During particularly bad rain storms Adrien and his mother would sit by the window covered in blankets and try to see if lightning would hit the Eiffel tower.

Sometimes it would be late at night when Adrien couldn't sleep, and sometimes it was during the miserable days that the rain created.

His mother never seemed to mind the rain though, she would just stare at it through the glass a gentle smile on her face, "A storm is so much calmer when you're only watching it," She would say, "And it feels so much worse when you're in it."

Adrien thought that the rain was cold and wet if he was in it or out of it, but looking back he remembered her words though they used to hold no meaning to him, but now after living through more than rain storms he understood what his mother said to him and has added on his own piece of wisdom, every storm must come to an end.

Adrien tried to remind himself of this as he darted across the rooftops of Paris. Hawkmoth had to end eventually, but it seemed that the 4 months of silence had merely been the eye of the storm.

He landed on a windowsill keeping himself stuck to the wall of the 4th floor of the apartment building with his claws. Knocking lightly on the window he waited till the figure by the computer looked up.

Alya's eyes went wide with shock first, before grinning and opening the window.

"Chat Noir what a pleasure to see you." She quickly grabbed her phone, "Here for an interview? I can take the screen out of the window and you could just come in."

"No." Chat said, repositioning himself a little on the ledge, "I'll be quick. I need your help."

"Sure. What do you need?"

"I need to find the owner of a yellow comb."

"A comb?" Alya raised an eyebrow.

"I mean... It's not just any comb, it's really important, and we, Ladybug and I, have to find whoever has it because they might be in trouble." Chat rambled slightly, trying his hardest not to reveal too much.

"Another miraculous user?" Alya's face lit up, "You're looking for another miraculous user."

Chat frowned, "Yeah... How'd you know?"

"The comb? The special yellow comb? It's another miraculous user, it has to be! Is the kwami some kind of bird? Or maybe a bee, because of the yellow comb?"

Chat looked Alya up and down skeptically. How did Alya know what a kwami was? "Alya... Why do you know so much about this?"

Alya seemed to snap out of her speculations and froze slightly before speaking quickly, "Hawkmoth always asks his victims to get Ladybug's earrings and Chat noir's ring, so I just sort of put two and two together and guessed that those items are what give them their power, their miraculous."

"Oh." Was all Chat could manage without seeming too suspicious.

"You needed my help?" Alya asked.

"Yes... I was wondering if you could make a post on the Ladyblog asking that anyone with the yellow comb message to my account."

"You have an account?" Alya tried her hardest not to look too proud of herself.

"I do. It's one of my favorite sites." Chat said more then happy to compliment his friend.

"What's your username? So that they can contact you?"

Chat blushed a little, "Got something to write it down on?"

Alya opened a memo pad on her phone, "Shoot."

"I-L-O-V..."

Alya repeated the letters back.

"E-L-A-D.."

Alya typed in these letters and said them aloud again to let Chat know he could continue.

"Y-B-U-G-5-6"

When Chat stopped speaking she read aloud the username he had given her. "ILoveLadybug56?"

"That's my username..." Chat looked at the wall and pretended not to see the smirk forming on his friend's face.

"Really?" She barely contained a laugh. "Couldn't even get one without numbers?"

"It's a popular site alright? Look can you just post the thing or not?"

Alya tried to keep herself from laughing, but ultimately failed, "Yeah I can."

"Great. Thanks Alya."

"Anytime Chat Noir," Alya put her phone down on her desk, "You can always let me know if you need anything."

"I know. Thank you for your help."

And just like that he disappeared in the darkness of the night beyond her bedside lamp.

"Why'd I have to hide? I wanted to see Plagg again!" Fanna popped out of the desk drawer she had hid in.

"Because my first introduction as Volpina will not be as Alya the fan who runs the Ladyblog." Alya crossed her arms definitively, "Besides, I want to be able to show off my skills when I meet Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"But you don't have any skills." Fanna said flying up next to her chosen and tilting her head slightly.

"Wow, thanks Fanna." Alya rolled her eyes, "But you have a point. Before we go and meet the heros we should train, so that I can show them I can be helpful."

"I don't understand what the big fuss is. You should just go introduce yourself to your teammates, so what if you aren't good enough?" Fanna said, then after a moment's thought, "Did that come out sounding rude? I wasn't trying to make it that way this time."

"Yes a little, but it's ok, I think I'm starting to pick up on when you're being sincere." Alya sat down on her bed, "It matters to me what they think of me Fanna. Ladybug and Chat Noir, they save Paris. They're heroes! They've saved me more times then I can count. It's like, have you ever had a hero?"

