"I think you guys know why I'm here." Scarlet held up her mother's precious necklace, "What's with the stone and why does everyone want it?"

Aho'eitu, Mi-suk, and Aither all looked at each other with knowing looks. "Did you tell her already?" Aho'eitu asked Mi-suk.

"No, I didn't know if…"

"Guys," Aither interrupted, "she doesn't seem to be lying. Just tell her."

With a hesitant sigh Aho'eitu, "You know about the writing on your necklace?"

"Yeah," she rubbed her hand over the indentions, "Belloc told me they were Kaijuglyphs."

"Yeah, sure they are," another voice came from behind the falls. Slipping through the waters was one familiar face and one unknown.

"Ahbuhji," Mi-suk said.

"Marhabaan mama," Aho'eitu said. He moved aside so that Scarlet could see her, "Scarlet this is my mother, Afa."

To Scarlet's surprise she wasn't much taller than her, though the fur around her neck might have covered some of her shoulders. Scarlet stretched her hand out for a shake and noticed Afa's strong grip. "It's good to finally see your face. As my son was saying," she got back to business, "Kaijuglyphs are real, but those certainly aren't them. You would not have known that though and he knows that."

"What could they be then?"

"That's the thing we don't know, but your father probably does," said Jun. He continued, "Something changed about him seventeen years ago. It's a faint memory, but we were...somewhere...by ourselves when he asked if I could stand in for him at the Leri (Lee-ree) uk (uh-k) Iqirinsyx (eh-ker-ren-sicks). He said he and Duncan had something important to attend to. He laid his hand on my back…" his voice went to the wind.

Afa spoke up, "Next thing we know he comes back with a new scent and some of his scars were gone. I spoke to him about what business he had to attend after the games, and he simply told me that he and Duncan needed to finally meet."

"Meet?" Scarlet asked confused.

"Yes, it was like the past fifteen years had never happened. Like they never met," Jun explained.

"Then things started to continue as normal I supposed. Duncan started training with Belloc again, he met us again, had his prom crashed, you know the story. Then you were born," Aither continued, "and your dad went MIA. And when he does that no one gets to talk to him. I wanted to know what had happened so, I went to visit your brother. He told me what happened, but he didn't have any memory of me, of Afa, Jun, anybody from here. I didn't want to believe him at first, but he never came around. No matter what we did to jog his memory it didn't work."

"And now that necklace that he told your mother never to get rid of is the apple to his eye. Something is missing Scarlet, and we think it is that necklace," Afa pointed to it. "Give it to us," she continued, "we will take the target off your back."

Scarlet looked at her open palm for a few seconds before slowly grabbing hold of the stone. "No," she answered, "this was my mothers and it's my responsibility to keep it safe. I'll help you guys figure out what's going on, but the necklace is mine. I want the truth too."

Then an unexpected smile came across the Earth Kaiju's face, "You are a smart young lady."

"We'll get back to you with anything we find, but for now you should get back home," Jun looked at his daughter, "Mi-suk?"

Saluting she goes, "Yes sir, I'll get her there in one piece."

As the cousins walked through the falls Afa smirks saying, "She's officially Americanized."

"I'll see you tomorrow at school," her cousin said waving goodbye.

Scarlet had just gotten off of the shore when she got a text from an unknown number. A little confused she read the text:

'Hey Scarlet, it's me Connor. I was wondering if you'd like to be my partner for the art project?'

A large smile came on her face as she quickly texted back a subtle 'yeah sure'.

Her heart was filled with joy as she hurried home before dark. Walking into the door with a little pep in her step of course bought across the question, "What's up with you?"

She put her backpack down and plopped down on the couch as she daintily said, "Nothing."

"That's not a nothing voice," Duncan knowingly said.

"Nothing you have to know about."

He scoffed at her, "Ok Belloc."

Scarlet blinked quickly as she snapped out of her love daze, "Duncan! I went to Monster Island today!"

"And you didn't tell me?" he said looking up from his paperwork, "Scarlet!"

"I know, I'm sorry, it was last minute, I'll do an extra load of the dishes," she quickly went through their brother sister routine. "What happened before I was born?"

"What do mean?"

"What are some significant events that happened?"

Duncan looked slightly confused. He thought she knew already, but he answered anyways, "Well, dad came back when I was sixteen, he kidnapped mom at one point for training purposes, my prom was crashed by Kaiju, mom and dad got back together, and you were born."

