling so much with what happened to her?"

"I suppose you would be human," Emilie noted, arching one eyebrow in a challenge. "You were hurt by this monster, just as much as she was, and it's okay for you to talk about it."

"It wasn't so bad," Anne insisted with a laugh that couldn't quite hide her unease. "I mean, I came out of it with superpowers, so I suppose everything turned out pretty well for me."

"It that another reason why you feel so guilty?" asked Emilie. "Because you received superpowers when your friend only received PTSD?"

"It sure sounds like one of us came out of the experience a whole lot better than the other," Anne agreed, frowning.

"I suppose so," Emilie acknowledged. She frowned: there was something there… "But at the same time, would I be off base to think that any time you use your powers it's also a reminder of the Ripper and what happened to you?"

Anne clenched her jaw and frowned, her calm façade crumbling. She sniffed. "How can something so deadly have resulted from such a kip?"

Emilie gave her a sympathetic smile and held out the tissue box to her. "Good and bad are sometimes connected like that," she answered, indicating her peacock-fan brooch. "My miraculous was given to me by my mother, and every time I look at it I feel the weight of the legacy which she bequeathed to me, the long line of Guardians who came before me and helped people with the Peacock and Butterfly. My miraculous connects me to her, even though she is gone. But she and my father weren't the last ones to use the two miraculous they gave me. They fell into the wrong hands – and on my watch. I can't help but think about what happened with them while I was… well… asleep… and how in two years the man I loved so thoroughly tarnished a legacy that had been built over nearly two centuries. I can't separate those things or pretend that what Gabriel did doesn't matter – or that it was somehow good. Good may have come from his evil act, but that does not make the act itself any less evil."

"How do you deal with it?"

Emilie twisted her lips up in thought. "I do what I can for those who suffered because of Gabriel," she replied slowly. "I remember that his actions are not a reflection of mine. And ultimately the best thing I can do is continue to live my life instead of allowing Gabriel's misdeeds to define me." She smiled and glanced over to where Duusu was resting on the dresser. "Having my friend for company helps!"

Anne hummed, her emotions still twisted up.

Emilie sighed. "Your powers are beautiful, dear! But they came from such a horrible experience. If you weren't thinking about it even a little, I would honestly be surprised. So I imagine that's yet another reason why you feel like you can't talk to Bri about this?"

Anne nodded weakly. "Why should she have to hear about my problems?"

"You mean because she has problems of her own?"

Anne nodded again, her shoulders slumping.

"You don't have to hide away from what happened to you," Emilie told her. "It's okay for you to be happy to have these abilities without being happy about the way you received them. And it's okay for you to talk about those feelings."

Anne sighed. "I know…" Her emotions were still troubled, dominated by anxiety.

Emilie hummed contemplatively. "My observation is that you and Bri talk about almost everything. Is that correct?"

"Well… yeah," Anne confirmed. "I mean, she didn't tell me that she was Iron Maiden until after she and Felix saved me from the Ripper, but other than that, yes."

"So would you say that this is something that you have in common?"

Anne nodded slowly. "Much as I think both of us wish otherwise…" she grumbled.

"One goal of this therapy retreat is for you to learn how to process your trauma in healthy ways," Emilie explained. "And I think it might actually help you both if you can talk openly and honestly with each other about your experiences with the Ripper. You might find that Bri's experience helps you understand your own. And you might find that your experience helps Bri to not feel alone when she is going through a difficult time. And that she is more comfortable opening up to you if you allow yourself to be open with her."

Anne looked down at the floor. "But what if that messes up the relationship we have now? I don't want to lose my best friend."

Emilie raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think your sister, the one who moved heaven and earth to rescue you from a rapist, would really be put off by knowing the event was traumatic?"

"When you put it like that…" Anne nodded in understanding.

Emilie smiled. "I think your relationship can survive this. And I think it can also help you both to heal!"