"No."

"Well, someone that you look up to then?"

"Why does it matter what height they are?"

"Not physically. Someone you aspire to be?"

"Alya, I only aspire to be myself."

Alya groaned and fell back on her bed, "Ok fine. Well I aspire to be Ladybug, and when I meet her, when I meet her as Volpina, I want to be able to make a good impression."

"I don't understand," Fanna said floating a little closer to her chosen, "But if you feel this is what's right then do what you want. You're just as much a part of Volpina as I am."

Alya smiled at the tiny fox. "Thanks Fanna."

Fanna smiled showing her canines before changing into her life size fox form and curling up on the bed. "Let's get some sleep."

...

Alya: I'm fine Nino. Really.

Alya: I'm feeling all better.

Nino: Are you sure?

Nino: We can go out some other time

Alya: Nino. .FINE.

Alya: See you tomorrow at 5.

Nino smiled as he looked down at his phone. Before he could type out a response he heard the front door close.

"Adrien?"

His blonde roommate looked up, his train of thought clearly broken. "Yeah?"

"I didn't realize you left." Nino laughed a little, "You can be pretty sneaky, that happens more than I thought it would."

"You know me." Adrien offered, but his words didn't seem to make sense or have any real meaning to them. Finally his friends eyes met his and he seemed to have a renewed sense of purpose. "How's Alya?"

"She says she's feeling better." Nino said a little startled by the sudden shift.

"That's good." Adrien headed toward his room shoving a hand in his pocket, "Make sure she's ok."

"Adrien-" Nino stopped his friend, "What's wrong? Where were you just now?"

Adrien didn't turn around, "I went for a walk."

"Are you alright?"

Adrien turned around and gave Nino a smile, "I'll be fine. Just thinking of something my mother used to say to me."

Nino didn't know how to respond and before he got the chance to try Adrien had disappeared into his room. He didn't want to worry, but he couldn't help it. Something was wrong.

...

The first akuma attack in 4 months happened the afternoon Alya went back to work.

In the middle of a peaceful wednesday lunch hour a shrill scream broke out across the street from the sandwich shop Alya was currently getting the lunch order from.

Immediately Alya felt Fanna trying to burst out of her pocket. She shoved her hand over top of the tiny creature before she could take off after the noise.

Alya pushed past the door of the cafe and looked down the street. In the middle of an intersection stood a woman dressed in a large victorian gown.

"DID YOU NOT LIKE MY SINGING?" The akuma's voice bellowed down the street as the cars all honked at her.

Suddenly an incredibly high note came out of the woman's mouth and Alya had to cover her ears. The glass of the Cafe's window shattered and fell behind her, and down the street she could see the glass of doors, windshields, and even lamp posts, all shattering at the high frequency sound.

The note stopped and Alya uncovered her ears again. "Isn't it wonderful?" The akuma whipped her head around and spotted a man running away. "So sorry, I got distracted by such a wonderful audience. YOU! YOU THINK YOU CAN RUIN MY PERFORMANCE?" She was gaining on the poor man, "YOU PLAYED THE WRONG SONG FOR MY AUDITION! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"Alya. Let's go. I want to kick some bad guy booty." Fanna popped her head out of Alya's pocket impatiently.

"Just wait. Ladybug and Chat Noir are going to show up soon." Alya was nervous. She hadn't had enough time to train yet. She wasn't ready to introduce herself to Ladybug yet, and she was 100% not ready to fight an akuma by herself.

"Alya. Come on. That man is going to get hurt!" Fanna encouraged, watching the terrified man get grabbed by the akuma.

Alya scanned the rooftops, but there was no sign of either hero. She had to do something. Anything. Ladybug was on her way, she just had to stall until then.

"Alright Fanna." Alya ran full speed into an alley. Checking around her for any bystanders she let Fanna fly out of her pocket, "Tail out!"

Like the time in her room when she had first worn the fox necklace she felt Fanna's magic begin to surround her. She felt the sudden swell of energy that Fanna lent her as Volpina, the strength and speed and confidence that she might have felt lacking in otherwise.

Running her tongue over her now sharp canines Volpina grinned. "Just buy Ladybug some time."

Taking off in a sprint Volpina charged at the akuma, swinging her flute at the woman and knocking her away from the frightened man.

"Who are you?" The akuma turned around and faced Volpina, "Where is Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

"Not available at the moment." Volpina gave a smirk to the woman, "Can I take a message?"