"He never took you to Monster Island? You never met the other kaiju? Belloc never seemed any different to you? He wasn't there before you were sixteen?"

"Ok rapid fire much? Scarlet none of that happened."

She gave a heavy sigh, "Did it not happen because you don't remember it happening or did it not happen because it actually didn't happen?" Duncan looked slightly confused and concerned as she continued, "What if you're wrong?"

"What if?" He grabbed her hands and looked her in the eyes, "If I am then we'll get through it like we get through everything else, ok?"

His little sister gave a smile as she shook her head yes. That night as the rest of the world slept, she put together an evidence board with everything she already knew. Notes and pictures filed the board with strings and pins connecting them all. In the very center in bold, capital letters read, MOMS NECKLACE and accompanying it were BELLOC, DUNCAN, MONSTER ISLAND, and ROYALS. Finally, it got into the early morning, and she had to retire.

"You look tired," Finn commented that morning at their lockers.

"Yeah…" Scarlet tried to play it off, "I was only up a little bit longer than usual."

"Woah, someone was training again?" Garnet asked digging out her books.

"No actually it's about the necklace."

Finn poked it a few times saying, "This must be really special of you're losing sleep over it."

"Who're you telling?" The young Kaiju said swatting his finger away.

"Hey Scarlet!" Connor came walking over to the trio with his hand waving. Scarlet's demeanor almost instantly changed as he made his way over asking, "Did you think about what I said last night?"

"Last night?" Her sleep deprived brain had to think about it for a second, "Oh yeah! Of course! I mean I would love to!"

"Great! I'll see you Saturday then?"

"Yeah, just text me the time!"

"Cool!" The young man gave a wide grin, "See you then!"

As he walked away it was obvious Scarlet was lovestruck with her glazed eyes and goofy grin. 'He smiled at me!' She eagerly thought.

Garnet placed her hand on Scarlet's shoulder with a look that said it all, "Scarlet I'm really happy for you, but did you forget that's the same day as my Quinceanera? You're both," she said looking a Finn, "supposed to be on the court remember?"

A sense of dread began to fill Scarlet's soul, "Oh yeah…" but she saw the look on her friends' face, "look if it's the same time as your quince I won't go, ok? I promise!"

"Well," Garnet looked torn, "I know that you've really liked him for a long time. I just really want you to be there for the waltz at least."

"Are you sure? I just-"

"Scarlet it'll be fine! Besides Finn will be there."

"Heck yeah I will!" He said eagerly closing his locker, "Free food and I get to look good? Sounds like my kind of party."

Something just didn't feel right to the young Kaiju, "If you say so."

They all went to class and Scarlet couldn't help, but think about her predicament, 'Gosh, I've got the opportunity of a lifetime. The guy of my dreams has asked me to do a project with him. This could be the first steps to us having a real relationship. Or it could be the first steps to Garnet and I drifting apart. She's my best friend and I don't want that to happen. And I know she said it was fine, but it doesn't feel like she meant that.'

" !"

"Y-yes !" She jolted out of her thoughts.

"What do you believe the modern person would have to say about Romeo and Juliet's plight?"

"Um," she bit her cheek realizing that she was put on the spot, "I think that the modern person might say that while their love is intense, that maybe it shouldn't be the end all be all for their lives. Though I would have to say that the answer might vary from person to person considering the fact that someone my age might say that their love is incredible. They're willing to die for one another, but someone say my brothers age might say that while their love is noble, its intensity goes beyond reason. I think there should be a balance."

Surprised answered, "Excellent answer anyone else?"

After school wasn't much better. In the middle of her "daddy-daughter time" Scarlet couldn't keep her focus. With his almost emotionless face Belloc, in his humanoid form, gave his instructions, "Today I'll be testing your sight, speed, and strength."

"All three?"

He narrowed his eyes a little, "Does that concern you?"

"No, I'm just curious as to how you're going to do that, but I'm pretty sure you won't tell me that directly."

A smug grin came on his face as he walked a good distance from her, "Right you are."

'Figures...if I go with Connor the worst-case scenario is Garnet will be kind of upset with me even though I know she won't say it. If I go to the quince then-'

Her thoughts were interrupted by a flying boulder that just narrowly missed her. Finally looking at her surroundings she saw her father about to hurl another one at her. She moved out of the way as quickly as possible with the giant rock barely missing her. They went flying through the air at immense speeds and as he continued the throws got hard. Scarlet flipped and turned maneuvering herself in whatever direction she needed to go. Even in this survival situation she couldn't help but be worried.

'Either I reject Connor and risk him hating me or I risk Garnet not-so-secretly hating me for the rest of our lives. Either way someone's going to-' BAM! Scarlet's tried to dodge, but in all her thought she wasn't fast enough, and the boulder hit her shoulder. She flew to the ground and her face dug into the sand before she could even realize what happened.

"Again!" Scarlet heard from the distance before sighing and standing up waiting to try again.

Everything was fine for a few minutes until, 'Maybe I should just wait until Connor text me the time and then I'll worry my head off about it...ugh but will I really be able to enjoy myself either way if-'

This one was too fast! She couldn't dodge it even if she wanted to. The only thing she could think to do was block it as much as possible. Remembering her father's words she closed her eyes and got into position.

"Your strength at this young age is dependent upon two things: what you learn and what you have confidence in doing. So, in all things be confident."

BAM! The boulder made contact and Scarlet opened her eyes to herself still standing. There were pieces of rock scattered everywhere and an indention in the sand where the impact had pushed her back only a couple of feet. She gave a nervous chuckle to herself before looking to Belloc. What was a major achievement to her didn't seem to faze him too much as he hurled another boulder her way.

'Old man can't even crack a smile,' she disappointedly thought.

They trained late into the night and as she sat on top of her father Kaiju head Scarlet got a notification on her phone. It was Connor and she hesitated to open it. She sighed as she mustered up the nerve to read the message.

'Hey how does 6pm sound?'

'Sounds like a plan :).'

Scarlet sat up with her face in hands muttering, "How am I gonna pull this one off? The quince's at 4," then she said louder than she though, "I'm such an idiot."

"Hardly," Belloc butted in.

She gave a disbelieving giggle, "Thanks, but I don't think that really suits the situation."

"And what situation would that be?"

Scarlet thought about it for a second before replying, "Have you ever had two very important things come up at the same time with two very important people and not know which is the most important."

"Hmm," Belloc purred as he thought about her question. Scarlet laid back down for a moment and looked at the stars in the night sky before he answered, "What means the most is what gets the most attention."

"So... get my priorities straight?"

"Precisely."

"Mom it's too tight!"

"That's what happens when you let your abuela tie your corset. Come here I've got you!"

The ladies were all bustling in the dressing room of the event center as they heard the sounds of the guest of honor getting ready behind the curtain. Even as Scarlet swiped her mascara, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was making the wrong decision.

"You know a little highlighter can help with those worry lines you're giving yourself," it was Mia Garnet's cousin and Scarlet's longtime acquaintance.

"Thanks, but I'm not exactly a makeup person. My face gets enough attention as it is."

"Hey, I call that a good thing!" Mia admitted as she said on the open vanity chair next to her. Sighing she continued, "Man I can't believe my little cousin is fifteen! I also can't believe she's got this many people on her court! Six males and six females! I could barely deal with the three on each side that I had."

"Yeah," Scarlet said fondly, "Garnet likes to stay close to a lot of people."

"Just like Tia Isabel, a loyal friend."

"Yeah…" the lump in Scarlet's throat began to reappear.

Then all of a sudden from behind the curtain, "Alright everyone I think she's ready!" Isabel slide from behind the curtain and announced, "I present to you your Quinceanera queen for the night Garnet Elizabeth Ann-Marie Vasquez!"

Isabel pulled the curtain to reveal Garnet all decked out in her quince attire. Her dress was a deep purple with rhinestones decorating the top and glitter all throughout the tulle bottom. She had long satin gloves to match and a simple, but elegant princess tiara on her curl filled head. The room was filled with awe but before anyone could freak out too much the photographer burst into the room.

"Ladies! Good to see you all," he said in a very French accent. "I hate to ruin the fun, but the boys are ready, and festivities will start soon so we must get the pictures done asap."

They all headed into the garden and began the photoshoot. First the females, then the males, then the parents, and so on and so forth. Finally, there came the individual photos with Garnet.

"Ok you just wrap your arm around as she does the same. We want all of that friend energy in here," the photographer said as he began to snap away.

"Contacts?" Scarlet asked through her smile.

"Yep, didn't want to take my glasses off between pictures. Hey, you never told me whether you were staying or not."

The formed lump again, "Yeah, of course I am why wouldn't I?"

"Because I told you it's ok if you don't."

"Next friend or family member!" The photographer shouted and Scarlet stepped down from the gazebo.