"The Superano will not be silenced!" Cried the woman charging back at Volpina.

The hero took a step back before grabbing the frightened man and taking off in the opposite direction. Despite her grand entrance she didn't know much about her powers yet, and she had no skill in fighting, her best chance was to run and wait for Ladybug and Chat Noir to show up.

"Running away little fox?" The Superano stopped and opened her mouth again, letting out another high frequency note.

Volpina groaned and used her free hand to cover her ears. Looking frantically left and right she spotted an alley with a dumpster in it. Running as fast as she could she lifted the man up and threw him into the dumpster. "Hide." She whispered, before shutting the lid. Jumping on top she managed to climb her way onto the roof.

Guard the dumpster and stay alive. She repeated to herself. Her breath caught in her throat when the akuma spotted her.

"Come down little fox." The Superano stood in the middle of the road looking up at Volpina.

"Make me." Volpina tried to sound confident. The woman was wearing a giant puffy skirt it wasn't like she could climb up as fast as Alya could run away.

"I wonder what note will make the brick crumble. LET'S TRY IT OUT!" The akuma yelled.

Alya braced herself for the sound, but as soon as she heard the noise her hands automatically flew up to her ears and her eyes squeezed shut as if trying to block out the noise as well.

Upon seeing the fox hero recoil in pain the akuma increased her volume ten fold.

Volpina fell to her knees trying her hardest to block out the noise as best she could, but her fake ears seemed to have better hearing than her human ones.

"Looks like I found the right frequency to make the little fox crumble." The Superano took a deep breath, ready to unleash her singing once again.

Volpina curled in on herself, where she lay on the roof, pressing her hands tightly over her ears, but this time no deafening sound came.

"Cat got your tongue?" Volpina sat up at the familiar voice.

"Chat Noir?" She looked over at the superhero duo, currently facing off against the akuma, who had duct tape across her mouth.

The feline hero didn't seem to hear her and Volpina watched first hand as Ladybug grabbed the sheet music from the akuma and ripped it in half. A single black butterfly flew out before it was caught in Ladybug's yoyo and returned to the sky's purified.

Regaining some of her strength Volpina rushed awkwardly to her feet and called down to her new teammates, "Ladybug! Chat Noir!"

Both heads whipped towards the fox heroine on the roof and Ladybug tensed into a fighting stance.

"No it's ok! I'm not an akuma!" Volpina hopped onto the dumpster and then down into the alley. "I was trying to help you but-"

Volpina felt a strong wire wrap around her and wind her in towards Ladybug. She fell out of the yoyo and onto the floor feeling dizzy.

"Who are you?" Ladybug stared down at Volpina.

"I'm Volpina... You're new teammate.." She wasn't really sure what to do. Both Ladybug and Chat seemed less than happy to see her. "I was trying to help but-"

"Trying to help?" Ladybug got closer, "Stealing miraculous is not helping."

"Steal? I didn't steal anything!"

"Then how do you explain using a stolen miraculous?" Ladybug snapped her yoyo back and Volpina just barely missed getting hit by it.

"I didn't steal it, it was-"

"What did you do with the turtle miraculous?" Ladybug continued.

"The turtle? What turtle?" Volpina looked between Ladybug and Chat for some kind of help.

"Ladybug. I don't think she's the thief." Chat said meeting Volpina's gaze. "Maybe she was given the miraculous."

"Then she's still an ally of whoever the thief is!"

"Ladybug-"

"Chat stop. I will not let us be fooled by Volpina again."

"And what do you want to do about her? Take her prisoner?" Chat looked at Ladybug incredulously, "I don't think that will work."

Ladybug looked Volpina up and down.

"I didn't steal the necklace!" Volpina defended sitting up a little more, "It was sent to me!"

"It was sent to you?" Chat Noir stepped in front of Ladybug slightly, "How? By who?"

"I don't know. It came in a brown package-"

"Chat, don't tell me you're falling for this? The last time we saw her all she did was lie to us." Ladybug snapped.

"I'm not lying!"

"She's not M'Lady." Chat placed a hand on Ladybug's shoulder, "The turtle miraculous was given to someone in the same way."

"How do you know that Chat?"

Chat seemed to freeze for a moment before giving an awkward smile, "I know the person it was given too."

Ladybug processed this information, "You didn't steal the miraculous?" She turned to Volpina.

"No. It just showed up on my doorstep." Ladybug started pacing and Volpina got up from the ground, "I don't understand, what happened?"