"Well, I'm going to be here so don't worry about it."

Finally, after about an hours worth of photos the party started. The guest were seated and the VIP guest and court were announced in. Everything seemed to be going well. The toast was funny, happy, and sad all at the same time. Dinner was a sit-down meal with hardly anything Scarlet could eat without puking later on. As everyone else enjoyed their meals to the fullest Scarlet got a text. It was Connor!

'See you at 6!'

The world started to feel like it was coming down on her all of a sudden as the existential dread set in. 'How could have forgotten to cancel?!' She thought and then looked at the time, '5:30...we've stil got the change of the slippers, the dace of the last doll, the daddy daughter dance, and then the waltz. Dinner will probably last another ten or fifteen minutes and then everything else before the waltz might be another 30 minutes at a minimum.'

She turned to Mia and whispered in her ear, "Hey I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Can you let me know when the waltz is about to start?"

"Yeah, girl don't ruin that dress while you're in there."

Scarlet made her way outside the building where she turned on Google Maps to see how far Connor's house was from walking distance. "30 minutes," she sighed putting her phone in one hand and putting her heals in another, "let's see how fast these Kaiju legs go."

There was a knock on the Groven home and when Connor answered the door, he found a Kaiju girl in a purple dress with no shoes on. "Scarlet?" He seemed a little confused, "Uh...you look great and you're early."

"I am?" Scarlet was genuinely confused. She thought if anything she would have gotten there late, but she looked at the giant wall clock in the foyer and sure enough she was ten minutes early.

"The projects in the living room," he said as he began to walk in that direction.

"My feet are probably disgusting let me put these shoes on," Scarlet said bending over to do so.

Connor came back around to the front and peeked outside for a moment. There was no vehicle, so he had to ask, "Scarlet did you walk here?"

"Ran actually."

"Wow, you must be a track star!" His eyes genuinely seemed to light up at the thought.

"No, sports aren't exactly my thing."

"Well, that's ok. Arts not exactly my thing."

The went into the living room where it looked like Connor had already set up the project a bit. There was a blank canvas and some paints out ready to be used along with some glitter and glue. They sat down on the couch and Connor began to explain the project, "We're supposed to make a 3-D abstract art piece, but I'm no good at the abstract part. It just doesn't make any sense to me. I take pictures of people and scenery no squiggly lines and geometric shapes."

He kept going on for a bit more, but Scarlet got lost in his eyes until she remembered why she was here. "Connor," he paused to listen to her, "I'm sorry it's just...the truth is I can't really stay for long."

"That's ok," he said with a small smile, "we both just have to contribute something to whatever this is going to be."

"Well, always says the first step with art to figure out what we want the audience to see." She looked over at his face which seemed to be drawing a blank. That's when Scarlet asked, "What do you usually want people to see from your photos?"

"Depends sometimes I want them to see a lovely person or sometimes I want them to see a beautiful cityscape. Other times I just want people to see whatever they want to see."

"So," Scarlet picked up the brush and dipped it into some paint, "sounds like you enjoy the finer things in life that also tend to make us think." She took the canvas and made three differently sized stars.

"Why stars?" He asked intrigued.

"Well," she started grabbing the glue and glitter, "I like to think at night and under the stars is where I tend to feel the most comfortable."

"So, what I'm hearing is your perfect date night would be an observatory?"

Scarlet felt her cheeks getting hot as the dream of a date with Connor set in, "I mean I guess that would be nice." She started to sprinkle the glitter over the glue covered stars and moved on to the next topic, "So, where do you feel the most comfortable?"

"This might sound a little strange, but I really like being at the zoo."

"Why is that if I may ask?"

"Well, you see," he picked up another paint brush and started painting, "when I was really little my bio parents took me there all the time. It was sort of our weekend activity. I wasn't put in the system until I was five, so I remember some of the days we went out. So, now sometimes when I really want to relax I just go to the zoo."

As he finished speaking there were now three animals on the canvas, "Mom's favorite was the penguin, dad's was the porcupine, and mine was the stereotypical lion."

"At least yours was common. Do you know how weird it is to try and explain to your first-grade class what an okapi is?"

"Oh man I remember that! We kept thinking you were talking about a zebra then showed the whole class a documentary on them," he said with a fond laugh.

"Because she didn't want me to feel like I was crazy," she started laughing too.

They looked up at each other and that's when Connor grabbed her shoulders saying, "Hey stay still. You've got some glitter on your nose." Scarlet's face got hot again as he wiped his finger across the ridge of her nose. When he was finished, he grinned saying, "There all better."

She gave an awkward smile back before her phone started ringing. It was Mia. "I'm sorry I know it hasn't been long but-"

"Hey don't worry. We got some work done so I'd call this a win."

"Great cause I really need to leave."

He walked her to the door and as soon as it shut, she was off again with phone to her ear and shoes in her grasp. Scarlet called back Mia and of course the first question was, "Where are you?! The daddy daughter dance is about to start."

"Wait it hasn't started yet?"

"There was a mix up with the DJ he couldn't find the right song, but he has now and so the waltz is probably gonna start in another five minutes."

"Don't worry I'll be there."

"You better be!"

She hung up and sped up all at once. If she was gonna make it in time was going to have to double, her speed. Scarlet stretched her legs as much as possible as she sprinted down the down road. She wasn't certain she would make it, but she was going to try. To her joy she saw the court had just began walking out into the reception again for the dance. Coming in at full speed Scarlet accidentally ran into someone but had only enough time to quickly say a sorry.

The event planner spotted her and quickly directed her to her place in line trying to help her put her shoes back on. Finn being right in front of her looked back and whispered, "Where were you?"

"Long... bathroom... break," she said in between breaths.

The waltz went as expected. It was beautiful, elegant, and simple just like the quince queen herself. Afterwards that's when the party really started. The crowd was getting down and some dirty while Garnet decided to take a break from all of the festivities. She sat down in an open seat a little off from the dance floor and fanned herself with her hands. That's when she noticed who she was sitting by Dominic, Charlotte, and Rosetta. All were giggling away at each other when Dominic locked eyes with Garnet.

"Hey birthday girl! Thanks for the invite to your quince or whatever," Dominic sounded half genuine.

"You're welcome? Hope you guys are enjoy yourselves."

"Well, I am," Rosetta spoke up before taking a sip of her sparkling juice.

"Hey where'd your weird friend go before the whole group dance?" Dominic innocently asked.

"Friend? Who do you mean?"

"The one with the orange skin and green eyes," Charlotte jumped in before stuffing her face with a mini empanada.

"Scarlet? I didn't even notice if she was gone. Wait," Garnet asked suspiciously, "how would you know?"

"Well as I was going to the bathroom, she bumped into me right before hopping in line for the dance. I don't know how long she was gone, but she was gone," Dominic casually took a sip of her water.

"Oh…" there was pronounced sadness in her voice, "well thank you for letting me know."

"Of course! What are spirit squad friends for?"

"Wait," she leaned in a bit, "you know who got in already?"

"Well duh! It's not hard to get my daddy to talk, but you didn't hear that from me."

"Alright ladies and gents it's time to slow it down a little bit," the DJ announced before playing a slow RnB romance. That's when the three ladies plus ones came over and "invited" them to dance.

Garnet continued sitting as her eyes moved to the floor and her mind was clouded in thought. Then she felt a hand on her should, "Hey Garnet, you daydreaming?" It was Finn and when she was out of her daze, he held his hand out to her, "The queen shouldn't be the only one sitting."

She gave a guilty grin before letting him lead her to the dance floor. They got into position his hand subtly on her waist and her subtly on his shoulder. It wasn't long before Finn asked, "What's got you so bummed on your b-day?"

"Did you know Scarlet left?"

"Um, yeah. I don't how long she was gone, but yeah, I knew.

"Hmm…" Garnet said looking off again for a moment.

"Didn't you tell her she could leave if she needed to?"

"I did, but then she told me she'd be here the whole time. I know what I said it's just she said something else and so-"

"Hey, you don't have to explain anything to me. I get it. You and Scar are best friends and neither of you like to hurt each other's feelings. Maybe you should just talk to her about it? I'm sure she didn't mean any harm by it."

"Yeah, I guess...you know you sound like my mom sometimes."

Finn raised an eyebrow, "I'm taking that as a compliment. Just as I'm going to take the cake that you're going to cut," Finn jokingly said just as the song ended.

"And now it's time to cut the cake!" The DJ announced.

"How'd you do that?" Garnet looked genuinely confused.

"I have this thing called a cake radar. It's a real gift."

"Or you read the program," she laughed. "You're such a good friend Finn," Garnet said as she walked towards the long-awaited cake.

Finn just stood there for a moment and sighed to himself, "Yeah...friend."