"The Fox and Turtle Miraculous were stolen from their guardian 2 days ago-"

"And since you have one it means whoever stole it wants you to have it."

"But I don't know who sent it to me!" Volpina defended.

They were interrupted by a beeping noise from Ladybug's earrings.

"You better go." Chat said nodding towards the jewelry.

Ladybug seemed to debate with herself before finally walking up to Volpina, "Listen. I don't know who you are, or why you have that necklace, but we don't need anymore trouble." Volpina backed away slightly from the shorter woman, "And if I were you, I'd give that necklace back to it's real owner."

"Ladybug there's no need-"

"If she was given the necklace it means she was given it by Hawkmoth. I'm sorry that I'm not as trusting of Hawkmoth's friends as you are." Ladybug interrupted Chat then threw her yoyo and swung away.

"I'm sorry." Chat said looking after Ladybug, "She's just worried. She wants to know what's been going on." Chat sighed, "My advice is let us handle this, it'll be safer for everyone if-"

"Oh shut your boy up Plagg."

Chat whipped his head around and instead of seeing Volpina he instead saw a tall woman with dark orange hair with white tips. She wore a wicked grin that showed off her canines.

"How did you know-"

"Come off of your high horse, without my girl that civilian in the dumpster would have been dead." Fanna made a gesture with her hands to emphasize her point.

"Who are you?" Chat took a step back from the intimidating lady.

"Fanna." She grinned again and ran her tongue over her teeth. "Now get out here Plagg! I've got at least 10 years worth to say to you!"

Chat looked down as his ring started beeping, "But I didn't use Cataclysm." He said almost to himself. He looked back up at the woman, "I have to go-"

"Plaggs trying to get out of the ring. Tell him I'll meet him by the dumpster." Fanna turned away and walked into one of the alleys.

Chat got over his shock quickly and looked around for somewhere to detransform. He ended up hiding in the stairs to the underground trains.

Adrien appeared out of the stairway and handed Plagg a piece of cheese while tucking the small creature into his pocket.

"Who is that?" Adrien asked trying to be as discreet as possible. "I thought you said Fanna was a kwami?"

"She is." Plagg muttered, "This is going to sound crazy Adrien, but this isn't actually what I look like."

"Master Fu told me that you could take different shapes, and that you were afraid to."

"Well kind of." Plag flew out of his chosen's pocket when they walked into the alley, "I'll explain later. Go make yourself scarce while I talk with her, she can get pretty scary and I wouldn't put it past her to attack you."

And with that Plagg zipped off towards the dumpster, and despite his warning Adrien followed cautiously behind.

Sticking to the wall and the shadows Adrien watched as Plagg flew up to the woman.

"Drop your form." Plagg said to Fanna as she sat watching the small creature with a grin.

"Plagg! It's been too long!" She hopped off the dumpster and swatted a hand at the tiny cat.

"Stop it Fanna."

"I see you dropped His Majesty." Fanna teased, her canines flashing again.

"Don't say a word against Philip." Plagg warned.

"He's the reason Sage is dead," Fanna's mood flipped suddenly, "He didn't deserve to have the miraculous." The tension rose between the two of them before Fanna seemed to brush it off, "He probably deserved what ever came to him anyway-"

Suddenly Adrien saw a dark magic surround Plag and his own energy drop.

Before him Plagg had transformed from a tiny little cat into a lanky looking man. His dark hair was shaggy and long, and it fell in front of his eyes. He was dressed in a dark long coat that hung around his body dragging slightly on the ground.

"Finally. You're coming out to play." Fanna's tone changed, and Adrien finally saw what Plagg meant.

She would not be above hurting him.

They both moved at once, Fanna dropped down suddenly to sweep Plagg's legs out from underneath him. At the same time Plagg jumped in the air tucking his knees into his chest, the coat floating behind him, he landed as Fanna dove forward, both ending in a crouched position like wild animals.

Adrien watched as they both crouched frozen in their spots, waiting for the other to make a move.

"You knew as well as I did, Philip was wrong." Fanna hissed at the man, "He betrayed them both. Sage could have done so much, so much more good."

"Don't say another word." Plagg warned, and Adrien could have sworn he saw his eyes flash a reflective green. "There are things you don't know. You weren't there at the end. "

"I should have been." And that prompted Fanna enough to lunge.

Plagg moved a second too late and fell to his back hard.

"Stop!" Adrien called rushing forward only to fall to his knees. "Don't hurt him!"

Fanna had her hand over Plagg's throat and the other raised, her nails painted black like claws.

She looked over at Adrien, who was trying his best to remain on his knees instead of collapsing on the ground.

"Let your transformation go. You'll hurt him." Fanna spoke softly releasing Plagg and standing up.

Plagg did as she said, once again becoming a small cat creature. Adrien felt a rush of energy hit him again, and scrambled his way towards his kwami.

"Are you ok?" He scooped up Plagg in his hand, but his friend didn't seem to be harmed.

"You are right. There are things I don't know." Fanna looked Adrien up and down, "What happened to Philip?"

"He's dead."

"How?"

"I can't tell you all of it."

"What can you?" Fanna watched as Plagg floated up to her, "There's no use talking if you can't talk."

"Peacock died. Both her and her Kwami. They were trying to hold on to their forms for too long, they kept testing their abilities." Plagg looked down, "It was an accident."

"T-That's not possible." Fanna seemed to shake, "Kwami can't die... We just go back to- That's not possible Plagg."

"It's true." He looked her up and down, "You need to be more careful about taking over your chosen." Plagg cautioned. He turned away and flew to Adrien, "Let's get back to the apartment. I want some more cheese."

Adrien waited blankly before following Plagg out of the alley.

"What happened to Elle?"

"Storms always look worst when you're in them."

"That's not true. Storms always look bad. How can they look better?"

"Clearly you've never been in a storm." A woman looked back at Adrien and gave him a smile, her green eyes twinkled slightly, "One day we'll have a picnic in one. Then you'll understand."

"Kid?" Plagg was floating right next to his face.

"Sorry. I spaced out for a second." Adrien shook his head slightly backing away from Plagg.

Plagg looked concerned before diving into his chosen's pocket. "Hurry up I'm hungry."

...

Alya went straight to her fridge when she got home. Setting down the honey she bought from the store, she rummaged around until she found some yogurt, and then opened the freezer to grab an ice pack.

"You really don't remember anything?" Fanna asked, trotting along beside her chosen as a fox.

"I mean. I heard everything you said, but anything else is just gone." Alya gingerly placed the icepack on her new bruises. She frowned and grabbed a spoon from a drawer. "So I guess I don't really have a team then."

"Don't look so upset." Fanna chided hopping up on the counter and nudging the jar of honey with her foot, "Many Volpinas have done without a Ladybug or a Chat Noir."

Alya reached over and tried to open the jar with the hand that only had the spoon, "I just didn't want disappoint them! They saved my life Fanna!"

Fanna watched as the jar edged dangerously close to the end of the counter. "If they were disappointed in you for saving that man's life, then you don't want them on your team."

"I do Fanna their heros! All they ever do is save-"

The jar fell to the ground.

There was a long silence in the apartment. Alya stared at the smashed glass on the floor as the honey leaked out.

"My last Volpina was named Sage." Fanna said weaving in between Alya's legs comfortingly, "She wasn't particularly smart, or particularly talented. But she will still be the bravest, and wisest person I will ever meet."

Fanna stopped in front of Alya meeting her chosen's gaze, and watching as tears rolled down her cheek. "She taught herself to fight, to be strong. She made many mistakes, and she protected Paris by herself."

"Why are you telling me this?" Alya's voice cracked, "Is this my pep talk?"

"Because Sage was the one who taught Ladybug." Fanna said still sitting on her back legs. "Ladybug is not your leader or your mentor. Nothing is set in stone so don't be upset. I am proud of what you did today. Have more confidence in yourself."

Fanna stood again and walked over to the honey, avoiding the glass and starting to lick it off the floor.

"You're proud of me?" Alya wiped her face with her sleeve before bending down to pick up the glass shards.

"Of course. You are Volpina, and all my Volpinas have been brave, imaginative, and strong. There are no other traits I would prefer." Fanna gave Alya what resembled a smile, though Alya couldn't be sure when the kwami was in her fox form.

"Do you chose the people you work with?" Alya asked standing to throw away the pieces of glass.

"Sometimes. I chose my first human. Since then It's been a muddle, sometimes I choose the successor, sometimes someone else chooses, or Volpina chooses." Fana ate some more of her honey.

"Who was the first Volpina?"

"My first ever chosen was Althea. When I first left my world to come to yours I merely traveled around. Where I come from there is no sense of time, there is no purpose in life that you humans create. Everything simply exists. We have all of eternity to do whatever we wish. All time to do nothing, while you humans try to do everything in no time at all. Althea was a storyteller. She would tell stories she had gathered from different villages, or ones that she had learned from fellow kwamis.

She would tell her own stories. Intricate lies she would make up to amuse herself or others. She was a human that lived as many things through many stories. She was doing so much in so short a time, but it wasn't real. I became her kwami because I wanted to give her the power to make her stories come to life. I gave her the power of illusion." Fanna turned her head to Alya, "A power that is now yours."

"A power? Like Ladybug and Chat Noir's?"

"Yes. I can teach you to use it if you'd like."

...

Adrien watched Plagg ignore the cheese he spent all afternoon complaining about. The tiny cat creature simply stared out the window, eyes locked on nothing in particular.

For the first time since he met Plagg, the kwami looked sad.

"Did Philip kill Sage?" Adrien asked standing away from the window.

"He didn't save her," Plagg didn't look away from the window, "Fanna never saw what became of him. She doesn't know how he worked to make things right. He was a good person at the end. I can't fault him."

"Was he the last Chat Noir?"

Plagg nodded.

"Who was Elle?" As soon as the words left his mouth a flash of green eyes and a twinkling smile came to mind, "I know her don't I?"

Plagg looked at Adrien for a minute, and Adrien couldn't understand why the kwami looked so upset by the question. "She was Philip's Fiance. You never met her."

"Plagg, every time someone says her name... I swear I can remember something, a woman with green eyes."

"Maybe it's some of my memories." Plagg suggested, before getting up and finally eating his cheese.

Adrien thought this over, "But she's saying a phrase I learned from my mother."

"Adrien," Plagg said softly. "It's best not to dwell on the past."

And with that Plagg flew into Adrien's room, and the conversation was finished.

...

"Rough day?" Nino asked looking Alya up and down as she answered her door. She was currently dressed in sweatpants and an old ripped T-shirt. In her hands was a carton of orange juice, and based off the fact she had no glass, it was clear she was drinking straight from the carton.

"Oh my god! I completely forgot!" Alya hit her head against the back of the door. "I am so sorry, I'll be ready in a minute-"

"Hey it's ok." Nino put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "You look like you had a long day. We can just do it another night."

"Nino it's fine-"

"It's alright Alya." Nino gave her a smile, "As long as you still want to go on a date then I don't mind waiting a little longer."

Alya gave in and returned his smile, "Do you want to come in? It's kind of a mess, but nothing you haven't seen before."

Nino laughed a little, "Sure. Want to order pizza and watch bad horror movies?"

After deciding on toppings and a particularly bad film about some American president fighting zombies, Nino and Alya found themselves on her couch, just as comfortable as they were before anything that had happened over a week ago.

They would fall in and out of conversation, and a few quick quips about a bad line or special effect were thrown in.

"You were at the akuma attack today?"

Alya nodded, mouth full of pizza, "First one in 4 months. I was in the sandwich shop and some woman in a crazy costume appeared outside."

"Super sonic singing right?" Nino replied, "I saw it on the news."

"Yeah. It was not fun." Alya's head still rung a little from the noise.

"Did you see Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

Alya frowned, "Yeah."

"What's wrong?" Nino sat up a little, glancing over Alya's expression with a worried one of his own.

"I think she was panicking a little." Alya tried to cover for herself, "She was a little more standoffish than usual."

"I guess I would be to. Half the city was convinced Hawkmoth was gone."

"Including my boss." Alya huffed throwing herself dramatically back on the couch.

"How'd she react?"

"She said if I skipped work again to report for my blog, she would give my internship to someone more focused." Alya distracted herself with her pizza.

"Sorry Al. That's unfair."

"She's just upset that I was right all along." Alya almost looked proud, "And that my blog has more hits in one day then their website could ever dream of getting in a week."

"Just try not to make to many enemies."

"You're no fun." Alya gave him a smile.

Nino looked over and met her gaze, and Alya's smile got wider. Sometimes she was reminded that there was still a lot of good in her life, and it seemed to manifest in her friends.

"Thank you." Alya said leaning over and putting her head on his shoulder.

"For what?"

"Letting me rant, not being mad about the date thing, being an amazing friend, just pick a reason."

"I'm always here Alya, you know that."

"I do. Thank you."

Fanna watched from the doorway of Alya's bedroom as her chosen and the stranger shared a kiss before she disappeared back into the room. Let them have their time alone. Things would not stay this calm forever. Let them rest and be happy while they could.

It was such a rare thing after all. The calm in a storm.